Chapter 118: The Assassin Caught Yangzhou Prefect

Yangzhou is a place where Li Mao spent a long time running, and Li Zhi was very cooperative with him and sent him many people. Li Mao also selected some Yangzhou locals to be sent to Yaogang to receive training from Li Zhi.

As soon as Li Mao had arranged for Zhang Zhimu and the others, he received a report that in a relatively large inn in Yangzhou, some suspicious people were found, and they lived in an inn but pretended not to know each other, but they had a connection when they left the inn. Li Mao's people didn't know what was happening in Huai'an, but Li Mao told them to pay attention to all the abnormal situations that happened in Yangzhou. When they reported the situation, they didn't know that this matter had given Li Mao the initiative.

Back in Yangzhou, Li Mao invited all the guests from outside his own inn in Yaogang away, and they were all his own people. At the invitation of Li Mao, all the kiln employees who returned to the south should return home after participating in the opening of Yangzhou shopping mall. Zhang Zhimu also asked them to stay and have a lively time. Although everyone is closer to home in Yangzhou, and they are more eager to go home, they are also willing to participate in this opening ceremony as family members.

However, the arrival of the kiln gang people this time made Yangzhou a sensation. Now the reputation of Yaogang is too loud, especially the arrival of Zhang Zhimu, which makes Yangzhou people feel that it is a big thing. Zhang Zhimu hasn't gone out yet, and the employees who came back from the kiln gang have made Yangzhou people look at each other differently. They were all brightly dressed, and the clothes they wore were all kiln woven fabrics, which were more valuable fabrics than silk. In particular, they spend money one by one, but they are not ambiguous. Because when they left Yaogang, Lu Chengxiang asked them to apply for a bill of exchange to take money from Yangzhou to Yangzhou, and they were not charged any handling fees. After they arrived in Yangzhou, everyone took out their silver and bought something in Yangzhou before going home. Many of them have a variety of skills, are well paid, and are rewarded for their contributions. Since it was not easy for them to go home once, Lu Chengxiang also gave them an advance of the year's wages in advance. These people can be regarded as returning home.

Originally, Yangzhou shopping malls had been ready for the opening a long time ago. However, after Li Mao returned to the kiln, he rebuilt many places after he returned. For example, the restaurant inside the mall has been expanded, and an obvious place has been converted into a photo studio. Outside the photo studio, there are several large photos of small red jades. An amplification system was installed throughout the mall. Loudspeakers have been installed on each floor.

In order to make the celebration more lively, a large place has been leveled out in the open space outside the shopping mall, and now Li Mao has made a lot of stools and placed them on the field. At the same time, the lighting and sound are installed.

Everything is being prepared nervously.

After Li Jing and Li Mao's men saw clearly the people they were watching, they learned their lesson and decided to arrest a person who came back alive and figured out who they were.

After Li Jing and the others put on makeup and lived in this inn, a carriage also entered the courtyard of this inn. Now there are this kind of carriages from Yaogang running all over the streets of Yangzhou, so it is not very noticeable to park a carriage here.

According to Li Mao's identification, the person living next to Li Mao was a suspicious person. In order to avoid problems, Li Jing still decided to arrest herself.

It was just after noon, Li Jing was in their room, and they found the suspicious person coming in through the window, Li Jing and one of her brothers pretended to talk and walked towards this person. This person didn't pay much attention to the two people coming from the opposite side, and when they met, they turned on one side slightly, ready to let them pass, but it was such a sideways body, Li Jing's left hand punched his right abdomen, and then his right fist slammed into his neck, knocking this person unconscious at once. Li Jing stepped forward and grabbed their cheeks with one hand, in order to prevent the bite from committing suicide. However, Li Jing did not find poison in his mouth, nor did he find it on him. In order not to be discovered, Li Jing and the others quickly dragged him to the carriage, closed the door, and tied the man with a rope as they walked.

Li Jing knew that in order not to startle the snake and take action before his accomplices found out, he had to interrogate this person immediately.

Li Jing and the others got this person to one of Li Mao's basements. When it was done, he poured water on the man to wake him up.

