Royal Gold Medal County Magistrate

Inside the Minister of Revenue's residence.

The head steward, Xu Bo, knocked on the study door.

A voice responded from inside, and Xu Bo pushed the door open and said, "Master, someone is seeking an audience."

Zhang Shi raised his head in confusion.

At this hour of the Zi Shi (11 PM - 1 AM), someone is still seeking an audience.

"Who is it?"

Xu Bo lowered his voice involuntarily and said, "It's someone from the Prince's estate."

Prince Wu... It's been a while since I've seen him. Why would he suddenly send someone to inform me?

Zhang Shi frowned: "Invite them in."

Before long, a middle-aged man in black, close-fitting attire walked in.

He respectfully bowed and presented a letter with both hands, saying, "Lord Zhang, the Prince has asked me to deliver this letter to you."

"Who are you? If the Prince has something to discuss, why not speak face-to-face? Why send a messenger?"

"I am Jiang Hu, a commander in the Prince's Guard."

Zhang Shi tremblingly accepted the letter, looking at Jiang Hu with suspicion.

The Prince's Guard... Back when the regional princes hadn't been stripped of their power, the local princes still retained them.

But this guard was abolished long ago!

Prince Wu actually secretly kept this private army?

Zhang Shi quickly opened the letter and read it carefully, cold sweat dripping down as he read.

Haiyuan City has been exposed... The Prince is going there himself?

Zhang Shi folded the letter and said urgently, "Besides this letter, what else did the Prince say? Will the Prince return?"

Jiang Hu said, "The Prince told you to preserve your useful body. I have delivered the message. Lord Zhang, farewell!"

With that, Jiang Hu turned and left.

Xu Bo cautiously approached and asked, "Master, why didn't Prince Wu take his guard with him when he left?"

Zhang Shi directly lit the letter with an oil lamp, watching the ashes fly away, lost in thought.

"Hmm... You may leave for now."

.........

Jiang Hu left the Minister of Revenue's residence and went straight to a large house not far from the Prince's estate.

Many people in black, close-fitting attire guarded the house, making it look particularly grim.

He passed through the hall and went directly to the study in the backyard, also calling for a few people to join him.

The study was decorated differently, with a table in the room.

On the table was a map, looking like a certain county town.

As soon as he entered the room, Jiang Hu went straight to the point: "Everyone, the Prince has gone far enough."

"Within three days, we must take Taoyuan County and seize the 'Boundless Merit' item, then depart from Jiangling Port. By then, the Prince should have prepared to meet us at another port."

Someone asked, "Commander, what exactly is this 'Boundless Merit' item? Why does the Prince value it so much?"

Jiang Hu looked at the map and said, "I don't know. I only heard the Prince say it's a divine object that can split mountains and crack rocks! This item is the most important thing to the Prince. He went to capture Fang Zhengzhi. If he doesn't succeed, then it all depends on us. We must be prepared and not make any mistakes!"

Jiang Hu pointed to the map: "We only have two thousand people. The day after tomorrow, we will first send two hundred people in disguise to enter Taoyuan County and seize the city gate."

"The rest of us will hide in the forest two miles away. When the time is right, we will directly enter the city and start killing!"

"The soldiers and constables in a county will not exceed five hundred, and they are all mediocre. Each of you will lead a troop of soldiers, two teams to guard the city gate to prevent people from leaving, and the rest will search for 'Boundless Merit' separately. Kill anyone who gets in your way. We must make a quick decision!"

"That's roughly it. I sent Little Six out this noon to scout the situation in Taoyuan County. He should be back tomorrow, and then we can make more detailed arrangements."

Everyone began to take turns pointing at the map to discuss the plan, in order to prevent unexpected situations from happening.

Suddenly, a flustered figure rushed in, panting heavily as he stood in front of Jiang Hu.

Jiang Hu was surprised: "Little Six! Why are you back so soon? Did you finish scouting?"

Little Six gasped for breath, and after a while, he said, "I... I... I didn't get past the toll station..."

"What!? Toll station?" Jiang Hu was dumbfounded. There was no such thing on the map the Prince gave him.

"Ah! Toll station! The entire territory of Taoyuan County is full of toll stations! I didn't bring enough silver, and I couldn't pass after two stations..." Little Six had a mournful look on his face.

The people in the room fell silent.

Everyone usually trains in the village outside the city and rarely has the opportunity to come out. They had indeed never heard of such a thing.

Isn't this just highway robbery?

Jiang Hu was furious: "Are you a blockhead?! Can't you take a detour?"

Little Six felt extremely wronged: "I wanted to take a detour! But there are patrols everywhere that are slightly easier to walk on! Unless you go over the mountains, you have to go through the toll station!"

"It's damn weird! I thought there wouldn't be any more after passing one toll station, but unexpectedly, there was another one every three hundred zhang! Their toll station is like a teahouse. They are clearly soldiers, but they wear linen clothes outside! Isn't this rogue behavior!!!!!"

"Also, the horse got tired, and there were people selling fodder on the roadside, and I didn't think much about it. Who knew that a portion of fodder would cost two qian of silver! And they said it was some kind of greenhouse grass, isn't this killing people! After passing two stations, I only had twenty wen left on me. If I didn't give them money, they would have surrounded me."

Jiang Hu slammed the table angrily, filled with indignation: "Damn it! Why didn't you kill them?"

"They all have knives..."

"Then did you give them the money in the end?" Someone asked quickly.

Little Six cried: "I really didn't have any money. They took my horse and found me some silver, otherwise I wouldn't have even been able to get out of the toll station. I ran back..."

"It costs money to enter and it costs money to come out!!!!!"

"Yes..."

"........"

"Commander, we've encountered real robbers, what should we do!"

Jiang Hu held his chest and gasped a few times, feeling somewhat at a loss.

Things are not quite the same as he imagined. Have robbers become so formalized now?

"Commander... what should we do?! We can't possibly cross the mountains, can we? That would take too much time, and the brothers can't stand it!"

"In my opinion, we might as well charge in, overturn their damn toll stations, and then quickly raid Taoyuan County!"

Little Six quickly stopped him: "No! Absolutely not!"

"There is a toll station every three hundred zhang. If you overturn the first one, the people behind will go back to report, and we don't even know how many toll stations there are behind. If the city gate is closed by then, we won't be able to do anything!"

"Commander, what should we do?!"

Jiang Hu's face was solemn. He didn't expect that a small county town could be so troublesome! This situation is unheard of, and it's not in the books either…

Jiang Hu hesitated with a red face: "Everyone... let's raise some money, and get past the toll stations first..."

"Commander, aren't we going to rob them!!!!!"

"Shut up! Little Six, how much does it cost for one person at the toll station?"

Little Six recalled painfully: "One tael for one person, two taels for riding a horse..."

A total of four thousand taels for both people and horses... At this moment, Jiang Hu's eyes were filled with confusion.

It seemed that the Prince didn't leave him any other money besides the travel expenses when he left... Not enough money.

Little Six's weak voice came: "Or... let's sell the horses..."

......