This person was dressed in a hundred household uniforms, and the rowing boat he was on was under the banner of a sentry - after the collapse of the military system of the guard, coupled with the invasion of the Japanese invaders, the battalion system was born, for example, the Qi family army was a battalion soldier.

Different from the level of small flags, general flags, 100 households, 1,000 households, commanders, and commanders of the guards, the battalion soldiers start from the commander and captain, to the general and the general soldier, and this sentry officer is a low-level military attache with a small military boat.

There is no rank for battalion officers at all levels, and even the chief military officer has no fixed rank, and the rank of the guard system must be relied on to reflect the size of the position, so this sentry officer has the rank of a hundred households.

Jia Fugui's white boat slowly stopped, the rowing boat came up, the sentry officer and several battalion soldiers jumped over, and smiled when they met: "Boss Jia, have you posted the Yingtianfu Wangfu again?" The official lantern you hit is getting bigger and bigger! ”

"Chief Ge is really joking, Xiao Ke's little deal depends on the face of friends on various roads," Jia Fugui said and stuffed a piece of silver into the hand of Officer Ge.

The sentry officer was also an expert, and he pretended to refuse to say, "You and I have friends who have fellowship, not on this little money", and he has covered it with his pipa sleeves, and the silver is hidden in his sleeves as if he has long legs.

It turned out that Officer Ge was an officer of the Yangtze River Naval Division stationed in the Guazhou River section to protect the water transportation and arrest water thieves.

Officer Ge has been a Jiangfang officer for more than ten years, and has received countless common practices, and as soon as he grasps the hands accurately, Jia Fugui's ingot of silver knows that it is a full weight of five taels of snowflake silver.

Like Jia Fugui's ship with the official title lantern of Ying Tianfu, in fact, there is no need to send the usual thing, Ge Sentinel unexpectedly made a small fortune, and suddenly his heart was happy, and he ordered a few soldiers who came with him: "The above has ordered, the ships leaving the country should be carefully searched, and the entry does not have to be too serious, Boss Jia is our old friend, can there be any anti-thieves hidden on the ship?" ”

The soldiers all salivated and laughed: "Boss Jia has no thieves on the ship, but there is a little lady who sprays incense!" ”

After a few jokes, Officer Ge was about to say goodbye and leave.

Qin Lin's heart suddenly moved, and he stepped forward to salute and said, "Chief Ge, Xiao Ke is polite." ”

When Chief Ge saw that he was wearing a blue cotton coat and a half-new square scarf, he knew that he was a businessman, and he slanted his face and said without being salty or light: "What's the matter?" This officer still has military affairs in his ......"

The fat man looked at him and smiled secretly, Chief Ge and Chief Qin are all chiefs, but this official who is the size of a sesame mung bean is also looking at the dignified Jinyi Wei Deputy Qianhu, which is really eye-catching.

Jia Fugui hurriedly introduced, saying that Qin Lin was his good friend, surnamed Lin, a wealthy businessman from Qizhou, and had business dealings with Jingwangfu in Qizhou and Weiguo Mansion in Nanjing, so he had a good life.

The Ming Dynasty originally emphasized agriculture and suppressed commerce, but in the Wanli period, commerce was extremely developed, and the status of merchants also rose, and they often went in and out of the princely mansions, and even extended their influence to the government and the court.

Hearing that Mr. Lin had business dealings with the Jingwang Mansion and the Wei State Mansion, Officer Ge was immediately in awe, took a step back as if he was looking at his boss, and hugged his fists with his face obliquely: "Real people can't be good-looking, the sea can't be measured, and the little ones didn't see that Mr. Lin was such a great boss." ”

"Come on, come on," Qin Lin stuffed another piece of silver into Officer Ge's hand, "I have something to ask Chief Ge, if it's okay, let's talk in the cabin." ”

Officer Ge weighed another five taels of silver, which was worth more than a month's salary, and hurriedly agreed.

Walking into the cabin with Qin Lin, he saw Niu Dali, a bodyguard like a giant spirit god, a lewd master with a crutch image, Lu Yuanzhi, a white and chubby helper, and Zhang Zixuan, who was Huang Bulaji and eyebrows like a brush, and Ge Sentinel was even more convinced of his identity as a wealthy businessman, and secretly thought to himself: This bodyguard, master, and helper are simply the standard equipment around the rich businessman, but in the end, this big girl in the room, her figure is not bad, and she looks too shabby, right?

Qin Lin deliberately pretended to be worried, and asked in a low voice, "Jiangshang is tightly guarded, is it because of the case of the theft of Caoyin?" I want to collect the silk and transport it to the north, but can this luck still go? ”

Officer Ge frowned: "Don't hide it from the foresters, the theft of Caoyin is a big case that pierces the sky, the chase is very tight, forcing us to not be easy for a moment, Yangzhou and Zhenjiang Prefectures, the entry is not enough, the exit must be carefully searched, with a fine iron drill inch by inch, I can't wait to pierce your shipboard, every ship is so troublesome, it took a long time to check one, and the boat behind is waiting to die!"

The water surface on the river is wide, and there is nothing to be afraid of; The boats in the canal are all crowded in Yangzhou and waiting in line for inspection, like the forester who wants to go north now, but I am afraid that he will not be able to pass the gate for half a month! ”

Qin Lin breathed a sigh of relief, the reaction of the Xindao government was still very fast, after the theft of the silver, the army was immediately mobilized to implement the blockade of the whole territory, the silver is a big silver collar of fifty taels and one ingots, five hundred thousand taels is ten thousand ingots, and the Ming Dynasty is sixteen taels and one catties, which is more than 30,000 catties, so much silver is by no means hidden in the arms can be taken away, it seems that the silver ingots are still in Yangzhou and Zhenjiang, and they have not been taken away, so the hope of successful recovery is much greater.

