Chapter 583 Strategic Investment! (Thanks to the book friend Bored We for the reward!)

After a little hesitation, Akiyama Morihui made up her mind. She stood up and jumped over the seven-foot-high wall. After entering the yard, Akiyama Morihui held a big gun in her hand and looked around with cold eyes. What she saw was exactly the same as she expected. There was no one in the yard...
At this moment, Kobayakawa Takahide also entered the yard. Looking at everything in front of her, a hint of doubt appeared in her eyes. With her rich experience, she could certainly see that no one had lived in this yard for several days.

It was not like she had said before that there was no one in the yard during the day, and everyone went out to look for Akiyama Morie, and then came back to meet in the yard at night.

But she had clearly met the five Koga jonin in this small courtyard a few days ago, and she had gained their trust, making them believe that Mori Hui was hiding in Yuyang City. They had no reason to leave this small courtyard!
Feeling the doubt in Kobayakawa Takahide's expression, Akiyama Morie also reduced her suspicion of her half-sister. After looking at the situation in the courtyard, Akiyama Morie said:
"Checking around, I feel like this courtyard is not that simple!"

"Ok!"

The two sisters began to check the courtyard separately. After half an incense stick of time, Kobayakawa Takahide seemed to have found something and shouted:
"Mori Hui, come here!"

Upon hearing the sound, Akiyama Morie walked over, only to see Kobayakawa Takahide in a very hidden cellar. After going down the cellar, Akiyama Morie immediately discovered something unusual. There were some new marks on the wall of the cellar, which looked like they were caused by swords, and some seemed to be caused by burning flames...

At this time, Kobayakawa Takahide was in the northeast corner of the cellar, where there was a water tank half a person's height. Seeing the appearance of Akiyama Morie, Kobayakawa Takahide, with a solemn expression, pointed to the wall behind the water tank and said in a deep voice:
"see this!"

Following where Kobayakawa Takahide pointed, Akiyama Morie saw a pool of dark red blood on the wall at the tip of his finger. Combined with the sword marks in the cellar, it was self-evident what had happened in this cellar!
After a pause, Kobayakawa Takahide said slowly:

"Mori Hui, from my point of view, during the time I went to look for you, this place was targeted by someone. The five jonin were no match for the attackers and gradually retreated to this cellar, hoping to escape the enemy's pursuit, but this cellar was still discovered by the enemy!"

Akiyama Morie nodded silently upon hearing this. As far as the current clues were concerned, her opinion was the same as Kobayakawa Takahide's. She took a deep breath, looked at her silent sister and said:
"The five of them are all top experts in Koga. Even if they are surrounded by dozens or even hundreds of times more people, they can break out. But now they are forced to hide in the cellar. This is enough to show that the other side is also first-rate. There are not many people in Youyan who can gather so many experts!"

Listening to the hint in her sister's words, Akiyama Morie felt mixed emotions. At this moment, Kobayakawa Takahide took advantage of this opportunity and suddenly touched Akiyama Morie's wrist. Because Akiyama Morie was focused on thinking about things at this time and was not on guard against Kobayakawa Takahide, she was actually held by Kobayakawa Takahide...

However, Akiyama Morie's martial arts was much stronger than Kobayakawa Takahide's. As soon as Kobayakawa Takahide grasped it, Akiyama Morie used his internal force to shake him away, and he retreated several steps before he could barely stop!
Looking at Akiyama Morie, Kobayakawa Takahide frowned and said:

"That's true!"

Seeing that she had discovered her secret, Akiyama Morie said helplessly:

"Don't make any noise!"

In response, Kobayakawa Takahide criticized:
"Are you crazy? Or do you think they are just wooden stakes that you can chop down at will?"

After hearing this, Akiyama Morie was silent for a while and then said:
"I know what I'm doing!"

Kobayakawa Takahide said without giving in:

"Since they have been eliminated, let's put this matter to rest. Sen Hui, you must return to Yijing immediately!"

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Jiyu, Feiziling

Looking at the faint mountains in the distance, Zhu Sanshan, who had been spending days like years in the besieged city, suddenly felt tears welling up in his eyes.

