novelAbuy Chapter 227 Missing
Chapter 227 Missing
Chapter 227 Missing
Outside the Huangtiangang deposit office, seven or eight people were queuing up, chatting and laughing.
Lu Chaoen sat behind the desk, casually drafting a receipt as he said, "Manager Liu from Laichun Township, making a round trip to Yixing Prefecture, carrying eighty shi of goods, and receiving five ingots of paper money."
Upon hearing this, Manager Liu frowned and said, "Why is it a bit more expensive than last time?"
"The Changqiao Navy suffered a defeat on Taihu Lake, and the bandits are becoming increasingly rampant, so we need to raise the price." Lu Chaoen said without looking up, handing the bidding token to the side.
Sitting next to him was a boy with a childlike face. He was the son of the head of Tai Ning Township and the nephew of Li Shier, the chief of the city who was killed. His name was Jiang Cheng. He looked to be only fourteen or fifteen years old, but he signed and stamped the document very quickly. After finishing in one go, he looked up at Manager Liu.
Someone behind Manager Liu was already urging him on: "Liu Erlang, you've made a profit on both trips, no less than twenty ingots. Why are you being so indecisive? Move aside, I need to go have a drink with Ge Tikong after I finish my business. Hurry up."
His words were tinged with a hint of boasting.
Manager Liu sighed, moved to Jiang Cheng, paid the money, and took the token.
"The ship will depart in two days, stop in Wuxi for a day to unload the cargo, and then head to Yixing," Jiang Cheng reminded them.
Manager Liu cupped his hands in a respectful gesture, then turned and left.
"Master Qi of Xiapu made one trip to Danyang—" Lu Chaoen continued to report.
After an unknown amount of time, the queue outside the signing room gradually dispersed, and the two drilling ships that had just become available were assigned cargo transport tasks.
One train departs in two days, travels along the canal to Wuxi, then enters Taihu Lake, and stops at Yixing, requiring a towboat.
The other route departs three days later, following the canal to Wuxi, then rejoins the Grand Canal, and travels from Changzhou to Danyang, requiring a porter.
Seven or eight merchants shared two boats, each carrying an average of about a hundred shi (a unit of dry measure) of goods, which wasn't actually a lot. But Jiangyin only had a population of 400,000, so the scale of business had its limits, and this amount of goods was already quite good.
After the delivery plan was finalized, the Zhou brothers, Yan Zhongyi, and Ding Ren, who were practicing their craft by the bamboo forest, soon received the news.
Yan Zhongyi put down his ring-handled sword, wiped his sweat, and said, "How about I make a trip to Yixing Prefecture?"
The Zhou brothers nodded in agreement.
Ding Ren turned his head and glanced at Shao Shuyi, who was having a meeting with guests not far away, but did not object.
Yan Zhong smiled and said, "Ding Da, you can go and run Danyang yourself. No one's going to take it from you."
Ding Ren was silent for a moment, then put down his bow and said, "I'm not very familiar with Changzhou and Zhenjiang, so there might be fighting on the way."
"Bring more people," Yan Zhongyi said. "A dozen or so should be enough, right?"
There was still some worry in Ding Ren's eyes.
Yan Zhongyi didn't want to say any more.
Being unfamiliar with Changzhou and Zhenjiang makes the journey difficult, as you might have to contend with local freight carriers along the way. But is Yixing any easier to navigate? Not necessarily.
Wuxi doesn't really have any strong freight transport capabilities. Even if it did, it would have been defeated and could only follow behind them and pick up scraps. But Taihu Lake is difficult to navigate!
It's not that you'll inevitably be robbed once you enter Taihu Lake. If that were the case, the government would lose face and might have to spend a lot of effort to suppress the bandits. In fact, most of the time you won't encounter any water bandits.
But if you walk at night too often, you're bound to encounter ghosts. What if you run into bandits on Taihu Lake one day? Just imagine what would happen. You might not be wiped out, but casualties are inevitable.