Li Jing asked a few flashlights to shine on this person's face. Seeing that this person was slowly sobering up, Li Jing deliberately said, "Okay, wake up." It's almost dawn! ”

Another deliberately said: "This guy is too good to sleep, he almost slept all afternoon, and slept another night." In fact, this is a deliberate attempt to give this person a false concept of time.

"Okay, let's talk about what's going on, it's getting dawn, and we're going to sleep too." Li Jing said this to deepen this person's illusion of time.

"Oops! A good man spares his life. I'm a partner for the owner, and I don't have much money! "This guy looks very experienced. Hearing Li Jing's foreign accent, he knew that it was not a robber he met today, but he said it on purpose.

"Oops! Don't pretend, we've been watching you for days, and you're saving, and we're going to go back and sleep for a while. This midnight three watches, we don't want to be rude. Tell me where you came from. Otherwise, if someone else says, your head will not be worth any money. Li Jing said.

But this guy never spoke again. Li Jing said: "It's going to take a little effort to watch three watches in the middle of the night, isn't it?" ”

"I say, I say! Our owner is from Yingtianfu, called Liu Guiren, who specializes in silk business. I'm a guy called Liu Sanmin...."Li Jing saw that he was going to continue. A look at the eyes. A few men tied him to his feet with ropes and lifted him up in one fell swoop. But the man still shouted: "Hero, I really am a man!" ”

As soon as Li Jing waved his hand, someone brought a large wooden bucket, put it under his head, and then began to pour buckets of water into the big wooden barrel, waiting for the water to be almost full. Li Jing asked, "To say or not to say?" ”

This is a die-hard guy who shouts, "Good man, I'm really...."

Before he could finish his shout, the rope was lowered, and the man's head was in the barrel. He struggled for a while, and Li Jing waved his hand and pulled him out again. After a few times, the man finally said, "I, I said, I said." ”

Li Jing said: "Look at you, why bother? Put him down. ”

After a few people put him down and asked him to sit down, Li Jing said, "I'll give you one last chance, it's almost dawn." We're going to sleep for a while, too, and if we don't cooperate, I'll hang your head in the bucket and we'll go to sleep. ”

The man said, "We are all king-breaking men." ”

"Mission?"

"We have long heard that a big business in Yaogang Yangzhou is going to open. The military advisor instructed us to come over, and if Zhang Dongjia of Yaogang came to participate in the opening, he would want to approach him and kill him. ”

"How many of you are there?"

"Six!"

"That's not right! If I say another lie, I will kill you. ”

"Nine people, three more people at the Yuelai Inn."

"Who said in detail, which room they all live in, how can you find them?"

The figure carefully told them where several of them lived.

Li Jing listened and said, "If there is a fake, I will pick your skin when I come back." ”

The man smiled and said, "We're not lying, but you don't have to go." Yesterday afternoon, they left without seeing me. You can give me a good one right now. "This man did not want to suffer any more crimes, but also because he knew that if no one else saw him in the afternoon, his accomplices would know that something had happened to him and would quickly evacuate. So he said it was fine. But he knew that his captors were veterans of all these things. And he's much smarter than he is.

Li Jing smiled and said, "Hehe! Want me to show you the afternoon sun? ”

As soon as this person heard Li Jing's words, he was a smart person and knew that he had been fooled. Roared and tried to stand up. But his feet and hands were tied, and he fell down at once.

Li Jing said: "Tie him up." I'll talk about it later. ”

Li Jing and the others came to their room separately according to this person's confession, and used their contact code to open the door and start arresting them separately.

The owner of the inn saw Li Jing, and they didn't dare to ask if they were arrested with automatic rifles. The rest of the people were basically arrested very smoothly, only one of them had a higher martial arts, in order not to cause trouble, Li Jing shot him and captured him alive.

After these people were captured, Li Jing launched a psychological battle, telling them that they had been betrayed, otherwise we would not have been able to arrest you so accurately. These people were obviously hit to the point, and they all made a move. After comparing their confessions, it shows that they are really Li Zicheng's people. And they don't know anything about Huai'an.

