The First Great Ancestor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 424: Kaifeng Secret Arrow

Qingliu Pass is located 25 miles northwest of Chuzhou City. It is surrounded by mountains and has deep and dangerous valleys. It has been an important transportation route in and out of the Jinling area since ancient times.

Li Min, the great ancestor of the Southern Tang Dynasty, founded the country. He dug a pass along the Qingliu River here and formally established the Qingliu Pass. It set up checkpoints for trade in peacetime and collected customs duties, and closed the pass for defense in times of war.

Qingliu Pass is located high up, overlooking the Huaihe River. The army coming from the north is at the foot of the mountain. If they want to attack the pass, they can only attack from their backs.

When the Guancheng was built, Li Min visited it in person and proudly called it the "Key of Jinling".

If the Qingliu Pass is not lost, the defense of the river will not be lost, and Jiangning will be safe.

For many years, Qingliu Pass has been peaceful and peaceful. It only serves as an important trade route. There is an endless stream of traders traveling between the north and the south every day, bringing in huge customs revenue. Officials in Jiangning and Chuzhou regard this place as a fertile vacancy.

However, in the past two days, troops and horses have been mobilized frequently between Qingliu Pass and Chuzhou City. A large number of forbidden troops have entered Guancheng. Looking at the armor flags, they should be the forbidden troops of the Sixth Army under Jiangning.

For a time, all kinds of rumors were flying all over the sky. The merchants were worried about the outbreak of war in Huaibei and did not dare to enter or exit the pass. This caused panic in Chuzhou City.

It wasn't until the notice was posted in the Yamen of the state government that the common people knew that the Forbidden Army was hunting for a group of fugitives who fled from Jiangning.

It is said that this gang of fugitives was very cunning and good at disguises. Chuzhou officers and soldiers and the forbidden army jointly searched for many days, only a few people were caught in Guancheng, and they all died after a brutal fight.

The bravery and fierceness of this group of fugitives is really shocking.

That afternoon, the Guancheng garrison found traces of the fugitives north of the pass. A large number of soldiers were dispatched, led by Ji Yuansi, the Qingliu Pass guard general, out of the pass and headed north to pursue the fugitives.

The people in Guancheng were surprised to find that General Ji, who usually flaunts his might, accompanied a young man in purple with a smile all over his face, showing his flattery.

General Ji was born in the Ji family of Hezhou. He was a son of a well-known family and had countless uncles and brothers who were officials in the court. Even the last time Jin King Li Jingsui inspected the border defense and Ji Yuansi accompanied him, he did not show such an expression.

The people all speculated who the arrogant-looking young man could be.

A large number of soldiers came out of the customs, and the dust they trampled filled the narrow city.

Not far from the city gate, there is a second-floor restaurant made of bamboo and wood. Standing by the window upstairs, with his hands behind his hands, is a man dressed as a businessman in a silk robe. He has two mustaches on his lips and eyes. Long and narrow, it exudes cunning.

This person turned out to be Tao Wenju.

There was an attendant standing behind him. He had an ordinary appearance and his eyes were wandering restlessly. It was Qiu Shoucai, a refugee from Longzhou whom Tao Wenju had taken in in Anding County, Jingzhou.

"Sir, Du Dian is here." Qiu Shoucai glanced at the stairs, took two steps closer, and whispered beside Tao Wenju.

Tao Wenju turned around and saw a short and thin man wearing a gray robe and a bamboo hat walking quickly.

This person's name is Du Yi, and he is an envoy under the Wude Department who is stationed in Shouzhou to spy on intelligence.

Wang Lingwen went south to Jiangning and asked him to accompany him, but Du Yi has been hiding in Chuzhou area and did not enter Jiangning City with Wang Lingwen.

"Damn it, bad luck! I lost thirty dollars yesterday, so I knew there would be no good things this whole month!"

As soon as Du Yi sat down, he was full of complaints and his accent sounded like that of Guanzhong.

Tao Wenju glanced at Qiu Shoucai. Qiu Shoucai understood and sat at a table near the stairs, eating a plate of pumpkin seeds and always paying attention to what was going on downstairs.

"Du Dianzhu, what happened?" Tao Wenju sat across the table and poured him a cup of tea.

Du Yi picked up the tea cup and drank it. He wiped his mouth and said, "Don't mention it. I just received news that Zhu Xiu has arrived in Shouzhou."

"Shouzhou?" Tao Wenju frowned, "Why couldn't I find out the exact whereabouts before?"

Du Yi snorted coldly: "The Wang Shisi is personally responsible for escorting Zhu Xiu back to Kaifeng. A small official is not qualified to intervene. Naturally, it is impossible for Wu Desi to know all the information."

Tao Wenju was silent.

"Sir, please report back to Privy Council Wang. I can only do this one step for what the old man told me." Du Yigong held his hand, but he didn't look ashamed at all.

