Not long after, the middle-aged man ran back and said to himself as he ran: "It's really weird, I can't figure it out!"
"What, have you found anything?" Ying Caihe asked anxiously.
"Girl, I've asked all over, and there's no one with twenty big wooden boxes, not even fifty, but there are indeed ships that would rather pay a high price than unload the cargo."
Ying Caihe was refreshed and asked, "What kind of ship is it?"
"It's not a five-hundred-stone ship, but a thousand-stone cargo ship. I don't know what kind of goods were carried in it. There were fifteen big men in black and an old man on the ship. They refused to get off the ship and refused to unload the cargo. In the end, the price was ten times
He asked everyone to pull the boat at a high price. It usually costs ten guan to pull a boat, but they offered a hundred guan, or ten taels of gold to be precise, so Huang Wulang organized people to take over the job."
Although the stolen ship was a five hundred stone cargo ship, Ying Caihe immediately realized that the other party must have changed the ship, and yes, it should be this ship.
She asked again: "When did you cross the mouth of the pot?"
"Early this morning!"
It was already noon, and half a day had passed. Ying Caihe got on his horse and shouted: "Let's go!"
The middle-aged man stamped his feet anxiously, "Girl, you haven't given me any money yet!"
Before he could finish his words, a bright white thing flew towards him like "Whoosh!" and shot accurately into his mouth. The middle-aged man coughed violently, "Cough! Cough! Cough!" He almost swallowed it, but he managed to spit it out.
, just a piece of white silver, about five taels or so.
"Damn, it's really amazing!"
........
At the third watch, a dark figure appeared on the street corner of the thirteenth square of the official residence in Xincheng. There are a total of 3,700 official houses in the official residence area of Chang'an New Town, divided into twenty squares. There are no walls, only shrubs and green walls are planted to separate them.
Some are large, and some are small. The thirteenth is a large one, with nearly two hundred official residences.
Careful readers may ask, does Guo Song now have 3,700 officials below the fifth rank?
If you only count the civil servants, there are definitely not. There are only a few hundred civil servants at present, but we must also consider the military generals. The Tiance Mansion has regulations that all family members of generals and above must live in Chang'an or Taiyuan. Of course, including military generals, there are far less than that.
people, but we must also consider the future expansion of the number of officials. During the prosperous Tang Dynasty, there were thousands of official, empty, and retired officials in Chang'an.
At the third watch, the official residence area was quiet. Every household had turned off the lights and went to bed. There was not a single passerby on the road. This dark figure sneakily approached an official residence covering an area of one and a half acres. This was the official residence of an eighth-rank official.
He didn't dare to knock on the door, so he jumped up to the wall and planned to climb over the wall to get in. As soon as he jumped into the yard, suddenly the lights were brightly lit in the yard, and the man in black sat down on the ground in fright, shaking all over.
Standing in front of him were dozens of soldiers, each holding a torch and staring at him fiercely. The leading general said coldly: "Li Chao, we really thought you didn't dare to go home!"
The man in black was none other than Li Chao, the Chief of the Ordnance Department. He accepted 1,500 taels of gold from spy Li Wujun and then betrayed Tie Huolei's secret to him.
Of course, Li Chao didn't know the formula or the craftsmanship, but he knew the transportation loopholes of iron fire mines. Every year, he had to screen expired iron fire mines and send them back to Zhangye for refilling.
Because I had to conduct an explosion test when I went back to see if it was really expired and useless, I didn't take out the match rope, kept it in its original shape, put it in a wooden box, and nailed it with iron nails. If an emergency happened, it couldn't be destroyed in time. This is
A loophole was discovered by Li Chao.
He followed the people who colluded with Li Wujun, and when they docked in Lanzhou waiting to unload the cargo, through his arrangements, Li Wujun successfully changed to a ship. Because he killed three soldiers on board, he would definitely be discovered soon.
He also fled. Unable to let go of his wife and children, he secretly came to his home to deliver a message. Unexpectedly, he was caught by ambushed soldiers.
Li Chao collapsed on the ground and cried desperately.
.........
While he was sleeping, Guo Song was woken up by his wife Xue Tao, "Husband, wake up!"
"What's wrong?" Guo Song asked sleepily. He didn't sleep all night last night and was really sleepy.
A female guard said outside the window: "There is news from the inner guard that the spy has been caught."
Guo Song patted his head and sat up. Seeing that her husband was really sleepy, Xue Tao asked, "Can't we deal with it at dawn?"
"Hey! It's an urgent matter. We can't delay it. We have to get there quickly."
Guo Song freshened up a little, put on a robe, and hurried away.
