Great Sui Storyteller

Chapter 555. 554. You go to Hedong for your brother
Pengcheng.

"Woo~~~~~~"

The horn sounded low.

After being sent off by all the officials in Pengcheng, the big ship was about to pull anchor and set sail again.

Right now, it's headwind.

Logically speaking, the three-thousand-legged girl should be wearing white clothes, with a rope on her back, pulling the big boat forward against the wind.

But it didn't.

Because today's majesty wants to try something new.

"Crack creak creak..."

The iron chain anchor slowly rose in the capstan twisted by the boatman, and at the same time, there was a touch of radiance wandering in the dense blood pattern around the dragon boat.

The hull began to sink and float on the water, giving people a feeling of... coming alive.

It's like a giant beast floating in the water, breathing, as if preparing for something.

And at this moment, there was a sound of horseshoes beside the official road at the pier.

The officers and soldiers guarding the streets along the road in Pengcheng immediately became vigilant, but when they saw the gray-clothed figure galloping on the horse, their original vigilance disappeared.

They didn't stop them at all, and even the officials who were sending them off at the pier got out of the way.

Let the man in gray gallop to the end of the pier and pull the reins!

The war horse neighed, and under the high platform with his front hooves, a delicately shaped crossbow suddenly shook out from under his robe, aiming at the big ship.

"Whoosh!"

The rapid and loud whistle of breaking the wind sounded.

When it flew in front of the big ship, it exploded out of thin air.

"Snapped!"

Immediately, several servants appeared on the boat with vigilant expressions.

But after seeing the gray-robed man, he didn't say anything.

Then, Xue Rulong's figure appeared on the deck.

The moment the man in gray robe saw Xue Rulong, he retracted the crossbow arrow in his hand, and replaced it with a bamboo tube about the thickness of a rolling pin. He threw it in a clever way, and flew towards Xue Rulong directly.

The man caught it accurately, nodded to the gray-robed figure, and then disappeared.

And the gray-robed man rode his horse and left without staying for a moment.

When his figure disappeared at the pier, finally, the anchor was pulled out.

The radiance on the dragon boat disappeared in an instant, the bow of the big boat pressed down, and waves of water rolled towards both sides.

Those who had no time to escape were slapped on the face.

When he wiped off the river water on his face and looked forward, he saw that the dragon boat had been pulled by an invisible force and was going against the wind along the waterway.

It is simply an unpredictable power.

……

"grown ups."

Handing the bamboo tube to the woman sitting quietly in the cabin, Xue Rulong said:
"Information just sent over."

The woman took it, looked at the bamboo tube, picked up a small knife on the table, who didn't know whether it was for cutting meat or what, stabbed a certain part under the bamboo tube, and after pulling out the knife, pointed the knife edge at the tea drinker. cup.

Soon, a yellowish liquid with a pungent smell flowed out.

Then it solidifies as soon as it comes into contact with air.

The woman threw the solidified liquid out of the window together with the cup.

As the boats behind passed by, several dead fish floated up.

This is Baiqisi's method of keeping secrets. There is this liquid in each bamboo tube. If the liquid is not released before opening the information, the moment the bamboo tube is opened, the yellowish liquid that solidifies in contact with the air will be mixed with another one inside. The liquids merge with each other.

Corrode everything inside.

This is for the insurance left after others intercept the information.

Unscrewing the bamboo tube, two rolls of paper fell out.

The women looked at each of them after opening them, and handed them to Xue Rulong.

Xue Rulong frowned after reading it.

Of the three pieces of information, one was from the East Palace.

One is the record of government affairs above the court.

The other one is from Luoyang.

Although the central theme is the same, there are some discrepancies in the content.

The information about the East Palace was written by Hongying.

And the information in Luoyang was written by the nephew who was arranged in the ministers' homes.

The information records are not very detailed, but there is one piece of information that is consistent with the information written by Hongying.

"Zuo Cheng visited Cui Zhongfang, Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, but the other party said he was unwell, so he didn't meet him."

In comparison with the court record...

The woman thought for a while and said:

"Leave it to His Majesty."

"Yes."

Xue Rulong nodded, put away the court record and the information from Luoyang, and walked out.

Finally, Hongying's information...

Naturally, it is impossible to hand over.

Otherwise, wouldn't it be bad if people knew that even "your own home" had eyes?
Then, the woman began to grind ink and write.

Soon Xue Rulong came back and said after entering the room:
"It has been handed over to the superintendent."

"Um……"

The woman responded and said in her mouth:

"Send this letter, let our people keep an eye on the Lu family and the Cui family, and see what they are going to do."

But she was pointing to a note on the table, which read:

"Bring a copy home. Next time the boat stops, I want to see news about that Taoist priest."

