Chapter 2211

Yuan Tao knew very little about the specific environment inside and outside Yangzhou City. The little information he had was almost all obtained from the joint operation between the Military Intelligence Bureau and the Ministry of Security last year. However, they did not enter Yangzhou City to carry out operations at that time, so

In fact, he doesn't know much about the situation in the city. At this time, Jindun has to escort Dai Yingda in and out of Yangzhou City, so his action plan must rely on the intelligence information provided by the salt merchants.

"Yangzhou City has twelve gates, four water gates, and six suspension bridges. There are actually many passages in and out of the city. Even if the opponent has deployments inside and outside the city, it will be difficult to effectively monitor so many entry and exit passages at the same time. We only need to

If you plan properly, choose a relatively safe route in and out of the city, take good cover, and go in and out quickly, you can save a lot of trouble."

At the preparatory meeting with Dai Yingda and others, Yuan Tao took the initiative to explain his plan. His idea was to cover up his whereabouts as much as possible when entering and leaving the city, so that the opponent could not make targeted arrangements in advance. If necessary, he could even use disguise

Dress up and sneak into the city to avoid the eyes and ears of your opponents.

Dai Yingda responded: "You can indeed do what Shopkeeper Yuan said when you enter the city, but as long as you keep an eye on the salt transport envoy Si Yamen, it will not be difficult to find traces of our actions."

Yuan Tao nodded in agreement: "So the key is not entering the city, but leaving the city."

The Shanshan Salt Merchants have greater influence on the north bank of the canal, but it is difficult to monitor all the passages in and out of the city in real time, so there is no doubt that they will focus their monitoring on the places where the seven surnames must go. By then, the seven major surnames will

Once the person's whereabouts are exposed, they can make targeted arrangements and carry out attacks on their way out of the city and back to the south bank of the canal.

Although there is no detailed map of the city, Dai Yingda has made a rough schematic map overnight, marking the approximate location of the main roads in the city and the destination.

"The Yamen we are going to is in the north of the city, so if we enter and exit from the south of the city, we basically have to pass through the entire city." Dai Yingda pointed out the location on the map and explained to Yuan Tao: "After we finish doing things at the Yamen

, how to withdraw it safely depends on shopkeeper Lao Yuan!"

Yuan Tao frowned and looked at this "map" with almost no details. He also felt a little headache at the moment. He had long been accustomed to getting more detailed map information from the military before carrying out missions, and here he

Plan a course of action based on this.

But the problem is that even a wealthy and powerful salt merchant group like the Qida family does not have a detailed map of Yangzhou City. After all, private drawing of extremely sensitive military information is strictly prohibited by the government. If the government discovers

It would be a big problem, let alone providing this information to foreign armed personnel.

The map provided by Dai Yingda was too rough. If measured by the standard of the Golden Shield, it would obviously not reach the passing level. If we use this to plan the action route, the risk would be very high.

Yuan Tao decided to find another way. He raised his head and asked, "I guess Boss Dai has the kind of special talents who stay in Yangzhou City all year round and know every alley and every corner of the city, right?"

Dai Yingda did not deny it, nodded and said: "Every five years, we will arrange for some people to settle in the city. We usually use money to support them, but we will not use these people unless it is absolutely necessary."

"Then it's the time of last resort." Yuan Tao was not surprised by this answer. The two groups of salt merchants have been fighting in Yangzhou for several generations. How could the Huizhou salt merchants be willing to remain on the south bank of the canal and turn Yangzhou's most important

The prosperous territory was under the control of the other party? Yuan Tao judged that they must have some long-term arrangements secretly in Yangzhou City. When he asked, it turned out to be the case.

Yuan Tao continued: "I think that the course of action after leaving the Yamen needs to be formulated by reliable people who are familiar with the environment, and notification must be made as soon as possible. However, this matter must not be leaked, otherwise our lives may have to be accounted for.

It’s in Yangzhou city.”

Dai Yingda said: "Then should we determine the route into the city first, and then send someone to notify the internal intelligence in the city so that they can meet us after entering the city?"

Yuan Tao thought for a while and nodded in agreement with Dai Yingda's suggestion. He needed to meet with the people who were in charge of the city as soon as possible after entering the city, understand the evacuation route planned by the other party, and make corresponding arrangements. The sooner he could grasp this information, the better he would be.

