Chapter 2677: Follow the clues to clear up the mess
Sometimes things suddenly become very strange, like a car accident. It may be that you hit someone else, or someone else hit you. Don't worry about how careful you are, when others lose control, they will too.
Take yourself away together.
When things happen, there is always no choice.
No matter how much preparation I did, I still had no choice.
Chengdu.
Jinguan City.
When the sun rose, Mr. Zhang slowly came out of his home and walked towards the bustling market area of the city.
Today he was wearing a very inconspicuous gray Gebu robe, and like the surrounding Sichuan and Sichuan men, he loosened the collar and the belt a bit, and also lifted the hem of the robe and tied it at his waist.
The space is convenient for walking and also ventilated.
Are you gentle with your balls?
After all, the weather is hot right now, and the mornings are somewhat better now. But if it’s close to noon, even in a cool place, it’s still stuffy and hot, and there’s really nowhere to hide.
Today Zhang Gong takes a rest.
As soon as he went out, he saw a few more soldiers at the inner square gate.
That's right, there are more.
At the beginning of these two days, there were some strange rumors. It was said that Xu Shu, Xu Huang and others opened a road in the mountains and offended the gods and ghosts in the mountains, and many laborers died.
Then there were more soldiers in the streets.
This surprised Mr. Zhang, and at the same time he admired the speed of action under Qiusi's rule.
Needless to say, Jiangdong, even the original Han Dynasty Luoyang, the officials were too lazy to be like pigs. They would never stand if they could sit, never sit if they could lie down, and never move more if they could, even if things got serious.
On the head, they are also trying their best to push and drag whenever they can. For example, here in Chengdu, if there is a slight disturbance, the government's response is to arrive immediately, which almost breaks through Zhang Gong's cognition.
Sometimes Mr. Zhang couldn't help but think, if one day he could return to Jiangdong, wouldn't he be able to use these experiences and methods he had learned under the rule of Hussar?
but……
Mr. Zhang sighed slightly.
He likes money very much because he had no money when he was young.
The poverty in his family once left a deep mark on him.
He remembered that when he was a child, he wanted something very much. He thought about it very much during the day and at night, but he did not dare to say anything or ask his parents for it, because he knew that his family was very poor and could not even eat.
This is a big problem, so how can we spend any spare money?
But when he grew up and got money, he forgot what he wanted so much when he was a child...
From Jinguan City to the main city, you have to pass through Zuo Bridge.
In the earliest days of the Zuo Bridge, it is said that it was a bridge built with bamboo, suspended above the water. Sometimes the water was so strong that the bamboo bridge was submerged in the water and was often damaged.
Of course, the current Zuo Bridge has been replaced by masonry deconstruction, and a long arch bridge spans the water inspection.
Jianshui is also called Waijiang.
Because the water inspection is outside Chengdu, it is separated from Chengdu itself, as well as Cheguancheng and Jinguancheng.
Of course, if there is an outer river, then there is an inner river. The other Pi River passes through the city of Chengdu, flows into the north of the outer city of Chengdu, bypasses Chengdu Shaocheng, and flows out in the southeast direction. Because this inner river passes through the city and enters.
, so water transportation was convenient, so a large market was formed based on the inner city of Pijiang River, called Nanshi.
There are also soldiers on duty beside the Zuo Bridge.
When passing the Zuo Bridge, Zhang Gong seemed to feel that the soldiers were staring at him, but when he turned around to look at the soldiers on duty, it seemed that the soldiers were just patrolling the crowd normally, and there was nothing special about it.
Today is the time promised before, so Mr. Zhang must go to the market.
In the past two days, he kept feeling like someone was looking at him, but when he looked back, it seemed like no one was there.
Maybe I'm just being paranoid?
Zhang Gong collected some information. If this information cannot be sent out in time, then after waiting for a period of time, the information may lose its effectiveness and become meaningless.
For example, the rumors about ghosts and ghosts in the past two days...
In fact, there are some things among the common people, even if they are not said in their mouths, they will inevitably grumble in their hearts. Just like the thing that Mr. Zhang wanted when he was a child, he has never said it, but he has never forgotten it. Things that cannot be forgotten will also be imitated.
