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Liang Fuchen was already at the age where he "knew his destiny" and had been imprisoned in the cellar by horse bandits for many days. He had been living in worry and anxiety for a while. At this time, his physical condition was naturally very poor. After he escaped from the trap, Even normal walking requires help from others.
However, when Liang Fuchen learned about the collective self-immolation of all the horse bandit leaders, he completely ignored his physical condition and insisted on going to the site of the self-immolation of the horse bandit leaders in person to investigate.
Xu Qingyan naturally blocked Liang Fuchen's decision in every possible way, believing that Liang Fuchen's top priority should be to take good care of his body. However, Liang Fuchen still insisted on his own ideas, but did not give any face to his "savior" Xu Qingyan.
Liang Fuchen was a senior minister in the cabinet, so Xu Qingyan did not dare to stop him, so he had no choice but to follow Liang Fuchen.
The place where the leader of the horse bandits self-immolated was located in the center of the horse bandits' stronghold. It was originally the main hall of the Taoist temple. After the horse bandits occupied the Taoist temple, they changed the main hall into the "Juyi Hall" for green forest heroes. It was the main hall of the horse bandits' stronghold. The core.
When Liang Fuchen and Xu Qingyan arrived at the "Juyi Hall", it had been burned into ruins. The fire had just been extinguished by officers and soldiers. The soldiers were cleaning up the scene, and there was a smell of burning smoke everywhere.
Because he had to conceal the news that Liang Fuchen was kidnapped by horse bandits, Liang Fuchen behaved very low-key after arriving at the scene. He was just supported and stood aside to observe and listen quietly. The investigation and evidence collection were all left to Xu Qingyan and Zhang Daozhen. People are responsible.
Of course, Liang Fuchen did not trust Xu Qingyan, and Zhang Daozhen was mainly responsible for verification.
At Zhang Daozhen's signal, Xu Qingyan waved to summon a border military attache.
This border military attaché was about forty years old, a short and stocky man with a simple and honest appearance, and was wearing the clothes of a Qianhu.
After Zhang Daozhen took a careful look at the deputy Qianhu, he saw that he had a simple and honest appearance and an honest temperament. He did not look like a slippery and treacherous person, so he did not beat around the bush and asked directly: "Let me ask you, all horse bandits Were all the leaders really burned to death? Was there anyone left alive?"
The deputy Qianhu nodded repeatedly, then shook his head and said: "In reply to this noble man, this matter should be true. After the brothers invaded the horse bandits' stronghold, the horse bandits had no power to resist. After retreating steadily, this hall became the last place for this group of horse bandits to hold out. However, we quickly surrounded the place and made it impossible for the bandit leaders to escape. But just as we were about to invade When we were in the main hall, a raging fire suddenly broke out in the main hall, and it spread to the entire main hall in a moment. With such a fierce fire, all the bandit leaders in the main hall must have been burned to death."
Zhang Daozhen asked, "Why are you so sure that the cause of this fire was the self-immolation of the bandit leaders? Rather than... someone's silencing method to eliminate evidence?"
Hearing Zhang Daozhen's question, the Deputy Qianhu obviously couldn't understand the deeper meaning. After being stunned for a moment, he said: "I'm afraid this noble man is joking. He is just a few insignificant little bandit leaders in the corner. He is only two years old." The climate has only improved a little in the past year, and they have never done anything big, and I have never heard of their backgrounds. Why do they need to kill people and eliminate evidence..."
However, before Deputy Qianhu finished speaking, Zhang Daozhen had already interrupted: "You just need to tell me why you think the fire was set by the horse bandit himself. Didn't you see it with your own eyes?"
The deputy Qianhu explained helplessly: "I didn't see it with my own eyes. After the brothers surrounded the main hall, the doors and windows of the main hall were closed, and the situation inside could not be seen at all. But the horse bandit leaders saw After he was surrounded, he obviously understood that he had no chance of escaping, so he shouted loudly that he would rather live in pieces than in ruins, and that he must not be a prisoner, otherwise his relatives would be harmed, etc. I heard this with my own ears. Then a raging fire broke out in this hall, what else is this than self-immolation?"