It's really not a matter of which path is better or worse.
Yan Zhongyi quickly went to a bamboo house, explained the situation to the people who were eating, and then selected about ten people.
While taking attendance, I glanced at the food prepared for lunch.
Not bad, plenty of rice, including a few salted fish and some seasonal vegetables. We'll probably have a big meal with wine and meat tomorrow night, then a good night's sleep before setting off on the third morning.
To be honest, outsiders always say that Cao She made a fortune transporting goods, but in the eyes of people like Yan Zhongyi who know the inside story, he probably didn't make much. The reason is simple: feeding the boatmen and laborers to their hearts' content was an enormous expense.
You can't imagine how much someone who does heavy physical labor can eat. Yan Zhongyi can eat a whole basin of noodles by himself, and the others can't eat much less.
He strongly suspected that rice, noodles, salted fish, fruits and vegetables, and the occasional ration of wine and meat could erode the vast majority of the revenue from transporting goods. If you also factor in the tributes to the government, the wear and tear on the porters' hammering skills, and the cost of repairing the ships, it's hard to say whether transporting goods would be profitable at all.
On the other side, Ding Ren came to the dirt road by the river and told the boatmen who were practicing sword and shield combat techniques in pairs about their trip to Danyang in three days.
No one objected; they were used to it.
As the saying goes, "He who has a sharp blade will naturally have a murderous heart." The swaggerers were not exactly honest and simple people; they were always eager to fight. Now that they were equipped with swords and shields and had people come regularly to give them martial arts pointers, they felt different.
Out-of-town boatmen and haulers? They're still at the level of mere brawling; they're no match for us. If we don't encounter them, it's fine, but if we do, we'll give them a good beating and see if they dare to try and steal from us again.
Ding Ren then had everyone line up in a row, holding shields in their left hands to protect their chests and swords in their right hands to their foreheads, before striding forward.
After only a few steps, the group became crooked and disorganized.
He shook his head, thinking to himself that it was fortunate Cao She hadn't seen him, otherwise he would have been greatly disappointed.
"Let's go eat," he said, waving helplessly.
Compared to Cao She's group of fierce-looking men, their group of towmen was rather weak, having received too little training.
As Ding Ren led everyone toward the dining hall, he looked toward the bamboo grove in the distance.
Shao Shuyi was still discussing matters with Fan Ting, a clerk in the prefectural government.
"Qianming Guangfu Temple is indeed not far away, but I have something to do today and can't go." Shao Shuyi shook his head and said, "I have to go to Suzhou tomorrow, and I don't know when I'll be back, so forget it."
Fan Ting hesitated for a moment and said, "Cao She, isn't it unwise to refuse a Censor-in-Chief like this? A Zen temple isn't a den of dragons or tigers. Are you worried about being captured?"
Shao Shuyi glanced at him but didn't say anything.
He did indeed have two informants in the "special task force," namely Qi Le and Qi Erlang, but the two are still in Songjiang Prefecture and regularly receive messages through Wang Huadu.
The last correspondence was on September 25th.
Censor Du Zhigu investigated several salt fields and discovered many problems, causing panic among local officials. Even high-ranking officials from the Lianghuai Transportation Bureau intervened.
Upon learning of this, Han Yuanshan ordered Du Zhigu to investigate only matters related to the red headband, and to ignore everything else. In other words, other violations could be turned a blind eye, and only the red headband issue needed to be investigated.
After this adjustment, the safety of Du Zhigu and his group was indeed greatly improved, and local officials were also willing to tell the truth.
According to Qi Le, who was in charge of recording and copying, what they had learned so far was limited and they were becoming increasingly confused, because the robbery at the sand pit was committed by a "Brother Chen" and not the "Brother Meng" they had originally thought.
The clues were contradictory, and the local residents testified that the accents of the two visitors were different, leading to a stalemate in the case.
