Chapter 248 Cast Iron

At night, the streets and alleys in Yanshi County are dark, with only Nanshi still brightly lit.

Nanshi is not a big market, far behind the markets in Chang'an and Luoyang, but it still has all kinds of goods.

A big man named Diao Geng sat in the private room of the restaurant and looked out the window for a long time. He didn't see Gao Chong coming as promised. Under the willow tree at the corner, there was only a child standing there looking at him. It was probably him.

The person sent by Gao Chong to contact him.

Diao Geng patiently drank wine and roamed the long street to make sure that the child was not being followed.

Finally, after finishing the pot of wine, he knocked the wine glass on the table and said: "The store will settle the bill."

"Okay! Sir, one roast goose, one pot of side dishes, five Hu biscuits, three pots of pine mash spring, plus the take-out steamed buns, it's one hundred and seven cents."

A bunch of shiny copper coins were thrown on the table, but Diao Geng did not counter-offer and patiently counted out seven more brand-new copper coins.

When the waiter saw that he looked ferocious and ordered a lot of things, he was worried that he was a diner, but he didn't expect him to be so easy to serve. He smiled apologetically and bowed to send him away. Then he looked at the copper coin in the candlelight and put it away happily.

After leaving the wine shop, a gust of cold wind blew, and Diao Geng opened his clothes to let out the smell of wine.

He walked under the willow tree, lifted up the child's collar like a cat, and walked into the darkness.

"Who asked you to come?"

"Gao, Gao County Cheng." Pen'er responded.

"Where is he?" Diao Geng asked.

"Just in the county town."

"Why doesn't he stay in the pawn shop?"

Diao Geng had already heard about Guo Wanjin's conviction and Gao Chong's escape, so he went to the pawnshop to pawn an iron lock, with a note about meeting Gao Chong hidden in the keyhole.

"I don't know." Pen'er said, "Give me money and I will take you to find him."

Diao Geng didn't ask the price, took out five copper coins and handed them over, saying, "Is that enough?"

The basin took it and rubbed it, overjoyed.

"Let's go, I'll take you there."

The two of them didn't need a lantern, so they walked through the dark streets and long, narrow alleys at night, with the smell constantly filling their nostrils along the way.

"Such a rotten place." Diao Geng said, "But I stayed in such rotten places before I was in my twenties. Can't you tell?"

"You can see it."

"Broken kid."

There was only one oil lamp in the dilapidated house, which was very dark. Gao Chong was sitting by the oil lamp, with a look of decadence on his face, and two men stood behind him.

"Why is the county magistrate hiding here?" Diao Geng stepped forward, took out a wine bag from his arms and handed it over, "The freshly heated pine mash spring is better than cold wine, which is not good for the stomach."

"Lao Diao is more particular now." Gao Chong's voice was hoarse and weak.

"The county magistrate hasn't eaten for several days, right?"

Diao Geng asked with a smile, took out a steamed bun from his bag and handed it over.

He felt that this place was not very comfortable, and he almost wanted to invite Gao Chong to Luo Yan Tower for a chat, but then he remembered that Gao Chong was already a fugitive.

"This time, I came out with my brother. He was carrying iron stones behind. I went to Yanshi first to collect some. After selling this batch of goods, I will buy some new year's goods and go back. There are many people on Iron Mountain and there are not many people to eat.

There are many, the county magistrate has prepared the food we need, is it useless?"

Gao Chong remained silent and leaned back a little, his face that could not be clearly seen became even more hidden in the darkness.

"Be prepared."

"I almost forgot." Diao Geng said, "Gao County Cheng, you are no longer an official. You can't help but give us this batch of grain and light goods, right?"

Gao Chong regained some of his arrogance and said in a hoarse voice: "Although I am not an official, no one can touch the power behind me."

"Yes, something happened. I think your brother should come again." Diao Geng was relieved about this and said: "I'm not worried about you defaulting on your debt, but we must have food before the Chinese New Year. This is what we agreed before, so we can't

I won’t give it until spring, right?”

High and silent.

When Diao Geng saw the silent atmosphere, he knew that Gao Chong had no idea.

He arrived in Yanshi County yesterday. As soon as he entered the city, he found out that Guo Wanjin had been convicted and that Gao Chong was implicated in the matter and fled in fear of the crime. He thought that Gao Chong's ability could be used to find other solutions.

"My brother has already reached Songshan Mountain. Isn't Gao County Prime Minister going to let him go back?"

