Chapter 1115: Seeing Injustice

From the outside to the inside, it is not an exaggeration to describe it as "grassroots people".

He was such a simple and honest person on the outside, but when he heard that He Lingchuan was here to "buy a red rope," he immediately persuaded the nefarious neighbor to leave.

He did not dare to close the courtyard door because there were several tough men behind He Lingchuan.

Fortunately, these big men did not enter the courtyard, and only He Lingchuan asked him questions.

"The red rope of the Ming Dynasty? Yes, yes, even the password." Old Liu said seriously, "But this is a good thing, and the price is not cheap."

He Lingchuan was very polite: "Mr. Liu, you might as well come and listen."

Lao Liu moved his mouth and spit out a number as if he had made up his mind:

"five……"

After saying just one word, his voice became hoarse. He coughed twice quickly: "One price, five thousand taels!"

"The lion's mouth is open." He Lingchuan gave him three thousand taels in return, and the transaction was immediate.

Old Liu rubbed his hands. Three thousand taels of silver, a huge sum of money that he would never make in two lifetimes.

His fingers were trembling a little, and He Lingchuan could see that he wanted to agree, but Lao Liu's wife suddenly coughed hard in the room.

Old Liu was startled and immediately came to his senses: "Uh, I, we have to think about it again. Can you come back in two days?"

"I'll go into the mountains right away." He Lingchuan stared at him and said, "Three thousand taels of silver, what else are you dissatisfied with?"

"I, we just need to think about it again."

He Lingchuan could see that he really wanted the three thousand taels of silver, but now he wanted to stop it. The reason could only be -

"Oh, someone else also bid?"

Old Liu's eyes flashed twice when he revealed the secret.

Indeed, only two days ago someone came to buy the red rope and offered five hundred taels. Lao Liu and his wife were stunned by the number and agreed without thinking.

The other party asked them to accompany the White Bear King to the mountain after his death, so they haven't paid yet.

Today He Lingchuan also came to buy. He tried to bid 5,000 taels, but He Lingchuan counter-offered 3,000 taels!

This, this is a rare thing to live in! If we wait a few more days, can we wait for a bigger number?

Otherwise, it wouldn't be a bad idea to let them bid against each other? The hearts of Mr. and Mrs. Liu suddenly became excited.

He Lingchuan smiled: "The more people who know that you have the red rope in your hands, the more dangerous you will be. To be honest, if there is not a secret code hanging on it, and you have to go up the mountain to check whether it is true or not, you would be dead now. ”

Old Liu's face changed color, but before he could speak, the woman inside the room rushed out first: "How dare you threaten us in broad daylight? Believe it or not, we will report it to the police immediately and arrest all you foreigners!"

"Then these three thousand taels of silver are gone." He Lingchuan knew that seeing is believing, so he grabbed a bag of gold from his arms and threw it on the bamboo table.

The mouth of the bag was opened, and several gold cakes, gold bars, and gold balls rolled out. They shone charmingly in the sun and made Old Liu and his wife salivate.

Isn’t this what people in the world chase their whole lives for?

"Three thousand taels, do you know how many bags of gold it is?"

The couple didn't know.

"I am willing to give out three thousand taels, but others may not. Guess what they will do if they don't want the money, but they want the red rope?" He Lingchuan said with a smile, "The security of your Knife Town has only improved in the past few years. Are you getting better? What was it like before and you can’t remember it so soon?”

Once upon a time? The couple looked at each other, whispered a few words to one side, and finally agreed.

Lao Liu couldn't help but be overjoyed by this windfall, his mood improved, and he answered all questions.

It turned out that his father had also been in glory, and by chance he got involved with the dwarf grass. However, he died of illness within two years after returning from the mountain. Before his death, he passed on the secret of the dwarf grass to him.

He himself has little ability, and faced with years of war, he tried his best to live a life that is invisible to everyone.

"Who was the person who ordered the red rope from you before?"

"I don't know. There are also seven or eight people. They said they came from the east and were waiting for this thing to save their lives. I offered to pay first, but they refused. We agreed that after the White Bear King is defeated in a few days, we would go up the mountain together."

Lao Liu added: "I don't think they are very rich."

In order to verify the authenticity of the red rope and code words, He Lingchuan would of course take Lao Liu to Baimao Mountain for a kiss, while his wife could wait here.

