Chapter 185: Stealing

"I have observed them using the Qi-gazing technique of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau. All of them are glowing with blood." Xu Qi'an said.

In the definition of Qi-gazing, what does blood-gazing represent? The experienced Jin Luo undoubtedly knows it.

"How do you know Qi-gazing?" Jiang Luzhong asked, turned his head to look at the official ship, and opened his palm towards a white-robed sorcerer on the deck who came out to watch the excitement.

The invisible Qi twisted the air and pulled the dancing white-robed sorcerer to the boat.

"Let's see their fate." Jiang Luzhong said gently.

The white-robed sorcerer frowned to express his displeasure. As a proud sorcerer, even when facing a high-quality warrior, he has the confidence that he cannot be corrupted by his might.

"What are you doing? Hurry up." Xu Qi'an urged.

"Oh oh" the white-robed sorcerer nodded obediently, and after a moment of silence, a clear light overflowed from his eyes.

He carefully observed the cabin, and after a while, he restrained his gaze and said, "It is indeed bloody."

Jiang Luzhong's eyes suddenly became sharp, and for the sake of safety, he asked, "Are there any other abnormalities?"

"Yes!"

Xu Qian'an was naturally sure before he took action, "There are a few more suspicious points. One: There are traces of fighting in the cabin, which have only appeared recently.

Two: These people are not people who make a living on the water all year round, because they don't even know how to remove the earthy smell of river fish.

Three: They are too guilty. No matter how flustered they were when they first saw us, and no matter what requests I made later, they were satisfied without any resentment. From my understanding of the officials, they are all some unscrupulous people. Even if they dare not offend the night watchman, if they really have a clear conscience, they should complain a few words without fear. After all, the canal transportation is not under the control of the night watchman.

And their performance is that they are eager to deal with us, and they will respond to any request."

Xu Ningyan is indeed a genius at investigating cases, not only because he can't remove the fishy smell, but also because he can remember such details. Jiang Luzhong sighed in his heart, but nodded calmly on the surface:

"You have considered it very carefully, and you did a good job."

Then, he asked again: "This place is only half a day away from Yuzhou. They are stained with blood and have lives on their hands, but how can they kill people near Yuzhou?"

Xu Qian'an said: "At night."

Jiang Luzhong pondered for a moment, and then he figured it out. According to the current time, this barge departed from Yuzhou at night.

Killing people at night will not attract attention.

After a while, the night watchmen gathered everyone on the deck and tied them up.

Zhu Guangxiao clasped his fists and said, "There are a total of 62 people on the boat, all of them are here."

Jiang Luzhong nodded, looked at the bearded man dressed as a captain, and said in a deep voice, "Wake him up."

The awakening process was very rough. Zhu Guangxiao shot the bearded man with a strong shot, waking him up, groaning miserably.

After looking around, the man disguised as the captain of the ship guarding the Caoyun Yamen understood his situation and suddenly looked ashen.

He still couldn't believe that he was exposed like this. What went wrong?

"I ask, you answer, conceal or deceive once, cut a finger." Jiang Luzhong's voice without emotion sounded.

The bearded man looked up and met the sharp eyes that seemed to be able to see through the heart. He trembled and fell to the ground.

"Your true identity!"

"I am Fang He, a commoner, a wanderer in the world. I have formed a Yellow Flag Gang in Yuzhou to make a living."

"Does making a living include killing government officials and robbing the imperial iron ore?"

"No, not my lord. I am doing this for money. The one who ordered me to do this is the Gang Yunshi of the Yuzhou Canal Transport Office. He told us that there is a barge to the capital tonight, which is loaded with iron ore. He asked us to kill the ship guards on the ship and embezzle the iron ore."

What is anal transport shit? Xu Qi'an had a series of question marks in his mind.

After joining the night watchmen, he gradually began to come into contact with the officialdom. From time to time, Xu Qi'an would be confused by the messy official titles.

All this planned by Gang Yunshi? The night watchmen communicated silently with their eyes, and all showed shock.

Even Jiang Luzhong's expression became serious.

Obviously, they encountered a major case of embezzlement.

"This is unreasonable," Xu Qi'an shook his head and asked, "Why do you have to kill people and seize the boat? If you just want to embezzle the iron ore, there is no need to do so. It is much safer to cooperate with the clerks in the yamen than to work with you."

Jiang Luzhong looked at him and explained, "The canal transport offices in each state are divided into two systems: Paiansi and Gangyunsi. Paiansi is responsible for the management of the canal, and the acceptance and warehousing of grain, salt, iron and other materials. Gangyunsi is responsible for escorting the ship."

That is to say, if the officials of Gangyunsi want to embezzle the iron ore, they can only do it on the water. Xu Qi'an nodded: "So, in order to completely cover up the crime, let the guards and the ship disappear together? In this way, Gangyunsi also becomes a victim."

Jiang Luzhong continued to ask, "What should we do after embezzling the iron ore?"

The bearded man shook his head: "We are only responsible for sending the iron ore to Yunzhou. The route is to start from Yuzhou, bypass the sandbar, and someone will be responsible for the connection after arriving in Yunzhou."

Yunzhou? !

Jiang Lvzhong's face suddenly changed.

