Qiu Yizi in Tongguan was also keeping a close eye on the developments of the war.
After rescuing Dai Luanxiang from the hands of the Persuasion Department and almost persuading him to surrender to Zheng Rong, Qiu Yizhi took Yuchi Lianghong and Zhao Chengxiao and hid in the market town west of Tongguan. He was really bold. After disguising himself as a passing merchant, he booked two rooms in a quite busy inn and observed the situation in Tongguan every day.
There was no sign of relaxation in the daily inspection at Tongguan, but the opening hours were greatly reduced - from four hours a day at the beginning, to only one hour at noon every day, and finally the opening time was temporarily designated by the superiors without a fixed time.
As a result, the number of merchants traveling to Tongguan decreased day by day. Instead, the imperial army gathered here and requisitioned people's houses for accommodation. The original residents either left their hometown to rely on relatives and friends, or had to sleep on the streets - making this town built on the pass a mess.
The hotel that Qiu Yizhi rented was owned by a doctor in the Ministry of War. Although these court officials and soldiers were domineering, they were not stupid enough to occupy the place. However, the owner of the hotel was a black-hearted profiteer. He knew that this place was a rare commodity, so he raised the room rate every day, which was two or three times higher than when he first came here.
Qiu Yizi's entry into the customs this time was different from the last time. He was extremely well prepared and brought with him gold and jewelry worth tens of thousands of taels of silver. He was not afraid of the increase in room rates, so he said that he was the nephew of Zhou Cijing, vice president of Guangyang Chamber of Commerce, and would live here permanently.
Zhou Cijing's name was well-known throughout the country. The innkeeper saw that Qiu Yizi was generous and spoke politely, which was quite in line with the Zhou family's Confucian merchant style, so he did not doubt her and served her carefully every day.
Qiu Yizi lived comfortably, and with Yuchi Lianghong and Zhao Chengxiao as his personal guards, he was able to focus all his attention on military affairs.
However, with the impenetrable barrier of Tongguan, even someone as smart as Qiu Yizi could only guess roughly from clues.
He saw that a large number of government troops had gathered to the west of Tongguan, but he had never seen them open the gate to attack - he must have thought that the government troops had suffered a great loss outside the pass and were unable to organize any more offensives. They could only turn from defense to offense and rely on the natural barrier to consolidate their defense line first.
He also noticed that although the atmosphere near Tongguan was tense and there seemed to be a sign that a war was about to break out, the Youyan army had not come to attack. This must be because his adoptive father Zheng Rong was too cautious and did not dare to send out troops to challenge without being fully prepared, which led to the current stalemate.
However, before Qiu Yizhi sent troops south to cleverly use a counter-espionage strategy to make Emperor Zheng Yao destroy his own Great Wall, he had repeatedly discussed with his adoptive father Zheng Rong and his master Zhongli Kuang: Although his family claimed to be "suppressing rebellion", they were still "rebels". If the war was delayed for too long, it was inevitable that the morale of the army would be shaken and the world would change. The situation would then be unpredictable.
Therefore, Qiu Yizi thought that he was the only force that his adoptive father Zheng Rong could rely on on the left side of Tongguan, and he had more than eighty elite soldiers around him. Perhaps he could be of some help, and help his adoptive father succeed as soon as possible, capture Tongguan, and head straight for the capital.
So he thought hard and finally realized that he actually had an acquaintance in Tongguan who might be useful. Without saying a word, he called Yuchi Lianghong and Zhao Chengxiao and headed towards Tongguan.
The weather was fine that day. The cold rain that had been falling for a few days had finally stopped, but the ground was still a little muddy.
Qiu Yizhi and his companions approached Tongguan with one step after another. They saw flags flying on the pass and soldiers patrolling everywhere, as if they were ready for battle. It was indeed not easy to attack. They also saw countless soldiers guarding the pass, which was far different from the few listless soldiers guarding the pass when they passed Tongguan several times before.
Seeing this, Qiu Yizhi was inexplicably panicked. He did not dare to approach, but caught an officer in the uniform of a centurion and asked, "Excuse me, sir, is Ruan Wenlong, who was originally on duty here, on duty today?"
The captain turned his head and glanced at Qiu Yi, then asked, "Who are you and what do you want to ask General Ruan Qian?"
Qiu Yizi hurriedly bowed and said, "I am a distant relative of Mr. Ruan Qian. I run a small business and happened to pass by here, so I came to visit."
The captain thought: Where did Ruan Wenlong get such a business relative? He just wanted to ask for his face to pass through the border. He was straightforward and said, "Well, let's put it this way. Now is the time when the two armies are fighting. The pass here is guarded very strictly. The opening and closing of the gate is the responsibility of the newly transferred front-line marshal Bai Wenbo. Regardless of whether you are a relative of General Ruan Qian or not, you must follow the rules to pass through the border."
Qiu Yizi was such a smart person that he could hear two very important pieces of information from the captain's two simple sentences: first, the court had transferred General Bai Wenbo to replace the deceased Qian Qing to command the various armies; second, Bai Wenbo was very strict in defending Tongguan and did everything personally, so it would be difficult to find any flaws.
Seeing that the young man seemed to be lost in thought, the captain said, "If that's the case, then please go back first. If you want to leave the border, I'm afraid you can only make preparations in advance, send more people to check, and leave immediately when you see the gate open. This is the right way."
Qiu Yizi was also somewhat puzzled when he heard what the captain said, so he bowed and said, "Thank you for your advice! I am indeed a relative of General Ruan. If General Ruan is on duty today, please go in and report it." As he said that, he took out an ingot of gold from his sleeve and handed it to the captain.
