The arrival of food and troops quickly calmed the people of Wuzhou. Under Zhao Toyota's persuasion, Xie Erren made many public appearances, especially visiting the Dragon Mother Temple, creating an atmosphere of "The Dragon Mother protects Wuzhou".
Everything in Wuzhou continued as usual. Seven or eight days after the riot, good news came from Guangxi: the Fubo Army occupied Nanning. At this point, the Left Route Army's attack on Guangxi was basically completed, except for the areas bound by the Ming Dynasty and some remote areas. Most of the prefectures and counties governed by officials in places without waterways have been occupied, and Guangxi's main waterway transportation has been restored.
Shortly after Zhu Mingxia captured Nanning, he immediately informed merchants across the province that all waterways and waterways would be opened immediately.
"Whether it is something that has been unshipped before the war or something that is in hand, as long as it is willing to be transported west to Wuzhou, warships and soldiers will be sent to protect it along the way without taking a penny."
Not only were the river fleet ships dispatched for escort, but the empty ships of the joint service fleet returning westward were also provided with space at low prices. Strategic materials such as food are free of charge.
As a result, some of the original backlog of local products and grain in Guangxi began to be shipped to Guangdong.
According to the usual practice, most Guangxi merchants only ship the goods to Wuzhou and then sell them. Therefore, the restoration of waterway transportation is like a shot in the arm for Wuzhou merchants and people who were originally trapped in depression. Especially the owners and shopkeepers of Pingma Shop, when they saw civilian ships arriving from the upper reaches of the Xijiang River, you can imagine how excited they were.
Xie Erren and Zhao Toyota were indifferent to the changes brought about by the improvement of the situation. They have too much to do.
The first is the case. After Cai Lan was released to the custody of the Tutu Temple, she was bullied and tortured by two women servants every day, especially the verbal humiliation. Finally, she couldn't bear it anymore and committed suicide by swallowing gold. When Zheng Ergen heard that Cai Lan was dead, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He sent two men to conduct an autopsy and found out that the autopsy was correct. He then called for the sisters-in-law from the local nunnery and asked them to handle the funeral arrangements.
"Don't be too frugal about your funeral, and choose a coffin to send to her." Zheng Ergen followed Zhao Toyota's instructions, "After the coffin is installed, don't bury the coffin for half a year. If there is no news after half a year, you can choose a good location for burial." "
The sister-in-law took the money and went to accept the order. Zheng Ergen breathed a sigh of relief and immediately went to report to Zhao Toyota.
"The person is already dead." He said excitedly, "Nothing was done!"
However, Zhao Toyota did not smile. Instead, he sighed heavily and said, "We have done a bad thing..."
"Even if there is a public trial, she will not escape death." Zheng Ergen advised.
"The words are good, but what we do cannot be put on the table. It goes against the rule of law." Zhao Toyota sighed again when he said this, "When I was in the administrative training class, the chief taught us , said that no matter what the motives are, we must do things openly and withstand criticism from others. Don’t think that the law hinders our hands. The law is a piece of protective armor for people like us..."
As he spoke, he saw Zheng Ergen's confused face and knew that he didn't quite understand these things and it would be useless to talk about them, so he asked: "How are the follow-up matters arranged?"
Zheng Ergen immediately told Cai Lan's funeral arrangements. Zhao Fengdao nodded and asked, "Where are the two women?"
Zheng Ergen was stunned and said: "I asked them to go back and continue their errands..."
"We can't keep these two people," Zhao Toyota said in a low voice and took out two small bundles from the drawer. "Each bundle contains twenty taels of silver. You ask them to take the silver and move out of Wuzhou with their family as soon as possible. . I will remain anonymous from now on - never go back to Wuzhou again, I want to scare them."
The management of retained personnel is strict in entry and lenient in exit, although there is a review on entry. Resignation is not strict, there are people who formally say goodbye, and there are also people who say goodbye without saying goodbye. In the past few months, due to the instability of the political power and the unpredictable war situation, the retained personnel have changed greatly. It is not surprising that two women have gone on duty.
"Okay, I'll make the arrangements right away." Zheng Ergen's forehead was dripping with sweat, thinking that it was good to follow the rules in the past, but now it's thrilling to do things according to the chief's wishes! I really don't know what to do.
After sending Zheng Ergen away, Zhao Toyota studied the seals of the two secret seals on the table. So far, the local police in Wuzhou have not found out the origin of this stamp. I called the shopkeepers and clerks of several shops engaged in seal engraving from the city to identify them, but I couldn't identify which one specifically made them. However, they all said in unison that these two stamps did not come from a seal shop or the like, but might have been privately carved by a certain shop.
"...The material of the private engraving can be left blank, and the engraving method is different from the outside. You can master it yourself in the store, and you can't fake it outside." A shopkeeper reported.
"In this case, which stores in Wuzhou engrave their own secret seals?"
"That's a lot. At least the local merchant shops and large, well-off shops can do it. Small and medium-sized shops don't have much silver on their counters, and there are no large merchants who keep it, so they generally don't need it."
