Chapter 764

The air in the hall condensed to an outrageous degree, and Chen Yan threw the long black leather horsewhip in his hand onto the purple sandalwood table at will, the leather and hard wood colliding to emit a crisp sound.

"Gao Jiong, take orders."

This instruction containing endless killing intent pierced through the hall, and Gao Jiong immediately stepped forward half a step upon hearing the sound, the hem of his broad black official robe bringing up a cold wind with his movement.

Gao Jiong bent one knee and knelt heavily on the cold blue stone slabs, his hands respectfully cupped into fists above his head, his slightly lowered eyelids covering the violent killing intent rolling within.

"The subordinate is here, entirely at the Pillar of State's disposal."

Chen Yan bent down and pulled a heavy black iron token from the hidden compartment carved with complex cloud patterns under the desk; the surface of the token flickered with a chilling, dark luster, and he weighed it in his palm twice at will.

"Immediately mobilize the most elite Embroidered Attire Envoys of the Mingjing Si, all change into the casual clothes of merchant laborers, and take advantage of the cover of night to break into pieces and sneak into all the border trade fairs and smuggling secret paths of Xiazhou."

Chen Yan used wrist force to throw the black iron token into mid-air, the token drawing a sharp parabola in the air and landing steadily into Gao Jiong's open palm.

"The power of life and death over foreign trade in the Xiazhou territory must be absolutely and unreservedly concentrated in the hands of our Governor's Office from today on, leaving no room for any leeway."

Gao Jiong closed his five fingers tightly around the iron token that symbolized the privilege of executing before reporting; a fanatical expectation for the bloody purge that was about to come appeared on his dark and cold face, his voice carrying a hair-raising excitement.

"The Pillar of State can rest assured, the subordinate will definitely pull out those rats hiding in the sewers one by one and peel their skin to use for sacrificing the flags of our Xiazhou merchant fleet."

Chen Yan turned around slowly, his hands behind his back, the python patterns on his dark robe refracting dazzling golden light in the sunlight; he swept his peripheral vision over the generals behind him who were still immersed in shock.

"You generals who lead troops, all listen clearly to me."

Lu Ming, Gu Yuci, and the others immediately straightened their waists, their heavy breathing rising and falling in the quiet hall, and they didn't even dare to take a deep breath.

"From this moment on, anyone who dares to resell even a tael of private salt or a piece of pig iron in our Xiazhou territory, no matter which imperial relative or noble stands behind him!"

Chen Yan walked to the massive sand table, raised his battle boots and leveled a small pinch of yellow earth that had fallen on the edge of the sand table, his tone cold and hard like the wind blade of the twelfth lunar month.

"Don't ask for the reason, and no need for a trial at the prefecture government office, exterminate their three clans directly for me, and confiscate all their property and shops to fill the deficit of military expenses."

The generals were so shocked by this cruel and ruthless bloody order that their scalps went numb; they cupped their fists in unison to accept the order, and the sound of their retreating footsteps stepped on the oppression of the hall in a uniform manner.

Outside the Fengshen Pass on the northwest border of Xiazhou under the night curtain, the gale mixed with rough sand and gravel raged crazily on the dry Gobi Desert, uprooting those withered yellow weeds and rolling them into the high sky.

The hidden pass gate, which should have been heavily guarded and tightly closed after nightfall, was strangely opened inward with a wide gap wide enough to allow three horses to pass side by side, revealing a few flickers of dim torchlight from the crack of the door.

A massive merchant team of up to a hundred horse carriages was slowly and silently crawling forward on the rugged sand ground under the cover of night, like a greedy centipede.

The heavy ruts pressed two extremely deep gullies into the already loose yellow mud road, the draft horses pulling the carts spat out white mist, and their hooves struggled to trek in the mud, emitting a dull trampling sound.

Although the true appearance of the goods wrapped tightly in moisture-proof oil paper on the carriages could not be seen, they emitted the unique metallic fishy smell of pig iron into the night wind, mixed with the pungent sour smell of refined saltpeter.

Walking at the very front of the merchant team was a Qi State wealthy merchant draped in a luxurious Shu brocade cloak; he had a round, bulging belly, and was playing with two warm and translucent Hetian jade balls in his hands.

