Chapter 162

  On the third day after Deng Mingyang sent a flying letter, a named captain came to report to Tang Yan that a large amount of gold and silver was found when checking the merchant group passing through Tianmen. Tianmen is currently in a state of semi-alert, and strict checks are required for all passing merchant groups and merchants.

  Tang Yin listened to the captain's report and felt amused. Since it was a merchant group, which one didn't bring gold and silver? He casually asked: "How much is the large amount of gold and silver you mentioned?"

  The captain swallowed his saliva and shook his head, saying: "I don't know." Then he added another sentence: "Too many, countless."

  "Oh?" The gold and silver were too numerous to count, this was quite a novelty. Tang Yin stood up straight, raised his head and said: "Take me to see."

  The captain led Tang Yin to the front of the Tian Guan city gate, where a merchant caravan was parked. The caravan consisted of over a hundred carts, each carrying ten or more large, worn-out trunks that seemed to be loaded with ordinary goods, looking no different from a normal merchant caravan, just larger in scale and with more people pushing the carts.

  "Sir, look!" The captain walked to a horse cart and opened one of the boxes. Under the sunlight, it was shining with silver light. Tang Yin jumped onto the cart, bent down to take a look, and found that inside the box were neatly arranged rows of silver ingots. Tang Yin was stunned for a moment, then he opened another box beside it, which also contained silver ingots.

  Hundreds of vehicles, thousands of boxes, if they were all filled with silver, how much would that be? This can only be described in astronomical numbers. Tang Yan looked up and down at the end of the merchant team, secretly sighing in amazement. Seeing such a huge amount of white silver, to say that Tang Yan was not tempted would be absolutely deceiving, but he was not a bandit after all. If it were a normal merchant team, there was nothing he could do about it.

  Tang Yin got off the carriage and jumped onto the second horse cart, which was loaded with even more enticing boxes. Inside the dozens of boxes were gold ingots. To confirm whether they were real or fake, Tang Yin specially picked up a gold ingot and scratched it with his fingernail, leaving a clear mark. The gold was indeed genuine.

  Jumping down from the carriage, Tang Yin pulled over that captain and said: "Bring over the person in charge of this merchant group!"

  "Yes! Sir!" The captain saluted and ran out.

  Tang Yin wondered what kind of merchant group this was and what intention they had with such a large amount of gold and silver.

  Not long after, the captain led a large group of people from the middle section of the merchant team. Most of them were spiritual cultivators, and there were also some with high cultivation levels. Upon seeing them, the two brothers immediately returned to Tang Yin's side and protected him first. Tang Yin, on the other hand, was not worried at all. He didn't think anyone would dare to assassinate him here, after all, this was where his 200,000-strong army was stationed.

  The leader of the group was a man in his forties, wearing ordinary clothes, but with an extraordinary temperament. His every move exuded an air of nobility, as if he were born into a prestigious family. His face was pale and delicate, with refined features, and three strands of black hair danced in the wind, making him look dignified and handsome.

  Tang Yin felt that this person looked somewhat familiar, but couldn't recall where he had seen him before.

  He looked up and asked: "Are you the leader of the merchant group?"

  "Yes!" The middle-aged man smiled and stepped forward, first bowing deeply, then asked: "General is..."

  "Tang Yin!" Tang Yin replied crisply.

  "Ah, it's actually Lord Tang!" The middle-aged man's face lit up with surprise and delight upon hearing Tang Yin's name. His previously anxious heart seemed to have calmed down as well. He bowed again and smiled, saying: "I am Fan Ju, nice to meet you, Lord Tang!"

  "Is that... Fan Ju? Tang Yin suspected he had misheard, this was the greatest merchant of Feng Guo, Fan Min's father, Fan Ju? He carefully examined the middle-aged man, no mistake, no wonder he felt a sense of familiarity, Fan Min and he did share some resemblance around the eyebrows. After being stunned for a moment, Tang Yin came back to his senses, hastily returned a courtesy to the middle-aged man, smiling: "So it's Old Fan, I'm truly sorry!"

  No matter how big Fan Ju's business is, just because he is Fan Min's father, it is enough to make Tang Yin feel very close.

  "Hehe, Lord Tang is being polite!"

  "Mr. Fan, this is..."

  "Sir Tang, I'm telling you the truth, I escaped from Wan City and fled here!"

  Tang Yin was stunned for a moment, and then he understood in his heart. Without asking, the person who chased after Fan Ju must be someone sent by Zhong Tian. He didn't ask again, and with a slight movement of his body, he smiled lightly: "Don't worry, Old Fan. Since you've arrived at Tianyuan Prefecture, I can guarantee that no one will dare to touch you!"

  Fan Ju also knew about the relationship between his daughter and Tang Yin, although they were not yet married, but already had a husband-and-wife relationship. In theory, Tang Yin was already half of his son-in-law. He smiled with a bow and followed Tang Yin into the city with peace of mind. As for the gold and silver he brought, Tang Yin arranged for some soldiers to help take care of them.

  Tang Yin invited Fan Ju to his own large tent, where they sat down as host and guest. At this time, Qiu Zhen and others also rushed over upon hearing the news. Although Fan Ju was not a noble or high-ranking official, he was a wealthy merchant who could rival a country, and was also considered a legendary figure in Fengguo. Moreover, he had a relationship with Tang Yin, so everyone was extremely polite to him, vying to pay their respects first.

  After some small talk, Tang Yin got straight to the point. He was most concerned about the news from Yancheng and asked: "Mr. Fan, what's the situation in Yancheng like now?"

