Chapter 236: Detective

Dengzhou capital city is Penglai County, the city is tall and majestic, it is one of the several fortresses in Shandong, because it is near the sea, and it is the gateway to the Bohai Sea to garrison the Beijing Division, so it has always been stationed with the naval army.

During the Kong Youde Rebellion, the Liao soldiers relied on this Dengzhou city to face more than ten times their own superior forces outside the city, and they actually held on for more than two years, which shows the strength and danger of the city. Now, almost six years have passed since the chaos, and the city is still in tatters, and has not yet recovered.

You see, the population of the city was almost wiped out that day, except for a few hundred young women who were used as prostitutes, and now the inhabitants of the city have moved from other places.

The city is so dilapidated that the damage caused by the attack and defense of the day has not been repaired until now, but for the officials and generals, this vast sea is a moat, and the enemy will naturally not come, and they feel very relieved to deceive themselves.

On the same day, after Kong Youde led the army to escape from the water gate by boat, the final battle made the military port and the water gate place also dilapidated and abnormal, and the navy army only left some military ships to dock, but some fishermen and merchants paid some silver money, they could borrow this good port, anchor and dock, which was very convenient.

Since the Pinghai guerrilla Luo Hao led 5,000 soldiers and horses to "encounter thieves" between Laiyang and Qixia and dispersed overnight, there are more than 1,000 soldiers left in the city of Dengzhou, and most of them are old and weak. Zhao Neng, the capital stationed in Laiyang County, was an enthusiastic general, knowing that the troops in Dengzhou Mansion were weak, so he sent 1,000 people to be stationed on the edge of Dengzhou City, and the 1,000 soldiers of the Jiaozhou battalion were compared with the more than 1,000 old, weak, sick and disabled people in Dengzhou Prefecture, that is, the difference between tigers and wolves and cattle and sheep.

There is a deterrence outside the city, and the people in the city are even more trembling, not daring to move, the general who is guarding the town here, is a letter to Qiu Lei, the chief soldier of Shandong, a letter a day, saying that he is old and frail, and he can't take on this important task, and asks to tell the old man to return to his hometown.

In June and July, it is also a good time of year for fishermen, the sea is calm, and there are several fishing floods from abroad, and the livelihood of the year can be subsidized a lot. Those businessmen who went to sea to do business also had the same idea, taking this opportunity to go a few times and make a small fortune.

Therefore, in the Shuimen Military Port of Dengzhou City, there are a lot of boats coming in and out every day, but whether it is a fisherman or a boatman, they are quite pleasantly surprised to find that the soldiers who used to like to blackmail the port guards are much safer at this time.

A small fishing boat, also from the outer harbor, slowly sailed into the vicinity of the water gate, found a suitable place to moor, skillfully threw the rope ashore, a sailor-like man took the pedal on the shore, ran to the shore in a few steps, and then tied the rope to the stake. The sailor said hello to the people on the ship, Shi Shiran walked up to the dock, saw the soldiers in charge of the port coming, hurriedly smiled and trotted to him.

"A few military masters, the younger one is to go to sea to fish on Mulberry Island, and he will sell the fish here and leave."

Mulberry Island is a small island about half a day away from Dengzhou City, the island is full of fishermen, the soldiers guarding the water gate know, but they just said coldly:

"If you pay fifty yuan, you can stop for three days."

Looking at the soldier's outstretched hand, the sailor held a few pieces of broken silver in his hand and threw them back into the bag in a hidden manner, took out a string of copper coins, respectfully placed them in the soldier's hand, and said respectfully:

"This is seventy texts, and the extra few military masters take it to tea, which can be regarded as a little bit of the villain's heart."

The soldier who collected the money first looked back, hesitated before accepting the copper coin, and whispered:

"Don't be known by others, your ship will stop here for a few more days, and our brother won't care about you."

"The little ones know it, please rest assured."

The sailor nodded and reassured, the two sides didn't have much to say, and after passing by, the sailor looked back in surprise, thinking that the last time he came, the soldiers of the Watergate Military Port looked like wolves, not to mention the money, and even took some fish and shrimp for nothing, why are they so well-behaved recently, they can be described as incorruptible.

Although this sailor claimed to be from Mulberry Island, but looking at the understanding of this Dengzhou capital city quite well, he stopped and stopped, and soon entered the main street of Dengzhou City, although Dengzhou City is withered and dilapidated, but it is still a big city for the nearby villagers, it is a big deal to come here to buy things, and on the island, there is a lack of many things, and it is not easy to come out once, and it is necessary to buy all the things. Soon, the sailor was in a grocery store.