It's Yunzhou again, this damn place. By the way, the transport office is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry, and the Ministry of Industry is controlled by the Qi Party. The Qi Party colluded with the Wushen Cult and secretly transported military supplies to Yunzhou. All of this can be matched, but it's okay to transport supplies, but it's terrifying to think about transporting iron ore.

"Who contacted you? From your tone, it's not the first time you have done this."

"This year, this year, a total of three times. A total of 100,000 kilograms of iron ore were transported to Yunzhou."

Jiang Lvzhong asked a few more questions, and then ordered: "You stay in this barge, turn the rudder and follow me to Yuzhou. Keep an eye on these prisoners."

He said to Xu Qiyan: "Take him back to the ship with me."

This time Xu Qiyan did not return to the official ship by his own strength. A breath of energy under his feet dragged him into the air, and he followed Jiang Lvzhong across dozens of meters and came to Governor Zhang.

"What happened? Why did you block the government's barge?" Governor Zhang asked repeatedly.

"Something did happen." Jiang Luzhong made a "please" gesture: "Governor, please follow me into the house."

Jiang Luzhong relayed Xu Qiyan's discovery and the explanation of the bearded man Fang He to Governor Zhang. Afterwards, he re-interrogated Fang He in front of Governor Zhang.

After listening to Fang He's confession, Governor Zhang showed a solemn look.

"In addition to the Gangyunshi of the Gangyunsi, which official was involved?"

"I don't know."

Governor Zhang looked at Xu Qiyan: "Take him away first, and then come back. I have something to discuss with you."

The meaning of his words is that he has completely regarded Xu Qiyan as a person of the same level who can do things. Rather than a simple subordinate.

Xu Qiyan took Fang He out of the room and handed him over to Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao, asking them to keep an eye on him. Then he returned to the room and closed the door.

When Governor Zhang saw him coming back, he looked serious: "What do you think?"

"I have a doubt."

When Jiang Luzhong and Governor Zhang looked over, Xu Qiyan expressed his opinion: "The Minister of Works has fallen. As a member of the Qi Party, he should be in a state of panic and restrain his minions and wait and see. Why does the Canal Transport Office in Yuzhou continue to transport iron ore to Yunzhou at this cusp?

"In addition, even if the banditry in Yunzhou is rampant, it is still a mountain king who cannot be on the stage. It's fine for the Ministry of Works to transport equipment, artillery and other military supplies, but even iron ore is secretly transported to Yunzhou. Is this something that mountain bandits can afford? What is this for? "

Governor Zhang closed his eyes, tapped the table with his fingertips, and murmured: "The Qi Party colluded with the Wushen Cult to supply Yunzhou with military equipment and artillery, as well as iron ore salt, iron, and gunpowder, which are prohibited from flowing out of Dafeng."

He paused for a moment, then shook his body, opened his eyes, looked horrified, and slowly uttered: "Rebellion and treason."

The Qi Party supplied a large amount of military supplies to Yunzhou, and now with iron ore, if it is not for rebellion, I really can't think of any other possibility.

If it is just to support the bandits, why do this?

Thinking of this, Governor Zhang stood up and paced back and forth in the room, sometimes looking at Jiang Luzhong, sometimes looking at Xu Qian'an.

"Xu Ningyan, you have given me another problem. Encountering this on the way will definitely delay the journey. "

Although he said this, his expression and tone did not contain any blame, but a strange expression of worry and excitement.

Jiang Luzhong said: "Your Excellency reported this matter back to the capital, which is a great achievement."

"Your contribution is indispensable. "Governor Zhang patted Xu Qiyan's shoulder vigorously.

Let's not talk about the results of the trip to Yunzhou. Just because he discovered this case is a great achievement. Even if the trip to Yunzhou was fruitless, it was enough to make up for it, and even meritorious.

And all this is due to Xu Qiyan's keen "sense of smell".

After a moment, he calmed down, sat back in his chair, and thought about the current situation. There were three options before him:

First, pretend that this incident did not happen and continue to go to Yunzhou to avoid complications.

Second, send people disguised as the guards of the Canal Transport Office to protect the ship, and force Fang He to charge forward and meet the person in Yunzhou.

Third, go to the Canal Transport Office in Yuzhou to handle the case and arrest the mastermind behind the scenes.

The first option was ruled out directly, and the second option was too time-consuming. If they went to Yunzhou by water, they had to go around the sandbar first, and it would take at least ten days or half a month to get there, which was inconsistent with their schedule. The Yuzhou Gangyunshi was a clue that was right in front of them.

After Governor Zhang expressed his choice, he was unanimously agreed by Jiang Luzhong and Xu Qian'an.

At this time, Governor Zhang thought that the support of the two of them was enough.

At noon, the official ship arrived at the largest water transport wharf in Yuzhou and slowly docked.

As soon as the barge docked, it immediately attracted the attention of the porters, who swarmed in. But when they saw the fully armed Tiger Guards escorting a group of ship guards from the water transport office, they retreated in fear.

Leaving a part of the Tiger Guards to guard the ship, Governor Zhang and Jiang Luzhong led a mighty force of people and horses and headed straight for the Yuzhou Water Transport Office.