Not just Zhang Xing, everyone with a little bit of care knows that the Eastern Capital is bound to be in chaos. In fact, there will be chaos like weapons, turmoil, and blood flowing like rain. But someone has to pierce the window paper and turn the rain clouds into a rain of blood. .
In this regard, most people think that the first drop of blood should come from the Ministry of Punishment. It will be Zhang Wenda and Zhang Shangshu who will lead the aggressive Ministry of Punishment to attack first, and give the meat knife that they have treasured for more than ten years to someone else's back. Open your eyes.
But now it seems that the Punishment Department has overestimated its capabilities. It is true that the first drop of blood came from the Punishment Department, but it was actually his own family that bleed first - the prisoner had just been taken away for a whole day, but he had just settled down, and even the list I'm afraid that before the review was completed, a prison robbery was launched in a hurry due to the summer rain.
Rainwater and copper bowls to clean the streets have become the biggest helpers in the prison robbery.
Dozens of robbers, who were obviously well-educated, well-organized and well-equipped, calmly dispersed and gathered near the Criminal Department under the cover of the rain, and then suddenly gathered together to launch a violent prison robbery. The Ministry of Justice was caught off guard and was killed directly. At this time, an extremely critical situation is that at this time, in Dongdu City, all the organized violent organizations during the day are dispersing, while all the organized violent organizations that only appeared at night have not yet assembled.
In fact, even the members of the Ministry of Punishment were evacuating and changing shifts, and even Zhang Shangshu's own carriage had not long left under the escort of a group of Jinwu guards who had just assembled.
Because of this, the Ministry of Punishment was unable to obtain large-scale armed support from the establishment in a short period of time.
But the most terrible thing was yet to come. The prison robbery was successful. The robbers threw simple summer clothes to the prisoners, then directly dropped their weapons, and disappeared with the target prisoners into the sky streets full of ordinary people.
The common people have to make a living. They have to sell stalls when it rains, transport firewood, and buy rice. Otherwise, what will they cook and cook tomorrow?
The bronze bowl for cleaning the street sounded, but it wasn't over yet. It was the time when everyone on the street was carrying all kinds of things and going home. Moreover, it was summer and it was raining. There was no large-scale organized violent troops surrounding the area. How could we conduct a search?
Cao Zhongcheng's identity was there, and of course he didn't move, but it was said that the Governor Niu from Beiya flew over directly, and the Baidi General View of Huixunfang across the river also went to two masters of the Condensation Stage to help, but they It was useless to only capture five fugitives.
When it gets dark, the prison robbery will be successful.
The Ministry of Punishment suffered such a catastrophe. Although many people felt happy in their hearts, they could not withstand the anger of Ziweigong.
To put it bluntly, not to mention that the Ministry of Punishment does things according to the will of the saints. It is absolutely intolerable to say that the main prison of the Ministry of Punishment of a country, under the emperor's feet, was breached like this.
Nan Ya's ministers had nothing to say, and immediately increased the pressure. Bai Yousi's brother, who was on duty and didn't know where he was ranked, was the first responsible person and the most unlucky person. He was beaten to the end and put into action on the spot. The Penal Department Prison.
As it happened, the prison was so empty that it was almost like a private prison.
But it was too late to take care of this. Immediately, Jing'an Taichung Town Fusi, Dongzhen Fusi, Ministry of Justice, Jinwu Guards, City Defense Army, Luoyang Henan County Yamen, violent agencies affiliated to various departments of the empire began to mobilize in large numbers, braving the summer Rainwater swept the streets, inspected every square, and even went out of the city to search the mountains, in order to arrest all the fugitives within the half-month period given by the saint.
It is to see people alive and to see corpses when dead.
For a time, the entire eastern capital city's sky streets were lined up with swords and soldiers, just like in wartime.
It was impossible for Zhang Xing to escape this disaster. On the afternoon of the second day after the incident, he followed Bai Yousi's second patrol team to Nancheng in the rain to monitor a section of the city wall.
On the afternoon of the third day, news of the emperor's wrath officially came, and the patrol team received a fatal order directly from the city wall to be fully responsible for searching Nancheng Jiaqing and Jiaqing Second Square.
This was also Zhang Xing's first exposure to Nanchengfang, where urban poor people live.
"Obviously man-made."
In the pouring rain, under the eyes of a group of local residents who couldn't tell whether it was fear, vigilance, anticipation, or numbness, Zhang Xing, who was soaked all over, easily jumped off the wall of Jiajing Village. Immediately afterwards, Qin Bao also Easily climbed over from outside the wall. "It's at the entrance of the main alley. There are piles of debris below and traces of ropes... It should be used for smuggling in and out at night."
