Chapter 251: Journey to Jiangnan (Part )
When Zhong Xiaokui hurriedly turned to Anle Pavilion to look for Xiao Yan, he entered through the secret door, but was told by Duan Chengtian that Xiao Yan was not in the city, so he hurried to Qiushizi.

However, after she rushed into the ball market, she was told to wait outside the attic first, and she was not allowed to enter even if she had something urgent to do.

Zhong Xiaokui had no choice but to hide himself as much as possible and followed a bad guy to a side room to wait.

Fortunately, the football market today is crowded with people, and there is a constant flow of people coming and going. Four new gambling clubs have been added, and each gambling club has four betting channels: "money tickets", "copper coins", "gold and silver", and "silk". The scale of each gambling club has also expanded several times. Each of them has its own responsibilities, and they are able to manage the circulation of tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of strings of money in an orderly manner.

What is very noticeable is that the passage with the sign "Money and Bills" obviously has more people than the other three passages combined. When Zhong Xiaokui came in just now, he also saw that a new Huitong Bill Shop had been added outside the football market. It is obvious that the money and bills are in short supply.

In this football market, whether it is the newly added stadium or the expanded stands, there are various passages in between. In front of the entrance, there is a walkway separated by hemp ropes so that the audience can enter and exit in a line after ticket inspection.

As for those who maintain order, they are no longer the Bad People. After all, in such a large venue, it would be useless even if Xiao Yan mobilized all the Bad People under his command. Now those responsible for maintaining order and patrolling everywhere are the soldiers of the Imperial Guards, the servants of Kaifeng Prefecture, and even the gang members of all the big and small gangs in Bianliang who are helping in uniform.

Among the bad guys, most of them are managers and commanders. Often one person can dispatch five to ten subordinates. With them in charge, the whole city can be busy but not chaotic, and there is order.

The soldiers of the imperial guards were naturally dispatched through those generals. Xiao Yan was the second in command of the cavalry of the imperial guards, and had a vested interest in Liu Xun, his superior, the commander-in-chief of the cavalry and infantry. It would be no problem for him to ask each army to withdraw a battalion of soldiers to serve in Qiushizi.

As for Chongzhengyuan, Jingxiang also gave the green light all the way and specially asked Kaifeng Prefecture to cooperate and transfer yamen runners from various counties to station in Qiushizi, which was considered to be setting up a permanent yamen.

Xiao Yan is a man of extraordinary abilities.

Zhong Xiaokui suppressed his anxiety and looked around, but this was the only thought in his mind.

------

Several more attics have been expanded, and it seems to be three times more lively than the busiest Daxiangguo Temple.

Everywhere you look, from the attic to the stands, there are people, men and women, old and young. The carriage and horse parking area is filled with all kinds of vehicles, and people are busy feeding and walking the horses.

Going up to the attic, it seemed that there were more people because it was indoors, but compared to the scorching heat outside, there was a cool feeling in there. The air was ventilated on all sides, and there was a constant stream of scholars and children of generals coming and going. There were also many people who were obviously wealthy businessmen who had booked a few private rooms with their families.

From time to time, there were sweet voices and charming smiles among the crowd. In this lively place, there were groups of young ladies, and the fragrance was everywhere they passed by.

The phrase "making a fortune every day" is no longer enough to describe the situation here. Since the opening of the football market, the daily turnover has been skyrocketing. The millions of profits per year that everyone expected at the beginning have been completely stopped, because no one knows how much purchasing power the residents and dignitaries of the city of Bianjing have.

A football market is established, and countless vendors come to life.

With Qiushizi as the center, a huge market has been formed within a radius of several miles. Countless peddlers have set up stalls here, and even foreign merchants seem to be settling down.

There is a special area behind the attic for the office staff of the football market. Miao Chengtian, who is responsible for planning the blueprint, specially built a small building for Xiao Yan to rest when he stays overnight outside the city.

"Tianshan Sword Forging Pavilion, do you know where it is?"

In the small building, Xiao Yan leaned over and opened a large wooden box. He reached out and stroked the meteorite inside, looking at it and making sounds.

Next to her, Ji Ruxue, who was sitting at a desk carefully reading a pile of documents, couldn't help but look up at Kuichou and others who were sitting silently behind Xiao Yan.

Fortunately, Kuichou, who was sitting upright with his hands on his knees, finally spoke: "I don't know the exact location, but according to the records in the Cangbing Valley, this Sword Forging Pavilion belongs to the Tianshan Sword Sect. This Tianshan should be on the Qilian Mountains in the Western Regions."

"Qilian Mountains..."

Xiao Yan pondered for a moment, closed the wooden box, and at the same time opened the smaller wooden box next to it. He nodded and said, "If I let you go and look for it, is it possible to find it?"

