Chapter 101
There were several people walking back and forth in the Qingchuan Valley.
Lin Shuge and others stood in the distance, watching several men dressed in Qiang style talking to each other, but they were too far away to hear clearly what they were saying. However, they did not understand the Qiang language, so they would not be able to understand it even if they heard it.
"Sir, it's a Qiang people. Do you want to catch him and interrogate him?" Chu Xu asked.
Lin Shuge frowned, "Wait a minute, is there anyone among you who understands Qiang language?"
Chu Xu and the others shook their heads. Lin Shuge himself didn't know how to do it either, and sighed secretly. Although there seemed to be only a few people over there, he was afraid of alerting the enemy.
Lu Yuechuan, who had been silent the whole time, said, "Sir, I do know a little bit, but I'm not proficient in it."
Lin Shuge's eyes lit up, "It's fine if you can. Listen, let's do this..."
The forest was quiet, with only the sound of birds singing.
Several Qiang people were getting a little impatient waiting, and one of them complained to a leader. The leader was relatively calm and waved his hand, asking them to wait.
There was a crackling sound, which was the sound of someone stepping on a branch.
Several people drew their knives.
"Don't use the knife. We are from Huya Mountain. We have a big deal going on these days. The boss and A Lan happened to be taking people out, so they sent the second in command to bring us here to meet the adults." Lu Yuechuan said in Qiang language with a smile on his face and handed him a jade pendant.
The jade pendant was carried close to Yao Dajiang's body, so Lin Shuge took it with him this time just in case.
The leader looked at the token, and his eagle eyes scanned the people back and forth several times. A tall Qiang man next to him was impatient and complained, "Why didn't we get any response when we sent out the message a few days ago? We agreed to do it at si in the morning of every 20th of every month, why is it so late today?"
Lu Yuechuan smiled flatteringly, and quickly took out a bag of silver from his sleeve and stuffed it into the leader's hand, "It's a misunderstanding, it's a misunderstanding. The boss has been busy these days and couldn't take care of us, so he immediately asked us to come here. Today, the boss left in a hurry and left us a rough location. We didn't know the way, so it took us a long time to get here."
The leader shook his head and said, "Then come over, but you and the guy behind who doesn't look like a copycat." The leader pointed at Lu Yuechuan and Lin Shuge.
Lu Yuechuan's eyes immediately showed a hint of tenderness, "What are you talking about, sir? We all follow the boss."
There was a hint of doubt in the chief's eyes, as if he didn't understand what Lu Yuechuan was saying. The Qiang man next to him understood, a hint of disgust flashed across his face, and he said something in the chief's ear.
Lin Shuge naturally didn't understand what they were saying. He could only see that several Qiang people, who had been staring at them ferociously, now had some confusion in their eyes. They kept looking back and forth between him and Lu Yuechuan, and some even looked at them with a hint of disgust.
What was said? Because of the presence of the Qiang people, his head was full of questions.
"Okay, I got it. The goods are over there. Just give me the money and the goods at the same time." The leader urged hurriedly, as if he didn't want to know so much.
Several Qiang people behind him carried out a basket of things from the cave. There were several weapons in it. They were crudely made, but all of them had been sharpened. The weapon fell heavily to the ground, making a clanging sound, and Lin Shuge's heart also shook.
Where did this group of people get so many weapons? In the previous generation, Dayan had state-run salt and iron industries, and privately casting ironware by the people was a capital crime. It seemed that the iron mine was real.
When Lu Yuechuan squatted down to check the weapons, he secretly glanced at Lin Shuge. Lin Shuge nodded, and he stood up and said, "Sir, the number matches, but the government has been a little tense recently, so we didn't bring much money with us. These are jades sold from the Western Regions, which are enough to pay for these weapons."
Seeing a hint of suspicion flash across the leader's face, Lu Yuechuan said again: "Don't you know, sir? Qingquan has a new county magistrate, who is not on good terms with our boss. Our boss has told us to be careful when we go out this time, and also to do another business with you, sir, otherwise the village will be in danger."
Lu Yuechuan handed the jade to them. The Qiang people next to them showed joy on their faces and talked to the leader in a babble. The leader reached out and took it and said, "Okay, take it from the goods. If there is something like this, I will get you more next time."
Lu Yuechuan was delighted and flattered them a few words, then said: "Sir, our boss may do something big this time. The new county magistrate intends to deal with us. We have to increase the goods. If you can't make the decision, you can replace him with a higher-level magistrate next time." After he said that, he stuffed a few pieces of jade into the leader's hands.
The leader looked at him fiercely, "Didn't we agree to keep this number every time? We can't make too many."
Lu Yuechuan suggested, "Sir, if we succeed this time, we can provide better craftsmen for your department. You may not know that the new county magistrate has a very good craftsman under his command. It's just iron smelting, which is no problem at all."
The chief frowned. A Qiang man standing nearby looked at the jade for a moment, then pulled the chief aside and talked to him for a long time.
"I agree, but next time you can't come so late, and the price must be increased by one cent," said the leader.
Lu Yuechuan naturally agreed.
Several Qiang people packed up their things and were about to leave. It seemed that they suddenly remembered something and said, "Wait, those Yan people are not useful. Send some more next time. Young and strong ones are best."
Lu Yuechuan said: "Of course, I understand, sir."
After several Qiang people left, Lu Yuechuan translated what the leader had just said to everyone.
Everyone looked at Lin Shuge, who had an angry look on his face. "I will immediately communicate with Envoy Wei and ask him to inform the Duwei Mansion that the iron mine must not be occupied by the Qiang people, and they must not be allowed to refine weapons to kill the people of Dayan."
