Fenghou

Chapter 1285
Although the spies who trafficked Sanqi were caught, Zhong Huan was not happy because the quantity was wrong. The other party bought a total of [-] tons of Sanqi, a total of [-] catties of Sanqi, but what they seized was only [-]% of it, two hundred There are still [-] dan whose whereabouts are unknown.

After the interrogation spies got the confession, Zhong Huan immediately divided his troops into two groups, leaving [-] people to continue to control Pujin Pass, while he led [-] cavalry to Zheng County.

The other party was lurking in Zheng County, grinding Panax notoginseng into powder, and it took a long time to grind a large amount of Panax notoginseng into powder, maybe I only caught the first batch, and the remaining three thousand were still grinding into powder.

With this glimmer of hope, two hundred cavalry rushed to Zheng County and surrounded a house outside the North City close to the city gate. They confessed in their confession that they rented this house. There was a big tree in the yard, which was a unique feature. .

The soldiers kicked open the gate and rushed in, followed by Zhong Huan. They found no mistake. They found more than a dozen stone mills in the room. There were still medicine powder left in the stone mills, but the house was empty.

"Go and ask the neighbors around, when did the people here leave?" Zhong Huan ordered angrily.

At this time, a soldier came forward to report, "Qi Commander, there is no trace of camels, no feces, footprints, or smell."

Zhong Huan's heart sank. He realized that the spies' statements were false. The statements of the arrested spies were all the same. They rented a mansion outside the city, including [-] camels. Obviously, the four arrested The spies discussed the confession in advance.

Soon, the soldiers brought news of several neighbors. They had never seen hundreds of camels, only a few large carts, unloaded a lot of bags, and then they bought a lot of large millstones, and there were only four or five people in front and behind.

Commander Huang Wei said in a low voice: "Could it be a trick to divert the tiger away from the mountain, transfer us out of Pujin Pass, and they will pass through Pujin Pass?"

Chong Huan shook his head, "This possibility is unlikely. We are not fools. We withdraw all the troops from Pujin Pass. They also know this well. Once they are caught, they will be stricter."

"Maybe they left in several batches, and we only caught the first batch?"

"What about the three hundred camels?" Zhong Huan asked after thinking about it.

"Sell the camels and replace them all with mules." Huang Wei continued.

"But have you ever thought about how long it takes to grind a thousand loads of medicinal materials into powder? Three days is definitely not enough."

"If some of them are ground into powder, and the rest are still raw materials, if the first batch passes the customs smoothly, they will go to the second batch, and then the third batch, the commander, this possibility is very high."

Zhong Huan nodded, "It is indeed possible, but it is too time-consuming and risky. They actually have another low-risk method."

"What way?" Several subordinates asked at the same time.

"Take Lantian Pass, take Shangluo Road to the Central Plains, and then go north from the Central Plains."

Huang Wei was puzzled and said, "Since that's the case, they can go directly to Lantian Pass, so why do they have to grind it into powder before going to Pujin Pass?"

Zhong Huan said indifferently: "You have overlooked an important premise. When they left Jingzhao, they were not found. If they have not been found, why did they go to Shangluo Road? Why didn't they just go to Pujin Pass?"

Huang Wei thought about it, it was really like this, if he hadn't been discovered, of course there was no need to take a long detour, just go directly to Pujin Pass.

Zhong Huan continued: "I think they have a spy at Pujin Pass. When we arrived at Pujin Pass, the spy immediately informed the other party, so they changed their plan and went south to Lantian Pass. Why did they stay here?" A few people milled flour, and then continued to walk through Pujin Pass. I think the other party is confusing us, making us think that they are still hiding in Guanzhong and milling flour, so as to buy time for them to go to Shangluo Road. It takes three days to go, and if we notify Wuguan to intercept them, they really can’t go, so they throw out a small part to confuse us.”

"Then what should we do? Tell Wuguan to intercept now?"

Chong Huan sighed inwardly, and informed Wuguan that only Jingzhao could send pigeon letters, and they still had to send people to ride back to Jingzhao, which would take another two or three days, and all the time was lost on the road.

"Let's go to Lantian Pass to find out."

The crowd rushed to Lantian Pass again, and as expected, the general guarding the pass told Zhong Huan that there was indeed a caravan of camels four days ago, about [-] camels and [-] carts passed through Lantian Pass, and the goods they declared It is dried ginger.

Sanqi is indeed similar to dried ginger after drying, and most people will not pay attention to the difference unless they taste it.

Passed the customs four days ago, so Wuguan should have passed, even if it is useless to block the entire Yellow River, the other party can still sneak across the Yellow River with small fishing boats, not to mention that it is impossible to block the entire Yellow River for a few medicinal materials. They can't do a complete blockade either.

For the first time, Zhong Huan tasted the taste of failure. Zhong Huan left [-] men to continue monitoring at Pujin Pass, and Zhong Huan led the brigade back to Jingzhao.

In Yecheng County, Ruzhou, [-] cargo ships were loading goods at the Lishui Wharf. Pi Xiangyang watched the cargo with complicated eyes. Lishui can enter the Yellow River through the shipping water system and go to Hebei. As long as they are not contraband, even if they encounter patrol boats on the Yellow River, they will not embarrass them.

What's more, they just crossed the Yellow River from the mouth of the Bian River to Huaizhou on the other side.

At this time, one of his subordinates came running and said, "Boss, the camel has been sold and the tax has been paid."

Pi Xiangyang took the tax form, which said dried ginger and medicinal materials, [-] catties, worth [-] guan, he laughed, and with this tax form, they can travel to Hebei without any hindrance.

In the official room of Prince Yong's mansion, Wang Hao and Zhong Huan pleaded guilty to Chen Qing.

Zhong Huan reported the details to Chen Qing. After listening to the report, Chen Qing nodded and said: "It's impossible to prevent, you have done what you should do, the responsibility is not yours, and I will not punish you, but I hope you can sum up experience and lessons. .”

Wang Hao bowed and said, "Reporting to Your Highness, we have indeed learned our lesson!"

"What lessons have you learned, let me hear it?" Chen Qingxiao asked.

"underestimate the enemy!"

Wang Hao said in a deep voice: "We have always dealt with the enemy's spies very smoothly, and basically we have not encountered any opponents, so this time we also took it for granted to block the road to Hebei, but underestimated the opponent's ability to adapt, so that we were calmly attacked by the opponent. The fundamental reason for the escape is that we underestimated the enemy, thinking that the enemy would go through Pujin Pass, and if there is another similar situation, we will send an eagle letter to each pass in Jingzhao to intercept."

After a pause, Wang Hao said again: "His Royal Highness, there is actually a glimmer of hope. The other party will go to Hebei, and they will definitely go to the Yellow River. If all river mouths are blocked and the checks and interceptions at the county gates are increased, there is still a chance to block them."

Chen Qing smiled and said: "Just now you said that you should learn from the lesson and not underestimate the enemy. Now that you underestimate the other party, does the other party have to take the route that we seized? Could it be that he can't take the waterway? Can't bypass the pass? Does he have to cross the Yellow River at the mouth of the river? Can't he hide in a small county for two months? Or hide medicines in the goods, like ants moving, and send them to Hebei bit by bit? If it were me , I will go to Xiangyang to rent a big boat and go to the Yangtze River, then go out to sea from the Yangtze River, and take a detour to Hebei.

Wang Hao's face was flushed, and he bowed and said, "I know my mistake!"

(End of this chapter)