, just like an unforgettable first love, you may still remember such a person, but when you think of his or her appearance, it’s hard to remember...
So if you want to take advantage of this rumor, you have to act quickly, and Mr. Zhang doesn't know if anyone else in Chengdu will report this matter. If someone else reports it, wouldn't the bonus he gets be less?
It might even be worthless.
In addition to the recent labor incident, Zhang Gong also obtained some information through correspondence, which can also be exchanged for money.
When he has saved enough money, he will resign and go home.
Buy a house, marry a wife, and have children.
Mr. Zhang smiled slightly.
Being a spy is of course risky, but risks can bring you more money.
He likes money, and he also wants his children to be able to buy whatever they want and no longer suffer from poverty.
Although Mr. Zhang doesn't even know where his wife is or what she looks like, it doesn't stop him from imagining it.
Mr. Zhang didn’t have much contact with people from Li’s Trading Company, for the sake of safety. Mr. Zhang didn’t even let people from Li’s Trading Company know where he lived. After all, the most important thing for a spy is safety.
Except for going to the restaurant once a week to pick up a task, he doesn't recognize anyone else. He works vertically in a single line and never has horizontal contact. This will reduce the espionage efficiency, but it can ensure that when a spy is arrested, he will not target other people.
Intelligence lines cause damage.
He is very cautious.
Zhang Gong passed through Zuoqiao Gate, entered the outer city of Chengdu, and then headed for Nanshi.
Nanshi is located along the Neijiang River and has a long and narrow shape. One side is a canal and the other side is a shop. People come and go, and there are teams of mules and horses, making it very lively.
During the Han Dynasty, the city of Chengdu tried its best to expand. During the Yuanding reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the city was built with eighteen city gates. It can be said that "one river has a city, and nine bridges lead its flow." Chengdu's population even occupies the entire western Sichuan area.
With 30% of the population, it is "the gathering place of shops and the abyss of all businesses". In addition, it has been away from the war and has the policy protection of Qiusi over the years. Now it is becoming more and more prosperous, and it has the potential to firmly rank as the second largest city in the world.
.
When Zhang Gong passed through Nanshi yesterday, he moved a stone in the corner in front of the second door of the south alley. Now among the stones in the corner, the gray one has been turned over again, indicating that people from Li's Trading Company
Already been here.
After walking two streets, Mr. Zhang saw two more patrol inspectors, standing on the side of the street, seeming to be chatting about something. Although they were not wearing inspection robes, Mr. Zhang could recognize them. Mr. Zhang saw them
After passing the two of them, they are Ma Zhong's men.
Mr. Zhang looked at the center of the street again. At the watchtower, there were also patrol soldiers guarding the watchtower. The watchtower was always guarded, but today there seemed to be more guards than usual.
One of the soldiers saw Duke Zhang and said hello to him, "Zhang Shuzuo, are you off today?"
Mr. Zhang smiled and nodded.
It seems to be the same as before.
For some reason, he began to feel a little uneasy. After hesitating for a moment, he continued walking towards the scheduled meeting point...
After all, Li's Trading Company is not far ahead, just a few steps away.
The hawking sounds in Nanshi are still full of vitality, and the vendors' voices are long and full of charm.
Zhang Gong slowly walked into Li's Trading Company in a long tone.
Li's Trading Company is a medium-sized trading firm in Nanshi, Chengdu. Because Fei Qian and Xu Shu both attach great importance to the development of commerce, there are many trading firms in Chengdu, either dealing in groceries or buying and selling high-end items, anyway.
From common people to nobles, they can always find some business to do.
It's just that commercial shops are different from ordinary restaurants and restaurants. Usually there are no shop signs or waiters shouting and soliciting outside the door, so when Zhang Gong comes in, he just goes inside...
The light inside the business store was slightly dim, and there were only two or three people standing or sitting. One person was facing the wall, with his back to the door, and seemed to be holding something in his hand, looking at it.
The other one, who looked like a clerk, was flicking the dust on the shelves with a feather duster.
