Three Kingdoms: Ten Times Speed, Diao Chan Says I'm Too Fast

"Cough cough..."

"Cough cough..."

In the east of Anyi County, in front of a vast mansion, a young man dressed in a white robe, holding a piece of silk in his hand, walked out from the two vermilion-lacquered gates.

A huge plaque hangs on the porch above the young man's head.

The words "Wei Mansion" are written on it.

"Son."

The steward, standing to the left of the gate, immediately bowed to the young man and said, "Young master's carriage is ready."

Upon hearing this, the young man walked toward the carriage parked in front of the mansion.

The Wei family of Hedong was a family of scholars specializing in Confucian classics and a well-known gentry family in Anyi.

Wei Xun, who had come to the side of the carriage, coughed lightly twice again and covered his mouth and nose with the silk handkerchief in his hand.

"Sir..."

The attendant next to him was about to ask a question, but Wei Xun interrupted him by raising his hand: "It's alright, let's go."

With the help of his attendants, Wei Xun boarded the carriage and headed towards the main street of Anyi County.

Anyi was the seat of Hedong Commandery.

It is also famous for its abundant salt production.

This place is very close to the salt lake, which is the largest producer of salt in the entire Sili Commandery and even the entire area west of Luoyang.

The salt produced in the salt lake is of the highest quality.

Even the salt consumed in Luoyang comes from here.

It is precisely because of this that Anyi has become prosperous.

Salt merchants and powerful families who smuggled salt were commonplace in Anyi.

However, since the beginning of the year...

The salt lake was then seized.

Of course, it cannot be called monopolization.

Because it was an order from the imperial court.

The imperial court issued an order allowing Duan Yu to mine salt in the salt lake.

And now everyone in the world knows that the expensive snow salt was made by Duan Yu.

Duan Yu used salt mined from salt lakes, processed it into snow salt, and sold it to various prefectures and counties to make huge profits.

This matter had already begun two years ago when Dong Zhuo served as the governor of Hedong Commandery.

Undoubtedly, the actions of Dong Zhuo and Duan Yu harmed the interests of the local powerful clans.

The gentry and powerful families throughout Hedong County, whether they were from the lower classes, the gentry, or the powerful, all profited from the salt ponds to some extent.

As the saying goes, those who live near mountains live off the mountains, and those who live near water live off the water.

Especially for the Wei family, a family of upright officials, very few of them held official positions in the court, and their sources of income were far less than those of the gentry and powerful clans.

When members of the gentry hold official positions, they can collect money and grain.

Meanwhile, powerful families seized land.

As members of the upright and honest faction, the Wei family naturally disdained and would not do anything that would damage their reputation.

Therefore, salt produced from the salt lake accounted for a large portion of the Wei family's income.

This is why, when Dong Zhuo was illegally mining salt, he infringed upon the interests of the gentry and powerful families in Hedong Commandery.

Of course, this includes not only Hedong County, but also Hongnong County, which is adjacent to Hedong County.

As a prominent and upright family in Anyi County, the Wei family naturally took the lead in this matter after many voices of dissatisfaction emerged.

This led to the incident of making things difficult for Dong Zhuo.

The gentry of Hedong Commandery and the Wei clan originally thought that Dong Zhuo would back down.

Unexpectedly, Dong Zhuo completely disregarded the gentry of Hedong Commandery.

Furthermore, they used forceful measures, stationing troops directly at the salt lake.

This resulted in the extermination of the gentry families in Hedong County who had been illegally mining salt.

Later, Dong Zhuo was transferred to Luoyang and became the Commandant of the Capital Region, where he was implicated in the Jade Pill case.

Duan Yu killed Wei Ban in retaliation for Dong Zhuo's actions in Hedong County.

Wei Ban was Wei Xun's uncle and one of the few members of the Wei family to serve as an official in Luoyang.

At the beginning of the year, after Duan Yu took over the salt fields, he directly cut off all private mining activities.

Apart from Duan Yu, no one else is allowed to touch the salt lake.

But unlike Dong Zhuo, this time everyone was angry but dared not speak out.

Putting aside the example of Wei Ban, Duan Yu's own methods are undeniable.

Moreover, this place is extremely close to Liangzhou; Duan Yu could arrive in an instant if he wished.

The law for private mining and trafficking is against the imperial court, but such things are generally kept secret. However, if Duan Yu really brings this up, everyone will still be guilty.

After all, that person's name is Duan Yu.

The strongest warrior in the Han Dynasty.

After Wei Xun's carriage turned out of the alley where the Wei residence was located, it arrived at the main street of Anyi County.

Then, following the main street, we arrived at a three-story tavern near the city center and parked the car in front of it.

Upon seeing the carriage, the waiter in front of the tavern immediately greeted it with a smile and placed a small stool under the carriage.

After getting off the carriage, Wei Xun followed the waiter's directions to the second floor of the tavern.

There weren't many people on the second floor of the tavern at this time.

There were only four or five tables.

Upon seeing Wei Xun arrive, they all bowed and saluted him.

Good morning, Young Master Wei.

"Master Wei."

"Brother Zhongdao has arrived!"

Wei Xun greeted them one by one.

A young man stood up near the window on the second floor and waved to Wei Xun.

