Chapter 2212

Although the battle between salt merchants in Yangzhou is about to break out, and even the government yamen in charge of the salt industry has been dragged into this muddy water, the Yangzhou market has not yet caused chaos, and there are still a large number of people and people every day. Goods enter and leave through multiple checkpoints and gates in Yangzhou City. For the vast majority of ordinary people, their lives have not changed significantly because of this. How they live their lives remains the same as before.

The people who will really be affected are basically the direct participants in this battle. For example, Lin Zhong, who has lived in Yangzhou City as a salesman for twenty years, from the moment he received the order from the messenger last night, He was no longer a salesman walking around the streets, but a dead soldier serving the great salt merchant Dai Yingda.

Now that the Dai family has sent the deed of betrayal, Lin Zhong believes that this shows that the risk of this mission is very high, and he may need to risk his life. But he also understands that he has no retreat option, he can only complete it first Only by completing this task can he retire smoothly and enjoy a happy life. What's more, his son's future future and destiny are closely tied to the Dai family. If the Dai family and the Huizhou salt merchants lose to their opponents in this competition, , then his son may not have a good life in the future.

Pushing a grocery cart around the city is a very physically demanding job, so Lin Zhong usually sleeps until it gets dark before getting up, but today he got up as soon as it was five o'clock, washed and tidied up, and then got out of bed from under the bed. Pull out a tightly wrapped oil paper bag.

Lin Zhong placed the oiled paper package on the table, brushed off the dust on it, and then slowly unfolded the wrapped oiled paper layer by layer. Inside was a sheathed dagger.

There were no marks on this dagger, which was only seven inches long. The cowhide sheath had turned into a dark brown color, which showed that it was old. Lin Zhong slowly took out the dagger. There was no rust on it, and it was still shining coldly.

This dagger was a self-defense weapon issued to him by the Dai family when he was sent to lurk in Yangzhou City. It has been in his hands for twenty years. The reason why it is so well preserved is that it has basically never been used. However, secondly, he would take out the dagger for maintenance every year, carefully remove the rust, and re-wrap it with new oil paper.

Lin Zhong has never practiced martial arts, and he lives in Yangzhou City as a salesman. No one will try to challenge him. There is indeed no need to carry a dagger with him. But the mission to be carried out today may be greater than all the missions in the past twenty years. It would be even more dangerous in total, and he had to prepare for the worst in advance.

Lin Zhong's move was not entirely to protect his master. He knew that Dai Yingda was protected by an expert, and even if he tried desperately, it would not be his turn to take action. He carried this dagger mainly for self-defense. If he launched a surprise attack on his home, the scene would be chaotic. There will be no one to look after him at that time, so he can only try his best to save himself.

But when the time comes, Lin Zhong himself is not sure whether he will have the courage to pull out his dagger and fight with others. He just doesn't want to be killed and wants to work hard to leave Yangzhou City alive.

Since he was traveling with Dai Yingda today, he no longer had to push a cart and go out as a salesman, which actually made him feel much more relaxed when he went out.

When Lin Zhong walked to the door, he looked back at the small courtyard where he had lived for many years, knowing that he would probably never come back again. However, he didn't have much attachment to this place. He just stayed for a moment and then walked out of the courtyard. After closing and locking the door, he threw the key directly over the door into the yard and left without looking back.

Yesterday the messenger told him that the rendezvous place was the Qianli Carriage and Horses Store near Yijiangmen. Lin Zhong was no stranger to that place. Every time he went to the dock outside Yijiangmen to purchase goods, he would pass by the door of the Carriage and Horses Store.

When Lin Zhong went out, it was still dark. Although the streets in the city had been opened, there were still very few pedestrians on the streets. Lin Zhong knew that the city gate had not been opened at this time and Dai Yingda would not show up for a while, so he

First, I found a nearby breakfast shop that had just opened, ordered a bowl of Yangchun noodles, soup dumplings, shaomai, and some steamed dumplings, and sat down to enjoy the breakfast slowly.

In fact, he rarely eats breakfast outside. He usually eats leftover porridge or cold steamed buns from the night before, and makes do with this morning meal. But today he doesn't plan to save money, after all, he will eat it for the next meal.

What, where to eat, or even whether there will be another meal, it’s hard to say now. You must be full and happy after this breakfast.

