Horse on the World

Chapter 343 Deadly
Xu Hongwei, the commander-in-chief of Luzhou, does not have any great talent, but he is not stupid either. He is a mediocre talent. He took over the position of commander-in-chief of Luzhou from his father. With his father's Yu Wei and a group of loyal veterans, in the past 20 years, they have come here smoothly.

The tragedy of Luzhou is that the forces adjacent to him are all tigers and wolves. One side is adjacent to Dingzhou, and the other side is bordered by the Lu family in the north. Later, Dingzhou changed hands and Li Qing was in power, and it became even more powerful. But also because of this, Luzhou, as a buffer zone for both forces, was able to survive in the cracks.And Xu Hongwei's ruling idea of ​​not thinking about making progress, but only being conservative, also reassured his neighbors that a tiger should not be allowed to sleep soundly beside the couch, but if it is a docile kitten, it is naturally a different matter.

As the political situation in Great Chu changed, Li Qing focused on conquering the barbarians, while the Lu family was ambitious and wanted to compete in the Central Plains. Luzhou was even quieter. In this ever-changing land, it seemed like a world away. Taoyuan is full of fun.

There are not many people in Luzhou, with a population of over one million, and food can be self-sufficient. As a commander who just wants to stay at home and be a king, Xu Hongwei maintains an army of 2 people, and all he can do is Maintain law and order and let some mountain kings in the territory not go too far. As for whether they are elites or not, it is hard to say, anyway, it is still beneficial to attack the mountain kings.

But Luzhou has one special product, which is sold all over the country and is very popular. It is the jade produced exclusively in Luzhou. There are two major jade producing areas in Luzhou, one is Sangzhu County and the other is Suning County. Sangzhu County is rich in ordinary jade. Jade, such as white jade, topaz, purple jade, black jade, jasper, sapphire, red jade, etc. are in large quantities, but the quality is average, while Suning wins by quality. But it often produces excellent products.

Jade has become an important economic pillar of Luzhou, not only providing Luzhou with a large number of employment opportunities, but also earning a lot of wealth for Luzhou Commander Xu Hongwei.

Luzhou has a lot of jade, so of course there are many jade shops, especially Lulong, the capital of Luzhou, where almost all the famous jade processing shops in the whole prefecture are concentrated.

Wang Qi, the Operations Department of the Statistics and Investigation Department, and his special agents are hiding in a well-known jade shop in Lulong.Two years ago, when the Statistical and Investigation Department took shape, Qingfeng sent people into Luzhou with a large amount of funds, and bought a small but old-fashioned jade store, which began to take root. As the strength of the company expanded step by step, Qingfeng sent several skilled craftsmen for jade processing to this shop named Gusi Jade. Anyway, among the tens of thousands of skilled craftsmen brought from the capital at that time, there were all kinds of craftsmen, what did they do? There are all of them, and it doesn't take much effort to find such a few people, and these jade masters from the capital are well-informed, there are a lot of nobles in the capital, and there are few brushes that can be called master masters.

In two or three years, Gusi jade wares became famous. The jade wares processed by them were ingenious in conception and exquisite in workmanship, and became the leader in Lulong's industry for a while, attracting most of the nobles in Luzhou. Gusi became their special processing point.

Other jade shops are jealous of Gusi's business and the superb craftsmanship of the masters, and they try their best to dig Gusi's corners, but they all come back in vain. Being moved makes people feel helpless. Regarding this point, the owner of the Gusi Jade Store, that is, Chen Gong, the captain of the Statistics and Investigation Department, just laughed it off. It would be a joke if they poached someone away. Several old masters were registered in the Statistics and Investigation Department before they came, and their family members are all under the control of the department, so how can they be poached at will.

Chen Gong, who has been lurking for several years and has been sleeping all the time, is now a celebrity in Luzhou. He has frequent contacts with the dignitaries and nobles in Luzhou. I got it from a guest, until Wang Qi arrived with the crowd, Chen Gong knew that his happy life ended here. It seems that this unintentional news has attracted enough attention in Dingzhou. People at Chen Gong's level still couldn't understand the impact of contact on Dingzhou, but he saw the arrival of Wang Qi, the head of the Action Department, in person, and he knew that the matter must be serious.

"General Wang, the matter has been roughly figured out!" Chen Gong walked into the secret room where Wang Qi and others hid. This is also the warehouse where the Gusi Jade Store stores the most precious jade.In less than [-] square meters, the shelves where the jade stones were originally placed were moved to the wall, and more than a dozen members of the special service team crowded here. They are all in this small space. Although the weather is still cool, the smell inside is still very unpleasant. Seeing the peaceful appearance of these dozens of people, Chen Gong is extremely impressed, and he can't help but think of some of his colleagues who come and go on weekdays. When talking about these special agents, there are "unlike people" to evaluate them. It seems that they are really not ordinary people.