The more time you have to perfect your retreat plan, the greater your chances of surviving safely.

Yangzhou is the center of the salt industry in the Huaihe and Huaihe regions, and tens of thousands of local people directly or indirectly rely on the salt industry for their livelihood. Although some people are not involved in the manufacture and sale of salt, they are still part of this ecosystem.

For example, the salesman Lin Zhong is one of these people. He has been working as a salesman in Yangzhou City for twenty years. If he can work in the same trade for such a long time, he usually has opened his own shop, but Lin Zhong

But he is an exception. His outfit has just changed from a bag to a handcart, but he is still used to walking around the streets and selling small things such as needles, threads and brains.

But Lin Zhong's livelihood seems not to be passed on to his descendants. His wife has been dead for almost ten years, and he only has an only son who is seventeen years old. He has been studying in the best academy in the city since he was a child.

Some people say that all the wealth that Lin Zhong saved as a peddler paid for his son's tuition, so he had no capital to open a shop. If his son is admitted to the imperial examination in the future, he will naturally be rewarded.

Lin Zhong always just smiled when he heard such a statement and did not make any excuse. However, not long ago, Lin Zhong's son was suddenly sent away by him. It was said that he went to an academy in another place, but almost all high-end academies within a hundred miles of him were there.

In Yangzhou, it might be better to stay here if sent to other places.

Of course, because Lin Zhong is just a small person, not many people pay attention to his family affairs. People who know him can only ask a few questions, but no one will dig into it to investigate what he gave his son to.

A bad place.

Only Lin Zhong himself understands that with twenty years of hard work, he finally bought his son an opportunity to break through the class. He knows his son Mo Ruofu. He knows that his son is not the material to study for fame and pursue an official career, but he can read more books.

There is no harm in having more knowledge, not to mention that over the years they have studied in the best academy in Yangzhou, and someone has borne all the expenses for them, which has not caused any financial burden.

And this time his son was sent to further study because the sponsor was grateful that he had been working in obscurity for the past twenty years, so he provided his son with such an opportunity to study on an equal footing with the children of the big salt merchants, and once again took on the responsibility for him.

All expenses paid.

When his son returns from his studies there in a few months, he will no longer have to suffer as a salesman in Yangzhou City. With the savings he gained from working as a salesman for twenty years and the rewards given by his donors, he has already spent some time ago.

I bought a hundred acres of farmland and a house in Taizhou in the east, and I can enjoy the blessings of being a landlord in peace and contentment for the rest of my life.

Those regular customers who knew Lin Zhong in Yangzhou city probably never imagined that this unassuming salesman was actually a wealthy landlord. And besides being a landlord, Lin Zhong also had a more secret identity.

His identity is a nail in the service of the Dai family among the seven surnames.

Lin Zhong didn't know how many people in Yangzhou city were silently doing the same errands as him, but he knew that he must be the one who had been lurking under the Dai family for the longest time - this was what the head of the family, Dai Yingda, told him personally when he came to the city to do business last year.

What he said.

Lin Zhong actually didn't think he had done anything extraordinary. In the past twenty years, he had not killed anyone, nor had he saved the lives of any important people. He only carried out some tasks conveyed by messengers from time to time, such as spying secretly.

It is not a big deal for someone to monitor the operating conditions of a certain store, or to secretly collect dirty information about an official.

Lin Zhong accepted these tasks silently, and then used his identity as a salesman as a cover to try his best to complete the tasks. He did not receive any special training. For many tasks, he could only figure out how to achieve his goals by himself, so sometimes he was

The completion of the tasks was not ideal. However, perhaps because the tasks themselves were not too important, he rarely received criticism from the Dai family. However, the rewards he received through these tasks every year were often the ones he left.

There are several times as many items sold in the streets.

Of course, Lin Zhong also considered opening a shop to make his life easier, but the Dai family asked him to retain his identity as a salesman so that he could move around Yangzhou City without arousing suspicion. So although he was not particularly willing, he insisted on playing the role.

This character. It is precisely because he has been in this business for a long time that he does not want his son to continue to be a salesman, so he decided to fight for a development path for him that is different from his own.