After listening to Li Jing's report, Zhang Zhimu said: "It seems that we are still very concerned by various families, and all kinds of immortals have come." We can't afford to have a lively opening celebration. ”

Li Jing asked: "How do we deal with these people of Li Zicheng?" ”

"So be it! After our business is over, we will hand them over to the Yangzhou prefect, which is a great achievement for the Yangzhou prefect. We also send personal favors. Zhang Zhimu said.

Li Mao said: "These people will wait until our celebration is over!" The prefect of Yangzhou invites you, you should go over and see, whether you also take the opportunity to invite them. The prefect was newly appointed last year. We give them a gift every year, but we always respect each other and don't exchange them. We might as well take this opportunity to talk to them. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "We still need them in Yangzhou, they are all officials sent from abroad in the capital. We need to respect them, but we need not fear them. It's not up to them to decide whether it's good or bad for us. So in general, they also want to keep in touch with us, and it's better to get some benefits. But they didn't dare to let people know that they were too close to us. I'll meet them tomorrow. I see that tomorrow, Mr. Ouyang and Li Mao, you will go with me to see the prefect. ”

"I think it's better to prepare some gifts. It doesn't hurt that we're on good terms with them here. If we want to have some contact with the officials of the imperial court, we can also communicate through them. Those who can go to Yangzhou to be officials are not ordinary people, and they can generally be promoted after they go back. Li Mao seems to know these prefects and yamen very well.

"Okay! Prepare the things. I'll be in charge of giving gifts tomorrow! Hehe! Zhang Zhimu knew his current identity, went to meet the prefect, communicated with him, and it was convenient for Li Mao to live with them when they had something to do here in the future.

That night, Yan Boju and Lu Chengxiang both rushed to Yangzhou. They all listened to Fan Chengkun in Huai'an what happened in Huai'an, and the two of them couldn't stay in Huai'an, so they rushed to Yangzhou immediately.

"In the future, when you come out, let the 'Mountain Harrier' follow, that old thing is very ghostly, and he has a wide range of knowledge." Yan Boju heard about it and still didn't understand who did it, and he remembered Chen Yufeng before he could sit down.

"Uncle Yan, don't be in a hurry. We caught a group of people here in Yangzhou, and they were all Li Zicheng's people. After Li Jing finished speaking, she told the story of Yangzhou's arrest of Li Zicheng.

"Haha! It's all coming. Boy, you're going to have some fun with them. However, this shows that the two groups of people in Huai'an are not Li Zicheng's people. Otherwise, they wouldn't have scattered their people and made things go nowhere. Yan Boju said, "Besides, their methods are also different. Li Zicheng's people are obviously not so evil. ”

"Uncle Yan doesn't have to worry too much. We are now woody and the wind will destroy it. Therefore, all those who feel threatened by us will look for opportunities to attack us. Let's just be careful. Zhang Zhimu said.

"I think we need to have these tools as well. If we find out who made the move, we should also pay tribute to them. Otherwise, such things will continue to happen. Li Mao said.

"We've wanted to go out for a long time. But Mr. Zhang disagreed. Our greatest wish is to make Li Zicheng. Li Jing said.

"No, Li Zicheng's task hasn't been completed yet, you must not touch him." Ouyang He said haha, "Otherwise, don't talk about others, Mr. Zhang won't be able to spare you." ”

"Haha!" Everyone laughed, and the atmosphere was not so tense.

Lu Chengxiang saw that Zhang Zhimu had nothing to do, so he remembered the business matter again, "Li Gongzi, I think you have to find a way here, go to Tongling to buy more copper, our copper in Shanxi is becoming more and more insufficient." Li Yunhe: They shouted every day that the copper was gone, and the copper was gone. ”

Li Yunhe said: "Yes! The output of our copper mine has doubled, and almost all the copper from Shanxi's large and small copper mines has been covered by us. But copper is still nervous. ”

Li Mao said: "What I hate is that copper and iron are all controlled by the imperial court, and they are a minority when they flow to the people." Why don't we ask the emperor to give us a little privilege. We can also go free and buy copper. ”

"It's a nuisance. We can ask the emperor to be gracious, because we need copper to suppress the bandits. However, the emperor has no silver now, and he will take the opportunity to open his mouth. I don't think much copper in Tongling can be made, so we still try to find a way to go to Yunnan to get Yunnan copper, where the mountains are high and the emperor is far away, and things are easier to do. But on the court side, we can find another way. Zhang Zhimu said.

