Chapter 187 Seizure of Tea House

Li Qing'an has not returned home for three days. He is busy until late at night every day and sleeps in Beiting City. In the past few months, immigrants, mines, workshops, schools, military training, new castles, craftsmen, and many things have come to him. Not only him, but all the officials of the Jiedushi Mansion are busy, from morning to night, and they don’t even have to drink saliva all day. Beiting’s government affairs were originally relatively simple, but they have hardly changed for decades. New officials and old officials have long been accustomed to slow-paced life, but after Li Qing'an took over, there have been changes. Not only did the court move more than 10,000 new military households and 1,000 craft households, but also allowed Beiting to start mining and minting. In addition, Li Qing'an has many new measures, including setting up factories, running schools, and building new castles. Almost every headache-inducing thing started at the same time within three months.

Thousands of trivial matters almost broke the backs of Beiting officials. Fortunately, after three months of tempering, the officials have gradually adapted to the new governor's decisive style and high-efficiency and fast-paced style of dealing with things.

In the past few days, officials from Beiting have been busy with one big thing, that is, the arrival of a thousand craftsmen. The craftsmen in the Tang Dynasty were divided into two types: official craftsmen and private craftsmen. Generally speaking, the level of official craftsmen was higher than that of private craftsmen. The court selected craftsmen with high skills, established special household registration like military soldiers, and went to Beijing to serve regularly. For example, there were 20,000 craftsmen in Shaofu Supervisor and 15,000 craftsmen in craftsmen.

The thousand craftsmen who came to Beiting selected excellent official craftsmen from Shaofu Supervisor, Military Equipment Supervisor and Craftsmanship Supervisor. In today's words, they are technical engineers. The arrival of these craftsmen means that the production capacity of Beiting's handicrafts will be greatly improved, which means that many things will no longer rely on the supply of the court. In the military, the military can be made by themselves. In the folk, silk weaving, porcelain making, wine making, agricultural tools and other handicrafts no longer lag behind the Central Plains. The most popular silk satin in the Beiting market and Chang'an will appear in the fields of Beiting. The most advanced water trucks and other agricultural tools in the Central Plains will appear in the fields of Beiting. The officials of Beiting are well aware of this. Therefore, each of them does their best to do all the resettlement matters for the arrival of the craftsmen.

In the official room, Li Qing'an was considering the production of gunpowder. This time, many craftsmen came from military weapons prisons, but Li Qing'an discovered something strange. None of these craftsmen had ever heard of something that could burn and explode. In other words, no one knew about gunpowder. Could it be that the gunpowder formula he presented to Li Longji was still sleeping in the warehouse?

Gunpowder is the secret weapon he relies on to make his fortune. So far, only a few of his confidants know the gunpowder formula. Perhaps others will know about gunpowder through various channels, but it is not so easy for them to truly develop a lethal gunpowder formula.

Based on this consideration, Li Qing'an decided to keep the secret of the gunpowder formula and leave it to his personal soldiers to configure it, so that the craftsmen would not be involved in the attack for the time being.

"Entertainment!" The door was pushed open, and Wang Changling walked in quickly and said with a smile: "The Jinman Bridge connecting Wuting Town has been built. Should I go and take a look?"

After nearly half a year of visiting Beiting, Wang Changling was as thin as a charcoal. He was known as the busiest person in Beiting. He was in charge of Beiting's two major events: camping and minting in Beiting. At the same time, he also served as the Tingzhou academician. He had no time to take a breath. Although he was extremely busy, he was in a very happy mood. He did not have to consider the intrigues in the officialdom, nor did he please his superiors, but just focus on doing things well. This simple life was what he dreamed of. His current identity was still Li Qing'an's aide and he won the title of doctor in the school inspection and work department.

"Let's go! Let's take a look."

Li Qingan packed up the documents on the table, walked out the door, and asked with a smile: "Has Chen Zhonghe gone to Xizhou to take office?"

"I went there early this morning, and I took my wife, children, and mother, and I also went to deliver it. Alas! I have never seen such a poor county magistrate." Wang Changling sighed very much.

Li Qingan also smiled and said, "Although Chen Zhonghe is a little pedantic, he is an honest and upright official, and has a good reputation among the people. I have seen his qualifications. He has been a county magistrate in Gaochang County and Jiaohe County for six years. He has governed the two counties without closing their doors at night and not picking up their own remains. He is especially good at the conflicts between Hu Han. When the Hu people in Xizhou mentioned him, everyone gave him a thumbs up. Therefore, this time, 8,000 military households immigrated to Xizhou, and only he can handle this big event for me."