"It must be the work of a local gang." Hu Yan, who appeared in the team again with a black ribbon, twisted his beard and frowned. "Let's go around for a while. How many openings are there in total?"
"Twenty-three damages, seven or eight gaps." Zhang Xing blurted out, but regardless of his propriety, he directly took off his brocade uniform, twisted his shirtless clothes, and then put them back on. "This doesn't include the secret doors hidden in residents' homes..."
"Brother Hu." Qin Bao also wiped the water on his forehead. "It's impossible to block it like this."
"Let's go back to the intersection first and wait for Qian Tang and the others." Hu Yan shook his head and turned directly to the central store in the square.
Zhang Xing, Qin Bao, and several other Jinyi patrolmen naturally had nothing to say and could only follow them immediately.
Arriving at the intersection, unexpectedly, another small group led by Qian Tang and Li Qingchen were waiting here early.
"How are you doing there? Why did you come back so early?" Hu Yan asked from afar in the rain.
"Reporting to Brother Hu, except for the cross street regulations in the square, all the other narrow streets and alleys have been renovated..." Qian Tang, who was standing under the pavilion in the square, walked directly into the rain to respond. "I really can't figure out the roads. I'm afraid it will be a little difficult to follow the example of those near Luoshui and go door to door."
"You don't have to think about it. It must be the same in Jiaqingfang next door. Most patrols can fly. Now that the restrictions in the city have been relaxed, you can see the roads clearly." Hu Yan, who looked a little ugly, did not speak, but Li Qingchen complained in the pavilion.
Zhang Xing followed Hu Yan into the pavilion. Before he could say anything, he noticed the buzzing sound. He could only kill a mosquito with his backhand and sat down by the well mouth, ready to listen with his arms in his arms.
However, as soon as he turned around and sat down, he saw two people suddenly walking into the alley next to him on the road behind him, and he couldn't help but be shocked:
"Is that a follower?"
"Yes, I followed him after picking him off the square wall." Hu Yan blurted out without looking back. "It must be a local gang."
As soon as these words came out, Zhang Xing and Qian Tang were fine, and Li Qingchen and Qin Bao almost instantly stood up with their swords in hand, preparing to go there.
"return!"
A thunderous scolding immediately exploded from the pavilion. It was obvious that Hu Yan, the deputy inspector who had just returned to the team, was really angry at this time.
Qin Bao and Li Qingchen returned chattering, but they were almost confused.
"I'm afraid the gangs in Nancheng are different from those in Luoshui." Zhang Xing roughly guessed. "Be careful and don't follow him into the alley."
"Not bad." Hu Yan also sighed. "I just wanted to say this on the way. The problem here in Nancheng is not the number of damaged walls and streets, but the people... The gangs in Nancheng are not much more powerful than those in Beicheng... It is too difficult to search ”
"Is it because there are many experts?" Li Qingchen couldn't help but interjected, causing Zhang Xing, who had just killed a mosquito, to kill another mosquito on the spot.
"It's because people are poor and their lives are cheap." Hu Yan held the knife and turned around to look around at the rain curtain. "Do you believe that the young people here can kill officials for fifty coppers at the age of fifteen? Those of you who are stuck on the right path must not be alone... If you are really alone, you will die. I don’t know how he died.”
Everyone was silent for a moment.
Next, the atmosphere in the Jing Pavilion seemed a bit solemn, no one spoke, only the rain kept falling... After all, the environment and personnel here were very different from the areas on both sides of Luoshui where they hung out... There was a feeling of being at a loss.
It was still raining, so tired, and faced with an order that was difficult to complete.
Just when everyone was silent, suddenly, a whistle came from the tall and towering Dongdu City Wall to the south.
"Let's go!" Hu Yan patted the black ribbon on his waist and shook his head repeatedly. "It's not us who make the decision. We just tell the truth and listen to the inspection instructions."
A group of more than ten knights in brocade uniforms stood up and followed Hu Yan into the rain, heading north.
Zhang Xing, on the other hand, followed the others and walked seven or eight steps along the cross street in the square. Suddenly he pulled Qin Bao to stop: "Brother Hu! I'm going to ask about the stocks of groceries in these stores, and let Qin Bao follow me to guard him. , be there right away.”
Hu Yan stopped and looked back, obviously stunned, as if he wanted to say something, but still nodded slightly: "Just know the pros and cons in your heart, don't be left alone."
After saying that, he led the other patrols who were a little confused and continued walking north. Qian Tang hesitated for a while, but after glancing to the north, he went straight north.