The captain took the gold, weighed it, and realized that it was heavy, so he said, "This young master is really generous. In this chaotic world, we can't trust any relatives or friends, and we can only trust gold and silver. I would be disrespectful to refuse it..." He stuffed the gold into his pocket and continued, "As for General Ruan, he is indeed not on duty at the gate today. If this young master really wants to see him, he has to go to his house."
Qiu Yizi hurriedly asked where Ruan Wenlong lived.
The captain accepted such a large ingot of gold from Qiu Yizi, and thinking that a mere captain was not a high-ranking official, the location of his residence was not a secret, so he told Qiu Yizi Ruan Wenlong's address.
Following the address given by the captain, Qiu Yizi, along with Yuchi Lianghong and Zhao Chengxiao, easily found a courtyard with a not very wide doorframe.
According to the rules of the Han Dynasty for the past two hundred years, only the captains and inspectors above the rank of Qianzong could be considered as official officials appointed by the court, and they had their own official salary issued by the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue. In the eyes of their superiors, Qianzong, Baihu, and Shichang were nothing more than military leaders, and they only received military pay on a daily basis.
Therefore, although Ruan Wenlong had the title of Qianzong and often took advantage of the convenience of being in charge of the entrance and exit of Tongguan to extort money, he seemed to be very poor. The wall of the courtyard where he lived looked very old, and the plaster on many places on the wall had peeled off. The wooden door that was half-open was also bumpy, as if it could be blown down by a gust of wind.
A few childish voices came from inside the door: "Dad, I want to eat meat! I want to eat meat!"
"That's right, I haven't eaten meat for a long time!"
"If there is no meat to eat, why not eat fish!"
What responded to them was an extremely rude male voice: "Eat, eat, eat, all you know is eating! There's almost no food left, and you're still thinking about eating fish and meat? Get lost, go find your mother!"
When Qiu Yi heard it, she recognized it as Ruan Wenlong's voice. She pushed the door open without knocking and said loudly, "General Ruan Qian is so poor, it's really admirable!"
Although Ruan Wenlong felt the voice sounded familiar, he couldn't guess who it was, so he hurriedly asked in a loud voice, "Who is visiting?" As he said that, he got off the kang, put on his cloth shoes, and walked out the door.
"Mr. Ruan Qian is really a forgetful person. I am an acquaintance of yours and we met a few days ago. How come you don't recognize me?" Qiu Yizi said with a smile.
Ruan Wenlong hurriedly walked out of the room, only to see Qiu Yizi, the adopted son of Youyan King Zheng Rong, standing in his dilapidated courtyard. He was stunned for a long while before trying to lower his voice and said, "What time is it now? How dare Your Highness come here?"
Qiu Yizi did not answer, but smiled and said, "I have come from afar, Mr. Ruan Qian, why don't you invite me for a cup of tea?"
Ruan Wenlong did not expect Qiu Yizi to say such an incongruous statement, but he had no choice but to invite him, Yuchi Lianghong and Zhao Chengxiao into the house, asked them to sit down next to a very shabby table, took out four crude pottery bowls, poured hot water into them, and drank the water without saying a word.
Qiu Yizi took the tea bowl and dipped his lips in the tea. He knew that the tea was really inferior, so he smiled and said, "As the saying goes, 'I don't want to be a marquis in my next life, I just want to be the governor of Tongguan'. It means that there is a lot of money in Tongguan, but it seems to be false. I didn't expect that General Ruan Qian lived such a simple life. Haha, he is really a breath of fresh air."
Although the power to control the passage through Tongguan was not great, it was very effective. On weekdays, those who needed to pass through the customs would inevitably compliment Ruan Wenlong, but no one ever said that he was honest and simple. Therefore, it was the first time in his life that he heard such flattery, and he was dumbfounded and speechless.
But Qiu Yizhi continued to ask: "It is said that wars are fought with swords and guns, but in reality they are fought with money and food supplies. Logically speaking, the court and the prince have been fighting for half a year, and General Ruan Qian should have been promoted. Why is he getting more and more impoverished?"
Qiu Yizi's words finally touched Ruan Wenlong's sore spot. He sighed and said, "Your Highness is a superior person, how could you know how difficult my livelihood is? It is true that the military pay from the court is like a river and an ocean, but most of it is deducted by the generals. When it comes to me, I will be thankful as long as it is paid regularly and in full every month. Your Highness also knows my situation. How can I support my family of five with just the one or two taels of silver from the court every month? Don't I have to rely on the merchants who come in and out of the checkpoints to pay tribute to me and make some money to live?" He sighed and said, "But now there is a war and chaos, and the merchants going to Tongguan can only make a fraction of the usual amount. The higher-ups are keeping a close eye on me, so where can I get the money from?"
Qiu Yizhi heard that Ruan Wenlong's words were full of the smell of money, and he was telling the truth. He laughed twice, "Speaking of which, you and I are now serving different masters, and we are sworn enemies. It seems inappropriate for you to complain to me here, right?" As he spoke, Qiu Yizhi reached into his arms, took out two heavy gold ingots, put them on the table, and continued, "Forget it. Ruan Qian and I have some friendship, so please accept this small gift!"
When Ruan Wenlong saw the two ingots of gold, his eyes immediately shone with golden light. He pressed the gold tightly with his hands and thanked him hurriedly, "Your Highness has really solved my urgent need! If I hadn't received any income, my three children would have had to eat only coarse food for the next half month."
Qiu Yizi smiled and was about to speak, but she heard Yuchi Lianghong say, "There seems to be someone outside the door!" (To be continued)