But for those little minions, the two leaders of this incident, Zhang Yanfang and Wei Huo, who are now characterized as "pirates were recognized, escaped and were captured", don't care about them anymore. They only care about Li Jiqian.? On the first day of the first lunar month
After catching Li Jiqian, they immediately interrogated Li Jiqian.
After Li Jiqian surrendered, it seemed as if all his defenses had been lost. They answered whatever they asked. Zhang Yanfang and Wei Huo also knew the reason for this incident, and they were able to determine the cause.
Zhang Yanfang and Wei Huo didn't rest for the past two days. In addition to interrogating Li Jiqian, they also interrogated many people. Many people were captured. Even pirates, there were many people who were unwilling to die like this, not to mention the elderly people in the Yamen.
The superb torture techniques are enough to make anyone who is not dead speak.
Then Zhang Yanfang and Wei Huo realized that there was nothing to interrogate. What happened this time was very clear. As for the previous things, such as how many goods Li Jiqian led his people to rob, or how many Ming navy officers and soldiers were killed, that was all
It's something meaningless, and besides, they can't remember it clearly.
So Zhang Yanfang finally asked a question: "Li Jiqian, you were prepared to go to your hometown in Suzhou and were prepared to die, so why did you surrender immediately after you were discovered and knew you couldn't escape?
?" Zhang Yanfang has always been puzzled by the answer to this question.
Li Jiqian said: "When I went to Suzhou to be discovered and then went to die, that was my own business and no one else was implicated. But in Shanghu County, everyone died with me."
Zhang Yanfang then asked: "Then why did you run away with others for a while after you suspected that you were recognized, and then finally surrendered?"
Li Jiqian said: "I was lucky at first, thinking that I might not be caught, but later I knew I couldn't escape, so I surrendered."
Zhang Yanfang discussed with Wei Huo and felt that there was nothing more to ask, so he said to the jailer: "Take him down!"
"Slow down!" Li Jiqian shouted at this time, and then asked: "Two officials of the Ming Dynasty, I want to ask, it is really not you who knew my identity in advance this time, so you laid out this plan to catch me.
of?"
During the inquiry process, Zhang Yanfang and Wei Huo already knew Li Jiqian's huge imagination, so they were not surprised that he would ask this question; but they still found it funny when they thought about it: a famous pirate on the list just because of such a coincidence
It was incredible to be caught.
Zhang Yanfang replied: "It is true that your identity was not discovered before. In fact, until we caught you, we didn't know who you were and why you ran away."
He had actually guessed this from Zhang Yanfang's questions in the past two days, but he was still unwilling to accept it, so he asked this question. Now that he knew the exact answer, he immediately murmured to himself: "It's true that I will die."
!”
Zhang Yanfang waved his hand again and asked the jailer to take him down.
After the interrogation, Zhang Yanfang immediately issued a strict order: Do not insult the captured pirates, especially the women among them. He knew that some women had already been insulted to varying degrees when they were captured, and there was no need to pursue those who were already pregnant.
It's also difficult to pursue, but you can't reappear in prison.
Then Zhang Yanfang and Wei Huo had a big conflict over how to deal with these people. Wei Huo said: "Since it has been confirmed that they are pirates, these few people and their families should be reported to the capital for disposal, and the rest of the gangsters are in trouble."
Just chop it off!"
But Zhang Yanfang disagreed. He said: "Do you know the imperial edict issued by His Majesty in August of the 31st year of Hongwu? In that edict, His Majesty pardoned all the sins of Zhang Shicheng and the rest of the group, and said that if there was no one in the Ming Dynasty, Pirates with obvious misdeeds can be recruited."
Wei Huo said: "How could I not know what you are talking about? But it is about recruiting people for peace. Li Jiqian was obviously caught, not recruiting people for safety. It is not the same. How can we follow that imperial edict?"
Of course he has his own purpose for saying this. If he finally follows the rules of recruiting people, then he has been busy for several days. Although it will not be in vain, he will not get many benefits; if he treats it as a way to clear out pirates, If you deal with it, then his contribution is not small, and maybe he can be promoted to another level.
Although Zhang Yanfang had an upright character, it didn't mean that he couldn't guess Wei Huo's thoughts. He was suddenly annoyed: he only knew his own interests!
