The Xinjing Tea House in the east of the city looks ordinary, just like an ordinary tea house. There is nothing special about it. It seems that there are only a few customers and the business is not very prosperous.
Shao Xi and Long Qitai were sitting in a private room on the second floor of the restaurant opposite. Looking at the crowded scene of Xinjing Teahouse, they couldn't help but secretly wonder if this teahouse was a serious business. How could it be like this before it closed down? It can only be said that this teahouse owner is really persistent.
This street in the east of the city is not really prosperous. If you open a restaurant or cloth shop, you can barely make a living. However, it is not a wise move to open such a tea house in such a not prosperous area.
But this is only from a business perspective. If this place is used as a transfer point for intelligence and news, it would be extremely suitable.
The business is deserted, which naturally avoids crowds of people. It is enough to just use the business shop to hide from others.
For people who don't do business, they don't care whether this teahouse will make money, but Shao Xi is a businessman himself. When he first saw this Xinjing Teahouse, the first thing that came to his mind was What comes to mind is how much profit can this tea house make every month?
After such calculations, I discovered something unusual about this teahouse. A money-losing business has been going on for so long, which only proves that the purpose of opening this teahouse is not the teahouse itself.
Then if you guess further, it will not be difficult to guess. Either there is some shady business behind the teahouse, or they are doing other things. In short, this teahouse is just a cover.
And when Shao Xi and Long Chitai followed Xiao Liuzi and watched him walk into the Xinjing Tea House, there was no need to guess what was going on behind the scenes.
"Brother Long, you have sent people to secretly keep an eye on this tea house in the past six months, but have they noticed it?"
"Of course not! The people I sent here were all transferred from other places, and they don't even know Xiao Liuzi." Long Chitai said very confidently.
"Well, have you ever gone in to make an unannounced visit in this teahouse? Have you found anything wrong?"
"Yes! This teahouse is located in the east of the city. It is not a prosperous place, and there are not many merchants coming and going. Most of the people who appear in this area are craftsmen or traders. Even if they want to drink tea, they should just Drink some cheap broken tea and old tea, but there is no cheap tea in this teahouse.
"What this teahouse sells is actually some famous teas from various places. The pot of Biluochun you drank in the temple today was bought in a package when I sent people to the teahouse for an unannounced visit. According to what the investigators reported when they came back, there was no tea in the teahouse. Cheap tea, this is very contrary to common sense, how can anyone do business like this?" Shao Xi nodded very approvingly, it was indeed a Dali Temple, and just from the tea sold in the teahouse, it was judged that this teahouse was unusual.
It seems that it is not unreasonable for Dali Temple to solve strange cases repeatedly over the years. Everyone in the temple is not an idle person. It is no wonder that the court relies so much on Dali Temple.
"So, there is someone arranged by you in the teahouse right now?"
"There are two of them inside, and the fortune teller who was in front of the restaurant when we first entered the restaurant is also one of our people. In addition, several hawkers walking around the streets also have our people. In order to avoid too many people, The unfamiliar faces alerted them. These people had been doing business on this street for half a year.
"How many people come in and out of this teahouse every day, and how many times each person has been here, someone will report it to me. So far, except Xiao Liuzi, the person who makes us suspicious is the one I mentioned to you before, and the others I didn't find anything wrong.
"However, there is another thing that makes me feel a little strange, and that is that the date of purchase of goods in this teahouse is very fixed. No matter how their business is every month, there will always be a carriage coming to deliver goods on the sixth day of the lunar month. Ordinarily, The business of the tea house is so bad, can they sell out all the goods they bring in every month? This is also unreasonable." Shao Xi had to admit that he was not satisfied with what Long Chitai and his brothers have done in the past six months. The investigation is very satisfactory.
The observations are detailed enough and the records are detailed enough. It seems that this professional matter really needs to be done by professionals. Shao Xi believes that even if it were him, he would not be able to do better than them.
“The tea house only sells famous teas from all over the world, and a horse-drawn carriage will come to deliver the tea at a fixed time on the sixth day of every lunar month!
"If my judgment is correct, this delivery carriage is responsible for delivering the intelligence collected from various places to this Xinjing Tea House, and then conveying the above instructions to various places. The so-called purchase of famous tea is just a means of transmitting information. .
"The reason why the teahouse is opened here and they don't sell cheap tea is not because they don't know how to do business, but because they do it on purpose. The teahouse's business is bleak because they want to avoid being crowded with people and someone sneaking into the tea guests to do something to them. spy.
"It can only be said that they are smart! What they do makes themselves a little abnormal, but it is difficult to detect without careful observation." Although Long Chitai did not object to Shao Xi's statement, he still felt a little surprised.
