At the end of the Sui Dynasty

Chapter 663 Entering the City Secretly
Although Luoyang City has sufficient food reserves, the daily supply of vegetables, fruits and meat is still necessary, so as long as the enemy is not approaching the city, the gates of Luoyang City are usually open, allowing vendors to bring goods into the city for sale, but the gates are closed. Switches are time-limited, and the checks can be pretty strict.

Today is the sixteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, there is light snow in the sky, and the wind is like a knife, but no matter how cold the weather is, you still have to earn money to support your family. Crowded with merchants waiting to enter the city.

These vendors come in various forms, some selling tofu, some selling dried salted fish, some selling salt, some selling medicinal materials, and some selling straw sandals. The only thing in common is that their clothes are thin and their faces are weathered. Bleeding open from the cold.Even though you are poor, as long as you bring goods into the city, you have to pay a certain "tea fee" to the official post at the gate. As for how much you pay, it depends on the value of the goods you are carrying.

At this time, an ox cart drove up to the gate of the city. The drivers were an old man and a young man. They seemed to be father and son. The old man was about 50 years old, and the young man was about eighteen or nineteen years old. His body was hunched over and trembling, with a flattering smile on his face.

"What's on the car?" the leader of the official sent the old god asked on the ground.

The old man apologized and said with a smile: "Brother, it's salt, ordered by Nanshi Xianxiang."

The official officer in charge put away his foolish expression when he heard the words, because in this world, it is obviously not easy to be able to do the salt business, so he politely ordered: "Open it and check it."

The yellow-faced youth hurriedly opened a sack in the car, revealing the white and yellowish table salt inside. Sea salt in the Sui and Tang Dynasties was not popular yet, and most of it was well salt, rock salt, etc., with a lot of impurities. snow white refined salt
The officer pretended to grab a handful, and then put it back. In fact, he was secretly holding half a handful in his hand. He nodded and said, "It is indeed salt. Open the others to check."

The yellow-faced young man had no choice but to open every remaining sack, and the officer checked them one by one, and found that there was about half a catty of salt, so he waved his hand and said, "No problem, let's go in!"

The old man paid ten Wen for tea, and then drove into the city with the yellow-faced young man and headed straight for Nanshi.

"This place is much more depressed than in previous years." Looking at the familiar streets of Nanshi, the yellow-faced young man couldn't help sighing. At this time, he was no longer hunched over, his waist was straight, his eyes were bright, and he looked calm and calm. Self-confidence is completely different from just now.

The old man in charge of driving the car sighed and said: "The population of Luoyang City has been reduced by more than half due to the years of war. Looks like it."

The old man shook his head sadly while talking, and the yellow-faced young man smiled and comforted him: "After great chaos, there will be great order, and the prosperous and prosperous times before will come back, brother, you might as well wait and see."

The old man took a deep look at the yellow-faced youth: "I hope!"

The old man didn't know Gao Bufan, and just followed the boss's order to bring him into the city, but his intuition told him that this sallow-faced and thin young man obviously had a complicated background.

At this time, the ox cart finally arrived in front of a shop with the words "Xianxianghao" written on the signboard. The old man stopped the carriage and shouted to the shop, "Treasurer Yuan, your salt has arrived!"

A middle-aged man dressed as a shopkeeper came out in response, his steps were steady, and he looked very capable. His eyes quickly swept across the yellow-faced young man, and then said calmly: "Move inside and pay the bill."

The yellow-faced young man and the old man each carried a bag of salt and walked into the shop. After unloading the goods, the old man checked out and left, but the yellow-faced young man did not come out again.

At this time, in the house behind the shop, shopkeeper Yuan was saluting respectfully to the yellow-faced young man: "I have seen His Royal Highness King Qi!"

Gao Bufan smiled and said, "Treasurer Yuan doesn't need to be polite."

As soon as the words were spoken, the guard captain Gao Dahe came out from behind with a few guards, and saluted Gao Bufan one after another. It turned out that they sneaked into Luoyang City earlier than Gao Bufan.

