Chapter 2213
In a certain house in Yangzhou City, Lu Kangtai, with red eyes, was processing information reported from various places inside and outside the city.
Considering that the opponent is likely to take advantage of the large number of people to sneak into the city when the city gate opens in the morning, Lu Kangtai has deployed manpower at various city gates and water gates in Yangzhou City in advance for surveillance, and he himself is also on the fifth watch. He got up early so that he could dispatch manpower to take action against suspicious objects as soon as possible.
However, the twelve city gates and four water gates of Yangzhou City were opened in the morning. There were too many cars, boats and pedestrians entering the city. It was impossible for Lu Kangtai's people to participate in the investigation. They could only monitor nearby and allocate manpower to track the suspicious objects after they were found. , this job is not easy to do.
Of course, Lu Kangtai does not have so many professional manpower. The quality of the people assigned to various entrances to the city is also uneven. Many people do not know how to identify suspicious targets, and they cannot ask Lu Kangtai for instructions immediately. This is The information gathered here by Lu Kangtai was messy and complicated, making it difficult for him to filter out the truly valuable information.
Within half an hour after the water gates of various city gates were opened, more than a dozen fleets and seven fleets entered the city, and more than a thousand people of all kinds entered the city scattered. And as time goes by, the flow of people entering the city continues to increase, and the personnel deployed by Lu Kangtai at various checkpoints will soon lose the ability to continuously monitor.
Lu Kangtai concluded in advance that if the leading figures of the seven surnames wanted to enter the city, the most appropriate way would be to hide in a motorcade or fleet, so that they could bring a large number of escorts into the city without being too ostentatious. But even though he had anticipated this, the preparations he had made were still not sufficient. The manpower deployed at various checkpoints was simply not enough to follow up on so many tracking objects at the same time, and the delayed feedback of information made it impossible for him to make timely decisions. Adjustment.
Lu Kangtai looked at the pile of messages sent back from various places on the table and felt a headache at the moment. The situation he needed to deal with now was far more complicated than he expected, and the capable manpower he could call upon was actually too limited. There are only two to three hundred people, and they must be mobilized carefully to avoid problems.
If he sends out these people dispersedly without confirming the real target, then when he really needs to take action, he will not be able to quickly regroup these people together, and they may be defeated by the opponent one by one.
Fortunately, Lu Kangtai also had a backup plan. Although it was difficult to find the opponent's whereabouts during this stage of entering the city, he knew that as long as the opponent entered Yangzhou City, he would definitely report to the Yamen of the Salt Transport Envoy in Lianghuai and guard the Yamen sooner or later. They will wait until the other party shows up automatically. But in that case, you can only wait for the other party to return before looking for an opportunity to take action, which will reduce the chance by half.
"Keep an eye on the Salt Transportation Department's Yamen. If there is any sign of trouble, report it to me immediately!" Lu Kangtai had no choice but to ask the personnel deployed at various checkpoints to give up monitoring and instead concentrate all their efforts on the opponent's destination. .
The house where Lu Kangtai is located is very close to the Yamen of the Salt Transportation Department, with a straight-line distance of less than a hundred feet. Therefore, once the opponent appears near the Yamen, he can quickly get reports from the front, so that he can re-deploy the existing personnel. Make adjustments.
He was convinced that after the Salt Transportation Department Yamen issued the official document, the other party would definitely not be able to accept the serious consequences of all the industries under his name being shut down. He would definitely enter the city within a day or two at the latest and go to the Yamen to find connections to end the matter. thing, so staying at the Yamen is equivalent to protecting this operation, at least not allowing the other party to come and go freely in Yangzhou City.
As for where to take action, since it was impossible to predict the opponent's route of action in and out of the city, Lu Kangtai could only delineate a few places as alternatives. Moreover, both time and environment are obviously limited, making it difficult to rehearse before taking action. Even if the enemy is unprepared, Lu Kangtai is not completely sure that he can succeed.
But Lu Kangtai has no choice. He has fewer and fewer means at his disposal. If he does not seize every opportunity to attack the opponent, the situation will only develop rapidly in a direction that is not conducive to his own side. Although he was not yet aware of Haihan's strategy for Yangzhou, he was sensitive to the fact that after Haihan's intervention, he would probably no longer leave room for the Shanshan-Shaanxi salt merchants to gain a foothold.