Yang Yan said that the Qiang people should have started mining and smelting iron since June, and their iron-smelting technology was not mature. Lin Shuge picked up a knife to check and found that the blade was rather brittle, which should be due to poor purification technology.
Fortunately, otherwise if these people had mastered the iron-smelting technology, it would have been a disaster for Dayan.
"Let's go back first." Lin Shuge said to everyone.
Yang Yan and Chu Xu carried the baskets and followed Lin Shuge, returning along the same route they came.
After Lin Shuge returned to the county government office, he immediately took out a pen and paper and wrote a letter to Xie Chen. If they really wanted to fight the Qiang people, the Duwei Mansion must act first.
The county schools should also start practicing.
"Yang Yan." Lin Shuge shouted outside.
"Sir." Yang Yan ran in and said immediately.
"Gather all the officials from the county government in the next few days. Oh, and call Chu Xu to go to the villages and towns in Pingxiang and organize all the young and strong people in the villages close to the Qiang people. Ask them to pay attention to the movements of the Qiang people every day. I will ask Xiangli Gu to bring craftsmen to make some crossbows and arrows so that they can practice on a daily basis." Lin Shuge said.
"The few people who helped us as scouts last time will also go with us. They have experience."
"Yes, sir." Yang Yan replied after bowing.
"Wait, take these with you and tell them that if they have any news about the Qiang people, I will reward them handsomely. You can also give them some prizes during your daily training. Also, pick out some good talents among the people. The county government is short of people, and we don't know the situation in the commandery's office yet. If we really fight with the Qiang people, we should be prepared." Lin Shuge took out a bag of silver from the box and handed it to Yang Yan.
After Yang Yan left, Lin Shuge hurriedly sent an urgent letter to the county governor's office reporting the situation here. The situation was of great importance, and the highest administrative and military chief of the entire Dingyuan County must be fully informed before making the next deployment.
As for the matter concerning the common people that the Qiang people just mentioned, I am afraid there is another conspiracy.
"Sir, there is a letter from Ganzhou." Lu Yuechuan walked in and said.
Letter from Ganzhou? He glanced at Lu Yuechuan and saw that he was pinching his nose and looked a little guilty.
Oh no, I promised Xu Yu to submit the manuscript, but he is writing to urge me to submit it, right?
He took it and opened it, and it was indeed a letter from Xu Yu.
"Sir, a letter from Mr. Xu?" Lu Yuechuan stretched his neck and asked with a sharp look in his eyes.
"I'm looking for you for the manuscript." Lu Yuechuan showed him the letter.
It was his fault that after coming to Qingquan, things happened one after another and he had already thrown this matter to Java. In the letter, Xu Yu asked where the manuscript was? Where is his conscience?
He looked up at Lu Yuechuan and said, "Well, should we finish writing the manuscript in a few days?"
"Sir, the matter of the Qiang people is not yet settled, and I can't calm down to write." Lu Yuechuan made up an excuse.
"Achuan, the matter of the Qiang people is not urgent right now. Take a look at what Xu Yu said in the letter." Lu Yuechuan didn't care about his excuses. The talented Lu could finish the manuscript in one night when he was inspired. As a famous saying goes, time is like water in a sponge, as long as you are willing to squeeze it, there will always be some.
"Sir, Boss Xu said that the legendary book we bought last time was sold far and wide in Yandu and Nanjun, making a huge profit, and he wants to send our share to us. So this time, the matter with the Qiang people was really a blessing from heaven." Lu Yuechuan's handsome face was full of smiles.
Both of them knew that if they really wanted to fight the Qiang people with real swords and guns, they would definitely need a lot of money. The Duwei Mansion could indeed dispatch troops, but Qingquan County still had to stand firm on its own. Once the fighting broke out before the Duwei Mansion dispatched troops, they would have to rely on themselves. Everything depended on money.
Moreover, the Duwei Mansion is guarding the border. In order to prevent the Huns from invading from the south, the large army must not move, and it is still unknown which team will come.
The two of them had not spoken to each other just now, both of them were worried about these things.
Xu Yu also mentioned in the letter that the restaurant's dividends from the past few months would also be sent to him. With this money, at least he could use it first, and if it was not enough later, he could make plans.
"What do you think, my Lord?"
"This year is a drought, and the people of Dayan are having a hard time, and the Qiang people are having a hard time too."
"My Lord, you mean they might..." Lu Yuechuan said worriedly.
Lin Shuge shook his head, everything was just speculation.
Both of them fell silent.
"Sir, what's the situation in Ganzhou?" Lu Yuechuan changed the subject.
"Fortunately, Ding Wenhong didn't get much advantage."
In the letter, Xu Yu said that Ding Wenhong had a very bad temper and even asked Xu Yu's actors to perform for him alone. However, Xu Yu was cruel and coaxed Ding Wenhong into paying a lot of money. As for papermaking and printing, since Lin Shuge had already made the technology public before he left, the Ding family could not gain much of an advantage.
Moreover, the envoy Wei had just enforced the law strictly some time ago, prohibiting officials in Dingyuan from abusing their power for personal gain or competing with the people for profit. Ding Wenhong had just arrived and had not caused much trouble, so the people in Ganzhou lived their lives as usual.
"I plan to send Chu Xu to bring people to support us. This money cannot be lost." Qingquan is not like Ganzhou. After these unstable factors are eliminated one by one, we can think of other things.
However, winter is coming soon, so we have to arrange a kang from Ganzhou here.
He had observed in recent days that although the kang technology had been passed on, it required bricks. Many people had problems with food and drink, so where would they get the money to buy bricks? Perhaps more brick kilns could be built in the county?
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
