Su Jin was wandering alone on the streets. Groups of security guards patrolled the streets. When they saw Su Jin, they all stopped to say hello. The lights in Yangzhou city were bright, like a newborn baby.
Laughter and joy could be heard from the surrounding houses, and many families were raising glasses tonight to celebrate that the sky in Yangzhou would become clear from now on.
Su Jinxin rode his horse slowly down the street from the reins. The fresh air calmed his mind. The depression caused by Mihua's death was also slightly relieved. There were still so many thorny matters at hand that needed to be dealt with. In fact,
When you are not depressed, as a member of this era, it is absolutely impossible not to have a strong enough heart.
Inadvertently, Su Jin came to an alley on North Street. He raised his eyes and burst into laughter. He could not help but come to the door of the inn where Bai Mudan and others were staying.
Mahan and Zhang Long were still watching here with their men. Su Jin dismounted his horse, tied it to the tethering stone at the entrance of the inn, and gently pushed open the ajar door of the inn. An orange light shone out from inside.
In the corner of the lobby, Ma Han and Zhang Long were sitting across from each other having a drink. On the small table, a pot of charcoal hot pot was boiling with steam and the aroma was fragrant.
Su Jin Yile, these two people actually know how to enjoy themselves. They are quite comfortable eating supper and drinking here in the middle of the night. They were still frowning when they were asked to guard this inn. Now I am afraid they are too happy to miss their childhood.
Su Jin tapped the table with a riding whip, making a snapping sound. Mahan was startled and shouted in unison: "Who?" He picked up the simple knife next to him.
Su Jin approached slowly and deliberately said with a stern face: "You are quite at ease. I am exhausted from all the work, but you are here eating and drinking."
Ma Han Zhang Long quickly put down the knife, smiled and rubbed his hands before stepping forward. Ma Han stammered: "Isn't this... It's boring on a cold night, why don't you two get some food to warm up?"
Zhang Long nodded and bent down to take Su Jin's cloak, and said with a smile: "Sir, why are you here so late? Are you looking for White Peony?"
Ma Han slapped him on the head and said, "Be careful with your mouth. Are you that kind of person? I'm here to see our brothers."
Su Jin rolled his eyes, sat down next to the hot pot, stretched out his hand and said: "Take the chopsticks and the bowl, what is this stew?"
Ma Han quickly took the bowl and chopsticks, poured a bowl of wine for Su Jin and said, "Sir, this is beef."
Su Jin clapped his chopsticks and said, "You even eat beef? Are the livestock nervous now? There are no livestock left for spring plowing. How dare you eat beef?"
Ma Han hurriedly said: "This is what the shopkeeper got. He said that it was a working cow that gave birth to a calf in the countryside north of the city. It died of tossing, and it was a pity to bury it. Then he bled it and sold the meat into the city. It was a big disaster."
Due to the changing circumstances, these are unavoidable, aren’t they?”
Su Jin then picked up the chopsticks and said: "That's pretty much it. When you follow me, you must remember that some things are free if you don't take them, and some things can't be touched. Especially, you can't abuse the people. Look at Feng Laohu's touch now.
In this way, you will understand."
"I understand, I understand, sir, while it's hot, this is a piece of beef tenderloin. It's delicious. Warm yourself up first." Ma Hanyan agreed without hesitation, stretched out his chopsticks and picked up a large piece of beef and put it into the Su Jin bowl.
Su Jin just talked about it in such a sanctimonious manner, not an old scholar, so he started to feast on the strong wine and beef with the two of them.
Ma Han and Zhang Long were also considerate. They were originally guarding this place with more than a dozen soldiers, but the weather was cold and the night was long. They ordered all the soldiers to go to bed, and they asked the shopkeeper to prepare wine and meat.
After the stew was done, the shopkeeper went to bed, and the two of them drank and stayed up all night, feeling quite at ease.
"Sir, we should go back and follow you tomorrow. We have enough soldiers here. I see that the squad leader is calm and honest, and the city is gradually calming down. Nothing will happen." Ma Han toasted Su Jin with a glass of wine.
, took the opportunity to say.
Su Jin nodded and said: "That's fine, I'll catch what needs to be caught, I'll take what needs to be taken, I'm also short of people on hand, and Feng Laohu still refuses to tell me where the food is stored. You guys will go back tomorrow. We're going to
The city is searching for clues vigorously, and it will be difficult to expect Feng Laohu to tell him."
Zhang Long said: "This old dog, as I said, will strip off all his clothes and give him three hundred lashes every day, so that his parents will not recognize him and ask him to talk back."
Su Jin rolled his eyes at him and said: "I know how to fight. Some people can be defeated, but some people can't be beaten to death. Although Feng Jingyao is a bad guy, he is still a man. If he takes the right path, he may not be a killer."
The decisive man of the hour, blindly resorting to torture to extract confessions, shows that we are incompetent."
Zhang Longdao: "But if he doesn't tell us, will there be any results if we search around the city? Have you asked his disciples? It is said that his disciples must know about such a big thing as collecting grain. Think about it, a hundred
How can Feng Laogou alone arrange the hiding of tens of thousands of stones of grain?"
