Chapter 844: Lucky Star
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Shanxi was connected to a trade route. There were hundreds of thousands of mountain bandits within a hundred thousand miles. Not only did they rob pa.s.sing merchant groups, but they also colluded with merchants to obtain some private salt, mines, and other businesses. Naturally, they were worth a lot.
Since the bandits had planned to escape to this place, they must have brought their a.s.sets.
Huang Wenxian smiled until his eyes narrowed. “Isn’t that so? Just this batch of gold, silver, and treasures is worth a lot of money, not to mention that there’s a big gold mine in the back mountain.”
Most of the items in the treasury on the surface had to be returned to the victims. A portion of the items that belonged to the deceased had to be taken out as compensation for the hostages. Only then could the rest be taken by the army. It was negligible.
Meanwhile, everything in this secret vault belonged to them.
The 500,000 You soldiers had been poor for many years. Now that they had suddenly become rich, the surprise was too big. Huang Wenxian’s legs were swollen from pinching them, and he finally felt a sense of reality.
Huang Wenxian sighed with emotion. “Our Little Princess Consort is really a lucky star.”
After King Li of Zhou’s rebellion, His Highness regained control of the You army. In the past few years, the Imperial Court had not owed the army any more money. His Highness had managed many businesses under his own name, and the You army did not lack money. This was only on the surface.
His Highness’s goal was huge, but he was still a little short of money in secret. It was all thanks to the Little Princess Consort’s donation of clothes, food, and medicine that they had more money to buy armor and good equipment.
Yin Huaixi was pleased by Huang Wenxian’s words. A low laugh came from his throat. “Yao Yao is thin-skinned. Don’t let this slip in front of her.”
Huang Wenxian was speechless when he saw Yin Huaixi’s smug expression.
Yin Huaixi stepped forward and took out a piece of gold ore from the box. He held it in his hand to observe it and weighed it. “It’s indeed very valuable.”
Huang Wenxian frowned. “The commotion caused by suppressing the bandits is not small. Once the government interferes, it won’t be easy to hide the matter of the vein. There are also many people in the stockade. If word gets out…”
Yin Huaixi’s expression was indifferent, and his voice was extremely cold. “It can’t be leaked. For someone like you, when you found out that there was a gold mine in the mountain, you tried your best to hide it and wanted to keep it for yourself to prevent more people from knowing, let alone these mountain bandits who want money and don’t care about their lives. There definitely won’t be more than 30 people who know about the existence of the gold mine.”
Huang Wenxian was stunned for a moment. He looked at the box of gold ores in the secret vault and suddenly understood.
Gold ores were very difficult to mine. So far, the mountain bandits had only mined one box. Thinking of the traces of the gold mine and the depth of the mining, it could be inferred that the discovery of the gold mine had definitely occurred less than a month ago. It was obvious that very few people had partic.i.p.ated in the mining.
The soldiers who had disguised themselves as servants were locked up alone as soon as they entered the mountain. It could be inferred that the mountain bandits felt that the mining progress was too slow and planned to hide it from others. They planned to rob some young and strong laborers for their secret mining and kill them after that. That way, nothing would go wrong.
However, before they could implement it.
Yin Huaixi said calmly, “First, interrogate the mountain bandits in the stronghold. Draw up a list of the mountain bandits and the crimes they committed. Leave dozens of mountain bandits who don’t know anything and haven’t killed anyone in their hands to be executed by the government. Then, burn the stronghold.”
Among the mountain bandits, there were only a hundred people who had fled from Shanxi. The other three to four hundred people were all gathered along the way. Most of them were refugees.
Some joined voluntarily, while others were forced to join.
Some people’s hands were covered in blood, but many people were only helping the wicked. According to the laws of the government, although they were guilty, their crimes did not warrant death.
Yin Huaixi said calmly, “Only dead people keep secrets.”
With just a casual sentence, it had already decided the lives of three to four hundred people. No wonder they had to send the Little Princess Consort down the mountain first.
Huang Wenxian held his breath. “If the government asks…”
Although Lord Li was sensible, he definitely had to ask about such a big matter. If he was too perfunctory, it would inevitably arouse suspicion and it would backfire.
Yin Huaixi said slowly, “Tell him that these bandits fled from Shanxi and committed countless murders. I have a copy of the dossier with the background of the bandits in my hands. Send a copy to Lord Li. He’s a smart person. He’ll definitely be willing to take over and deal with ordinary bandits. Once the bandits are involved, he won’t dare to get involved.”
He had a group of people under him who specialized in taking the trade route in Shanxi. They knew more about the mountain bandits entrenched in Shanxi.
In addition, there were also people who had befriended the mountain bandits. They were all on the edge of a knife. Who wouldn’t know about the situation of this group of mountain bandits?
The news could be easily obtained.
This group of bandits had a powerful background. Ordinary county offices did not dare to interfere.
Huang Wenxian continued, “How should we arrange those hostages? After the government takes over, it’s inevitable that they’ll interrogate the hostages. If any of them partic.i.p.ated in the mining…”
Yin Huaixi thought for a moment. Considering that Yu Youyao was very concerned about the hostages, he said, “We’ll take over the hostages. The reason is that this group of mountain bandits is extremely vicious. In order to prevent the mountain bandits from acting as hostages by mixing in with the hostages and trying to hide, before their ident.i.ties are verified, the You army will temporarily take over. In addition, hand the list of the people you interrogated previously to Lord Li. With so many hostages, it’s impossible for Lord Li to ask everyone. With this list, you can just arrange for dozens of people who are indeed fine to be handed over to Lord Li.”
Huang Wenxian thought about it carefully and felt that this method was very appropriate. The ident.i.ty of these bandits had become the best cover. “How should they be arranged after this?”
Yin Huaixi was straightforward. “Let’s warn them first. Don’t tell anyone about what happened in the stronghold. If anyone among the hostages partic.i.p.ates in the mining, arrange for them to work in the mine after that and they can also earn an income. If they don’t, escort them home after returning their a.s.sets.”
The overall arrangements were also very meticulous.
Huang Wenxian had an idea.
Yin Huaixi said calmly, “I’ll leave the matter of the gold mine to you. Pick a few people from the army who know how to survey the mineral veins and come over to carefully investigate the size and direction of the gold mine. Then, investigate if there are other mineral veins in the mountain. After that, design a mine path and arrange for manpower, facilities, mining, refining, transportation, and so on. You have to choose people you trust to partic.i.p.ate. If it’s possible to reduce how many people know about this, that’s good. This is to prevent more people from complicating matters.”
Huang Wenxian said, “Don’t worry, I know the severity of the matter.”
… .
The commotion in the village lasted the entire night.
When Yu Youyao woke up, it was already almost seven o’clock. Her sprained ankle was still swollen and a little painful, but it was not as painful as yesterday. The bandage on her foot had been changed to clean cotton cloth, and her foot had been bandaged again. Her entire foot was wrapped like a dumpling, and only her toes were exposed, making it easier for her to breathe. This was to stabilize the wound so that she would not hurt her foot again and cause a second injury.
The injuries on her wrist had also been treated again.
For some reason, Yu Youyao recalled the scene of Yin Huaixi pinching her feet and helping her with the ma.s.sage. She couldn’t help but blush, feeling that she was too undignified.