Lao Liu was very reluctant: "You have a red rope and a code word, so just go up the mountain by yourself. I won't lie, I will wait for you here!"

He Lingchuan only gave them one sentence:

"You can get three thousand taels just by sitting at home. Do you really think it's so easy to make money? But don't worry, the White Bear King is currently near the capital, not in Baimao Mountain."

This is also true. The Liu family has been hearing news recently about the White Bear King hurting people near the capital. But when he thought of entering Baimao Mountain, Lao Liu was still uneasy.

Just for the sake of three thousand taels! They will never make so much money in their lifetime.

So, He Lingchuan first paid a deposit of one thousand taels, then took away the red rope and handed the remaining money to the township security guard. Ten days later, regardless of whether Old Liu comes back or not, Liu's wife can go to the township guardian with the written receipt to collect the remaining two thousand silver.

The Julu Kingdom has set up special "rural protection" agencies in cities and towns to facilitate honest transactions between merchants and people. In He Lingchuan's view, it is a third-party platform with official credibility endorsement.

In this way, Lao Liu doesn't have to worry about He Lingchuan and others killing him to save money after getting the bright lantern.

…

Early the next morning, Jin Bai and others set out for Wudu, and He Lingchuan accompanied them.

After a night of thinking, Jin Bai seemed to have figured out the necessity of investigating the case, and he was alert to answer He Lingchuan's questions.

Of course, the main reason was that he had to cooperate with He Lingchuan to find evidence of the theft of tribute by the Kingdom of Bian.

For countries to have such dealings, evidence is very important.

Even if the Kingdom of Mou wants to take action later, it must be targeted.

"From Xiaoyao Sect to Julu Port? During the period of escorting the tribute, I hardly slept." Jin Bai said seriously, "I was basically awake during those days. Only on the night of arriving at Julu Port, I practiced qigong and regulated my breath for two hours. But there were six brothers guarding outside the door. Besides, I was regulating my breath, not sleeping, and I also set up a barrier. Once someone approached, how could they hide from my ears and eyes?"

In short, the tribute disappeared from him, and he was puzzled by this matter.

Dong Rui said leisurely on the side: "There are thousands of magical powers in this world. Maybe you were trapped in the maze that night and thought you were in Julu Port."

The Shadow Fang Guard came to the Kingdom of Bian, and they could not use much Yuanli. The illusion that could be easily detected before might have become a stumbling block now.

"We have also considered this." Jin Bai answered realistically: "But if the thieves want to steal the tribute, they have to make more than a dozen of us lose our eyes and ears at the same time. How can they do this?"

The stolen light, the invisible thieves.

Well, this case is really interesting. He Lingchuan thought for a while: "Is it possible that the tribute was tampered from the beginning?"

"You mean, what I took away from Xiaoyao Sect was a fake?"

If this is the case, no matter how careful Jin Bai and others were during the escort process, it would be useless.

"You have never taken the Mingdeng before?" The last time the Mingdeng was mature was thirty years ago. He Lingchuan looked at Jin Bai's age and didn't think he could come twice.

"No, this is my first time. But before I set out, I had seen the shadow of the Mingdengzhan and read its information in detail. The Mingdengzhan I saw on the snowy peak of Xiaoyao Sect is no different from the shadow."

"The shadow?"

"It is an image in the jade slip, which completely imitates the real thing and is more comprehensive and detailed than the painting."

He Lingchuan let out a long "oh", is it so advanced?

"I have also thought about this possibility." Jin Bai sighed, he really hoped so. If the Mingdengzhan was stolen before he arrived at Xiaoyao Sect, he would not have to bear the crime of dereliction of duty, "but the Mingdeng grass I saw had several moths resting on the leaves. The information said that this kind of moth will only find the Mingdeng grass to borrow light when the Mingdengzhan is mature. So-"

Even the companion moths have come, isn't it true?

"Also, when I took down the Mingdeng personally, Xiaoyao Sect's Master Li was watching. He wouldn't make a mistake, would he?"

"How old is this Master Li?"

"Over 60 years old. The last time the Mingdeng was ripe, he accompanied the Mou country guards to the mountain to pick it."

So this Master Li had seen the Mingdeng more than once, and it was the treasure guarded by his own sect, so how could he make a mistake?

Jin Bai continued: "I also secretly asked people if there was anything unusual in Xiaoyao Sect recently. But apart from someone breaking into the back mountain a few months ago, there was nothing new."

