Chapter 211: The Truth About That Incident
"In the past, the general sent me to Xuzhou with Huang Rengu, and before leaving, the general gave me a secret letter, asking me to turn around halfway to Gaomi and Huangxian, and summon the old troops there to go to sea to Liaodong. I asked why, and the general said that he was afraid that he would be sad about this catastrophe, and that he wanted to leave some fire for the Qing navy.
"It's a pity that before I could leave, I was ambushed by the copper tiger head. General Huang Rengu and I were barricaded in a mud hut, and he told me that one of us had to go out, and that my hands were useless and useless, so you go.
"I said how to do that, to walk together, to die together, he said that of course we can walk together, my little grandson has just been born, I haven't held enough, and then he slammed into me, and ran out, not far from the mud hut is the river, he plunged into the river, I hurriedly chased him out and shot two arrows at him......"
Sang Rong choked up when he said this, his eyes were shining with tears, since Li Mao knew him, this was the first time he had seen him so emotional.
"I handed the letter from the general to Zhang Jianfeng to Tonghutou, saying that he wanted to surrender, but they believed it and thought I could still use it, so they didn't kill me. After Gushan Town was flattened, I took advantage of their complacency to escape and sneak back to Gaomi and Huangxian to recruit the old troops to go to sea.
"The head of the copper tiger is not in vain, they expected that I had this hand, and set up an ambush in Gaomi to catch me, in order to cover me, several Zhuangzi were razed by them, they refused to let go of even a three-year-old child, and they were killed, and there was no one left.
"I went to the end of the world, and then I met some old friends at the beach, and they elected me to be the head of the house, so I became a sea snake."
Li Mao said: "After this, have you ever gone to see the general?" ”
Sang Rong shook his head and said, "I want to see him, but I'm afraid it will hurt him." ”
After a pause, Sang Rong said again: "I won't tell you, I also intend to go to Liaodong, the sea snake is easy to do, but it is not a long-term solution, sooner or later it will involve the general." However, Liaodong is bitterly cold, and if there is no help from the mainland, it may not be able to last. ”
Li Mao said: "The boss of Sha in Beisha City, Liaodong, has a deal with Tonghutou, and one of the leaders of Tonghutou was executed not long ago because of unclear accounts, and now because of the selection problem, they have a lot of internal quarrels, I tried to stay in Dengzhou and set up a business to trade with Liaodong." The things needed by Liaodong will be transported from Ziqing, and the special products of Liaodong will be transported back to Ziqing and trafficked to Heluo, which will be a very lucrative profit, as long as it is properly managed, it will be enough to supply one or two thousand people. ”
Sang Rong said: "Boss Sha was single-handedly raised by the head of the copper tiger, even if they have internal discord, they will never hand over such a lucrative business to you as an outsider." ”
Li Mao said: "Monopoly may not be possible, but a piece of the pie is always possible." (Baidu search is the fastest and most stable update for the literature network)"
Sang Rong smiled: "It seems that you are doing well now." ”
Li Mao said: "Don't be careful, the copper tiger head is intertwined, and there has been a lot of turmoil around this person's death, they just want to separate the eggs that were originally placed in one basket, and I happen to be able to gain their trust." ”
Sang Rong said: "He trusts you so much, why do you still eat inside and out?" ”
Li Mao was silent. Sang Rong smiled: "It's not that I can't trust you, it's just ...... Who knows how to run a business, do you? I'm just going to fight and kill. I'm definitely a layman in business. Li Mao said: "I'll figure out a way to deal with business matters, and I won't let you worry about it a little." For the safety of the sea, I'll figure it out here, and you'll figure it out over there. When you gain a firm foothold over there in the future, you will slowly transfer the people in the grange to the past, Liaodong is barbaric, but it is also a blank piece of paper, and you must have a nest of your own. ”
Sang Rong said: "I understand what you said, we will join forces to create a new world in Liaodong, where there are only brothers and sisters, there is no deceit, our family, we are in charge." Sang Rong said a little emotionally, and tears appeared in his eyes again. Li Mao was also infected by him, and his eyes were wet.
