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Chapter 79 Cocoon Food
The old man didn't say it explicitly, but his meaning was clear: the "general flag" of the demon-hunting army was confiscated.

The Demon-Slaying Army was under the Jinyiwei. If they were the Jinyiwei's general flag, they would be of the seventh rank! But the Demon-Slaying Army had to be a hundred households, which was the ninth rank.

Xu Yuan was quite tempted, but after thinking about it, he said, "Grandpa, please let me think about it again."

"Okay." Ma Tianshou said with a hint of disappointment. "Your contribution this time is immense. Don't worry. We in the Extermination of Filth Division... at least in our Jiaozhi South Office, we don't have the bad habit of usurping the credit of others. I will report the truth to the court. Whether you are willing to come to the Extermination of Filth Division or not, you will be rewarded accordingly. I will submit a memorial to His Majesty to pardon your status as criminals in Hegong Lane."

"Thank you, old man." Xu Yuan was not excited about this. He was afraid that the old man was just as his stepmother said, and he didn't know much about what happened back then.

Think of things simply.

In the afternoon, Fu Jingyu and Xu Yuan continued to wait outside the South Gate.

Ma Tianshou specifically instructed: "Bring the person to me immediately when he arrives."

Xu Yuan was worried that the reinforcements wouldn't arrive, but luckily, nothing unexpected happened. They only had to wait half an hour before a large group of troops from the Southern Office arrived.

A total of one hundred and twenty people came riding on horses.

On each of the horse's legs, there were speed-increasing calligraphy pieces similar to "腾云" (soaring clouds) and "程风" (riding the wind)! Xu Yuan was secretly amazed at how generous the Exorcism Department was.

Fu Jingyu followed the teacher's orders in a very strict manner. He didn't even greet the inspector leading the team, and went straight to the inn.

Now that Ma Tianshou had manpower, he immediately made various arrangements.

He secretly monitored the Chen Mansion all the way and went to Tiemenbao with Fu Jingyu.

He summoned the county lieutenant again and said, "Gather some men—locals, inconspicuous men, preferably those who wander the streets—to secretly watch the four city gates. I will assign a lieutenant to each gate to follow you."

Don't ask anything else. If you recognize any suspicious individuals entering or leaving, just report them to the captain."

The county lieutenant immediately accepted the order and did not dare to hesitate in the slightest.

After sending the county lieutenant away, only Ma Tianshou, Old Yan, Fu Jingyu, Xu Yuan and the inspector were left in the room.

The inspector's name was Xiang Qinghuai, and he had followed the old master for twelve years. Seeing that the old master did not avoid the local boy in all his arrangements, he knew that this was the young man that the old master had taken a fancy to.

Ma Tianshou waved to Xiang Qinghuai: "Before you came out, was there any movement in Beidu?"

Xiang Qinghuai shook his head: "No news has come. Chen Liangxuan and his faction seem to have kept a very low profile in recent years."

"Keep a low profile?" Ma Tianshou sneered, "If my guess is correct, their people will be here soon."

Xu Yuan's mind moved, and he stared at the four city gates, just to find the people from Beidu?

Is he Chen Liangxuan's accomplice?
Xiang Qinghuai said, "They set out from the Northern Capital and took a steamer. It would take at least half a month to arrive here."

Ma Tianshou shook his head. "They must be more than just Chen Liangxuan in Jiaozhi. There's no need to transfer people from Beidu. They'll arrive sooner than you expect."

Ma Tianshou had already thought it through: "Jingyu, you and Xiaoxu will go to Qihetai tomorrow, and leave Tiemenbao to Qinghuai."

"As ordered!"

Ma Tianshou then asked Xu Yuan, "Xiao Xuyuan, are you willing to help?"

Xu Yuan asked, "Grandpa, what on earth are Chen Liangxuan and Qiao Ziang doing in Ghost Witch Mountain?"

Mr. Yan said some things last time, but what he knew was limited.

