Jiuxi

Chapter 2 002

There was a glint in Ning Li's deep eyes. This young master of the Lu family was indeed beyond his expectation.

He and Lu Chen's father, Lu Tong, were not family friends, but Lu Tong usually led the Lu family's caravans personally, and they were considered acquaintances after meeting each other a few times.

In his mind, Lu Tong was a typical businessman. He always had a humble smile on his face. It was not an exaggeration to call him smooth and sophisticated.Having met him many times, Ning Li generally knew about this well-known wealthy businessman in Guangling Mansion. He knew that he had not renewed his relationship after his wife passed away seven years ago, and he devoted himself to living with his only son.

It is said that Lu Tong valued his son very much and kept him by his side to teach him. He did not let him go out to do business until he was 19 years old this year.

Ning Li originally thought that Lu Chen would be frightened into chaos, but she didn't expect that Lu Chen could be so calm at such a young age.

Seeing the grim look on the face of the powerful captain, everyone in the caravan did not dare to express their anger. At the same time, they felt a bit of admiration for Lu Chensheng in their hearts.

The hundreds of elite sword-wielding soldiers around him gave people a great sense of oppression. They had been fighting each other all year round when they were out and about. This was just the first time for Lu Chen to go far away, not to mention that he had contracted a strange disease and was in a coma more than half a month ago.

Although the young master has always been young and mature, his demeanor has obviously become more serious after this serious illness.

"Ha ha."

Ning Li opened his mouth and sneered, then nodded and said: "You are very smart. Someone, take everyone in the Lu family caravan aside for questioning, and then carefully search these goods and their accompanying items."

More than a hundred elite soldiers immediately stepped forward, but Lu Chen raised his head and said, "Captain, wait a moment."

Ning Li put his hands on the horse's bridle and raised his eyebrows: "What's the matter?"

Lu Chen said calmly: "The Lu family business has definitely not been linked to the fake Yan Xizuo. As the saying goes, you are not afraid of the shadow, and you will not resist the captain's search. However, my father once said that people should not leave the goods when they are away from home, so I ask the captain to let your family A thorough investigation in front of everyone.”

Li Chengen and Song Yi couldn't help but raise their hearts to their throats.

Of course they knew that Lu Chen's reaction was decisive and important. Let alone whether there was anything fishy about Ning Li's statement of acting under military orders, even if it was just a seemingly ordinary routine search, they had to guard against being framed by the other party.

But it takes great courage to fight against these tough soldiers.

Ning Li was slightly surprised, but soon returned to normal and said with a hint of sarcasm: "Are you teaching me how to behave?"

This time, Lu Chen did not flinch. He said calmly: "This matter is related to the life and death of dozens of people in the Lu family. I dare not treat it with caution. Please forgive me for any offence."

Ning Li sneered and said: "You have to know that although the Lu family is quite wealthy, this is Panlong Pass, not Guangling Mansion. You, the son of a merchant, have no fame at all, and dare to show off in front of me? Who is here? , take it down!"

More than a hundred elites displayed their weapons at the same time, and the timid ones in the caravan were already trembling.

Li Chengen's expression changed, and his right hand subconsciously reached for the handle of the sword at his waist. However, Lu Chen seemed to have predicted his reaction in advance, looking back and shaking his head at him solemnly.

Ning Li had a bit of a ferocious look on his face, as if he was going to fight with swords at the next moment.

Lu Chen looked up at him and said calmly and forcefully: "Captain Ning, it is reasonable to conduct a face-to-face inspection. The captain is so determined to go his own way. Is there something hidden in this matter? The imperial court has its own rules. I am afraid we cannot let the captain cover the sky with one hand, right?"

The more than a hundred people brought by Ning Li were obviously the elites in Panlong Pass, and they did not take the caravan members seriously at all. But at this moment, in addition to them, there was also the Ministry of Household responsible for collecting commercial taxes near this important pass. Officials.

When Lu Chen finished speaking the last sentence, he glanced at the household member standing on the other side.

Before he arrived at Panlong Pass, he heard the shopkeeper Song Yi say that Lu Tong had given a lot of gold and silver to this Yuanwai Lang named Hu Quan.There is no need for him to be righteous at this time. He has already laid the steps. A word or two of help is not difficult for this kind of official.

Seeing this, the foreign minister coughed twice, smiled at Ning Li and said, "Captain Ning, I think what Mr. Lu said is reasonable."

In terms of rank, Yuanwailang is from the seventh rank, and Duwei is from the fifth rank. There is a huge difference between the two.But no matter how important Panlong Pass is, the captain of the regiment is only a middle-level general in the frontier army. Although Yuanwailang is of low rank, he is a capital official under the direct control of the Ministry of Household Affairs. The secrets are worth pondering.

The reason why Beijing officials appear here is because Panlong Pass is the only way from Huaizhou to the capital of Northern Yan.

In recent years, there have been so many customs clearance caravans, and the oil and water are naturally very considerable, so the Ministry of Revenue specially set up a tax collection point here and sent a Yuanwailang to take charge.

Ning Li obviously did not expect this turn of events. He could be polite to Lu Chen, but he could not treat the officials in the capital as if they were nothing.

