Chapter 36: Entering the Path of Right and Wrong (3)

  Kaohsiung was already content with his life, as he had a special skill in horse riding and his father could enjoy his old age without worrying about food and clothing. He also married a girl from a distant relative of the Gao family under their arrangement, and now his two children are almost ten years old.

  Kaohsiung has already become the general manager of the ranch, and not every matter needs to be handled personally. It's just that when big things happen, Kaohsiung will come out and handle it, and this life is also quite enjoyable.

  These days the army has been passing through, Gao Xiong has been busy from dawn till dusk, almost every night he spends in the pasture, it's been many days since he returned to his home inside Yuancheng, especially missing his children at home, of course, also that lovely wife, so tonight Gao Xiong plans to go back home, take a bath and have a good sleep.

  After instructing the ranch hands on their duties, Gao Yu didn't want to stay a moment longer. He led his horse "Jade Lion" and mounted it swiftly, hurrying towards the city. Although the city gates had already been closed at this hour, relying on the prestige of the Gao Family's Flying Horse Ranch, getting the gate guards to open up wasn't a difficult task. Even if the Gao Family's reputation didn't work, wouldn't the silver token with Snowflake's emblem be effective? The gate guards would definitely give face and willingly open the gates for that token.

  The Feima Pasture is still some distance from the Fishing City, and at first, the Gao family had to work hard to find a good place with good grass and water for raising horses. Finally, they found an excellent location twenty miles east of the East Gate of the Fishing City.

  His body was on horseback, but his heart had already flown into the city of Yuwang. Gao Xiong's mind was racing like an arrow at this moment, but unfortunately, that's just how the world is - not all wishes can come true. When you gain something, you're destined to lose something else; that's only fair. The Jade Emperor is indeed fair.

  The reins were pulled, and Gao Yong had already fallen to the ground with his horse. Gao Yong looked at the situation and rolled over on the spot. Before he could understand what was happening, someone had already held a knife to his neck.

  "What are you doing? You're from the Gao family's Flying Horse Ranch, and you dare to rob us on the road? Are you tired of living?" Gao Xiong was furious at this moment, his eyes fixed angrily on the black-clad men beside him. With a sideways glance, he counted that there were only seven or eight of them, but from how they had taken control of him and their swift movements as they emerged from the bushes, it was clear that these men were not ordinary fighters.

  "Haha, it turns out that Director Gao has taken us brothers as petty thieves. They say that Director Gao is the youngest horse connoisseur of our time, with first-rate skills in evaluating horses. No matter what kind of horse, he can tell its quality just by taking a glance. How come after looking at us brothers for so long, he still hasn't figured out where we're from?" The black-clad man who seemed to be the leader asked with a smile.

  "Huh? You're not here to rob me, so what's the meaning of blocking my way now?" Gao Feng asked in a low and suppressed tone, but in his heart, he had already started scolding them. This group of black-clothed ghosts actually dared to suspect his horse-reading skills in disguise! I can only identify good horses and heroes, not ghosts!

  "Time is running out, let's get straight to the point. We've already got our hands on the horse import plan you helped Flying Horse Ranch come up with. Now we can take down Flying Horse Ranch, but I'm thinking that as a high-ranking manager, you're not easy to deal with either. My brother and I have specially come to ask you to show us a way out in this vast night." The black-clad man said slowly.

  After hearing the leader's words, Gao Xiong panicked for the first time, his heart racing with fear. This matter was an absolute secret in the Gao family, known only to a handful of people. Why did they know about it?

  Originally, Yang Guang's army needed a large number of war horses at this time, but Fei Ma Pasture did not have so many war horses to provide for the time being. Therefore, Gao Xiong proposed a suggestion to go to Rouran and Khitan to buy horses and then rush them over. As soon as this proposal was put forward, it encountered opposition.

  The reason is simple, because from this fishing city to *and* and Khitan to buy horses, although the road is short, but if you add up the cost of buying horses and paying tariffs, it's unbearable. Especially the tariff on horses, which is actually the money paid to the troops guarding the border when crossing the border. According to the system of the Great Sui, selling horses outside the pass requires a large amount of tariffs. If two are offset, then the Flying Horse Ranch in Yuancheng will be bankrupted, because the number of horses that need to be purchased is not one or two, but tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands.

  However, at this time, Gao Xiong came up with another clever plan to avoid tariffs and smoothly bring the horses into the territory of the Great Sui. The decision-makers in the upper echelons of the Gao family heard this idea, some thought it was feasible, while others thought it wasn't. As a result, they first used 3,000 horses as a trial run, and after trying it out, it proved that Gao Xiong's plan was viable. The Gao family no longer had any objections, and after tasting the benefits, now that the Great Sui army no longer needed the support of the Gao family's horses, the people of the Gao family were unstoppable, not having the slightest intention to stop this plan. As a low-ranking person, Gao Xiong didn't dare say much.

