Yelü Lili was very efficient. With the help of a Central Plains official serving as the county governor and the case provided by Xie Lanzhi, the governor quickly discovered that Suha had not only invested in five tents on the grassland a year ago, but also made a huge investment in the gambling den.
He once lost 30,000 taels of silver in one night, a truly astonishing event. After that, Suha quit gambling and devoted himself to business in hopes of recouping his losses.
So he set his sights on the business of Fushou cakes, a business recommended by his son-in-law Anshan. Suha could make money simply by hiring people, and could also supply the cakes long-term.
This is how Fu Shou Gao (a type of rice cake) was first sold, and then spread. At first, people didn't think it was a harmful product. Over time, Fu Shou Gao became increasingly expensive.
After a while, the Hu people finally realized that Fushou cake was not only expensive, but also addictive. Once addicted, they couldn't live without it, and they would feel like they were dying if they didn't smoke it.
As a result, a phenomenon of people selling their possessions to consume Fushou Gao (a type of savory glutinous rice cake) spread throughout the streets and alleys. Later, Yelü Lili stopped it in time, nipping the problem in the bud. He even sent a doctor to diagnose the problem, who said that forced withdrawal was necessary. During that period, many people managed to quit by binding themselves together in an attempt to save themselves.
That wave of Fushou cakes caused Suha's net worth to increase tenfold, and then he began to plan to move his assets to Luochuan.
His son-in-law, Anshan, advised him to stay in Yiyi for a while and keep a low profile to avoid attracting the Crown Prince's attention. Suha listened to his son-in-law, but the Fushou cake business was riddled with loopholes. The Hu people were not so shrewd and sold it openly on the street. Suha also spent money to bribe various storytellers to spread the word that it was medicine and should not be ingested in large quantities, otherwise it would become addictive and turn into poison.
So the medicine became a daily necessity, sold exclusively in Suha's shop.
That day, Xie Lanzhi walked through the streets and alleys and saw that Suha's shop was selling longevity cakes everywhere.
Yelü Lili was also very cunning. He had the eldest son of the chieftain guide Xie Lanzhi and took the opportunity to steal Suha's business.
Because Suha paid a large sum of money as atonement, Yelü Lili released him. He then went to Bao'an Mountain.
So here's the question: what was Suha's reason for protecting Ansan? Was it merely because of his son-in-law?
The county officials, investigating this matter, finally focused their attention on the missing family property. They suspected that the property had long been out of Suha's control. They also discovered that Suha had initially lost 30,000 taels of silver to a young man named Anshan, who had impressed Suha with his gambling skills. Anshan married Suha's daughter after only three months of dating.
Suha showed extreme trust in Ansan. It was also a kind of emotional dependence.
Xie Lanzhi specifically provided details, revealing that Xie Fengqing had overdosed on Xiaoyao Pills, lost his mind, and caused a disturbance at the banquet, which led to him being beaten to death by Shan Yuhou's men.
The county magistrate solved Suha's case in a flash, the flaw being his extreme trust in his son-in-law, whom he had been married to for a year. There's a possibility he was being controlled while in a state of mental instability; otherwise, no normal person would entrust such an important item to a Hun.
That leaves only one question: Where is the vanished family fortune?
That year, the government controlled all the ships coming and going. Especially when it was establishing a commercial city with Tianjing, the government would control the ships even more strictly. Everything had to be physically inspected, and sailors were sent to inspect even the bottom of the ships. It was impossible for the family property to be transported out.
There's only one answer: the property is still in Yifan, but searches in multiple locations have yielded nothing. The only place they haven't searched is Xie's military camp. Therefore, Yelü Lili's suspicions are not without reason.
Xie Lanzhi found it particularly interesting; it seemed as if a hidden hand was subtly pushing danger into the Xie family's military camp.
Everyone believed that the Xie family was the last lawless haven. Few could suspect that a businessman could secretly manipulate everyone to follow his lead.
They also placed smoke bombs on both sides, making both sides think it was the other's fault and completely ignoring the existence of a third party.
Xie Lanzhi said, "Their methods are almost identical to those of Xiaoyao Palace."
Aside from Xie Fengqing having no daughters to marry, he used drugs, Xiaoyao pills, and Fushou cakes to control wealthy people for profit. Even after Xie Fengqing was beaten to death, the first rumor circulating in Weidu was that Xie Fengqing was dissatisfied with the Hun envoy who had provoked Xie Zhu, so he took advantage of his power to disrupt the banquet.
These rumors initially targeted the victims.
Furthermore, the case in Weidu was a transnational corruption case involving the Hu and Xiongnu.
When the topic of corruption came up, Xie Lanzhi's eyes darkened, and she suddenly said to Yelü Lili, "Perhaps you should start your investigation from among your own officials."
Chapter 114 This time she really saved face.
Rumors began to circulate throughout the streets and alleys that Suha's property was hidden with the Xie family. The Hu people believed they could trust their own people but not outsiders, so they reasoned that Suha's missing assets could not possibly be anywhere else but with the Xie family. This led to the Hu people pointing and whispering about Xie's soldiers whenever they went out.