  Fan Ju heard this and let out a long sigh, shaking his head repeatedly, saying: "It's already become a complete mess."

  "Oh..."

  "Zhong Tian's rebellion was long-planned, I had some suspicions but no concrete evidence and didn't dare to make it public. However, I knew that if Zhong Tian were to rebel, he would definitely try to control me using the wealth of my family, the Fans, to stabilize the situation. So, I sent Xiaomin to Pingyuan County to take refuge, and I myself secretly hid in Wancheng. Unexpectedly, Zhong Tian got wind of it and sent people to Pingyuan County to abduct Xiaomin. If not for the timely rescue by Tang Gong, I fear Xiaomin would have fallen into Zhong Tian's hands. Here, I want to express my gratitude to Tang Gong!" As he spoke, Fan Ju stood up, kneeled down, and prepared to pay his respects.

  Tang Yin hastily supported him and shook his head, saying: "Mr. Fan is being polite, actually Xiaomin has also helped me a lot and made great efforts, I am very grateful in my heart." This was indeed the truth, as all the goods Tang Yin had plundered earlier were sold through Fan Min, if not for this channel, no matter how many spoils of war he had, they would be useless and could only be stockpiled.

  "Haha!" Fan Ju laughed loudly, regardless of how cruel Tang Yin was said to be by outsiders, but he was very polite and courteous to himself, which was enough to leave a good impression on Fan Ju. He said: "Tang's kindness is not seeking repayment, this point is admirable, no wonder my daughter chose you!"

  "Haha!" Tang Yin laughed somewhat awkwardly.

  Fan Ju continued: "Now, all of Wang Ting's ministers have been controlled by Zhong Tian, especially the three ministers Liang Xing, Wu Yu and Zi Yang Hao Chun. They were manipulated by Zhong Tian, resulting in the 10 battalions of the Liang family, the 6 battalions of the Wu family, and the 4 battalions of the Zi Yang family, totaling 200,000 troops, being leaderless and now all under Zhong Tian's command. In addition, the five battalions originally controlled by your majesty have long been bought over by Zhong Tian, adding to his own six battalions, he now controls more than 300,000 troops."

  So many troops! Everyone looked at each other in dismay, their faces solemn, and no one responded.

  Tang Yan furrowed his brow and asked in doubt: "What about the local troops from various places? As far as I know, there are still more than 200,000 local troops from various places."

  "Alas!" Fan Ju let out a long sigh and said: "The local troops are all temporary gatherings of mobs, lacking in military supplies and food, neither can they be the opponent of the Central Army nor the Ning Army. Now they have been surrounded by Zhong Tian and the Ning Army outside Yancheng. Zhong Tian has already sent an edict to the magistrates of each county, asking if they are willing to pledge allegiance to him. If they nod their heads, then it's all right. But if they shake their heads, then the troops dispatched from that county to reinforce Yancheng will probably not have anyone left alive to return."

  Tang Yin slowly nodded his head and couldn't help but glance at Qiu Zhen.

  No matter how Qiu Zhen considered it at the beginning, he strongly advocated for not sending reinforcements to Yancheng for the time being. Now it seems that this proposal was too correct. If he had led his troops there himself, he would have been surrounded by the 700,000-800,000-strong army outside Yancheng City like other prefectural troops.

  Qiu Zhen didn't care about that, he asked: "Mr. Fan, the king... was the entire royal family really killed by Zhong Tian?"

  "What's just one family?!" Fan Ju took a deep breath and said: "Since Zhong Tian became king, he started to capture and kill people with the surname Zhan all over the country. As long as they caught someone with the surname Zhan, they didn't ask whether they were innocent or guilty, nor did they care if they were members of the royal family - they would be executed without exception. One of the most important things for each county's governor to show loyalty to Zhong Tian was to see how many heads of people with the surname Zhan they could turn in. I suppose it won't take long before Zhong Tian's orders reach Lord Tang here."

  Everyone gasped in unison and sighed: What a ruthless Zhong Tian!

  But Qiu Zhen heard this and subtly revealed a joyful expression.

  Fan Ju said with a sigh: "Since ancient times, people's hearts are hard to measure. Zhong Tian was originally the most trusted person by the emperor, although he was one of the four major powers, but he never fought for power or merit, and the Zhong family was also the most honest among the four major powers. Who would have thought that the most honest person would secretly harbor a wolf's ambition? Alas, perhaps it is indeed the will of heaven to destroy our great dynasty..."

  "Mr. Fan, it's still too early to say that." Qiu Zhen replied with a sentence, his words were directed at Fan Ju, but his gaze was fixed on Tang Yan, his meaning couldn't be clearer, which was to let Tang Yan raise the flag of Feng Guo, show it to the world and punish the traitor Zhong Tian.

  Tang Yin sat in a chair, expressionless. He lowered his head and deliberately avoided looking at Qiu Zhen, remaining silent.

  He's not the kind of person who acts impulsively, Zhong Tian has already controlled all the central army, and it's estimated that those 200,000 local troops won't be able to escape his grasp either. At that time, there will be more than 500,000 troops, plus Ning Guo's 400,000-strong army, with a total strength of nearly one million. With only 200,000 people and a single county, how can we compete with him?

  Not to mention attacking Yangzhou, I'm afraid that as soon as they leave Tianmen Pass, they will be drowned in Zhongtian's sea of soldiers. At that time, he will not only harm himself but also the lives of more than 200,000 soldiers under his command. With so many lives on his shoulders, how can Tang Yin dare to be careless?