The entrance of the cave is not high, you have to bend over to get in, it is about six feet wide, but there is a section of stone protruding horizontally from the low place on the right side, in fact it is only three feet wide and narrow.
The ground was full of broken branches and rotten leaves, and it was very soft to step on. Hua Yunfei squatted down and observed carefully for a while, then quietly groped into the hole. As soon as he entered the cave, he could smell the slight smell of fireworks, and Hua Yunfei was even more certain that those two people had entered this cave.
He walked in the dark for a while, the road in the cave was winding and uneven, but the space gradually widened. The twilight at the entrance of the cave has no effect here. Hua Yunfei didn't have the ability of night vision, so he couldn't move on anymore, but he didn't have to go on, because he could already hear the faint voices of two people inside.
"Isn't this good? I said, even if he has the ability to find such a place, how can he find it? The head of the family is too careful."
"No matter what, there are too many people who know this place, let's move all the things out, dig a hole nearby and bury it, cover it with vegetation, hey! Hey hey..."
"Well, when it's dealt with properly, I'll report to the head of the family that he's safe, and see how his government ends."
Listening to the conversation between the two, Hua Yunfei smiled slightly, and stepped back lightly like a cat. A guilty conscience of being a thief, if Chang Zizai is calm enough, how could Ye Xiaotian's beatings make him lose his balance. But Ye Xiaotian showed such determination, how could Chang Zizai not suspect that he had already taken the blame.
Hua Yunfei retreated to the mountain, found the two patrolmen, and ordered one of them to take Ye Xiaotian's handbook to the station to dispatch troops. Zhao Wenyuan was not at the post station. The post station's deputy prime minister saw that it was Ye Xiancheng's letter, and knew that his master postman and Ye Xiancheng had always been inseparable, so he immediately ordered thirty postmen, took weapons, and asked the arrester to take them away quickly. .
There is a lot of stock in the cave, obviously the private goods that have been continuously shipped from the south have been hoarded here because the northbound export was blocked by Ye Xiaotian. Ivory, rhino horn, seashells, coral, hawksbill...
Most of the small and easy-to-carry goods are gone, and what are left are larger things that are not easy to hide and carry. Things like ivory and coral are too difficult for the two of them to carry.
There was a shallow ditch on the nearby hillside, which was formed by the natural erosion of rainwater. Sun Rui and Shi Jin were only two of them, and they obviously didn't have the energy to dig a big hole by themselves, so they chose this place.
With so many goods, the two of them were sweating profusely while moving them, and their eyes were hot. But these bulky goods, they can't transport them through many barriers, and they can't find a channel to sell them. Things that can't be turned into money are meaningless to them.
The two of them are like two industrious bees, moving things out again and again. Seeing that the things are almost finished and already sweating profusely from exhaustion, dozens of people holding bamboo guns and embroidered with "post" on their chests suddenly appear next to them. "Soldiers in uniforms.
Sun Rui and Shi Jin stood there dumbfounded holding the front teeth of a mammoth. This mammoth ivory is much larger than ordinary ivory, commonly known as ten thousand year old ivory. Because most of it has become a fossil, only a little over 10% of the ancient ivory found has jewelry value. Its price is naturally much more expensive than ordinary ivory.
Hua Yunfei walked out with a smile, and said to the two of them: "Be careful, don't break it, this thing won't be worth selling both of you!"
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Zhou Bantou has been guarding the checkpoint for many days. This is the tax card set up by the Huxian Tax Department at the exit gate at the northern end of Huxian County. The terrain here is also extremely dangerous, with towering mountains on both sides, and this is the only way to pass.
During the war years, this was a fortress guarded by one man. Even if you have millions of soldiers, you can't deploy outside this pass. If you want to attack hard, the losses will be incalculable. Such dangerous passes can be seen everywhere in Guizhou, which is why the Li Dynasty dynasties unanimously chose to appease the local chieftains with the strategy of confinement.
This place was originally just a tax card, but now there is a group of police officers headed by Zhou Bantou. They are only responsible for checking the trucks that leave the customs. People inspected and collected taxes.
Even so, there are too many checks they need to do every day, and everyone is exhausted. But today, every policeman cheered up, and the tax bureaucrats of the tax department also raised their chests and looked up, full of energy, which was completely different from the past.
They have already received the news that several senior officials of the tax department and the tax ambassador Chen Muyan have been arrested by Ye Xiancheng. For the group of police officers under Bantou Zhou, this means that their hard work will soon come to an end, so they are naturally very excited.
As for the tax bureaucrats in the Taxation Division, apart from making their hearts tremble because of Ye Xiancheng's attack on their immediate boss, it is also a great opportunity. It is this opportunity that cheers them up .
All the brains of the tax department were arrested. Among these people, except for the post of tax ambassador, which needs to be appointed by Shangfeng, other official positions are appointed by the county. Those few tax managers were taken away at once, and they had a chance to take over. Fortune and misfortune depend on each other, other people's misfortune is their blessing.
"Okay, okay, you go. That aunt, come here, oh! It's a basket of eggs, okay, tax money, throw it in that basket. Okay, you go too, the mountain road is difficult, You are old, so you have to be more careful."