Before Kuichou could say anything, Kui Si and others behind him looked up in surprise, obviously unwilling.

Seeing that Kuichou didn't answer, Xiao Yan didn't care. He just stood up and smiled faintly, "If you can do this for me, I can let you go."

As a result, Kuisi and others' eyes suddenly lit up.

"..." After hesitating for a moment, Kuichou also raised his head and asked, "What's the matter?"

Xiao Yan pointed at the two wooden boxes and said, "If you can find the Tianshan Sword Sect and ask the Sword Forging Pavilion's Master Ling Xiaozi to use this large piece of black iron to forge two swords for me, I will let all of you leave on your own."

"This..." Kuichou frowned and said nothing.

"Of course, I won't make it difficult for you. I heard that Ling Xiaozi is very skilled in swordsmanship, and his Sword Forging Pavilion also has a sword formation to protect the pavilion. I may not be able to get through by force." Xiao Yan smiled faintly and said, "The large piece of black iron is used to forge swords, which cannot be changed. But there is a small piece, which is the reward for forging swords. As long as Ling Xiaozi agrees to forge the sword, you can give it to him."

After that, he thought again: "If he doesn't agree to this condition, you can leave the black iron at the foot of Tianshan Mountain. Just come back and tell me where the Sword Forging Pavilion is, and I will let you leave on your own."

In an instant, Kuisi and the others were obviously moved. Although they did not discuss in a low voice, they exchanged glances with each other very frequently, as if they were weighing the reliability of this statement.

But Kuichou didn't need to ask for the opinions of Kui Si and others. Hearing this, he hesitated for a moment before nodding and saying, "Okay, how can we make you believe it?"

The implication was that he was asking Xiao Yan whether he needed to leave some hostages here and let them go after the matter was done, to prevent the sword from being forged and Kuichou and the others running away with the black iron.

Xiao Yan smiled and said, "Isn't the word 'Tian Kui' enough to make people believe it?"

After he finished speaking, he took out something from his bosom, threw it to Kuichou, and said frankly: "If you leave before the sword is forged, I have nothing to say, but don't forget to return this thing to the commander-in-chief for me."

Kuichou took the dark green bad commander's order, was silent for a moment, stood up and clasped his fists and bowed: "Is there a deadline?"

"There's no rush to forge a sword, but it would be best if it could be done within a year."

After hearing what Xiao Yan said, Kuichou no longer hesitated and asked Kui Si and others to lift two wooden boxes. Then he clasped his fists and bowed to Xiao Yan again: "Within a year, I, Kuichou, will return with Tian Kui and hand over the deal with Tian Anxing."

Seeing how principled he was, Xiao Yan just chuckled and didn't say anything. Finally, he handed two conceptual drawings that he had already drawn to Kuichou.

Kuichou and the others did not say much. They just went out carrying two wooden boxes when they saw the mounts and carriages prepared outside. So they set off without hesitation.

During this time, someone specifically asked: "Kuichou, why do you have to be so obedient? Even if we are imprisoned for another year, it doesn't matter. Who knows, Kuijia and others may come to rescue us."

Kuichou held the commander's order and remained silent for a long time without answering.

……

“Will they keep their promise?”

In the small building, Ji Ruxue couldn't help but ask.

"I don't know either." Xiao Yan put his hands behind his back, just smiled and thought for a while, and said: "Maybe, otherwise, I have to go to Zhongnan Mountain to kill people and get stones, which is troublesome."

Ji Ruxue glared at him, knowing that he was fooling her, but she didn't care. She just took out a stack of documents and said, "These all need your signature."

"it is good."

As Xiao Yan signed and stamped his name, he thought, "According to the original plan, I did want to take you to the Sword Forging Pavilion to have a look, and I could also go back to Fengxiang with you. However, the journey is long, and there are priorities, so I'll have to wait for another opportunity."

"What's the big deal?" Ji Ruxue looked at Xiao Yan from the side. Although her appearance was still cold, her eyes were sparkling. Upon hearing this, she just shook her head and said, "You don't have to worry about me."

Xiao Yan smiled and said nothing more. He then asked someone to call in Zhong Xiaokui who had been waiting for a long time.

Zhong Xiaokui frowned, and when she entered the small building, Miao Chengtian happened to come to discuss the expansion of the Huitong Ticket Office with Xiao Yan, so she waited in the side hall again.

At this moment, the operation of Anle Pavilion has been completely handed over to Yu Youshu, and the person in charge of Qiushizi is Miao Chengtian.

As the person in charge of the football market that could attract everyone's attention, Miao Chengtian's alias had long been famous throughout the city, so everyone knew that Xiao Yan had such a female manager who could manage such a large industry as the football market in an orderly manner. Therefore, even though Miao Chengtian was beautiful and graceful, no one dared to touch her in various occasions, and would not even say any dirty words.

