Chapter 658: Both soft and hard tactics
Chapter 658: Both soft and hard tactics
A cunning rabbit has three burrows. Although the business was closed down, Song Chang'en and his men were discussing the solution to transport the saltpeter in another house.
Zhang Dian, the deputy manager under him, said, "Sir, can we find a breakthrough from Yang Qing's son? Among Yang Qing's four sons, the second son Yang Lian is extremely greedy. We can use the excuse of joining forces to do business and bribe Yang Lian to let him negotiate with his father!"
Song Changen shook his head. "The key is that Yang Qing is keeping an eye on us. Besides, his second son is not taken seriously either. Bribing him off is useless."
Song Chang'en paced back and forth. In fact, he had an idea in his mind. He pondered for a while and said slowly: "Everyone is afraid of something. We just need to seize this point and force him to let go."
"What is Yang Qing afraid of?"
Song Changen sneered and said, "He is afraid of death!"
"A bunch of useless people who can't even do such a small thing!"
When Yang Qing heard that the company was empty, he was furious. He took two steps with his hands behind his back and asked sternly, "The people are gone, so where are the other things? Where are the documents, letters, account books, maps, weapons, and everything else you copied?"
The general in charge of the confiscation said tremblingly: "Your Majesty, they cleaned up everything very well. There is not a single piece of paper left. We dug three feet underground but found nothing."
"Assholes! Why keep you? You're not even good enough for dogs."
Before he finished speaking, an arrow shot into the hall, passed by Yang Qing's face, and hit the wall behind him. Yang Qing was stunned for a moment. Several guards reacted quickly and rushed over to surround Yang Qing.
Yang Qing finally reacted and shouted, "What was that? Was it an arrow? There's an assassin!"
The palace was in chaos, with hundreds of guards searching everywhere.
At this time, Yang Qing stared at the arrow for a long time and did not dare to move. There was a piece of paper stuck on the arrow, but the arrowhead was copper-green in color, which was obviously highly poisonous.
Two guards went up and down, wrapped the arrow in cloth, and carefully pulled it out, then took down the note and spread it out. Yang Qing then walked forward to read the note, and the words on it made him gasp.
"The fleet is the private property of the King of Jin. Anyone who moves will die!"
At this moment, several guards came running to report, "Your Majesty, the fourth young master was beaten!"
"Ah!" Yang Qing was shocked and asked quickly, "Where is the person?"
"It has been carried back home!"
Yang Qing hurried to the front yard and saw his youngest son Yang Pei lying on a stretcher groaning in pain.
The youngest son, Yang Pei, was only ten years old. Yang Qing had this son in his middle age. He had a handsome face and a unique bone structure. A fortune teller praised him for his appearance like a dragon and phoenix, and the appearance of an emperor. This gave Yang Qing an idea.
He doted on his youngest son since he was young. When he was seven years old, he hired a famous teacher to teach him. After arriving in Bashu, he even became a disciple of the great scholar Zhang Rutong. But today, this youngest son who Yang Qing placed infinite hope on was actually beaten up.
Yang Qing was filled with rage and looked murderously at the guards who were protecting his son. The guards were so scared that they knelt on the ground and kowtowed. If it were any other time, Yang Qing would have ordered them to be dragged out and beheaded, but today was a little special as Yang Qing himself was also attacked by an assassin.
Yang Qing suppressed his anger and said, "Tell me! What's going on, young master?"
The leading guard said tremblingly, "The young master and several classmates came out of the master's house. We were waiting at the door of the carriage for him to get on. At this time, a flower girl came. She was very young and pretty. She came forward to give a flower to the young master's classmate. We saw that she was not looking for the young master, so we didn't pay attention. Unexpectedly, she pulled out an iron rod from the flower basket, turned around and hit the young master's leg with it. The young master screamed and fell to the ground. We drew our swords and rushed over. The woman had already jumped on the wall and said that this time was a warning, and next time she would use soul-chasing poison arrows. After she finished speaking, she jumped into the mansion of the great scholar and disappeared. We didn't find the assassin, so we quickly sent the young master back."
Yang Qing's anger had turned into horror. He walked forward and touched his son's calf. Yang Pei screamed and his calf was swollen. Yang Qing immediately understood that his son's calf was broken.
He urgently ordered the guards to call the imperial physician, and asked the housekeeper to take people to carry his son to the backyard. After a long time of trouble, the mansion finally quieted down.