At this time, Zhang Xing had already dragged Qin Bao into a grain store beside the road.
In the village market system, each village has a wall, with cross streets and chessboard-like alleys inside. The villages can only communicate with each other through the gate at specific times during the day. In this case, internal business must Generally speaking, rice, soy sauce, vinegar, tea salt, charcoal, cloth and other goods must be sold, and they are generally concentrated near the intersections in the square.
Among them, Midian is the most common type, and it cannot stop for a moment. Even if it is raining, there are still people queuing up.
The store owner and customers were all startled when they saw two warriors in brocade clothes suddenly barging in. If they hadn't blocked the doorway, the people in the store might have fled.
"Shopkeeper, don't panic, I just want to ask one thing. How much food does your store have at this time?" Zhang Xing got straight to the point.
"One, one hundred and eighty, eighty stones." The shopkeeper, dressed in commoner clothes, was still nervous. "One hundred and eighty stones of various kinds of rice, flour and miscellaneous grains...Why do the two officials ask this?"
"Why is there so little?" Qin Bao was a showman after all. Although he didn't know why Zhang Xing asked these questions, he immediately noticed something strange. "How many grain stores do you have in your village?"
"About seven or eight?" The store owner was still confused.
"It's still too little..." Qin Bao realized the problem.
"Sister-in-law, how much rice can you carry in this bag?" Zhang Xing suddenly looked at the customer buying rice.
"Report to the official, I can, can hold four buckets." The woman with a child on her back, dressed in common clothes and wearing a hairpin, came carefully.
"Then how many buckets do you want to buy this time?" Zhang Xing continued to ask with an expressionless face.
But Qin Bao had already woken up and immediately stared with wide eyes.
"One, one fight..." The woman became more and more frightened. "I only brought fifteen dollars, only fifteen dollars."
Qin Bao immediately touched his arms.
"Walk!"
Zhang Xing scolded him, just like Hu Yan suddenly got angry and scolded Li Qingchen before, but he was the first to walk into the rain.
Qin Bao didn't have time to think too much, and naturally didn't have time to give the money, so he lowered his head and followed.
As soon as the two of them came out, two shirtless burly men standing outside snorted coldly and went directly into the store for questioning. Zhang Xing still ignored them and just lowered his head and walked quickly with Qin Bao, quickly catching up with Hu Yan and his party, and then Exit Jiaqingfang, go up the city wall, and turn to the tower on the south city wall located in the middle of Jiaqing and Jiajing Square.
This is the temporary stronghold for the second patrol team directly under the Fusi of Jing'an Taichung Town, led by Bai Yousi, to pursue the imperial prisoners.
The group of people turned into the tower. Bai Yousi and another group of people were already waiting here, waiting next to the fire in the middle. When the two groups met, they immediately compared the situation of the two squares.
Zhang Xing did not interrupt, nor did he intend to warm himself by the fire. Instead, holding a knife, he walked to the north-facing window of the tower, lay down directly on the window, and stared at the Dongdu City enveloped by the summer rain in a daze.
Qin Bao, on the other hand, squeezed to the fire.
After a while, both sides finished comparing the intelligence, and both felt embarrassed, and the situation became awkward for a while.
At this time, Qin Bao, who looked back at Zhang Xing several times but received no response, finally blushed and spoke: "Inspector, deputy inspector, I also have something to say... I just went to inspect with Brother Zhang." I went to the rice shop in Jiaqingfang and found that it was no better than the other shops in the north. The stores in the shop had very little stock..."
"It's just a few stores, remember a few faces, look after them a little, and allow them to buy goods on a daily basis." Li Qingchen blurted out. "The search will not be delayed immediately."
"It's more than just a store." Qin Bao took a breath and continued to look at Bai Yousi and Hu Yanlai seriously. "The honest residents here don't have any inventory at home, so they have to buy it themselves within a few days... Brother Zhang and I met a sister-in-law who was carrying a child on her back and only bought a bucket of rice."
"no……"
Hu Yan had already ducked and lowered his head, Bai Yousi's expression turned gloomy, Qian Tang and several experienced patrolmen raised their heads and sighed slightly, but Li Qingchen still didn't understand. “Wouldn’t it be enough if we let the stores go to purchase goods and allow these residents to buy things in the building?”
