On the afternoon of June 27 of the fifth lunar calendar of Jianlong, in a house behind the "Koufuju" restaurant in Erdaocheng (Dongcheng) of Tongwancheng (Dongcheng) of the Dingyan Army of the Dingyan Army, Wang Baochuan, the director of the Xiazhou Branch of the Dingyan Army Intelligence Station of the Ministry of Intelligence (the head of the Xiazhou Branch of the "Dark Feather" Dingyan Army Branch), was bare-chested, sitting on a rattan recliner, hiding under a tall jujube tree in the courtyard, while shaking the pu fan to fan himself with a match, while picking up the copper kettle that had been put in the well water since the morning and had just been brought up. Pour the sour plum soup into a large porcelain bowl and pour it into your stomach in one gulp to dissipate the lingering heat.

The end of June and the beginning of July in the lunar calendar is the hottest season in the northwest and the hottest season in China. The entire Tongwan City is like a piece of dry soil, and the slag will fall off if you touch it lightly. A bowl of water spilled on the ground, but in the blink of an eye, it would disappear without a trace under the dual effect of the thirsty earth and the merciless scorching sun.

In such scorching heat, no one wants to leave the shade and wander the streets unless necessary. It is precisely because of this that Wang Baochuan can take advantage of the lack of customers in the restaurant to return to his residence at the back of the restaurant to take a nap, take a nap, and avoid the hottest time of the day, so as to have enough energy to entertain customers who will leave home to visit his restaurant in the evening when the temperature drops and the heat fades.

Three bowls of cold, refreshing, sweet and sour plum soup went down to his stomach, Wang Baochuan suddenly felt a cool breath rushing from his throat to his chest, and the hot air on his body immediately weakened a lot, and he felt so comfortable all over his body. This rare comfort made him feel very comfortable, and after pouring another bowl of sour plum soup on the low table next to him, he stretched his waist and laid down on the rattan chaise longue, ready to sleep beautifully. As a result, as soon as his head hit the pillow, the rattan chaise longue under him began to shake involuntarily, and the branches and leaves of the jujube tree beside him also swayed gently back and forth without wind. A moment later, a faint sound of muffled thunder came from the sky, as if an ancient beast was whimpering in the distance.

If the initial shaking would be regarded by Wang Baochuan as being dizzy by the heat, then the subsequent sound of muffled thunder immediately flashed another possibility in his mind - the ground moved.

As soon as he thought of this, Wang Baochuan, who had experienced ground shaking disasters in his childhood, and had seen the scene of houses collapsing and heavy casualties, suddenly fell asleep, and a carp jumped up from the rattan deck chair, and jumped into the open area in the courtyard in three or two steps, so as to prevent being injured or even buried by the houses that might collapse. Not only did Wang Baochuan, who was standing on the ground, no longer feel any vibration, but even the leaves of the jujube tree regained their calm and became motionless.

If it weren't for the fact that the bowl of sour plum soup on the low table overflowed a little because of the shaking of Fang Cai, he would even wonder if he had a delusion, or if he had a dream. After standing in the courtyard for a while, Wang Baochuan, who was still a little unrelenting, climbed the jujube tree with his hands and feet, climbed on the high branches and looked around, hoping to find more evidence that the ground had indeed moved. But looking around, there was no indication of his judgment except that a high, thick column of black smoke had risen on the distant northern horizon, indicating that there might have been a fire there for some reason.

Although he still believed that his feelings were right, but without any favorable evidence to support him, Wang Baochuan finally decided to ignore the unexplained shaking, climbed down from under the tree, drank the bowl of sour plum soup that was cold on the low table, and lay back on the rattan chair to continue his nap journey.

After a good night's sleep, when Wang Baochuan woke up from his sleep, it was almost dusk. Although the temperature is still high, it is much stronger than at noon and in the afternoon. Although the drowsiness still exists, considering that as the sky gets later and the summer heat weakens, more and more people will patronize the restaurant, and he, the shopkeeper, needs to go to the front to support those diners with higher status, so Wang Baochuan has to work hard to drive the sleepy worm out of his head and let himself wake up as much as possible. And just between this half-dream and half-awakening, with a rush of footsteps, a thin figure flashed in from the moon gate, and then a low and rapid voice sounded in Wang Baochuan's ears: "Hall Master, the spies responsible for monitoring the secret base of the Dijinze Dingnan Army reported that this afternoon, there was an accident in the powder magazine of the Dijinze secret base. Nearly 500,000 catties of stock** exploded for unknown reasons. The violent explosion not only turned almost the entire secret base of Dijinze into ruins, but also killed and injured a large number of craftsmen and soldiers of the 'Thunderbolt Army' on the spot, and the shock caused by the explosion could even be felt in Tongwan City, which was nearly a hundred miles away. ”