A gleam of light flashed in Zhang Daozhen's eyes. He glanced at Xu Qingyan standing next to him from the corner of his eye and sneered: "In other words, you have never seen the appearance of these horse bandit leaders. , just heard the sound? Also, the fire in this hall was out of control in just a moment? How can ordinary fires be so fast? "
The deputy Qianhu was stunned again. He obviously had not thought about these situations. After hearing Zhang Daozhen's statement, he felt that something seemed a little strange.
After noticing something fishy, Zhang Daozhen did not continue to pester, but continued to ask: "I heard that in addition to the horse bandit leaders who burned themselves to death, the soldiers also captured some horse bandits alive, but these horse bandits Are they all refugees from Shaanxi and Gansu who have joined the gang within half a month? Not a single veteran of the horse bandits has been caught?"
Deputy Qianhu nodded, feeling a little strange, and speculated: "As far as I know, this group of horse bandits has been expanding rapidly in recent times. Maybe the veteran horse bandits have been promoted to be leaders. , now I am afraid that they will all stay in the hall and burn themselves to death."
Hearing this speculation, Zhang Daozhen's sneer became more obvious and he asked several questions in succession.
While the two were answering questions, someone suddenly shouted: "All the bodies of the bandit leaders have been dug up!"
But it was the soldiers who finally finished cleaning up the main hall after the fire, and dug out more than twenty corpses from the ruins, all of which were horse bandit leaders who had burned themselves to death.
After a fire, these corpses were burned beyond recognition. Each corpse was dark and hideous, hard to distinguish, and constantly exuded a pungent burnt smell.
Zhang Daozhen has a tough character. He has followed Liang Fuchen to see battlefields many times over the years. He is no stranger to charred corpses, so after he saw that the corpses of the bandit leaders had been dug up, he quickly walked over to investigate the situation. There was no resistance or fear.
On the other side, Xu Qingyan originally planned to go together, but after taking two steps, his expression suddenly changed slightly. He smelled the smell of burning corpses, and saw that all the corpses looked hideous and terrifying from a distance. He couldn't help but feel Disgusted and afraid, he finally stopped and allowed Zhang Daozhen to investigate alone.
Zhang Daozhen didn't notice Xu Qingyan's halt. He just walked quickly to the burnt corpse and squatted down to inspect it carefully.
However, because the fire was so intense, these corpses were all burned and mutilated. It was difficult to judge their circumstances before death, and it was also difficult to find out much useful information.
Just when Zhang Daozhen was frowning and feeling embarrassed, the military attache from the border army also came to Zhang Daozhen's side. He also squatted down to carefully inspect the body. After a moment, he said: "It looks right. Yes, these are indeed the corpses of the leader of this group of horse bandits, there is absolutely no way they are fake."
Zhang Daozhen was taken aback for a moment, turned to look at the border military attache, and asked in a slightly stern tone: "Why do you dare to be so sure?"
This border military attache was an honest man. He looked a little flustered under Zhang Daozhen's sudden gaze, but he still replied: "This villain is the deputy Qianhu of Anbian Guard. Anbian Guard is only a short distance away from this horse bandit stronghold." It's more than two hundred miles away, so this group of horse bandits has long attracted Beizhi's attention. If this year's fire screening of bandits hadn't lasted too long, Beizhi would have led his brothers to suppress the bandits long ago, and there would be no need to wait until now, so Beizhi We also found out some information about this group of horse bandits in advance. After breaking through the horse bandits stronghold today, we also interrogated some of the horse bandits alive to collect evidence... Noble sir, look at this body. Although it was burned beyond recognition, you can still vaguely see black on the shoulders. Tiger tattoo, this is obviously Wang Laohu, the leader of this group of horse bandits... And this corpse, with six fingers on the left hand and an ear missing, these characteristics are obviously Huo Zhenshan, the second leader of the horse bandits..."
After hearing this Qianhu's explanation, Zhang Daozhen frowned and thought for a moment, and finally nodded noncommittally, but the suspicion in his eyes became more intense.
Next, Zhang Daozhen was extremely active by inspecting the scene, asking for information, or personally interrogating several horse bandits who were captured alive.
After being busy for more than half an hour, Zhang Daozhen finally returned to Liang Fuchen again and reported the news to Liang Fuchen.
