Su Xiaolou, Zhen Dexiu and others drove a carriage tied into a hedgehog back to the Yangzhou Salt Transportation Department, and handed the three assassins to the Yamen. The seriously injured Zhao Si was arranged to go to the hospital, and there was a special person to protect him. , and when Zhao Qinghe is caught, a trial can be held to clear the name of Li Juzi's deceased wife and provide justice.
Why did they hear that Zhao Qinghe had escaped and immediately issued a wanted order for him on the charge of dereliction of duty and conducted a nationwide search? As a result, the corrupt officials in Yangzhou immediately became alert. The court was already planning to take action against them. How could they just sit back and wait for death? , the next road will be more difficult.
Although Su Xiaolou and He Bi both felt that Zhao Qinghe was absconding out of fear of crime, Zhen Dexiu and even the captor who had just heard about the incident felt that Zhao Qinghe was missing or had been killed.
As expected, the search in the next few days yielded no results, not even the body was found. Zhao Qinghe seemed to have disappeared from the world, and Su Xiaolou gradually felt that Zhao Qinghe had been silenced.
Assuming that Zhao Qinghe is absconding in fear of crime, it would be difficult for him to escape without the customs clearance documents. Even if Zhao Qinghe is a water transport expert and obtains the customs clearance documents in advance, because the large ship that uses the water transport has already gone far, it will be difficult for him. Learning a foreign accent will inevitably arouse the suspicion of the urban management when entering and exiting city checkpoints, and once he escapes, his household registration will be lost.
When Zhen Dexiu went to arrest Zhao Qinghe, he found that he left without even saluting. He must not have brought a large amount of money with him that day. Without household registration, he could not build a house, buy land, or settle down. That is the refugees, who are not protected by Ming law and are easily robbed by bandits, but even the refugees should not have any information and can only be silenced.
After Li Juzi heard the news, he couldn't hide the disappointment in his eyes. Now that there was no way to clear his dead wife's name, Su Xiaolou took the initiative and took the initiative to discuss with Zhao Si, asking him to come forward to clarify to the villagers after he recovered from his injuries. The truth is that Zhao Si agreed to this because of Su Xiaolou's life-saving grace. Li Juzi was very grateful to Su Xiaolou.
Zhao Qinghe's whereabouts are now unknown, and Li Juzi's case can only be shelved. Why order people from the Salt Transportation Department to build a small school at the Lianghuai Salt Factory and specially invite Li Juzi to give lectures? There is no need to go to the salt farm to cook salt. Nowadays, salt residents can use their remaining salt to exchange for some money, so there should be no problem in paying for school fees.
At night, Su Xiaolou, He Bi and others gathered to discuss things.
After getting along for a period of time, several people have become very familiar with each other, so why bother to go straight to the point and say: "Salt affairs are closely related to water transportation, and Zhao Qinghe is also knowledgeable about water transportation. I plan to set off tomorrow morning to check Yangzhou Prefecture and Huai'an Prefecture. It will probably take more than half a month for the water transportation and dams in Xuzhou Prefecture to come back."
"The arrest leader stayed here to continue searching for evidence. The real hundred households are going with me to carry out water transportation." Why did he look like Su Xiaolou: "Do you want to go with me to check the water transportation?"
Su Xiaolou shook his head: "I'm afraid that the arrest leader won't be able to handle it alone, so I'd better stay and search for evidence with him!"
Mainly because Su Xiaolou felt that the road was bumpy and not very friendly to his butt.
"That's fine, then you can stay."
…
The moon was above the willow branches, and stars appeared on the horizon. The distant sound of the clock could be heard in the alley. It was already midnight. Su Xiaolou and his party were holding lanterns and walking on the dim street. There were only a few pedestrians on the road.
On the list of corrupt officials of the Ministry of Punishment, whether it is a coincidence or man-made, three people have disappeared. One is an official from the salt class, one is a river official, and the other is Zhao Qinghe, a fellow magistrate of Pingchuan County.
The arrest leaders are now two in size. Once he finds some evidence and has a suspect, he starts to disappear before he can arrest the interrogator. This is obviously someone behind the scenes who is destroying the evidence.
Su Xiaolou asked: "Bao Bao, who do you suspect is the person behind this?"
The leader snorted coldly: "Who else can you tell by just looking at the biggest fish on the list?"