Lu Kangtai did not think that he could continue to fight against Haihan, so the only chance was to completely eliminate the seven major surnames, and then use the market and channels at his disposal to bargain with the Haihan people, thereby resolving the conflict with Haihan. conflicts of interest.
As for the casualties in last year's battle, Lu Kangtai believes that with current interests, the Haihan people will not care too much about the past festivals. The key is to prove that they are stronger than the Huizhou salt merchants and are Haihan's only partner in Yangzhou.
Regarding this point, some people actually have the same idea as him. In a carriage in the city, Dai Yingda was explaining the current situation to Lin Zhong.
"There will be long-term cooperation between our Huizhou salt merchants and Haihan Kingdom, not only in salt trade, but also in many other areas in the future. This will have many long-term benefits for both of us... Lu Kangtai and others You only know how to sell salt, how can you understand these principles?" Dai Yingda explained while not forgetting to step on his opponent.
Of course, only a small part of these scenes were meant for Lin Zhong. The more purpose was to express his feelings to Yuan Tao who was standing next to him. Nowadays, the Huizhou salt merchant has staked almost all his wealth on Haihan. Naturally, he has to show his firm cooperative attitude to Yuan Tao at all times and everywhere in order to win Haihan's support.
Since the topic of cooperation is brought up, Yuan Tao of course has to say: "Cooperation in the salt industry is just the beginning. We will help Huizhou salt merchants improve their comprehensive strength through personnel training. By the way, I heard Boss Dai mention However, Brother Lin’s only son is also among the trainees going to Zhoushan Island this time?”
Lin Zhong hurriedly responded: "Quinzi is able to get this training opportunity thanks to the wrong love of the family master. I hope he can live up to the family master's expectations and learn the true skills of your country on Zhoushan Island."
Yuan Tao nodded and said: "When this matter is settled, I will contact Zhoushan to see if Brother Lin's only son has anything to take care of, and let them make arrangements there."
Dai Yingda also responded: "When I get back, I will arrange a boat to take you to Zhoushan. Then I will ask shopkeeper Yuan to help arrange a meeting between you and your son."
Lin Zhong thanked him repeatedly. His son was selected as an elite and sent to Zhoushan. This was originally a favor given to him by Dai Yingda. After all, this batch of trainees are mainly members of the seven major surnames, and there are very few children with other surnames. Those who can be among them are either very capable or have a deep enough background, and his son was directly named by Dai Yingda. It should be considered the latter. Although Lin Zhong was not sure about Yuan Tao's influence in Zhoushan, seeing that Dai Yingda obeyed his words, he must not have been bragging about what he said. He was even more determined to complete the task and escort Dai Yingda out of the city safely. belief.
Among the men Dai Yingda brought into the city, there were many people who were familiar with the roads in the city. After Lin Zhong explained the route to them, there was no need to keep an eye on them all the time. However, after a brief conversation with Dai Yingda and Yuan Tao, Lin Zhong took the initiative to leave the carriage and sit next to the driver driving the carriage to ensure that the convoy was traveling on the route he had set.
The distance from Yijiang Gate to the Salt Transportation Division's Yamen in the north of the city is actually not that far. However, Lin Zhong considered that the other party might arrange an assassination attack on the way, so when planning the route, he took the initiative to avoid those affiliated with Shanshan Salt Merchants in the city. property to avoid stepping into the trap set by the other party. In this way, although the risk is reduced a lot, the distance will inevitably be longer.
In fact, at this time, Lu Kangtai was struggling with the fragmented information collected from various places. Even if someone was tracking Dai Yingda's convoy at this time, because they could not determine its route, there was no time to arrange manpower to carry out an attack on the way. .
There were no problems on the way, and the convoy arrived at the Yanyunsi Yamen in the north of the city smoothly. Dai Yingda and Yuan Tao discovered that this was the time when the Yamen started working. It seemed that Lin Zhong had already calculated the time spent on the way when planning the route, and rushed to the Yamen at the right time, so that he did not have to wait for the Yamen. When the office is open, you won't have to wait in line because there are too many people coming to do things.
Dai Yingda comes here several times every year to go through the relevant procedures for salt industry operations. He is also familiar with this place. Now he asked the yamen to go to the door first to indicate his identity and purpose of visit, and to confirm that the salt transport envoy would be available to meet him at this time. , then Yuan Tao gave the signal first, and then personally escorted him out of the car.
