Hidden Dragon in Qing Dynasty

Chapter 53 - Taiping Road Robbery

The amount of precious metals in the Qing Dynasty was about 35 grams, and 10 thousand taels was about 350 kilograms. Right now, a total of 700 kilograms of precious metals had been stolen by someone, and that was something Xiao Letian could not understand.

"Are you saying that a masked man suddenly rushed out of a forest on the Taiping Road and subdued all of you with a bowl of tea? Then, you put the silver taels into two wooden boxes and carried them away? " Xiao Letian asked this with a guilty conscience, it was a fifteen man silver transport team, they could be subdued just like that?

In the forest on the west side of the Taiping Road, a group of people were kneeling down. In the middle of the group were the fifteen soldiers who had lost their silver taels. Under Xiao Letian's questioning, these dozens of men all looked like they wanted to find a hole and hide in it.

Currently, the two furnaces on the roof were in a state where they were extremely short of silver, the forging of the silver coins had almost stopped, Fan Lian had no choice but to use his contacts in Beijing to begin using the treasures in the Liu-Li Factory's treasury.

As the capital, the Beijing had always been the main dumping ground for the cultural relic market. No matter if it was buying a few things to rush into one's own house or exchanging them for a few things to go around to the higher officials' back door, good treasures were never to be bought.

No matter what pearl jade treasure, antique calligraphy, or gold and silver porcelain you are, as long as it is real, you don't have to worry about silver. In addition, Manager Fan Lian's network was wide, there were many friends in the Liu-Li Factory, thus the treasures that the Taibai Top brought would usually be sold for a high price.

Xiao Letian did not sell the treasures for pleasure, he did it for the sake of the silver cauldron in the Taibai Top. Therefore, he had to trade the treasures in the Beijing for real silver, not silver notes. But when he accumulated more silver, transportation would become a problem. Ten thousand taels of silver would be 350 kilograms, and one hundred thousand taels would be three and a half tons. Such a large amount of money was simply too eye-catching.

Therefore, the Taibai Top had set up a team of five fifteen people to transport silver. Each team would transport about twenty-two thousand silver taels at once, and each of them would carry an average of about fifty kilograms of weight.

Ever since the establishment of the silver team, they had successfully sent over 80,000 taels of silver to the village without a single incident. However, no one had expected such a bizarre robbery to happen today.

"Advisor, our death sentence …" The leader of the military men knocked his head against the ground and sobbed, "The Taiping Road has always been our resting place. But today, just as we were about to take off our bags to drink some water, a person suddenly flew out from the direction of the forest …"

"We didn't see wrong, it was just a person flying out. I've never seen such a powerful movement technique in my life before. He rushed into the group like a gust of wind, and before I could pull the blade out, I fell to the ground …"

At that moment, a small soldier at the end of the line said, "I was standing at the very end of the line, I clearly saw the whole process. At that time, a small soldier at the very end of the line said," I was standing at the very end of the line, I clearly saw the whole process.

"I... "I was the last one. I thought I was going to get beaten up as well. I had already taken out my knife. Even if I was the only one left, I would still fight him to the death …" At this moment, the petite man suddenly said in a very shameful tone, "But he didn't attack me, he only knocked my weapon away with his scabbard, his subordinate was unable to control it with his scabbard …"

The little soldier seemed ashamed that he didn't faint with the others. "I'm sorry, Advisor, I'm sorry..." The man in black packed all the silver into two large boxes, and then carried one on his shoulder into the woods. "But before he left, he left me a message …"

At this time, the soldier was a little hesitant. Xiao Letian looked into his eyes and said: "Speak!" "The little guy didn't dare disobey." The black-clothed man said that if Xiao Letian wanted this silver, he would have to let him go into the forest alone.

Xiao Letian didn't say anything and urged his horse forward into the forest. However, Sima Yun and the other soldiers kept him on the reins and didn't let him in.

"No, absolutely not. Prince has given a death order, no matter what danger, Mr. Xiao must not come near. Xiao Hexin and Wang Huaiyuan have already brought their people in, so you can just wait for the news, Sir. "If you force your way in, we'll die here …"

Xiao Letian was so anxious that he started to sweat profusely. No matter how he tried to pull, he could not break out of the human circle, and in the end, he could not even dismount from the horse. The group of soldiers hugged his leg without letting go, and angrily Xiao Letian whipped them a few times.

"Bastard, let go of all of you!" Don't you understand this? The robber wasn't asking for money at all, he wanted to see me. He wanted to use silver taels to lure me out. [You bunch of bastards have been looking at me to death everyday. That is why this man came up with such a plan …] "Out of the way, all of you, get out of the way …"

The soldiers would rather endure being whipped than to let go of Xiao Letian's hand. They quickly surrounded Xiao Letian, forming a lump in the middle that made the blue and white horses cry out loudly.

Just as the scene was in a mess, a loud laughter came out from the forest: "Hahaha, is Alone overseas Xiao Letian that brave? You don't even dare meet anyone? To tell you the truth, Xiao Hexin and Wang Huaiyuan's lives are in my hands, if you want to save them, come in by yourself … "

"It's Xiang Shaolong! Northern Dragon Lord Xiang Shaolong... "You bastards, quickly let go of me. I'm in no danger. Since he released me last time, he has no ill intentions towards me …" Xiao Letian used all his might to push his horse forward, and with a whip strike, he finally opened a hole in the road.

Big Clear Flower's horse trotted towards the sparse forest, followed by a group of soldiers chasing after him.

Taiping Road was a typical place where the mountains met the plains. To the east was the endless North China Plains, while to the west were the hills. In the distance, the Taihang Mountains could be seen as well.

The forest grew denser and denser, and after ten minutes, Xiao Letian finally saw a living person. A dejected soldier was tied to a tree trunk.