It is said that in the year when Changsun Wugou fled Luoyang, Gao Bufan began to deploy in Luoyang City. With the secret assistance of Qinghe Cui, Fanyang Lu, Boling Cui and other top families, Gao Qi's manpower easily infiltrated Entering Luoyang City, there are as many as forty or fifty strongholds alone, so as long as there is an order, it is not a problem to gather two or three hundred people, and recently, Gao Bufan's more than 300 soldiers have also sneaked in with various identities In the city, this power should not be underestimated.

The "Salty Enjoyment" in front of him is one of the many strongholds in the city, and shopkeeper Yuan is naturally the person in charge of this stronghold.

Let's say that Gao Bufan washed his face, changed his clothes, restored his original appearance, sat in the secret room, smiled and said: "Treasurer Yuan, please sit down, don't be restrained."

"Thank you King Qi for your seat!" Treasurer Yuan thanked him, and then carefully sat down on a chair in the lower seat, touching only half of his buttocks to show respect.

The shopkeeper Yuan was named Yuan Chengye, he was from the Qinghe Cui family, and he was personally selected by Cui Hu, so he was absolutely reliable and capable, and he was the general manager of Luoyang City.

"Treasurer Yuan, how is the situation in the city now? Have you figured out the strength of the troops and the deployment?" Gao Bufan asked straight to the point.

Treasurer Yuan nodded: "I have roughly figured it out. Originally, there were about [-] to [-] defenders in the city, and Wang Shichong took away more than half of them. Now the number of defenders in the city should be less than [-]. Wang Shichong's eldest son, Wang Xuanying, is in charge. Focus on deploying troops in the west and north of the city."

Gao Bufan's heart moved. It seemed that Wang Shichong had indeed been deceived by his "separation method". He deployed his troops mainly in the west city and the north city, obviously to guard against Li Tang, and asked hurriedly: "What about the troops guarding the imperial city?" how many?"

Shopkeeper Yuan said apologetically, "The forbidden area of ​​the imperial city is inaccessible to ordinary people. Our manpower has not been able to penetrate it yet, so I don't know the strength and layout of the imperial city. I am really ashamed."

Gao Bufan smiled and said: "It's okay, shopkeeper Yuan has done a good job, and the rest can be solved by myself. By the way, what is the result of the decisive battle between Wang Shichong and Li Mi?"

Shopkeeper Yuan replied with a strange expression: "Li Mi was defeated. It is said that even Luokou Cang and Hulao Pass were lost."

"Hey, Wang Shichong also took down Luokou Cang and Hulao Pass?" Gao Bufan couldn't help being slightly taken aback. Li Mi's defeat was no surprise to him, but Wang Shichong took down Luokou Cang and Hulao Pass so quickly. Contrary to his expectations, Li Mi is too hip-stretching, it shouldn't be so!
Treasurer Yuan explained: "It is said that Li Mi was going to flee to Luokoucang after the defeat, but Yanshi guard Zheng Bing, Luokoucang guard Jia Runfu, and Hulao gatekeeper Li Gongyi successively surrendered to Wang Shichong. Li Mi had to flee back to Jinyong City in embarrassment. Almost completely wiped out."

Gao Bufan couldn't help but suddenly realized that it's no wonder he was so quick. Dare Wang Shichong took a big advantage, but this is also reasonable. Li Mi planted hidden dangers when he attacked and killed Zhai Rang brothers. Come on, Li Mi is basically useless, and now he is just lingering on his last breath!
Shopkeeper Yuan said again: "By the way, I have also received a piece of news that the Tang army has entered Hanoi from Changping County in three ways, and the commander in charge is Qin Wang Li Shimin."

Gao Bufan frowned and said, "Sure enough, Wang Shichong has no good intentions, and he probably made a deal with Li Tang secretly. Lu Sheng and Li Shimin will definitely fight for the Luoyang warehouse."

Gao Bufan pondered for a moment, took a pen and paper and wrote a letter, then sealed it and handed it to Shopkeeper Yuan, saying: "Immediately find a way to send it to General Lu, there must be no mistakes!"

Shopkeeper Yuan took it awe-inspiringly and put it away carefully, then hurriedly left the secret room.

(End of this chapter)