"This is the envoy who is good at using people's strengths. Officials in Beiting say that although they are a little tired and busy, they are in a very comfortable mood and feel very fulfilling."

The two walked and said, and in a short while, they arrived at Wuting Town, south of Jinman County. It was less than ten miles from Jinman County, and there was a Jinman River between them. More than 400 craftsmen from military weapons prisons were placed in Wuting Town. Wuting Town originally had only dozens of families, but there were large open spaces around. In order to welcome the arrival of craftsmen, Li Qing'an ordered soldiers to raft mud and build houses on the open space in Wuting Town. In just two months, hundreds of houses were erected on the open space in Wuting Town. In order to facilitate craftsmen to go to Jinman County, he ordered a bridge to be built on the Jinman River. Today is the day when the bridge is officially opened.

When Li Qing'an and his group arrived at the Jinman Bridge, the brief opening ceremony had ended. There were people coming and going on the bridge, many of them were business vendors, carrying various local specialties from Beiting, wine, pickled lamb legs, red deer heads, white stacked cloth, ice horse milk, etc., and went to the craftsmen who had just arrived in Beiting to sell them. At the same time, they bought some cheap items they brought from the Central Plains from them, such as tea cakes, silk satin, porcelain, etc.

Different from military households, military households come spontaneously, but craft households are led by imperial officials and come together. It is precisely because of the presence of imperial officials that Sishun, the Hexi Anxi plan to intercept a group of military weapon monitoring craftsmen, failed.

"Empress, this bridge is built very solidly and can last for at least a hundred years."

Wang Changling patted the stone pier with the name of the bridge engraved on the bridge and smiled: "These three words "Jinmanqiao" were written by me!"

Li Qingan also smiled and said, "The whole Beiting is the most profound in your calligraphy. Who are you looking for if you don't?"

He urged his horse to go forward and looked south of the bridge with his hand curtain. He saw hundreds of houses that were uniformly painted white were neatly distributed on a vast and flat land. He came to inspect some time ago, and it was still cold and silent. However, with the arrival of 430 military weapons supervisors who moved from Chang'an, it began to become vibrant. On both sides of the road, more than 100 men were digging pits to plant trees. A large group of children ran towards Jinman River with laughter, and they all jumped into the river naked. A large group of women were washing clothes by the river, and laughter came from afar.

At this time, an old Han man drove a carriage toward Jinman Bridge. The Jinman Bridge was a little slope. He quickly jumped down and pushed the carriage onto the bridge. Unexpectedly, the carriage was too heavy and could not be pushed up for a while.

Li Qingan hurriedly went up to help push the cart. The soldiers came to help and pushed the cart onto the bridge in a moment. Seeing that the cart was filled with black soil, Li Qingan couldn't help but ask curiously: "Brother-in-law, why are you transporting so much soil for?"

The old man smiled and said, "Isn't it? My family has just divided the forty acres of land and is busy reclamation and dressing. I saw that the soil dug out from building the house is very fertile, and it's a pity that I threw it away, so I planned to transport it to my field."

"Is the father-in-law the only one?"

"No! Both sons and daughter-in-law are working in the fields. When they have time these two days, they will quickly reclaim the land for me, otherwise they will have no time to get busy in the future."

Li Qing'an nodded and asked with a smile: "What do you think of Beiting?"

The old man took out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat and said with a smile: "It's great. I have been building arrows in military weapons for thirty years. I didn't expect that when I was old, I could still get 40 acres of land. With this, I don't regret it at all when I came to Beiting."

"Where is there anything you don't feel satisfied with? For example, if officials are mean to you, are there any?"

The old man shook his head and sighed, "What else is there to be dissatisfied? He gave land and livestock, and gave two hundred kilograms of grain. His son's work as a craftsman is good, and the family is living happily. If you have to say that you are not satisfied, there is only one thing, that is, I am not very comfortable with the climate here. It is too hot during the day and cold at night. But it doesn't matter. I will get used to it if I want to live for a few years."

As he said that, he jumped into the carriage and smiled at Li Qing'an: "Young man, thank you for helping me push the cart, I'll leave first."

