Chapter 054 Is There a Fraud?
In the evening, Lu Youpeng led Yang Xingyun to take action, arresting people one by one, and soon they found evidence of the crimes of several deputy chiefs and inspectors, and arrested them.
The inspector could not withstand the asphyxiation interrogation method invented by Zhao Yulin, and immediately confessed to the fact that he had committed a crime together with the transport envoy and Zhang Bapi. Soon the transport envoy was also brought to justice.
When this girl learned that the inspector had been arrested and the whole city was arresting criminals, she felt guilty and was about to escape.
As soon as the transport officer arrived at the cell, he collapsed to the ground and demanded to confess after listening to the wonderful uses of several torture instruments and the prisoners' sharing of their feelings under torture. Chen Yun was so angry that her lungs almost exploded.
Soon after, they collected evidence of tax evasion and bribery by the Wang family of Lizhiqing, and immediately arrested Mr. Wang and his steward Du Wei. Then they arrested several grain merchants, salt merchants, cloth merchants, and tea merchants. The very mention of corruption made people in Yibin city turn pale.
Dozens of people were arrested in one night. Zhao Yulin brought the Shunfeng Division to personally investigate the case, and even Wu Yuqi brought people to help with the investigation.
Arresting people, searching their homes, arresting people, searching their homes, Yang Xingyun led his team out without stopping, searching and returning. At dawn, a group of people tried to get away with it, but those who tried to escape from the city were also caught on the spot.
Chen Yun began to sigh, you really don’t know until you catch it, and you will be shocked when you do.
Yang Zhishan said that his county government was the hardest hit by Zhang Baopi's poisoning, and more than ten positions were vacant. Zhao Yulin proposed to use the disabled soldiers of his Shenwei Army to fill these vacancies. Chen Yun nodded and asked Yang Zhishan to make the arrangements.
Zhao Yulin said that a huge amount of gold and silver was confiscated this time, and this year's tax silver could be escorted to Lin'an in advance.
Chen Yun also thought so. If the huge amount of silver was not sent away, it would become a burden and make people unable to sleep. So he asked the navy to go and escort the tax silver to Lin'an in advance.
Lu Youpeng was still trying the case. He was very meticulous and questioned all the members of the Wang family one by one. He found evidence that the Wang family had secretly manufactured gunpowder. He then confronted Mr. Wang, and Mr. Wang's psychological defenses collapsed instantly. He confessed everything, and several state and county governors were arrested in the city.
Shunfeng's meticulous search of Wang's home unexpectedly uncovered evidence that the gangster Shen Tuozi was living in his home. Combined with the testimony of Wang's servants, the two maids whose innocence was defamed by Shen Tuozi made tearful accusations.
The Wang family's guard confessed to the evidence that he followed Shen Tuozi to Jingzhou and bribed the workers on the Zhao family's cargo ship to open the watertight door of the rear warehouse, which led to the sinking of the ship. The truth about the sinking of the Zhao family's cargo ship last year was finally revealed. It was not a natural disaster but a man-made disaster carefully planned by the Wang family.
Zhao Yulin said that there were not enough prisoners in the prison in Xuzhou, so as before, those whose crimes were not punishable by death would be tattooed and sent to build roads, while the death row prisoners would be left to be executed in the autumn .
He worked for a whole day and night before going back to rest. When he woke up, Ma Ling'er changed his clothes and said that it was a good thing that the price of beggar's chicken had been lowered, as the eating and entertainment business in the city had become much quieter.
After the Shenwei Army arrested corrupt officials and illegal businessmen, there were fewer dirty deals, and naturally, there were fewer people going to high-end eating and entertainment places.
Zhao Yulin kissed Ma Ling on the forehead and said that he was going to Lingxiao Mountain, where there was a team of more than a thousand people. He didn't want his brothers to die in vain, as they would be facing poor people.
He packed up and set off, crossing the river with his guards and heading straight for Lingxiao Mountain. Lei Man met him at the foot of the mountain and said that those government troops knew how to enjoy themselves, as their tents were large and sturdy.
