Chapter 762: Snow Paths Can Find Traces

North of the Love Shenjing, Yongchun Street, Duan Family Grain Shop.

After a night of heavy snow, the roofs of the houses on both sides of the street were covered with white snow, like powder and makeup.

The biting cold wind raged on the street, making the shop sign of the grain shop sway non-stop.

Yongchun Street was a prosperous street with many pedestrians and carriages. The thick snow on the road left chaotic marks of various carriages, horses, and human feet after half a day of trampling.

The clean, soft snowflakes were trampled into a muddy mess and blown by the cold north wind, freezing into a hard, multi-colored thin ice, radiating a gloomy light in the sun.

Because the twelfth lunar month had arrived, most families had already stored grain for the winter, and the grain shop's business was much lighter than last month.

Coupled with the heavy snow today and the bone-chilling cold outside, there were very few customers entering the shop.

In the shop hall, two shop assistants shrank their bodies and sat by the stove to warm themselves, looking somewhat bored.

No one was seen at the counter, where an abacus was placed, and beside it was a small plate containing dark red, dry roasted sheep intestines.

A shop assistant was somewhat curious, got up and went to the counter, reached out and picked up a piece of sheep intestine, and put it into his mouth to chew.

After chewing a few mouthfuls, he frowned and said: "The shopkeeper's taste is really strange; why does he like to eat this kind of thing? It's bland and has a smell of musk."

Another shop assistant looked at the backyard and laughed in a low voice: "The shopkeeper is from Datong, which is close to the border. What's strange about him liking to eat this kind of thing?"

……

In the backyard of the shop, it was cold and quiet, and there were several icicles hanging under the eaves, flashing with sharp and monotonous light in the sun.

The doors and windows of the side room in the backyard were tightly closed. Inside the room, a map was spread out on the table, and Duan Chunjiang and an old customer, Boss Sun, were pointing at the map and discussing in a low voice.

There were three places on the map marked with red circles, labeled Baotunli, Yaoshan Station, and Hongshu Collection, respectively.

The three red circles were connected by a red line, forming a northwest-trending trajectory on the map.

Sun Dali said: "Last time Duan Boss found out the news, Chen Richang passed through Hongshu Collection when he went north, so I sent a letter to the north as quickly as possible."

"Before leaving the pass, in order to facilitate the salt and iron business, we left secret files and manpower in various places. Yesterday I received the returned news."

"Hongshu Collection is a town that occupies a large area, and there is a military station in the town. Although the scale of the military station is not large, there is a flat land in the valley north of the town."

"That place has a huge area, enough to station thousands of troops. It is said that in recent months, large batches of carriages and horses have often lit fires and stayed overnight in that place."

"And once this situation occurs, there must be large teams of soldiers guarding the vicinity of the valley, and idlers are not allowed to approach."

Duan Chunjiang asked: "Could Hongshu Collection be the place where the Zhou people hoard military grain?"

Sun Dali said: "Hongshu Collection is about four hundred miles away from Datong, Xuanfu, and Jizhou, and its position is very appropriate."

"But as a place for hoarding and distributing military grain, its position is still slightly too far from the border city."

"I have been in the Datong border army for many years. Although I am not involved in the position of military supplies, I know a little about the distribution of military grain in the border city."

"In order to save the consumption of military grain transportation, the court uses the same grain route for the supply of military grain to the border cities."

Once the military provisions reached a certain market town for centralized storage, each border city would dispatch troops and horses to transport and collect their share according to the documents issued by the Ministry of War.

"Therefore, the place where military grain is hoarded must be at a moderate distance from the border city."

"Hongshu Collection is about four hundred miles away from Datong, Xuanfu, and Jizhou, and its position is too far."

"If it is more than two hundred miles away from each border city, the troops can return within three days, which is the most appropriate place for hoarding military grain."

Duan Chunjiang said: "Sun brother means that the place where military grain is hoarded is not in Hongshu Collection, but in a certain place further north along the way."

Sun Dali said: "Duan Boss has already found out three stations of the grain route in the Love Shenjing, which is already very difficult."

"Now Chen Richang has gone north, and you don't have other contacts in your hands to find out the news. Wanting to find the place where military grain is hoarded is even more difficult."

"And north of Hongshu Collection, towns are dense, and the Great Zhou grain route is not immutable and often changes."

"Only by sending people to find traces on the spot is the most appropriate method."

"Now the line east of Datong is heavily guarded, and if the news is sent out of the pass to wait for a reply, it will definitely be delayed for too long."

"Tomorrow I will take people north to investigate the grain route. Relying on the manpower left by the Sun family in the north, I think I should be able to handle it." 【762-3

Now that the Court of Judicial Review and the Embroidered Uniform Guard are investigating everywhere, it is said they have even mobilized many personnel from the prefectural offices to patrol the streets and alleys; these people have sharp eyes and ears, so one cannot afford to be unprepared.