"As expected, people from the Central Plains cannot be trusted."
"Suha must have been killed by their general, who then seized his property."
"But I heard that Suha escaped by boat and that's when he died."
"It must be the work of the Central Plains general. People from the Central Plains have always been cunning and treacherous."
"Otherwise, how could so much wealth have disappeared! It must have been embezzled and pocketed by someone else!"
"Why doesn't His Highness the Crown Prince arrest them?! Is he afraid of those Central Plains people?!"
"This land is our territory, our home. We will never allow the people of the Central Plains to run wild here!"
Even children were holding hands in the streets, singing nursery rhymes that adults had made up on the spot: "The general of the Central Plains is all-powerful, he's good at stealing things, Suha Suha is shouting, where is my baby~"
"Suha Suha goes out at night, pointing to the southwest mouth of the cake flavor, I'm going there to pick something up, and then I'll come here to buy cake. The cake flavor is not greasy and I don't get tired of eating it. I want to come back again after I finish eating it."
"Suha's home is in the northwest, but his soul is in the southwest."
To the southwest lies Xie's main base.
Xie Ji originally didn't care about these rumors because they were just rumors. However, he underestimated the power of rumors and even more so the prejudice that the Hu people had held against the Central Plains for generations.
One night, some Hu people actually threw laxatives into Xie's headquarters, causing Xie's soldiers to scramble around looking for a toilet.
Some people have stopped delivering vegetables to Xie's headquarters, and even small vendors and merchants refuse to do business with Xie's soldiers.
Xie Ji endured it all, except for one thing: the water that the Hu people used to send had all been cut off. When they tried to fetch water themselves, they found that the upstream water had been cut off by the Hu people and the river was no longer flowing. As a result, Xie's soldiers could only drink river water, and some of them even contracted dysentery.
Xie Ji finally lost his patience. He led his men to change the water flow back and sent people to guard it. Anyone who cut off the water flow was to be killed as a water bandit without any mercy.
This order enraged the Hu people. They spontaneously formed groups to reclaim the water source, but Xie's army was a regular force, and a mere volley of arrows was enough to frighten many away.
The Hu people requested that the army be dispatched, but the army had already received orders from His Highness the Crown Prince that everything should be done in the common interests of the Xie family and the Yi family, and that they should not send troops without authorization.
The generals of the First Division remained unmoved, and the Hu people, seeing that their own army was not helping them, began to curse the First Division soldiers as the lackeys of the Xie family.
To this end, a nursery rhyme was composed and made the children sing: "The master is in the southwest, the dog is in the northwest, the dog wags its tail, saying it won't bite its own people, the dog can't be tamed no matter how much food or water it gets. It eats in the north, drags its tail in the south, eats in the east and sleeps in the west, a good barbarian."
Perhaps because they were on the same side, Hu Min's insults were even harsher, showing absolutely no mercy.
On the only soft couch in the cave dwelling, Xie Lanzhi sat cross-legged on a futon, her shoulders trembling as she suppressed a laugh: "It seems His Highness the Crown Prince needs to seriously consider the education of his descendants."
This wasn't the first time Yelü Lili had been mocked to her face today.
With a livid face, he said, "The people of the grasslands are full of heroic spirit, which is due to our national character. Marshal Xie, you don't need to laugh at someone who is only slightly better."
Hsieh Lan-chih: "If you don't educate them properly, they will be led astray by bad influences. You shouldn't underestimate the power of public opinion. Go out and see how many people dare to confront the regular army with just a baseless rumor."
"If Xie Ji hadn't restrained himself, I'm afraid your actions wouldn't have been so easy to carry out."
"Even if I misjudged him, you don't need to be so protective of him." Yelü Lili said helplessly, "This time, the rumors are spreading everywhere but the real culprit is nowhere to be seen, which is truly alarming."
"And that atonement money, it really burned like a fire."
Xie Lanzhi intentionally reminded him: "The enemy did not use your atonement money for their own purposes, but only used Xie Ji's money. Their intentions are despicable. However, through this incident, I have also realized one thing: the existing problems between us and the Xie family cannot be eliminated by an alliance."
"You can endure it for a while, but you can't endure it forever."
"Then Marshal Xie, don't forget that your alliance with our Northern Region has only lasted three years." Yelü Lili didn't want to bring this matter up, as there were simply too many problems, not just this one.
If Marshal Xie wanted the people of both places to unite as one family, they would have to become one family, but in reality, such an idea is very naive.
Xie Lanzhi deliberately pointed out the crux of the matter: "Your people will never understand your policies, even if you are doing it for their own good. And whether the people understand or not is another matter."
"Even if we can't completely eliminate the gap between the two places, I want to be a representative of friendship between them. So let's give it a try."
"The public also needs education in order to keep up with the progress of the times."
Yelu Lili felt that she always spoke so logically that he was unsure whether to refute her or not. Since she meant well, it would be unreasonable for him to refute her.
"I will handle it."
