The black rider went straight to Jiaozhou. In order to deceive people, the route chosen was naturally impossible to be an official route. No matter how confident Fan Xian was, no matter how confident he was in the powerful combat power of the black cavalry, it was impossible for him to hope that once a riot broke out, with only 400 cavalry, he would be able to suppress one of the three major naval forces of the Daqing Dynasty.
So we can only enter the city quietly, not those who shoot.
Looking at the city gate of Jiaozhou from a distance, Fan Xian got off his horse, followed the Overwatch Council method he had practiced since childhood, found a quiet place, and let the horse go. The horse was quite spiritual, and seemed to understand what its master meant, so it didn't linger too much, so it went into the valley by itself, and disappeared after a while.
It wasn't that Fan Xian was reluctant to kill the horse, it was just that the smell of blood was really unnecessary and would cause some trouble instead. After confirming that the horse would not reveal his whereabouts, he sat under a tree, dug a small hole beside him, took off his clothes, and buried them in the soil.
Then he took out the equipment on his body, conducted a very detailed inspection, and confirmed that the black dagger, three newly equipped dark crossbows, and the poisonous drug that never left his body were all there. He had painted something on his face before he subconsciously Ri nodded, then sighed.
Somewhat unwillingly, he buried the Son of Heaven Sword that Wang Qinian had sent him in the pit. Fan Xian thought to himself, when would he be able to use this sword in a fair and honest manner.
By the time he left the big tree, Mr. Fan, the commissioner of the Overwatch Council, had transformed into a very ordinary young man. His face was still handsome, but the distance between his brows widened and the corners of his eyes drooped a little. , with less heroism and more sincerity, he is already a completely different person.
Inside the coarse cloth clothes, there was still the close-fitting black night gown. Fortunately, the material was first-class, and it was well ventilated, so it didn't feel too hot.
Going along the seldom-traveled mountain road to Jiaozhou City, the sun has already sunk under the mountain behind, and a dim twilight enveloped the surrounding fields. At the last moment in front of the gate of Jiaozhou City Gate, Fan Xian walked to the gate, honestly handed over the guide, answered a few routine questions from the soldiers at the gate, and entered the city with ease.
The way guides made by the Overwatch Council were not high-level fakes, but genuine products. Naturally, no one would find the problem, and when Fan Xian answered the questions, although he was respectful, he did not show any signs of panic. There are many people, and soldiers at the city gate have long been used to it, so they haven't paid enough attention to it.
Passing through the city gate, Fan Xian rubbed his eyes and smiled. Like a traveler from afar, he looked at the surrounding houses and scenery with somewhat curious eyes, but he didn't dare to be too leisurely. He didn't let go of his feet. Slowly, perfectly playing the outsider who is busy with business.
Jiaozhou City is indeed different from other cities in general. Although it is adjacent to the sea, the business, to be precise, is about the retail business of bulk goods. It is obviously the most prosperous avenue running through the city, but there are not many people on both sides. The shop, even if it has some fronts, is half-covered and has no signboard, so that outsiders can't know what kind of business is engaged in inside.
The whole city looked a little dignified and peaceful, without the fireworks of life, but with a little more majesty.
As Fan Xian walked, he watched these details and knew that it was because the Jiaozhou Navy was stationed here. Jiaozhou is far away from the Central Plains, a place far away from the emperor, and the navy itself has tens of thousands of soldiers. This force is really terrifying.
Compared with the huge navy, the local strength of Jiaozhou seems a little insignificant. The highest official in Jiaozhou city is just a prefect, and he still has to be honest in front of the admiral of the navy.
Moreover, when Jiaozhou responds to economic affairs, they all rely on the navy. The tens of thousands of officers and soldiers of the navy respond to their daily needs. Distorted prosperity - at least there is no need to worry about not being able to sell things and food.
It is precisely because of these reasons that Jiaozhou City, if it is a huge naval logistics base, is like a delicate yellow flower girl next to a big man, who can only accept it, but can't make a few complaints.
With such a huge entity as the Navy, Jiaozhou City naturally has a strong military atmosphere. The best parts of the city have been requisitioned by the military, and the largest mansions are all in the Navy. The high-ranking generals lived there, and the best girls were occupied by those sailors.
Although the imperial court has a decree that the generals of the garrison are not allowed to live in the neighboring state cities, but everyone knows that this rule has long since lost its effect, not only in Jiaozhou, but all the state troops and even the border troops in all places, as long as there are some powerful figures , are not willing to live in miserable tents, but will buy a house and a woman in the state city.
Black Knight is a special case among special cases.
Fan Xian looked up at the brothel with the red light hanging over there, and couldn't help laughing. The brothel business in Qiu Baduo's place is naturally not that bad, but I don't know if those navy officers and soldiers will renege on their debts, but According to the news from the courtyard, although the Jiaozhou Navy is the emperor of Jiaozhou City, they have always seldom ate weeds.
They used to eat the grass of the sea to the south.
…
…
Fan Xian lowered his head, and walked quickly past a large mansion. The mansion occupied an extremely large area, the eaves were overhanging, the doors were painted with vermilion lacquer, and the walls were hidden among bamboos. The house of the members is even more arrogant.
And today this mansion is just like the brothel in the distance, with bright red lanterns hanging, looking beaming, and a portrait of a fairy with white beard fluttering pasted on the door, it looks like some important person is celebrating his birthday.