The current atmosphere is quite tense; after I head north, Boss Duan can enjoy a period of leisure and remain still to avoid revealing too many flaws."

……

As the two were speaking, they suddenly heard a commotion coming from the front hall.

They only heard a clerk say: "So it is Master Xue who has arrived. We have a regular customer in the shop who is currently discussing business with the manager in the inner courtyard.

The manager gave instructions not to be disturbed easily; if a guest arrives, we must report it first."

Then they heard a person with a loud voice, carrying a hint of arrogance and ostentation, say: "Since he is discussing business, I will wait here; you go in and report immediately.

I haven't seen Brother Duan for several days and wanted to ask how business has been lately; I still have some connections on hand, and perhaps we can close a few deals by the end of the year."

Inside the side room, Sun Dali's expression changed slightly, and he asked: "Is this person Xue Pan?"

Duan Chunjiang said: "Exactly."

Sun Dali said: "Now that the matter of the grain routes for the Nine Frontiers has made some progress, there is no longer any need to rely on Xue Pan for this.

This person is shallow and crude, and he is also a commoner; he will not be of much use to us in the future.

Last time we wanted to use this person to open a path to Count Weiyuan, Jia Cong, has there been any progress on that?"

Duan Chunjiang smiled bitterly: "I have probed this matter many times, but there has been no progress; perhaps Jia Cong simply looks down on this relative.

Or perhaps Jia Cong is a cunning and wise person with strong defenses; he is unwilling to easily provoke irrelevant connections. In short, there is no hope for this matter."

Sun Dali said coldly: "According to this, this Xue Pan is already useless, and outsiders know that he is closely linked to you.

Your grain shop here is very useful; if it can remain stable and long-term in the Love Shenjing, it will surely be a great help to the Great Khan.

Xue Pan has a special relationship with the Ningguo Prefecture, which easily attracts attention; if outsiders discover clues because of this and follow the vine to find the melon, it will surely ruin things.

Everything we do is earth-shattering; protecting our lives is the top priority. Some things need to be planned for a rainy day and guarded against early.

During this time, you should stabilize this person first and wait for news from me from the north. If the matter succeeds, or if there is a change, this Xue Pan..."

When Sun Dali said this, his expression became fierce, and he swiftly waved his right hand, making a cutting motion.

Duan Chunjiang's expression was gloomy, and he said: "I understand Brother Sun's meaning; when the time comes, I will handle this matter well.

Xue Pan is a dissolute young master, arrogant and domineering, carousing day and night, and he has offended many people. There are many ways to ruin him, and it will surely be done without anyone knowing."

……

Court of State Ceremonial, Tongwen Hall, Mongol Tumet Tribe relay station.

The leader of the Tumet tribe, Aletang, was flipping through documents; those documents were in duplicate, one written in Chinese and the other in Mongolian.

These documents recorded the details of the border trade between the Great Zhou and the Remnant Mongols when the tea-horse market reopens next spring.

They recorded the transaction quantities of grain, cloth, salt, tea, iron pots, horses, furs, animal tendons, and other items between the two sides within one year.

This is the result of the recent peace talks between the Great Zhou and the Remnant Mongols, but these results are far from what the Remnant Mongol mission intended.

At the beginning of winter, the three major Mongol tribes were short of winter supplies, so naturally, the more they demanded from the Great Zhou, the better.

Although Anda Khan has more than 100,000 armored elites, the Great Zhou has hundreds of thousands of troops stationed along the Nine Frontiers, resting while the enemy tires, guarding the passes and resisting the enemy, occupying the upper hand.

With the two armies facing each other, they have no advantage, so naturally, they are at a disadvantage in the peace talks.

Wang Shilun, Gu Yankui, and others who are mainly responsible for these peace talks for the Great Zhou will inevitably make drastic cuts to the border trade demands put forward by the Remnant Mongol mission.

The final approved market quota will only allow the Mongols to survive, and it is absolutely impossible to let them be fully satisfied at once.

This result was also within Aletang's expectations; if they swapped roles, he would surely do the same, perhaps even more ruthlessly.

Therefore, this result did not discourage Aletang. Since he bears the heavy responsibility of the peace talks and the mission is still in the Love Shenjing, he naturally needs to argue on the basis of reason.

It is just that to what extent the quantity of the tug-of-war between the two sides needs to be increased or decreased so that it can be appropriate and better accepted by both sides.

This requires both sides to constantly guess and probe; the demands put forward by the Remnant Mongols are too high, and the bottom line suppressed by the Great Zhou is too low, regardless of which tendency appears.

It will make the peace talks drag on for days, or even turn into a meaningless waste of time.

……

Aletang carefully pondered the documents, had a rough outline in his heart, and marked the increased amounts for various materials.

