Tibet

The news of Chang'an's expansion has spread to every corner of the streets and alleys. It concerns everyone's vital interests. Of course, everyone is paying attention to it. Even the coachmen are happy because they can go further and earn more. The merchants are also happy because there will be more people and more customers.

Senior officials and dignitaries are also happy because the land in their hands will appreciate greatly, which is a huge fortune.

This is actually making the cake bigger so that everyone can benefit.

Will the actual wealth of society increase?

Of course it will increase. For example, the cotton that rots in the mountains every year has become a filling and warm material for ordinary people. For example, the promotion of Jiaozhou rice will greatly increase grain production. The ancient currency is actually anchored on grain. The grain production will increase, more people will be born, more materials will be produced, and social wealth will follow.

Li Ye decided to expand the city at this time to prepare in advance to cooperate with the increase in grain production in the south.

Just when the whole city was discussing the expansion of the city, a group of Zoroastrians from afar came to the Zoroastrian Temple in Chang'an Buzhengfang. There were about 30 people, all wearing long robes, with pointed hats covering their heads and faces. The leader was an old man in his sixties, tall, majestic, with sharp eyes like an eagle, and a big white beard under his chin.

The old man spoke fluent Sogdian and claimed to be from Samarkand. His official name on the document was Sintila. It was his first time to come to Chang'an. In fact, he was very familiar with Chang'an, and no one in Chang'an knew him now.

He was one of An Lushan's right-hand men, Ashina Chengqing, who was once the deputy bishop of the Eastern Branch of Zoroastrianism. He went to Samarkand once in recent years and held an important position in the Great Guangming Temple in Samarkand.

Later, because he was a Turkic noble, he was sent to the grassland by the Great Guangming Temple to preach. His preaching in Jinshan Karluk caused dissatisfaction among the Karluk nobles, who killed hundreds of his believers and burned down the Zoroastrian Temple he founded.

Ashina Chengqing was furious and instigated a conflict between the two tribes of Karluk, causing heavy losses to the Jinshan Karluk. The Jinshan Karluk hated Ashina Chengqing and sent an elite army to hunt him down.

In order to avoid being hunted down, Ashina Chengqing took his men to Youzhou.

This time Ashina Chengqing came to Chang'an because he reached an agreement with his old friend Tian Chengsi that if Ashina Chengqing could assassinate Li Ye successfully, the four major vassal states would all convert to Zoroastrianism.

Ashina Chengqing had dealt with Li Ye many times and knew that Li Ye was very powerful, but the promise of preaching in Hebei made him unable to refuse.

Ashina Chengqing agreed immediately and took his disciples to pretend to come from the West, and sneaked into Chang'an under the pseudonym Sintira.

In the room on the third floor, Ashina Chengqing was drinking hot tea, squinting at the snow on the roof in the distance. At this time, his eldest disciple Anan whispered: "Master, why don't you contact them first to find out the situation!"

The "they" Anan mentioned refers to an intelligence point of Tian Chengsi in Chang'an, located in the West Market, a cloth shop, which has existed in Chang'an for two years. It is very low-key and very secretive.

Ashina Chengqing actually didn't want to contact these intelligence agencies. They were easily targeted by the internal guards and thus exposed themselves, but he also knew that it would be difficult to find out Li Ye's whereabouts by his own strength, let alone assassination, and he couldn't even get close to the border.

Ashina Chengqing nodded, "Don't tell them any information about us. If they are willing to cooperate, they can cooperate, and if they are not willing to cooperate, forget it."

"Disciple understands!"

Anan bowed and hurried away.

Anan is a Turkic orphan, about 30 years old. He followed Ashina Chengqing when he was a teenager and learned a set of powerful martial arts. He is smart and capable, and is loyal to Ashina Chengqing and regards him as his father.

Ashina Chengqing's other disciples are almost the same as Anan. They are all Turkic orphans. They were adopted by Ashina Chengqing since childhood and taught martial arts and other skills.

Anan brought two junior brothers to the West Market and soon found the Cangzhou cloth shop. Tian Chengsi set up three intelligence points in Chang'an, which are unrelated to each other. The other two were removed, leaving only this cloth shop.

The other two intelligence points would collect and send intelligence regularly, so they were easily targeted by the inner guards.

But this Cangzhou cloth shop is not like that. It has always been operating normally and only performs some designated tasks. It is not responsible for collecting intelligence at ordinary times, and it does not raise any pigeons. It only obeys the command of Tian Chengsi's eldest son Tian Hua, so it can survive in the net set by the inner guards.

Anan walked into the shop, clasped his fists and bowed, and said in fluent Chinese: "I came from Suiye to see your shopkeeper Liu!" Anan grew up in Youzhou. Apart from his thick eyebrows and deep eyes, he was a Hu person at first glance, but his speech and behavior were no different from those of the Han people. Of course, this was normal in Chang'an. Many Hu people had lived in Chang'an for more than ten years. Under the influence of the powerful Han and Tang national strength, they were proud to learn Han culture. It can be said that except for their appearance and some religious customs, the language and etiquette of these Hu people were no different from those of Chang'an people. "Wait a moment!" The clerk hurriedly ran into the inner room, and soon a middle-aged man came out, clasped his fists and returned the greetings, saying: "I am the shopkeeper of the store. May I ask what you need, my dear guest?" "I want to buy 500 pieces of cotton cloth produced in the grassland. Do you have it?" If it were any other store, they would definitely laugh. It was ridiculous. Where could cotton cloth be produced in the grassland? But this was the code agreed upon by Ashina Chengqing and Tian Chengsi.

Shopkeeper Liu nodded, "Please follow me to the back to check out the goods, and your companions outside, please come in for tea!"

Anan winked at his junior brother and asked him to come in, and he followed Shopkeeper Liu to the backyard.

Like other shops in the West Market, the storefront is not big, but it is very long, hiding many large and small rooms, making it complicated to walk.

After walking several turns, the two entered a room and sat down. Shopkeeper Liu smiled and said, "We can talk directly here, walls have no ears!"

"Does the shopkeeper know our mission?" Anan asked.

Shopkeeper Liu nodded, "I know!"

"Can you give me some advice?"

Shopkeeper Liu pondered for a moment and said, "Since Zhu Ci's assassination attempt on the regent failed last year, Xingqing Palace has been well defended. Don't even think about sneaking into the palace to assassinate. It's impossible to succeed."

"Have you investigated?"

Shopkeeper Liu shook his head, "It was news from Weizhou. Another intelligence point of ours investigated it, but was quickly targeted and killed. We haven't carried out any missions for a year. This time we are here to assist you in assassinating the regent."

"Any other suggestions?" Anan asked again.

"The second suggestion is that it is best to take action when the Regent goes to inspect other places. Keep a low profile in Chang'an. There are internal guards everywhere in Chang'an."

"The third suggestion is that you should not do anything in Chang'an. I will notify you if there is any news."

Anan pondered for a moment and said, "Didn't the shopkeeper say that there are internal guards everywhere in Chang'an? Then, when you get information, aren't you afraid of being watched by the internal guards? Or do you have special intelligence channels?"

Shopkeeper Liu was silent for a moment and said, "This is our secret. I'm sorry I can't tell you."

Anan was suspicious. Could this shopkeeper Liu have surrendered to the internal guards and been arranged by them as a fishing rod?

He laughed dryly and nodded, saying, "I will come to see Shopkeeper Liu again in three days!"