Water Margin people

"Both of you are here!"

Shi Qian walked over with a smile.

"Brother Shi Qian, does your Majesty have an order?"

Ma Lin and Lehe looked at Shi Qian and asked.

"Yes, His Majesty ordered us to lurk in Tokyo. There is no need to deliberately search for information! Just pay attention to your own safety!"

Shi Qian said with a smile.

Ma Lin and Lehe were not surprised. If people could be successfully introduced into the city this time, Qi State would have considerable power in Tokyo. And now that Qi State is strong, there is no need for Tokyo to engage in conspiracies.

"I'm still thinking about opening up new sources of intelligence."

Ma Lin said with a smile.

"Now that Tokyo's officialdom is in turmoil, it's better for us to hide it."

Shi Qian said with a smile that now the entire Tokyo officialdom is in turmoil, and it is normal to confiscate homes and exterminate families. If they continue to shuttle between the mansions of corrupt officials, they may be implicated and exposed.

In the side hall of the palace, Zhao Huan was very satisfied with the account books handed over by Hou Meng. He ransacked the homes of Cai Jing and others. It seemed that the treasury could be replenished.

"This Cai Jing is really damned!"

Zhao Huan looked at the detailed figures with a gloomy expression. It was recorded that Cai Jing's family property alone was worth 60 million guan in gold, 20 million guan in silver, 200,000 pieces of silk, 500,000 acres of fertile land, and half a street of shops in Tokyo. There are also mansions comparable to royal palaces.

Looking at the numbers on the account, Zhao Huan felt like a fool. As the emperor, the treasury could not even withdraw one hundred thousand guan, but to Cai Jing, one hundred thousand guan was just a drop in the bucket.

"Where is Cai Jing?"

Zhao Huan looked at Nie Chang and asked.

"His Majesty demoted him to Hengzhou, and he should still be on the way now."

Nie Chang replied.

"Hengzhou? You are taking advantage of him! Send a decree and demote him to Chongxin Army, Deputy Envoy of Qingyuan Jiedu, and send him to Danzhou!"

Zhao Huan gritted his teeth and said.

After looking through the property copied by others, Zhao Huan was furious again and added several more crimes.

Just confiscating homes would cost more than 20 billion yuan, and the tax revenue of the Song Dynasty in the past 20 years was only this amount.

Looking at the amount of money, Zhao Huan felt better. With money, he, the emperor, could do things without worrying about anything.

"Your Majesty, caravans from various places have come to Tokyo one after another, and many people who fled have also returned."

Hou Meng looked at Zhao Huan and said.

"Isn't this a good thing?"

Zhao Huan looked at Hou Meng and said, when the caravan comes back, it means it has brought supplies, and when the people come back, it means they have labor. This is all good news.

Hou Meng did not reply, but glanced at Nie Chang next to him.

"Your Majesty, I ordered the city gate to be closed. There are too many people entering the city, and I am worried that there are enemy spies among them."

Nie Chang spoke.

"That makes sense!"

Zhao Huan frowned and said, Tokyo is very important now, and enemy spies must not come in.

"But Tokyo is the center of the world, and trade is indispensable. With such management, how can Tokyo regain its former prosperity."

Hou Meng looked at Nie Chang and asked, Nie Chang was too domineering than the previous governor Xu Churen. Xu Churen allowed people to escape, while Nie Chang prevented people from entering the city.

"Business still needs to resume, so people coming into the city should check carefully."

Zhao Huan finally made the final decision that now that the treasury has money, Tokyo must be restored to prosperity as soon as possible, so that the money can be exchanged for much-needed armaments.

Outside Tokyo.

"Kaicheng! Kaicheng!"

A large number of people gathered outside the city gate and shouted. They had been outside the city for two days, but the defenders closed the city gate and refused to let them in.

"How is this going?"

Cao Zheng led the caravan to the outside of Tokyo and saw the people outside the city frowning.

After some questioning, I found out that Tokyo City was under martial law and people were not allowed to enter the city.

"Leader Cao, what should we do?"

Several people asked in a low voice beside Cao Zheng. They were a little nervous and worried that their identities would be discovered.

"Don't be afraid, we have identities!"

Cao Zheng comforted everyone. This was the first time for them to do such a thing, so nervousness was inevitable. More and more people gathered outside the city, and the shouts became louder and louder.

The merchants in the city also went to Kaifeng Mansion to find Nie Chang, the governor.

"Master Fu Yin, our goods are all outside the city. Many of them need to be sold in time. If we don't enter the city, they will be ruined!"

A group of merchants surrounded Nie Chang and urged him. They all had connections behind the scenes and knew that the emperor had ordered the city to be opened.

"Don't worry, everyone, the city gate will open soon, but I have a list here, please take a look!"

Nie Chang handed a list to the merchants.

"Lord Fu Yin, what do you mean? Do you want these goods?"

The merchants looked at Nie Chang.

"Yes, you have many connections. The caravan travels all over the world. It shouldn't be a problem to get these supplies, right?"

Nie Chang nodded and said, these are supplies for Tokyo to continue. The emperor asked him to find a way, so he could only find these merchants.

"The goods are fine, but the money?"

The merchants exchanged a few words in low voices before making a decision.

"Based on the previous market price!"

Nie Chang replied.

"Lord Fu Yin, I'm afraid this won't work. Prices are soaring now. It's impossible to buy it at the previous market price!"

The merchants immediately objected. Merchants value profits and will not do business that makes them lose money.

"Do you still want to do business in Tokyo? Do you want to make money from the national crisis when the country is facing a crisis?"

Nie Chang looked at the merchants and asked coldly.

"Master Fu Yin, we didn't say we wanted to make money for the country, but the price of these supplies has increased now. According to the original market price, we can't even buy enough!"

The merchants complained that they did not dare to refuse directly. Nie Chang's words just now contained intimidation and threats. Their business was in Tokyo and they could not offend the governor of Kaifeng Prefecture.

"Then I'll give you some more, but it can't be higher than the current market price!"

Nie Chang was relieved when he saw that his goal was achieved.

The merchants naturally agreed happily.

Nie Chang led people to the south gate of the city.

"Li Youcheng?"

Nie Chang looked at Li Gang in the city in surprise. He didn't know why Shangshu Youcheng suddenly came to the city.

"Nie Fuyin wants to open the city gate, right?"

Li Gang looked at Nie Chang and asked.

"Yes, His Majesty has a decree, and the city does need supplies."

Nie Chang spoke.

"Then how do you identify spies?"

Li Gang asked again. He concluded that there were definitely spies from Qi among the people outside the city.

"Of course we need to find out the identity and verify the credentials!"

Nie Chang spoke.

"These alone are not enough!"

Li Gang shook his head and said, corruption is rampant everywhere, because this thing is so easy to get.

"What should I do?"

Nie Chang had no choice. If he couldn't trust the evidence, how could he tell his identity?

"In this way, based on the accent and credentials of the visitor, they must have the same accent and location before they can enter the city. In addition, after entering the city, these people can only enter the outer city, not the inner city, and these people must register at a designated place."

Li Gang said his method.

"Li Youcheng should just do it if he has the means!"

Nie Chang was overjoyed and immediately gave orders to Kong Mu, Dutou and others around him.

The gates of Tokyo opened, and the defenders carefully checked. Many idlers from other places who wanted to sneak into Tokyo were blocked.

Cao Zheng and others brought people with them based on their location, and successfully entered the city after checking. (End of chapter)