Xue Rulong nodded:
"Yes."

Carefully rolled up the note, put it in a small bamboo tube, rolled up the letter again, put it in a big bamboo tube, and walked out quickly.

In front of the servants and guards, he came to the deck.

In an inconspicuous corner of the deck stood a wooden barrel.

He stepped forward to open it, and a foul smell came out.

But the man didn't show any disgust at all, he just fished out a bloody... don't know what it was.

He took out the bamboo tube and wrapped it with a string.

Then he started blowing on the bloody thing.

Go down in one breath, this thing swells rapidly!

Two breaths and it becomes an air-filled ball.

It turned out to be pig urine.

Not too dirty, he inflated the air, tied the string, and with the bamboo tube, he threw it towards the water away from the shore.

Just throw it away and leave.

The fishy smell of this thing is too strong, I have to wash it with wine to get rid of the smell.

And throughout the whole process, he didn't shy away from anyone.

On the contrary, these officers, soldiers, servants, and maids all instinctively turned their heads away, trying not to look at what Master Xue did...

Soon, the big ship passed along the way.

A small boat quietly came to the place where the pig urine was floating on the water, picked it up, put the bamboo tube in its arms, and left.

……

"Father, are you looking for me?"

At noon, the army lit a stove for dinner.

Li Shimin, who heard the summons, looked at Li Yuan who was eating in front of the fire, and asked with a bow.

Li Yuan just finished his meal. After nodding to his son, he got up and walked towards the river not far away.

It rained again last night, and after walking all morning, his horse was dirty.

It needs to be cleaned.

Li Shimin was taken aback for a moment, but he still had good eyesight. Seeing his father going to lead the horse, he hurriedly got out a scrubbing brush and a rag to follow.

Foreshore of the river.

After Li Yuan soaked the dirtiest hind legs of the horse with a rag, he spoke the first sentence:

"I want you to go to Hedong."

"..."

Li Shimin frowned subconsciously:

"But my sister..."

Li Yuan didn't answer, but reached out his hand.

Li Shimin quickly handed over the brush.

The sound of "soughing" brush hairs sounded, and Li Yuan said while brushing his hair:
"Although you have a good command of military strategy, political affairs are worse than that of elder brother Ni after all. What Hedong needs is military strategy, and the situation in Taiyuan is complicated. It would be more appropriate for your elder brother to come to Taiyuan with me."

"This……"

Seeing that his son was still hesitating, Li Yuan continued:
"This time, I won't give you a lot of soldiers and horses to comfort the ambassador. For Hedong, we don't ask for merit, but for no fault. People, we have already killed one crop, and you are overwhelmed by heavy troops. Not good. So, I will only give you a thousand soldiers and horses. In the afternoon, you lead the thousand soldiers and set off for Hejin. After arriving in Hejin, you can make your own decisions, but there is one thing..."

He turned around and said solemnly:

"Salt."

"..."

"Yu Kuan's fire jade salt is useless to us, but the salt in Yu Township and Sangquan is a must-have for soldiers and horses. After you get there, just keep the salt road running. This is your task. understand?"

Li Shimin thought for a while, then nodded:

"My son understands. I don't care about other things, just need to stabilize the salt road... Then, will Dad also send a caravan when he arrives in Taiyuan? But do you want me to find out the price of salt in advance? My son is worried, if the salt price is too high On the one hand, it will waste money. On the other hand, if the price of salt rises, the people in several counties and counties near the east of the river will also be affected by it... Or, how about father giving me two thousand more soldiers? Let's fight, at least, the boy can make them dare not speak up! Stabilize the price of salt!"

"You don't need to stabilize the price of salt. The salt mines in Hedong are all controlled by aristocratic families. Do you think three thousand soldiers will make them bow their heads?"

"..."

Hearing his father's words, Li Shimin frowned.

Then Li Yuan continued:

"You don't need to worry about the price of salt. After all, we want salt, and they won't sell it to others at the same price. It must be fair."

"..."

Li Shimin frowned even tighter.

But he did not refute, just nodded:

"The kid knows."

"Ah."

Li Yuan responded, but seemed a little worried, and said again:
"When we arrive at Hedong, we only need to maintain the salt road. Don't worry about other things, whether it's the aristocratic family or others. At this time, our actions will arouse the suspicion of others. Therefore, we should be quiet and not move. Remember, remember. "

"Yes, my child understands...that Yuanba..."

"Yuanba follows me."

"Uh……"

Seeing that his father had arranged everything, Li Shimin could only nod in the end:
"Yes, the child understands."

After a while.

Under the leadership of the young general, a thousand soldiers riding on the best mounts in the Pegasus City broke away from the team and rushed towards the east of the river.

(End of this chapter)