Chapter 199: Providing aid to the enemy through smuggling.

Shanxi, Taigu County.

The heavy date wood gates of the Chang family slowly opened, and the eight guards standing outside bowed their heads in respect.

Chang Qianli, dressed in dark azure silk, holding a folding fan, stepped over the threshold.

“Keep your eyes peeled. If anyone dozes off and lets someone sneak in, watch your backs,” Chang Qianli said coldly.

The guards responded in unison, “We will ensure the gate is secure and keep the master safe.”

Chang Qianli nodded in satisfaction.

At that moment, a servant brought two horses, pulling a large carriage. Following the carriage were eight more guards.

As the carriage came to a stop, a guard quickly set up a footstool and opened the carriage door, bowing as he called out, “Master, please.”

Chang Qianli stepped into the carriage, which was already occupied by two charming young ladies of around seventeen or eighteen years old, waiting with smiles. Chang Qianli laughed heartily and reached out to them, eliciting giggles and protests.

The carriage, escorted by a coachman and four guards, set off slowly. The prestige and procession rivalled even that of the magistrate of Taigu County.

“Make way, make way! Master Chang is on the move, everyone clear the way!” shouted two of the guards authoritatively.

A middle-aged man dressed in blue brocade and armed with a Xiuchun saber stood calmly in the middle of the road, watching the approaching carriage.

The guards became anxious, as the last thing Master Chang wanted was to be delayed on the road. If they stopped because of this man, everyone might face punishment.

“Out of the way, are you deaf?” the guards said aggressively as they moved forward to push the man aside.

The middle-aged man grabbed their heads and knocked them together with a forceful motion. The two guards collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

“Ah, protect the master!” the coachman shouted, pulling the reins sharply.

The carriage stopped abruptly, and Chang Qianli, who had been thrown against the wall of the carriage, shouted angrily, “Are you trying to kill me?”

“Master, there’s an assassin,” the coachman Wang Er called out.

Chang Qianli was momentarily stunned. Was there someone in Taigu County who didn’t know him?

An assassin?

That was rare. He needed to see for himself.

Chang Qianli emerged from the carriage curtains and looked up, shuddering violently. He shouted to the guards who were ready to take action, “Back off, back off, all of you back off!”

Pale-faced, Chang Qianli quickly jumped down from the carriage and hurried forward to bow, saying, “This humble one had no idea of the Commander’s arrival. Please forgive my lack of a proper welcome.”

Damn it, how did the people from the Security Bureau find their way to Taigu County!

And to think it’s a Battalion Commander, no less. Why isn’t such a person staying in Datong? Coming out here, isn’t that asking for trouble?

Gu Yun looked coldly at Chang Qianli and said, “Commander Liu was exiled to Daming by the Emperor for secretly allowing you Shanxi merchants to bypass the city gates.”

Chang Qianli, slightly surprised, narrowed his long, slender phoenix eyes and said, “So, Commander, have you come here to take my head as revenge for Commander Liu?”

“That’s right!”

Gu Yun drew the embroidered spring knife from his waist and swiftly swung it out!

The blade’s tip stopped at Chang Qianli’s throat.

Chang Qianli could feel the cold edge of the blade, yet his expression remained unchanged, and he calmly gazed at Gu Yun.

Gu Yun gritted his teeth and said, “Consider this cut as if I’ve made it. Whether the Emperor wants your head or not will depend on your own abilities.”

“The Emperor?”

Chang Qianli was somewhat surprised.

Since Guo Ying arrived in Datong last year, the route for Jin merchants to leave the border was completely blocked. Guo Ying is a man impervious to persuasion. Attempts to find a backdoor were met with him literally building a wall.

With a normal wall, you might dig or punch a hole through to get by.

But this old man, Guo Ying, is like a hooligan… he built a wall as formidable as the Great Wall…

“The command from the Military Commissioner: anyone who dares to open the city gates without authorization shall be executed immediately. Anyone who tries to persuade or argue for opening the gates shall be executed immediately. Anyone who bribes the gate officials and soldiers to open the gates shall be executed immediately…”

Guo Ying’s wall was too thick, utterly impenetrable. Seeking a backdoor through Prince Dai, Zhu Gui, they tried to leave the border with the prince’s convoy. It worked once, but the second attempt was disastrous, resulting in the death of more than twenty of their men.