No one dared to offend the Marquis Guanjun, who was nicknamed the 'money bag' in the city of Bianjing. He was both civil and martial and had money, but he had nothing better to do than to seduce the legendary 'beautiful concubine' for a little money.

Miao Chengtian looks gentle, but she is actually very capable. With the support of a powerful figure like Xiao Yan, she is soft but tough when dealing with anyone in the wealthy city of Bianjing. With her sister Xuan Jingtian protecting her, she often suffers losses in negotiations.

At this time, she advocated taking advantage of the booming gambling industry to directly expand the Huitong Ticket Office to several major trading cities in the Central Plains.

But Xiao Yan did not agree with this view. He planned to use Ma Xing under Anle Pavilion as a pilot project, and introduce banknotes when conducting bulk transactions. He would let merchants from all over the country use banknotes when conducting cross-border transactions. At the same time, he would let the heads of the five major regions act as guarantors to cultivate integrity first and then promote it.

As long as these merchants can taste the sweetness of this, they will not have to worry about the problem of dealing with the small merchants and hawkers below. Finally, when money bills appear on the market, Huitong bills can be widely used.

If we were to go through the trouble of laying the groundwork from the beginning, not to mention the obstacles that might arise in secret, it would be too conspicuous. After all, in everyone's opinion now, this banknote is just something like a "chip" and is not enough for circulation.

Let nature take its course, and focus on doing things quietly and subtly.

Miao Chengtian was convinced and had no objection.

At this time, Zhong Xiaokui was finally able to enter the room to meet Xiao Yan. In fact, at this point, she didn't know whether her matter was urgent or not, so she just revealed the news that Zhu Youzhen was planning to trip up Xiao Yan.

"This is not a surprise."

Xiao Yan was very calm, as if he had expected it. He didn't say much, but just threw a book that looked extremely old and worn to Zhong Xiaokui.

"Give this to Zhu Youzhen and let him decide for himself whether he wants to cooperate with me."

Zhong Xiaokui was puzzled, so he opened the book and took a quick look. He saw the opening words: Book of Tang, Volume 157, Biography of Traitors, Chapter Wulang.

She looked up blankly, but seeing Xiao Yan's lukewarm expression, she became angry and could only leave with the book.

But before leaving the door, Xiao Yan's voice suddenly came from behind him.

"Thank you for the reminder, Judge Zhong. I will never break my promise to you."

After hearing this, Zhong Xiaokui sneered, but the anger in his heart eased a little, and then he left.

……

"Forgive me for being frank."

Miao Chengtian looked at Zhong Xiaokui's departing figure and said in confusion, "Hasn't the Minister of Chongzhengyuan sent someone to tell you that he can keep you in Beijing despite the pressure from the Ghost King... If that's the case, why did you have to come here?"

Xiao Yan smiled and turned around to see Ji Ruxue's puzzled expression. So he just looked out the window with his hands behind his back, pondered for a moment, and said, "Some things can only be felt at ease after seeing them with one's own eyes."

------

In early October, the north had already become cold, and further north it had even started snowing.

The weather in Fengxiang Prefecture was gradually getting colder. The grass on the roadside had turned yellow and withered, and the leaves on the trees were falling. It was the time when spring was leaving and autumn was coming, and winter was changing and summer was approaching.

A year of spring and autumn passed quietly.

The handsome man with a crown on his head reined in his horse and stopped, looking at the words "Fengxiang" on the city gate from afar, indifferent and silent, but there was a look of reminiscence in his eyes, which did not seem fake.

Beside him, a handsome young man frowned and asked, "Li Zhengchen, why don't you move forward? We finally managed to delay that guy from leaving the Central Plains. How much time has been wasted in the process? Why are you still delaying..."

But the handsome man turned his eyes indifferently, and the young man forced himself to hold back the rest of his words and swallowed them. Then he sneered and squinted his eyes to look at the scenery on both sides.

"Fengxiang is really a good place."

The handsome man remained indifferent. He squeezed his horse's belly and rode into the city.

……

One hundred thousand mountains.

The misty miasma opened up without wind, and a tall figure in a purple-black robe slowly walked out from behind the miasma.

His pupils were white, he had a long white beard, wrinkles on his face, and two curved bull horns on his shoulders. He looked very imposing, but at this moment he was very polite. He bent down and saluted with his chest clasped towards a tall figure in front of him.

"The Ten Thousand Poison Cave welcomes the Marshal."

------

Crowds of people gathered on the banks of the Bian River, and the boats on the river took shelter and docked in the distance.

A huge official ship began to sail slowly southward, with a large flag hoisted high on the ship, inscribed with 'Liangsongzhou Jiedushi Guanjun Hou Xiao Yan'.

(End of this chapter)