The sky had just turned white the next day, and Jiang Tian had already arrived at a restaurant in Zuoshi City. While looking at the cold and empty market, he listened to the overnight interrogation report from Lin Shunyi, the commander-in-chief. Then he raised his eyebrows and said, "You mean, the target of these assassins is not actually me?"
"That's right..." Lin Shunyi whispered: "According to the confessions of those few who could not survive the torture, they are one of the twenty-four sections of the Assassin's Secret Society, senior members of the Mangzhong Division, and were ordered to assassinate them this time. The target was on another boat; but additional orders were temporarily received.”
"Therefore, we made an exception and added a new target, which was to punish a traitor who had fled to the local area. According to the information we received, he happened to be hiding on the boat where the officer was riding. Therefore, after the previous one succeeded, we took advantage of the situation and launched an attack. Silencing people is a means of confusion to disturb the audience.”
"It's such a connection. It seems that I was the one who prevented the disaster for others." Jiang Tian's expression moved slightly, but he thought of the woman still hidden in the "dimensional bubble". He secretly added something to her account: "Have the identities of the deceased on the other boat been found out?"
"We have compared the local household registration and conducted cross-checks." Lin Shunyi nodded and said: "There were twenty-one people, men, women, old and young, on the boat, and none of them were spared. In addition, there was a businessman who was hosting a private banquet here. The three guests and seven of their followers have also been killed."
"Most of the people serving on the ship were poisoned and killed on the spot; then they attacked and killed the people waiting outside. Finally, when it was the turn of the merchants and guests, they were subdued on the spot and subjected to a short and cruel torture. After being hit in many parts of the body, his throat was wiped with a sharp knife."
"The identity of the businessman among them is a vassal merchant resident in Wengshan (Zhoushan Islands) County. It is said that he is from the Shang Family Guild Hall from Xiaoliuqiu (Okinawa Islands). This time it is because of a large amount of money in the Yangzhou bond market. After making a fortune, I moved to Jiangning to buy local products."
Jiang Tian also frowned slightly when he heard this; the so-called vassal merchants were no better than Fan merchants, similar to the status of suppliers to the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, but the objects of service and negotiation were those overseas princes; the relationship was also more complicated. For example, some merchants from large vassals were also patrons and creditors of these vassal princes.
The Shang clan/trading company from Xiaoliuqiu is not simple either. It is considered an outlier among the feudal lords. Because it is located at the intersection of the routes of Fusang and Haidong princes and the South China Sea princes; it is also the only place where the ocean routes leading to Xinzhou/Beijuluzhou princes and vassals thousands of miles away;
Therefore, in addition to the developed sea trade routes, the sea is known as the most well-informed place among the princes and vassals. Therefore, not only did it maintain a considerable fleet and trading companies on a mere island, but it also established branches in inland areas along the river with the exception of the imperial court.
As for the Yangzhou bond market, it was one of the special bond operation, exchange, and trading places set up by the imperial court in two capitals and sixteen prefectures, relying on Daluowang's flying telecommunications. And because "Yang Yi Yi Er" is the richest in the world, Yangzhou's bond market is also the third largest bond market in the world and the largest bond market in the southeast.
If we say that the items circulating in the bond markets of the two capitals are mainly various national debts, official debts and irregular expansion debts, as well as vassal debts with vassal backgrounds from Helong, Western Regions, Beisai and Andong; then Yangzhou What is circulated and issued in the bond market is more bonds from the princes of the East China Sea and South China Sea.
"But the identity of the guest seems to be a bit of an obstacle; because the thieves chopped his face into pieces and threw his belongings into the water." Lin Shunyi continued: "But by examining the marks on the bodies of those who were killed, , we still found some follow-up clues and clues.”
"Therefore, through overnight interviews with the meritorious officials in Jiangning Mansion and the inspector of the post office, it was initially proved that this guest has a different identity and mission. He is apparently from Donghai Grand Shrine and is the deputy host of the Jiangning branch, but in fact he is also the deputy host of the branch in Jiangning. There is also a hidden identity, that is, the audit officer of the Third Department of Envoys."
"Damn it, did you ask me to run into it?" Jiang Tian couldn't help but muttered when he heard this: Donghai Grand Shrine itself is not simple. Its predecessor was the two giants created by the senior time traveler Liang Gong. Hegemony economic group, the historical origin of Nanfeng Hao and Nanhai Society.
Among them, Nanfeng was once the largest logistics transshipment group in the world; it even directly undertook a series of military supplies transportation and trophy conversion business during Liang Gong's expedition to foreign lands. The Nanhai Society became the Feiqian Alliance that connected the world and was the backbone of Taixing's reform.
But later, as Liang Gong retired to foreign lands, Jianguo Daxia regarded it as a retirement home; these industries that remained in the country also gradually withdrew. Among them, most of the channels and resources of the Nanfeng were placed under the jurisdiction of Sinong Temple/Shaofu Temple, while the Nanhai Society, the Feiqian Alliance, was divided into three.
Some of them specialize in the business of the Western Kingdom, Beiting, and the princes outside the Great Wall, and are named Xiling Grand Shrine; some still use the name of Nanhai Grand Shrine to provide corresponding exchange support for the princes of Nanhai, Tianzhu, and Xiao'ao; and the rest form Donghai Grand Shrine. , to undertake the business of the princes of the East China Sea.
But no matter which one of the three major agencies, for most of the flying money accounts/ticket bureaus in China, they are huge behemoths that are difficult to reach; the various intricate and powerful relationships among them can affect the whole body. These three major societies can also be said to be important components of the vassal system of the Celestial Dynasty.