For Zhu Sanshan, who had seen the prosperity and prosperity of Luoan, although he was forced to become a bandit on Daya Mountain, he also disliked the boredom and depression of life on the mountain. But now, when he saw Daya Mountain at this moment, he felt indescribably moved!

Because his life was at stake, Zhu Sanshan made quick preparations after deciding to break out. He was ready that very night. As the siege in the previous few days had been very successful and they were about to recapture Yingcheng, the Henan Army that besieged Yingcheng regarded Zhu Sanshan and his men as trapped in a jar, and became slack in their mentality and actions.

Therefore, facing Zhu Sanshan's breakout, the officers and soldiers of the Henan Army were a little panicked, and Zhu Sanshan's brothers, in order to survive, also fought with all their might, and each of them was blood-thirsty. Relying on this bravery, Zhu Sanshan actually fought his way out of the Henan Army's camp.

Without any hesitation, Zhu Sanshan led his men who had broken out of the encirclement and ran towards Daya Mountain. Daya Mountain was where they started out and they were familiar with the terrain there. So as long as they ran back to Daya Mountain, the Henan Army would not be able to do anything to them.

"Boss! We have already shaken off the Henan Army!" Zhu Sanshan's trusted general Liu Chuang came to Zhu Sanshan and reported:

Zhu Sanshan nodded when he heard that, and then continued to run towards Daya Mountain. He was originally riding a horse, but during the breakout last night, the horseman was too big to be conspicuous, so Zhu Sanshan could only abandon the horse and break out on foot...

Seeing that Zhu Sanshan was still going to go, Liu Chuang gritted his teeth and reminded him in a low voice:

"The brothers of the big boss have been running all night and are now exhausted. Do you think it would be possible to take a break for a while so that the brothers can recover their strength, eat something and drink some water?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Sanshan shook his head decisively and said:
"It's already daybreak. The government cavalry may catch up with us at any time. We must get into the mountains as soon as possible! Let the brothers hold on for a while. Once we get back to the mountains, I, Zhu, will treat you brothers to delicious food and fish!"

"Understood, Boss, I'll pass the message to my brothers right away!"

An hour later, Zhu Sanshan led his defeated troops into the mountainous area as he wished. However, just as Zhu Sanshan expected, as soon as they entered the mountain, thousands of Henan cavalry came to chase them. If Zhu Sanshan had softened his heart and stopped, the outcome would be self-evident.

After returning to his own stronghold, Zhu Sanshan's heart was completely relaxed and he called all his trusted subordinates over.

"How many people do we have now?" Zhu Sanshan asked the question that concerned him the most as soon as they met. Facing Zhu Sanshan's inquiry, the leaders of his subordinates also began to report. Listening to the number of people reported by his subordinates one by one, Zhu Sanshan's heart gradually sank to the bottom. Although he knew very well that after the breakout, the team he had just pulled out would suffer heavy casualties, but after adding up the numbers reported by his subordinates one by one, Zhu Sanshan couldn't imagine that he only had more than 3,000 people left under his command now··························
You know, just a month ago, the total number of his troops reached 16,000!
As if sensing Zhu Sanshan's distress, his trusted subordinate Liu Chuang also comforted him at the right time:
"The big boss's breakout last night was chaotic, and many brothers got separated. I believe many brothers will come back and reunite in a few days!"

Listening to Liu Chuang's consolation, Zhu Sanshan smiled bitterly and shook his head. Last night, many brothers got separated during the breakout. Only a few of them could come back. Most of them would probably die tragically under the butcher knife of the government troops. Thinking of this, Zhu Sanshan sighed and said with self-blame:

"I'm sorry, everyone!"

Listening to Zhu Sanshan's words, the group of men around him began to comfort him one by one. With everyone's comfort, Zhu Sanshan barely regained some confidence. He told his men to take good care of the wounded and send out scouts to guard against possible encirclement and suppression by the government troops in the mountains.

After doing all this, Zhu Sanshan ended the meeting. However, just as he was about to take a break, a small leader named Guan Fu came in and reported to Zhu Sanshan:

"Someone from the big boss is waiting at the mountain gate. He said he wants to see you for something important!"