The shopkeeper was sitting behind the counter, his head lowered, as if he was taking a nap...
Zhang Gong walked to the counter and was about to greet the shopkeeper, but found that the shopkeeper was not taking a nap. Instead, his face was pale, and sweat was rolling down his forehead and cheeks!
Zhang Gong was suddenly startled, and his whole body was horrified!
He turned back subconsciously and looked in the direction of the shopkeeper's gaze. The blood all over his body suddenly froze completely at this moment...
The person sitting in the corner turned around and found that it was Ma Heng.
Ma Heng smiled and said, "Zhang Shuzuo, are you okay?"
Sweat suddenly broke out on Zhang Gong's forehead.
He didn't answer.
At this moment, he lost the ability to speak.
Two or three people came out of the trading house, and at the door of the trading house, there were also figures moving and walking in, blocking all directions.
The room was dark, and the only light came from the window...
Ma Heng looked at Mr. Zhang and did not immediately order the arrest.
On the one hand, Ma Heng brought several experts, and he was not worried about Guild Zhang getting angry. On the other hand, Ma Heng was a member of the Youwen Department who became a monk halfway, and he had never seen a spy who would immediately commit suicide once exposed.
.
Ma Heng had no experience as a spy, and Mr. Zhang had no experience as a spy.
Apart from the information he brought and some scattered items, there were no weapons on Mr. Zhang's body, let alone poison.
After all, in today's Han Dynasty, poison is not something anyone can buy if they want to.
So Zhang Gong didn’t commit suicide, he didn’t do anything, his mind was blank…
There was silence in the house.
A burst of children's laughter suddenly came from the window.
Zhang Gong turned around and saw a child holding a small bamboo dragonfly high, then smiling, running, and passed under the window. Then another child chased after the previous child, seeming to be saying something in his mouth.
Let the previous child give him the bamboo dragonfly to play with for a while.
At this moment, Mr. Zhang suddenly remembered what he wanted most when he was a child...
It's that little bamboo dragonfly.
It once flew into the wind in the hands of a salesman, and once hovered up and down in the hands of other children, a simple bamboo dragonfly.
Seeing that Mr. Zhang was not moving or speaking, Ma Heng waved.
Two people who heard about the situation came forward and tied up Mr. Zhang.
Suddenly, Mr. Zhang shed tears. What he liked the most was this. It was just this. It was not the land, the house, the beautiful lady, or the delicious food and famous horses, as he had always thought. It was just a little
Yes, just a penny bamboo dragonfly...
But why did he forget it?
Why……
……(*￣(工)￣)……
In the big city of Chengdu, within the government office.
Xu Shu expressed his approval for Ma Heng's work.
When Ma Heng received the Jiangzhou Express, he did not arrest him with great fanfare. Instead, he used Li's Trading Company to set up a trap to catch prey. He successfully caught Zhang Gong and obtained direct evidence of his crime from Zhang Gong. This series of events
His actions are somewhat like Wen Si.
Xu Shu smiled and stroked his beard, watching Ma Heng describe the whole process with some excitement, nodding his head from time to time to express his affirmation.
There is a hearing department, not an inspection office, nor a city guard.
If you only know how to fight and kill blindly, then you only need soldiers...
This is the reason why Xu Shu really felt that Ma Heng had grown up and praised him.
"Jiangdong," Xu Shu patted Ma Heng's report, "It's really well thought out..."
Ma Heng also nodded.
Xu Shu looked at the various items placed in front of the hall, especially the pile of flying money that was seized, and couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, "These money are all hidden by the Zhang family?"
Ma Heng nodded, "Exactly. Mr. Zhang hid the money in the house, which is quite hidden. But... there are still some traces..."
In the Youwen Division, there are some good players who have retired from scouting.
Perhaps the things Zhang Gong hid could evade ordinary thieves, but they could not escape the inspection of scouts.
"Zhang Shuzuo..." Xu Shu shook his head and said, "I still have some impression... Sichuan and Shu used trials to promote talents, and he even wrote a treatise on honest officials..."
Ma Heng said: "If you look at his daily expenses, he is actually poor, but he never thought that this is the case..."