Zhang Daozhen's expression was solemn and he said in a low voice: "Lord Pavilion, there are too many strange things about this matter! First of all, the fire burned so fast that it must have been prepared in the hall to start the fire. The so-called self-immolation of the horse bandit leaders out of fear of crime is just a show. The fire was probably just to destroy evidence! After the officers and soldiers invaded the horse bandit stronghold, they never saw the horse bandit leaders with their own eyes. It is impossible to obtain evidence about the true situation of the purpose and what happened to these horse bandit leaders before they died... According to the students, these horse bandit leaders may have been killed a long time ago!
Secondly, when we were chased by this group of horse bandits, there were at least more than 200 people in this group of horse bandits. But now, not only is the size of this group of horse bandits greatly reduced, most of the horse bandits are still within half a month. The newly joined refugees and the horse bandits captured alive by the officers and soldiers all have such origins. These new bandits don't even know about Mr. Ge's kidnapping. As for the veteran horse bandits who participated in the kidnapping of Mr. Ge. , but only twenty or thirty people were left, and they were all burned to death...
Also, after the students personally interrogated the new horse bandits who were captured alive, they found that they usually did not have many opportunities to contact these horse bandit leaders. Most of the horse bandit leaders hid in the Juyi Hall and never left their homes. This situation is too weird..."
Hearing the various doubts listed by Zhang Daozhen, Liang Fuchen sneered: "Yes, the situation is too strange. In all likelihood, this group of horse bandits has been silenced and substantiated... After we were kidnapped by the horse bandits, From the beginning to the end, I have only seen the horse bandit who delivered the food, but the horse bandit who delivered the food was also killed by Xu Qingyan. As for the leader of the horse bandit, I have never seen him once... I even suspect that our front foot We were just kidnapped by the horse bandits, and the hind legs of this group of horse bandits have been wiped out. The people responsible for imprisoning and guarding us during this period may also be acting on us!"
While speaking, Liang Fuchen glanced at Xu Qingyan.
At this time, Xu Qingyan was talking to the Deputy Qianhu not far away, but he seemed to know that Liang Fuchen and Zhang Daozhen had confidential matters to talk about, but he didn't know how to get involved.
Zhang Daozhen obviously had the same suspicion and asked softly: "Mr. Liang Ge, do you suspect that the person behind this group of horse bandits is Zhao Junchen? And the person responsible for imprisoning and guarding us during this period is this Xu Qingyan. All of this is A play they directed and acted themselves?"
Liang Fuchen said slowly with a gloomy expression: "I'm not completely sure, but it's very likely. Zhao Junchen is indeed the most suspected... Looking at the current situation, it was Zhao Junchen who made the most money during my imprisonment, and at present In the territory of Shaanxi and Gansu, only Zhao Junchen has the ability and means to do such a thing!"
Zhang Daozhen's eyes flickered slightly and he asked: "The students think the same way, but we don't have any evidence at the moment. Mr. Ge, what do you think we should do next?"
Liang Fuchen had a stern expression on his face and was about to say something when he suddenly saw a soldier from the border army stumbling over. The soldier's expression was full of ecstasy. After standing next to him, he shouted loudly: "Mr. Xu, Deputy Zhen Qianhu, a great victory is coming from the front! A great victory! I just received the news that the imperial envoy Zhao led various road troops to fight against the 100,000 Mongolian coalition troops, passing through Zhenningwei and Xiaochuanhe , Weishui and three victories in three battles! Now more than 100,000 Mongol coalition forces have been completely annihilated. All the Mongolian Tatars were either killed or captured. It is really a great victory that has not been seen in a century! Such good news has now spread throughout Shaanxi and Gansu. , all the officials and the people are rejoicing and beating the sky with gongs and drums! As soon as Mr. Qianhu received the good news, he immediately sent a little man here to inform you two!"
Following this person's loud shouting, the nearby border army officers and soldiers cheered loudly, and the shouts of "Long live" were heard endlessly. As common people on the three sides, they felt proud and proud as soldiers on the three sides.
However, after hearing such good news, Liang Fuchen and Zhang Daozhen's expressions changed, and they both had complicated expressions.
Liang Fuchen and Zhang Daozhen are people who serve the public and protect the country. It is naturally a great joy for the public to receive such good news. However, they are now suspecting that Zhao Junchen is the mastermind behind their kidnapping and imprisonment. Seeing that Zhao Junchen has made such a decision After achieving extraordinary feats, Yu Zi couldn't be happy no matter what.
"Zhao Junchen is really capable... He actually wiped out 100,000 men from the Mongolian coalition... Even I can't imagine such a feat. Zhao Junchen actually accomplished it..."
