Chapter 222: Royal Heir (I)

Anle Pavilion, the top floor attic of the courtyard.

The attic is not big, but it is built very exquisitely. There is a long corridor in the middle, which leads to the restaurant in the front yard. However, there is a confusing part in it, and ordinary people cannot easily find the location of this corridor.

This is the ingenuity of the attic design. If there is important news or a visitor sent to Anle Pavilion, in order not to attract attention, they can be led into the attic behind through here. From the perspective of outsiders, it seems that they have just entered an elegant room for dining, but the person has actually disappeared from it.

There are many such deceptive little designs in the entire Anle Pavilion. After all, it is an intelligence center that connects the entire Bianjing and even the north and south of the Central Plains. It extends to Fengxiang in the west, Yanzhou in the east, goes out of the border in the north, and reaches various important towns in the south. As the takeaway business becomes more and more popular in Bianjing City, more and more intelligence is brought in every day, to the point where it is endless.

The intelligence would be meticulously divided into three categories: "Politics", "Business" and "Military". The "Politics" category could include news about the government affairs of most of the princes in the world, such as the disputes among princes, bribing court officials, etc., which would be taken over by dedicated personnel.

The Shang Gate includes all kinds of businesses, including grain shops, horse shops, tea shops, porcelain shops, etc. Any places in Jiangnan where there is a good grain harvest, where tea is discounted, or where there is stockpiled porcelain that cannot be sold due to the war will be reported to the local person in charge through informants from all over the place. Normally, the person in charge of small transactions can make the final decision, but for large transactions, the person in charge of the region must first be discussed. If a decision cannot be made, it will be reported to Anle Pavilion as soon as possible.

It is particularly important to mention that horse trading is usually decided by the head of the region. The district heads below are only responsible for contacting buyers, local warlords, or major princes, but do not have the right to trade. Only the head of the region can make the final decision on the transaction.

As for the so-called regional leaders, they are the five leaders set up by Xiao Yan according to the regional division south of the Central Plains in the early Tang Dynasty.

These five persons in charge respectively handled the commercial transactions in the five major regions of Shannan Road, Huainan Road, Jiangnan Road, Jiannan Road, and Lingnan Road, and were all people with business talents among the bad guys.

However, the heads of various regions under it are a mixture of people from the Bad Guys and Huanyinfang, because this kind of talent is not easy to cultivate. In fact, three of the five so-called regional heads were forced to take on the task. There is nothing to be done about it, as the system has only been established for more than a year and has not yet formed a thorough professional system, so it is inevitable that Huanyinfang will need to provide manpower support.

After all, Xiao Yan actually controls only the bad guys in the Yanzhou and Luoyang branches, plus half of the Cangzhou branch and most of the Yingzhou branch. Even the Yingzhou branch has only recently surrendered sincerely. Ninety percent of the bad guys in the branch are pure killers and cannot be used for this purpose.

As for the other two and a half branches, there are quite a few talented people, some of them are even bad guys who have been engaged in business for generations, but it is really difficult to pick out a complete team at once, so new talents are still being trained. However, Xiao Yan has already arranged for Gongyang Zuo and You Yi to let the Hebei gentry send people, so it is not a problem to let them put together a business think tank.

In addition, Yu Youshu also suggested that Xiao Yan contact the bad guy Tian Guixing. After all, this big guy is said to have businesses all over the world, and even this Anle Pavilion was given to Xiao Yan by him. He should have no shortage of such talents, but Xiao Yan refused after thinking about it. He didn't know this so-called Tian Guixing, let alone whether he was secretly active around Yuan Tiangang.

He has selfish motives.

Tian Guixing was generous, but he was only one of the thirty-six captains after all. He did not want the system he had established to have too much involvement with him or Yuan Tiangang behind him.

In other words, everything Xiao Yan had done along the way was to slowly pry away Yuan Tiangang's supporters, so he tried his best to train the ninth generation of the Bad Men, because these young people would be more passionate and less afraid of Yuan Tiangang. Only in this way could he use the name of the Bad Men to pursue his own selfish plans.

Therefore, in the short term, it is still necessary to strengthen cooperation with Huanyinfang in business. After all, Huanyinfang can be ranked among the top three organizations in the world. It is a large company with a large business and has been active for decades. There is no shortage of available talents.

Moreover, the horse trade was originally launched together with Qi State. The horses came from Longyou, and the trade route opened was also Longyou, Central Plains, and Jiangnan. Although Xiao Yan could now get more horses from Mobei than Longyou, why should he rush to use his own when he could eat Qi State's? Moreover, if he wanted to transport horses from Mobei to Jiangnan for trading, the cost of land transportation was too high, and sea transportation also took time to prepare, so Xiao Yan was not in a hurry.