With Guo Ying in Datong, the Jin merchants were so suppressed they dared not make a move. It was only when Chang Qianli discovered that the personnel of the Security Bureau were not subject to the Military Commissioner’s control and inspections, and could freely enter and leave the city gates, that he meticulously plotted and finally hooked Liu Changge, thereby securing three opportunities to pass through the gates.

It was these three chances that allowed Chang Qianli and others to make a huge profit.

However, the appetite of merchants is great. The idea of having a million and retiring from the world doesn’t exist for them. What they crave is more wealth.

Liu Changge was so cautious in his dealings, holding the reins of the Security Bureau. If he wanted to cover something up, the Emperor should not have known about it. How did this matter still reach the Emperor’s ears?

His downfall meant the end of the Jin merchants’ route out of Datong.

With the Emperor furious and having dealt with Liu Changge, he would probably handle the Jin merchants as well, wouldn’t he?

However, no matter how the Emperor dealt with it, it wouldn’t reach his own head. The two times they passed the gates this year, it was the shopkeeper who went. If anything happened, he would take the fall.

The Jin merchants’ survival in the early Ming Dynasty relied on this cautious approach.

Gu Yun retracted his Xiuchun saber and said coldly, “The Military Commissioner wants to see you.”

Chang Qianli frowned and said, “I will prepare and leave for Datong tomorrow.”

“There’s no need. The Commissioner has already arrived in Taigu County and is waiting for you at the county office.”

With that, Gu Yun turned and left.

Chang Qianli watched Gu Yun’s departing figure and involuntarily took a deep breath. The Marquis of Wuding, Guo Ying, was also here?

This was a big deal!

Although Chang Qianli was unclear about the specifics, he could tell from Gu Yun’s attitude that he wasn’t going to be taken away for execution. He instructed the others to go back and followed Gu Yun on foot.

In the rear hall of the Taigu County office, the magistrate, the vice magistrate, and the clerk watched Marquis of Wuding, Guo Ying with trepidation and fear. When had a marquis ever visited Taigu County?

As Gu Yun entered the room, he bowed and stood silently beside Guo Ying.

Guo Ying didn’t mind and turned his gaze to Chang Qianli, who was kneeling and didn’t dare to stand up. He then said to the magistrate and others, “This Military Commissioner has important matters to discuss.”

The magistrate and others wisely retreated, leaving the room under strict guard.

Guo Ying looked at Chang Qianli, who was prostrated on the ground and dared not speak out of turn.

Despite his age, Guo Ying maintained an air of scholarly elegance, even when killing…

It was best not to provoke such an unreasonable and unsympathetic figure.

“Get up. If I wanted you dead, I wouldn’t need to come here myself,” Guo Ying said, tasting his tea, which had a slightly bitter taste, reminiscent of desert sand.

Chang Qianli looked at Guo Ying, not understanding his intention.

Guo Ying put down his teacup and sized up Chang Qianli, saying, “If you were to make another trip to the lands north of the Great Wall…”

“I wouldn’t dare, I swear on the honor of my ancestors that if I, Chang Qianli, ever leave the border again, then I…”

Chang Qianli hurriedly knelt down, swearing and cursing himself.

“Shut up. What I mean is, if you go beyond the border one more time…”

Guo Ying frowned and spoke.

“My lord, even if you gave me a hundred times the courage, I would not dare to leave the border. I have elderly parents, young children, and I’ve just married…”

Seeing Guo Ying looking at him angrily, Chang Qianli quickly shut his mouth.

Guo Ying slapped the table and said sternly, “Listen carefully. I am ordering you to go beyond the border!”

“I won’t leave the border… Huh?”

Chang Qianli was stunned.

Ordered to leave the border?

What is this about? The mighty commissioner of Datong, secretly planning trade with the other side behind the Emperor’s back?

Does he intend to supply the enemy with goods, or does he plan to betray the Great Ming?

“I do not understand, my lord, what is your intention?”

Chang Qianli couldn’t believe that Guo Ying would betray the Great Ming. This man was a veteran general from the Hongwu era, who had followed the founding emperor in many southern and northern campaigns, establishing a formidable record of military achievements.