Not long after, he came to the inner guard hall with a few soldiers. Wang Yue greeted him, knelt down on one knee and saluted, "See you, Your Highness!"
Guo Song waved his hand, "Where is he?"
"In the side yard, weeping and crying, looking for death and life."
"Bring him here and I will interrogate him personally."
"Follow the order!"
Wang Yue turned to leave, but Guo Song stopped him again and asked, "Has his gold been seized?"
"It was seized. In an inn outside the city, he was dying because he saw the gold was seized."
"Go! Bring him up."
Guo Song sat down in the lobby. After a while, Li Chao, the Prime Minister, was brought in by two internal guards. He was so thin that he looked like a little chicken in front of the two burly men. He had no room for resistance.
According to the official system of the King of Jin, the Silang is the fourth rank, the following is the fifth rank, followed by the left and right Yuanwailang, the sixth rank, below the Yuanwailang are the various department supervisors, which are the seventh rank, then the recorder, and the judge is
Starting from the seventh rank, and then to the Shu Cheng, there are two Shu Cheng under each prison, responsible for handling various miscellaneous tasks, which is the eighth rank.
That's why Li Chao escorted Tie Huolei to Zhangye. This was his job, and he was responsible for running errands. Of course, he took the initiative to apply for escorting Tie Huolei to Zhangye. The reason was that his family was in a difficult situation and he wanted to earn some travel allowance. Generally,
The order will be approved.
Li Chao looked up and saw His Royal Highness King Jin sitting on it. He was so ashamed that he burst into tears again.
"Li Chao, am I being mean to you?" Guo Song asked coldly.
Li Chao cried and lamented: "His Royal Highness's humble position is as generous as a mountain, with a monthly salary of more than ten qian, as well as an official residence, charcoal in the winter and ice in the summer, and live sheep during the New Year. Don't dare to talk nonsense about this humble position!"
"In that case, why did you betray me and leak the most important secrets to Li Wujun? Don't you know that the Jin army is at war with him?"
"Humble job... Humble job was seduced by beauty, fascinated by gold, Humble job made me lose my head, damn it!"
"Your crime is too great, and it is indeed impossible to escape death. However, if you can make atonement for your crime, I can spare the lives of your wife, children, and parents, and give them some money and food every month, so that your parents can take care of themselves and your wife and children can live. You
If you don't tell me, I won't ask any more questions. I'll kill you as a warning to others. I'll kill your whole family and let them see the consequences of betraying me."
Li Chao knew that he would not be able to escape the death penalty, and the only thing he could not let go of was his wife, children, and mother, otherwise he would not take the risk of coming back.
He kowtowed repeatedly and said: "I say! I say! I will answer whatever His Highness asks."
"Let me ask you first, where are the twenty iron fire thunders now?"
"It should still be on the Yellow River!"
"Are you sure they took the water route?" Guo Song asked.
Li Chao nodded and said: "The humble function is confirmed. Their actions have been informed by Zhu Tao. Zhu Tao has set up a dragnet in Youzhou to wait for them to cross the border. They can only take the waterway."
Zhu Tao actually participated, which was beyond Guo Song's expectation.
"Will they hide in a small county and wait until the storm has passed before leaving?" Guo Song continued to ask.
"That's what they thought at first, but their military advisor Luo Sinan objected, saying that His Highness might start a war after the beginning of spring, and asked them to return to Jizhou immediately."
Guo Song frowned and asked in confusion: "What do you mean by this? Are their military advisors also following you?"
"That's right. Luo Siman is with them. Everything is planned by this person. This person is very insidious and cunning."
Guo Song asked a few more questions, and then said to him: "I will leave you a whole body, give you a glass of poisonous wine, count you as a sacrifice in the line of duty, and support your family for ten years. Let's go on the road!"
Ten years of pension means that his wife and children can continue to receive their salary, food and rice for ten years. Li Chao kowtowed several times with tears in his eyes, "Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness. I will repay Your Highness for your kindness and kindness in the next life of my humble position!"
Guo Song waved his hand and the sergeant took him down. Not long after, the sergeant came to report that Li Chao had committed suicide by taking poison.
Guo Song nodded, "Return the body to his family and pay funeral money according to regulations!"
"Follow the order!" the sergeant went down.
Guo Song paced back and forth in the lobby anxiously. He was worried about the interception on the water. The opponent was military advisor Luo Sinan!
"What time is it now?" Guo Song asked.
"Your Majesty, the fourth update has not yet come!"
Guo Song pondered for a moment and said: "As soon as the sky breaks, I will immediately send an eagle letter to notify Huaizhou, asking them to be more cautious when intercepting the opponent!"