Xie Lanzhi remained silent, and she simply watched quietly. Regardless of whether Xie Ji dared to retaliate, she had already prepared for the worst. Fortunately, Xie Ji still had his head and knew how to minimize the situation.
But those roughnecks below were no different from the Hu people.
Xie Lanzhi had predicted that the low-ranking soldiers in Xie's headquarters would suffer greatly from the lack of water and vegetables.
Originally, they had no shortage of water and could bathe once a day. Even a quick wash in the river would smell better than their current bodies.
Now, due to the scarce water supply, they haven't bathed for days. Not only that, but their daily lives, which used to include vegetables and fish, have turned into a diet of plain rice. The merchants and common people have treated them very harshly, yet the Xie family's grain merchants continue to faithfully keep their appointments and deliver grain.
This unequal treatment became unbearable for Xie Bing and his men. Finally, two hot-tempered centurions led their men to storm into the street and rob whatever they could find. Since they were already being cursed, they figured they might as well actually stink; at least they'd get a taste of the stench.
This group of two hundred people had just rushed five hundred meters from the base camp when they discovered a dozen Hu people pushing vegetables on a cart, and another Hu people herding a hundred sheep.
The Hu people leading the way shouted at them from afar, "Is that Brother Xie? Why haven't you come to collect your vegetables and meat these days?"
“We’ve brought them all to you.”
The two centurions stopped in their tracks, utterly puzzled. It was clearly the Hu people who had cut off Xie's vegetables and meat, so how dare they criticize them?
Finally, the two decided to calm down and go ask the Hu people. They learned that Xie's vegetables and meat were delivered by different groups of people every day. Today it was from which tribe, tomorrow from Najia Town, or some wealthy family had booked the whole day.
Today it's finally the vegetable farmers' turn.
The two centurions immediately calmed down upon hearing this. They realized that not all the Hu people disliked them.
Another Hu person heard that they had no baths and that their water supply had been cut off, so he told them that there was a small waterfall on a nearby mountain where they could bathe.
Moreover, the water supply to the large households can be cut off easily. The water for the smaller households is like a sieve, impossible to block. So the large households can't be completely cut off. If you really can't stand it, you can go to their house to wash. It's only 3,000 meters away, just a short ride away on horseback.
The two centurions were grateful for the new water source and the solutions provided by the Hu people. In return, they took over the business of selling dirty clothes in General Li's camp for these Hu people and also sent them two cartloads of grain.
With the rice that only the Great Barbarians could eat, these Hu people were overjoyed.
The next day, although Xie's main camp was still without water and food, Hu people occasionally brought them. They would take a bath at the place indicated by the Hu people, and some Xie soldiers even built a small path at the foot of the mountain for convenience.
The passing Hu people received many benefits, just as the rhinoceros and the oxbird are inseparable companions.
Xie Bing and his men seemed to have discovered a good way to repair the relationship and immediately reported it to Xie Ji.
Xie Ji felt he had no shortage of manpower, so he immediately ordered them to claim land and bring the Hu people in the remote north of Xie's main camp into the long-term cooperative partners. This was because the area north of Xie's main camp was all mountains, inhabited by simple and honest people, but their travel was very inconvenient. Xie's soldiers built roads. As long as they could establish good relations with the Hu people in the north, Xie's main camp would be at least 70% stable, and they could also get rid of their dependence on the Shui people in the south of the main camp.
Moreover, these water carriers are untrustworthy; they lack the integrity of the northern barbarian people.
Xie Bing and his men discovered that wherever there were bad people, there were also good people. Therefore, compared to the southern Hu people, the northern Hu people seemed more approachable and endearing.
Xieji sent a thousand people to build three stone roads. In more remote areas, he sent people to teach the Hu people how to build ladders to the sky. The natural barriers and plank roads in the Central Plains were even more dangerous than these places. The Hu people had all heard that the people of the Central Plains could build roads on cliffs, and they had always been very envious of them.
Besides being known for their cunning and deceit, the people of the Central Plains also have a good reputation: they are full of skilled craftsmen, great talents, and outstanding individuals.
As the southern Hu people continued to hurl insults and harbored deep resentment, the Xie clan's main camp and the northern Hu people enjoyed peace and tranquility together. A small river in the middle served as a boundary, dividing the north and south into two different worlds.
Despite the numerous complaints and rumors, the Xie family's base camp has basically settled down, and they have even become so accustomed to letting Xie soldiers joke about the insults hurled at them by the Southern Hu people, making it easier to find joy amidst hardship.
This certainly brought Xie Lanzhi a lot of face, as she personally presented Xie Ji with a gift of recognition: apples.
Fruits in Ichiban were very expensive and mostly imported. Apples were not rare in Tianjing, and the journey by ship to Ichiban was long, increasing costs of spoilage and maintenance, thus raising prices. Therefore, apples became something only the nobility could afford.
Now 10,000 apples have been delivered to Xie's headquarters.
Xie Ji received the apple and was about to eat one when Xie Xiu suggested, "General, why not give this precious item to the Hu people to foster friendship between the two regions?"