Wang Qi lifted his spirits and said, "Tell me about it!"

"The person sent by the Lu family in the north is called Lu Zhaoting. I heard that he is the eldest son of Lu Fengchun, the second brother of Lu Weixiong, the patriarch of the Lu family." Chen Gong said.

"The level is very high!" Wang Qi frowned. For such an important person, the defense around him must be very strict, and it would be very difficult to attack.

"After Lu Zhaoting came, he was placed in the post house by General Xu Hongwei. Now the post house has been sealed off, and only Lu Zhaoting and his party live in it. The defense is so strict that outsiders can't get in at all!" Chen Gong said. "Lv Zhaoting has been here for several days and had three meetings with Marshal Xu Hongwei. As for what they talked about, outsiders don't know. According to the information I got, it seems that Lu Zhaoting is about to leave."

Wang Qi said angrily: "This is troublesome. Once this little bastard leaves, the task given to us by the director will be ruined. Could it be that we are going to rob the road?"

Chen Gong shook his head and said: "This is unlikely. As far as I know, Lu Zhaoting has hundreds of guards with him, and when he leaves, Xu Hongwei will definitely send troops to escort him. The few of us are not enough to give them teeth sewn."

Wang Qi rubbed his forehead and sucked in hissing air, "If it doesn't work, I can only take the risk of raiding the posthouse."

While arranging for Chen Gong to get the map of the post house, there was a light knock on the door of the secret room. The two agents near the door immediately stood up, walked to the door silently, and one of them reached out to hold the door bolt. , and the other took out a pitch-black dagger from his waist.

Chen Gong waved his hand and said, "My own man!" The knock on the door stopped, and there were two more knocks, and Chen Gong signaled to open the door. A capable young man appeared by the door, but he didn't step in. Surprise flashed in his eyes, "Boss, that Lu Zhaoting has come to the shop."

Everyone in the secret room was startled, and they were planning how to kill this person, but this person appeared in front of them, God must have cared for him too much.

"Do you want to do it now?" Chen Gong's eyes showed a fierce light.

Wang Qi waved his hand, "Chen Gong, do you have a way to lure this guy into the store at night, and the less people who know about it, the better, the director's order is that it is best to bring him to Dingzhou, and kill him if he can't." dropped."

Chen Gong thought for a while, "Then there must be a bait that he can't refuse. I think about it, I have it!" Chen Gong rushed to the corner, opened an iron box, and took out a huge jade from it. The piece of jade is fiery red, and it is an extremely rare ruby. What is even more rare is that there is a yellow dragon pattern in this palm-sized, regular rectangular ruby. The yellow dragon shakes its head and tail, vividly.

"General Wang, I got this piece of jade by accident. I originally wanted to dedicate it to the commander in chief. Now I use it as bait, so I'm not afraid that he won't take the bait!" Chen Gong said triumphantly.

Seeing this rare piece of jade, although Wang Qi doesn't understand jade, he also knows its preciousness, especially the long yellow dragon pattern that grows naturally in this jade, which is fatal to those aristocratic families who try to meddle in the emperor's treasure. Appeal.

"Okay, Chen Gong, if you can successfully lure Lu Zhaoting here, you will be the first to do it this time. Director Qingfeng will not treat you badly." Wang Qi said excitedly.

After several years of expansion and operation, the storefront of Gusiyudian has expanded from a small storefront to the largest large store in Lulong today. The decoration of the store is beautiful and beautiful, which is different from other stores. The customer chooses on the spot, and the master makes it on the spot. The production area is on the left side of the store, and a special area is separated. If the customer is interested, he can even sit in front of the master and watch the master process. Of course, if you don’t want to sit here, There is also a rest room where fragrant tea, singing and dancing are served.

Now, Lu Zhaoting is sitting in front of a master craftsman with great interest, watching the master skillfully polish and carve a jade he just selected, he wants to make a jade pendant for his wife.And his two attendants stood one step behind him, and at the door of the shop, a dozen or so soldiers from Luzhou guarded the door, blocking the late comers from the shop.

"This young master, this young master!" Chen Gong came out of the back hall with a smile on his face, and trotted towards Lu Zhaoting with his fists in his hands. He saw the two attendants behind Lu Zhaoting take a quick step and block the crowd. In front of him, Chen Gong immediately slowed down his pace, but still almost bumped into someone, he quickly stopped his pace, and introduced himself: "The villain is the owner of this jade shop, and when he heard the report from the shopkeeper, he knew that there was someone in the shop. Forgive the distinguished guest, welcome the late arrival, forgive the sin and forgive the sin."

