Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 191 Going to the Fanfang
Liu Shangqiu offered his seat to Yang Yuan and Leng Yuchan and said, "You two, please take a seat first. We will talk slowly."

Then, he took out a small satin bag from his arms and said proudly:
"This is the best Shifeng roasted tea that I got from my sixth sister. It was given to me by the Queen. You can have a taste."

"So, Deputy Commander Liu, you also like to drink Qingming..."

Yang Yuan laughed and swung his robe. Then he took out a small jar from under his robe.

"I stocked up on a few bottles of Qingming when it was just becoming popular. I drank some myself and also got some from friends as gifts. I drank them all.

Yesterday I dug a hole in the door and stole it. It was very hard. I finally got two more cans. You can drink this one first. There will be no more, haha..."

Leng Yuchan, who had just sat down, couldn't help but glance at Yang Yuan.

Why does this sentence seem familiar?
"It's not difficult to get roasted tea, but it's difficult to get high-quality tea..."

As Liu Shangqiu spoke, he opened the can and took a sip, then exclaimed happily, "Great tea!"

Liu Shangqiu quickly hid the small jar like a treasure, and ordered the soldiers to make tea before saying to Yang Yuan, "Deputy Yang, please accept my order..."

Yang Yuan bowed and said with a smile: "Yang has not yet chosen a name, Deputy Commander Liu can just call me Erlang."

Liu Shangqiu smiled and said, "In that case, I will be generous and call you Erlang.

Liu's courtesy name is Qingyang, Erlang, you can just call me Qingyang. Erlang, how much do you know about Fanfang?"

Yang Yuan said, "I have been there twice when I was pretending to be a hanger-on delivering a summons, but I didn't stay there for long. I can say that I am not familiar with Fanfang at all."

The Song Dynasty had a developed trade, especially maritime trade.

Therefore, in Quanzhou, Guangzhou, Lin'an and other places, a large number of foreign people came to do business and settle down, and gradually formed foreign gathering points.

In order to facilitate management, the government set up special "Fanfang" in their settlement areas.

The managers of the Fanfang are those who are highly respected and wealthy among these Fan people.

Of course, it also has to be approved and appointed by the Song Dynasty court.

Fanfang was like the Tang people's district in later generations. The foreign people living there had their own living system and even their own schools.

However, what makes these foreigners inferior to those in the Chinatown area is that the Chinatown area is inhabited by all Chinese.

Although they were collectively referred to as "barbarians" by the people of the Song Dynasty, they were actually from all over the East, South and West.

Japan, Luzon, Silla, Siam, Johor, India, Arabia, Besri, Persia...

Liu Shangqiu said politely, "Those foreign towns run business between the East and the West, and there are often large ships traveling back and forth on the sea.

The information we have found so far is that the pirate ships smuggling between Song and Jin are very likely to be disguised as foreign ships. "

Yang Yuan pondered and said, "This is not something that can be disguised by just hanging a flag. Are there any foreigners to take care of them?"

Liu Shangqiu smiled and said, "That's right! At the Maritime Customs Office, Judge Li helped them forge entry and exit permits. Besides, there are foreigners to take care of them."

Kou Heiyi added: "What we need to do now is to find this or these foreigners. If we follow the clues, we can catch a bunch of them."

Leng Yuchan asked: "Since we already have a clue that leads to the barbarians, there shouldn't be many barbarians who have this ability, right?"

Liu Shangqiu sighed and said, "Originally, I thought so too."

Yang Yuan asked: "Oh? Is there any other problem?"

Liu Shangqiu nodded and said, "Yes. I thought that the one who was capable of doing this should be the owner of Fanfang.

But after some investigation, I found that although Fanfang is called Fanfang, it has a complex ethnicity, complex origins, and equally complex forces. "

Kou Heiyi said: "To put it simply, there are many mountains. The Fanfangzhu established by the court has settled in Lin'an for more than 20 years.

He is very familiar with the locals and often deals with the government, so he is firmly in the position of the leader of Fanfang, but he is no longer the most powerful merchant in Fanfang. "

Yang Yuan suddenly realized, "So that's it."

Liu Shangqiu said: "We have already investigated that in Fanfang, the powerful people are divided into three factions.

The three factions, namely the Eastern faction, the Southern faction, and the Western faction, all have the qualifications to participate in smuggling between Song and Jin."

Kou Heiyi said: "The most likely group to be involved in the smuggling between Song and Jin is the Dongyang faction, followed by the Nanyang faction.

We also investigated in this order, but..."

Liu Shangqiu said: “However, after some investigation, the clues pointed to the Western faction.

We are people from Song Dynasty, and staying in Fanfang for a long time will attract a lot of attention.

Alas, Liu has put a lot of thought into investigating these three forces one by one."

At this point, Liu Shangqiu couldn't help but look up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, with a look of despair on his face.

Kou Heiyi suppressed his laughter and said, "Two days ago, our Deputy Commander Liu even went to Fanfang disguised as a woman to gather information."

Leng Yuchan couldn't help laughing after hearing this. She looked at Deputy Commander Liu carefully and thought...

It's true. If Deputy Commander Liu dresses up as a woman, it's not impossible...

Liu Shangqiu glared at Kou Heiyi, then sighed helplessly and said:
"Right now, our biggest suspect is Alexis Wadiye, a big businessman from Wusri (Egypt).