He Lingchuan analyzed: "Then the top priority now is to find out whether the improvement of the condition of the second prince of the country is the credit of the Mingdeng."

There were not many pedestrians on the road.

Not to mention Blade Harbor and Yangshan Islands, even compared to the Takigawa Trade Road, the number of passengers on this official road was really small. They only saw a dozen teams along the way.

Halfway through the journey, the group passed a three-way intersection. There was a road sign on the right side of the road with an arrow drawn on it, which read:

Xuncheng.

Xuncheng is the capital of the country of Xun.

Jin Bai did not even look at the road sign and continued to walk straight ahead.

Dong Rui asked curiously: "What does that road sign mean?"

Isn't the function of a road sign to point the way? Why did the sign indicate that going right was the direction of Xuncheng, but Jin Bai and others continued to go straight?

"Fake." Jin Bai pointed at the road sign, "Did you notice that this sign was newly made."

Indeed, although the wood of the road sign was old, the words on it were new, and the sawdust that was chiseled out had not been blown away by the strong wind at the intersection.

"Last time we took this road, we hired a local guide." Jin Bai explained, "There are several nests of bandits around this trade route. They often remove the road signs of the official road and put up fake signs at the fork in the road to mislead pedestrians and teams to deviate from the official road."

Once foreign travelers are fooled and walk into an unknown mountain road, what good will happen to them?

"Doesn't the Kingdom of Bian care? This is the main road of the Kingdom of Bian, right?"

It is incredible that such chaos has occurred on the official road from the capital to the port.

Although the Longchuan trade route in the Panlong world was also robbed by water bandits in the past, it is very long and is right next to Longchuan. The geographical conditions are complex, which gave rise to the problems that troubled Xiqi and Yuheng City.

But this trade route of the Kingdom of Bian is only a few dozen miles long, but there are actually several nests of mountain bandits!

He Lingchuan wanted to know, with such a high density, is the robbery work not tiring? Can the mountain bandits eat enough by eating on the road?

"This trade route is the only way for many inland countries to the seaside. Merchants and goods from nearby countries have to go through here if they want to go out to sea. The Kingdom of Bian has earned a lot of tax silver from this road. It is said that the army will be sent back and forth to patrol and maintain public order." Jin Bo pointed to the winding mountain road that had just appeared on the side of the road, "They don't care about small roads like this. If someone complains, it's because you don't have eyes. Who told you not to take the main road."

He Lingchuan pondered: "No wonder the products here are shipped at ridiculously high prices."

Yaguo prohibits the export of ore to the Yangshan Islands, and the latter can only find alternative channels. Apart from Mou State, the best ore comes from the Flash Gold Plains, which is easy to purify and contains few impurities.

However, the price of ore in the Golden Gold Plains is more than 50% more expensive than that in Yaguo, and this is without accidental superposition. If there is a mountain closure, a coup, or even Julu Port being blocked and closed, ore prices will fluctuate.

Now He Lingchuan understands why the mines here are so expensive.

The cost is high and the uncertainty is high.

If places like the Gold Flash Plains weren't eager to sell their ores for money, and labor was cheap, the price of ore would have gone up.

Jin Bo nodded: "So large caravans will definitely find guides and escorts to accompany them."

And this part of the cost will eventually be reflected in the price of the product.

Dong Rui chuckled: "There are official patrols, and you still act like a bird?"

"The country of Hong has also had bad luck in recent years. It has fought many wars at home and abroad, and encountered a locust plague in the past two years. I heard from the guide that King Hong has implemented two new policies since he came to power, but the people's livelihood has not only not improved, but has deteriorated. The officials enriched their own pockets. In anger, King Wei went on a killing spree and executed many officials. "

It's not that Wei Guo doesn't want to take care of it, it's that he can't take care of it well.

A gust of wind blew, and the ghost ape on Dong Rui's shoulder suddenly straightened up, sniffed hard for a few times, then jumped to a nearby branch and swung away.

Dong Rui and He Lingchuan stopped and waited for it.

About ten breaths later, the ghost ape swung back again and chirped a few times in Dong Rui's ear.

Only Dong Rui and Lingguang can understand this monkey language.

Dong Rui translated: "It said that deep in the dense forest on the roadside, about fifty feet away, there are more than a dozen corpses exposed in the wild, all of them rotting. There are also a few wild dogs eating there."

