Although Aying felt sorry for her husband, she heard from Mr. Wu how dangerous this incident was. The entire Xi'an Mansion relied on Li Dan to make decisions, so she had to wake him up cruelly: "Mr. Wu and the others are here, you How about we meet in this room?"
The dizzy Li Dan sat beside the bed. He knew that he had lost a lot of blood. "Okay, invite them in." He nodded, and then asked Yutong to set up some chairs next to the bed.
Wu Mao and others came in to greet them, and Li Dan grinned: "Fortunately, I just rubbed my ribs, otherwise it would be difficult to meet you!"
"We have all heard about it. Fortunately, Xingwu is with us." Wu Mao was still worried: "I didn't expect there were other forces in the city. What happened to this fake monk from Gansu?" He came from Zhao Baogen. I heard about it by mouth.
"We haven't found out the truth yet, but what's more troublesome than this is that Prefect Meng is missing!"
The room fell silent for a moment, and several people looked at each other in shock. "A fourth-grade prefect is missing?" Lin Yutang felt that he heard wrongly: "But he still has followers, so he shouldn't be going out alone?" xь.
"I just found out about this. I guess the Chief Secretary has also received the report now." Li Dan supported his body, asked Aying to put some cushions and pillows behind his back, and then continued:
"He left home in the morning and hasn't returned yet. I have authorized Mr. Tochito to act as the prefect. No one has even come back to deliver the letter for such a long time. There must be something wrong inside!"
"The first priority is to solve the current chaos caused by the Zodiac Sect. We are afraid that the forces in Gansu will get involved."
"From the current information, the two families did not join hands. They just bumped into each other by chance in Xi'an City." Li Dan said, then looked at Zhou Zheng and told Zhou Zheng what he had learned about the arrangements of the Zodiac Sect inside and outside the city.
"That Gedan Temple is a Yellow Sect temple, and we have security guards." King Zhou Tian said:
"It is estimated that some of their great masters are hiding in there disguised as Yellow Dao monks. Although we find that people from the Yellow Dao sect often go there, we don't know which one they are looking for?"
"This Lu Rui has been mastered. You can fight with him. The Grand Master will be hunted by the Winged Dragon Guard. You and Wei Xiong will close the net of the surrounding Zodiac Sect members." Zhou Zheng nodded and agreed.
Then Li Dan said to Lin Yutang and Xiao Gui: "The disappearance of Mr. Meng is not a trivial matter. You will investigate overnight and ensure the safety of Mr. Meng!"
After Mr. Meng is rescued, it is not appropriate for him to return to his post for the time being. He should first be sent to Mr. Wei of the Procuratorate to find out what happened. "
Even if Magistrate Meng is found or rescued, we still need to know where he went when he was not in charge of government affairs for such a long time, or how he fell into the hands of thieves, and why his followers and guards did not come back to report.
This not only involves whether there is collusion or betrayal with bandits, but also the background and motive of the crime, so Li Dan said that he would hand it over to the Procuratorate and ask them to investigate matters involving local officials.
Li Dan finally left Wu Mao behind and told him that he was still a little worried about Nancheng's military strength.
"In the area from Yongning Gate to Nanguo Gate, we can invest at most three and a half battalions of the Biao Camp and a thousand troops from the Wu'an Army, but it is difficult to predict the number of rebels." Li Dan said:
"If they really incite tens of thousands of people to rise up, these thousands of soldiers may not be able to stop them!"
Wu Mao thought about it: "If there are really tens of thousands of people gathering, there will be no signs, especially since they will gather from the four compartments to Fucheng. They will camp at night and there will be people flowing during the day. It is impossible not to detect them.
Just send some scouts out of the city to lurk, and if there are any fireworks or pigeon signals, you can warn them. "
"That's right, the dozens of homing pigeons transferred from Gansu have never been put to practical use. This time we just used them to see what they are capable of!
Brother Wu, please arrange for Xie Saner (Xie Rentang) to do it. Try not to alert the rebels, but you must pass the information back safely and accurately. "Li Dan changed to a more comfortable position, frowned and said:
"The Wu'an Army has already allocated 6,000 troops. I'm worried that the defense in the north will be too empty. What do you think should be done?"
Wu Mao also frowned: "This group of people must have gathered a larger force around our house, so they dared to peek into the city.
But now
It is unrealistic to bring back the officers and soldiers from Tongchuan and Fuping! That might open the door for the rebels in the north. "
Suddenly his eyes lit up: "Sir, what if we organize the people who are building the roads?"
Li Dan raised his head and thought: "It's something we can consider. Anyway, the people opposite are temporarily organized. How many people on the construction site can be rushed over? How can we deal with the weapons?"