As soon as Dai Yingda came down, the guards who had received the signal and were waiting outside surrounded him several layers inside and outside. The innermost layer is surrounded by four armed guards under Yuan Tao and Dai Yingda. Surrounding these people were more than a dozen guards from Golden Shield, carefully paying attention to the surrounding environment. There are still some people who have stayed in the carriages of various carriages and have not shown up, but they are all on guard. Once there is any movement around them, these carriages will immediately stick out several gun muzzles and transform into deadly firepower points.
The distance from where the convoy stopped to the gate of the Salt Transportation Department was only about ten feet, but Yuan Tao was cautious and asked the guards to block Dai Yingda's figure as much as possible to avoid a sneak attack. He knew that the other party still had some musketeers. Although the chance of attacking at the gate of the Yamen was extremely small, there was no guarantee that the other party would take the risk. So he had to ensure that when Dai Yingda was exposed, no one nearby could hit him directly with a musket.
Dai Yingda was quite relaxed, and said to Yuan Tao calmly: "I am familiar with Mr. Salt Transport Envoy, and I am sure that the actions he took before were just to seek money. We only need to talk about this matter face to face. , there won’t be any trouble, as long as the joints here are opened, the opponent will not be able to come again in a short time.”
Dai Yingda didn't know how much benefit the Salt Transport Envoy had received from his opponent, but he knew that the price he was going to offer today was a huge investment and would definitely be higher than his opponent's. Since the Salt Transport Envoy waded into this muddy water for the sake of money, today Dai Yingda was going to make him give up his principles again for the sake of the money.
Dai Yingda walked to the door, turned around and said to Yuan Tao: "Shopkeeper Yuan, there is no need to go in. Please watch the outside for me."
Yuan Tao nodded and said: "Be careful! If there is any risk, remember to blow the whistle."
Yuan Tao had already prepared for the worst, that is, the Salt Transportation Department was united with the Shanxi and Shaanxi salt merchants, with the common goal of getting rid of the seven surnames. In that case, Dai Yingda's move would be tantamount to throwing himself into a trap. So Yuan Tao gave him a copper whistle. If there was a crisis, he would blow it immediately. Yuan Tao could also try to use force to rescue him, and then leave the city and escape Yangzhou.
However, such worries seem to be somewhat unnecessary. The Salt Transportation Department rarely takes the initiative to take sides. This time, it is extremely rare to issue an official document to temporarily seize the properties of Huizhou salt merchants. However, no arrests were made against the people with the seven major surnames. Arrest and detention measures. Unless the Shanshan-Shaanxi salt merchants have gained an overwhelming advantage in the competition, the Salt Transportation Department can just add insult to injury and participate in carving up the property of the seven major surnames. In that case, Dai Yingda may be arrested directly.
After Dai Yingda entered the Yamen, Yuan Tao turned his attention to the streets outside the Yamen. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, he asked Lin Zhong to stay in the car and not show up. Although no one has yet approached the convoy parked on the street, Yuan Tao knows that the other party must have many people keeping an eye on the salt transportation department, and the news of Dai Yingda's appearance will soon reach the other party's decision-makers. In my ears, I can't wait long for trouble to come to my door.
In fact, when Dai Yingda entered the Yamen, the news came to Lu Kangtai. As for where this convoy came from, Lu Kangtai didn't find any connection from the information he had obtained previously. He thought that this was either because the people monitoring the city gates were not doing their job well and missed the convoy and did not track it, or the other party broke into pieces and entered the city, and then pieced together a convoy in the city to catch up. Go to the Salt Transportation Department.
Of course, Lu Kangtai never imagined that this team actually had a golden cicada escape after entering the city. His people were still watching over the Thousand Miles of Carriage and Horses, but they didn't know that the convoy had quietly gone to the Salt Transportation Department in the north.
But at the moment, Lu Kangtai didn't have time to think carefully about how Dai Yingda came. Since the other party had already appeared in the Salt Transportation Department, there wasn't much time left for him to take action.
"Quickly notify everyone in the city to gather near the Salt Transportation Department!" Lu Kangtai immediately issued the order.
Since the other party showed up openly outside the Yamen, it seemed that he was determined that he would not dare to take action there. But as the saying goes, Lu Kangtai thought the other way around and simply moved the action near the Yanyun Department. He believed that he had the strength because of his numbers. As long as he could deal with the opponent in a short time, he could also clean up the battlefield as soon as possible after the action, calm the situation and avoid making things too big.
(End of chapter)