Lin Zhong's home was in a small courtyard under the city wall in the south of the city. After his son left, he lived alone. Seeing that it was getting dark, Lin Zhong pushed his car back to the small courtyard and took an oilcloth to the car.

As soon as he opened the door and entered the house, he saw a man in black sitting in the house. The man did not make a sound or move when he came in. He had been sitting in the house for an unknown period of time.

Lin Zhong didn't show any surprise. He walked over and pulled out another stool to sit down. He picked up the teapot on the table and poured himself a glass of cold water. He drank it down, then wiped his mouth and said, "Count the time.

You should be here in the next two days. How about it? What mission do you have this time?"

The man in black reached out his hand and took out an envelope, put it on the table, and said in a low voice: "This is the reward given to you by the master of the house, so please keep it."

He paused and then continued: "The master of the family has a special task for you this time. He wants you to plan a route. The starting point is the Salt Transport Envoy Si Yamen in the Huaihe River and the destination is Daijiazhuang. Try to avoid it during the period.

The enemy’s eyes and ears will ensure that there will be no ambush or siege by the enemy on the way.”

Lin Zhong nodded and said: "The official documents came out from the Yamen two days ago, so I expected that there would be news soon... How much time will the master of the family give me to plan this matter?"

The man in black said: "Only one night... The master of the family will enter the city tomorrow. You go to the Thousand Miles of Carriage and Horses on the other side of Jiangmen early in the morning and wait outside. Then cooperate with the master of the family!"

Lin Zhong frowned and said: "Just one night is too hasty! The owner of the family is entering the city at this time, and the risk is not small. Do we need to recruit more people to serve as guards?"

The man in black said: "You don't have to worry about this matter. The master of the house is surrounded by expert guards. This matter is related to the life and death of the seven surnames. The news must not be leaked. If the news is leaked, not only you and I will die, but also our family will be implicated.

Remember, remember!”

When Lin Zhong heard that his family would be implicated, he became even more nervous and said quickly: "I will keep my mouth shut and will never leak the news. But when the head of the house goes to that yamen, people will definitely notice him. If I go with the head of the house, my identity will be certain."

If it’s exposed, I’m afraid I won’t be able to stay in the city anymore!”

"It doesn't matter. The master of the house has a destiny. When the time comes, you can retreat to Daijiazhuang together and there is no need to come back." The man in black paused and then said: "Congratulations, you can finally escape."

Lin Zhong couldn't help but trembled when he heard these words. Although he knew that it was only a matter of time before he ended this twenty-year job, this moment came earlier than expected. After completing this task, he would

No need to work as a salesman in Yangzhou city anymore.

After the man in black left quietly, Lin Zhong still sat in a daze for a long time. When he came to his senses, it was already dark. He fumbled to light the oil lamp on the table and saw that the envelope was still on the table.

, he opened it and saw that inside the envelope was a deed of sale. It was the contract he had signed when he sold himself as a slave to the Dai family more than 20 years ago to make a living. The signature was also the fingerprint he had pressed at that time.

The Dai family handed him this deed of betrayal as a reward, obviously to free him. But Lin Zhong was not moved by this, but became even more worried. He knew that this mission was not easy, and Shan

The Shaanxi salt merchants made a fuss in the city and forced the leading figures from the Seven Major Surnames to show up. Dai Yingda went to the city to go to the Yamen to resolve the matter. The Shanxi Salt merchants would not stand idly by and there would inevitably be a fierce fight. But the Dai family was ahead of schedule.

Returning the deed of betrayal to him may be to allow him to participate in this operation in a free state. If anything happens, at least there will be no regrets.

But no matter how risky this mission is, Lin Zhong can't refuse it. Even if he is now free, he can't evade this mission because of the huge risk. The messenger just made it clear that this time

If something went wrong during the operation, it would involve his family. Lin Zhong didn't want his son to lose his bright future.

Lin Zhong picked up the deed of betrayal, then lit it up against the oil lamp, watching it turn into ashes bit by bit in the light of the fire. He regained his freedom before performing the last task, but this was just a

First of all, whether the father and son can enjoy the life of a master in the future may depend on his performance tomorrow.
Chapter completed!