In the study, Yang Qing paced back and forth anxiously with his hands behind his back. His staff member Liu Jianghui asked, "Excuse me, Your Majesty, what kind of cargo is that fleet transporting?"
Yang Qing sighed and said, "In fact, I don't know what it is transporting. The key is that this fleet comes to Bashu twice a year, and each time it leaves with a full load of goods. It also receives special protection from Cui Hongjun. There is no record of any inspection of the ship's cargo, which means no one dares to board the ship to inspect. I am annoyed. How can there be such a lawless fleet under my nose?" "But it is the private ship property of His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin. I heard that the Xihai Trading Company of the Prince of Jin has a huge business and is the best trading company in the world. There are also several Xihai Guifang in Chengdu."
"If it was just an ordinary merchant ship, I wouldn't care, but I suspect it was military supplies, and I don't want that to happen!"
Liu Jianghui whispered: "But the other party's attitude is clear. It's unclear if the prince and the prince of Jin are fighting head-on!"
Yang Qing shook his head. "This may not be the attitude of the King of Jin. I just seized the ship ten days ago. It has only been ten days. The King of Jin is far away in Jiangnan. How could he know about it? He even sent assassins here. This must be the steward of Chengdu acting on his own initiative. I don't think they dare to really do it."
Liu Jianghui smiled bitterly and said, "Your Majesty, I am worried that the other two princes will take advantage of this opportunity."
Yang Qing's face changed. He understood that the other two were Prince of Wei Yang Ji and Prince of Lu Yang Shigui. They were extremely dissatisfied with him being in power and would use this opportunity to get rid of him.
Just then, someone came to report, "Your Majesty, the chief steward of the Prince of Jin stationed in Chengdu wants to see you!"
Yang Qing was furious. He had just injured his son, and he dared to come to see him? Was he tired of living?
Liu Jianghui quickly advised: "Your Highness, please don't be impulsive. The other party must have a reason for coming here. Don't let the other two princes seize the opportunity."
Yang Qing nodded, suppressed his anger and said: "Bring him to the inner hall to see me!"
Soon, the guards brought Song Chang'en to the inner hall. Song Chang'en bowed and said, "I am the envoy sent by His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin to Chengdu. My surname is Song. We have been operating in Chengdu in accordance with the law. Why did the prince send people to seal our business?"
Yang Qing was stunned for a moment, and then began to question himself.
He waved his hand, and the guards brought a plate with the poison arrow and the note on it. Yang Qing said coldly, "Explain it to me!"
Song Changen took a look and shook his head, saying, "This wasn't done by us!"
"I still want to make excuses!"
Song Changen said calmly, "I am only a seventh-rank official in charge of trade. Assassinating the regent of Western Sui and changing the world situation is definitely not something a small person like me can decide. Although I have the ability, I will never act rashly. I must consult His Royal Highness Prince Jin. Only after His Royal Highness Prince Jin approves will I consider the plan. It will take at least three months to go back and forth, but it has only been ten days since the prince detained my ship. Your Highness, think about it, could it be us who did it? I am afraid that someone has ulterior motives and assassinated the prince in our name, so that the Western Sui court will think it was us who did it."
Song Changen's words were well-reasoned and he also hinted at Yang Qing's political opponents.
Yang Qing couldn't help but believe it. He had always felt that the timing didn't match. How could the other party dare to assassinate him without the approval of King Jin? Now he also began to suspect that the other two princes were causing trouble.
After thinking for a while, Yang Qing asked, "What goods did you buy?"
"It's medicine, including astragalus, sodium sulfate and Panax notoginseng. We use these herbs to treat plague and prepare plague-eliminating pills for the army. The plague is rampant in Goguryeo, and our army is in urgent need of medicine."
"Don't you have these herbs in Jiangnan?"
"There are some in Jiangnan, but they are not as effective as those in Bashu. I have been purchasing from Bashu and have a special source of supplies."
In fact, Song Chang'en gave the other party a way out. He first threatened the other party with assassination and then gave the other party a way out.
Yang Qing was also afraid that his son would be assassinated again, so he finally gave in.
"As long as it's not military goods, I won't stop normal trade. Come and complete the formalities tomorrow! Take the ship away. Also, I'll inspect the goods after they're loaded!"
(End of this chapter)