Chapter 4896 Falling into a Trap

Chapter 4896 Falling into a Trap
Located in the Hexi area and the ancient Silk Road, Guzang City stands between mountains and rivers, overlooking Qilian Mountains in the south and the desert in the north, and has been passed down through the ages amidst the cold wind and snow.

Guzang City was first built during the time of the Xiongnu, and was expanded many times during the Five Liang periods. It was now three miles from east to west and seven miles from north to south, with "twenty-two gates connected by streets", the largest number of city gates in all the capitals of all dynasties.

"The Book of Zhou: Kaogongji" says: facing the market and with the back to the market.

This means that the palace is in the center, the court is to the south, and the market is to the north. This has been the regulation of the ancient capitals.

However, since the construction of Guzang City in the Former Liang Dynasty, palaces were built on a large scale in the north of the city and markets were built in the south of the city, which was inconsistent with the "system of market in the back". Therefore, Guzang City pioneered the "palace in the north and market in the south", laid the foundation for the new pattern of construction of royal capitals in East Asia thereafter, and became a model city.

Its pattern initially influenced the construction of Pingcheng, the capital of the early Northern Wei Dynasty. Later, the city planning of Luoyang, the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Yecheng of the Northern Qi Dynasty, Jiankang of the Southern Dynasty, and Chang'an City of the Sui and Tang Dynasties were all deeply influenced by it.

……

The official road passes through Qingyang Gate. Even on snowy days, merchants gather on both sides of the road and there are noises of carriages and horses. The prosperous scene is even better than that of the big cities in the Central Plains. Han and Hu people live together and there is an endless stream of merchants and travelers.

Although the Tang Dynasty had changed its tax system, it was not implemented in Liangzhou. Setting up "tax stations" was not only an important source of revenue for local governments, but also a necessary means to control the goods sold by merchants from the East and the West. Important strategic materials such as salt and iron were absolutely not allowed to flow to the Western Regions, so the existence of "tax stations" was necessary.

It was snowing heavily. A long queue of cars had formed in front of the tax checkpoint heading to Guanzhong. Each caravan was loaded with goods and pulled by slow horses or camels. The guards of the caravan were wearing thick cotton clothes and patrolling with swords and bows in their hands. Although this place was under the rule of the Tang Dynasty and bandits had disappeared, the Han and Hu people lived together and the people were tough, so fights broke out all the time. Once a real fight broke out, the goods would be damaged.

An Yongda was wearing a fur coat and a felt hat covered with snowflakes. He was sitting on the shaft of the cart with his hands folded in his sleeves. The flag next to him was painted with the Yin family emblem. Yin Hongyong not only went to Cheng Yaojin in person to offer a bribe, but also took out the family emblem to cover up his tracks.

In Chang'an for two hundred years, the An family crest had long been the "gold medal of exemption from inspection" in the entire Hexi region. As long as the caravans with the An family crest were traveling to Hexi, they would be exempt from inspection. However, today they have to rely on the Yin family, which was far inferior to the An family at that time, which made An Yongda very depressed...

The snow was getting heavier, but fortunately the wind was still strong enough so it wasn't that cold.

An Yongda stretched his neck to take a look. The convoy in front was still several miles long and it would take some time for them to pass the checkpoint. This made him annoyed and worried. After all, the longer the night, the more troubles one may encounter. Even with the protection of the Yin family, there was no guarantee that there would be no accidents.

There was the sound of horse hooves. More than ten riders came up from behind in the wind and snow. When they got close, they all reined in their horses. The riders did not dismount. They pushed up their felt hats, revealing their eyebrows covered with ice and snow. They bowed to An Yongda and said, "Hello, uncle! My father was afraid that the heavy snow would delay your journey, so he asked me to escort you. I will go and communicate with the officers and soldiers to let you pass the checkpoint first."

This is to cut in line.

An Yongda was overjoyed. This was Yin Hongyong's son Yin Zhaoji. The two families were old friends and had known each other for a long time. So he sat on the shaft of the carriage and returned the greeting: "Your father's friendship is deeply appreciated. I will definitely repay you in the future!"

Yin Hongyong really knows how to behave. Although he accepted the generous gift from himself, he also showed his kindness to the utmost. Not only did he personally communicate with Cheng Yaojin, he also sent his son to escort him over. It was truly touching.

"Uncle, wait a moment. I'll be back soon."

After saying this, more than a dozen riders marched forward and headed straight to the checkpoint, where they whispered with the officers and soldiers at the checkpoint for a while.

After a moment, Yin Zhaoji turned around and shouted from his horse: "Drive the carriage over here and go this way."

An Yongda quickly ordered the leading vehicle to follow orders, and the convoy broke away from the long queue and moved slowly forward along the official road next to it.

This move naturally caused dissatisfaction among the other convoys in line, and all they could hear along the way was cursing. However, after seeing the Yin family emblem on the convoy, many of them stopped complaining. Even if there were still one or two people who still complained, their voices were much smaller.

The Guzang Yin family is a big family in Liangzhou, and they have the privilege of cutting in line. Even if others are dissatisfied, they can do nothing about it...

Before the convoy arrived at the checkpoint, the other convoys passing through the checkpoint had indeed been paused, and the convoy flying the Yin family emblem was allowed to pass first.

Arriving at the checkpoint, An Yongda looked at the hundreds of fully armed soldiers standing in the snow on both sides, and was startled, feeling that something was not right. Since the fall of the Turkic Khanate, the tribesmen migrated westward, leaving only a few remnants in the grasslands and deserts, the public security in Hexi has always been very good, and most of the soldiers at the checkpoints along the way were just pretending, and no one dared to kill or rob under the eyes of the Tang army, so there were not many guards at the checkpoints.