The Tongchuan section couldn't catch up, so Wu Mao counted on his fingers:
"There are currently 17,000 people in Jingyang, Sanyuan, Gaoling, Lintong and Weinan. In particular, the 4,000 people in Weinan are migrant workers recruited from Henan and Shanxi by merchants. Not only are they in good physical condition, but they should not have been infiltrated by the Zodiac. !
These people all have carrying poles, crowbars, mallets, pitchforks, shovels and other things in their hands that can be used as simple weapons. Presumably the weapons in the hands of those who rebelled are similar to these. If we replenish a small number of guns and spears from the arsenal, it will be enough. "
"Okay!" Li Dan nodded: "On the pretext of assisting the officers and soldiers, let each area be mobilized on a county or township basis. Volunteers will be the main ones, and those who come will be paid double the day. The main purpose is to help the officers and soldiers guard key points and check pedestrians. , transportation and treatment.
Those who are injured will receive an additional two to three months' salary, those who are killed will receive military pension, and the whole family will be exempt from taxes for three years!
I heard that Gu Da is the most devoted to Lintong team training and is known as the number one in Shaanxi? He asked Shiji (Du Shiji) to go to Weinan to recruit troops. He would bring as many troops as he could recruit and train them with the Lintong regiment, and then bring them to Qinglong Temple to be on standby. Let Wang Xi be in charge of this team, with Shi Ji as his deputy. "
As he spoke, Li Dan motioned to Lu Jiu to get a map and pointed with his finger: "Miyuan's team is responsible for guarding all the ferries on the Wei River and the bridges to the city, ensuring that the officers and soldiers have priority when moving!
Jingyang and Gaoling commandeered all the ships on the river to go south, while the Jingyang team guarded all ferries and bridges on the Feng River.
Full martial law was ordered in Fengxiang Prefecture. Fengxiang guerrilla Huang Zhiqiang led a team of 1,000 people to set off immediately, gathering together the regiments from Weimei County, Yangling, Qishan, and Wugong in Chencang to march eastward.
If there is an uprising by the Zodiac on the way, we will destroy it, and then we will gather in Xianyang to defend the guerrilla Xue Fu. We will make arrangements for the rest of the matter according to the development of the situation. "
"Okay!" Wu Mao nodded: "In this way, we have deployed a mobile regiment outside Fucheng. It can cross the Wei River to the south, east, or cross the Jing River to the north at any time."
"That's it." Li Dan rolled up the map: "Sir, please prepare an order and send it to the capital commander overnight. Remember to add one sentence: Don't disturb the tombs of emperors during the march, and move quickly!"
In addition, he ordered the warehouses to be replenished and a month's supply of rations provided to the army. "
"This...?" Wu Mao said quickly: "Xingpingcang is a national grain reserve and cannot be used without the order of the court."
"Borrowing, not using." Li Dan smiled: "There is food in Laodian on the other side, but we can't transport it across the river for the time being."
"Then why not... let the team cross the river from Mei County and go to the south bank. This will make it easier to find a flooded store and save the trouble of Chang Ping warehouse. In addition, if there are really thieves attacking the warehouse, it can also play a role in relieving the siege."
Li Dan was right: "I want to know whether it is easy to cross the river in Xiamei County. It would be best if I could go to the south bank. I am worried about the raccoon water, black water, and waterlogging after passing Xiegu Pass, and the troops crossing the river. You should also be concerned about it.”
"They have plenty of ways to build roads and bridges across mountains and rivers." Wu Mao said with a smile. Only then did Li Dan realize that he had used too many "logistics first" ideas in his previous life and thought too much for them. He couldn't help but shake his head and waved his hand mockingly.
"So, the Grand Master has decided to start an uprising tomorrow?" Lu Rui asked the fake monk Huaisheng who had returned from Gedan Temple in the shadow: "He doesn't suspect you, does he?"
"Absolutely not!" Huaisheng shook his head: "He also said that if those fake monks from Gansu are willing to work with us, we can consider recruiting them, but we can't tell all the plans, so we must have reservations."
Lu Rui nodded with satisfaction: "Okay, remember, they will definitely question you after you go back. Just like the great master said, you can win them over and see what their ideas are.
If they are willing to join, arrange for them to go to Pishi Street to rob Chasi Prison. I will send about ten people to wait there.
We will meet when we are ugly. "
"I understand. Just tell us that our important leaders are imprisoned there and ask them for help?"
Lu Rui smiled: "You are very smart. Yes, let's put it this way. If they agree, you use this pen to put a check on this piece of paper and try to squeeze it out through the crack of the door. The signal is two long and two short, and the response is Two are short and one is long. Remember?"
"Understood, I remember it all, little guy!" Monk Huaisheng took the piece of paper and a short pencil and put it into his pocket.