Sang Rong wanted to take Li Zhun to Liaodong, Li Mao said: "This person is involved in a big case, if you go to Liaodong, I am afraid that there will be endless troubles in the future." Sang Rong said: "I know him, he is Li Shidao's cronies, selling his official position to collect money for him, Li Shigu sent you to investigate this matter, in my opinion, it is to test your sincerity, and the second is to force you to completely cut off from Li Shidao."
"The Li brothers have been fighting for a long time, and although Li Shigu has the upper hand, he may not be the ultimate winner. This person is suspicious and strict, many people in Ziqing are dissatisfied with him, and those sect elders who like to interfere in politics will abolish him sooner or later. What they like is actually the cowardly and unassertive Li Shidao, you have to know this in your heart. ”
Sang Rong offered a plan: Li Mao would bring Li Zhun back to Dengzhou first, and then he would solve this trouble, so that Li Mao would explain to Li Shigu and Li Shidao.
Li Mao glanced at the Jia family tied to the corner of the cabin, and Sang Rong smiled: "I heard that Li Shigu loves his wife the most, so you simply offered her to win his trust." ”
Li Mao shook his head and said, "It's too lacking in virtue, and it's done to damage yin virtue." ”
The plan has been decided, Sang Rong ordered Li Zhun to be tied up, gagged and escorted back to the official ship, Li Zhun repeatedly pleaded, and dedicated 100,000 family furniture, Sang Rong secretly instructed: "If you don't go back, everyone will be finished, you go back first, tonight's third watch, I will send someone to pick you up." Now, Li Zhun has no choice but to agree to come down.
After saying goodbye to his wife and concubine in tears, he followed Li Mao to the warship of the town navy.
Zhang Gu saw that Li Mao had brought back Li Zhun safely, and he was overjoyed, and asked Li Mao who Sangrong was, Li Mao said: "It was originally an old department of the Qing Navy, and because of the deduction of food and salary, he was demoted to the city defense battalion of the city bureau and worked as an errand under me. He still came to rebel, he had a meritorious role in quelling the chaos, and was targeted by the remnants of the Qing Navy, so he had to resign and return to his hometown as a seaman. ”
As for why Penglai County Lieutenant Li Zhun appeared on Sang Rong's **, Zhang Gu knew that something was wrong, but he didn't dare to ask more.
The boat entered the sea pond, Li Mao invited Li Zhun to Zhenhai City to drink, Li Zhun refused, Zhang Gu didn't know what tricks the two were playing, and he didn't dare to persuade him, so he sent four guards to escort Li Zhun back to the city. Leaving Li Mao to drink in the city, Li Mao did not hesitate to drink and drank drunk. That night, I stayed in Zhenhai City, and there were two campers to sleep.
Early in the morning of the second day, Zhang Quan came to invite dinner, and when tea was served after the meal, a flag official came to report that the house of Li Zhun, the lieutenant of Penglai County, caught fire last night, and more than a dozen people were killed in the fire, and Li Zhun burned into charcoal. When Zhang Gu heard this, his eyelids jumped violently, and he was speechless for a long time with his mouth open.
Li Maoliang was speechless for a long time, and wanted to visit the city, Zhang Gu persuaded: "The incident is strange, if the judge goes, it will only cause panic in the place, I think I will talk about it slowly." Li Mao nodded, stayed still, and Zhang Quan sent someone to inquire.
In the afternoon, Dengzhou Judicial Officers and Penglai County Commanders jointly came to Zhenhai City to inform Li Mao of the progress of the case.
After the two of them finished speaking, they looked at Zhang Quan with blank eyes, hoping that he could lie for him, Zhang Gu's nostrils were facing the sky, and the place buckled the basin to the pirate's head in order to shirk his responsibility, on the surface, there was no problem, but as long as he thought about it carefully, it was not like that, the pirate openly entered the city to kill the court officials, where did he put his face in this town and navy?