"Li Twelve, do you understand? The reason why stores have little inventory is because they have small capital and little money in the store, so they can only buy groceries at one time; the reason why residents have no inventory at home is because they don't have any money at home. If you go out to Tianjie or Luoshui to do part-time work for one day, you will have enough rice for the second or third day..." Qin Bao finally got a little angry. "Only allowing stores to purchase goods and not allowing these poor people to work and earn money, how can they buy rice, grain and groceries in front of them? They eat one meal but not another. This is not a proverb, it is a truth! Just the two villages of Jiajing and Jiaqing, If we seal them all and seize them in large quantities, we will run out of food every three to five days, and people will starve to death in seven or eight days!"
Li Qingchen had never been scolded by Qin Bao in public before, but what the other party said was simple and easy to understand, and he couldn't refute it for a while, so he just started talking about it.
Bai Yousi glanced at Zhang Xing, who was watching the rain with his back to everyone, but the latter remained silent and motionless. In desperation, the female inspector also looked a little embarrassed:
"The poor houses in Nancheng are not just Jiaqing and Jiaqing Second House, right? What will the other houses do?"
"What can be done?" Qian Tang felt extremely distressed when he saw his home inspection being in such a mess, and immediately lowered his voice. "Inspection... I know what you are thinking, but the reality is that this Eastern Capital City is known as the best place in the world, but every year it snows and people freeze to death in the south of the city, and people often die just from such rain... At that time, but Is there anyone thinking about protecting Yi Er? This time we are all over our heads, so we feel that our hands are dirty... But other shops, I'm afraid they won't care about anything."
"You have to bite the bullet and do it!" After a while, Hu Yan struggled to speak out and pushed. "This is not a joke... His Majesty was so angry that even Bai Shilang was sent directly to prison. There are many layers of pressure. If people like us are caught with obvious bad deeds, it would be ordinary for them to be executed... Jiaqing, For the two Jiajing squares, the secret passages and water passages are ignored for the time being. We will not go deep into them yet. We will first seal the four gates and square walls, cross the cross streets, and then sweep the streets and alleys in order. We must always give instructions to the superiors."
Everyone went to see Bai Yousi. Bai Yousi was speechless for a long time, but finally lowered his head:
"There is something I haven't told you. This afternoon, I don't know whether it was the decree issued directly by Ziwei Palace or the decree requested by the Nanya Dukes. Anyway, an order was issued. Any fugitives involved in Yang Shen's case will be punished. According to the theory of death row, he will be killed without mercy, his immediate family members will be implicated, he will be killed on the spot, and his family property will be confiscated... In other words, mass murders have begun in the north."
"They are all on duty, and we are helpless." Hearing this, Hu Yan became more and more frustrated and his tone became more urgent. "The best response is to make the inspection faster, harder, and more rigorous... Inspection, and give the order! The military order given by the superiors is to close the workshop for inspection!"
Bai Yousi took a long breath and was about to call Zhang Xing.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Xing actually took the initiative to look back at him at this time: "So, even the inspection team and Brother Hu have no good solution?"
"good."
Hu Yan raised his eyes and looked at the other person. He was very impressed by this young man who carried a body thousands of miles away, so he could be regarded as respectful. "Zhang Sanlang, do you have it?"
"I have two strategies!" Zhang Xing held the knife in his hands and said seriously. "I don't know if it's feasible or not? Please ask the two inspectors to consult with you brothers for details."
"Everyone is a grasshopper on a rope." Qian Tang urged before Bai Yousi could. "Quickly speaking, as long as you can relieve everyone's difficulties, we are only grateful to you."
"The best thing to do is to seal the village according to the rules first, and then everyone will spend five days repairing the walls of the village and building houses for the people in the village. At the same time, we will buy several hundred pounds of grain and distribute it to the residents, in order to gather people's hearts. Once the hearts of the people arrive, , whenever there is something wrong in the company, someone will inevitably show mercy. This is my experience..."
"It's almost done." Li Qingchen was furious. "It's also gathering people's hearts. Sister Si's family background has won people's hearts like this. I'm afraid she won't have to wait for the fugitives in the house to be found out. She will be rebelled against by someone here first."
Bai Yousi and Hu Yan were also a little disappointed.
But Zhang Xing smiled calmly: "Then we have to make the last move!"
"What's the next step?" Bai Yousi maintained his last patience and expectation for the subordinate in front of him.
"The next step is divided into five steps."
Zhang Xing held the knife in one hand and raised his fingers slightly to point it at him.
"The first thing is to ask for power! Please ask the inspector to immediately summon the relevant Henan County officers, city wall defenders, Jinwu guards on the street... and Jingjiehu... around the two squares... and tell them that you are a genuine fifth-grade Zhu Shou inspector. , or Bai’s noble family, let all of them gather their power in the hands of the inspection, unified command, unified use, whoever dares to say no, if anyone is playing tricks, kill Liwei directly... Be quick and ruthless!"