The words of the person who came proved the authenticity of Wang Baochuan and the reason for the shaking of the recliner just now, but also made him immediately break out in a cold sweat, and he no longer felt sleepy. He jumped up from the recliner at a speed faster than the misjudgment just now, grabbed the arm of Han Shun, the deputy head of the Xiazhou Branch of the Intelligence Department's Dingyan Army Intelligence Station (the deputy hall master of the Xiazhou Branch of the "Dark Feather" Dingyan Army Branch), and asked sharply: "When the explosion occurred, Chen Baoqiang and Qiu Mingbo were in the secret base of Dijinze?" How are they doing now, and have they ever been injured? ”

Although Han Shun's arm hurt when he was grabbed by Wang Baochuan, he understood his boss's reaction at this time, and hurriedly comforted: "Don't worry, hall master. According to our spies, about half an hour before the explosion, Chen Baoqiang and Qiu Mingbo had already left Dijinze and returned to Tongwancheng, and they were nearly 20 miles away from Dijinze when the explosion occurred. Although the horse was frightened by the explosion and Yau Mingbo fell off the horse, he was not injured, but he soiled his clothes and broke his arm, which was not a major problem. As for Chen Baoqiang, because his riding skills were more exquisite than Qiu Mingbo's, although his mount was also frightened, he did not fall off his horse, and he did not suffer even a few skin injuries. ”

Hearing that Chen Baoqiang and Qiu Mingbo escaped this catastrophe and were not harmed by any Yan zhòng, Wang Baochuan couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and let go of Han Shun's arm. Although he had been ordered to fool Chen Baoqiang, Qiu Mingbo and others, he delayed the implementation of the plan to take them out of the Dingyan Army and return them to Kaifeng for various reasons. However, he knew very well that as the object of great concern of several "Qingyuan" brother leaders, including Song Guogong, as the founding son, the deputy commander of the water army in front of the palace, and the former tribulation brother of Xin Feiyu, the general of the Right Military Guard, the safety of Chen Baoqiang and Qiu Mingbo and their families, the intelligence station of the Dingyan Army and the Xiazhou branch of the Ministry of Intelligence (the "Dark Feather" Dingyan Army Branch and the Xiazhou Branch) must be protected with all their might. If Chen, Qiu and their families had any mistakes and mistakes, they would not be able to eat and walk around. Now that he knows that Chen and Qiu are very lucky to have escaped this catastrophe, how can he not let go and breathe a sigh of relief.

Although Chen Baoqiang and Qiu Mingbo are safe and sound, it can be considered that the secret base of Dijinze is where the Dingyan Army develops, produces, and trains the "Thunderbolt Army," and Chen and Qiu can be regarded as the sole responsible persons for the production of firearms. Now that such a serious accident has occurred at the secret base in Dijinze, whether or not it involves the fault of Chen and Qiu, as the number one leader, both of them will inevitably bear responsibility -- at least one charge of lax supervision and improper management will not be able to escape. Although in Wang Baochuan's view, given the importance of Chen and Qiu in the production of firearms, the party members would not necessarily have their heads cut off because of the accident, but the disaster of losing their posts or being imprisoned is probably indispensable. If Chen and Qiu were really imprisoned, it would be much more difficult to complete the task of taking the two out of the Dingyan Army - after all, the Kaifeng side was not in a hurry to take out the two because they had an identity, status, and did not worry about food and clothing in the Dingyan Army. In addition, the secret base of Dijinze is also regarded as the object of more attention in Kaifeng, and the explosion of the powder magazine has a great impact. Therefore, on the one hand, Wang Baochuan ordered Han Shun to immediately send someone to contact Chen Baoqiang and Qiu Mingbo, reminding them to pay attention to their own safety, and if there is any action that may be unfavorable to them on the side of the party members, they must try to notify the Xiazhou branch as soon as possible, so that they can deal with it on their side. On the other hand, he ordered Han Shun to send additional manpower to investigate the situation on the side of Dijin Ze through various channels, in the hope of being able to grasp more and more detailed information so that he could report to his superiors.

Speaking of which, the efficiency of the agents of the Xiazhou Branch of the Intelligence Station of the Dingyan Army Intelligence Station of the Ministry of Intelligence was still very high, but within a day, the detailed information about the explosion of the gunpowder magazine at the secret base of the Dingyan Army in Dijinze was handed over to Wang Baochuan, and the latter saw the tragedy of this incident.

According to the investigation, the explosion of the powder magazine occurred at the beginning of the afternoon of June 27 of the lunar calendar of the fifth year of Jianlong. The violent explosion destroyed almost all the buildings in the secret base, killed more than 800 craftsmen and seriously injured more than 500. The 'Thunderbolt Army,' which was closer to the powder magazine, was killed by more than 1,300 people and seriously injured by more than 800 people. The guns, artillery and other weapons it was equipped with were also damaged, and the intact rate was negligible. In other words, this sudden explosion not only destroyed the production base of gunpowder and firearms of the Dingyan Army, but also destroyed the "Thunderbolt Army" that the Party members spent enormous manpower, material resources, and financial resources, as well as the "Thunderbolt Army" that had been set up over several years, so that this elite army, which had always been regarded as a secret weapon by the Party members and was unwilling and unwilling to use it prematurely, completely lost its combat effectiveness without a single battle.

