After Li Ji Trading Company established itself in the northern desert, it planned different focuses based on the characteristics of each prefecture. For example, Changzhou was the richest, so rice and cloth trading companies were based there. Qizhou, on the other hand, was surrounded by dense forests, making it easy for bandits to hide. Merchants traveling there urgently needed the protection of escort agencies, so escort agencies were the priority in Qizhou.

However, there are nearly ten escort agencies of all sizes in Qizhou, and these agencies are all seasoned veterans in Qizhou. If you want to break through these agencies and quickly occupy the Qizhou market, it is not enough to plan and defeat them little by little like you did with Longchang Escort Agency. You must quickly occupy the market.

So the people from Li's Trading Company came up with a dirty trick: they hired a bunch of skilled robbers to rob all the goods, regardless of size or weight.

The prefect of Qizhou had also sent troops to suppress the bandits, but they had neither a master like Qi Chenglang, nor a divine wolf like Xueye's mother to help them, nor the identity of His Highness Prince Wen to get the help of the surrounding prefects. The bandit suppression operation not only failed, but also cost the lives of several yamen runners.

It can be said that the bodyguards that Deputy General Yuan was making things difficult for all had some lives on their hands.

The people of Qizhou soon discovered that the newly established Li Ji Escort Agency was very safe in escorting goods, and the reputation of Li Ji Escort Agency was established in Qizhou.

Those escort agencies that were forced to close down weren't unaware that this matter was related to Li's Escort Agency, but their highly skilled escorts had already been lost, and the remaining escorts were either afraid of death or incompetent. Several escort agencies joined forces to carry out a robbery, but the final result was a crushing defeat.

Gu Yuzhi listened as if he were listening to a legendary tale.

Previously, Huang Fu and Qian Kang used dirty methods to deal with Wen's Medical Hall, but the matter ended too quickly and there were no casualties. Gu Yuzhi was not very moved and found it hard to imagine that a business could be so cruel.

For a time, Gu Yuzhi's disgust for Li's Trading Company reached its peak.

His little face was almost scrunched up like a bun, and his big eyes darted around: "Chief Secretary Xie, did Deputy General Yuan say whether the Prefect of Qizhou is trustworthy?"

Deputy General Yuan had no time to deal with this matter; his mind had already been drawn away by Marshal Huo.

Chief Secretary Xie walked in slowly and handed over a letter: "Your Highness, this is a secret letter sent by the Prefect of Qizhou."

Gu Yuzhi stared wide-eyed as he took the secret letter, and saw the words "To be opened by His Highness Prince Wen" written on the envelope.

He blinked rapidly: "This is for me, not for the Wen family business."

This feeling is so strange...

He had been in the northern desert for so long, and apart from Prefect Qi, he had not contacted any other prefects. Yet this Prefect of Qizhou actually wrote him a letter.

He quickly opened the letter, reading and guessing as he went, and soon finished reading the whole thing. He then handed it to Xie Changshi, who had a calm but curious expression, saying, "This is a letter asking for help."

As early as when Li Ji Escort Agency suddenly rose to prominence, the prefect of Qizhou knew that the whole thing was a setup, but he was isolated and helpless, and had no evidence, so naturally he had no way to deal with Li Ji Escort Agency.

Over the years, the prefect of Qizhou had collected some evidence, but he hadn't found a suitable opportunity. However, the recent incident involving Li's Escort Agency gave the prefect of Qizhou hope.

However, the Qizhou Prefectural Government's forces were clearly insufficient to completely eradicate Li's Escort Agency, so at this time he thought of His Highness Prince Wen.

Since His Highness has many capable and talented people around him who have swiftly and decisively wiped out the bandits, it would be best to seek their help.

The secret letter contained not only a distress call but also some evidence. If the evidence was true, Gu Yuzhi could act first and report later, directly beheading the guards involved from Li's Escort Agency.

Chief Secretary Xie could not trust the Prefect of Qizhou just because of this. He carefully compared the whole situation with that provided by Deputy General Yuan. After a long while, he raised his head and pinched his tired brow: "We will help the Prefect of Qizhou deal with Li's Escort Agency. In exchange, the Prefect of Qizhou will help us identify the members of the merchant guild."

Only then did Manager Wen slowly nod, his tone somewhat leisurely: "To be frank, Your Highness, your brother's throne isn't very secure either."

Gu Yuzhi nodded his head seriously: "It seems so."

Although the Emperor is the Crown Prince, when Father Emperor was still alive, he clearly favored the Prince of Chu the most.

Even though he was not favored and spent most of his time in his mother's palace, he could still hear the palace servants gossiping about what merits the Prince of Chu had made and whether the emperor was going to change the crown prince.

At that time, he thought that he preferred his gentle and smiling elder brother, the Crown Prince, to his third elder brother, who always looked down on him.

That's why, after his father's death and his elder brother, the Crown Prince, ascended the throne, Gu Yuzhi thought his days in the palace would be easier...

Gu Yuzhi pondered for a moment, chin in hand, and felt increasingly that there was a reason why his elder brother had exiled him to the northern desert.

He thought about it and his expression turned to relief. He patted his chest and said, "It's a good thing that it was my elder brother who ascended the throne. If it were my brother, the Prince of Chu, I wouldn't be living such a good life."

If the King of Chu disregards the lives of the people in his fiefdom, he certainly won't care about the people of Sang Dynasty if he were to ascend the throne.

Unaware of Gu Yuzhi's true thoughts, Xie Changshi summoned Shen Yu'an and then said, "Your Highness, in Changzhou, the two merchant houses that Shen Yu'an has contacted have both agreed to pool funds to purchase salt permits and are willing to join the merchant guild after successfully purchasing the permits."

These business people are all shrewd and would never join a merchant group before they are certain they can make a profit. However, in order to show Wen's Trading Company their sincerity, they did give a considerable deposit.

If you change your mind halfway through, the deposit is non-refundable.

"Changzhou has been confirmed. As long as we take down Li's Escort Agency in Qizhou, we should be able to confirm it soon. The only remaining case is Dingzhou."

As for Qingzhou, they can only make contact with Qingzhou after the Emperor sends a reliable prefect to eliminate the Li family business.

With less than a month left before the salt permits could be purchased, the people of the Prince Wen's mansion had a long and arduous journey ahead. Even Liu Dianyi, who rarely left the mansion and had a very low profile, had gone to Dingzhou.

It was at this time that Gu Yuzhi learned that Liu Dianyi, who had kept a low profile, was originally a censor who had debated with the court officials when his father was alive, but was eventually framed and forced to leave the capital.

Liu Dianyi had already found solace in nature, but he didn't know what his elder brother had said that moved him to come to the northern desert with him.

Whether on the way to Mobei or in Changzhou, Liu Dianyi rarely showed his face. If it weren't for the need to find a reliable person to go to Dingzhou to find a business to cooperate with, Liu Dianyi would probably still be a nobody.

Gu Yuzhi tilted his head and thought about what Chief Secretary Xie had told him about Liu Dianyi's great achievements, then clenched his little fist: "Liu Dianyi is so capable, he will definitely bring good news!"