The jade stones collided to emit a crisp and pleasant tinkling sound; this wealthy merchant stepped on the gravel on the ground with floating steps, and in those eyes that were squeezed into only a slit by the fat, there was a high-and-mighty attitude that regarded the Great Zhou law as nothing.

The wealthy merchant stopped in front of the Great Zhou commandant responsible for guarding the pass, skillfully transferred the jade balls from his left hand to his right, freed a hand, and groped for a moment in the depths of his broad cuffs.

He took out a heavy brocade pouch embroidered with complex gold threads, took advantage of the momentum to hang the drawstring of the pouch on his fingertips and shake it back and forth twice, the muffled sound of gold ingots colliding being exceptionally clear in the night wind.

"The wind is strong and the sand is wild tonight. It is a great grievance for the commandant and his brothers to blow the cold wind in this wilderness. This little bit of yellow and white stuff is considered tea money for the brothers to buy wine to warm their bodies."

The wealthy merchant lowered his oily voice, stuffed the pouch directly into the armor seam at the commandant's waist without reservation, and patted the other party's rough heart-protecting mirror at will.

The commandant covered the pouch with his calloused big hand, skillfully weighed the weight through the brocade fabric with his fingers, and a look of greedy, knowing laughter immediately piled up on his weather-beaten face.

"Boss Wang has always been so seamless in doing things. Our brothers have gained a lot of meat and light by following you. Just pass through with peace of mind."

The commandant tucked the pouch into his bosom and kept it close to his body with satisfaction, just about to turn around and wave his hand to order the soldiers guarding the city behind him to move away the thorny obstacles used to block the road.

The wealthy merchant raised his arm to stop the other party's movement, leaned forward, and pulled out a customs clearance document mounted in bright yellow silk from his other pocket.

The document was slowly unfolded under the illumination of the torch, and it was densely covered with several bright red private seals representing the top century-old clans of Chang'an and Yecheng, the dazzling cinnabar red revealing a heaven-reaching pressure that could not be described in words in the night.

"The goods I'm pulling this trip are indeed a bit thorny, but Commandant, please look at the seals on this with peace of mind. With these few great Buddhas who can reach the sky in both directions supporting this piece of sky behind us."

The wealthy merchant arrogantly shook the document in front of the commandant, spraying a foul smell mixed with strong liquor and garlic from his mouth, his thick lips flipping up and down to speak wildly.

"That yellow-mouthed child Chen Yan who relied on slaughter to rise to power, even if he were standing in front of me at this moment, the border ban he issued would be nothing more than a piece of waste paper used to wipe his ass in my eyes."

The commandant looked at those world-famous family seals, and the last bit of concern in the depths of his eyes was completely dispelled; he nodded and bowed to echo the arrogant remarks of this god of wealth, saying yes repeatedly.

The two stood in front of this pass that was reselling the national fate, and at the same time raised their heads to emit a burst of unscrupulous and copper-smelling, frantic laughter, the laughter echoing all the way to a very high place along the cracks of the valley.

Above the heads of this group of rats whose eyes were blinded by money, on the steep and precipitous black cliffs that were like the fangs of a monster, a death storm that was harvesting lives was quietly brewing.

Hundreds of Embroidered Attire Envoys draped in dark black night-traveling clothes were like a group of blood-sucking bats hanging upside down on the stone wall; they perfectly integrated their bodies into the darkness without starlight, adjusting even their breathing to the weakest frequency.

The specially made steel repeating crossbows in the hands of the envoys had all been fully loaded with mechanisms at this time, and the sharp crossbow arrowheads locked onto those unsuspecting merchant guards in the cold wind.

Gao Jiong was like a lone ghost wandering on the edge of the netherworld; he stepped on a protruding rock at the highest point of the cliff with his toes, letting the gale blow his clothes to bulge crazily.

He held a dagger flickering with ghostly blue cold light in reverse in his hand, the deadly poison smeared on it emitting a faint sweet fragrance in the air; he looked down condescendingly at the two fools below who were still having beautiful dreams of getting rich.

Gao Jiong's cold gaze, which was like looking at dead people, pierced through the obstruction of the night, his fingertips sliding slowly on the rough handle of the dagger, the corners of his lips raised in a cruel and ruthless mocking arc, quietly waiting for the final horn representing death to blow.