Upon learning of this, Shao Shuyi did not reply. Instead, he sent a message to them, urging them not to send messages too frequently, to prioritize their own safety, and not to expose themselves.
In addition, he also asked about Zhang Ci's situation.
Qi Le replied that the Taizhou area was under the jurisdiction of the Censor Zhang Ci, and they had no contact with him. They only occasionally heard snippets of information, saying that Fang Guozhen, Cai Luantou, Li Daweng, and others had all been investigated and none of them had escaped.
With such a large commotion, the undercover investigation gradually turned into an overt investigation.
Officials from Wenzhou and Taizhou intervened on behalf of the family, but what happened afterward is unknown.
The clerk Zhao Fuliu died in mid-September. The reason was that he was beaten to death on the spot in a quarrel with a woman in a brothel. The perpetrator escaped at night and could not be caught.
After hearing this, Shao Shuyi was secretly alarmed, but also secretly pleased.
These days, there are generally three ways to solve a case. The first is, of course, to investigate seriously and close the case properly. The second is to just grab a scapegoat and close the case hastily. The third is to keep investigating, pretending to investigate seriously, which takes a long time but yields no results.
The first type is already in the minority; the latter two are the mainstream.
Shao Shuyi wanted to see which path Han Yuanshan would choose.
He wasn't naive enough to think Han Yuanshan wouldn't investigate him; in fact, that was impossible. The two censors went to Songjiang Prefecture and Taizhou Circuit respectively. Where was Jin Shiyeerjini, the Jiangnan-Zhexi Circuit Inspector General who had been following Han Yuanshan?
He didn't come openly, but what about secretly? Didn't Zhang Ci initially conduct an undercover investigation in Taizhou?
Even if he hasn't come now, wouldn't he come over after he finishes investigating other places? This also reminded Shao Shuyi that, as the underground leader of Jiangyin, he must keep a close eye on Yeljini's whereabouts.
"Cao She—Cao She—" Fan Ting called out when he saw that Shao Shuyi remained silent.
Shao Shuyi hummed in agreement and said, "Fan Tieshu, please tell the higher-ups that I will not be going to Qianming Guangfu Temple."
Fan Ting looked at him and said, "I have something to do tomorrow, but today is fine, right? If it doesn't work during the day, it's okay tonight. It won't take long; it's just a few questions, at most an hour or two."
Shao Shuyi shook his head and said, "Yesterday I heard that more than ten bandits fled from Taixing to Matuosha, seemingly intending to cross the Yangtze River to the south. I have been invited by the elders to return and suppress the bandits, and I fear I will not be able to leave."
Fan Ting's face stiffened.
The Qinwangshan incident happened not long ago, and now this is happening again?
He wasn't sure if what the other party said was true or false. If it was true, then Cao Luo would likely need to intervene again soon to maintain order; if it was false, then it was even more serious, because it was a blatant threat from Cao Luo.
If someone who can wipe out a notorious thief suddenly becomes the most notorious thief of all, who will take responsibility if something really goes wrong?
Han Yuanshan was from Nantai, not a local official. If something really happened in Jiangyin, causing widespread panic, it had nothing to do with him.
He could even impeach local officials in Jiangyin on the grounds of poor public security.
Fan Ting was having a headache trying to figure out what to do.
He sighed silently, stood up, bowed to Shao Shuyi, and said, "Cao She, don't be impulsive. There are thieves in Ma Tuo Sha, so we should go and wipe them out. I will return to the prefectural office now and report all the details to the prefect so he can make a decision. As for Lian Tianyi," Fan Ting hesitated for a moment and said, "Why don't you hide for a while and say you can't be found? Just fool them for now."
"That's fine," Shao Shuyi said with a smile, "Thank you for your trouble."
After saying that, he waved his hand, signaling Yu Yuan to bring a coin and hand it to Fan Ting.
Fan Ting tried to refuse twice but couldn't, so he reluctantly accepted it. After that, he didn't say anything more and returned to the prefectural office to report back.
>