But last time I tried to spy on him, I even used women's clothing. If I want to get close to Wadiye again, there is really no one I can use."

What Liu Shangqiu said about "no one available" naturally does not simply mean that there is no one.

If we can just pull in any person, then we can have one hundred, one thousand, or ten thousand people. The problem is, if we don't have a flexible enough mind, the ability to adapt to changing circumstances, the ability to get close, penetrate, or spy, then the people we send out can only alert the enemy.

Ordinary soldiers in the imperial city do not really possess this ability.

There is no systematic training for spies in this day and age. People in the intelligence system rely entirely on their personal experience and talent, or on the guidance and instruction of their predecessors. There are still too few people who are capable of handling complex intelligence affairs.

Yang Yuan, nicknamed "Song Ci", had lurked in the Jin Kingdom for ten years and escaped unscathed. It was obvious that he was capable of doing the job.

When Yang Yuan heard this, he also understood the purpose of the Imperial City Bureau's request for assistance from the Privy Council.

Yang Yuan said, "I see. Then, please, Brother Qingyang and Kou Dutou, tell me more about Wadiye's situation. Please also tell me what the other forces have already investigated."

At this time, the tea had been brewed and served.

The aroma of tea filled the air, and Liu Shangqiu felt very excited.

"Erlang, your tea is delicious. It tastes exactly like the best roasted tea in the palace."

Liu Shangqiu couldn't wait to pick up the tea and said to Kou Heiyi, "Captain Kou, you go ahead and tell me."

……

Kou Heiyi's explanation is more detailed and organized than Liu Shangqiu's.

After Yang Yuan heard what he said, he murmured, "For a suspicious target like this, the only way is to keep a long-term watch on him."

Kou Heiyi nodded.

Previously, Yang Che had been following Dahai Shang Guan Hao, and it took him more than half a year to get any results.

It took more than half a year to track the Jin Dynasty spy Wei Hanqiang.

In fact, more than half a year is considered fast. If one wants to uncover a hidden spy, it is common to monitor him for several years in a row.

Liu Shangqiu said: "The problem is, if we investigate step by step, it will take too long and it will be difficult to explain to the government.

Furthermore, smuggling between Song and Jin has become increasingly rampant recently. If this continues, it will have a great impact on the tax revenue of our Song Dynasty."

Yang Yuan asked: "So, Brother Qingyang wants a result as soon as possible?"

Liu Shangqiu said: "At least we have gained something."

Yang Yuan said: "In this case, we can only lay out some bait and fish actively."

Liu Shangqiu hesitated and said, “Since they are doing business with the Jin people, they must be very cautious.

In order to bait them, we must first gain their trust. This will probably take a year or two, right?"

Yang Yuan said: “From the day they were born, every pore of Western merchants has been dripping with blood and filth.

If they get half the profit, they will take risks. If they get double the profit, they will trample on all human laws. If they get triple the profit, they will risk being beheaded.”

“They are doing maritime trade, which is extremely risky, but don’t they still do it?

Those who are willing to cross the ocean and take the risk of never returning to do business are born adventurous. As long as the benefits are big enough, they are not afraid of being cautious. "

Kou Heiyi: "But they must have made a lot of money by covering for the Jin people. What kind of merchants should we pretend to be in order to get their attention?
If I pretend to be a famous merchant in Lin'an, it would be easy to be exposed, right?"

Yang Yuan looked at the teacup in Liu Shangqiu's hand and said leisurely, "Tea is a highly profitable industry!

Tea is a very profitable commodity in the West. If we can convince a big tea merchant to help us, this will be possible.

If the tea merchant refuses..."

Yang Yuan glanced at Liu Shangqiu, and Liu Shangqiu straightened his chest knowingly.

"That's what we'll do. Find a tea merchant for help. Find this profiteer who makes roasted tea!"

"Almost all the tea-producing areas near Lin'an have been bought by him."

"Not to mention that, he also hired all the skilled tea roasting masters at high prices, which made it difficult for others to start this business!"

"Let's not talk about that. He also opened a tea ceremony. Guess what?"

"As long as the tea ceremony utensils he produced were not made of expensive things like gold or jade, a set of exquisite tea sets would be given as a gift for every stone of tea purchased."

Liu Shangqiu slammed his teacup and said angrily, "His tea is in short supply right now, is it necessary to give away tea sets?

He wanted to encourage tea merchants from other places to buy more of his tea."

Leng Yuchan asked in confusion: "He is already in short supply, why is he encouraging tea merchants from other places to buy more of his tea?"

Liu Shangqiu sneered, "Of course it's to grab the business of tea shops from other places. After all, although the new tea ceremony is popular quickly, the quality roasted tea is slow to come out."

“He first got people from other places used to drinking his Longjing tea. Once the habit is formed, it is difficult to change it.

As for Lin'an, he has the advantage of location and people, so of course he is not in a hurry."

Yang Yuan smiled and said, "Maybe it's to create a hunger marketing effect in Lin'an."

Liu Shangqiu, Kou Heiyi and Leng Yuchan didn't quite understand what hunger marketing was at first.

Yang Yuan said: "So, this tea merchant is indeed cunning enough. Fine! Then I will go meet him! If he doesn't know how to behave..."

Liu Shangqiu said proudly: "Then I will take action. Find a reason to close his tea factory and occupy his tea mountain! Tell him not to give me tea to drink!"

(End of this chapter)