I embezzled 100,000 taels at the beginning, and the empress begged me to be more greedy

Six days later.

Imperial edicts urged Jiang Zuo to set off, but Jiang Zuo continued to prepare at a leisurely pace.

Bags of all sizes have already filled up the county magistrate's mansion. If you didn't know, you would have thought that Jiang Zuo was moving and evacuating.

It was just past noon and Jiang Zuo was still counting the numbers when Qianqisi pushed the door open and came in front of Jiang Zuo.

Situ Hua stepped forward and said, "Master Jiang, are you ready this time? The peace talks with the State of Chen will be held in a month, so you must not be too negligent."

"Okay, I understand. We will set off in an hour."

Jiang Zuo promised.

Situ Hua didn't know what to say, so he just said, "Then follow your arrangement, sir. The Qianqi Division will escort you all the way south."

Hearing this, Jiang Zuo couldn't help but show some displeasure on his face.

"Then thank you for your hard work."

Jiang Zuo said perfunctorily.

Situ Hua remained silent and turned away.

At this time, Master Guo came forward with the account book and reported: "Sir, all the items have been prepared. I have ordered the caravan to set off first. We will meet in Guangning City of Chen State at that time."

"We can also bring more goods on our delegation's caravan, so we don't have to pay commercial taxes to the Chen people."

Jiang Zuo is quite calculating.

Compared with Yan State, Chen State's commercial tax was not low.

The products produced in Anding County are of such high quality and low price that they will definitely impact the market of Chen State.

The emperor wanted Jiang Zuo to test the strength of Chen State, which was nothing more than wanting to annex Chen State. So Jiang Zuo chose to use economic warfare to directly bring down Chen State.

Anyway, he was ordered to go south, so why not earn a few taels of silver from the Chen people?

Chen Qingyun opened the door and walked out of the room after seeing Qianqisi leave. She came to Jiang Zuo and said, "Are you ready to leave?"

Jiang Zuo turned his head and nodded, "Yes, I really can't bear to let go."

"What's there to be reluctant about? You'll have to come back in the future anyway."

Chen Qingyun said with complicated thoughts.

"Of course I can't bear to leave you, Siyue."

Jiang Zuo smiled and stared at Chen Qingyun's face.

"If you really can't bear to leave me, then you must come back and never take this opportunity to run away."

Chen Qingyun warned earnestly.

"Don't worry, there's no way I could lie to you. After I'm done, I'll definitely go to the capital to look for you, Siyue."

Jiang Zuo patted his chest and assured.

After hearing what Jiang Zuo said, Chen Qingyun still couldn't let go of his worry.

"Write to me anytime."

Chen Qingyun said softly.

Jiang Zuo nodded silently and was about to go forward and hug Chen Qingyun.

It’s really hard to part with you after such a long separation.

Chen Qingyun stepped back and said, "Okay, stop talking nonsense and get going quickly. I also need to pack my bags and return to the capital."

"So heartless."

Jiang Zuo said calmly.

Chen Qingyun turned around and returned to the room.

Jiang Zuo continued to prepare, and after an hour, he was finally ready.

After saying goodbye to Chen Qingyun, Jiang Zuo headed south with a dozen of his confidants and a dozen officials from the delegation sent by the emperor.

Looking at the Qianqisi following behind him, Jiang Zuo just felt uncomfortable all over.

This group of 1,000 cavalrymen must have been arranged by the emperor to supervise Jiangzuo.

Although Jiang Zuo did not run away this time, he was still dissatisfied with the emperor's surveillance in his heart.

At this time, Jiang Zuo thought of Ma Hengwei.

Compared to the cold-faced and ruthless Situ Hua, Ma Hengwei's way of doing things makes Jiang Zuo feel more friendly.

I just hope that this mission will be easier than the previous two. I can finish it early and return to Anding County to give an explanation to the empress.

A month later.

The delegation led by Jiang Zuo finally arrived at the border between the State of Yan and the State of Chen.

Once you enter the territory of the State of Chen, the first city you visit is Guangning City.

At this time, nearly a hundred people from the State of Chen were standing in front of Guangning City. They must have come specially to welcome Jiang Zuo and his party.

Jiang Zuo sat in the carriage, leaning his head to look outside, with complicated thoughts in his mind.

"I am Pan Hou, the prefect of Guangning. I have been waiting for you for a long time. I wonder if this is the envoy from Jiangzuo?"

The Chen official who came to greet them had a kind face and appeared to be in his forties.

As soon as he saw Jiang Zuo, he stepped forward and bowed respectfully.

Jiang Zuo slowly came up to him, looked him over carefully, and then returned the greeting: "I am Jiang Zuo, the Huainan Inspector of Yan State, and I have been ordered to come to negotiate with Chen State."

"Greetings, Envoy Jiang. Our Chen Kingdom's envoys have just departed from the capital. They will be able to meet with Envoy Jiang in three days. During this time, I will entertain you all." Pan Hou spoke very politely, and added: "You all must be tired after traveling thousands of miles to Chen Kingdom. Why don't you enter the city first and let me host a banquet to entertain you all."

"Then I'll have to trouble Magistrate Pan."

Jiang Zuo said lightly, and then fixed his gaze on Guangning City in front of him.

As Pan Hou spoke, he led Jiang Zuo and his party, but they did not enter through the main gate of the city. Instead, they came to a corner of the city wall.

"Prefect Pan, aren't we going into the city?"

Jiang Zuo asked doubtfully.

"Envoy Jiang, I'm very sorry, our north city gate is under repair and cannot be entered. Please enter the city through this path first."

Jiang Zuo frowned and turned to look at the small door that Pan Hou was pointing at.

This is not a path at all, it's clearly a dog hole.

This was originally used for drainage of the city wall, and it looks like the iron fence has been removed.

The height of this small door is not even up to Jiang Zuo's chest. If he wants to get in here, he has to bend down completely and then crawl in.

"He did this just after arriving. It seems like he was trying to show his power." Jiang Zuo thought secretly.

"Come on, Envoy Jiang, this way please."

Pan Hou stretched out his hand and motioned Jiang Zuo to go inside.

"How did someone get in through this hole? Tell me. Are you trying to humiliate me?"

At this time, Situ Hua, who was behind him, couldn't see anything and stepped forward with a serious look on his face to vent Jiang Zuo's anger.

"Absolutely not. Please don't misunderstand me. The city gate is really broken. We can only enter and exit from here."

Pan Hou still had a smile on his face and looked calm.

"Only dogs can dig holes."

Jiang Zuo said in a low voice.

"Envoy Jiang, your words are too serious. The people of Guangning City have been entering and leaving through this small gate during this period. I don't mean to make things difficult for you."

The smile on Pan Hou's face was extremely peaceful, and on the surface he seemed to be a harmless character.

"Really? Then go in and take a look."

Jiang Zuo also laughed.

Pan Hou nodded, then really bent down and crawled into the city wall in a rather awkward manner.

Jiang Zuo was still quite surprised by this man's behavior.

"Envoy Jiang, please come in."

Pan Hou said in the city.

Jiang Zuo shook his head: "I won't go in from here. We Yan people are not as strong as you Chen people. Let's choose to go through the city gate. I want to see how the gate of your Guangning City is broken."

On the other side of the city wall, the smile on Pan Hou's face had disappeared.