"Brother-in-law, go slowly!" Li Qing'an smiled and bowed. When the old man walked away, he turned to Wang Changling and said, "You go find someone to count how many families need to reclaim land. Give me a detailed report. I will arrange for soldiers to help. These craftsmen must start construction immediately and cannot delay any further."

"I understand, so I will arrange for the statistics and report it to the envoy tomorrow morning."

At this moment, a rapid sound of horse hooves came from a distance, and someone shouted from afar: "Empress, I'm going to report urgently!"

A soldier rushed over, turned over and dismounted, saluted and said, "Report to the envoy, Mr. Yan asked the envoy to go back immediately, saying that there was an important discovery."

"I got it, I'll go back now."

Li Qingan turned over the horse, whipped the war horse hard, and ran towards Beitingcheng quickly.

"Envoy, Lingxi Tea House has taken the bait."

Yan Zhuang smiled and pushed a stack of information to Li Qing'an. "In just three months, they took advantage of the opportunity to deliver military supplies to the Wubao garrison, and developed nearly 2,000 members of the Han and Tang dynasties in the garrison, and the momentum was very rapid!"

Li Qingan took the information and flipped it over, couldn't help but sneer, and asked a undercover Tang army captain next to him, "What's going on in the Han and Tang dynasties?"

The captain hurriedly said, "Reporting to the envoy, the person who developed the Han and Tang dynasties to join the Han and Tang dynasties was the shopkeeper of Lingxi Tea House. He just said that the Han and Tang dynasties took the restoration of the Shuye Jun Town as their mission, and it was just a voluntary organization. After joining, it was given 300 cents a month. Many soldiers joined this point. But in fact, the Han and Tang dynasties was very strict, with divisions, rudders, bureaus, team levels, Beiting as halls, and Tingzhou as rudders. There were several bureaus below. There were teams under the bureau, thirty people were a team, with hall masters, rudders, bureau orders, and team chiefs. Beiting was appointed as the bureau order of the Sanbao Bureau. They had twelve teams and 360 brothers, and they had a monthly allowance of five staples."

Yan Zhuang next to him said slowly: "It would be understandable if the Han and Tang Dynasties only developed in Beiting. After all, the recovery of Shattered Leaf requires the Beiting army. But I heard that the Han and Tang Dynasties had branches in various parts of the Tang Dynasty, and even as far as Guangzhou, with nearly 10,000 members. This is not as simple as restoring Shattered Leaf. If I guess correctly, the Han and Tang Dynasties might be determined by the world. Their leaders all came from Shattered Leaf, so they chose Beiting as the new foundation of the Han and Tang Dynasties."

Li Qingan snorted and said, "Mr. I mean, if I didn't find out, a year later, the Beiting Jiedushi will be the Li Huichun, right?"

"That's exactly what it means!"

Yan Zhuang nodded, "According to their current development momentum, a year later, the soldiers of Beiting will be members of the Han and Tang dynasties. The envoy will sooner or later be known by the court. If the envoy does not make a tough stance as soon as possible, how can you explain to the emperor to the emperor? At that time, it may not be as simple as inattention. Alas! I am worried about what the envoy will be caught by them."

"I will be responsible."

Li Qingan said coldly: "Since I have set up this game and let them get in, I will not let them hold on to me, someone will come!"

An officer came in immediately outside the door, and Li Qing'an ordered: "Let Nan Jiyun and Lei Wanchun come to see me immediately."

After a moment, Nan Jiyun and Lei Wanchun hurried over and bowed and said, "Please give me the order!"

Li Qing'an took out a booklet and threw it to them and said, "You two lead 1,000 people each, put them on the list, all stores are sealed, everyone arrests them, and they will be executed immediately!"

"Get orders!" Nan Lei and the others went down to order their troops.

Li Qingan put on his helmet and said slowly: "As for Lingxi Tea House, I want to go and seize it myself!"

Li Qing'an has been in charge of Beiting for half a year and has been strictly enforced by military discipline and never disturbing the people. But today, Beiting suddenly became like cold water pouring into a hot oil pan. The three counties of Tingzhou were boiling, especially in Jinman County. Teams of fully armed soldiers were running on the streets, sealing the store and arresting people according to the list.

The largest Rehai Restaurant in Beiting rushed into more than a hundred soldiers with murderous intent. They shouted loudly: "Perform official duties! Everyone squatted on the ground with their hands above their heads."

