HLnovel Chapter 283 Xirong Merchants
Chapter 283 Xirong Merchants
"Zhuang Hu, send a few more spies to keep an eye on Xiao Mo. This time we are going to assassinate him, and we must succeed. We cannot fail."
"If we fail and want to assassinate him, it won't be that easy. Xiao Mo is very cunning."
"I understand. I will send someone to keep an eye on Xiao Mo now."
Zhuang Hu is Min Shao's capable deputy general and has strong abilities in handling affairs.
In order to test Xiao Mo's true strength, he came up with another trick.
One day, Ye Jintang was practicing sword in space. After practicing for a while, she felt the carriage stopped.
"Why did the carriage team stop suddenly?"
Ye Jintang was somewhat confused and looked out the window to find out what was going on.
I saw Xiao Mo riding a horse coming from afar.
"We encountered a Xirong merchant caravan ahead. Their carriage broke down on the road, blocking the way. I think they can move the carriage out of the way soon."
"Xirong people?"
"Yes, since the year before last, the emperor has issued an edict allowing the Western Rong, Northern Di, and Southern Barbarians to trade with our country. Many Western Rong people would travel thousands of miles to sell goods to Tian Qin."
Having said that, Xiao Mo couldn't help but look at the Xirong merchant.
"I heard that this was the idea of Imperial Noble Consort Dehui, and the Emperor did not object."
"I don't know if they have a problem with their brains. The two countries have only been at peace for a few days, but they are allowing foreign merchants to come to the Central Plains to do business. They are not afraid that they will bring spies here."
"If it was Imperial Noble Consort Dehui who came up with the idea, then this matter makes sense. Foreign merchants who come to Tianqin to do business will pay relatively high taxes."
"The more merchants come to the Central Plains to do business, the more money Imperial Noble Consort Dehui will receive."
"Otherwise, how could Imperial Noble Consort Dehui fill her coffers in just over a decade?"
Speaking of the treasury of Imperial Noble Consort Dehui, even the well-informed Ye Jintang couldn't help but sigh that she was really good at saving money.
"Your analysis does make some sense. Imperial Noble Consort Dehui only cares about making money for herself and doesn't care about the lives of others."
Once a large number of foreign races are allowed to infiltrate the Central Plains, perhaps nothing will be seen in the first few years.
If a war breaks out in eight or ten years, those foreign spies will deal a fatal blow to the Tian Qin Kingdom.
No one knows what the foreign spies will become after many years. If a capable one of them becomes an official in the court, things will be troublesome.
As the two were complaining, a guard came over and said that the Xirong merchants wanted to follow their carriage team.
Xiao Mo just laughed.
"Are you willing to go with the Xirong people?"
The guard who came over waved the sword in his hand.
"I don't want to. All six members of my family died at the hands of the Xirong people. When I saw those Xirong merchants just now, I didn't go up and chop them to death. I was already merciful."
Xiao Mo laughed out loud.
"This is the man of our Tianqin country. Then you go tell the Xirong people that we are slow and it is inconvenient for us to join them."
"Yes, my subordinate will go right away."
The guard left happily, and Ye Jintang thought that this little episode was over. However, she didn't expect that when the carriage was on the road again, she saw two women in Xirong ethnic costumes standing on the side of the road and talking to Xiao Mo.
The clothes worn by the Western Rong women were extremely bold, with large areas of skin exposed to the sun. Xiao Mo, riding on a horse, could enjoy a clear view of the spring scenery.
Looking not far away, they saw a group of Xirong people dressed as merchants, watching them from afar.
Just by looking at the clothes, Ye Jintang could tell at a glance that the leader of the Xirong merchants was a tall and strong man.
They wanted to follow the King of Qin's carriage team to the next city, so the leader of the caravan should come out to negotiate with Xiao Mo.
But they sent out two women, and Ye Jintang could guess their intention with just his toes.
If a strong man is out and about and wants to stop a carriage on the road, no one will dare to stop, after all, men are more dangerous. But if it is a woman, it is different, because women are weak and not dangerous.
The Xirong people wanted to take advantage of this and let Xiao Mo lead them for a while.
The carriage drove by slowly, and Xiao Mo turned around with a cold face and walked away to catch up with Ye Jintang, no longer chatting with the two women.
"What's going on with the Xirong caravan? Didn't we let them leave? Why are they still following us?"
The carriage went forward for a long distance. Ye Jintang turned around and looked at the Xirong caravan from afar, following them slowly.
"They said they were afraid of bandits in the surrounding mountains and wanted to go with us."
Faced with the shamelessness of the Xirong people, Xiao Mo was somewhat helpless. He couldn't just stop the Xirong people from taking the official road.
"Your Majesty, come here. I have something to tell you."
When Xiao Mo heard Ye Jintang calling him, he took the initiative to ride over on his horse.
"I've seen records about the Xirong people in books before. Xirong women have no status. Under normal circumstances, it is impossible for a caravan to bring Xirong women of relatively high status to trade."
"Only female slaves would mingle in the caravan. The two women who just spoke to the prince didn't look like female slaves at first glance, and their behavior didn't seem like that of women of higher status."
If the women were of high status, the caravan leader would never allow them to show their faces in public.
After being reminded by Ye Jintang, Xiao Mo also felt that something was fishy.
He muttered, "Could it be that they are spies from Xirong, coming directly to me to get information? If that's the case, then I can only say that they are really brave."
"We must be on guard against others. Even the Northern Di people could be bribed by Imperial Noble Consort Dehui, so it's possible that there are a few Western Rong spies."
Xiao Mo turned his head to look at the Xirong people not far away, and his face turned very ugly.
"If they are really Xirong spies, I will definitely cut them into pieces and throw them into the mountains to feed the wolves."
Xiao Mo, who was suspicious, disliked the Western Rong merchants.
He quietly called over two of their more clever guards and asked them to keep an eye on the Xirong people to see what they were planning to do.
After walking for a whole day, the Xirong people did not show anything unusual, but when they set up camp at night, the guards discovered that there was one person missing from the Xirong caravan.
"I have been keeping an eye on the Xirong people this afternoon. Halfway through the journey, one of them went to the woods to relieve himself. I think it was the one who was missing at that time."
If the Xirong people didn't make any movement, Xiao Mo wouldn't bother with them. They could follow him if they wanted.
But now it is obvious that there is something fishy going on among these Xirong merchants.
After returning to the tent, Xiao Mo told Ye Jintang about this matter.
"Jintang, do you think the Xirong people are planning to cause trouble?"
"Maybe. I remember you told me before that you fought a war with the Western Rong for a year and killed the son of the Western Rong general."
"Now that they have heard that you are injured and your strength has been greatly reduced, why don't they send someone to assassinate you?"
The hatred of killing a son is irreconcilable, so it is understandable that the Xirong people came to assassinate Xiao Mo.
When talking about the past, Xiao Mo looked very proud.
He fought beautifully in that battle, defeating the larger force with a smaller one.