After he had basically settled his mind, he went to invite Geertai of the Yongxielun tribe and Noyan Taiji of the Ordos tribe to the station to discuss.

Just as he was about to order someone to pass the message, he saw a trusted attendant walk into the room with a serious and urgent expression, holding a letter in his hand.

He said: "Lord Aletang, today Sun Dali sent someone to pass a secret letter. I met him at a teahouse in the north of the city. He said there was an urgent matter and he had to leave the city and head north before the city gates closed at sunset. The details have been written in the secret letter, and he asked me to transfer it to you immediately."

Aletang's expression changed upon hearing this; he hurriedly took the letter, checked that the sealing wax was intact, and then opened the letter to read it.

Although he is an orthodox Mongol, he is one of the rare talented people under Anda Khan; not only can he speak fluent Chinese, but he can also accurately read and write Chinese.

He quickly browsed the letter, his expression changed slightly, and he lit the letter on a candle, burning it to ashes in an instant.

He paced back and forth in the room a few times, then returned to the desk and picked up his pen to increase the previously marked amounts for various materials by another 20 percent.

He said: "Recently, you should pay attention to Sun Dali's movements. He must have left people in the Love Shenjing. Once he has news sent back, report it to me immediately.

In addition, be careful when going out to handle affairs recently, and do not disturb the eyes and ears of the Court of Judicial Review and the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Go immediately to invite Geertai of the Yongxielun tribe and Noyan Taiji of the Ordos tribe to the station immediately to discuss matters."

……

The attendant received the order and hurriedly went out to pass the message. Not long after, Geertai and Noyan Taiji entered the room.

Aletang said: "A few days ago, we discussed the market quota with the Zhou people. They suppressed the quantity extremely low, which is far from what the Mongol tribes need.

I invited the two of you here to discuss this matter. Regarding the increase in the market quota for both sides, I have already drafted the corresponding amounts."

As he spoke, he handed the marked documents to Geertai. The latter saw that they were all written in Chinese, so he handed them to Noyan Taiji.

Noyan Taiji read the documents once, frowned slightly, and said: "Lord Aletang, the Han people have an old saying: ask for a sky-high price and pay back on the ground.

It is common sense for both sides to negotiate peace and compete for their own interests.

Now that the severe winter on the grasslands has arrived and the tribes are short of winter supplies, the Mongol mission has come to the capital to seek peace. Being humble to others, the peace talks will surely be at a disadvantage.

It is not surprising that the Great Zhou has made such a large restriction and reduction on the market quota we proposed.

The so-called paying back on the ground means they have already calculated in their hearts when they suppressed the market quota to the bottom line, just waiting for us to raise the price.

In my opinion, if we raise the quantity by 10 percent on top of this amount, we will surely be recognized by the Zhou people; wanting to raise it by 20 percent will be slim.

Now that Lord Aletang has raised it by 40 percent at once, Noyan believes that the Zhou people will never accept it."

Aletang smiled indifferently and said: "Noyan Taiji also said just now: ask for a sky-high price and pay back on the ground.

The Zhou people are treacherous and insidious, always wantonly exploiting the Mongol tribes. Now that both sides are negotiating peace, if we don't raise the price ourselves, wouldn't we have even less bargaining power?"

Noyan Taiji said: "It's just that according to Lord Aletang's price amount, Noyan is worried that this peace talk will be difficult to tug-of-war and will likely drag on for days."

Aletang smiled slightly and said: "We didn't travel thousands of miles to the Love Shenjing just for the sake of peace talks between the two sides.

As long as we get what we want through these peace talks, spending more time is nothing. I still have this patience."

Noyan Taiji felt a strange feeling in his heart when he heard this. Although he was young, he was a wise and agile person, and he had no illusions about these peace talks from the beginning.

No matter how Aletang raises the price, the final result of the peace talks will not change.

This is determined by the current situation between the Great Zhou and the Mongols; how can it be changed by a few people's tongues?

He could see through this simple truth; could a person with such deep thoughts as Aletang not see through it?

But why did he go to such trouble to make waves in the peace talks, knowing that it was impossible to do so?

No matter how you look at it, it doesn't look like he is trying to accomplish things, but rather like he is deliberately wasting time, dragging the Zhou people in circles.

For what reason is he delaying time in such a roundabout way...

Noyan Taiji's thoughts turned rapidly, and after thinking for a while, he had no clue, so he put it aside for the time being.

Among the three major Mongol tribes, the Tumet tribe is the most powerful, and Anda Khan is a direct descendant of the Golden Family, already the uncrowned king of the grasslands.

This time the Mongol mission came to the capital for peace talks, also following the lead of the Tumet tribe. Since Aletang wants to toss, Noyan Taiji will not deliberately stop him.

