Cao County Lieutenant bowed deeply and reported everything he learned to County Magistrate Xin: "Early this morning, the catcher on duty received a report from the owner of Changle Gambling House on the main street, saying that yesterday Later in the night when I was closing the store for liquidation, I found that the accountant had received more than one hundred taels of fake banknotes, and they also took the evidence with them."
County Lieutenant Cao said as he took out a few banknotes from his arms and handed them to County Magistrate Xin who was sitting behind the desk with a frown on his face for inspection. Then he continued to report: "After that, there were Xijiang Restaurant, Jixiangxuan Restaurant and a few more on East Street. The owners of the snack stalls came one after another to report that they had received counterfeit banknotes, and now Capt. Ding is questioning several store owners in detail. The subordinate was shocked to find that something was wrong, so he came to report it first."
"Ask Ding An to come over and reply immediately after asking, and then send some people to other towns under the jurisdiction to see if similar incidents occur."
"I obey your orders."
Just as County Lieutenant Cao was about to retreat and arrange work for his men, Magistrate Xin called him back: "Call Magistrate He over here. Lieutenant Cao and Ding An should also move faster."
"yes."
He Xian Cheng soon arrived at Magistrate Xin's study. After hearing Magistrate Xin explain the cause and effect, he picked up the fake banknotes on the table and began to study them: "It's strange."
"What's wrong? Did He Xiancheng find something wrong?"
He Xiancheng handed the banknote in his hand forward and put it in front of Magistrate Xin: "Look, Magistrate, this fake banknote does look very similar at first glance, but if you look at it again, you will find that it has There are many things wrong with it. First of all, the material of this paper is much inferior and rougher than the special paper for banknotes. When you hold it against the light, you can see that the paper pulp was not evenly spread and the marks of different thicknesses were visible when the paper was made. Then there is the mark on it. The ink marks, whether they are patterns or handwriting, cannot tell the difference between the thickness of the strokes or the gentleness of the strokes. This forgery technique seems to be too clumsy."
Magistrate Xin nodded thoughtfully: "What Magistrate He said is right. Since he is forging banknotes for expenses, he must be as strict as possible, so that he will not be easily discovered. But these days The counterfeit banknote is too crudely made. Anyone who often comes into contact with banknotes will find it difficult not to notice the clues. It is really contradictory to want to make a fake but to do so."
While the two were talking, Captain Cao came to the study again with the head catcher Ding An.
"The junior official has met the county magistrate."
Magistrate Xin waved his hand and said indifferently: "No need to be polite, let's get down to business. Did you ask for any valuable information?"
Ding An respectfully replied: "The clerk asked several bosses who came to report the case, as well as the accountants of Changle Gambling House, Xijiang Restaurant and Jixiangxuan Restaurant, and found that almost all of these banknotes were collected during the busiest business hours, or at night. It was late at night, the light was dim, and people were tired, so they only discovered it later when they were settling their accounts. It is not unusual for guests in gambling houses and wine shops to pay with banknotes. This incident was quite impressive to several night stall owners. They all said that four young men in their early twenties paid the money with larger banknotes and did not give out a single change after receiving the change. As soon as they had a cup of tea, they would immediately flee the scene. According to the subordinates, it should be the same group of people. The amount of money involved ranged from one, two taels to hundreds of vehicles, the types of shops were diverse, and the route had many twists and turns. , covering a wide range of areas, like a planned gang committing crimes."
He Xian Cheng frowned, feeling that something was wrong: "This is even more strange. Judging from the fraud techniques, this group of people are very skilled. They don't seem to be afraid of being discovered at all, but they are cautious when committing crimes." very……"
County Magistrate Xin also had questions in his mind. It seemed that the only way to answer the questions was to arrest the suspect as soon as possible: "Captain Cao, strengthen the inspection of entrances and exits of the county town, and arrange for painters to use the information of the night stall owners. Confess, draw portraits of the four suspects as soon as possible, Ding An, you continue to increase visits and investigations near several crime scenes, there may be other people who have seen those four people, and strive to arrest these four people as soon as possible!"
"yes!"
Ding An and his detectives took the portraits of the four people painted by the artist and kept checking and asking around the places where the crimes occurred. Not to mention that County Magistrate Xin was right, and someone had really seen them. Not only had they met the four people who committed the crime, but that person also directly pointed out the escape direction of several people.
According to the clues provided by the witnesses, the detectives quickly arrested the four people who spent the counterfeit banknotes. At the same time, the officers who went to the towns under their jurisdiction to inquire about the news also brought back the news. There were also incidents in several towns below. Similar incidents, but either the amount is not that big, or they are discovered on the spot, and among them, there is another town that attracts the most attention, it is Changshui Town!
The reason why we pay attention to Changshui Town is not only because such cases occur more frequently in Changshui Town than in other towns, but also because only in Changshui Town, many cases occur earlier than in all other towns. It seems that everything The roots are all in Changshui Town.
The officials followed the clues and discovered a pair of Jia brothers in Changshui Town. It was they who were selling these crudely made fake banknotes. What was ironic was that they were not the final makers, the Jia brothers. Those rough fake bank notes were made using paper money bought from a grocery store and stamped with a privately engraved red seal.
