Chapter 183: Xu E's Intelligence

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"What wind blew Miss Xu here?"

Hui Ke Tang.

Zhao Xu sat down in the main seat with a smile on his face.

Now, Yan Commandery and Shanggu Commandery were both on the right track.

The production of Artillery and the development of trade were also proceeding in an orderly manner.

His mood was very relaxed.

Facing a Beauty like Xu E, he was in the mood to crack a joke.

"Naturally, it is Your Highness's aura of a king." Xu E's eyes were soul-stirring.

Zhao Xu smiled; this Xu E was truly teasing him at every moment.

Although he knew the Ninth Prince had once saved Xu E's life.

Perhaps she had developed a hazy admiration out of gratitude.

But until he figured out the truth about Tianxiang Lou, he would always keep his distance.

Xu E was innocent, but he could not be sure what the people behind her were really thinking.

However, facing Xu E, as a man, he naturally had no reason to be shy. He looked boldly at Xu E and said, "Miss Xu, stop teasing this Prince. Since you have come to visit, there must be an important matter, right?"

"Nothing can be hidden from Your Highness." Xu E was slightly disappointed.

Even if Yan Wang had shown a lecherous expression, she would have been happy; at least Yan Wang would have been interested in her.

But Yan Wang's gaze was as pure as when Huan'er looked at him.

Feeling a little resentful inside, she said with some boredom, "The first thing is good news. My master likes Your Highness's Perfume very much and has ordered me to purchase 300,000 taels of goods from Your Highness for personal use, as well as to show an intention to befriend Your Highness."

"That is indeed good news." Zhao Xu nodded.

The person behind Tianxiang Lou seemed to love using brothels to spy for information.

In Yancheng, they had set up Tianxiang Lou.

But they had also set up other brothels in other places, just with different names.

"The second thing is that Your Highness must be careful. Under Yuan Li's command, there is a strategist named Guo Tu who was recently promoted to the position of Chief Clerk." Xu E's expression became serious.

Zhao Xu frowned, "This is just an internal promotion within the Yuan Family; why should I be careful?"

"Originally, there would be no need to make a fuss, but before Guo Tu was promoted, he took a trip to the Grassland." Xu E said slowly.

Hearing this, Zhao Xu immediately frowned, "How do you know about this?"

"Your Highness seems to have forgotten that my master has always been dealing with the Yuan Family. Naturally, we have our own eyes and ears in Fanyang. Although the Yuan Family is now guarding very strictly because of the Zhang Family affair and it is difficult for news to come out from within, my people know this person Guo Tu and have been keeping an eye on him."

Zhao Xu nodded.

He had to admit one thing: now that the Flame Guard was newly established, it was still inferior to Tianxiang Lou in terms of intelligence.

In the monitoring of Shanggu Commandery and Yan Commandery, the Flame Guard performed okay, but the investigation into Fanyang was much weaker.

"It seems this Yuan Li is going to do something big." Zhao Xu thought to himself.

First there was the information Zhong Li revealed to him, and now there was Xu E's intelligence.

This made him have to be vigilant.

After all, the Yuan Family had a track record of trading privately with the Northern Di.

With Yuan Li having no bottom line like this, there was nothing he wouldn't do.

"Many thanks, Miss Xu. This Prince has also received some wind recently and will keep an eye on Fanyang from now on." Zhao Xu said.

Xu E smiled broadly, "Your Highness, there is no need for formalities. My master says that the hope of Yanzhou now rests on Your Highness, and helping Your Highness is a duty that cannot be shirked."

"I didn't expect your master to think so highly of this Prince. I should offer my thanks." Zhao Xu laughed.

"Your Highness deserves this praise. Now in Yanzhou, only Your Highness is resisting the Northern Di single-handedly. Although I am just a woman, I admire you in my heart." As Xu E spoke, she looked at Zhao Xu with affection.

Zhao Xu coughed twice, stood up, and said, "Miss Xu, would you like to stay at the Prince's Mansion for lunch?"

"I would like to, but Your Highness's little maid is very fierce. I am afraid I wouldn't be able to eat well, so I had better go back. I only hope Your Highness can come to Tianxiang Lou to sit for a while often." Xu E glanced at Feng'er standing outside the door.

Zhao Xu laughed in spite of himself; Feng'er was indeed a bit sharp-tongued.

But she wasn't jealous; according to her, not just anyone could become a guest of the Prince's Mansion.