If this continues, I'm afraid I will have to stay in the Love Shenjing for a few more days, which is a good thing for him.

When he thought of this, he subconsciously reached out to the leather bag at his waist, his hand touched the smooth telescope, and the corners of his mouth pursed slightly.

……

Ningguo Prefecture, Lixiang Courtyard.

The morning sun rose, the air was cold and clear, and although the cold wind was still biting, it was slightly milder and warmer than the heavy snow yesterday.

The eaves, flowers, trees, window lattices, and corridors in the courtyard were still covered with white snow.

Only the icicles under the eaves began to melt into crystal clear snow water, hitting the bluestone slabs with a ticking sound.

On the veranda, Xue Pan's footsteps were unsteady, his eyes were red, he was yawning repeatedly, and he walked all the way into the main hall.

Xue Yima was eating breakfast in the main hall, and she frowned slightly when she saw her son come in listlessly.

She scolded: "Where did you go carousing last night? Look at you, reeking of alcohol. If you have nothing to do, you go out and drink, never letting people worry less."

Xue Pan picked up the rice porridge on the table, took two gulps, and said: "My son didn't carouse. I went to the Duan family grain shop yesterday to discuss business.

Later, Duan Chunjiang pulled me to drink. My son came home before midnight and didn't spend the night carousing outside."

Xue Yima said: "You usually spend more time at home. When there are important matters to discuss, I can't find you."

Xue Pan asked: "What does Mom want to discuss with me?"

Xue Yima told Xue Pan one by one about what Baochai said yesterday, about selecting several prosperous shops in Jin Ling for the Xue family and renting them to Xinchun Hao at full price.

As soon as Xue Pan heard this, his eyes lit up, and he said happily: "My sister is the one who knows how to do business; this method is really excellent.

Mom, I usually walk around outside and have made many friends among merchants from the north and south. They have also mentioned Jin Ling recently.

They all say that since the Zhen family in Jin Ling was raided and fell, the Jin Ling Xinchun Hao has eaten up the vacancy left by the Zhen family, and business is booming.

Not only is the local business doing extremely well, but they are also dumping whole ships of commercial goods to the outer seas. How much silver must they be making?

Now it is rumored in Jin Ling that the Zhen family has fallen, and it won't be long before the Qu family falls.

With the current situation, the Jin Ling Xinchun Hao must be doing big business and accelerating the expansion of their stalls.

Renting our family's prosperous shops to them at this time is just the right moment. My sister's method is truly wonderful.

Not only does it not require my son to use his brain at all, but the family can earn silver while kicking their feet up.

And by doing this, our family has borrowed the power of Brother Cong, without leaving a trace, and the two families are closer than before.

And my sister gave Brother Cong benefits, and the two are closer and more affectionate than before, which is a good thing that kills two birds with one stone.

Mom, let me tell you this: as long as this matter is done, in the long run, Brother Cong will sooner or later become your son-in-law."

……

Xue Yima saw her son talking more and more nonsense, and her anger flared up. Just as she was about to scold him, she saw the door curtain lifted, and Baochai came in with a flushed face.

With tears in her eyes, she said: "Brother, what kind of nonsense are you talking about early in the morning? Where is there a brother who distorts his own sister like this?

I am wholeheartedly worried about the family business for my brother, but my brother doesn't have a single good word, and he even fabricates lies to frame his own sister.

If this kind of talk spreads, how will I be able to conduct myself in the two prefectures in the future? This matter ends here. I will not mention a word to Brother Cong.

Mom, don't mention this matter again. I won't meddle in the future, and let my brother ruin the ancestral property of the family."

Xue Pan immediately had a mournful face when he heard Baochai get angry.

He said: "Good sister, it's all brother's fault. I drank too much, so I spoke without restraint.

Sister, don't take it seriously. It's brother's mouth that is smelly and cheap. Sister can beat or scold me as you please.

It's just that sister's method is excellent. Don't be angry and not do it. Can't brother bow to you?"

Baochai's shame and anger had not yet dissipated, so she turned around and ignored Xue Pan's bowing.

Xue Pan apologized with a smile: "Sister has always been broad-minded. Forgive brother this time. Don't make brother slap his own mouth in front of you.

According to my opinion, sister only renting a few shops is far from enough. It is best to rent out more.

Those old guys in the shop put on airs every time they see me and are used to saying thorny things. I have long found them unpleasant.

It is best to dismantle all their stalls and let these old guys go home to hold their children; that would be truly refreshing."

Xue Yima saw that her son was talking nonsense again, and she was worried that he would annoy her daughter again and ruin this excellent idea.

So she scolded her son a few times and told him to go back to his room to rest and say less inappropriate words.

Xue Yima was about to coax her daughter a few times when she saw the family's managing woman come in.

She was holding a box in her hand, which contained colorful palace flowers... (End of chapter)