Doomsday Code

Chapter 856 Northern Intelligence

Chen Cheng took the bag of meat patties handed to him by the shopkeeper and took out a few gold coins as a reward.

The innkeeper was repeatedly dissatisfied:

"If it weren't for my benefactor's help last night, I, who was alone and weak, would have been killed by those thieves.

And don’t underestimate my inn because it’s the only one within a radius of hundreds of miles, so the income is still quite good.

Therefore, I absolutely cannot accept money from you, my benefactor, for this accommodation and food."

After hearing what his boss said, Chen Cheng stopped refusing and said:

"Well, this money will be used as my fee for gathering intelligence about the Northern Territory. You must keep this shop."

The shop owner looked at Chen Cheng, then sighed and put the money away, saying:

"My benefactor is truly kind-hearted. If I don't accept it, I'm afraid he will find other excuses."

After hearing what the shop owner said, Chen Cheng's face turned red. He actually didn't think that much about it.

But since it wasn't a bad thing, he naturally wouldn't explain anything.

"What brings you to the North?"

"Well, my family is in the snow fox and snow wolf fur business. Shop owner, you know that the ladies in the inland areas like this kind of white fur.

My family used to have a good uncle who was in the fur purchasing business in the north. My family was responsible for buying goods from him and then selling them to the inland, so we made our fortune from this.

But just a few months ago, for some unknown reason, my uncle lost contact with my family, and there was no trace of the goods afterwards.

That's why I brought my guards north to look for people, and then I also wanted to find a new supplier."

"Before, I met a brother named Wang Ma at the outpost. He told me to stay at your place and buy a map of the northern border from you.

He asked me to find the garrisons stationed here by the major kingdoms, saying that I could get a stable supply of goods from them."

Chen Cheng acted like a newbie who went out for the first time without any precautions, and told everything he knew.

After hearing this, the shop owner snorted and said:

"This Wang Ma is heartless. He said something nice, but if you rush to the garrison right now, I'm afraid you'll be caught as a spy before you even meet the person in charge of the garrison."

"And what does he know? It's just hearsay.

Benefactor, if you really want a stable supply of goods, you can't go to the garrison, but to the officials in charge of the garrison."

"Our northern border is vast and sparsely populated, and it's covered in ice and snow all year round, so there are a lot of monsters.

These garrisons go out every month to kill monsters, and among them there will be many white furs that you want.

The garrison is only responsible for strangling them. As for how to deal with these monsters, that is the business of the officials who manage the garrison.

So if you want to source goods, you have to go to the official in charge."

Chen Cheng's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he immediately bowed and said:

"Then I wonder where you think I should go and who should I talk to about this, boss?"

As Chen Cheng said this, he took out a few gold coins. When the shop owner saw them, he pushed them aside and said:

"I'm not trying to extort money from you, benefactor. I just don't know how big your business is and how much goods you can handle, so I can help you with some advice."

Chen Cheng finally figured it out. The shop owner was not just opening an inn here, but a northern intelligence station that specialized in selling intelligence.

"Well, my family's fur business can't be said to be huge, but it's not small either. We ship around a few hundred horses every year."

Hearing Chen Cheng's words, the boss's expression became a little ugly. Chen Cheng turned and said:

"But this time, my family is also planning to expand, and the supply must be at least several thousand pieces."

When he heard Chen Cheng say he wanted several thousand horses, he immediately said happily:

"A few thousand horses would be fine. Just now, benefactor, you said a few hundred horses, and I really can't find a good place to put them right now. Now that it's a few thousand horses, I recommend that you go to the garrison of the Kingdom of Engla."

As he spoke, the boss took out a map of the North from somewhere.

All the major cities in the north are marked on the map, and around the major cities are marked garrisons.

The Engla Kingdom garrison that the boss mentioned is in the northwest corner of the map. There is a city called Engla there, which is a big city built by the Engla Kingdom.

"The officer in charge of the Engla Kingdom's garrison is the easiest to talk to. Benefactor, the garrison officer here will definitely agree to ship you the thousands of furs you need."

In fact, the shop owner's hidden meaning was that this official Engla was a profit-seeking man, and he was interested in both big and small things, otherwise he would not have been interested in the business of thousands of furs.

Don’t say that Chen Cheng has little experience. He has also presided over the Huidun City Exchange. The business of these thousands of furs, even if they are extremely rare white furs, is at most the consumption of a small kingdom.

This kind of business is big enough compared to those small merchants, but in the eyes of these garrison officers, anything without tens of thousands of horses can hardly be called a business.

Chen Cheng said this to the shop owner not because he really wanted to buy any goods or do any fur business, but because he wanted to gather intelligence about the northern border in this way.

And it is obvious that the garrison of the Kingdom of Engels is a breakthrough point.

For such a greedy manager, Chen Cheng believed that he could use money to allow him to cross the blockades and head to the Great Wall in the north.

Chen Cheng looked at the map the shop owner took out, then scratched his head and said:

"I remember my uncle said there's a Great Wall in the north that stretches for who knows how many miles. Why isn't it on your map, boss?"

Chen Cheng's seemingly honest question was actually intended to lower the boss's guard so that he would reveal some information about the Great Wall in the North.

However, when the shop owner heard Chen Cheng asking about the Great Wall in the North, he immediately looked outside the gate. After seeing no outsiders, he whispered:

"My benefactor, let me remind you again. You must never mention this name in front of others in the North. Otherwise, you will bring about a fatal disaster."

As he spoke, the shop owner took out a pen and drew a route on the map, then rolled it up and handed it to Chen Cheng, saying:

"My benefactor, just follow the route I drew. There will be inns like mine along the way. Once you enter, just take out this map and show it to the innkeeper. Then you will be able to travel safely north."

Chen Cheng didn't expect that he just asked about the Northern Great Wall unintentionally, but the boss who had treated him as his own father before immediately showed signs of wanting to chase him away.

It seems that in this northern border, those kingdoms want to eliminate all traces of the empire's existence, and they are willing to use any means necessary.

They even resorted to literary inquisition.