"I want Lao Tzu to carry the black pot for you, but there is no door!"
Zhang Quan's fiery temper was about to attack, but Li Mao coughed, opened his mouth first, he said: "Li Zhun's death may not be due to gambling debts, I received a report when I was in Yunzhou that he bought and sold officials in Dengzhou, and it was very unusual, this time I was ordered to investigate Lu Shi, he must have a ghost in his heart, and wanted to flee with his wife and concubine, so he colluded with pirates, and the pirates saw that he had a lot of wealth, and he had evil intentions, murdered, set fires, and destroyed the door, in the final analysis, he was to blame." ”
When everyone heard this, it was like an empowerment, and they applauded one after another.
Dengzhou Judicial and Penglai County Commander hurriedly changed their words and said: "There is a mistake in the judgment of the case, and I will wait for a certain person to go back and investigate carefully." ”
Zhang Gu shouted: "If he hadn't taken the initiative to collude with pirates, who would have dared to enter the city and do anything wrong?" You'll have to look closely. The two said yes again and again, and hurried away on horseback.
Zhang Gu laughed, turned to Li Mao, bowed and bowed, and said: "I, Zhang Gu, am by no means ungrateful. ”
Zhang Quan knew who Li Zhun's backer was, and it was reasonable for the local government to push the pirates out of self-preservation, and the Dengzhou Judiciary and Penglai County ordered this to come just to ventilate to him on behalf of the master behind the scenes, no matter how violent he was, he couldn't change the ending. The water in Dengzhou is very deep, and it is far from being something that he can shake with a chokehold.
Li Mao's words represent Li Shigu's attitude outside, and it was this fluttering sentence that saved him.
Li Mao sat up and helped Zhang Gu up, and said kind words to soothe. He also said: "There is an industry under the name of the mountain wife, which is engaged in overseas trade, and I ask General Zhang to take care of it." Zhang Quan was overjoyed, patted his chest and said: "Sister-in-law, but if you have orders, don't dare to disobey." ”
Another day later, Yunzhou returned to Li Mao, ordered Lu Shi, the secretary of Dengzhou, to be escorted to Yunzhou to discuss the crime, and the 14 soldiers who took the lead in the mutiny were punished on the spot to set an example, and 62 servants were punished with hard labor for half a year, and all the officials of the Grain Institute were immediately dismissed, re-examined and appointed, and Zhang Gu was demoted to one class and fined for one year.
This incident not only shook Zhenhai City, but also made Dengzhou City feel the cold killing intent, thinking of the bizarre death of the county lieutenant Li Zhun, rumors flew all over the sky for a while, and soon after, some people in the streets and alleys sang the joke of "Li Qingtian Dengzhou Handling the Case", Qingmo went to the two offices of Dengzhou Prefecture and County, and asked the local government to prohibit artists from singing, and Dengzhou kowtowed and agreed, but it was actually perfunctory.
Li Mao laughed at this, some people saw that he didn't succeed in killing him with a stick and changed it to a pit kill, it was really boring!
Li Mao didn't pay attention to the rumors outside, he hired workers to fence off the barren mountains and land he had purchased, and recruited craftsmen all over the city to prepare for large-scale construction and building houses. These things were all handed over to Qingmo to do, and he was busy himself, going in and out of the homes of the gentry and officials, and making good connections.
Dengzhou is the largest port in the north of the Tang Dynasty, and it is the waterway that Japan, Silla and other countries must pass through to enter the Tang Dynasty.
In Dengzhou City, the Nine Streams and Three Sects are Biji, the land of the hidden dragon and the crouching tiger, Li Mao's prestige is greatly discounted in this city, walking in the streets and alleys, entering and exiting the wealthy mansions, he is an ordinary person. The murderous aura blessed by the picketer is completely pediatric in the eyes of some reclusive wealthy people, and it is not worth it. (Dissertation College)