About half an hour later, the sailor came out of the shop, but his dress was no longer the kind of short shirt on the sea, but the appearance of a traveler on foot, carrying a small burden on his back, leading a bad horse, holding a bread in his hand, and tearing and biting as he went.

When they arrived at the city gate, the same lazy soldier guarding the city gate inspected the traveler's road guide, which said that the citizens of Dengzhou went to Dongchang Mansion to visit relatives, passed through several prefectures, and allowed passage, according to the rules, the soldier asked for three pennies, and when he left, he also muttered: This soldier is in chaos, what are you going to do outside.

The sailor laughed but did not answer, and went on his own way, and only after walking halfway through the road that there was no one to mutter: What can these wastes do without even the spirit to make money?

Although it was on the road, the sailor dressed as a foot traveler also knew that the road was not very smooth, so he first went to the carriage and horse shop to partner up, and the people who got together went on the road together.

"Although the year is not good, but this road is also peaceful, Brother Tai even if he walks alone on the road, there is nothing to worry about, the horse thieves have already farmed."

These words immediately confused the sailor's words, but he could not show an unfamiliar appearance, but nodded there with a dry smile, and explained:

"It's better to walk with more people and rest assured."

Since the guests insist, the shopkeeper is of course willing, and he is also ushering in the clever role of sending to, and he said politely:

"Listening to the accent of Brother Tai, there is still some flavor of Liaozhen, when did you move here."

The sailor's pupils contracted slightly, and there was still a smile on his face, and he replied calmly:

"My ancestors have come here, and I don't know about the boundary of Liaodong for a long time."

The shopkeeper didn't ask much, the sailor also went to find a bunk to rest, the people got together very quickly, a group of passers-by from Dengzhou Mansion and nearby places got together, and began to go on the road, the sailor was obviously not good at words, but he was willing to inquire, and there were people who were good at talking, and there was such an audience who was naturally interested in talking.

In the past six months or so, for ordinary people, they don't know what kind of swords and swords are in Shandong in private, and what the truth of those things is. The only thing they can know and believe is what the government said, as well as the gossip that the government deliberately released.

For example, Liu Zeqing, the chief soldier of Caozhou, colluded with the thieves in Shaanxi, and the two sides distributed the spoils unevenly, and the thieves entered Caozhou to kill the loyal and martyred Liu Zongbing, and as a result, Liu Zongbing died, and there was immediately chaos on the ground in Shandong.

The man said that the spittle was flying, and the sailor kindly reminded him, "Don't be listened to by the people of the government, it will be a disaster", the person who said happily did not care, and said directly:

"Wei Zhongxian's scourge has long been eliminated by the saints, and now the sages of Donglin are in the court, and they are very clear."

The sailor smiled and didn't speak, just walked all the way, the sailor, or the passer-by who was walking on his feet, separated from the brigade when he arrived at Qixia, and rode a bad horse slowly.

In the next month and a half, Dengzhou Mansion, Laizhou Mansion, and Qingzhou Mansion could all see this sailor. I walked many places and saw many things.

A month and a half later, this person returned to Dengzhou Mansion City again, almost reversed the order of entering Dengzhou Capital City, and when he arrived at the Watergate Port, he became a sailor's dress again, and there were so many ships coming in and out of the Watergate side of the military port every day, who would care about a sailor on a ship.

The fishing boat that the sailor was on was not the one he took when he came, and similarly, no one paid attention to this boat, and the fishing boat on which the sailor was on his return trip, when he paid the fee and berthed, claimed to be a ship from Dazhu Island, but after sailing out of the water gate of the military port of Dengzhou Fucheng, the direction of the boat was not Dazhu Island.

Daming did not have a navy and sailors who regularly inspected the sea, and in the vast sea, even if there was such a setting, intercepting and inspecting this small boat at sea was like looking for a needle in a haystack, not to mention that even if it was intercepted, the people on the boat could be said to go out to sea to fish, and there were not too many forbidden things.

But the ship left Dengzhou Port, passed through Dazhu Island and did not dock, until it reached the northernmost point of the island chain, Huangcheng Island, it still did not dock, but drove directly to the side of Jinzhou Zhongzuo before getting off the ship and docking.

At this time, the center left of Jinzhou was already a historical term, this place had been defeated by the Later Jin army a few years ago, and now it is the territory of the Jurchen Tartars......