"Military advisor!" Why are you here, you can't go in, it's Xiang Shaolong, he was the one who took the silver … " Xiao Letian did not bother to care about him, and just waved her hand for the soldiers behind him to untie the ropes.

The further they walked, the more shocked Xiao Letian became. He discovered that Xiang Shaolong was simply an expert in wild battles. The soldiers that Xiao Hexin, Wang Huaiyuan and the others brought over were practically all taken care of by these traps.

Some were knocked out on the ground, some were hanging upside down in midair by tree vines, some were tied to tree trunks, and there were even some who had their legs sprained from the simple fall of a horse pit … It was only when he finally saw the small river deep within the forest that he finally saw Xiang Shaolong himself.

At this time, Xiang Shaolong had already lit a bonfire, and the two people tied up beside the bonfire was Xiao Hexin and Wang Huaiyuan, while Xiang Shaolong was fully focused on forking at the fish swimming in the river.

"Ai …" Master Xiao, a few more forks will be enough for us to roast. "Don't look at how thin the fish is in the beginning of spring, but the taste is the best. After eating it and gaining strength …" While he was speaking, Xiang Shaolong did not even turn back, as if he did not know that he was surrounded by 40 to 50 strong men.

Xiao Letian dismounted and walked over to the bonfire. He sat down on top of the silver chest and casually picked up Xiang Shaolong's treasured blade, a cold light flashed and the sharp blade appeared in front of Xiao Letian, "Oh, good blade! "If even an ignorant person like me can tell that it's good, then it must be a good blade …" After he finished speaking, he used his blade to cut the ropes on Xiao Hexin's and Wang Huaiyuan's bodies.

The atmosphere was a little awkward right now. All of Xiang Shaolong's people had already been released, and even his weapons were already in Xiao Letian's hands. Right now, the only weapon that he could be considered a decent weapon was the sharp wooden stick in his hand.

Xiao Letian waved his hand, his men did not stop him this time, and all of them retreated ten steps back before forming a huge circle as they stared at Xiang Shaolong.

"Alright, these few fish are enough for us to have a taste …" With that, Xiang Shaolong sat on top of another silver chest and started to pack up the fresh fish.

"I am convinced. I never thought that Mr. Xiao would actually collude with bandits and make Silver Coins, even though she has more guts than the heavens. The white silver ocean is flowing into your pocket like seawater. Although I am an amateur, I know that a business that can get the Mr. Xiao's attention is a huge business deal. I wonder how much can I earn from this trade? "

Xiao Letian was like a child playing with the treasured blade that was passed down in the Xiang Shaolong family. He didn't even think about it, "That was simply an unprofitable business, collecting the scattered silver taels from the citizens is equivalent to 30% of the profit. Give me 10,000 gold taels, and I will definitely return you 13,000 silver taels …"

"What's wrong? Dragon Lord is interested... "That's easy. Collect some scattered silver for me. When the time comes, we'll split the profits, even if it's you and me …"

After saying that, Xiang Shaolong's expression suddenly became lonely, "The Mr. Xiao is rich, but my family is not. My ancestors operated the Xiang Jia Village for three generations, but in the end, the Tarantula was burned into a wasteland and I was even charged with being a bandit … It's really hard to explain the different situations and situations in one's life! "

Xiao Letian laughed when he heard that, "Haha, how can Dragon Lord not watch? You should have thought of it when you took the deal that killed me. If you kill me, Taibai Top's brothers will definitely slaughter your Xiang Jia Village to avenge me. You didn't kill me, but in the end, in order to keep your mouth shut, your employer also wanted to kill you.

Xiang Shaolong laughed bitterly and said, "That's right, this business is too unlucky. No matter if it succeeds or not, my Xiang Family will be in trouble. "How can a little green woodsman be a match for you guys …"

"However, I still have to thank you. If it weren't for Master Xiao's righteous action to inform us in advance, our Xiang Jia Village would really be annihilated. To be able to escape with his life, that would be the luckiest thing that could happen …"

Xiao Letian had never stopped his investigation of Xiang Shaolong's information. He knew that everyone in the Xiang Jia Village had safely moved to the other side of the entrance. With Dragon Lord's connections, hiding a few hundred people was not a problem. But Xiang Shaolong himself had gone missing on Xiao Letian's information network, the Chun Sanshiniang did all they could to not be able to find him, they never expected that the Dragon Lord would actually be hiding in the Beijing Belt.

"What is Dragon Lord planning to do? I will tell you the truth, when firearms become more powerful, it will be harder and harder for a martial arts expert like you to survive. Xiao Letian advised sincerely.

"Oh? Master Xiao, do you have any ingenious methods to guide me? " Xiang Shaolong inserted the washed fish on both sides of the fire and asked without raising his head.

From today on, I will hire you as my personal bodyguard. With a monthly salary of 1000 yuan, I will work for a full ten years, then I will reward you with a manor with 500 mu of land, then another ten years, then I will reward you with a manor with 1000 mu of land, then another ten years … "Oh forget it, you should retire after thirty years …"

"Alright, I'll be a bit more magnanimous. You have protected me for 30 years, so not only will I raise your wages every year, I'll also give you a two-thousand-acre manor. How about it?"

Xiang Shaolong never thought that Xiao Letian would actually be so generous. Even the experienced and knowledgeable Dragon Lord was a little stunned, "Are you trying to trick me with the grass on the side of the mouth?"

"Look at what you're saying, what I'm giving you is definitely a watering ground on the plain. Is that enough?"

"No, it's not enough …" Xiang Shaolong suddenly stood up, scaring the surrounding soldiers, who drew their blades to fight, but Xiao Letian waved his hand to stop them.

"If Dragon Lord has any conditions, please speak …"