He let Feng'er see Xu E to the door.

He sent someone to call Xu Ke to the study.

"How many people have the Flame Guard developed into now?" Zhao Xu said.

The Silver allocated to the Flame Guard was about 200,000 to 300,000 taels.

Plus the income from the hot pot restaurant; having poured so much Silver in, he wanted results.

"Replying to Your Highness, there are two hundred people spread across Yan Commandery and Shanggu Commandery, and there are currently three hundred people in training who can be sent out soon." Xu Ke said cautiously.

Yan Wang's expression was not very good.

"Hmm, the quantity has come up, but you must also exert greater utility." Zhao Xu said, "In these two days, you select a batch of capable people to go to Fanyang to keep an eye on every move of the Yuan Family. It would be best if you could contact a Captain named Zhong Li to help him investigate some secrets."

"Is that the Zhong Li who besieged the Gao Family Fort? He is from the Zhong Family of Shangyi County, and his father is named Zhong Shidao, right?" Xu Ke asked.

Hearing this, Zhao Xu nodded with satisfaction, "Not bad, it is him. It seems your information is very well-informed."

"Thank you for the compliment, Your Highness. This is my duty." Xu Ke was slightly proud.

"Hmm, the collection of intelligence is of great importance; sometimes it even relates to the success or failure of a battle. Besides the Yuan Family, you had better also monitor the movements of the Grassland." Zhao Xu gave an instruction.

Xu Ke immediately felt that the burden on his shoulders had become heavier.

During this period, he was actually so busy that his feet barely touched the ground.

He had to collect intelligence for the Prince's Mansion and train a large number of new members.

These people were basically a blank slate and needed specialized training.

Besides being skilled at tracking, there were many things he did not understand, so he could only learn them one by one from the books given by Yan Wang.

Fortunately, the books Yan Wang gave were quite impressive; in Yan Wang's own words, they were quite "awesome."

He had indeed learned many novel techniques for tracking, scouting, disguising, and transmitting intelligence.

"Yes, Your Highness, the Flame Guard will not let you down," Xu Ke promised, patting his chest.

Zhao Xu patted his shoulder and told him to go back to his own business.

He himself walked over to a map.

This map was drawn by himself; relying on the data in the chip, he easily produced a high-precision map of the East Asian region.

Based on the divisions of the various prefectures of Great Song, he roughly marked the territory of Great Song on the map, and later roughly marked places like Northern Di, Xiliang, Gaochang, and Jiaozhi.

It could be said that if this map were released, it would absolutely be a treasure.

And this was just the beginning; in the future, he would also draw a world map.

But that would be provided for his own navy.

"Yuan Family." Zhao Xu gazed at the seven commanderies in the Yanzhou section of the map.

Currently, he occupied two commanderies in the northwest direction of Yanzhou.

There were still five commanderies currently in the hands of the Yuan Family.

How could one allow others to sleep soundly beside one's own bed?

Yuan Li thought this way, and how could he not think the same?

After all, having a force beside one that might stab one in the back at any time was truly disgusting.

And only by controlling the entirety of Yanzhou could he, as Yan Wang, truly live up to the name.

Fanyang Great Camp.

"Young Master, recently, quite a few Yuan Family members have disappeared from the army, their whereabouts unknown."

Zhong Li stood before the bedroom window, gazing at the fallen ginkgo leaves in the courtyard.

A member of the Zhong Family entered from outside the door and whispered.

Hearing this, Zhong Li narrowed his eyes slightly.

Since returning to the army from Yuan Li's residence that day, he had been resting in bed.

But in secret, he had been having the Zhong Family members scout everywhere.

"What exactly is this Yuan Li trying to do?" Zhong Li frowned.

He had promised Yan Wang to find out the truth of the matter, so he could not help but feel a bit anxious.

"I pretended to ask unintentionally, and the others all said they didn't know," the Zhong Family member replied.

Zhong Li nodded, "Do not pursue the investigation too closely, lest it arouse suspicion, but have the Zhong Family people keep watching; if there is anything important, report it immediately."

"Yes, Young Master," the Zhong Family member saluted and left.

For this investigation, he only dared to use Zhong Family members.

He could not trust anyone else at all.

After all, once the matter was exposed, not only would he be unable to learn Yuan Li's true purpose, but he would also likely face certain death.

However, the more tightly Yuan Li concealed it, the more he had to find out the truth.