In Wuzhou City, there are not too many Yinshi shops that carve their own secret seals, only thirty or forty. The scope of identification was suddenly narrowed. Zhao Toyota then sent people to invite the leading figures from the local chamber of commerce and asked them to take the stamps and ask them to identify them. See if anyone can identify which company it is from - at least, what line it might be from.
There were rapid footsteps outside. These were Luo Yangming's footsteps - his footsteps were always so rapid. But it sounds quite reassuring.
What's the matter with him coming here in such a hurry? Zhao Toyota's heart suddenly became nervous again.
There was a reason why Luo Yangming came in in a hurry, because he had just received an urgent letter from the political security secret channel.
Luo Yangming rushed in, and without any time to be polite, he sat down opposite Zhao Toyota, with a frightened expression on his face.
"Yangming, what's wrong with you? What's the emergency?"
"It's a disaster!" Luo Yangming said hurriedly, "A big disaster!"
"What big disaster?!" Zhao Toyota's expression also changed. Due to his career, Luo Yangming not only spoke cautiously, but also always had an indifferent expression. It's rare to see him startled.
Now that he is so excited, it goes without saying that this matter is not a big deal.
"Plague patients were found in Guangzhou." Luo Yangming whispered.
"What?!" Zhao Toyota almost stood up. When he was receiving training in the advanced administrative training class, there was a special course on "health and epidemic prevention" work in local administration, focusing on the spread and prevention of several severe infectious diseases. . So he was no stranger to the plague.
"Don't get excited, be careful of the news spreading." Luo Yangming lowered his voice and said, "This news has just arrived. The official document will probably be delayed for a few days."
The secret message channel of the Political Security Bureau has a high priority and often reaches its destination earlier than official documents.
"What's the specific situation?"
"A few days ago, cases were discovered when we were deporting beggars to the dock. Now that there are cases, I'm afraid the plague has spread. In the next wave, many people in Guangzhou will die." Luo Yangming said, "Political Security Bureau I was ordered to take charge of the situation of visitors from Guangzhou in Wuzhou..."
Zhao Toyota nodded silently and whispered: "This is really bad luck! Wouldn't the Senate be attacked from both sides?"
"Who says it isn't? Fortunately, the military situation in Guangxi has been largely pacified. As long as the epidemic in Guangzhou is controlled and does not spread, it will naturally subside in a few months."
"Having said that, there is a problem in Guangzhou, and our business here that has just regained some vitality may be hit hard again..."
"I don't think the problem is big. After all, most of the food coming from Guangxi is grain. This grain is urgently needed by the Planning Institute." Luo Yangming said, "The main thing shipped to Guangxi is salt - it comes from the salt fields in Haibei and Hainan, and it has nothing to do with Guangzhou. "
"I feel relieved when you say that." Zhao Toyota thought that although there was plague in Guangzhou, it should be regarded as a blessing for Chief Xie - the Senate probably wouldn't bother to investigate at the moment. This matter has been settled, and in another half year, it may be another situation.
Luo Yangming knew Zhao Toyota's heart for Xiao Jiujiu, and said, "Although Guangzhou is far away from us, we still have to make some preparations."
The so-called preparation work is nothing more than setting up a quarantine area and conducting quarantine checks on people coming from Guangzhou. At the same time, a wave of rodent eradication campaigns must be carried out.
"...We can prepare for these things first. After all, Wuzhou is a major water and land terminal in Guangdong and Guangxi. On weekdays, merchants gather. There is no guarantee that no one will come from Guangzhou. Speaking of which, the war between Guangdong and Guangxi these days has cut off transportation and business travel, which can be regarded as a blessing in disguise. ”
"You're right," Zhao Toyota nodded, "I'll go report to the chief and get this matter sorted out."
While he was talking, a naturalized civilian cadre came in, put down the envelope in his hand, and whispered a few words into Zhao Toyota's ear. Zhao Toyota nodded slightly and said, "You go out first."
He put the envelope on the table and poured out two secret stamps.
"The whereabouts of these two stamps have been found."
"Oh?" Luo Yangming became interested, "Which family is it from?"
"Ruijintang Silk Shop."
"From the Jiang family?" Luo Yangming pretended to be surprised. In fact, he had already guessed: Since Jiang Qiuchan was deeply involved in this case, her natal family might also be involved.
"That's right, several people from the Chamber of Commerce and the aftermath bureau looked at it and said it should belong to his family." Zhao Fengtian said playfully and looked at Luo Yangming, "I thought Jiang Qiuchan was being taken advantage of. It seems that the water in her home It’s pretty deep.”
When they were discussing the case, Luo Yangming somewhat intended to excuse Jiang Qiuchan. On the one hand, this was the request of his wife, and on the other hand, he also felt that Jiang Qiuchan had a pitiful background, and he had no subjective malice. It's not the same thing as Cai Lan's deliberate behavior.
Originally, they had reached a certain tacit agreement on exonerating Jiang Qiuchan, but now that new evidence has come out, Luo Yangming knows that he can no longer be vague about this matter.