While muttering to himself, Liang Fuchen's eyes were full of disbelief, with a hint of admiration.
At the same time, Liang Fuchen's suspicion of Zhao Junchen became even stronger!
If Zhao Junchen had been confident that he could achieve such military exploits, then he would have had the reason and motive to bribe the horse bandits to imprison Liang Fuchen! If Liang Fuchen was allowed to successfully arrive at Huamachi Camp to replace Zhao Junchen, Zhao Junchen would have no chance to accomplish this important event!
A great victory unseen in a century, an enviable imperial reward, a battle that changed his reputation, and a world-famous record recorded in history... Such rich rewards were enough for Zhao Junchen to take the risk of imprisoning Liang Fuchen!
Thinking of this, Liang Fuchen did not dare to stay here any longer and waste the opportunity.
No one knew what Zhao Junchen was going to do next. Liang Fuchen felt that he had to rush to Huamachi Camp as soon as possible.
However, the matter of being kidnapped and imprisoned by the horse bandits this time cannot be ignored, and the investigation must continue! "
Therefore, Liang Fuchen said decisively: "Prepare the carriages and horses, I will go to the Huamachi camp now!... Zhang Daozhen, you stay here to continue investigating the truth, Li Hong, you also stay to assist you, I will send Feng Gang, Xiang Zhen and his two men and their guards are here to help you, so we must find out the truth and find the evidence as soon as possible!"
Li Hongnai was Liang Fuchen's second-largest adviser to Zhang Daozhen. Feng Gang and Xiang Zhen were the leaders of Liang Fuchen's bodyguards, and they were both confidants.
Liang Fuchen kept all these people to investigate the truth, which shows how seriously Liang Fuchen took this matter!
Zhang Daozhen also knew that Liang Fuchen had to rush to Huamachi Camp as soon as possible to take control of the situation, so he quickly replied: "Students obey your orders and will never let down the trust of Elder Ge! However, Elder Ge, you must also take care of your health!"
Liang Fuchen nodded, then turned around and called Xu Qingyan, telling him to prepare his carriage and horses and rush to Huamachi Camp as soon as possible.
On the other side, after hearing Liang Fuchen's decision, Xu Qingyan's eyes flashed with a hint of pride!
In fact, most of the flaws that Liang Fuchen and Zhang Daozhen noticed were deliberately revealed to them by Zhao Junchen's instructions!
All politicians are loyal audiences of conspiracy theories, and Liang Fuchen is no exception.
Therefore, Zhao Junchen knew very well that as the biggest beneficiary of Liang Fuchen's imprisonment, even if he did not leave any flaws, he would inevitably be suspected after Liang Fuchen escaped from prison. This was unavoidable.
Therefore, Zhao Junchen simply took the initiative to expose some flaws, which not only increased Liang Fuchen's suspicion, but also gave him the illusion that "as long as he investigates carefully, he can discover the truth."
In this way, Liang Fuchen will focus on this horse bandit stronghold to investigate the truth, instead of going to Huamachi Camp and targeting Zhao Junchen everywhere! Until the truth is investigated clearly, Liang Fuchen's character may make him and Zhao Junchen temporarily weak, which gives Zhao Junchen a buffer time.
At present, Liang Fuchen's influence in Shaanxi and Gansu has been gradually removed by Zhao Junchen. Most of Liang Fuchen's cronies left in Shaanxi and Gansu have been purged or bribed by Zhao Junchen. Liang Fuchen's reputation was greatly damaged due to the kidnapping, and he encountered the right person again. Zhao Junchen, who was at the height of his power, would definitely be weak if he were to compete with Zhao Junchen after arriving at Huamachi Camp. He could only rely on his staff and bodyguards. But now, Liang Fuchen has left all four of his capable officers here to investigate. The case means that Zhao Junchen's intention has been realized.
Even if Liang Fuchen arrived at Huamachi Camp as soon as possible, he would not be able to compete with Zhao Junchen due to the shortage of manpower.
In addition, Zhao Junchen has another plan to take advantage of Liang Fuchen's suspicion in the future.
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And just when Liang Fuchen decided to rush to Huamachi Camp as soon as possible, Zhao Junchen's good news spread throughout Shaanxi and Gansu, and also reached the capital of Zhili!
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