He nodded slightly to the foreign minister, and then said indifferently: "Okay, I will give Mr. Hu a face today. Lu Chen, let your people keep an eye on the side. If anything inappropriate is found, don't blame me. Will be ruthless."

Lu Chen lowered his head and eyebrows. Since he had achieved his goal, it would be foolish to seek death by using his words.Under the bright spring sunshine, a vast search was launched on this flat land.

The elite soldiers brought by Ning Li conducted an extremely detailed search of the caravan's goods, everyone's belongings, and even Lu Chen's carriage, creating a messy scene.

These soldiers had rough hands and feet, and after checking the goods, they put them away casually.Fortunately, the Lu family purchased cloth from Beiyan this time, rather than items such as porcelain. Otherwise, the losses from an inspection would be unimaginable.

Lu Chen stood aside, looking calmly at the loess ground at his feet.

Witnessed by everyone in the caravan and officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs, the inspection that lasted for more than half an hour was finally completed. No suspicious items were found. Shopkeeper Song Yi couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

Ning Li's face didn't look good. His tone was too high before, so he would inevitably feel a little unhappy.

When Lu Chen saw this, he raised his hands and said, "Captain Ning, although I don't know what happened, fortunately, the captain gave the Lu family company this opportunity to prove their innocence. Just now, the captain said that they would be questioned, and everyone in the caravan should take responsibility for it." Fully cooperate."

A flash of surprise flashed in Ning Li's eyes, and the foreigner from the Household Department not far away also showed admiration.

Since Lu Chen lowered his attitude, Ning Li couldn't keep up his pretense. He just nodded and his officers led everyone to a row of bungalows in the south, and then asked questions separately.

The content of the cross-examination was very simple. They were just asked to tell them about their trip to Yan State from beginning to end. Have they ever seen people with mysterious identities or encountered inexplicable things? Finally, these questions were compared with each other.

More than half an hour passed before the interrogation came to an end. Everyone in the caravan was exhausted.

At this time, Ning Li walked into the house at the head of the house, holding a thick stack of papers recording questions in his hand, and said calmly: "Master Lu, your father is very good at running the family. Your family is one of the few in recent times that has not been compared with the puppet Yan government. Any associated trade name.”

Lu Chen knew that the difficulty was over and said humbly: "Captain Miaozan. My father has said more than once that the Lu family is a citizen of Daqi and we must always remember our duty."

Ning Li came over, raised his hand, patted his shoulder, nodded and said, "I did not deliberately make things difficult for you and others. It was just because a nest of fake swallows was discovered in Taixing Mansion a few months ago. This matter alarmed the imperial court and the Governor's Mansion. , the Sutra Weaving Department has also sent people across the river to supervise the process. Recently, searches have been stepped up everywhere, especially at border passes."

Lu Chen's heart moved slightly. Taixing Mansion is where the Huaizhou Governor's Mansion is located, just east of Guangling Mansion. Then he suddenly said: "I see, the captain has worked hard during this time."

He took out a Yongshengchang ticket worth 50 taels from his sleeve, put it quietly into Ning Li's hand, and then said with a smile: "This is a little thought from the Lu family. Please bring some wine and food for the captain and your family. Please don’t refuse.”

Ning Li's eyes swept across the face, nodded and said, "Young Master Lu is too polite."

So far everyone is happy.

The two exchanged greetings for a while, then Lu Chen returned to the caravan and led everyone to continue moving toward the southeast, while Ning Li got on his horse and entered the pass.

A moment later, he arrived at the commander's residence located in the middle of the pass and strode in without being informed.

"Is the investigation finished?" In the main hall, a middle-aged military general sat behind the case with a stack of files in front of him.

Ning Li loosened his collar, nodded and said, "No problem was found."

The middle-aged general is Pei Sui, the commander of the Panlong Army. Hearing this, he said calmly: "A few decades ago, the Lu family was just a small family in Shanyang County under Guangling Mansion. Several generations of hard work have made it what it is now. When you have a family business, you are naturally careful not to overstep the boundaries. I once met Lu Tong. He seems like a good old man, but he is actually very skillful."

Ning Li sighed with emotion: "It's just Lu Tong. After all, he is a man who has seen the world. His son is not very old, but he is a bit thoughtful."

Pei Sui said with great interest: "Why do you say this?"

Ning Li briefly recounted the episode just now. After hearing this, Pei Sui smiled and said: "You are indeed a bit brave. Okay, this is a request made by the warp weaver, so we can only do it, but you have to understand that the most important thing at the moment is What’s important.”

Ning Li asked with a bit of anticipation: "Is there really someone from the Puppet Yan side who will defect to you?"

Pei Sui said: "We are still negotiating, but it should not be a big problem. I have reported the matter to Governor Xiao, and he has given me the full responsibility. Although the person who contacted me this time has a low status in the northern court, If the trip can go smoothly, it will definitely destabilize the puppet Yan Dynasty."

He looked up at Ning Li and said solemnly: "In a few days, you will lead a team of people north to make contact and try to find out the other party's thoughts and attitudes."

Ning Li solemnly said: "The last general takes orders!"

He bowed and lowered his head, with a complicated look in his eyes.

(End of this chapter)