After lunch, Zhang Yanling changed his strategy. He found that going to shops to find clues on his own was not as good as getting more information from hearsay. What the restaurant owner said was something he didn't know. Maybe the people on the streets knew even more.
So all afternoon, Zhang Yanling and Chen Shiyi went to the tea stalls on the street to chat with the people who were resting and drinking tea inside. The method was naturally to pretend that they were wronged, treat everyone to tea and snacks, and pretend
A rich man from out of town came here to visit and asked some ignorant questions about Guangzhou Prefecture.
Some people refused to say more, and some people were short-tongued, but they kindly reminded some things. Among them was information about the missing people in the city. There was some harvest, but it was piecemeal and unsystematic, and it needed to be screened.
.
For example, eight out of ten of those people said something like the appearance of the Sea Dragon King Mazu, and even swore that they had seen the Sea Dragon King appear, dreamed about Mazu's dreams, etc. This was obviously something Zhang Yanling could not accept.
However, what a few people said aroused Zhang Yanling's vigilance. They said that there was a rumor that Japanese thieves at sea sneaked ashore to capture people and use them as pirates on the island. In fact, this kind of thing had happened before. On a certain day of a certain year and a certain month
His grandfather's grandfather had been captured. In a certain year and month, someone his cousin knew was captured by Japanese bandits and escaped.
Although this statement cannot be fully believed, it provides Zhang Yanling with an idea. That is, who may have captured these missing people. The specific situation is still unclear and has no clue.
.
I didn't get much information all afternoon, but I was very tired. It wasn't my body, but my brain. I was really tired chatting with the people in Guangzhou. Although the local dialect they spoke was as close to Mandarin as possible, it was hard to listen.
It’s still a half-guess and a half-estimation. It’s about sprinkles, hens, hens, bleating, etc. It’s really a headache.
However, after returning to the inn, the two guards found a house to rent today. The house is in an alley not far from the inn. It is a private house and is quite clean.
Zhang Yanling went to take a look and immediately decided to rent it. After paying half a year's rent, the price was naturally extremely expensive. When the landlord saw that Zhang Yanling and others were from outside the city and seemed to be very wealthy, he opened his mouth and made a killing.
.Zhang Yanling didn't bother to bargain with him. After all, the money was given a lot, and the landlord would not cause trouble for him for the sake of the money.
That night, everyone moved out of the inn and lived in a small house.
In the evening, while drinking tea and enjoying the cool air in the small hall, Zhang Yanling and Chen Shiyi sorted through the news of the day and both felt that the city of Guangzhou was indeed very weird.
"Master Hou, I think if we continue the investigation like this, we won't be able to find out anything. Why don't we reveal our identity and go directly to the Guangzhou government office to ask the officials here. We can even ask the Guangzhou and Guangxi Chief Secretary's office for help. What happened here?
They think they know the truth, how dare they lie after meeting the Marquis?" Chen Shi said.
Zhang Yanling waved her hand and said: "No, the more times like this, the more secretly we need to investigate. I suspect that all these things are related to the local government officials. Otherwise, how can people be silenced about such a big matter? These people who go in and out of the city
White people and some foreign merchants can come and go freely, but whose permission is it? Without the government's permission, do they dare to pass freely in the city? There is a lot of fame here, and the water may be very deep."
Chen Shi said: "That's terrible. How dare they do this?"
Zhang Yanling smiled and said: "There are things in this world that you can't imagine, and no one dares to do it. The reason is nothing more than profit. For the sake of profit, some people will even betray their wives, children and parents, not to mention the life and death of ordinary people. Imperial law
The law only restrains good people, and is of no use to these people. There is nothing difficult to understand."
Chen Shi nodded and said in a deep voice: "Then what should we do to investigate next? Should we continue the investigation in the streets and alleys?"
Zhang Yanling thought for a while and said: "This is not necessary. People don't know much, so we still have to rely on ourselves. We had no clues before, so we could only find a direction first. Now I have a clear direction. Tomorrow
We changed our strategy."
Chen Shiyi asked: "How to do it?"
"Tomorrow we will divide our forces into two groups. You can take a few brothers out of the city and go to the Pearl River Wharf outside the South Gate to have a look. Focus on the direction of the goods unloaded on the wharf. We have not seen merchants selling large quantities of Fan Guohai in the city.
Goods, this matter is very strange. However, it is certain that large quantities of overseas goods are smuggled from overseas. Where did these goods go?
Follow the clues. You can go check this matter tomorrow. See if there are any foreign goods unloaded at the dock. If so, where did these goods go? Where were they unloaded, or where were they shipped? I concluded that these
The goods must be taken over by someone from within our Ming Dynasty. Finding out who is taking over will be a major breakthrough." Zhang Yanling said slowly.
Chen Shi nodded and said: "Yes, this is definitely a clue. Tomorrow I will keep an eye on the dock. I will definitely find out the result."
Zhang Yanling said: "Be careful and don't alert the other party. The other party must be extremely cautious about this kind of thing. Find a few smart brothers to go with you. Don't be reckless if you can't find it. This is not a matter of a day or two."
Chen Shi said, "Don't worry, Mr. Hou. I have been following Mr. Hou for a long time. Don't I still understand these things?"
Zhang Yanling smiled and nodded, and said softly: "I will stay in the city tomorrow to track down another clue. They are those merchants from the French country wandering in the city. The focus is on the white people from the French country. Where are these people in the city?