After hearing Guan Fu's words, Zhu Sanshan was a little surprised. Who would come to him at this time?
Just when Zhu Sanshan was somewhat confused, Guan Fu spoke again:
"The other party claims to be Zhang Zhen, a merchant, and he brought a gift for the boss..."

Upon hearing that there was a gift for meeting, Zhu Sanshan gradually became interested and asked:
"What did they bring?"

Guan Fu hesitated for a moment, took out a ten-liang silver note from his pocket, handed it to Zhu Sanshan and said:
"They just gave me this and asked me to pass on the message to the boss as a gift. As for the other things, I didn't ask much!"

Listening to Guan Fu's words and looking at the ten taels of silver he handed over, Zhu Sanshan still didn't know whether to laugh or cry. However, this made him even more interested in Zhang Zhen. He waved his hand casually and said:

"Bring this Zhang Zhen in! Use this ten taels of silver to buy some good wine and food for your brothers!"

"Thank you, Boss! I'll bring Zhang Zhen up!"

Seeing that Zhu Sanshan did not confiscate the silver, Guan Fu immediately smiled. These ten taels of silver were not a small sum in this famine year. If used well, he might be able to buy a wife!
A moment later, a young man in gray robe came in front of Zhu Sanshan.

"My name is Zhang Zhen, nice to meet Master Zhu!"

After looking Zhang Zhen up and down, Zhu Sanshan said calmly:
"you know me?"

"When I was in Yingcheng before, I had the honor of meeting the boss!" Zhang Zhen said respectfully:

After taking a deep look at Zhang Zhen, Zhu Sanshan asked in a deep voice:
"You said you brought me a gift. Where is it?"

Zhang Zhen smiled when he heard this, then took out a stack of banknotes from his pocket and handed them over, saying:

“This is just a small gift to show my respect, I hope you will accept it…”

Zhu Sanshan took the stack of banknotes and weighed them in his hand. His small eyes narrowed up. These banknotes were all ten-liang banknotes from Yujingtong, a local bank in Hebei and Henan. There were about thirty of them. It was obvious that the other party was a man with ulterior motives and understood that in this chaotic world, the reputations of the three major banknotes, Guangshengyuan, Baichuantong and Yishanhe, were no longer very effective.

At present, the only banknote that Ji Yu can accept smoothly is Yujingtong, whose boss behind the scenes is rumored to be the Gao family. The face value of ten taels is the most perfect. If the face value of the silver note is too large, it is very likely to arouse the vigilance of the banknote exchange and cause unnecessary trouble.

Putting the stack of banknotes on the table, Zhu Sanshan looked at Zhang Zhen and said in a deep voice:

"Let's be frank. You came to our Daya Mountain and specially gave us so much silver. What's your idea?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhen gave Zhu Sanshan a thumbs up and said:

"Master Zhu is a straightforward person, so I won't hide anything. I am here today to ask for a favor! Three days later, Guangtaiheng Trading Company will send a batch of goods to Qi and Lu. This batch of goods will be delivered to the Qi army thirty miles east of Guangyanpo. There is a box among the goods, and in the box there is a treasure vase, which is our boss's favorite item. I would like to ask Master Zhu to get it for us..."

"Except for this treasure vase, all other items in this batch of goods belong to Mr. Zhu. Our boss will also give us a thousand taels of silver as a thank you gift!"

After he said this, although Zhu Sanshan was very restrained in his heart, a hint of greed appeared in his eyes again. Although he obtained a lot of wealth after the capture of Eagle City, because of this breakout, he did not have time to take all the wealth away, so he became a pauper again!

The other party offered three hundred taels of silver at the first move, and there was also a thank-you gift of one thousand taels of silver. This was enough to make Zhu Sanshan very tempted. Although he was ready to make a move, Zhu Sanshan was still on guard and asked:
"Who is your boss?"

Facing Zhu Sanshan's question, Zhang Zhen smiled and said:

"Our boss provides the money and you provide the labor. We share what we have and each takes what we need. Why do you have to ask so many questions?"

After listening to Zhang Zhen's answer, Zhu Sanshan probably felt that what Zhang Zhen said made sense, so he did not continue to dwell on this issue, but changed the subject and asked very seriously:
“How many people are escorting the troops?”

(End of this chapter)