The officials found Huang Liang's grocery store all the way and confiscated all the banknotes and paper money. They even sealed Huang Liang's store directly!
Unfortunately, Huang Liang, who had heard some news in advance, took his concubine and ran back to the Hu family in Wufang Village.
"Cousin, what are you talking about? Your grocery store was closed by the government! Why? Why did the government seal our store?" Hu Shun couldn't believe his ears. He had just spent a few days counting money every day. How could it be blocked on such a day!
"Where the hell do I know where to go? I only heard that a pair of brothers named Jia bought our paper money and turned it into real banknotes to spend. I guess when the government comes, this is the only thing that can happen? "
"What's the matter with their family named Jia? Why are we closing our shop? You're still being unreasonable!"
"That's nonsense! Maybe he thinks we are all the accomplices named Jia!"
Hu Shun's eyes darkened when he heard this, he was frightened to death, and tears came out in an instant: "Then, then... how can we deal with it? How can my cousin deal with it? We can't be arrested and put in jail. Why don't we just sell it for two pieces of paper money? Why did it become like this!"
Before Huang Liang ran back to Wufang Village, as soon as he heard that the pair of bastards named Jia actually used their own paper money to pass off as bank notes, he immediately became furious and wanted to kill them alive. This damn boy is not going to die. Are you trying to trick him Huang Liang? You must know that counterfeiting banknotes is a damning felony that can lead to beheading!
Knowing that he might not be able to escape this time, Huang Liang thought of a countermeasure before coming back. Fortunately, there was a Chu family in front of him who was more famous than his own. Their family also made those shabby banknotes and paper money and sent them to them. It's not unfair to push someone!
Huang Liang was upset by Hu Shun and shouted at him: "Cry, cry, cry! You big old man, you are crying! Listen to me, anyone who asks will be killed. You can't say that paper money is We made it ourselves, let’s just say we bought it from the Chu family in Kaoshan Village, did you hear that! Remember, we don’t know anything, we just sold it for a small amount of paper money!”
Hu Shun had been confused for a long time. At this time, he could only do whatever Huang Liang said. He had no idea at all, so he didn't react. They had never been able to hide the fact that they opened a workshop to make paper money, so how could they not? Will be exposed!
What he didn't know was that Huang Liang had told him one step less. Once the matter was exposed, Huang Liang had a way to escape, and that was Hu Shun, who had been showing up outside and doing things in the name of the owner of Hu's shop. Hu Shun!
At this time, Chu Yi and Shen Luzhu still didn't know that the paper money made by the Hu family was about to cause a big disaster. In the past few days, the young couple had been helping the grandfather's family next door. After all, Chu Ping, the only Miao Miao, had to go to work. Well, this is a huge happy event for my cousin’s family!
After setting the betrothal gift for the Tang family and choosing a good day, the group set out for Hexi Village under the leadership of the matchmaker.
As the man's family members, the young couple also followed Xiapin's team. Chu Yi looked at his wife beside him, who was full of joy and curiosity, and couldn't help but feel emotional. In the blink of an eye, they had been married for almost two years. Now thinking back to the time when Xiapin The scene at that time was still vivid in my mind as if it happened yesterday, but today I have already held my wife’s hand and helped Chu Ping propose marriage!
During her previous marriage, Shen Luzhu, as the heroine, did not show much publicity, but this time it was different. As Chu Ping's cousin, she helped with the work from beginning to end, which was quite enjoyable.
After the appointment was made, they chatted with each other for a long time at Tang's house. When the young couple was returning from Tang's house in Hexi Village with a group of people, a few people dressed as officials came to the village road over there, asking which house was open. There is a workshop for making paper money!
As Huang Liang expected, the villager who was questioned said without hesitation: "The Chu family in Kaoshan Village! His family has a workshop for making paper money! What are you doing?"
The leader, Ding An, just nodded towards the fellow, as if he didn't hear his question, and continued on his way with his team of men.
One of his young detectives jogged two steps and came to Ding An's side: "Boss, I remember if your hometown is also from a nearby village, why don't you go home and have a look this time?"
"No, business is more important."
Ding An and his party asked and searched along the way. When they found the Chu family's old house, they happened to meet a young couple and Chu Ping's family who had just returned from across the river.
Shen Luzhu looked at a few people dressed like officials, who were standing in front of his shop, looking in. He felt a little suspicious. He was about to step forward to ask, but Chu Yi patted his hand to express comfort and took two steps forward. He asked, "This is my shop. What are the officials doing?"
Ding An turned around and looked at the young man standing opposite him: "You said this is your shop. Your surname is Chu?"
"Exactly."
"Does your family own a workshop and make something called banknotes and paper money to sell?"
Shen Luzhu felt something was wrong, and hurriedly stepped forward and stood beside Chu Yi and responded: "There is a workshop, but the banknotes and paper money were not made in the workshop. I wonder why the official asked about this?"
I saw Dingshan straightening his clothes and saying word by word: "You are suspected of a case of counterfeiting banknotes. Come with us to the county government office!"