Tao Wenju's eyes flashed with anger. This guy had charged him five hundred dollars and was ready to quit before the matter was finished.

However, Du Yi was the Wude Secretary's sign envoy that he had finally bought. Although his rank was not high, he still had access to some secrets. Keeping him would be useful in the future.

Tao Wenju said in a deep voice: "Zhu Xiu's family members are in danger at Qingliu Pass, will he just sit back and watch?" Du Yi said lazily: "Then Lord Zhu Hou is not simple. He is protected by a mysterious warrior, and even Wude Si is not completely protected. Find out the origins of this group of people.

Lord Zhu was in Shouzhou and was protected by Wang Shisi personally, while his men were protecting his mother, brother and sister-in-law.

If nothing else goes wrong, the Tang Guo Dian Si and Chuzhou soldiers are a bunch of losers and will definitely not be able to catch them. "

Tao Wenju was a little annoyed: "It's a good thing that I revealed the news to Li Hongji early, but I didn't expect that Zhu Xiu's family members would still escape from Qingliu Pass."

Du Yi asked curiously: "It is rumored that Mr. Tao also served under Lord Zhu Hou before. Why now he has turned against him and has to put his old master to death?"

Tao Wenju gave him a cold look: "You shouldn't ask, please ask Du Dian to sign your divorce! You just need to know that you and I are serving the Privy Council now, and we can just follow orders!"

Du Yi chuckled and said: "Just asking casually, Mr. Tao is not to be blamed. Privy Wang is rich and powerful, and it is a blessing for a villain to look down on a villain."

Tao Wenju snorted. If he didn't have the five hundred dollars to clear the way and give Du Yi the courage, he wouldn't dare to betray Wang Lingwen.

It's just that Wang Lingwen is extremely strict in disciplining his subordinates, and strictly prohibits people from the Wude Department from contacting officials and generals. Exchanging information for money will only lead to death once it is discovered.

Du Yi loved gambling, and the little salary and some secret income he received were not enough to squander.

Tao Wenju approached him, and for the sake of five hundred dollars, Du Yi obeyed without much effort.

After Tao Wenju took refuge in Wang Jun, the first task Wang Jun gave him was to get as close as possible to Wu Desi and cultivate cronies within him.

After hitting the wall many times, Du Yi was lucky enough to open up the situation.

Tao Wenju endured the strong smell of garlic in Du Yi's mouth and tried to calmly say: "No matter whether this plan is successful or not, Privy Wang is satisfied with Du Dian's loyalty. Privy Wang's intention is that he hopes that Du Dian will be able to succeed in Wude." Si Li took a step further and strived to be transferred back to Kaifeng as soon as possible.

In this way, Du Dian will have more opportunities to help Privy Wang in the future. "

Du Yi stroked the messy beard under his chin and said with a strange smile: "Of course I also want to go back to Kaifeng, so please ask Privy Wang to think of more ways to move around. I've long been tired of staying in that stupid place in Shouzhou."

Looking at the time, Du Yi stood up and said goodbye: "I'm going back to Shouzhou, so I won't be staying soon."

With a perfunctory farewell, Du Yi walked down the stairs and left.

"Master, this guy is too arrogant." Qiu Shoucai returned to sit down next to Tao Wenju and muttered.

Tao Wenju said coldly: "This man is greedy and treacherous. It's hard to believe that if we really help him transfer back to Kaifeng and ask him to do things again, I'm afraid it will cost far more than [-] guan."

I want to repay Privy Wang and look for people in the Wude Department again. "

Qiu Shoucai said: "What about Du Yi? He knows a lot of our secrets."

Tao Wenju sneered: "Du Yi leaked the secret of the Wude driver. Once Wang Lingwen knows it, he will have no chance of survival. There is no need for us to do anything, someone will get rid of him."

Qiu Shoucai thought for a while and said with admiration: "This is called borrowing a knife to kill someone!"

"Let's go back to Kaifeng!" Tao Wenju put on a cloak, put on his hood, and prepared to go downstairs.

Suddenly, he noticed that someone seemed to be spying on the other tables on the second floor. He suddenly turned his head and glanced back and forth, but found no one strange.

Tao Wenju shook his head and muttered secretly, thinking that he had not had a good rest in recent days and was suffering from mental hallucinations.

After they went downstairs and left the restaurant, after a while, two men dressed as boatmen stood up at a table in the corner of the second floor and walked to the table where Tao Wenju and Du Yi were sitting just now.

"It's indeed Tao Wenju, you read that right!"

"Report to the Commander-in-Chief quickly!"

"The Marquis is in Shouzhou. Do you want to rush to Shouzhou first to report to the Marquis?"

"Since the Commander-in-Chief has not given orders, we have no right to interfere in the affairs of the Marquis. We must act according to orders and do not make arbitrary claims or act beyond our authority. This is one of the nine prohibitions of Zangfeng Camp!"

"Then go back to Kaifeng and report to the Commander-in-Chief!"

(End of this chapter)