There was a slight smile on Lu Zhaoting's face, but the boss had good eyesight, and nodded immediately, "Well, your shop is different from other shops, and the craftsmanship of this master is also very fine."

Chen Gong carefully glanced at the jade in the hands of the master who was concentrating on carving the pendant, and said with a smile: "Young master has good eyesight, this jade is the best one that is displayed outside my shop. Pick him out."

Lu Zhaoting understood the meaning of these words, "Oh, there are better ones in your shop."

Chen Gong smiled obsequiously, "My lord, the jades placed outside here are all high-end goods, and I only occasionally put one or two good ones to let the experts know that there are still good ones in this shop. The real good jades are stored separately, except for those like you The nobleman, ordinary people can't see it."

Lu Zhaoting was very interested. The jade in front of him was regarded as high-grade, but he didn't expect that it was just a high-end item in the eyes of the other party.

"In that case, I want to see and see!" Lu Zhaoting said with a smile.

Chen Gong narrowed his eyes when he heard the smile, clapped his hands, and several graceful women came out from the back hall immediately, each holding a plate in their hands, and came out in a file.

Lu Zhaoting laughed and said, "You have already prepared!"

Chen Gong said with a smile: "When a nobleman like the young master comes, I must be well-prepared, so I dare to bring him in front of the young master!"

The jade on the plate and all kinds of jade wares that have been made are indeed top-grade, but in the eyes of people like Lu Zhaoting, they are only top-grade, not precious.

I stretched out my hand to play with a few pieces, feeling a little uninterested, "Not bad, not bad!"

Chen Gong observed the words and expressions, and knew that the other party didn't think so. After thinking for a while, he gritted his teeth suddenly and said, "To tell you the truth, I do have a masterpiece in my hand, but, just..."

"Excellent product?" Lu Zhaoting became a little interested. It can be seen from this store that the owner is an expert, and what he can call a unique product must not be ordinary goods.

"Can I have a look at it?"

Chen Gong glanced at the Luzhou soldier at the door, and shook his head, "To tell you the truth, this item has been in my hands for a long time, and I have never dared to take it out. The longer I keep it in my hand, The more I worry, if the young master can afford the price, I am willing to give it to the young master."

Lu Zhaoting narrowed his eyes, "Luzhou is rich, and there are many rich people, why don't you sell it to them?"

Chen Gong gritted his teeth, "It's not that I won't sell it, but I dare not sell it. I paid a lot of money for this thing, but if people in Luzhou know about this thing, I won't even be able to get back the original cost. It's precious, but it's not from Luzhou, so I dare to say it."

"What's the reason?" Lu Zhaoting asked strangely.

Chen Gong took out a piece of paper from his arms, but did not open it, and then glanced at the soldiers at the door. After Lu Zhaoting made a signal, the two guards took a step each, just blocking the sight of the soldiers at the door.Only then did Chen Gong open the paper, "My lord, what is painted on it is this exquisite pattern."

After only one glance, Lu Zhaoting took a breath of cold air with a hiss, does this kind of jade exist in the world?If you bring it back and dedicate it to your uncle, it must be a great achievement. This is a natural auspicious omen. No wonder the shopkeeper dare not let the local people in Luzhou know. If Xu Hongwei knows, he will definitely take it away. No money will be given to him.

Grabbing the piece of paper, "Is there such a thing?"

Chen Gong made a bitter face, "The villain's status is humble, and he dares to deceive such nobles as the young master. In fact, the longer this thing is held in his hands, the hotter he feels. At that time, his head was so hot that he got this thing, and now he wants to sell it. I'm afraid. As long as the young master gives me the capital, I will give it to you."

"How much is the bid?"

"Twenty thousand taels of silver!"

Lu Zhaoting was silent for a while, he was only on an envoy this time, so there was so much cash.

"Can I see the real thing?"

Chen Gong licked his lips and said: "It is not possible now. If you want to bring enough money at night, we will pay with one hand and deliver the goods with one hand. Of course, if you are worried, you can also bring your own jade craftsman to distinguish the true from the false. It's not too late to make a deal. But you must not let Marshal Xu know, otherwise the villain's head will be lost!"

Lu Zhaoting nodded, at this moment he was in no mood to look at other things, not even the pendant that was about to be finished, turned around and left.

Looking at Lu Zhaoting's back, a smile appeared on the corner of Chen Gong's mouth.

(End of this chapter)