He called Miao Gui and Li Yunqing to discuss the matter.
All three said that the government troops had brought misery to the people, burning, killing, looting, and committing all kinds of evil. They had been there for three days, and had not seen a single local citizen come to talk to them, but there were two businessmen who came to sell game from the mountains.
Zhao Yulin smiled and said that it was their negligence. The rebels had already come to inquire about it. The people on Lingxiao Mountain must have known about our rotation of defense. The two merchants selling game were the spies.
Lei Man and the others were stunned.
Zhao Yulin said that they didn’t think about it. All the people around had run away, so how come a hunter suddenly appeared?
He said with a smile that there was no need to be afraid of them, and that we should believe in our strength. It would be a good thing to let them see clearly, as their leaders would always weigh the pros and cons of competing with our Shenwei Army.
Next time they come, we will say we need this and that and everything else. We will do business with them first and then talk to them after we get familiar with them.
Several people went out together to check the terrain.
In Qianwei County, Xu Chaolin led his troops directly to Qianwei Ziyun Mountain, which was much closer to the county, less than 30 miles away, and it was quite convenient to take a boat. At this time, Xu Chaolin was drinking with the Niuhuang Cangjiang of the state government in a wine shop near the county.
This Lieutenant General Niu was tall and strong, sitting in the main seat and enjoying Xu Chaolin's toast. He asked Xu Chaolin to work hard and kill Ba Chi Qing to vent the anger of the prefect.
It turned out that the second-in-command of the bandits in Yunding Mountain, Ba Chi Qing, fled to Ziyun Mountain to join the gang, killed the leader of the mountain stronghold, gathered a group of followers and started robbing and looting again.
It happened that the prefect of Jiazhou was returning from Yibin and stopped by Qianwei to talk with the county magistrate. When Ba Chi Qing's people saw such a huge official ship, they thought it must be a wealthy family, and Ba Chi Qing wanted to do something big to show off his power.
After several investigations, the bandits sneaked into the dock in the middle of the night and stole a lot of gold and silver jewelry on the ship. The most important thing was that they stole the gifts that Xuzhou gave to the prefect: two jars of grain and four glass cups.
The prefect was so angry that he stamped his feet.
That is his sweetheart, and he must get the glass back from him.
He felt that the five hundred soldiers he transferred were not enough. He thought that there were not many troops in Xuzhou, so he transferred them to fight the bandits, which would also cover up the bad incident of the last sneak attack on the Shenwei Army.
But Ziyun Mountain is as hard as Lingxiao Mountain. It is located directly next to a clear stream, and behind the mountain are cliffs and dense forests. The Jiazhou soldiers have attacked it twice but failed.
Can the Xuzhou troops win?
Xu Chaolin didn't think so. He didn't care whether it was a glass cup or a Dragon King cup. He was a Tongpan of Xuzhou and came to Jianwei with his defeated troops. He had to rest for ten days or half a month first, as the soldiers had not yet recovered.
Before he set out, he was thinking of taking this opportunity to contact the prefect, hoping that perhaps his luck would change and he could become an official in Jiading Prefecture.
The warriors continued to eat and drink.
In Yibin County, Yang Zhishan went to talk to the prefect Chen Yun. The prefecture and county governments mobilized at the same time, almost catching all the corrupt elements in Yibin City.
At that moment, Zhou Ping, the captain of the navy of the Shenwei Army, personally escorted the tax silver out of the port to Lin'an. Yang Zhishan said that Zhao Yulin was really a lucky general of Mr. Chen, and that he would have smooth sailing as long as he was in charge of Yibin, and would be promoted all the way.
Chen Yun said that he was right about the person. Yulin a smart boy with a strong work ethic. He was a rare talent.
Yang Zhishan said with some worry that a big tree attracts the wind. Now that he has been favored by the government, he will inevitably become the target of public criticism. Isn't it too far-fetched? Jiading has withdrawn all the troops from Yibin. Can Yulin do it?