"No." Gao Chong subconsciously wanted to glance at the person behind him, but held back and said: "The court didn't find our ship, so you can just load it on the ship, and I will give you the food that day."

Diao Geng was a little suspicious and said, "Will Prime Minister Gao County defraud us on behalf of the government?"

"Do you think I look like this?" Gao Chong said, "I'm just waiting for your cargo and will go with the ship."

"Well, I'll ask my brother to go to the old place. He can be there in five or six days."

"good."

Diao Geng then stood up and left.

Gao Chong held the bun and ate it, looking at the small candle lamp in front of him, thoughtfully, with a faint light of confidence in his eyes.

One of the people standing behind him was Xue Bai, who asked: "You said you don't know the people in Tieshan, but I think you are very familiar with them."

"I don't know who owns Tieshan." Gao Chong said, "These two brothers are the ones who transport the goods. They don't transport it every time, so I didn't know who would transport it this time before he came."

Xue Bai asked: "How much do you know about them?"

"These two brothers, the older one is called Diao Bing and the one just now is called Diao Geng. They are both desperadoes and have had lives under their hands." Gao Chong said: "My sworn brother used to travel around and had some friendship with Diao Bing. Yes.

Once, Diao Bing was arrested in Yanshi County, and my adopted brother asked me to let him go. We had a drink together and they helped lead the way."

Xue Bai thought that Gao Chong often hid some lies in the truth and did not fully believe it, so he asked again: "How many people do they usually bring?"

"About a hundred people."

Those who engage in this kind of business are desperadoes, and there must be no shortage of weapons. In other words, the force of these people cannot be underestimated. Xue Bai is afraid that he does not have enough force to take them.

"Why did you arbitrarily agree to give him food during the day's transaction?"

"The food has been prepared. There are 30,000 shi in the warehouse that I collected." Gao Chong said, "You can just give them 5,000 shi at a time."

Xue Bai asked: "If Lu Linghao asks, I will say you told me?"

"The county captain has his own way."

"Five thousand stones of grain, is this batch of iron stones paid for, or is it connected with the previous ones?"

Gao Chong smiled bitterly and didn't answer. Seeing that Xue Bai didn't stop him, he carefully finished the steamed bun in his hand, took a sip of wine and said, "I have some humble opinions. It's up to you whether you listen or not."

"explain."

"I don't know who you want to support, but if he can rely on you, he must not be too powerful. Oh, I don't mean to underestimate you, but you are still young after all. In short, the person behind you has been around for many years.

Staying in the Ten Kings' Mansion, there will definitely be insufficient manpower. It would be useless to have so much iron and stone. I'm afraid there won't even be an iron forge to make weapons. Why not keep the food to win people's hearts and make contributions? If you want to do big things, you must plan them slowly."

Xue Bai let him guess and said: "You mean, I can't swallow the loot you dropped in one breath?"

"You can swallow it sooner or later, but fat people can't eat it in one bite." Gao Chong seemed very sincere.

Xue Bai ignored his sincerity and said lightly: "Change him to another place to imprison him."

A sack was placed directly on Gao Chong's head.

…

Du Jin has already bought a secret small house in Yanshi County today, so he doesn't have to worry about having no place to keep him.

The house is in Dongchengfang, not too far from Xue Bai's residence.

"Did you send someone to follow Diao Geng?"

"Yes, I sent you." Du Jin said, "But since we can trade, why follow him anymore? If it turns out to be self-defeating, it will arouse his vigilance."

Xue Bai said: "I want to find out the relationship between Tieshan and Gao Chong. Is it a team or an ordinary business relationship? Or is it true, as Gao Chong said, that the two parties have some friendship?"

"The punishment was not enough, he didn't tell the truth, right?"

"A smart person like Gao Chong will not give up playing tricks until he dies. Even if most of what he says is true, it is inevitable that he will occasionally mix in one or two lies." Xue Bai said: "For example, this time

, If they are just doing business, then they will pay with one hand and deliver the goods with the other. But if they are a group, I am afraid that a fight will inevitably happen."

"This is his best chance to escape. Do you think he will take advantage of it?"

"Yes, instead of believing him, we should find out for ourselves."

~~

Gao Chong was actually right in what he said. Xue Bai didn't have an iron foundry capable of making weapons, and he didn't even have enough manpower. It seemed useless to ask for too much iron and stone.

Xue Bai had his own ideas about this.

That night, he drew several paintings, and the next day he went to the county office to find Lu Linghao.

"What's this?"
To be continued...