After breakfast, Lin Zhong went to the vicinity of Qianli Carriage and Horse Hall. At this time, carriages were coming out of the carriage house one after another. Judging from their direction, they should be going to Yijiang Gate to wait for the city gate to open before leaving the city.

There were some people standing under the wall outside the carriage and horse shop. Lin Zhong knew that these were laborers waiting to load and unload goods. These people were not affiliated with the carriage and horse shop, they were just here waiting to get jobs. Lin Zhong also

He walked over calmly and stood silently at the edge.

He didn't intend to compete with these people for work, but he just didn't want to attract attention. When Dai Yingda arrived later, he would be able to observe it here for the first time.

However, Lin Zhong seems to have overlooked one issue. Dai Yingda must avoid exposing his whereabouts prematurely at this time. When entering the city, he will probably disguise himself or even try to hide. No matter how wide his eyes are, he may not be able to see Dai Yingda appear.

At the fifth quarter of the Yin hour, the morning bell rang, the city gate opened, and the whole city began to come to life. There were many people on the street who got up early to work.

Errands running to pick up goods and merchants hiring carriages and horses were constantly passing in and out.

Lin Zhong didn't wait too long when he saw a group of carriages coming from the direction of Yijiangmen. The first carriage carried a small flag of the Thousand Miles Horse and Carriage Company. The convoy had not yet approached the entrance of the horse and carriage store, and he wanted to take a job.

The laborers have already swarmed forward, planning to occupy a vantage point that is closer so that the boss can pick them first when hiring people.

At this time, some people jumped out of the carriage, blocked the laborers, and told them that there was no need to hire laborers to unload the goods.

Lin Zhong got out of the car and spotted a familiar face among these people. He immediately assumed that Dai Yingda should be hiding among them, and he slowly followed the crowd to get closer.

The crowd that gathered around heard that this convoy did not hire workers, and quickly dispersed. Lin Zhong did not leave, but walked up to the familiar face and asked: "Does the boss need a guide?"

The man glanced at him, nodded and said: "You're just in time, you get in the car first, I'll be of use to you!" After saying that, he pointed to the car behind him. Lin Zhong didn't say much when he saw this, and immediately

He opened the curtain and ducked in.

When others saw this, they couldn't help but secretly regretted why they didn't ask more. However, this guide does not require many people like laborers. Usually one guide can serve a caravan. Sure enough, someone went up and asked again, and the man said

No need to hire a guide anymore.

After the motorcade entered the Thousand Miles of Carriages and Horses, they did not stop in the crowded front yard, but moved to the relatively secluded backyard. Several more men in black came from these carriages, and they did not move around.

, just stand guard outside the convoy to prevent irrelevant people from approaching the convoy.

Besides him, there were two other people in the carriage that Lin Zhong boarded. One was Dai Yingda, the head of the Dai family, and the other was a middle-aged man. According to Dai Yingda, this was a master specially invited from Haihan Kingdom.

The surname is Yuan, and most of the people who serve as guards outside the carriage are his subordinates.

Although the light inside the carriage was relatively dim, Lin Zhong could see that the eyes of the man whom Dai Yingda called "Shopkeeper Yuan" were bright and clear, like a beast foraging for food in the dark.

"Lin Zhong is one of the most reliable people under my command. He has lived in Yangzhou City for twenty years. He is very familiar with every inch of this city and handles things safely. I believe he can serve as our role today.

A living signpost, pointing us to the safest passage!"

Dai Yingda's introduction to Lin Zhong was quite high-profile, which even made Lin Zhong himself feel a little frightened. He did not feel that he was as strong as Dai Yingda described him, and suddenly felt that the pressure on his shoulders was much heavier.

Yuan Tao cupped his fists at him and said, "Brother Lin is going to have to worry about leading the way today!"

"You don't want to be a villain. Shopkeeper Yuan can just call the villain by his name!" Lin Zhong saw that Dai Yingda also respected the boss Yuan. He knew that his identity was probably not just an ordinary bodyguard leader, so how could he dare to do so now?

In front of my boss, I said a few polite words.

Yuan Tao just pretended not to hear what he said and continued: "Brother Lin, can you first explain to us how to arrange today's course of action?"