Chen Yun took a sip of tea and said that he had to do it to see if it worked. He would know whether it worked or not after he did it. We also had to be careful in the city, not to let the scoundrels take advantage of the situation and do something weird to harm people.
Yang Zhishan suddenly felt that the burden on his shoulders was not light. Dozens of corrupt officials, big and small, had been arrested in the city, and it was up to the two of them to hold the situation together.
At the foot of Lingxiao Mountain, Zhao Yulin held a meeting with a group of generals after inspecting the terrain of Lingxiao Mountain.
Lei Man said that the terrain of Lingxiao Mountain was too dangerous and not conducive to attack. How about he take his death squad and go up to fight?
Zhao Yulin shook his head and looked at the other generals.
Miao Gui said that there was only one path leading out of the cliff. If we guarded the mountain, the enemy would not be able to get down the mountain, and it would be difficult for us to get up. Why not let the rebels go down and annihilate them?
Li Yunqing said that in the past, the government troops did all kinds of bad things here, and the common people stayed away from us. Now, if you want to buy some vegetables, you have to walk dozens of miles back and forth. Something must change.
Zhao Yulin nodded. He said that it was not advisable for the commander to attack the mountain head-on. If something went wrong, how would he explain to his brothers?
It would be better for us to tighten the internal situation and loosen the external situation, let the rebels come down to fight, and let them come down to negotiate peace.
He said that those on the top of the mountain are all children from poor families, and if they are willing to change their flags and join our Shenwei Army, it may not be a bad thing.
Lei Man's eyes changed when he looked at him, and he said with a smile that he heard that the leader of Lingxiao Mountain was a woman. Could it be that the third young master wanted to take her in?
The tea that Zhao Yulin had taken in his mouth spurted out. He stared at Lei Manzi blankly and asked, "Am I that lustful, Brother Lei?"
When the generals heard this, they looked at him and burst into laughter, which was tantamount to silent affirmation.
Zhao Yulin pretended to be angry and shouted, "Go to work."
Afterwards, the Shenwei Army relaxed its vigilance on Lingxiao Mountain and set up stalls at the roadside to do business. They shamelessly asked the mountain people passing by if they wanted soap or toothbrushes, and while selling them they demonstrated how to use them.
Three days later, the sentry outside the gate came in excitedly to report that a hunter sister wanted to buy rice and asked for 1,000 kilograms.
When Zhao Yulin heard that a big buyer had arrived, he, as the shopkeeper, must receive him personally, so he hurriedly asked him to come into the big tent to talk.
The hunter said they were timid and just talked at the stall at the roadside.
Haha, my brothers and I have been setting up a stall at the roadside for the past few days, but we haven’t sold even a single toothbrush after all our efforts. We can’t let this big deal fall through, so let’s go to the roadside to negotiate.
Zhao Yulin was escorted by his guards to the entrance of the mountain road, where he saw a Miao woman in a fiery red dress and a young man dressed as a hunter standing there vigilantly.
He immediately smiled and told the guards around him to go back, saying that he was out here to do business, not to charge into battle on the battlefield.
When the woman in red heard this, she actually covered her mouth and laughed.
Zhao Yulin asked them what goods they wanted.
The strong hunter said a thousand kilograms of rice, noodles would be fine too.
He asked what else he wanted?
The woman in red said that she wanted a lot of things, but she just didn't have the money.
Zhao Yulin said cheerfully that he could buy on credit and pay the bill when he had money.
The man asked him if he was serious. Then he would give him two thousand kilograms of rice and flour.
The woman in red immediately glared at him and said “hmm, hmm”, and the sturdy hunter immediately stopped talking.
Zhao Yulin said with a smile that today was the first time they met and wanted to make friends, so he would sell them 2,000 kilograms of rice and give them all the soap, toothpaste and toothbrushes on the stall.
The two siblings were amused and immediately asked him cautiously
really?
Not a lie?
Could this be a fraud?
