Chapter 272

The entrance to the cave was not high, and one had to bend down to enter. It was about six feet wide, but there was a stone protruding from the right side. In reality, it was only 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 at night, 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 everything fine? I said, even if he had the ability to reach the heavens, how could he find this place? The boss 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, let's report to the boss 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's actions were so decisive, how could Chang Zi Zai not suspect that Ye Xiaotian already 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. Elephant tusks, rhinoceros horns, seashells, coral, hawksbill turtles …

Most of the small goods that were easy to carry were gone. What was left were larger items that were not easy to hide or carry. Things like elephant tusks and coral were difficult for the two of them to carry.

There was a shallow ditch on the nearby hillside, naturally formed by the rain. Sun Rui and Shi Jin were only two, so they obviously did not 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 were holding a mammoth's front tusk as they stood there dumbfounded. Mammoth tusks were much larger than ordinary ivory tusks. They were commonly known as ten-thousand-year-old ivory. Because most of them had become fossils, only a little more than 10% of the ancient ivory found had the value of jewelry. Naturally, their price was much higher than ordinary ivory.

… …. Mammoth tusks were much larger than ordinary tusks. They were commonly known as ten-thousand-year-old tusks. Because most of them had become fossils, only a little more than ten percent of the ancient tusks had the value of jewelry. Naturally, they were much more expensive than ordinary tusks.

Hua Yunfei walked out with a smile and said to the two of them, "Be careful. Don't break them. Even if you sell yourselves, you 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 set up by the Hulu County Tax Department 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 through.

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 attack by force, the losses would be incalculable. This kind of dangerous checkpoint could be seen everywhere in Guizhou. This was also the reason why all the dynasties chose to use the strategy of restraining the local chieftains.

This place was originally just a checkpoint. 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 only carried a small bag and wore plain clothes, they only needed the people from the Tax Department to inspect and collect taxes.

Even so, they had to do too many tests every day, and 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 the news that several high-ranking officials of the Tax Department, together with the Tax Ambassador Chen Muyan, had been arrested by Magistrate Ye. For the constables under squad leader Zhou, this meant that their hard work was about to come to an end. Naturally, they were very excited.

And for the tax men from the Tax Department, other than the fact that Magistrate Ye had made a move against their immediate superior, it made their hearts tremble. At the same time, it was also 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, other than 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. Once those tax department managers were all arrested, they would have the opportunity to take over their positions. 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, say a few good words, 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, with a long and thin face and a mustache. He was wearing a brown two-piece garment. 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, you really do look a bit like him. "

They were just casually saying it and didn't take it to heart. Master Hu was a famous merchant with 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, they 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 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 took thirty couriers with him and escorted Sun Rui and Shi Jin back to the Hulu County yamen with the stolen goods in two couriers. Caught red-handed, Magistrate Hua suddenly became bolder. He couldn't wait to order the court to begin. He wanted to interrogate them personally.

Faced with undeniable evidence, Sun Rui and Shi Jin unexpectedly 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. They endured a beating, but 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 tears and snot. 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 opened a carriage business.

About five or six years ago, two chieftains of Hulu Ling fought over territory. The imperial court took the opportunity to send troops to destroy them. Hulu Ling became Hulu County, and officials were set up to rule. 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. In the end, he 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 alone. It was also expensive to support a large number of subordinates, so he simply went back 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. In this way, 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. 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. 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, who would sell the goods to the Central Plains.

When Qi Mu was still alive, he had thought of bypassing the upper channel and the lower channel to directly get 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 relied on him for protection. However, the business of smuggling and smuggling had always been in the hands of Chang Zizai, and Zhao Wenyuan did not know about it.

Hua Qingfeng couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air. The Tiger Pass, the Chang's carriage business, the Hulu County tax department, the Hu's trading company, the collusion between the government and the merchants. Such a well-organized smuggling organization, it was truly a shocking case. If this case continued along the courier road, who knew how many more beetles would be dug out. This was a great achievement. Hua Qing Feng suppressed his excitement and immediately ordered his men to bring the merchant Hu Qifeng to the court!