"That's a good idea," Li said. But last time I was in Changsha, I heard that someone was selling Yunnan copper. The court couldn't control it there, so we loaded it on the ship and shipped it back. Now on the Yangtze River, after Yueyang and then upstream, to Jingzhou is Li Zicheng's sphere of influence. We're not going to fight a few wars, so let's not go over for the time being. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "And this time we seized a large number of Li Zicheng's cannons, many of which were bronze cannons. You've all melted back up, and that's copper, too! ”

Li Mao said: "I have also been thinking that if one day, we fall out with the imperial court, the minerals we need in the kiln will be affected." We need to use this time to build a few more mineral dumps in Shanxi and try to transport them back as much as possible in case of emergency. ”

Zhang Zhimu agreed with Li Mao's idea very much, "Yes, what Li Gongzi said, we will prepare at two ends, and after Mr. Lu goes back, we will arrange the freight yard." The matter of ore has to worry more about Li Gongzi. We try to allocate the boat to you as much as possible. ”

The current prefect of Yangzhou is surnamed Zhao and his name is Zhao Jingfu.

Zhang Zhimu, Ouyang He, and Li Mao came to the prefect's yamen, and after letting the officials on the door make a report, they waited for a while, and the prefect sent a message to inform them to enter. Ouyang He said: "It seems that the prefect's pedigree is not small!" ”

"What's wrong! It seems that the adults are a little weak-hearted! Zhang Zhimu said.

"Meet the Prefect!" When Zhang Zhimu and his entourage saw the prefect, they all gave him a salute together.

"Oops! Zhang Dongjia, everyone, please be exempt! The prefect said: "It's really a pleasure to meet Zhang Dongjia here!" Sit down, sit down! ”

"Zhang Dongjia, you took the kiln gang people to fight away the thieves, relieve the emperor's worries, and also solve problems for the court, I have heard about it. I really admire it. The prefect said.

"That's what I'm supposed to do. Adult was polite. Zhang Zhimu said that he also wanted to see what was going on in the prefect.

"Originally, I invited you here to thank you and show your respect. But it is reported that yesterday, your people actually arrested people in Yangzhou City in broad daylight, can there be such a thing? The prefect asked.

"Yes! This is indeed the case. Zhang Zhimu replied.

"Zhang Dongjia, catching thieves and thieves is a matter for the government yamen. As a businessman, is it appropriate to do this in Yangzhou? "The prefect seems to have been caught.

"That's what the prefect said! I'm going to tell you about it from the beginning. We were attacked by thieves in Huai'an several times, and I was afraid that I would encounter trouble in Yangzhou, so I sent someone to Yangzhou to investigate. Sure enough, some suspicious people were found in Yangzhou. We learned the lesson of the suicide of the thieves in Huai'an, so we adopted the method of surprise attack and arrested the thieves in one fell swoop. I was going to send the thieves over to the adults after our opening celebration. I didn't expect the adults to be in a hurry. Zhang Zhimu said, "As for our efforts to suppress the thieves, we all have the emperor's holy decree." We caught the thief for your yamen, nothing inappropriate! What do you say, sir? ”

"Well, you should talk to me about it. lest you make people panic! "The prefect saw that Zhang Zhimu was very hard, and knew that he couldn't afford to provoke others with a prefect.

"Yes, sir." Zhang Zhimu said, "Afterwards, I also felt that things were a little inconsiderate, but at that time, I was also anxious to catch the thief, and I was even more afraid of leaking the news, so I took decisive measures to take down the thief." But don't worry, the credit for catching the thief is definitely yours, my lord, we are just catching people. Zhang Zhimu said.