Zhang Zixuan bit her lip, her face was worried, and asked, "Chief Ge, if you say this, the Grand Canal is basically blocked?" ”

A maid suddenly asked, and the sentry officer couldn't help but be a little strange, but seeing that Qin Lin did not object, he replied: "That's true, Cao Governor Li Dutang sent the governor to control the canal gates, the size of the path, all the vehicles and ships leaving the country must be carefully inspected, and the land route is not enough, only ten boats are checked and released on the canal every day, and the rest are all blocked in Yangzhou, the weather is cold, and those boatmen are all squatting on the boat to drink the northwest wind, which is really pitiful." ”

Qin Lin and the others were stunned, they all heard the trick of Zhang Zixuan's question, and secretly admired that this woman was really smart, able to think what people can't think, and know what people can't know.

The Grand Canal is the main artery connecting the north and the south, maintaining the lifeline of the Ming Dynasty, what is its important surname? As long as there is a slight fork in the canal, the people of Beijing are panicked, and the merchants take the opportunity to hoard Juqi, the price of grain will rise three times in a row; If the canal is blocked, the food in Jingshi and Jiubian will be in a hurry immediately, just like a person's arteries are clogged, and the blood supply to the head will be immediately insufficient.

It is really the stupidest way to make the stolen silver unable to leave the country by forcibly blocking it now, because the ships released every day are very different from the actual shipping volume, almost blocking the canal in disguise, and the price of grain in the north is rising, and the military and civilians will definitely be suspicious, which is what the Cao Governor and even the Ming court can not bear.

Then, at a certain time, the current state of strict inspection will be forced to be lifted in order to restore the normal transportation status of the Grand Canal.

How long will it be until the lockdown is lifted?

Facing Qin Lin's questioning gaze, Zhang Zixuan crossed her two index fingers and compared: Ten days at most. It has been eight days since the robbery occurred before, and the big businessmen of Jingshi have been in contact with the officials of the imperial court, and they know what is happening here, I am afraid that now the price of food in Jingshi has taken the opportunity to rise, and the imperial court can tolerate the rise for half a month at most, so the time for continuous blockade will be ten days at most.

Is there only ten days? Qin Lin scratched his head, this is really not good news for the detection, after ten days, the blockade will be lifted, and the White Lotus Sect will transport the stolen silver out of the country, then it will be difficult to recover!

So, how is the fleet of this winter liberation composed, and where did it happen?

"It's cold, it's fucking cold, Yangzhou has never been so cold in the past ten years," Officer Ge recalled the scene of the boat coming from Zhenjiang that day, entering the Yangtze River from the Jiangnan Canal, and then entering the Jing Canal from the Yangtze River, and the first memory was the unusually cold that day. (Jiangnan Canal, Jing Canal, etc. are all part of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal) The terrible cold has frozen people enough, and the boatmen have red noses, snot and snort, shouting trumpets to shake the oars, so that the flat-bottomed boats slowly move forward.

The fleet of this winter liberation was composed of eighteen flat-bottomed boats, of which only the middle one was loaded with silver ingots from Su Songchang, Hangjiahu and Jiangnan Liufu to the Jingshitai warehouse, and the other ships were loaded with grain for Ouchi to eat, as well as balsamic vinegar, silk, pepper and other "tuyi".

The annual winter solution, is the most important work of Caoyun, sent to protect the soldiers dense turns, on both sides of the canal are elite soldiers, Zhenjiang to Guazhou this small section in the Yangtze River, the Governor of the Yangtze River also sent the Yangtze River Naval Division to strictly protect, it is really a net of heaven and earth, and it is difficult for birds to cross.

The boat crossed the Yangtze River, entered the Jing Canal from Guazhou, which is the famous "Three Bays" in Yangzhou, and the fleet stopped in the Three Bays for the night overnight.

Unexpectedly, the next morning, when the escort officials checked the silver as usual, they found that the entire 500,000 taels of silver were missing!

The case was immediately exposed, and the fleet stopped at Sanwan to search carefully, but the 500,000 taels of silver, more than 30,000 catties, even if a strong man came to carry it, it would take one or two hundred people to move the silver, which disappeared into the air inexplicably, and has never been accounted for again...... Qin Lin learned about these situations, and asked again: "So if you say that, the silver is still fine before entering Sanwan?" ”

"That's for sure, I lost it that night in Sanwan!" Officer Ge replied in the affirmative.

The silver was checked every morning, sealed and packed in a box, and only the escort officer had the right to open the check, and it was still there the first day, and it disappeared the next day, of course, it was lost that night.

"I suspect it," Commander Ge secretly lowered his voice, "It's the White Lotus Sect demon bandits who took advantage of the twists and turns of the river in Sanwan to do something. ”

Qin Lin nodded, there is indeed such a possibility.

After a few words of greeting and sending off Officer Ge, Qin Lin rubbed his temples thoughtfully.

"Brother Qin, how is it?" Zhang Zixuan couldn't wait to ask.

Qin Lin narrowed his eyes: "This time, our opponent is very cunning. ”

(To be continued)