Just like Jiang Tian's nominally cheap brother-in-law, Pei Wuben, the permanent minister of the vassal vassal academy; part of his daily work involves dealing with these three major societies; and even through the system and framework of the three major societies, he interacts with the vast number of princes and foreign vassals behind them. , engage in a long-term battle of wits and courage/game.
In addition, as the three agencies in charge of national finance and accounting, they also have certain authority; they can assign personnel or form a special audit team to conduct regular audits and audits on the three major companies. They even secretly dispatched personnel to infiltrate it to investigate specific abuses and problems.
The auditor who was hired to kill on the boat was obviously the result of having an ulterior mission; perhaps it was also related to some secret theft and silence. Jiang Tian couldn't help but sigh and said: "Let the cipher text for enabling the flying telegraph message be forwarded to the Third Division Envoy through my channel."
"Sir, the people from Jiangning Town City Department have completed the blockade of nearby markets." At this time, Zhang Jijian, another layman who came with him, stepped forward in the dimly lit morning light and whispered: " The men are also deployed in the nearby city, just waiting for your order."
"Then let's do it!" Jiang Tian nodded, then grabbed a pair of chopsticks and threw them out with his hands; they clanged on the copper plate of the market across the street; in an instant, groups of people suddenly appeared on the empty street. The amateur sergeant wearing a helmet and whipping armor, armed with a licensed gun, ran into the gate of Kaifang City.
As these armored soldiers swarmed in, many motley people rushed out in an instant in the seemingly deserted market; however, before they had time to scream, these sergeants were With quick eyes and quick hands, he pressed them to the ground, and in an instant they were tied into pieces and thrown into the street like rice dumplings.
But those who moved faster than them were the expert team members in black (worm shell) light armor; they almost jumped over the wall and stepped on the roof as fast as flying; they arrived at the suspected target first. construction area. It was a medium-sized warehouse with a front store and a back warehouse.
Immediately afterwards, they took out the ball bullets hanging from their waists, lit them with a quick fire, and then threw them in one after another at the transoms, vents and window openings in various parts of the building; the next moment, they heard a dull and continuous banging sound; Suddenly, streams of acrid gray smoke quickly emerged from these places.
This is one of the medicated smoke cartridges specially prepared by Xijingli Xingyuan, which contains a variety of stinking and irritating ingredients; it is a non-lethal weapon specially used to disperse crowds. Of course, although it is a non-lethal weapon, you may be knocked unconscious if you inhale too much.
The probability of suffocating to death on his own vomit cannot be said to be completely non-existent. But the advantage is that it can be neutralized and degraded by burning and spraying diluted acetic acid afterwards, without turning the entire area into a long-term stinky and irritating pollution zone.
In fact, with the rapid introduction of these medical cigarette cartridges, smoke billowed into the air; the goods warehouse also quickly appeared, and the noise was endless; roaring screams, violent coughing and vomiting, There was also the loud clanking sound of furniture and utensils being overturned as they stumbled along the way...
Then, it turned into men and women with disheveled clothes and disheveled hair hurriedly breaking open the door and jumping out of the window; then they were caught by flying ropes; they were dragged to the ground and hung again. But there are also some who take the unusual path and suddenly break through the tile roof and get trapped in a tight siege.
Then, in the short struggle, chase and screams, he rolled down from the roof like a rice dumpling, disgraced, bruised and bloody... In the end, the killer twenty-four who was confessed here In the first section, a total of forty-one people in the secret stronghold of the Mangzhong tribe were captured.
Then, under a surprise interrogation that was tightly sealed on the spot, some people couldn't help but confess several other locations, including strongholds inside and outside the city where they were hiding, secret lines for gathering information, and properties where stolen goods were hidden and sold. So they continued to dispatch manpower to check and search. Take it, and get more.
One of them was even used by Shangyuan County Lieutenant of Jiangning Prefecture as a villa for housewives. There were many strange weapons, gold and silver money, and materials for preparing poisons and wound medicine buried there. Then, he used this to reveal the secret mastermind of the Mangzhong assassins, Danyang Inspector Wei Chang.
Since then, as the famous killer Twenty-four Section, the important branch in the south, the Mangzhong tribe, has been basically destroyed except for a few fish that slipped through the net. However, after all this trouble, Jiang Tian also felt that he was going further and further down the road of not doing his job properly.
However, this also brought about an unexpected effect; that is, local officials seemed to be stimulated in some way, and their efficiency became more effective. Therefore, Jiang Tian obtained the documents from the Jiangning Inspection and Transfer Department on the third day, and initially confirmed the origin of the broken ship in the city ruins.
According to the inscription on the inside of the multi-section cast iron keel, it was one of the 67 thousand-material official ships built by the Yangzi Shipbuilding Company in Yangzhou Prefecture in the sixth year of Fengping. It was then assigned to the fifth battalion of the Guangling Cao Army to serve as a sea and land ship A horse-drawn ship that transports ships between ships; it will be retired early after five years.
On the grounds that it had been severely damaged by repeated storms and was not suitable for entering the sea, it was resold nearby to Sox, a wealthy merchant on the coast of eastern Zhejiang. A few years later, Suo Shi encountered operational difficulties and privately transferred the ferry fleet to and from Yizhou, including this thousand-material official ship; when it reappeared, it was under the name of Yizhou Yuwen Fan.
However, according to the last official record, this large ship with thousands of materials was unfortunately encountered in a storm at sea when it was heading to Mingzhou a few months ago. Unfortunately, including the person who escorted the ship, the bow of the ship, and the captain, it sank in the open sea. ;At that time, only a few boatmen were able to escape by swimming...
(End of chapter)