Lin Zhongdao: "After receiving the order from the Patriarch yesterday, the villain repeatedly considered several routes, but considering that there may be various variables today, I did not decide on a specific route in the end. I only formulated a general action plan and asked the Patriarch to

Shopkeeper He Yuan gave me some advice."

Lin Zhong agreed with Dai Yingda as to why the Shanshan salt merchants went to great lengths to create the current situation, which was to lure the snake out of its hole, force the seven leading figures to appear in Yangzhou City, and then attack them.

But Lin Zhong believes that even if Shanshan salt merchants are bold, the actions they can take will eventually be limited. For example, in sensitive places like outside government offices, or in places with a large flow of people like traffic arteries in the city, the other party will

I am determined not to take action, otherwise where will the dignity of the government be?

"So the villain's plan is to be as low-key as possible when going to the Yamen, choose a quiet route with few people, and avoid unnecessary complications. When the owner of the family comes out from the Yamen after finishing his work, the other party will definitely have discovered our whereabouts. If we want to get rid of them in the city, it will be very easy.

It is difficult to achieve, so we simply take the busiest section of the city and cross the river from the south of the city, so that they dare not easily attack on the way. However, we must deploy ferries and manpower near the canal in the south of the city in advance, otherwise it will still be difficult to escape even if we leave the city."

It is precisely because Lin Zhong is very familiar with the roads in the city that he did not give a specific route, but planned to adapt to changes according to his own strategy and the external situation. This approach is extremely bold. If Dai Yingda demands stability, his rhetoric may be difficult to convince Dai Yingda.

satisfy.

However, Dai Yingda did not rush to express his position, but first asked Yuan Tao for his opinion: "What do you think, Shopkeeper Yuan?"

Yuan Tao said in a deep voice: "I think Brother Lin's opinion is good, but if there are dangerous places on the way, Brother Lin still has to warn us early so that we can be prepared! In addition, we have already taken measures to send a boat to meet the canal.

Brother Lin doesn’t have to worry about the arrangements.”

When Dai Yingda saw that Yuan Tao didn't object to this, he didn't say anything even though he was a little uneasy. If he didn't trust the judgments made by Lin Zhong and Yuan Tao, then there was no need to continue this adventure.

Now, it might be too late to turn around and leave the city to hide back in Daijiazhuang.

Yuan Tao and Lin Zhong briefly discussed and communicated how to coordinate the forward route on the way, and how Lin Zhong should cooperate with the defensive measures commanded by Yuan Tao in case of emergency. It was the first time that the two met, and neither of them knew the other's behavior style.

, so key details must be confirmed before taking action, otherwise if an emergency occurs along the way, it will lead to poor communication between them and affect the safe evacuation of Yangzhou City.

Although Lin Zhong has not received any professional training, he is very familiar with the road conditions in the city. Moreover, he has been in small business for 20 years, and his agility is unparalleled. Which route should this team take to move smoothly?

To go there, you won't be stuck in a certain alley because of the narrow road. This all has to be planned in Lin Zhong's mind, a living map, and then lead the convoy forward. This is the ability that Jindun lacks.

After Yuan Tao discussed with him for a while, he felt that Dai Yingda's previous introduction was not an exaggeration. This person did know the situation inside and outside Yangzhou very well, and he had clear thinking and calm handling. He was a trustworthy partner.

As for how to safely cross the canal and return to Daijiazhuang after leaving Yangzhou City, Yuan Tao did not inform Lin Zhong of the details out of caution. He only told Lin Zhong that he should obey the command after leaving the city and never leave.

convoy.

After agreeing on the itinerary, the convoy took off all the small flags with the logo of the Thousand Miles of Cars and Horses on the vehicles, and then quietly came out of the back door of the horse and carriages and headed for the northern city. Lin Zhong believed that he was very familiar with this car.

The horse shop is quite familiar, but I don’t know that the back door, which can only be used by people on foot, can be quickly removed to allow carriages to enter and exit. If someone had noticed the arrival of this motorcade outside the horse shop before,

Most of them would be guarding the gate, but it was hard to imagine that this convoy would actually leave the carriage house without leaving a trace.

Only then did Lin Zhong realize that even if this carriage and horse shop was not the Dai family's property, it probably had a very close relationship with it. No wonder Dai Yingda's order asked him to complete the rendezvous at this carriage and horse shop. Seven

How many secret industries there are like this are probably only known to the heads of each family.
Chapter completed!