More important than the details of the explosion at the secret base in Dijinze was a report from a hidden pile in the official office of the Jiedu Tui Guanzhi of the Dingyan Army -- after learning the news of the explosion in Dijinze, Jiedu made Li Yiyin immediately angry. He not only ordered all the craftsmen and soldiers who survived the bombing to be put into custody so that the cause of the accident could be investigated. He also ordered that Chen Baoqiang and Qiu Mingbo, two officials in charge of the production of firearms, who had just returned home from Jinze, be dismissed from their posts and investigated, and that they should be confined at home from now on, pending investigation by a department.

Speaking of which, Li Yiyin can't be blamed for reacting so violently. After all, it took several years of huge investment and painstaking strict secrecy to build this elite firearms and horses of 2,500 people. Now, this elite army was wiped out in a sudden explosion without fighting or firing a shot, which made Li Yiyin feel relieved. What's more, the Dijinze secret base, which has been operating safely for several years under the constraints of the strict safety production system and training regulations formulated by Chen Baoqiang and Qiu Mingbo, and has never made any mistakes, will have such a strict and devastating accident without warning, and Li Yiyin cannot help but think about whether this accident is a "natural disaster" or a "man-made disaster".

Therefore, Li Yiyin, who had recovered from the anger of hearing the news at the beginning, allowed his subordinates to clean up the handsome case that he had kicked over in a fit of anger, and on the other hand, he ordered the soldiers outside the door to quickly summon all the important officials of the Jiedu Mansion to him, and strictly ordered them, under the leadership of the deputy envoy of Jiedu, to immediately conduct a comprehensive and meticulous investigation into the explosion of the secret base in Dijinze, and to find out the cause of the accident and the personnel responsible for the accident.

In the face of the accident scene, which has become a ruin and it is impossible to leave any clues, to face the survivors of the accident who are covered in injuries and cannot even speak clearly, and Chen Baoqiang and Qiu Mingbo, who were 20 miles away at the time of the accident and could not know what was going on in the secret base at the time of the explosion, can imagine the difficulty of finding out the cause of the accident and finding out who was responsible for the accident. Therefore, the officials of Jiedu Mansion have been busy for a month, but their gains are minimal. It is a clue to solve the case, and no one can even say the specific situation on the day of the accident.

Just when the officials of the Dingyan Army Jiedu Mansion were jumping up and down, anxious like ants on a hot pot, Wang Baochuan, Han Shun and other Xiazhou intelligence sub-stations and agents from the Dingyan Army Intelligence Station were not idle. After learning that Chen Baoqiang and Qiu Mingbo had been dismissed from their posts and placed under house arrest at home, and that their lives were not in danger for the time being, Wang Baochuan immediately transmitted the relevant news to the intelligence station of the Dingyan Army, and finally sent it to the "Qingyuan City" in Kaifeng.

As Wang Baochuan expected, after learning the relevant news, the crossing team, which was not in a hurry to pick up Chen and Qiu, immediately ordered the intelligence station of the Dingyan Army and the Xiazhou intelligence substation of the Ministry of Intelligence (the "Dark Feather" Dingyan Army Branch and the Xiazhou Branch) to revise the response plan previously formulated according to the actual situation, and combine the two sets of plans of "civil and military" into one, and start to implement them with all their might. Try not to use force when it is possible not to use it. If the goal cannot be achieved by peaceful means, there is no need to be afraid of using force, but every action must be premised on ensuring the safety of the Chen and Qiu families. At the same time, the crossing team also ordered the Lingzhou Observation System to make Yang Ye ready to meet the Chen and Qiu families who had withdrawn from the Dingyan Army at any time, as well as the agents of the Intelligence Department who could not continue to work in the Dingyan Army because of this incident. In addition, the crossing team committee also ordered Mutel to lead the "Ranger Battalion" and the "Wolf Tooth Battalion" to set off immediately, and rush to Fuzhou day and night, so that if necessary, he could leave Fuzhou and disguise himself as Khitans, and threaten the states of the Dingyan Army from the north, so as to attract the attention of the party members and create more favorable conditions for Chen, Qiu and others to get out of the country.

The crossing team urgently dispatched troops and dispatched generals, and made every effort to take the Chen and Qiu families out of the Dingyan army. However, a group of investigation officials in the Dingyan Military Festival Prefecture became anxious because the investigation of the case had made no progress. On the one hand, the investigation of the accident is difficult and difficult, and on the other hand, Li Yiyin's continuous pressure and severe punishment are on the other. So, after the angry boss killed three officials who were considered to be ineffective in the investigation, the deputy envoy in charge of the accident investigation also became ruthless. On the one hand, he dispatched all the forces he could muster, and used the most stupid method to investigate and sort out one by one all the officials, craftsmen, and generals who had been to the secret base in Dijinze from the three days before the accident to the day of the accident, in order to find clues from the investigation of these people. On the other hand, a reward order was issued, announcing that a thousand red points were raised to solicit clues to solve the case.