"Do you suspect it is Wu Wanli, the prefect of Yangzhou?"
"He was just an errand boy. He was not the one who took action. The people who really wanted to kill those people were indeed in the capital."
Su Xiaolou nodded: "Our biggest clue right now is that once we find some clues, they will be broken. If you ask me, we will just post the list and hold a Hongmen Banquet. When the people come, we will go out and capture them all!"
"My dear brother, if you arrest someone without evidence, you will disregard the laws of the Ming Dynasty. Let alone arresting people, it is a crime for us from the Criminal Department to break into the official residence of the imperial court without permission."
Su Xiaolou said disdainfully: "Your punishment department is troublesome. We, the Jinyi Guards, always arrest people before we start talking about them. There are a few who can withstand severe punishment and keep quiet."
"So your Jin Yiwei's reputation is worse than ours from the Criminal Department."
"Hahahahahaha... It's not just smelly, it's simply notorious. I think it's good to be smelly. I don't have to feel as aggrieved as you from the Criminal Department."
The said arrest leader was a little envious: "That's right!"
Su Xiaolou suggested: "Nowadays, these corrupt officials must be working together to make trouble. They know that once we find clues, they will be silenced. Since they cannot be broken from the outside, it is better to try to disintegrate their alliance from the inside."
The catcher frowned and thought. He actually didn’t know much about the matters in the court. He was just a catcher, far away from the center of power. All he had to do every day was to investigate cases. The catcher asked in confusion: "Brother Yixian How to disintegrate the view from within.”
Su Xiaolou sneered: "A group of jackals, tigers and leopards gather together for profit. They will definitely quarrel because of the uneven distribution of the spoils. Now they seem to be united, but they are just to save their lives. Then we will choose someone to help them. Will that person? I’m going to bite them back!”
The head Bao Bao nodded: "Anyway, the news has leaked out now, so we can only try to treat the dead horse as a living horse."
"I will go back and check the background of the corrupt officials on the list again, and choose a dog suitable to bite them. The other three missing people are also important clues and must be investigated. I have to notify the Yangzhou Cleaning Department and ask them to They sent someone over to check.”
Su Xiaolou felt a burst of annoyance in his heart: "There are so many things going on now! Yangzhou is such a prosperous and good place. It took a lot of effort for me to come to Yangzhou. I don't even have time to live happily."
As the group was walking, the road suddenly became clearer. When they looked up, they saw that the mansion in front of them was spacious and gorgeous. In front of the vermilion gate, two mighty stone lions stood guard on both sides. The tall courtyard walls could not block the carved beams and painted beams. The exposed golden glazed tiles of the pavilion shine brightly in the dim light. If you stand at the door and listen carefully, you can still hear the sound of flowing water on the small bridge. Next to it is a large rockery, an ancient stage, exquisite jade, and a bamboo forest.
The scholar asked in confusion: "The Ming Dynasty moved its capital again? I never heard of it!"
The fat man was a little unconvinced: "If you want to move, you will move back to Nanjing. How can you move to Yangzhou?"
Su Xiaolou rolled his eyes at the fat man and the scholar: "Your eyes are just like decorations. Yangzhou is the fiefdom of Prince Ning. There are three big characters like 'Prince Ning's Mansion' at the door. You two can't see it, but you still want to move the capital! It's so easy to move the capital." matter."
But it is not an exaggeration to say it is a palace. His residence is not much smaller than the palace. Prince Ning is the biggest in Jiangsu and no one can control him. Even if he is the grandfather of the current emperor, the emperor must give him some points. Even if the mansion is trimmed beyond the regulations, many people will turn a blind eye.
Su Xiaolou heard that Prince Ning was already in his seventies. When he was young, he often caused trouble in the capital. When he was still hunting, he shot out the eyes of the youngest son whom he loved the most in the Duke's mansion. Seeing the bloody mess of his little son who was carried back, the Duke was so frightened that he pouted on the spot. When he woke up, he refused to let go. He united all his cronies to seek an explanation. Under pressure from many parties, the young Prince Ning left the capital. , arrived in Yangzhou, his fiefdom, ahead of schedule.
Now King Ning is sitting in Jiangsu and living in such a magnificent mansion. It seems that he has not stopped in these years. He is just getting older, his methods are smarter, and he is better at disguise. He disdains the clumsy way of blinding the enemy's eyes with arrows. means.