"We have many officers and soldiers here in Yangzhou, and they can also catch thieves. They all eat the court's money and keep one side safe, and they can still do it. I hope that Zhang Dongjia will not ignore our officers and soldiers. "The prefect is still a little unrelenting.

Zhang Zhimu thought to himself, if he was too weak today, it would really not work, and it would be difficult for Li Mao and them to do it here in the future, "My lord, we are very clear about the ability of the officers and soldiers of the imperial court, otherwise the emperor would not have issued an order to me, let me take people to deal with the thief army." If one day, if Yangzhou is in danger, we can also come to help. According to our current capabilities, as long as the Yellow River is not frozen, we can rush to Yangzhou in a few days, because we have already arranged for men and horses in Wuzhi. Transporting troops in steam warships was quick. If the Yellow River freezes, it won't take long for our cavalry to arrive. ”

The prefect felt that Zhang Zhimu was oppressing him by force, and said: "This, how to use troops is a matter for the imperial court." Neither you nor I have the right to act on our own. ”

"My lord is too worried, we are fighting the Mongolian cavalry in the north and the Manchu iron cavalry after we have finished talking to the emperor, sometimes, if we don't take decisive measures, we will lose the opportunity. In a place like Yangzhou, the thief army will definitely think about it from time to time. We can't take it lightly. There is us, and please relax in adult. Adults must also know that our navy only used a few warships in the Yellow River at the beginning, and the thieves could not enter Tongguan. And when we hit Tongguan, it only took one morning to finish. "So please don't worry about force. Zhang Zhimu's this is tantamount to warning the prefect to use force, you have no drama.

Zhang Zhimu said the truth, the prefect is also a smart person, he couldn't scare Zhang Zhimu when he saw it, so he went down the slope and said, "Ah! There is Zhang Dongjia to share the worries of the imperial court, and the people of the world are very lucky! When I left Beijing, Brother Shichang repeatedly introduced me that Zhang Dongjia was a friend who could be trusted to socialize. ”

"Ou! Are adults familiar with Wang Shichang? Zhang Zhimu heard the prefect bring out Wang Shichang, and knew that he still wanted to get closer.

"Yes! Our two families are world friends. When I was in Beijing, we often talked about world affairs, and even more often talked about Zhang Dongjia. Every time he talks about Zhang Dongjia, Wang Shichang is full of praise. ”

"Oops! Since they are friends of Brother Shichang, they are all their own people, what kind of official are we playing. You name it! Zhang Zhimu also wanted to pull closer.

"No, no! Don't say that. Since I am the prefect of Yangzhou, I have to finish my words as the prefect. And then talk about friendship. "Cho Kyung-bok worked hard to maintain his dignity as a prefect.

"Yes, that's what my lord said. I don't know what happened to Brother Shichang? I haven't seen him in a long time. ”

"It's hard to put into words. Brother Shichang also told me that you also gave him a lot of help, and I hope he can have a good future when he returns. However, when Brother Shichang returned to the capital, it was as if he had changed a person, and he was not used to it, and he was not satisfied, and he never had a suitable position. I also borrowed wine and said, if it doesn't work, I'll go to the kiln to find you. We all advised him not to talk nonsense, there were too many people in the court. Governor Zhao Jingfu said.

When Zhang Zhimu heard this, Wang Shichang was able to tell him this, which showed that the relationship between the two was not bad, and he felt that the relationship should be settled at once. Looking up at Li Mao and Ouyang He, he said, "You two go back first, I still have something to talk to the adults." ”

Of course, Li Mao and Ouyang He understand that today's prefect is already their own people, but they just need Zhang Zhimu to do their work.

Li Mao said: "In this way, we will bring in a little meaning for adults." And then you chatter slowly. ”

The prefect was polite and asked people to bring things in.

Zhang Zhimu said: "We thought that we met Brother Shichang's old friend today. Otherwise, I would never have brought these things. ”

"Okay, let's talk in the inner hall." The prefect let Zhang Zhimu into the back hall.

-------------

Five-line scores, oscillating circuits, caesarean sections. Guo Shoujing made alloy cannons, and Guan Hanqing created "Journey to the West". --Progress of "Memories of the Southern Song Dynasty".