The tax collectors not only handled things much more quickly, but also became more friendly, which made the people in the past a little uncomfortable.
"You, take out the 'Guo Suo' to have a look. Just you and one donkey? Unpack your bags, that's fine, let's pay the tax and pass the customs. But go out from here to the next town, the journey in between is quite long, you'd better wait Wait for the merchants over there, say something good, and go with them, or else you will encounter a robber on the way, hehe..."
"Hehe, thank you for the reminder, I am so poor, those robbers who cut the road and rob the road will look down on me."
The speaker was a middle-aged man, tall and thin, with a long and thin pumpkin face, two mustaches, and wearing a brown two-piece jacket. Except for the skinny donkey, there was really nothing valuable on his body. Shui Ding waved his hand, and the middle-aged man led the donkey out of the checkpoint.
On the other side, the long convoy was waiting for the detectives under Zhou Bantou to check one by one. Several cargo owners gathered by the door, basking in the sun and chatting to pass the time. "Hey! That traveler looks like shopkeeper Hu!"
One of the cargo owners accidentally saw the pedestrians who had just walked out of the checkpoint with their donkeys, and couldn't help saying to the people next to them in surprise. Hu Qifeng, Hu Dongzhu, right? Don’t mention it, it’s a bit like it.”
They just talked casually and didn't take it to heart. Hu Dongzhu is a well-known businessman, with countless attendants coming and going, how could he be so light and simple... This man doesn't even have a car, and he doesn't even have a single follower. He looks like a very poor passerby.
Besides, although this person looks similar to Dongzhu Hu, there are still big differences. The most obvious thing is that Dongzhu Hu has three long beards, but the man in front of him has a mustache. The shippers didn't think much about it, they chatted casually, and then they got into the topic of which fan would serve men best in the Antler Town they were about to arrive at.
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Hua Yunfei led thirty postmen, escorted Sun Rui and Shi Jin, and drove back to the Huxian county government office with the stolen goods in two post cars. The stolen goods were seized at the same time, and Hua Zhixian suddenly became more courageous, and he couldn't wait to order him to be promoted, and he wanted to personally investigate the case.
Facing the undeniable evidence, Sun Rui and Shi Jin denied it. But under the three trees, why not ask for it? Sun Rui and Shi Jin were not great heroes with righteous hearts and unparalleled integrity. They endured a board, and finally couldn't stand it when the scorpion was caught between their fingers.
With a pinch, the yamen servants on both sides pulled hard, and Sun Rui and Shi Jin yelled, "I got it! I got it! My lord, the villain... I got it!"
Hua Qingfeng sneered, and said, "You don't have to drink a toast, come on! Record it!"
Sun Rui and Shi Jin began to confess with snot and tears. Qi Mu's first business was smuggling. At that time, he ran north and south with a few desperadoes, carrying a few items of money on his shoulders and carrying a few goods to earn the difference. Later, when he saved a sum of money, he drove around and started a serious business.
About five or six years ago, the two chieftains of Huling fought for land, and the imperial court took the opportunity to send troops to destroy them, turning Huling into Huxian County, and establishing the rule of officials. Qi Muxin was ruthless, and he stood out in the life-and-death competition, and finally dominated the post roads in Huxian County.
At this time, someone came to Qi Mu and took the initiative to negotiate the prohibition of smuggling. Qi Mu was suffering from the fact that he couldn't make too much money by relying on carriages and horses, and it was expensive to support a large number of subordinates, so he simply returned to his old business, but he used to travel over mountains and mountains. , Carrying his shoulders and carrying his hand to do some small business, and now using chariots and horses as a cover, the business has expanded more than a hundred times. As a result, his property has rapidly expanded like a snowball, and he has become the richest man in Hu County.
After Qi Mu's death, the second master also disappeared inexplicably, and Chang Zizai, who was originally in charge of this area, set up his own family. Relying on the purchase channels and sales channels controlled by him, he can still stand tall.
Sun Rui and Shi Jin also confessed that their smuggling of private goods is a one-to-one single-line contact. The upper house is arranged by the Tiger Pass. They are only responsible for the transportation and safety of this section. , sold by him to the Central Plains.
When Qi Mu was there, he once thought of skipping the upper and lower houses and getting in touch with the Southeast Asian countries directly. As for sales, he also wanted to skip so many intermediate links, so that the benefits he could earn from it would be more than ten times . It's just that this idea has not been put into practice, and he died unexpectedly.
After Qi Mu's death, Chang's Chariot and Horse Company accepted Zhao Yicheng's solicitation and took shelter under Zhao Yicheng's family, but the business of selling wealth and prohibition was always in Chang Zizai's hands, and Zhao Wenyuan didn't know about it.
After Hua Qingfeng got the detailed statement, he couldn't help gasping: Tiger Pass, Chang's Car and Horse Company, Hu County Taxation Department, Hu's Commercial Company, collusion between government and businessmen, such a tight smuggling gang, is really a shocking case. The case was dug all the way along the post road, and I don't know how many silverfish will be dug up. This is a great achievement. Hua Qingfeng suppressed his excitement, and immediately placed a ticket, ordering people to arrest the merchant Hu Qifeng to the case!