Chapter 699: A Preliminary Trip

Liu Zheng visited Taixi Stockade for three days.

Regarding the terrifying nature of Wangchuan City, many stories circulate among the common folk.

In short, it can be summarized in two words.

That is, man-eating.

Those who speak of it change color in fear.

Most people who want to go to Liaodong would rather take a three-month detour than pass through this Wangchuan.

It is too terrifying.

Thinking of it this way is actually more intuitive. Even the Prince of Wei, who controls the land of Qingzhou, does not dare to let his own army march through Wangchuan at will, let alone anyone else? Even the Prince of Wei is deeply reticent about this Wangchuan and has no understanding of it at all, let alone anyone else?

Three days of time.

More and more people began to gather at Taixi Stockade—various merchant caravans, various gold and silver, various supplies. Soon, this small town was full, and there was no place left to stay.

But the number of people continued to grow.

The rain, however, had stopped.

But the wind that began to blow here was getting colder and colder; the biting cold wind chilled one to the bone, and everyone complained.

"What is that fellow doing lately?"

Of course, no matter who felt cold, it could never be the Crown Prince Xie Fang. The place where he stayed remained the most luxurious in this Taixi Stockade; several stoves were placed in the room, and he did not even need to wear an outer coat.

It was still songs and dances, with crowds of beauties, as if he were taking revenge for not being able to be so arrogant and debauched in Jinghua. Ever since he left the Capital, the beauties around him had never ceased. It had only been two months, yet his eye sockets had turned completely black, and his body seemed to be hollowed out by wine and lust.

Liang Zheng smiled from the side: "Your Highness, he has made no moves, he is just inquiring about things everywhere."

The crowd burst into laughter upon hearing this.

Inquiring?

What could he possibly find out by inquiring? It seems this omnipotent Vice Minister Liu has finally reached the end of his rope this time!

Xie Fang smiled with satisfaction: "It seems what the teacher said is indeed correct..."

Following this, he frowned: "It is just, Teacher, do you believe this Wangchuan City was created by that Qiao Yuan? This Regional Commander Qiao has always kept a low profile in Longyan..."

The others nodded in agreement.

For a long time, this Liaodong and the Liaodong Regional Commander had never entered the field of vision of the Longyan imperial court.

Everyone did not have a particularly deep understanding of this local emperor of Liaodong.

Liang Zheng's eyes turned gloomy upon hearing this question: "Your Highness, this man Qiao Yuan is low-key and extremely mysterious. Except for major grand events, he never returns to Zhongyuan. In this regard, he handles things just right. However, as far as this old subject knows, this man has made arrangements everywhere in the Capital, and quite thoroughly..."

"Oh?"

Xie Fang's eyes lit up: "That is to say, this land of Liaodong is quite lucrative..."

Liang Zheng laughed: "After all, it is a place with hundreds of thousands of people; one could scrape a layer of oil off it just by skimming! This Liaodong is high in the mountains and far from the Emperor; since one can live comfortably there, why go to the Western Regions and look at others' faces?"

"That is also true. It seems this Qiao Yuan is still living quite clearly!"

Xie Fang laughed heartily.

He no longer cared about this matter.

The singing and dancing resumed.

"Oh my ancestor, what exactly are you pacing around for? You've been at it for days. The explosives from the Prince of Wei's side are about to arrive; aren't you going over to take a look?"

For the past few days, the Prince of Yong had followed Liu Zheng until the skin on his feet was worn raw.

Although the rain had stopped, the ground was still muddy and treacherous; was it not exhausting to walk?

Liu Zheng smiled faintly and said nothing.

It was estimated that in these few days, the Prince of Yong had lost over ten pounds of fat following him.

Every time this fellow walked, he was drenched in sweat; he truly needed to exercise.

Liu Zheng did not mind the hardship.

After all, this was a matter of life and death, and it potentially concerned the lives of tens of thousands, perhaps over a hundred thousand people!

He had to figure out the situation on the other side of this mountain!

But what made him feel desperate during these days of visiting was that, apart from hearsay, even the officials had very little understanding of this Wangchuan City and the land of Liaodong behind it.

There was no doubt.

This Wangchuan City was created by Qiao Yuan.

There was no doubt that this Qiao Yuan must be the biggest slave trader in Longyan!

Blasting the mountain was fine.

But Liu Zheng had to figure out exactly how many troops this mysterious fellow Qiao Yuan had hidden in Wangchuan and Liaodong!

According to the laws of Longyan, a Regional Commander was allowed a maximum establishment of three hundred thousand troops!

But Liu Zheng believed that the troops in Liaodong were far more than three hundred thousand.

This was a great enemy, an undoubted great enemy.

Thinking of this, he suddenly said: "Notify the Prince of Wei immediately; the matter of the explosives must be kept secret. No one is to leak even the slightest bit of information!"

"Understood!"

Just at this moment, Taixi Stockade suddenly became even more bustling. Because just a moment ago, a team of one hundred thousand prisoners from the Longyan Zhongyuan had been escorted here.

Liu Zheng and the Prince of Yong looked at each other, and suddenly he had an idea.

One hundred thousand prisoners could not possibly fit into Taixi Stockade.

There was no room to accommodate them!

The jailers who had trudged through the mud all the way were not having it and began to curse loudly: We grandfathers have worked hard to escort these prisoners all the way here, and you won't even arrange a place for us to stay? In this hellish weather, aren't we going to freeze to death? This is one hundred thousand people! The one hundred thousand people Vice Minister Liu specifically asked for! If this is delayed, who will be responsible?

Soon.

Outside the city gate, a commotion broke out.

There was even a prisoner escape and a public disturbance.

The Prince of Wei brought his troops over to personally pacify them, and Tie Mu City had their tents and yurts set up for them; only when Liu Zheng arrived on the scene in person did the matter finally settle down.

"Greetings, Vice Minister Liu!"

"Greetings, Vice Minister Liu!"

Seeing that Liu Zheng had come in person, the few jailers finally suppressed their anger and bowed one after another.

Liu Zheng smiled and said, "You brothers have worked hard. Come, come, bring the wine over and let the brothers warm themselves up!"

Seeing the famous Vice Minister Liu being so courteous, the few jailers also showed embarrassed expressions.

"This, Vice Minister Liu is too kind."

"Vice Minister Liu, it was us brothers who were reckless."

Liu Zheng laughed, sat down on the ground with everyone, chatted for a while about the various hardships on the road, and upon learning that the leader of the jailers was named Gu Guan and came from Jinzhou, he asked, "Brother Gu, how do you plan to escort these prisoners to Liaodong?"

Gu Guan was a big man from Jinzhou, honest and simple; he took a large gulp of wine and also looked troubled: "The Prince of Jin has ordered that the prisoners must reach Liaodong Commandery within two months!"

He gave a bitter smile: "However, this hellish weather has lasted for over two months... I don't know how I will answer to the Prince of Jin when I return."

The other jailers were also full of worry.

"Just go through Wangchuan City!"

"Right!"

"Boss Gu, you know the Prince of Jin's temper. Being a month late is one thing, but if it's any later, then..."

"Let's risk it!"

Several jailers spoke up one after another, their faces full of boldness.

"This..."

Gu Guan was somewhat hesitant.

Liu Zheng suddenly smiled: "Brother Gu, if you are really considering going through Wangchuan City, shall I accompany you on the trip first?"

"What?"