  I didn't expect that tonight, someone would discover the secret of the Gao family. If this secret is exposed, it will be disastrous. It's not just about paying back the thousands and millions of silver taels that were evaded, but also possibly being accused of colluding with the enemy to supply horses to the Great Sui army. At that time, everyone will push the wall down together, and who will help speak up for us? Many families have been eyeing the fat meat of Yu Yang for decades, and if we make a mistake now, they will definitely kick us while we're down. They will say that the Gao family may have done this kind of business before, maybe even selling their horses to the Khitan or other enemies, including the current enemy, Goguryeo. At that time, it will be impossible to defend ourselves.

  "How is it? High Commander? How's the consideration going?" The lead black-robed man seemed to have other things to attend to, so he started getting a bit impatient.

  "Good, I don't know where your honorable brother's road is?" After much consideration, Gao Feng finally made up his mind.

  "Alright, straightforward. I like making friends with people who are straightforward. Here's the thing: my brothers have a few batches of goods that need to enter the border. We want to insert our brothers' goods into your merchant caravan and have them come in together with you. Once they safely arrive at your pasture, our people will go pick up the goods themselves. What do you say?" The leader of the black-clad men asked.

  "Is that all? I think it's no problem, but I'm just a small steward, after all. This matter still needs to be asked of Master's intention." Gao Xiong is indeed a clever person, having learned many things from following Gao Kai Tong over the years, and this skill of pushing away responsibility has been practiced well.

  "Haha, Director Gao, this is where you're wrong. I treated you with sincerity, how could you deceive me? Your master, Old Master Gao, had already entrusted the ranch's matters to you a long time ago. Such trivial matters didn't need to bother him at all, did they?" The leader said with a smile.

  "Alright, I've agreed to your terms, but you must also agree to mine. You're not allowed to mention the incident involving my family, or else there's nothing left to discuss." Gao Xiong said sternly.

  "Of course, of course I won't say it out loud. Such a good trick, how could I possibly reveal it? We also want to make some small fortune from this, haha."

  "Since we are already allies, I wonder if you can let me see your true appearance?" Gao Xiong asked. From the events earlier, Gao Xiong had a hunch that these people were connected to the Gao family in some way, and he suspected that there was a traitor within the Gao family, so he wanted to test his hypothesis.

  "Of course, we didn't mean to deceive the great manager in the first place. It's just that my brother still has something else to do later, so I covered my face with a black cloth." The leader burst out laughing and pulled down the black cloth on his face.

  "You, it's actually you!" Gao Xiong never thought that the face behind the black cloth would be him. This face was quite familiar to Gao Xiong, because they had eaten together many times before.

  "Why? What does Commander Li mean?" Gao Xiong asked, he had done business in the eastern capital before and had dealings with this leader of the black-clad men, they had eaten together and talked, this black-clad man also had a good relationship with the Gao family, why would he do such a thing.

  "Haha, don't be surprised, my younger brother. I'm doing this for the sake of all living things under heaven. This matter must be kept secret, so I've come to find you in this desolate wilderness on this dark night. I hope you won't get angry with me." Commander Li said with a smile.

  "What a good thing, don't get angry, don't be surprised, it sounds good to say, for the sake of all living things in the world, our high lord has always admired you extremely, but I didn't expect you to be such a person." Gao Yang said coldly.

  "What did you say? Don't want to live anymore?" The eight-foot-tall man beside General Li suddenly couldn't bear it and loudly asked.

  "Jun Yan, don't be unreasonable, how can you talk to Gao like that?" Although it sounded like he was scolding his subordinate, looking at his smiling face made it clear that he wasn't unhappy in the slightest, just putting on a show.

  "Alright, General Li said, "Let's not say more about this for now. What we discussed earlier will be settled later. When the goods arrive, I'll send someone to collect them. You must know Yang Wanshuo, the governor of Guyang County. When the goods arrive, first place them at the Feima Pasture outside the city, then transport them into the city and store them in your stronghold inside the city. Later, Yang Wanshuo will come up with an excuse to take away all the horses. After we get what we need, he'll return all the horses without missing a single one."

  "Alright, I won't tell anyone about this matter, not even to the master. I hope you keep your promise too."

  "Older brother Gao is a straightforward person, let's just say that, I have something to attend to so I'll take my leave first."

  He came and went like the wind, leaving only his figure in the desolate black wilderness. He himself didn't know if what he was doing was right or wrong; the path had been paved one step at a time, and now all he could do was take it one step at a time.

  Begging for collection, begging for clicks, begging for votes, it's really pitiful