This involves a question that normal modern people should be able to think of.
In an era when identity information is not fully recorded on the Internet, if someone commits a crime and wants to escape, what choice will he make?
Railway station, bus station, airport.
If you have a car, you will take the national highway or expressway.
Therefore, from the 1990s to the 2000s, when many police were chasing criminals, these passenger distribution centers were areas under strict control. Especially bus stations, because ID cards were rarely checked at bus stations.
So where did ancient wanted criminals go when they escaped?
Going to the deep mountains and forests alone?
That's to feed the tigers.
After all, there are an endless number of jackals and beasts in this era, and there may be several of them in the hills next to the county town.
Moreover, if you hide in the mountains without food, you won't be able to hide for long.
So horses and money were needed.
The horses are used for leg power and the money is used for consumption to ensure that they will not starve to death.
For example, when Zhang Jian was being hunted, he would not have been able to escape beyond the Great Wall if it had not been for the help of countless people along the way.
Even so, dozens of people died because of taking him in, and hundreds of families were destroyed because of helping him, causing counties to wither. You can know how difficult it was for a person to escape pursuit in ancient times.
Zhang Rang Zhao Zhong's power was even greater than that of Hou Lan. If they were really cruel enough to mobilize the power of the whole country to hunt down Hou Xu, without money or horses, Hou Xu would not even be able to escape.
So now Hou Xu is asking party members for money, and Chen Mu guesses that he will definitely find a way to get the horses.
So he approached Zhang Rang and asked him to use his network to go to the horse market to find a big horse dealer and get some information.
With Zhang Rang's power, it was very easy to find a few Malaysian businessmen. Through these people, Chen Mu naturally heard some useful information.
For example, half a year ago, Mr. Sun, an old trader in the horse market, received a big order. This order caused quite a stir in the industry because the customer was so generous that he actually wanted five hundred war horses.
The price of war horses in Youzhou, Bingzhou, Yongzhou and Liangzhou is relatively cheap, but when shipped to Luoyang, the price rises exponentially.
After all, transportation costs were extremely high in ancient times. The further away from the origin, the higher the price would naturally be.
Therefore, the price of five hundred war horses can reach more than 20 million yuan, which is a considerable business.
For this order, Mr. Sun found several Malaysian businessmen to join forces and finally got this batch of goods together.
As a result, we agreed to pick up the goods in March, but the customer never showed up.
Others don't know, but Old Man Sun knows.
Because the Yellow Turban Uprising broke out in February, Old Man Sun had met Ma Yuanyi and recognized him from the picture of the notice posted when the car was broken.
The other horse dealers didn't know Ma Yuanyi, so of course they didn't know that the order Old Man Sun took was from the Yellow Turban Army.
This matter has always been Old Man Sun's secret and he has never told anyone.
But in the industry, although no one knows who the big-spending customer is, many people know that someone bought a horse and paid a deposit but did not come to pick up the goods. It is not a secret.
It was through this that Chen Mu guessed that Old Man Sun was the supplier of war horses to Sili Yellow Turban.
Because he knew that Zhang Jiao originally planned to revolt in March, but the traitor Tang Zhou reported on it and Sili Huangjin was wiped out. As a result, he had to rebel a month in advance. This is why no one went to pick up the horse later.
Therefore, he sent Hu Ping and others, who have been squatting in Mashi for the past few days, monitoring Old Man Sun.
Although Hou Xu was cunning, he was also using Ma Fen to see if anyone had noticed this line. But Chen Mu was more cunning than him. When Ma Fen found Old Man Sun, Hu Ping was already there, observing from a distance.
, I wrote down Ma Fen’s appearance early on.
Some people may ask, if so many people come out to ask about the price in the horse market, how can they be sure that Ma Fen is the person they are looking for?
The reason is also very simple. How could a normal customer make the boss's expression change several times? Moreover, the time the two communicated was completely unlike that of an ordinary customer inquiring about goods, because Ma Fen didn't even show the posture of selecting goods.
Always.
So when Hou Xu was observing the situation at the horse market, Hu Ping and the others were already stationed at the entrances and exits outside the horse market and did not appear inside the horse market.
certainly.
Hou Xu himself was in the horse market, which Chen Mu did not expect. If he had known about it, he would have arrested him directly, and there would be no need to spend so much effort.
But there is no way, people's behavior is uncontrollable, including Chen Mu's actions, he draws some conclusions and takes actions through some detailed observations, which does not mean that he has controlled all the situations.
"Sima."
In a wine shop dozens of feet away from the horse market, Hu Ping and the others were drinking with a few big men and playing Aipu. Aipu is a game similar to flying chess in the Han Dynasty. It is very common among the people and is deeply loved by the masses.
Seeing Chen Mu coming over, Hu Ping stood up quickly and said respectfully: "It's been checked clearly."
Chen Mu glanced at the big men. Although he and Wang Jun were standing aside with reserved expressions, it was not difficult to tell from the swords they wore on their waists that they were fierce men.
These people are indeed not good people. They are knights from Luoyang. According to the understanding of later generations, they are local gang members, commonly known as the Young and Dangerous Boys of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
Luoyang was the capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty, with a population of one million and various religions and streams.
Although Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong's party members occupy half of the city's real power departments, they basically don't pay much attention to these low-level forces. They usually leave the dirty underground work to their guests.
It has been a custom for the powerful to raise dead soldiers as early as the late Han Dynasty. For example, the three disciples of Xu Gong who assassinated Sun Ce are the most typical representatives.
Zhang Rang himself did not stock up, but his men did.