So he couldn't help but ask: "Using a carriage to deliver the message? Wouldn't that be too slow? If flying pigeons were used to deliver the message, wouldn't it be faster? Why did they choose to use this stupidest method to deliver the message?" Shao Xi smiled slightly and patiently explained to Long Qitai: "Now we have determined what they are planning and doing. Once this kind of thing is leaked, not to mention people falling to the ground, there may even be corpses scattered everywhere.
"How is it possible to use flying pigeons to send messages for such an important matter? Although flying pigeons can send messages quickly enough, they cannot guarantee safety. The safest way is to use people to send messages, and the fewer people, the better. They use this method It may be a little slow to deliver the message, but it can ensure that the message will never be leaked.
"And I believe that they must have this method of flying pigeons to send messages. It's just about what kind of news they want to share. The messages that can be sent by carriage must be extremely important, extremely secretive, and very afraid of being known. ." Shao Xi's explanation was like a sentence that awakened a person in a dream, and Long Chitai suddenly realized it!
It turned out that the other party's seemingly slow and clumsy method of transmitting the message actually had such an important meaning. If it weren't for Shao Xi's reminder, maybe he really couldn't understand why the other party did this for a while?
"Brother! Since this messenger carriage is so important, do you think we should send someone to follow this carriage secretly to see where they have been and who they have been in contact with? Maybe there will be some new discoveries. .”
"No need to follow."
"No need to follow? Brother, why don't you follow such an important clue?"
"There's no need to follow."
"Why is there no need to follow?" Shao Xi was left speechless for a moment by Long Qitai, so he helplessly explained to him: "You can know where this carriage has been through the tea they sent, so why send it?" People follow them all the way? This will increase the risk of being noticed by them.
"As long as you know where they have sent the tea, you can arrange for people to go to the place where the tea is produced in advance. Wouldn't it be better to follow them on the spot?
"At the same time, we can also find out who are the suspicious people in the local area? What suspicious things have happened? Wouldn't it be better to understand their purpose of collecting intelligence in various places?" Long Qitai was stunned by Shao Xi. Living.
"Uh... I was stupid, and I didn't think about it for a moment! It's true as you said, as long as you know where they sent tea, you can know where they have been.
"But as far as I know, there are many types of tea they send. If we arrange manpower in advance as you said, our Dali Temple will not be able to dispatch so many spies and secret agents at the moment." Long Chitai reminded this time Shao Xi, he only thought about how to handle the matter, but did not consider that Dali Temple's manpower was limited. It was indeed difficult for Dali Temple to place manpower in various places in Jingyuan.
In the previous case of the murder of the Baiye Kingdom envoy, Dali Temple, as the department responsible for investigating the murder, was within the scope of its authority to investigate the matter. But now what he wants to investigate involves the court and the royal family. This is not what Dali Temple can do. Feel free to intervene.
Besides, what I am currently investigating and the people I want to investigate are beyond the scope of authority of Dali Temple in a strict sense.
If this matter is left entirely to Dali Temple, it will not only be very difficult, but it is also very likely to cause Dali Temple to be accused of exceeding its authority in the future.
It would be reasonable to ask for assistance from Dali Temple, but they cannot be fully involved. It seems that I have to go to Zhang Yuzheng to discuss this matter in person.
Only the power of "Jing Cheng Si" can do this. after all
The "Jingcheng Division" has personnel deployed all over Jingyuan, and there is no need for even temporary transfers. As long as a secret order is passed down, the spies and hidden stakes in various places will obey the order and move according to the order.
But right now, after all, I am just
The fourth grade inspection history of "Jingcheng Division" is just the second in command! This kind of matter of calling in spies and secret agents from all over the country still requires Zhang Yuzheng.
Only the approval of the head of the "Jingcheng Division" is required. Although he has the imperial decree in his hand, when walking in the officialdom, everyone wants face from each other. It is best not to use power to overwhelm others, otherwise it will be equivalent to putting yourself at risk. The road is blocked.
It is enough for people to know that you have the imperial edict in your hand, and that you have this power. Others will give you face for this power in your hand, but it is best not to use it directly. Don't use it directly.
Lowering your posture will make the other party feel that you have given them face, and it will be much easier for them to handle things, whether it is for the power in your hands or the face you have given them.
What's more, Zhang Yuzheng was Feng Changlin's old boss, so it shouldn't be too difficult for him to make some demands based on this relationship.
Thinking of this, Shao Xi said to Long Qitai: "You don't have to worry about this matter, let me handle it."