Zhang Yanfang carefully considered Yunxi's intentions after Yunxi's imperial edict was issued, and felt that Yunxi actually wanted to recruit all the pirates, and it seemed to reveal that Yunxi wanted to make some big noise at sea.
That's why Zhang Yan just wanted to rely on Zhao An for this matter.
Now seeing that their contradictions are huge and there is no possibility of bridging them, Zhang Yanfang thought for a while and said: "Since you and I have different views, let us report it to His Majesty! Your Majesty will make the decision."
Wei Huo looked at Zhang Yanfang in surprise. Reporting such a matter to the emperor basically means that the opinions of local officials cannot be bridged at all. It is equivalent to making the conflict public, which is not good for the losing side. It is not conducive to local unity, and generally the emperor does not like this kind of thing to happen.
But since Zhang Yanfang has already raised this matter, Wei Huo cannot give in. So Wei Huo said: "Then you and I can go back and write a report and report it to His Majesty."
Zhang Yanfang realized that Wei Huo had misunderstood, and immediately said: "That's not what I meant. What I meant was that we jointly submit a document and ask His Majesty to make a decision, without mentioning your different opinions and mine."
After listening to Zhang Yanfang's words, Wei Huo realized that he did not want to compete with him. Although this also meant that the local government had different opinions on how to handle this matter, but a group of people signed a letter would not expose the contradiction. When they came out, the two sides didn't have any bad feelings.
Wei Huo suddenly realized that there was something wrong with his attitude just now, and hurriedly said: "Sir Zhang, I was confused just now. Okay, let's follow what Mr. Zhang wants."
Then Zhang Yanfang personally drafted the document. After Wei Huo read it, he thought it was okay and impartial. Without saying a word, he stamped his seal and signed it. After that, they brought in other local officials, whether they were civil servants or military attachés. I called them all over and asked them to sign. Naturally, they didn't dare not sign.
Then on the third day of the first lunar month, the envelope went to the capital.
After Wang Rende learned that such a big thing happened in Shibosi, he immediately rushed to Shibosi from home, and when he arrived, he immediately asked Xiao Zhuo: "Did anything happen to us in the end?"
Xiao Zhuo said with a bitter face: "Not only are we fine, but we also got the approval of Master Zhang Yanfang from the Shanghai Shipping Department because we helped the government discover this big pirate named Li Jiqian."
Wang Rende asked in confusion: "Why do you still praise us? We didn't take the initiative to report the news?"
Xiao Zhuo said: "You don't know this, right? If you catch a pirate on the list, you must report it to the capital. If it is written truthfully and it is written that they caught Li Jiqian by mistake, then the credit will be
It's much less; if I had known about it in advance and made arrangements to catch Li Jiqian, then the credit would have been great."
"Since we knew it in advance, then someone must have informed the government in advance, right? So many people saw us confronting them. If the person who informed the government in advance didn't choose us, who else could they choose? Since we said it was us who informed them in advance,
The government, how can it not approve of us?"
After listening to Xiao Zhuo's explanation, Wang Rende understood the matter. But he immediately said: "But this won't do us any good, right? Some of the people who do business in Shanghai Shipping Company have no problems at all.
Yes? If they know that we tipped off the government, I’m afraid many people will have doubts when doing business with us."
"We are not people who want to be officials. There is not much benefit from getting this. The official's care is only temporary. When the next official is transferred, we will not remember it. But the businessmen here estimate that it will take five to ten years.
Everyone will remember it. So it will be harmful to us."
Xiao Zhuo continued to cry and said: "I know it too, so I keep making a sad face. The only way to explain this situation now is to other people. They won't know about it for a while, so let the guys talk about it everywhere.
I hope to save some reputation."
Wang Rende had no other choice but to do this.
Then he added: "I heard from the guys that the first thing happened was because the one-eyed wolf stopped people and asked for drinks?" The information he got was very confusing, so he was not sure to ask Xiao Zhuo.
Xiao Zhuo said: "That's true."
Wang Rende then said: "Then this person loves to cause trouble too much. We cannot keep him here any longer."
Xiao Zhuo was unwilling to give up on him just like that, saying: "But the one-eyed wolf's martial arts are very powerful, and he also made many meritorious deeds while guarding."