The diners didn't know what had happened, and they were so scared that they squatted on the ground. The shopkeeper came over tremblingly and asked, "Mr. Jun, what happened."

The leading officer grabbed his neck and turned around and ordered: "Search the shop, take them away, and those who dare to resist will be killed without any hesitation!"

The industries of the Han and Tang dynasties such as Suiyechuan Inn, Nanping Jewelry Shop, Baiye Porcelain Shop, Heli Gambling Hall, Junguiyuan brothel, etc. were all seized one by one, merchants were taken away and detained in a centralized manner, goods and property were seized, and every household in Jinman County was closed, and they didn't know what had happened, and they were talking about it for a while.

A team of 500 cavalry rushed to the front of Lingxi Tea House like lightning. Li Qing'an took the lead and waved his sword and ordered: "Everyone is surrounded by the front and back side doors, no one is allowed to leak, and all are arrested."

The cavalry divided into four groups and rushed up. Dozens of cavalry rushed up the steps and opened the door and rushed in. More than a hundred people were buying and selling tea in the spacious hall. The gate of the ground was knocked open, and dozens of cavalry rushed into the lobby. Everyone present was shocked.

"Listen to everyone, squat down! Those who resist will kill you."

The cavalry shouted three times in Chinese and Turkic language, urging the war horses, unsheathed their swords, and surrounded the merchants in front and behind. The merchants were so scared that their faces were pale and squatted down one after another. At this time, the shopkeeper of Lingxi Tea House urgently winked at a friend. The man was about to sneak away, and an arrow roared over. With a "dot!", he brushed the man's nose, nailed it to the wall in front of him, and half a foot into the wall, the arrow tail was trembling.

Li Qingan walked in with a horse. He held a long bow in his hand and said to the friend coldly: "If you dare to take another step, you will shoot through your head with the next arrow."

The guy's nose was scratched and blood was flowing. He was so scared that he fell to the ground.

"Eunuch Li, what do you mean?"

The shopkeeper Song took a step forward and said angrily: "Our tea shop has always been law-abiding, and the monthly tax is a lot. If you requisition our convoy, we almost charge no fees. Today, we come to the door to disturb trouble. What are your reasons?"

Li Qingan glanced at him and smiled faintly, "What should I call you? Should I call you? Or Master Song or Master Song?"

The face of the shopkeeper Song turned pale in an instant. He took a step back and murmured: "Eunuch Li, this is a misunderstanding!"

"Are there any misunderstandings? Let your boss come to explain it to me, but before the explanation, the Han and Tang Dynasties will disappear in my Beiting immediately."

Li Qing'an waved his hand and ordered: "Take everyone in Lingxi Tea House away, search me carefully, and don't let go of any place."

The soldiers rushed forward and took out the clerk and the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper Song turned around desperately and shouted, "Envoy Li, please don't kill people. We, Han and Tang dynasties, will never have any malice."

"I will not kill anyone if I cooperate honestly."

Li Qingan said to more than 100 businessmen who were tremblingly: "Please follow us and accept the investigation. As long as you are really innocent, I will let you go."

Five hundred soldiers had already rushed into the tea house and started a search. Lingxi Tea House was the largest shop in Beiting and occupied a huge area. In addition to the huge warehouses, there was also a residential house. More than 200 soldiers rushed into the house, drove all the maids and servants out, and began to rummage boxes and cabinets, and search carefully.

A team was leading a dozen brothers all the way into the inner house. They came to a small courtyard and heard laughter in the room.

They stepped forward and stomped open the door, and saw a young man in the room holding two women left and right, drinking and flirting. The door was kicked open with a 'bang!' and rushed in. The two women screamed in fear.

The man slapped the table, stood up and said angrily: "Who are you? How dare you trespass into the inner house? Do you have any other kingly laws?"

The team officer didn't explain, and waved his hand, "Take him away!"

Several soldiers stepped forward and captured the man. The young man suddenly pushed the woman in front of the soldiers, turned around and ran towards the inner room.

"Catch him!"

士兵们拔刀追了进去,那男子急得慌不择路,只得跳窗而逃,不料他刚跳到窗外,几名士兵早已在窗外等候,士兵们一拥而上,将他按到在地上.

The man struggled desperately, "You let me go!"
Chapter completed!