The ones who were extremely out of harmony with this happy atmosphere were the soldiers guarding the gate of the mansion. Those soldiers had dark complexions and the color of rust could be faintly visible under their ears. They must have been living at sea for many years. These soldiers did not look sideways, with solemn faces, watching the pedestrians passing by in front of the house vigilantly.
There are not many pedestrians who dare to walk in front of the mansion, so their more task is to check the guests, although the guests are officials from Jiaozhou City except for the bosses in the navy, and some of them can stand. The rich merchants on the stage even had a few merchants from the south of the Yangtze River, but these soldiers still did not dare to relax. They checked the gift box carefully to ensure that no one dared to bring a murder weapon inside.
Today is the adult's birthday banquet, they must ensure that everything is safe.
Except for the heavily guarded front entrance of the mansion, Fan Xian was really lucky, and had already heard that there should be many nails buried in those secluded places in the mansion.
He walked quickly, with his head lowered, a strange smile appeared on the corner of his lips, he could clearly see the guards stationed on the street corners outside the mansion, and at the same time drew a map of the surrounding terrain, deeply imprinted in his mind. He only walked around that huge imperial palace back then, and he remembered all the paths clearly, let alone such a big mansion.
…
…
Leaving behind him the excitement and the sound of saluting, the dazzling red color of the red lantern disappeared into the darkness. Fan Xian pursed his lips, glanced at a place under the wall next to the street intentionally or unintentionally, and saw a familiar With a secret note, he turned around and walked in until he reached the end of the alley.
It's a dead end.
Fan Xian looked up at the wall on the other side of the dead alley, shook his head, tipped his toes, stood up lightly, put his palms on the top of the wall, and rolled over.
Quietly, Fan Xian, disguised as an ordinary citizen, disappeared into Jiaozhou City again.
※※※
Behind the wall is a small courtyard, the place is not very quiet, and the sound of the street can be heard faintly across a few large houses. Although there are six rooms in the front and back of the house, it also looks a little old, which means that although the people who live here are not ordinary people, their lives are not necessarily easy.
Fan Xian stepped up the stone steps, pushed the door open, walked straight to the main seat, picked up the teapot beside him, sniffed it, poured himself a cup of tea and drank it.
There was a sound of anxious footsteps from the side. The owner of the footsteps walked into the room and found a young man he didn't know sitting there. He was about to ask a question, but he couldn't help but look at the gesture made by the man. Surprised and delighted, he said, "Teacher, you have come."
Fan Xian smiled, put down the teacup in his hand, looked at Hou Jichang's thin face, and couldn't help but said: "This is an official in Jiaozhou, I thought I could take care of your shriveled body, why did you get thinner and thinner?" ?”
After Hou Jichang met Yang Wanli on the Jiangnan embankment, he worked tirelessly to come to Jiaozhou to take up his post. The journey was exhausting, and he had to secretly investigate those shocking events for Fan Xian, so he was under a lot of mental pressure. He has been in Jiaozhou for nearly a month, but there has been no progress. He is afraid that it will hinder the master's important affairs. He can't sleep for several nights. Now his eyes are sunken and his cheekbones are protruding. look like.
He smiled wryly at himself and said, "Students don't have the ability to laugh at the world like teachers do."
Fan Xian sighed. Although Hou Jichang was the most thoughtful and the most ruthless and bold among the four of his disciples, but facing the coming bloodshed, it could be seen that a scholar is still a scholar after all. Logically speaking, it would be good for the Overwatch Council to come forward on this matter, but Fan Xian arranged for Ji Chang to come here, on the one hand, to shock the officials in Jiaozhou, and on the other hand, he also had selfish intentions. After the chaos in Jiaozhou, some people must be affected. Relegation, someone took the credit... Such a big credit would definitely allow Ji Chang to get an unconventional promotion.
Fan Xian was still willing to leave this kind of benefit to his students, but it was a price to shock him a bit.
"Is there anything unusual after you arrived in Jiaozhou?" Fan Xian asked calmly. He didn't ask about the smuggling by the Jiaozhou navy, because he knew that Hou Jichang would never be able to find out about these officialdoms in such a short period of time. dirty things.
Hou Jichang thought for a while, and said: "Everyone knows that I am your disciple, my lord, so these officials are kind to me, even the generals in the navy are very knowledgeable, but... they don't understand much, just I heard some noise."
Fan Xian nodded. This was a situation that he had guessed a long time ago. He thought for a while and said, "Admiral Chang Kun is holding a birthday banquet today. Didn't he invite you?"
Hou Jichang was taken aback for a moment, and said: "I'm just a petty official, but...it should be to give you face, the admiral also gave me a post, but...you said that I will arrive today, so I have been waiting at home, and I haven't seen it yet. Decide whether to go or not."
"Go." Fan Xian said firmly, "You go first."
Let him go first, the hidden meaning is naturally that Fan Xian will go after the meeting.
Hou Jichang frowned and said, "Are you alone?"
"One person is enough." Fan Xian smiled and said, "Chang Kun is not Sean, he has no right to make me pay too much attention to him."
After a pause, he continued: "Today is his birthday banquet. In the future, his family will celebrate his birthday, and the memorial ceremony can be held for one day... This will save a lot of trouble."
Hou Jichang was startled, his mouth was bitter, and he stared blankly at his master, knowing that Fan Xian was definitely going to kill someone at today's birthday banquet, but he didn't know what the master was going to do under the protection of the powerful Jiaozhou Navy Killing, and the admiral of the navy, from the rank of a high official, can't just assassinate, your majesty and teacher... shouldn't make such a stupid mistake. If the birthday banquet is turned into a Shura field, how can we deal with the aftermath