"It's a simple matter." Bai Yousi didn't even blink.
"The second step is to seal the workshop. Don't worry about the water channels and tunnels... It's a good thing if he really ran away from below... The inspector himself is sitting here, condescending, and ready to support at any time. There are two workshops, and manpower is allocated, no matter what. , first plug the gap in the square wall and surround it... This is a direct military order from above."
"Is this necessary?" Bai Yousi frowned, and Qin Bao was also a little disappointed.
"I'm afraid we have to take this step." Zhang Xing lowered his head and smiled. "Then the third step is the same... buy food. There is no shortage of food in the east. The food in Luokou warehouse is piled up like a mountain. It used to cost five cents per dou. Even if this happened, it was only fifteen cents per dou. ...A few hundred pounds of grain, if used sparingly, will be enough for the people in the village to make ends meet these days."
"I told you not to distribute food without authorization." Li Qingchen stamped his feet anxiously. "It's not that I didn't care about human life, I did it because I was afraid more lives would be lost!"
"If you don't distribute food, you won't win people's hearts." Zhang Xing sneered. "This is for the reward. Whoever reports the suspect will be given food. This is the fourth step."
The atmosphere in the tower was slightly stagnant, as if someone had realized something.
"But third brother, is there really a suspect in these two houses by chance?" Qin Bao couldn't bear it. "If not, will the food not be distributed when it arrives?"
"Just as who reports the crime meritoriously, aren't we the ones who have the final say on whether there are suspects?" Zhang Xing finally said the last step while staring at Bai Yousi. "Inspection, the fifth step is to kill! Kill someone who is not related to the case to take credit for the hard work!"
"Zhang Xing, you are looking for death..." Just when Qin Bao and others were stunned, Bai Yousi was the first to react, but he became furious. The sword in his hand flew out on its own, and then suddenly stopped.
Because Hu Yan, the deputy with the black ribbon who had been assisting her for a long time and the most experienced person here, suddenly showed joy and shouted:
"feasible!"
Bai Yousi was stunned, and just like everyone else who had just reacted, he froze on the spot again.
There's nothing I can do about it, it's going too fast.
"Inspection, please don't do anything. The truth is actually very simple." Zhang Xing looked at the long sword that was gradually drilling into Bai Yousi's hand and smiled. "In fact, everyone knows the current situation. Those prison robbers are so well-trained and well-founded in their advance and retreat. But where can they be easily found in the 150 square meters of Dongdu City and the mountains and fields of Beimang?"
"But the emperor is furious, and the princes of Nanya are furious. One level is suppressing the other. The military law is as great as the sky. Everyone has to submit their duties. If they don't submit their duties, what will happen if they themselves are guilty? Then we can only use hard work and strength to give them to the emperor. Let’s make an explanation from above.”
"Not to mention hard work, when it comes to strength, isn't it just that killing people and taking credit is the easiest thing to do?"
"For example, when we followed the conventional approach, we said we could only seal the gate according to military orders, then sweep it carefully, and then ignore the lives of the people below... Why is everyone a little intolerant? Because this move is essentially to show hard work and kill. To use the blood of innocent people to justify the good deeds and to kill the weak for the deeds... The only excuse is that the most evil thing was not done by you or me."
"In this case, we have to kill people to take credit anyway, why don't we kill people who deserve to take credit? In other places, because of their incompetence and cowardice, they have to kill the weak and take credit... We are different, we have the ability, With strategy, organization, and benevolence, we can kill criminals and take credit for their crimes, and kill strongmen for their credit!"
After saying this, Zhang Xing looked around in three directions. At this time, even the dullest patrolman suddenly realized. Bai Yousi's eyes were shining, staring at the subordinate he picked up on the road with interest and laughing.
Zhang Xing looked around and saluted Bai Yousi: "Inspection inspection, I heard nursery rhymes on the road today, saying that during the Jiaqing and Jiajing, every house is clean. We have to do things for the superiors anyway, so why not take advantage of the situation and return these two things?" Is this place truly clean for once?! Putting those local gangs on the map as possibly harboring criminals and raiding them on a large scale?! Killing him resulted in rivers of blood and heads rolling in. Who dares to say that we don’t do our best to serve the king?”
Bai Yousi looked around, and without waiting for the people around him to speak, he just raised his eyebrows and slapped the long sword in his hand on the case: "Well said! Since all the princes in the court want to see us kill each other, it will be a river of blood." , then let’s kill him until he bleeds like a river, and kill him completely! Is there anyone here who doesn’t dare to kill someone?!”
PS: Merry Christmas everyone!