However, considering that Cheng Yaojin has now settled in Guzang City, it is reasonable to strictly check the caravans passing through the city...

"How many vehicles are there in total, and what cargo is on them?"

A group of soldiers in an orderly manner came forward and asked casually while reaching out to lift the felt cloth of a cart.

Yin Zhaoji stepped forward and replied with a smile: "They are all furs and medicinal herbs brought back from the Western Regions, a total of fifteen carts."

However, he whispered, "This is Yin's convoy. Because the goods are too valuable, they are afraid that they will be exposed during the inspection and be targeted by thieves. Therefore, they have reported it to Duke Lu in advance and have obtained Duke Lu's permission to be exempted from inspection. I wonder if you have received the order in advance?"

The team nodded: "It turned out to be Yin's team..."

An Yuanda felt relieved, but then he was stunned.

The team seemed to be breathing heavily, and after a pause, they continued, "...What about the Yin family? This is the world of the Tang Dynasty, and the laws of the Tang Dynasty are followed! If one or two of them use backdoors to evade taxes and sell banned goods, wouldn't the Tang Dynasty be destroyed? Come on, search them carefully!"

Yin Zhaoji was shocked and quickly grabbed the captain and said, "Duke Lu has already agreed. Brother, why don't you ask your superior?"

"What superior?" The team leader shook off Yin Zhaoji's hand and said disdainfully, "I am the highest-ranking official at this tax station! Even if Duke Lu is here, I must enforce the law impartially and conduct a strict search! Search for me!"

"Here!"

More than ten soldiers around him stepped forward quickly and searched every car carefully. The soldiers standing on both sides took a few steps forward at the same time and surrounded the entire convoy. These soldiers each held the hilt of the sword, waiting for the convoy guards to move unusually before drawing their swords.

Yin Zhaoji stamped his feet anxiously: "Oh, oh, oh, this is outrageous, outrageous!"

But they could not stop the soldiers from searching the car.

A soldier lifted the felt cloth, moved the bag of medicinal herbs to one side, and suddenly shouted, "Something is smuggled!"

Several soldiers came forward and saw that underneath the layer of medicine bags there were neatly arranged boxes.

In name, they were selling medicinal herbs, but in reality, there were boxes underneath, and it was obvious that they were smuggling goods!

An Yongda panicked and jumped off the carriage, pushing the soldiers away and trying to cover up. At the same time, he shouted to Yin Zhaoji who was obviously stunned beside him: "My dear nephew, go and ask to see Duke Lu!"

It seems that Cheng Yaojin failed to convey the message clearly, so the soldiers at the checkpoint did not know that the convoy had obtained the exemption from inspection, which led to the soldiers coming up to search. At this time, the soldiers must be stopped from searching the convoy, otherwise the wealth worth hundreds of thousands of strings will be exposed, which will cause great trouble!
Not to mention others, even if Cheng Yaojin knew that the wealth he had deceived was so huge, it would be hard to guarantee that he would not become greedy!

The reason why he begged Yin Hongyong to negotiate with Cheng Yaojin to buy an "exemption from inspection" qualification was to prevent this situation.

Money can move people's hearts, and with Cheng Yaojin's lawless character, I'm afraid he may not give face to Yin family at that time...

Yin Zhaoji seemed to have just reacted at this time, and quickly jumped on his horse, shouting, "Uncle, wait for me, I'll be right back!"

He rode at full speed with his servants and returned along the same route, entering Guzang City from Qingyang Gate.

The soldier didn't take it seriously and sneered, "No matter whose caravan you are, please explain clearly why you are carrying such a huge amount of money and silk, where are you going? What are you doing? Why are you hiding your identity with medicinal herbs?"

An Yongda didn't know what had happened to Yin Hongyong, so he said calmly, "I am indeed a member of the Yin family caravan. We are going to Chang'an to buy tea and silk to sell to the Kingdom of Daqin. However, the journey is long and arduous, and we are afraid that the money and silk will be exposed and attract thieves to covet them, so we have to hide it."

The soldier looked at the caravan with shining eyes and snorted, saying, "Purchasing tea and silk? I think you want to bribe the Guanzhong garrison with huge sums of money. You have bad intentions, right? Come on, arrest all the people in this caravan. I will report to the commander-in-chief and then deal with them!"

"Here!"

The soldiers on the periphery sprang into action instantly. They first disarmed and tied up the convoy guards, and then formed groups of three or five with clear division of labor to drive the vehicles towards the military camp under the city wall.

An Yongda knew that things were going to get bad and was about to resist, but several knives were already placed on his neck, and the sharp blades even cut his skin. He could only sigh dejectedly and surrender.

I just hope Yin Zhaoji can quickly notify Yin Hongyong, and Yin Hongyong can communicate with Cheng Yaojin to let him go.

But he also knew that since the money and silk were exposed, it was almost impossible for him not to be bitten hard by Cheng Yaojin...

……

In the barracks in front of Qianguang Palace, Cheng Yaojin sat by the stove with his horse and sword, smiling and clinking his glass with Yin Hongyong: "My dear brother, you really know how to deal with the current situation. This time, you have ruined An's plan to bribe the court officials, which is a great achievement. I will send a letter to Chang'an to report my merits to His Majesty later. I believe His Majesty will certainly reward me generously."

Yin Hongyong smiled bitterly and sighed, "Such actions are really against my moral principles. However, traitors and traitors can be killed by anyone. Yin is a royal relative and is deeply favored by the emperor. How dare we help the tyrant to commit atrocities? I only hope that the Empress Defei and His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi in the capital can understand my painstaking efforts and not blame me for this."