During the Hongwu reign, almost all military generals were executed, but Guo Ying not only survived but lived securely and well.

The Zhu had always treated the Guo family very well. Moreover, he had spent most of his life fighting for the Great Ming. There was no reason for him to become foolish in his old age.

Guo Ying glanced at Gu Yun and said, “You explain.”

Gu Yun stepped forward and spoke to Chang Qianli, “The Emperor knows you have been profiting by aiding the enemy. Initially, he wanted to execute you as a warning to others. However, Xu Huizu of Central Army Commandery, and the Right Commander Song Sheng intervened on your behalf. Commander Song mentioned that you have been traveling to the northern deserts for years, are fluent in Mongolian, and are familiar with Mongolian customs. He suggested dispatching you beyond the border under the guise of a merchant caravan to enter the territories of the Oirats and Tatars, to understand their power distribution and tribal conflicts, and to gather intelligence to be sent to the court in exchange for your family’s lives.”

A bitter smile appeared on Chang Qianli’s face.

Song Sheng?

Damn it, how can you use public matter for private revenge?!

Years ago, when Song Sheng was stationed in Liangzhou, he (Chang Qianli) in order to get salt pass, arranged people to transport grain to Liangzhou. But Song Sheng asked to include more agricultural tools for reclaiming wasteland and farming.

He was just trying to get salt pass, if he include the agricultural tools, how could he transport grain then?

There were so many people, and no place to put all those tools. In the end, he only managed to bring a hundred shovels for Song Sheng, and he ended up getting kicked by him.

Since then, Chang Qianli stopped going to Liangzhou in person, afraid of getting beaten up.

He never expected that after all these years, that bastard Song Sheng would still remember him. This time he’s not kicking him, he’s setting a trap…

“Sir, I beg your pardon, but I cannot comply,” Chang Qianli said through gritted teeth, refusing the order.

Guo Ying wasn’t surprised and simply said, “You can refuse, and I won’t kill you… but the people from the Security Bureau, that’s another story.”

Chang Qianli’s face fell, realizing these people were clearly out to get him.

“Sir, it’s not that I don’t want to serve the Emperor, but because the Tatar and Oirat regions are not safe. Since the Battle of Buir Lake, the Mongol Golden Family has declined. Currently, the major Mongolian nobles are constantly fighting and attacking each other, trying to ascend to the Khan’s throne. Once we enter the Tatar and Oirat territories, it’s very likely we won’t be able to return.”

Chang Qianli hurriedly explained.

A place with no return, other than hell, is the current state of the northern borderlands.

Guo Ying looked at Chang Qianli and said in a deep voice, “Last year and this year, your people have left Datong. How do you explain that?”

Chang Qianli helplessly spread his hands and said, “I only stayed around the edges, not daring to venture deep inside.”

Guo Ying leaned on the table with one hand, stood up, chuckled, and said, “Lack of courage? I’ll lend you some. Go and take a good look. Only by seeing clearly can you survive. Depart in September, enter the Oirat territory in October, just as the cold winds begin to blow and they are in desperate need of salt and iron. Go, and you won’t die.”

Watching Guo Ying leave through the door, Chang Qianli was utterly dejected. Those people never reasoned; they only knew that others desperately needed salt and iron. Didn’t they realize that in such desperation, people might resort to robbery?

Without the goods, isn’t it a death sentence wherever I run?

Gu Yun approached Chang Qianli and said coldly, “You don’t have much time left. If you don’t come to Datong, I will come looking for you again. But by then, I hope you have already settled your affairs.”

Chang Qianli sat helplessly at the doorway until the county magistrate, vice magistrate, and clerk arrived.

“Master Chang, is there any good news?” asked the county magistrate with a flattering smile.

Chang Qianli’s face was full of smiles as he stood up and dusted off his clothes, somewhat proudly saying, “What good news could there be? Just had a few words with Marquis, haha. Magistrate, gentlemen, I shall take my leave now.”

As he left the county office, Chang Qianli’s expression instantly turned sour.

Once these people found out he was in trouble, they might start moving rocks even before he fell into the well.

Go to the border?

It wasn’t a matter of going or not; the court didn’t give him any chance to refuse.