After all, for Zhang Rang, his status is too high, almost equivalent to half an emperor. Therefore, apart from the soldiers who look after the house and guard the courtyard, it is impossible for the family to raise ordinary rangers and minions, at worst the leader level.
For example, Zhang He seems to be just a low-status prison slave, but he has a good relationship with many underground rangers in Luoyang and has resources in this area.
Chen Mu knew very well that following such an errand, it would be easy for people in the officialdom to get involved. Even the Sixth Lieutenant had their people, who knew if there were any in the city gate school. And Hu Ping and the others were not familiar with Luoyang, so they looked for the local
The local snake is the most reliable.
"Where is the person?"
"Went to the Sushi warehouse in the east of the city."
Hu Ping replied: "Brother Peng's people were divided into several shifts and followed him all the way to make sure he entered one of the warehouses."
Chen Mu glanced around and asked the boss: "Boss, does your wine shop have a backyard?"
"Yes, please come in."
The owner of the wine shop had long seen that Chen Mu was the leader of this group of people, and he quickly came up and nodded.
Liquor shops in the Eastern Han Dynasty were actually small shops on the street. They sold cheap wine or fruit wine and would provide a few small tables outside the shop. For example, Sima Xiangru and Zhuo Wenjun were selling wine as barracks, which was what they looked like.
The smell of horse manure near the horse market is strong, so the land price is cheap. The wine shop opened here is naturally not a big one, and it can't be kept secret. Chen Mu only wants an inner room.
It is said to be the inner room, but it is actually the place where the boss usually eats. It belongs to the front and back yards, where people live and the shop is opened outside.
Chen Mu, Wang Jun, Hu Ping and the ranger leader Peng Cen came to the inner courtyard. The boss knew that they had something to discuss, so he bought two bottles of wine and left in a wise manner.
Peng Cen knew that his status was low, so he took the initiative to pour a glass of wine for everyone.
Chen Mu nodded to him and thanked him. He took out a map from his pocket and placed it on the table. He saw that the map marked all the map marks of the outer city of Luoyang. Although the drawing was general, the geographical location was extremely clear.
Wang Jun was surprised and said: "Is this the map of the outer city?"
"Um."
Chen Mu nodded. No matter in any dynasty, the map of the capital city was the top secret of the dynasty. Some dynasties even killed all the craftsmen after building the palace. Only the royal family kept the map themselves, and almost no
May be leaked.
But Luoyang is different. The outer city of Luoyang does not have any wall obstructions, and the core area is the inner city. It can even be said that the inner city is the original imperial city of Luoyang, because the city was built without considering the survival significance of ordinary people.
According to Liu Xiu's vision, he originally planned to make Luoyang just a place to issue orders to the world. It had only political significance but no economic and cultural significance, so he only built a palace.
At the beginning of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the population of Luoyang was less than 100,000. After 80 years of development, by the 12th year of Yongyuan, that is, 100 AD, the population reached 510,000. After another 80 years, now,
Already more than one million.
The reason for its development is also very simple. Officials in the central government also need to eat, drink, have sex, and enjoy life. Things from all over the country are transported to the capital, and the population also migrates. Slowly, the economy prospers. The people rely on the inner city and outside the city.
The outer city gradually formed, and finally evolved into what it is today.
So in fact, the outer city of Luoyang should not have existed in the first place. Why did Dong Zhuo move the capital? It was not because Luoyang was almost undefendable except for the palace in the inner city. Once it was surrounded, it would be difficult to fly and had to move west to Chang'an.
Therefore, the emperor did not pay much attention to the map of the outer city. Even the map itself was not a top secret that should be included. Instead, it was placed in the Luoyang County Government Office and could be obtained by powerful officials.
Chen Mu spread out the map and said to Peng Cen: "Peng Zhuangshi, where is the specific location?"
The middle part of this map is blank, because this part is the inner city. Peng Cen's eyes swept directly over Su Shi, and his index finger pointed somewhere above Hongchi: "This is the Ding Twelve Warehouse of Dongshi Grain Depot.
, I haven’t seen any movement since I entered, it’s been about a quarter of an hour.”
"Who manages the Dongshi Grain Depot?"
"Taicang Lingcheng."
"Take me to him."
"only!"
Peng Cen responded respectfully.
Taicang Lingcheng is the chief agricultural official, with a rank of three hundred stones, and is in charge of the capital's grain warehouse.
Millet Market is the largest grain trading market in Luoyang. It was originally a Luoyang government warehouse and later became a grain market. The government warehouse next to it has naturally gradually become a space rented by grain merchants to store goods.
In ancient times, warehouses were built near water sources. Because warehouses were prone to fires, Hongchi, which is closest to Su City, was naturally the first choice for granaries.
Hongchi is twenty miles away from the nearest Huamen in the inner city of Luoyang, but it is only five or six miles away from Su City, which is equivalent to about 2 kilometers in modern times. Ma City is just north of Su City, and only a few kilometers away from Su City.
It's one kilometer, and everyone rides there, and it can be reached in five or six minutes.
But the closer you get to Su City, the more people flow. After all, in the famine years, the most important thing is food. Whether you are in the city or outside the city, rich or poor, you have to eat to survive, so there can be many riots here every day.
.
Peng Cen, a local leader in the neighborhood, led everyone through the alleys and soon arrived at the Granary Office to the north of Hongchi and south of Su City.
Chen Mu observed carefully along the way and found that this place is a stretch of alleys, with a lot of depressions and wet terrain, and continuous warehouses. There are about hundreds of large warehouses, crisscrossing them like a big maze. If you want to chase someone here,