Therefore, during this year or so, although Xiao Yan himself had been fighting in Hebei, the various business lines in the Central Plains surrounding Anle Pavilion were developing non-stop. Although it was still in its infancy, the business lines in various places had basically been established, which was also the biggest source of profit for the Xiao Yan Group. However, the business companies established in various places had brought Xiao Yan a total profit of nearly 200,000 strings of cash this year, not to mention grain, silk, cloth, etc., which could barely reach one-tenth of Daliang's annual tax revenue.

The towns in the south of the Yangtze River are rich, and these things are in urgent need, so they are easy to buy and sell. Even if you can't afford copper coins, you can still exchange them for other things. Xiao Yan received tea, porcelain, and cloth, and then sold them to the grasslands, and could get a lot of huge profits in exchange for cattle, sheep, various leathers, etc.

These are the sources of Xiao Yan's confidence in being able to support his own bad guys, several private armies, and even this huge intelligence agency. This is also the reason why the empress is willing to cooperate with him.

The State of Qi also gained a lot of benefits from it, and the return on this investment had already exceeded the empress's expectations.

As for the last "Wu" sect, it is the most low-key, but in fact it is the most important. All the war intelligence, disputes in the rivers and lakes, and troop movements from various places will be collected as much as possible for overall planning.

Although most of the time, this information would not be of any use, but at critical moments, it could be used as small details for Xiao Yan to speculate on the major actions of various princes. In addition, for matters such as the Jianghu, some factions would also be recruited by Xiao Yan as non-staff members to participate in the transportation and protection of local businesses. Of course, they would not have the opportunity to know the inside story.

Therefore, the current Xiao Yan Group is the Bad People and Huanyinfang, which are spread out to the whole world around Anle Pavilion, or around Bian Jing as the center, to obtain the greatest benefits in politics, commerce, and military affairs. Although most of them are in their infancy, they are very efficient and have transcended the original Bad People structure and have unknowingly become Xiao Yan's private property.

Even during this transition, it was difficult for the bad guys to truly react, or rather, they were unwilling to react in the first place.

However, at present, this goal is still only focused on the Central Plains and Jiangnan, and it is difficult to make any breakthroughs for the Hedong Jin State. After all, compared to the Bad People, most of the organizations established by the princes in Jiangnan are difficult to achieve anything.

The Xuanming Sect in the Central Plains has indeed been supervising the world for Daliang for decades. However, what is particularly surprising is that the Xuanming Sect is like a sieve. It is obviously the largest sect in the world, but it is full of loopholes. It cannot pose any substantial threat to the Bad People. This really puzzles a group of Bad People including Duan Chengtian.

On the other hand, the Tongwenguan of the Jin State, at least in Hedong, had been turned into an iron barrel over the past few decades. If Xiao Yan had not suddenly asked the Sanqianyuan to replace Nabal, it would have been difficult to infiltrate it.

At this moment, in the attic of the Anle Pavilion courtyard, Xiao Yan and "King Qi" were discussing this issue.

……

The attic was very cool, with fruits and wine available. Beside them, Guangmu Tian played the zither and Miao Cheng Tian accompanied the music. The fish came out to listen, and it was very pleasant to hear. In the middle of the pavilion, Yu Youshu was dancing, with a veil covering her face. She was worthy of the title of the world's number one dancer in Yanzhi's comment. At this moment, Xiao Yan sat casually on the floor behind the small table, tapping his fingers lightly on the glass cup on the table. He just looked amused: "King Qi set up such a scene today. It seems like Xiao has become a guest in this Anle Pavilion."

Opposite him, the empress also laughed and replied in a neutral voice: "Since you have returned from the battle, we cannot welcome you with conventional etiquette. Miao Chengtian and Guang Mutian are both good at music in Huanyinfang. If someone else comes, I am afraid that it is not worthy of your status."

After saying that, she paused for a moment, then raised the wine glass in front of her with a smile, while respectfully speaking from a distance: "As for the host and guest, my lord, I just think that according to our friendship, we don't need to distinguish between the two. Over the past year or so, the cooperation between the Bad People and Huanyinfang has been very harmonious, and the two families can be regarded as one family. However, if my lord really wants to talk about host and guest, then I am really usurping the throne, and I should be punished, I should be punished..."

After she finished speaking, she drank the full glass of wine in her hand, and even at the end she did not forget to raise the glass to gesture downwards, showing her manly and generous demeanor.