"Hmm..." Xu Shu smiled and said, "I have worked hard to save money, but unexpectedly it was made into a wedding dress in one day... Have you ever confessed?"
Ma Heng nodded and said: "Confession. The Zhang family met Lu Zijing in Jingzhou in his early years. Later, Lu Zijing defected to Jiangdong and sent people to come for a secret meeting... In this way, he took over Jiangdong..."
Xu Shu nodded, and then asked: "Does this son have a grudge? Or has he suffered some injustice among the officials?"
Ma Heng said: "That's not to say... In my opinion, it's just for greed for money."
"Coveting money, haha, I got the money, but I can't use it..." Xu Shu stroked his beard, "Why?"
Ma Heng replied: "There is a saying... It is said that one day I can return to my hometown, buy property and a house, and become a wealthy and idle person..."
"Fields and houses, rich and idle people?" Xu Shu pointed to the pile of flying money, "How many acres of land and houses do you want to buy?"
Ma Heng looked at it and shook his head, "Maybe at first, it was really for the land and house, and then... just forgot about it?"
Xu Shu sighed softly, and after a while he said: "Just now you said that you found the Jiangdong spy base here because of someone else's suggestion? What happened?"
Ma Heng recounted what happened in Jiangzhou, and then said: "I feel ashamed to say that, although I am the head of the Wenwen Department, I don't know how to investigate and deal with it..."
Chang'an is very big and Chengdu is not small either.
There are many satellite cities around Chengdu, and there are also many officials. The data is complicated, and Ma Heng has no experience to speak of. Time is tight and the tasks are heavy. If his brother Ma Liang hadn't given him an idea, Zhuge Liang would have found him in Jiangzhou.
Ma Heng didn’t know how long he would have to look for clues...
Regarding Zhuge Liang's actions, Xu Shu just smiled and was not surprised. However, some of Ma Heng's suggestions from his fourth brother actually made Xu Shu have some thoughts of loving talents, but Xu Shu did not
I said something on the spot, just jotted it down secretly, and then prepared to observe it again.
Then Xu Shu and Ma Heng made some arrangements.
Because there was not much movement when Ma Heng arrested Zhang Gong, Xu Shu and Ma Heng both thought that they could keep Li's Trading Company open to see what other prey would jump in.
On the other hand, Ma Heng felt that the disease problem in Nanzhong laborers should have nothing to do with Jiangdong spies, because whether he investigated from this point of time, or he had already arrested Jiangdong spies, including people from Li's Trading Company
, and the confessions from Zhang Gong’s interrogation all show that these people were at most aware of the labor disease and the rumors of ghosts and gods, but they were not involved.
Jiangdong is obviously more concerned about military information.
After Xu Shu thought for a moment, he said to Ma Heng, "Zhong Chang, since the people from Jiangdong were not involved in this matter... then if someone is causing trouble, it can only be..."
"Maybe it's Nanzhong." Ma Heng said in a deep voice, "The people are worried about food and clothing. This is what ghosts and gods say... If there were no people behind the scenes, the rumors would not have spread so quickly."
Xu Shu nodded and said: "In that case, I would like to ask Lao Zhong to go to Nanzhong often and check to see who is causing trouble there!"
Wherever the road is built, it will naturally be more convenient.
So it's convenient for some people, and it's naturally inconvenient for some people.
People who are convenient are happy, and people who are inconvenient are unhappy.
Zhuge Liang left Nanzhong. On the one hand, he needed to go to Jiangzhou to coordinate. On the other hand, he may not have wanted these people in Nanzhong to jump out...
At first, Xu Shu was worried that many parties would get mixed up and cause trouble for each other, which would cause Sichuan and Shu to be in trouble. But now that a connection between Jiangdong spies has been revealed, it can be said that the threat from the east has been temporarily weakened.
, all that's left is one direction.
Nanzhong.
Or even Jiaozhi further south.
But neither Xu Shu nor Ma Heng expected that a new situation had occurred, and it was something unexpected. It was like it seemed to be a mess, but it was solved with just a hand...
