The entrance of the cave was not high, so one had to bend down to get in. It was about six feet wide, but on the right side of the cave, there was a rock sticking out horizontally, so the passage was only about three feet wide.
The ground was covered with broken branches and rotten leaves, and it was very soft to step on. Hua Yunfei squatted down and carefully observed for a while, then quietly entered the cave. As soon as he entered the cave, he smelled the faint smell of smoke. Hua Yunfei was even more certain that the two people had entered this cave.
He walked in the dark for a while. The path inside the cave was crooked and uneven, but the space gradually widened. The faint light at the entrance was no longer effective here. Hua Yunfei did not have the ability to see in the dark, so he could not continue forward. However, he did not need to continue forward, because he had already heard the faint voices of the two people inside.
"Isn't it fine? I said, even if he had the ability to reach the heavens, how could he find a place like this? The leader is too careful."
"No matter what, there are too many people who know about this place. Let's move everything out, dig a hole to the left, and cover it with grass and trees. Heh! Heh heh … "
"Yes, when everything is settled, we will go and report to the leader that we are safe. Let's see how the government will deal with this."
Hearing the conversation between the two of them, Hua Yunfei smiled faintly. Like a cat, he gracefully retreated backwards. The guilty conscience of a thief. If Chang Zizai was calm enough, how could Ye Xiaotian's beating have caused him to panic? But Ye Xiaotian was so decisive, how could Chang Zizai not suspect that he had something on him?
Hua Yunfei returned to the mountain and found the two patrolmen. He ordered one of them to bring Ye Xiaotian's handwritten order to the relay station to mobilize troops. Zhao Wenyuan was not at the relay station. When the deputy saw that it was County Magistrate Ye's handwritten order, and knowing that his own deputy had always been on good terms with County Magistrate Ye, he immediately ordered thirty couriers to bring their weapons and have the constable take them away.
There was a lot of stock in the cave. It was obvious that it was a steady flow of smuggled goods from the south. Because the north exit had been blocked by Ye Xiaotian, they were all hoarded here. Ivory, rhinoceros horn, seashells, coral, hawksbill turtle …
Most of the small items that were easy to carry were gone. What was left were larger items that were difficult to hide and carry. Even the two of them found it difficult to carry things like ivory and coral.
There was a shallow ditch on the nearby hillside, formed by the natural erosion of rainwater. Sun Rui and Shi Jin were only two people, so they obviously didn't have the spare energy to dig a big hole by themselves, so they chose this place.
With so much wealth and goods, the two of them were sweating profusely as they looked on with envy. However, there was no way for them to transport these heavy goods through the checkpoints, nor could they find a channel to sell them. Things that could not be turned into money were meaningless to them.
The two of them were like two diligent bees, moving things out again and again. Seeing that they were almost done moving, they were so tired that they were drenched in sweat. Suddenly, dozens of soldiers holding bamboo spears with the word "Yi" embroidered on their chests appeared beside them.
Sun Rui and Shi Jin held the front tusk of a mammoth and stood there dumbfounded. This mammoth tusk was much larger than ordinary elephant tusk. It was commonly known as the ten-thousand-year-old tusk. Because most of them had already become fossils, only a little more than ten percent of the ancient tusk had the value of jewelry. Naturally, its price was also much higher than ordinary elephant tusk.
Hua Yunfei walked out with a smile and said to the two of them, "Be careful. Don't break it. Even if you sell yourselves, you still won't be able to make up for this thing!"
…
Squad Leader Zhou had been guarding the checkpoint for many days. This was the checkpoint that the Hulu County Tax Department had set up at the northern exit of Hulu County. The terrain here was also extremely dangerous. There were towering mountains on both sides, and this was the only way to pass.
In times of war, this was a stronghold that could only be defended by one man. Even if you had millions of soldiers, you wouldn't be able to line up outside this pass. If you wanted to forcefully attack, the losses would be incalculable. This kind of dangerous checkpoint could be seen everywhere in Guizhou. This was also the reason why the successive dynasties all chose to use the strategy of restraining the local chieftains.
This place was originally just a tax checkpoint, but now there was a group of constables led by squad leader Zhou. They were only responsible for inspecting the trucks coming out of the customs. As for the travellers who were incognito and only carried a small bag, they only needed the people from the Tax Department to inspect and collect taxes.
Even so, the number of inspections they had to do every day was too much. Everyone was exhausted. But today, all the constables were in high spirits. The tax men from the Tax Department also raised their heads and were in high spirits. The atmosphere was completely different from the past.
They had already received news that several high-ranking officials from the Tax Department, along with the Tax Ambassador Chen Muyan, had been arrested by Magistrate Ye. For the group of constables under squad leader Zhou, this meant that their hard work was about to come to an end. Naturally, they were extremely excited.
And for the tax men from the Tax Department, apart from the fact that Magistrate Ye had made a move against their immediate superior, it also gave them a great opportunity. It was precisely this opportunity that made them raise their spirits.
The heads of the Tax Department had all been arrested. Among these people, besides the position of the Tax Ambassador that needed to be appointed by the higher-ups, the other official positions were all appointed by the county. Now that those tax stewards had all been arrested, they had a chance to rise up. Fortune and misfortune go hand in hand. Other people's misfortune was their fortune.