Ma Tianshou: "We still don't know what Chen Liangxuan is going to do, but we do have a guess..."

Ma Tianshou paused for a moment, and Xiang Qinghuai immediately stood up, made a hand gesture and pushed outwards. An invisible wave spread out and slowly filled the entire room.

Xu Yuan saw the magical fluctuations covering the group like a transparent membrane. Ma Tianshou then continued, "Fourteen years ago, the imperial court reopened the Malacca official factory and sent Su Bingyue as director.

Su Bingyue and Chen Liangxuan are of the same age.

It was found that Su Bingyue made a profit of more than four million taels of silver every year by smuggling various goods from the Malacca official factory to the red-haired foreigners, blue-eyed foreigners and others.

Among them, the most profitable commodity was called "cocoon food". When it was transported to the red-haired foreigners, one ounce of cocoon food could be exchanged for one ounce of gold, and it was always in short supply.

Since cocoon food is produced in the "barbaric land", after Chen Liangxuan retired and returned home, he and Su Bingyue suddenly began to exchange letters more frequently.

Xu Yuan frowned: "Do they think there are also cocoon food in Ghost Witch Mountain?"

Ma Tianshou nodded: "This is our guess after sorting out the clues. Whether it is correct or not, you still need to investigate."

Xu Yuan was still a little confused: "Just for this, Chen Liangxuan dared to murder an important official like the old man?"

Ma Tianshou laughed heartily: "You kid, you really don't know what millions of taels of silver every year mean! Not to mention me, they even dare to kill the head of the Exorcism Department!"

Xu Yuan nodded and asked, "Can we eradicate them completely once we find out?"

Ma Tianshou snorted, as if he didn't want to say the next words.

Elder Yan stepped forward and said, "If we investigate their crimes thoroughly, we'll have a legitimate reason to act. Those forces within the court who truly have the power to oppose them will surely pounce upon us, seeing the huge benefits. They'll prove their guilt, take their place, and seize this lucrative business for themselves!"

Xu Yuan understood and nodded, "Okay, Captain Fu and I will go together."

"It's too late today. Go home and rest for a while, and leave with Jingyu tomorrow morning."

"As you command, kid."

After Xu Yuan left, Xiang Qinghuai took out a document and said, "Old Master, this is the information about Xu Yuan that you specifically asked for."

Ma Tianshou took it. It was a few thin sheets of paper. The front part was about Hegong Lane. Ma Tianshou had known it for a long time. He skipped it and read the back part. Sure enough, there was an additional part about Xu Chuanyang.

After reading it, Ma Tianshou handed it to Mr. Yan with a worried look on his face.

Old Yan took a quick look and couldn't help but exclaim, "Xu Chuanyang's benefactor is Lin Qifeng?! No wonder... no wonder he wants Xu Yuan to eliminate the demon army!"

Ma Tianshou sighed and said, "Lin Qifeng likes to use people who dare to fight and fight, but he is also afraid of these people who dare to fight and fight, so he always keeps his subordinates' families in his hands."

Fu Jingyu, an old monk, sat aside as if in a trance, as if he heard nothing.

……

Xu Yuan came out and met Song Lu at the door of the inn.

Song Lu handed over a few silver notes with one hand: "This is an extra reward from the teacher. The imperial court's rewards take a long time to be issued. You have been helping us these days, and the teacher said you should take the expenses first."

Xu Yuan accepted it without hesitation and counted it after leaving the inn. It was a total of two hundred taels!
The old man is generous.

It was also very thoughtful, with silver notes coming in different denominations.

This thing should actually be called "Baochao" in the Ming Dynasty, and it was first issued during the reign of Taizu.

But after a few years, it became no different from toilet paper, so I had to stop using it.

Two hundred years ago, the imperial court reissued treasure notes, and they have held up well and are still in use today.

Xu Yuan went for a walk in Wangjingfang, bought two pieces of jewelry for his stepmother, and then bought some meat, vegetables, rice and noodles, and carried them back home.

　Please give me a monthly ticket!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)