Su Jindao: "I asked, and they all said they didn't know. They said that Feng Laohu personally arranged the matter and did not let anyone around him intervene. The original grain storage areas were at the racecourse and Liutiao'er Hutong, but when he learned that we
After wiping out the bandits and retaking the grain, Feng Jingyao immediately moved the grain from these two places and hid it."
Ma Han said: "Master, there must be someone to help, otherwise what ability does Feng Laohu have to hide the grain? That's 1.8 million dan, which is a huge pile."
Su Jin took a sip of wine and said: "That's absolutely true, and this person is not from Yangzhou. I analyzed that Feng Laohu asked outsiders to bring peasants to carry the grain. After moving, he paid the money and sent him away. Of course,
There is no way to find out in the city."
Ma Han said in astonishment: "Outsiders? How to find out?"
Su Jin thought for a while and said: "If you analyze it carefully, it is actually not difficult. If you think about it, the imperial court has closed the official road. It is absolutely impossible to transport food out of Yangzhou without the road opened by the prefect. Taizhou, which is near Yangzhou,
All official roads between Zhenzhou, Sizhou and other state capitals and Yangzhou have been cut off, and the waterways are not smooth. It is even more impossible for Jiangning Prefecture, Changzhou, and Tongzhou, which are further away. The only ones that can be transported freely without official roads
There are only a few counties under the jurisdiction of Yangzhou."
"Transporting grain during the day will arouse suspicion, so in order to ensure the secrecy of his actions, Feng Jingyao must have transported the grain overnight. To be able to transport and hide the grain in such a short period of time, it must be the recent Tianchang, and it is very likely that it is
People came from Tianchang and transported the grain away from Yangzhou City overnight and hid it somewhere."
Mahan said: "Transporting it out of the city? With such a large amount of grain, when it was transported out of the city gate, didn't the defenders at the city gate know?"
Su Jin smiled and said: "If you have made progress, this is a breakthrough. You can inquire from the city gate defenders. However, the city gate defenders have been mobilized, so you have to find relevant personnel to find the duty records."
Ma Han said: "What's so difficult about that? There are only a few side soldiers in total. You will know as soon as you ask."
Su Jin shook his head and said: "I'm afraid it's not that easy. We can think of this. How could Feng Jingyao not know this when he was transporting food? Maybe he would return empty-handed. Don't forget, Feng Jingyao was not a subordinate at that time.
Prisoner, all officials in Yangzhou, big and small, are still under his control."
Ma Han said: "But the city gate guards are stationed by the Xiang army. Didn't I say that there are no people of his in the Xiang army? How can he have the ability to shut up the Xiang army stationed there?"
Su Jin frowned and thought for a while and said: "At that time, Pan Jiang and more than a thousand Xiang soldiers were following me at the foot of Bagong Mountain. There were not enough Xiang soldiers in the city. Maybe this was an opportunity for Feng Jingyao to take advantage of."
Ma Han Zhang Long's mind was confused. They didn't understand what Su Jin was talking about. However, with the wise and powerful young master around, the two of them were too lazy to worry about it, so they changed the subject and started drinking and eating meat; the three of them talked.
Talk about actually drinking two jars of strong wine.
Ma Han and Zhang Long were just tipsy, but Su Jin couldn't bear it anymore and got drunk. His tongue was enlarged and his eyes were straight. He stood up unsteadily and didn't know how to walk.
Zhang Long hurriedly supported Su Jin and said, "Sir, where should we take you? The Yamen or the Yuelai Inn?"
Before Su Jin could answer in a daze, Ma Han slapped Zhang Long on the head again and cursed: "Where can I send it to a ready-made place? Can I still leave like this?"
After saying that, he stretched out his hand and pointed towards the upper floor of the inn and winked.
Zhang Long understood immediately, and the two of them supported Su Jin, who was staggering, to the guest house at the back step by step, and knocked on the door of a room on the second floor.
Bai Mudan and another woman named Hong Meidan lived in the same apartment. The two had not yet fallen asleep. They were leaning on the bed and chatting when they heard a knock on the door outside. The two women were startled.
"Sister, are the officers and soldiers downstairs trying to do something wrong?" Hong Meigui asked with a pale face.
Bai Mudan thought for a while and emboldened herself: "Probably not. These are Mr. Su's subordinates, and they definitely won't do anything random."
"Then what's the point of knocking on the door in the middle of the night?"
Bai Mudan couldn't answer. There was another knock on the door outside. Bai Mudan bit her lips and said, "It's a blessing, not a curse. It's a curse that cannot be avoided. If they really want to break in, it will be useless if they don't open the door."
So he got dressed and got out of bed, came to the door, opened the door slightly, and saw a figure flashing, a smell of alcohol hitting his face, a heavy body fell on him, and then there was a sound from the stairs, obviously
Someone has gone away.
Bai Mudan's heart was jumping with fright. She reached out and pushed the person leaning on her shoulder away. When she looked through the candlelight, she was not only surprised but also surprised. The person had his eyes closed and was shaking. He had rosy cheeks, thick eyebrows and thin lips, and a fair and handsome face.
His face, who else could it be if it wasn’t Mr. Su?