Immediately, Ji Ruxue, who was sitting at the same table with her, had been watching the conversation between the two quietly, but the moment the empress put down her glass, she subconsciously poured wine for the latter.

However, this action, which was once very common and was exactly what her personal maid should do, was covered by the cup with her hand without making a sound.

While Ji Ruxue was stunned, Xuan Jingtian, who was sitting next to them and could only sit at the table because he was not very good at music, immediately came over with a wine jug and leaned over to pour a glass of wine for each of them.

Yes, after pouring wine for the empress, she also poured a glass for Ji Ruxue as a maid.

This set of movements was smooth and flowing. Miao Chengtian and Guangmutian next to him showed no surprise. Even Xuan Jingtian himself looked calm.

And it was obvious that this was done unintentionally, but intentionally for Xiao Yan to see. Instead, Ji Ruxue herself was stunned by this action, which seemed a bit abrupt.

Xiao Yan looked down, but his expression did not change. He just raised his wine glass to show his respect and said with a smile, "King Qi is magnanimous and his words are well-reasoned. I admire him. As for the so-called host and guest, it was just a joke. Without King Qi's strong support last year, how could Anle Pavilion be in its current state? The construction of horse shops and grain farms in Central Plains and Jiangnan relied on the money and manpower allocated by King Qi. I can only try my best to repay this trust."

The empress laughed and said, "Your Excellency is too polite. Without you, Huanyinfang would have been seriously damaged. What I gave you was just a trivial thing, but what you brought to Qi Country was unimaginable help. I hope you will not mention any words of return in the future."

Of course, what the two said was half true and half false, but at least on the surface it seemed to have really enhanced their friendship, and at this time they just looked at each other and laughed.

The empress had a stronger purpose after all, and she didn't want to waste any more time with Xiao Yan, otherwise how long would it take to finish the wine?

Xiao Yan was not in a hurry. Not only could he admire his own beauty, but also Miao Chengtian, Guangmutian, Xuan Jingtian, and even Yu Youshu, who was originally a bad person, were all stunningly beautiful. He was completely in the land of gentleness, drinking and listening to music, and was extremely happy.

As for her, her sexual orientation was normal. She had long admired the dancing and music of Miao Chengtian and his group. She was even far superior to them in terms of skills and could easily find out what was wrong with them. Apart from that, did she really have to drink while looking at Xiao Yan's "beauty"?
Thinking of this, she laughed, and then said frankly: "To be honest with you, my lord, I came to the Central Plains specially for two things. I hope to discuss them with you."

"Please speak frankly, King Qi."

"First, Jin is your great enemy. Not to mention the grudges between you and Li Cunxu, the Tongwenguan also regards you as their mortal enemy. The bounty on your life has reached 500,000 strings of cash. It can be said that the Tongwenguan is more threatening than the Xuanming Sect at the moment, so you must be on guard against it."

"King Qi's idea is..."

"In recent years, Li Keyong has seen that he has failed to expand eastward or southward, and has to resist Zhu Wen's invasion every year, so he has set his sights on Dingnan and Shuofang. Your Excellency should know that there are many tribes such as the Dangxiang in these two towns, and Li Keyong has always been well-known among the Hu people. If he succeeds, he will inevitably set his sights on Qi. Although he has not mobilized too many troops at present, as far as I know, the staff of Tongwenguan has already extended to Dingnan and Dingnan...

This king frankly admits that Huanyinfang alone is not enough to compete with Tongwenguan. Although I am not afraid, the unnecessary casualties will be extremely heavy, and it is inevitable that I will tear my face with Li Keyong openly, so..."

"I understand what King Qi means." Xiao Yan narrowed his eyes, thought for a moment, and then laughed, "I can deal with Tongwenguan, but what can Qiguo do?"

"This is the second thing I want to say."

The empress's expression calmed down, and she said thoughtfully: "I know that you are a minister of the Tang Dynasty and have a strong desire to restore the Tang Dynasty. Our Qi Kingdom can also lend a helping hand..."

After saying that, she paused suddenly, then looked at Ji Ruxue beside her and was about to speak: "This king intends to marry Xue'er..."

However, at this moment, a figure flashed outside. It was a bad guy who came in carefully and leaned over to whisper to Xiao Yan. Seeing this, the empress paused and raised her glass to take a sip of wine.

Xiao Yan frowned at first, then suddenly nodded to the empress apologetically: "Prince Qi, please wait a moment. I will be back soon."

But just as he stood up, a cry of surprise was heard from outside.

"Hey, hey, hey, Lao Yang, you can't barge in!!"

(End of this chapter)