"Alright, alright, you can go over. Auntie, come over for a moment. Oh! It's a basket of eggs. Alright, one copper coin of tax, throw it into that basket. Alright, you can also go over. The mountain path is hard to walk. You're old, you have to be more careful. "
Not only did the tax men become much more efficient, their attitudes also became more amiable. This made the passing commoners feel a bit uncomfortable.
"You, take out the 'pass through' and have a look. Just you and a donkey? Open the bag. Alright, pay the tax and pass through. But from here to the next town, the road in between is quite long. You'd better wait for the peddlers over there, talk nicely, and go with them. Otherwise, if you run into robbers on the way, hehe … "
"Hehe, thank you for your advice. I'm so poor, those robbers who cut off the road are not worth my attention."
The one who spoke was a middle-aged man. He was tall and thin, had a long and thin face, and had a mustache. He wore a brown two-piece shirt. Apart from that skinny donkey, there really wasn't anything valuable on him. The tax man waved his hand, and the middle-aged man led the donkey out of the checkpoint.
On the other side, the long caravan was waiting for the constables under squad leader Zhou to inspect it one by one. Several cargo owners gathered by the door, basking in the sun and chatting to kill time. "Hey! That traveling customer is very similar to Shopkeeper Hu! "
One of the cargo owners accidentally saw the traveler who had just led the donkey out of the checkpoint, and couldn't help but say in surprise to the few people beside him. The few people turned their heads to look at the traveler, and one of the cargo owners said with a smile, "You're talking about Master Hu Qifeng, right? You don't say, it really does look like him. "
They were just casually saying it, and didn't take it to heart. Master Hu was a famous merchant, and he had countless attendants coming and going. How could he be so simple … This person didn't even have a carriage, nor did he have any attendants. At a glance, one could tell that he was an extremely poor passerby.
Besides, although this person was similar to Master Hu, there was still a big difference. However, there was still a big difference. The most obvious difference was that Owner Hu had three strands of long beard, while the person in front of him had two strands of mustache. The few cargo owners didn't think too much about it, and casually chatted for a while. Then, they talked about the topic of which prostitute in Deer Horn Town was the best at serving men.
…
Hua Yunfei, along with thirty couriers, escorted Sun Rui and Shi Jin, and used two couriers to carry the stolen goods back to the yamen of Hulu County. Caught red-handed, Magistrate Hua immediately became bolder, and couldn't wait to order the court to open. He wanted to personally interrogate the case.
In the face of undeniable criminal evidence, Sun Rui and Shi Jin actually flatly denied it. But under the Three Woods, why couldn't they ask for it? Sun Rui and Shi Jin weren't great heroes with unparalleled integrity and righteousness in their hearts. They endured a beating, and when the sticks were clamped on their fingers, they finally couldn't take it anymore.
The sticks clamped, and the bailiffs on both sides pulled hard. Sun Rui and Shi Jin wailed like ghosts and howled like wolves, "I confess! I confess! Master, this lowly one … confesses! "
Hua Qingfeng sneered, and said, "Refusing a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit. Come on! Record it! "
Sun Rui and Shi Jin began to confess, with snot and tears running down their faces. Qi Mu's first business was in the smuggling business. At that time, he ran from north to south with a few desperadoes, carrying a few goods on his shoulders to earn the difference in price. Later on, he saved up a sum of money, and then opened a carriage business and started a proper business.
About five or six years ago, two chieftains of Hulu Ling fought over territory, and the imperial court took the opportunity to send troops to destroy them. Hulu Ling became Hulu County, and officials were set up to rule it. The major carriage businesses on the courier road also entered the Warring States Period. Qi Mu was ruthless, and stood out in the fierce competition, and finally unified the courier road in Hulu County.
At this time, someone came to Qi Mu, and took the initiative to talk about smuggling. Qi Mu was suffering from the fact that he couldn't make much money from the carriage business, and it was also expensive to support a large number of subordinates, so he simply returned to his old business. It was just that in the past, he crossed the mountains and carried goods on his shoulders to do some small business. Now, with the carriage business as a cover, his business expanded more than a hundred times. As a result, his wealth rapidly expanded like a rolling snowball, and he became the richest man in Hulu County.
After Qi Mu's death, the second-in-command also mysteriously disappeared, and Chang Zizai, who was originally in charge of this area, set up his own business. Relying on the purchase and sales channels controlled by him, he was still able to stand tall.
Sun Rui and Shi Jin also explained that their smuggling business was one-to-one, and the upper channel was arranged by the Tiger Pass, and they were only responsible for the transportation and safety of this section. As for the lower channel, it was handed over to the great merchant Jia Hu Qifeng, and he would sell the goods to the Central Plains.
When Qi Mu was still around, he had thought of bypassing the upper channel and the lower channel, and directly getting in touch with the various countries in Nanyang. As for the sales, he also wanted to bypass so many intermediate links, so that he could earn more than ten times the profit. But before this idea could be put into practice, he died a violent death.
After Qi Mu's death, the Chang's carriage business accepted Zhao Yicheng's recruitment, and was under his protection. However, the business of smuggling and smuggling was still in the hands of Chang Zizai, and Zhao Wenyuan did not know about it.
Hua Qingfeng received a detailed statement, and couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air. Tiger Pass, Chang's carriage business, Hulu County's tax department, Hu's trading company, collusion between officials and merchants, such a strict smuggling organization, it was truly a shocking case. If this case were to be dug up along the courier road, who knew how many moths would be dug up? This was a great achievement. Hua Qingfeng suppressed his excitement, and immediately ordered people to arrest the merchant Hu Qifeng!
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