Where to stay, who are you dealing with, and are you connected to the people in the Yamen? Follow them, and you may be able to touch another big melon. You and the goods, I follow the people, the two lines go hand in hand. As long as there is a harvest on one vine, then
It’s a major breakthrough.”
Chen Shiyi said: "Okay, let's do it like this. However, we won't investigate the matter of missing people in this city? This is a major matter where human life is at stake."
Zhang Yanling pondered: "I always feel that this matter may be related to smuggling. Although I am not sure, I always have this hunch. I think if we continue to investigate, maybe this matter will come to light.
"
…
The next day, Zhang Yanling and Chen Shi divided their troops into two groups, one going out of the city to track down clues about the goods, and the other in the city to track down the merchants from the Ban Kingdom.
Zhang Yanling took two of his bodyguards and wandered around the city pretending to be wealthy young men for fun. By noon, Zhang Yanling set his sights on his target. Two Caucasian men from the Flemish country who were riding horses and chatting and laughing came along.
They walked through the street as if there was no one around. Zhang Yanling called a carriage and followed them.
The two men obviously had no purpose, wandering around along the street, and then at noon, they plunged into a building.
Zhang Yanling was dumbfounded. This building was called Haiyun Tower, and there was a big red lantern hanging at the door. But it was a brothel. These two guys from the Franco Kingdom actually came to the brothel to see prostitutes.
Zhang Yanling originally wanted to wait for them outside, but after thinking about it, she decided to go in and take a look. At least she could get a better understanding of the situation, so after waiting for a while, she took the two brothers to the entrance of Haiyun Tower with her folding fan and square steps.
.
A well-dressed and charming woman at the door saw Zhang Yanling's dress and style, and saw the gemstone ring on Zhang Yanling's hand. With the sensitivity of her profession, which has seen countless people, she immediately concluded that this was a wealthy man.
Fat sheep.
"Oh, this young master is here. Please come in quickly, please come in."
The woman came forward familiarly, stretched out her arms to hug Zhang Yanling's arm, and pressed Zhang Yanling's arm tightly with her chest. She spoke like an old friend who had known Zhang Yanling for many years.
Zhang Yanling moved her arms to shake her off, but the other party hugged her tightly, and instead used his elbow to deliberately touch her sensitive parts.
"Hehehe, the young master is quite bad. Please come inside. Are the people inside blind? Didn't you see this young master coming? You haven't come to greet the guests yet." The woman twisted her body and smiled, looking at
shouted inside.
In an instant, five or six women rushed out of the door, all dressed in colorful clothes and heavy makeup. The moment they saw Zhang Yanling, their eyes lit up. A handsome and noble-looking gang leader stood there. This is the best thing.
His prey. Can't you rob him today and make a fortune from him?
So they rushed towards Zhang Yanling one by one, holding hands and holding hands, shouting.
"Young master, come with me. My name is Huanhuan. I am nineteen years old."
"Young master, my slave Ai Ai is eighteen years old, Huan Huan is one year older than me."
"Young master, I am a master of Tiantian. I am proficient in all kinds of music, chess, calligraphy and painting."
"Young Master, follow me..."
"Young Master...I know how to love others..."
The scene was noisy and out of control for a while.
"What are you doing? Don't do this. Don't pull my arm. Ouch!" Zhang Yanling shouted, trying hard to struggle out of the pink-armed hand.
"Oh, it turns out he is a young master from out of town..." When the girls heard the accent, they became even more ecstatic.
Seeing that the situation was getting out of control, the two guards rushed out from the side and shouted: "What are you doing? Let go of my boss. Boss, why don't we leave?"
Zhang Yanling waved her hands and said: "It's okay, it's okay, they are just too enthusiastic."
The two guards could only watch helplessly as Zhang Yanling was dragged into the building by a group of women. They did not dare to go in because the Marquis did not allow them to go in. The two of them had to squat under the wall with a frown on their faces and stare at each other.
They all thought: Will the Marquis be eaten alive by these wolf-like women? Are all the brothels in Guangzhou so cruel?
Zhang Yanling was surrounded by a group of women and entered the hall. Five or six young women were arguing and noisy among themselves, and they were about to fight among themselves over this fat sheep.
Zhang Yanling could only say loudly: "Don't argue anymore, just stay with me."
The girls were extremely surprised when they heard this. One woman chuckled and said, "Young master, you have a really big appetite. Can you bear it?"
Another woman laughed and said, "What are you talking about? You can see that the young master is extremely talented. Without diamonds, how dare you get a porcelain job?"
Zhang Yanling was speechless and said in a deep voice: "From now on, anyone who says one more word will get out of here."
"Hey, the young master is quite fierce. Can't you just say something?" A woman said with a sweet smile.
Zhang Yanling reached out and took out a stack of banknotes from his pocket, slapped it on the table, and said in a deep voice: "Are these enough to shut you up?"
"..." The whole place was silent for a moment. All the women's eyes were staring at the stack of banknotes on the table, and their eyes were shining. They were all fifty-two banknotes, a big stack. There must be at least one thousand.
Damn it. I really met a fat sheep.
A woman suddenly pulled off the silk scarf on her chest and quickly tied it on her mouth. She pointed at her mouth to indicate that she would not say a word again.
Zhang Yanling smiled bitterly and said: "It's not that I don't let you talk, I don't like noisy. Let's chat normally and don't make noises. How shameless? We all stay and the money is divided among everyone. Isn't this great?"
All the women thought in their hearts: It’s a joke to have to be dignified here. But if you have money, you can say anything. So they all nodded in agreement.