"Okay, do it well. Seeing as you are just doing it for a living, I will forgive you after the incident is settled. Take care of yourself! Go back."
After speaking, Lu Rui pointed to the alley behind Chaimen of Kaiyuan Temple, and then watched him disappear into the darkness. "Leave two people to guard this chaimen." He said softly, and someone behind him responded.
Turning around and crossing the street, Lu Rui headed towards the City God Temple. The prefect's Yamen execution room took the lead, and the Inspection Department, Wing Dragon Guards, and Staff Division set up a "temporary headquarters" on West Street because it was currently found that most followers of the Zodiac Sect were concentrated in the southwest.
He didn't think the Zodiac Rebellion was that serious. With the army and the governor's battalion, he believed that this group of people wouldn't cause any trouble.
However, the disappearance of Magistrate Meng put a lot of pressure on him. Apart from the torture chamber, the Winged Dragon Guards are now the most nervous about this matter, because it happens to be within their scope of responsibility.
After greeting the guard and giving the signal, he walked into a courtyard. The lights in the upper room were blocked by reed curtains, and four patrolmen from the inspection department stood under the corridor.
When he entered the room, he was greeted by a depressing atmosphere, and his heart sank. It seemed that there was still no progress. "Done?" Zhou Tianwang asked.
"Yeah!" Lu Rui nodded: "It's not difficult to make him be used by me anyway. Where do you guys have no clues?"
"The clues are still broken." Gao Fei told him hoarsely:
"Someone saw the adult's sedan entering Wen's Clothes Shop, but the detective in the execution room only saw the empty sedan and not a single person. Wei Xiong (Wei Xiong) passed by and was digging around to find it."
"Found it, found it!" As soon as he finished speaking, Wei Xiong rushed in from outside the courtyard: "The people from the clothes shop and the bearers have been found! Guess what? There is an empty yard in the alleyway by the back door, and everyone is locked up. It’s in that yard!”
"What about Lord Meng?" Zhou Zheng asked quickly.
"Only Mr. Meng is not there, everyone else is here!"
Zhou Zheng was a little disappointed and immediately asked: "When did they separate from Master Meng?"
"It was said that they separated as soon as the kidnappers appeared, and Mr. Meng was taken to another room. But a book boy said that he might know who the kidnappers were."
"Who is it?" several asked in unison.
"It's someone named Baosheng. The book boy said that when he accompanied the adults to visit the salt merchant Yan Xin's house, he saw his back from a distance."
"Then how can he be sure that this is the kidnapper?"
"The book boy said that he heard his elders say, 'Brother Baosheng, how dare you...' after being taken to the yard?"
"Then what?"
"No, that's all."
Several people were a little downcast after hearing this. "That's it? It's better not to say anything. It's useless!" Gao Fei didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"Not necessarily." Xiao Gui, who had been silent in the corner, suddenly said something leisurely. Seeing everyone looking at him, he stood up: "Old Wei, is the clothing store far away? Take me to see it."
"Why not, let's go together!" Zhou Zheng suggested. Everyone followed Wei Xiong out. It turned out that the clothing store was in the alley opposite the bell tower, not far away.
When I went in to take a look, the businessmen had guarded the courtyard very tightly. The rescued people were all in the courtyard, and they were all in shock. Several people found the book boy and chatted with him for a while to ask some questions. They all found an empty room to discuss.
At this time Fu Xingfang and Qin Dutou from the prefect's Yamen also came. Xiao Gui asked: "Do you know there is a person named Baosheng, or the nickname is Baosheng?
This man is about 27 or 27 years old, with a short beard on his upper lip. He is about 7 feet 5 or 6 tall. He has a Yansui accent. His family is in the cotton and cotton cloth business? "
"Cotton and cotton cloth business
? "Fu Xingfang and Qin Dutou were surprised: "It's rare to do this. There are only three relatively large ones in the local area, named Su, Yang, and Liu, and the others are smaller merchants."
"If you ask people in this industry, I'm afraid the Liu family is the best choice. His family accounts for 40% of the industry, and everyone in the industry knows everything about it. It's just...it's very late today." Fu Xingfang said.
"This way the door will easily disturb the neighbors at night." Xiao Gui nodded.
"Mr. Xiao, what do you mean, this person may be related to his family?"
"It's hard to say, but we have to make preparations for this." Xiao Gui looked at everyone and said, "This may be the end of the night. Everyone, take a rest. Let's go disturb the Liu family tomorrow morning.
However, we must first arrange surveillance on his house, arrange all relevant alleyways, and deploy manpower at the front and back doors. Qin Dutou will take good care of the book boy and bring him here tomorrow morning. He is an important witness! "