Wang Rende said categorically: "If you have done a lot of merit, you can give more rewards, even if you give a hundred taels of silver! But you can't leave the one-eyed wolf here."
Xiao Zhuo hesitated for a while and said, "Okay, I'll go talk to him in the next few days."
Wang Rende said: "You can give him any amount of money, but we must not let him stay in our shop."
Then Wang Rende remembered something again and asked: "And what happened to the person who made a statement to sow discord between us and Li Jiqian's people?"
Xiao Zhuo said: "I'm confused too! When I interrogated him later, he said that he didn't remember what he did at that time, and he never took the initiative to provoke him. From the look on his face, it didn't look like he was lying."
"And even if he is lying, it is very strange for him to be provocative at that time. No matter which family he is sent by, if he is provocative when he is bound to be exposed, at most he will provoke us to fight with Li Jiqian and the others. Yu Li
Not compatible."
Wang Rende also said: "I also feel something is wrong. That person is considered to be in charge of important things here. He knows almost all the secrets. It is uneconomical for such a person to be exposed like this."
Xiao Zhuo said: "So I ordered a thorough investigation, hoping to find out something."
The Su family in Hangzhou, who live not far from Xiao Zhuo and the others, are also having a conversation. The Su family in Hangzhou, whose main business is growing raw silk, accounts for 30 of the 30 shops selling silk in the Shanghai Shipping Department Store.
Jiujia is not as good as Wang Rende's business alliance, but it can still be regarded as a giant.
Su Ying, who stayed in the Shanghai Shipping Department to handle everything here, laughed heartily and said: "Haha! The spy who was ambushing them at the beginning was indeed ambushing them. Look, how big a thing has been done, no matter who.
I probably never imagined that such a big thing would be related to us."
The person in front of him also smiled and said: "Young master, you are so clever and clever, you can put the right people to the right place."
Su Ying said: "I was only sent as a spy because I didn't know how to use that talent. After all, his hypnosis technique is not that easy to use. Not everyone can hypnotize. If everyone can hypnotize
, then how could I send him out."
"But it's a good idea to find out after being sent out. There are so many people there, and someone can always be hypnotized. Although the hypnotized person does not say everything or do everything, if he is asked to reveal the secret, he will wake up.
Maybe. But at such a time, you can still control the hypnotized person to say something."
"Now, when they are at war with others, we can hypnotize whoever speaks to anger the other party, and make them fight, and we will be able to make a profit."
The person in front of him then laughed and said, "That's why the young master knows people with his sharp eyes."
Su Ying was even happier and said with a smile: "Send the order and ask the kitchen to prepare an extra dish tonight to reward the man."
Xiao Zhuo found the one-eyed wolf and told him that he could not stay here anymore. Xiao Zhuo said: "You have contributed a lot to this place, and I will reward you with two hundred taels of silver. But you really can't stay here anymore."
Yes, I will arrange for someone to take you back to Jiaxing."
The One-Eyed Wolf listened quietly to what he said and said, "Since you don't want to keep me in your shop, that's fine. But if I don't go back to Jiaxing, I'll stay at Shanghai Shipping Department."
Xiao Zhuo said: "What about your livelihood? You can't just sit back and have nothing."
The one-eyed wolf said: "Two hundred taels of silver is enough for me to spend a long time, so don't worry about it for now. And even if all the money is spent, with my martial arts skills, I still can't find a job as a guard!"
Xiao Zhuo also knew that the one-eyed wolf was very skilled in martial arts. Although he was not very good-tempered, there were many businessmen willing to hire such a person, so he did not ask further.
But Xiao Zhuo added: "Then if Xinlin asks about you, I..."
The one-eyed wolf immediately said: "If Xinlin asks about me, just say that I am in the Shanghai Shipping Department, and there is no need to say much else. In fact, I don't have much friendship with Xinlin."
Xiao Zhuo was actually quite reluctant to let the one-eyed wolf go. He felt that the one-eyed wolf must have many secrets, and he might not know who he was. But since Wang Rende insisted so much, the Zhao family in Huzhou and the Li family in Suzhou also felt that it was inappropriate to let him go.
People like One-Eyed Wolf continued to stay, so he could only let One-Eyed Wolf go.
Finally, Xiao Zhuo couldn't help but ask: "What is your real name?"