Everyone did not go in and continued on their way. Jin Bai said: "That's the result of taking the wrong road. The people I hired said that some local guides charge very low prices, but they are actually colluding with the bandits and deliberately pointing the wrong way to the businessmen. In this way, the mountain After the bandits rob, they will also get a share of the profits.”

"The people who hire these gangsters are all small businessmen with little money and a small number of people. They are exactly what bandits want."

"Even some inns on the roadside are shady shops. They give drugs to the guests and loot them, or they kidnap women and children to sell them for money. Therefore, it is best to go straight to the destination without getting caught or staying in the inn."

As He Lingchuan listened, he thought of Yuan Kingdom.

Back then, he followed He Chunhua's army from Blackwater City to Dunyu, and saw countless human sufferings along the way.

Bandits, black shops, refugees, deserted villages, everything.

It is said that poverty breeds unruly people, and poverty breeds evil intentions. It seems to be the same everywhere.

The bandits here dared to kill people directly on the roadside of Guandaozhu. The defeated bandits in Xianling Village also chased He Chunhua's regular army of several hundred people for dozens of miles along the mountain road.

In comparison, although the territories of Bailie and Qing were small, they were much richer and more peaceful.

While everyone was talking, someone in Maolin on the roadside suddenly shouted "Help" in a childish voice.

Then a short figure rushed onto the road and stopped in front of everyone.

He Lingchuan and others had long heard the sound of trampling branches, and they deliberately controlled their mounts. Otherwise, if this man blocked the horse recklessly, he might be trampled by the horse's hooves!

When I looked again, I saw a boy of four or five years old. He had two patches on his coarse cloth jacket, but his appearance was upright. His face was covered with blood marks scratched by branches, and there was a large bruise on his forehead. The blood flowed down his face. Cheeks run down.

"Help!" He Lingchuan's horse gave way, and he came up to pounce on the horse's hooves again, "Save my parents!"

He Lingchuan patted the horse's neck to calm it down, and asked the boy, "Where are your parents?"

"They want to arrest me!" The tears and blood on his face were mixed together, and the boy pointed behind him, "They have arrested my parents!"

There was a rustle in the forest, and there seemed to be footsteps again, but no one came out.

He Lingchuan glanced at the sound, raised his wrist, and went out with a whoosh of arrows in his sleeves.

The next moment, a scream echoed in the forest.

The ghost ape on Dong Rui's shoulder immediately jumped into the forest.

After only three to five breaths, a man was thrown out and rolled twice on the ground, just under He Lingchuan's horse.

I think this person chased the child to the side of the road. Seeing that He Lingchuan and others were so tall, they didn't dare to come out.

He had a short arrow stuck in his leg socket, and it was uncomfortable to stand up. He Lingchuan took out the Tenglong Spear and pressed it against his throat, so he didn't dare to move.

He Lingchuan asked him: "Where are this child's parents?"

The man pointed carefully deep into the forest: "That, over there."

"Still alive?"

"Stay alive!" the robbers said quickly, "We didn't hurt them!"

Lingguang on horseback interrupted: "Why are you chasing this kid?"

The robber hesitated and was speechless.

Jin Bo crossed his arms and said, "I think I want to take away the baby and sell it for money."

He Lingchuan asked again: "How many of you are there?"

"Fifty……"

Before he finished speaking, the tip of the spear swung and pierced a hole in his shoulder. The robber shouted: "Sixteen, there are sixteen of us!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he was shot through the throat, forward and then out.

He Lingchuan shook off the dead man from his gun and said to Jin Bai lightly: "Everyone, please wait a moment. I'll be back soon."

This cloud-turning master is very good at marksmanship. Jin Bo picked up the boy and put him in front of the saddle, and nodded: "Okay."

He Lingchuan and Dong Rui galloped into the forest and arrived at the scene of the incident within seventy or eighty feet.

This is a gentle slope, not far from the main road, but the forest is too dense, so the cries for help cannot be heard.

The victims are a small group of merchants, seven men and one woman. The men were tied to the ground, and the woman was pressed to the ground and beaten. She was probably the boy's mother.

Another robber was already unbuckling his belt.

There was still a distance of ten feet, He Lingchuan pulled out the Fu Sheng knife and threw it out.

The cold light spun and passed through the gap between the trees. It didn't even hurt a leaf, but it passed through the neck of the violent robber.

The good man's head flew high, and blood splashed all over the woman!