“Brother Zhongdao, over here.” Fan Xian waved to Wei Xun.

Wei Xun nodded slightly and then went to meet him.

After everyone was seated, dishes and wine were served one by one.

The Wei and Fan families of Anyi in Hedong were two equally famous branches.

However, the Fan family were officials and gentry, while the Wei family were from the "pure stream" (a term referring to a group of upright and honest officials).

"Brother Zhongdao, congratulations!"

After Wei Xun sat down, Fan Xian smiled and cupped his hands in greeting, saying, "I've heard about your engagement to Cai Gong's daughter."

"Master Cai is a great Confucian scholar of our time. His calligraphy is so exquisite that it is admired by all. Brother Zhongdao's calligraphy is also beyond the ordinary. With Master Cai's fingerprint, he will surely become a great man in the future."

"And I've also heard that the two daughters of Lord Cai are both beautiful and talented. Brother Zhongdao is truly blessed."

"When Brother Zhongdao gets married, I will definitely visit him to ask for a cup of celebratory wine and share in his good fortune."

Wei Xun simply gave a slight, modest smile.

Just as the two were talking, the sound of rapid hoofbeats suddenly rang out from the long street in the distance.

And coincidentally, the two of them were sitting by the window, so they could hear it most clearly.

Both of them looked in the direction from which the sound of horses' hooves came.

A cavalry unit of several dozen men was seen galloping rapidly down the long street.

The rider was clad in armor, and the warhorse beneath him was tall and strong, clearly a top-quality Liangzhou warhorse.

The fact that so many cavalrymen in Anyi County possess such fine warhorses speaks volumes about their origins.

When the two men saw the person on horseback, their expressions differed.

Wei Xun was somewhat better, only slightly frowning.

But Fan Xian, sitting opposite him, had an angry and disdainful expression on his face.

"Who do we have here? It's just this bunch of brutes."

Fan Xian said in a disdainful tone, "Only a bunch of brutes would ride horses around the city in broad daylight."

"I heard that these two were just farmers in the village before, but now they are so arrogant."

Wei Xun frowned slightly as he looked at the many elite Liangzhou cavalrymen galloping past below and said softly, "It must be something urgent."

Fan Xian, who was sitting opposite Wei Xun, suddenly twitched his eyebrows when he heard this.

"Something urgent?"

Fan Xian rubbed his chin, then nodded slightly, and then called over the attendant standing not far behind him.

"Go and follow them and see what those brutes are up to."

Upon receiving Fan Xian's order, the attendant immediately responded and headed downstairs from the tavern.

Wei Xun, sitting opposite Fan Xian, wanted to say something, but after opening his mouth slightly, he still didn't utter a sound.

............

Outside Anyi City, hundreds of riders galloped rapidly toward Caoyang Pavilion.

After the beginning of the year, Duan Yu dispatched Tie Shitou and Wang Hunu to garrison Anyi, and mobilized a total of two thousand troops.

One thousand of them were cavalry, and another one thousand were infantry.

In addition, there were a large number of laborers.

The salt extracted from the salt lake was transported to Jinyang, where it was processed before being transported from Bingzhou to Jizhou and Youzhou.

Another portion was sent through the Sili Commandant's Office to Luoyang, Hanzhong, and Yizhou and Jingzhou.

Most of these two thousand soldiers were stationed near the salt lake.

Beware of the powerful clans and wealthy families in Hedong and Hongnong who engage in unauthorized mining.

Therefore, Tie Shitou and Wang Hunu could only mobilize a limited number of troops, only five or six hundred cavalry.

............

As evening approached, the setting sun cast its last rays upon the surging waves of the Yellow River, giving the already murky surface a golden glow.

Caoyang Pavilion is located on the north bank of the Yellow River, on the only road from Guanzhong to Luoyang, and is an important place connecting Chang'an and the Central Plains.

Although Caoyang Pavilion is named after a pavilion, there is a pass located there.

However, this pass has been abandoned for many years.

At the end of the Qin Dynasty, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang sent Zhou Zhang to attack Qin. Zhang Han, who was appointed to the mission in a time of crisis, led a large army of prisoners in Xianyang and defeated Zhou Zhang there, killing him.

It was this first battle that laid the foundation for Zhang Chu's downfall.

At this moment, on the official road leading to Caoyang Pavilion.

A dozen or so riders were escorting a carriage as it sped along in the setting sun.

The dozen or so men on horseback were all dressed in black robes, their lips were chapped and their faces were haggard.

The wheels of the carriage were wobbling, looking as if they were about to break down at any moment.

Several arrows were stuck in the walls of the carriage.

Inside the carriage, Duan Liuqing was wrapping an arrow wound on her shoulder blade with a piece of black cloth torn from her skirt.

Fresh blood flowed down her snow-white skin.

With one end of the black cloth in her mouth, Duan Liuqing frowned and endured the pain as she quickly bandaged her wound.

He then lifted the curtain of the carriage and glanced at the back of the carriage.

A few hundred meters away, a troop of cavalry was rapidly pursuing them.

"After we pass Caoyang Pavilion, leave five men to delay, the rest of you continue forward," Duan Liuqing said to the assassins from the Military Intelligence Bureau who were following on both sides of the carriage.

...............

PS: The post includes information about the Wei and Fan clans of Hedong.