Chapter 323: God Disposes
This trick of enlarging the spacing to cover up individual missing parts seems worthless when it is put to the point, but it is still very deceptive in actual application.
Especially since this Tianzi warehouse had insufficient lighting, it was normal to be deceived unless repeated inventory was carried out. It was actually a bit far-fetched to pin the crime of "perfunctorily doing the job" on Luo Jing.
only……
Who made him a captain of the Southern Pacification Division, and why did he have to worship Eunuch Xia as his godfather?
Since Sun Shaozong has been assigned by Eunuch Dai, who else can he target if not Luo Jing?
Zhu Shan was only trying to protect himself now, so naturally he had no intention of speaking for Luo Jing.
After Lü Yuan had said something to add insult to injury, he then cautiously inquired, "According to the clues found by Captain Sun, it should be no mistake that Du Ning was involved in the gun theft case - but how were the two guns transported out?"
"yes!"
Upon hearing this, Lu Yuan also said hurriedly: "There is a team of [12] soldiers guarding the gate all year round. If one or two of them are suspicious, it may be possible, but so many people can't all be his accomplices, right?!"
"That's exactly why he wants to create a sleight of hand!"
Sun Shaozong said, and led everyone to the corpse. He pointed at the calluses and blisters on Du Ning's hands and said, "These marks are obviously caused recently. However, just moving a few wooden racks shouldn't cause blisters on your hands, right?"
Lu Yuan came closer and looked at it carefully for a while, then said uncertainly: "This looks more like the marks left by the new apprentices when they first started learning the craft."
"It's definitely not heavy work like swinging a sledgehammer!"
Zhu Shan added: "If that's the case, there should be more calluses on the fingers. This is more like grinding and cutting cast iron parts..."
Halfway through his words, Zhu Shan suddenly had an idea and blurted out excitedly, "I understand. He took advantage of the time he spent checking the warehouse every day to dismantle the gun into parts and ship them out. It probably took him several days, no wonder he had to use a sleight of hand!"
“That’s right!”
Sun Shaozong nodded and said, "I just discovered that when those wooden frames that had been tampered with were re-fixed, some fresh sawdust was used, and the material of these sawdust is very similar to that of the gun stocks."
As he spoke, he pointed at the air vent and said, "Also, there are traces of being rubbed by a hard object on the iron fence of the air vent."
"If my guess is correct, the disassembled parts should be thrown out from the gap of the air vent first, and then transported away by Dunning's accomplices among the guards!"
"This way, you can avoid the risk of being noticed by others during a body search."
At this point, naturally no one would doubt Sun Shaozong's reasoning ability anymore, so Lu Yuan and Jia Shanyao were both cheered up and asked in unison to interrogate the officers and soldiers in charge of guarding the warehouse.
But Zhu Shan's expression seemed somewhat uncertain.
Sun Shaozong's heart sank, and he immediately asked, "Master Zhu, have you thought of anything?"
"this……"
Zhu Shan swallowed hard and said with a sad face, "The day before yesterday afternoon, Du Ning went to the Military Equipment Bureau to submit an official document."
"What?!"
Everyone was horrified. If Du Ning had taken the opportunity to submit the official document to send the gun out of the gunpowder bureau, it would be difficult to get it back!
Sun Shaozong made a prompt decision and said, "Zhu Jianzheng, please immediately find the officials and attendants who accompanied Du Ning yesterday. Jia Shanyao, you accompany Lord Lu to interrogate the officers and soldiers guarding here and find out where the parts were transported to as soon as possible!"
His reaction was not slow, however...
A quarter of an hour later, according to Du Ning's subordinates and servants, after submitting the official documents, Du Ning acted alone for a while, until the evening, when he met the convoy outside the South Gate again.
As for where he went during this period, there is no clue yet.
Half an hour later, according to the confession of the accomplice among the guards, the parts were smuggled out in five batches and returned to Du Ning.
As to who Duning is going to give these parts to, it is not yet known.
Perhaps the only one who can give the answer is Du Ning himself - and this is probably the biggest reason why he wants to commit suicide!
"My Lord, what should we do now?"
After receiving two pieces of bad news in succession, Jia Shanyao felt like a frost-bitten eggplant, no longer as proud as he was when he left the city.
"Return to Beijing!"
Sun Shaozong said decisively: "Take all the prisoners and witnesses back to Beijing to continue the investigation!"
However, no matter how resolute he seemed on the surface, he was actually in a state of anxiety. If the two guns were still in the city, it would be fine. But if they were already outside the capital...
That would be no different from "looking for a needle in a haystack"!
Following Sun Shaozong's order, half of the two hundred Dragon Guards were separated and gathered outside the gate of the gunpowder bureau, ready to follow Sun Shaozong back to Beijing.
As for the remaining half, under the command of Yang Licai, they temporarily took over the Southern Pacification Office and the Shenjiying, supporting the internal and external defense of the Gunpowder Bureau - the big guys above talked about face, but what they cared about most was the substance!
Now that such a large force has been mobilized, if there is no sufficient benefit gained, how can Eunuch Dai be satisfied in his heart even if he doesn't say it?
Although the piece of fat meat of the Gunpowder Bureau was already at hand, if the two muskets were not found, it might not be possible to swallow it.
However, seeing that the large group of troops were ready, Sun Shaozong mounted his horse and was about to give the order to march when suddenly several riders came galloping. They were all dressed as Dragon Guards, and the leader was actually a young eunuch.
Moreover, this little eunuch looked somewhat familiar to Sun Shaozong, as if he had seen him several times around Dai Quan.
So Sun Shaozong hurriedly asked, "Sir, I'm here to ask if Commander Dai has any instructions?"
The eunuch obviously recognized Sun Shaozong, and he urged his horse forward while shouting at the top of his voice: "In compliance with the order of His Majesty, Captain Sun, please arrest Du Ning, the deputy supervisor of the Gunpowder Bureau, immediately. There must not be any delay!"
Sun Shaozong was stunned when he heard this. He looked back at the body tied to the bus, then he dismounted and went to help the young eunuch hold the reins. He asked, "Your Majesty, by issuing this oral order, did know that Du Ning was the mastermind behind the theft of the gun?"
The young eunuch was also stunned when he heard this, then he smiled and said, "So the Lord has found out the truth, he really deserves the name of 'Divine Judgment' - but I wonder where Du Ning is now? "
"Look, that's the body lying in the car."
Sun Shaozong pointed casually, and seeing the young eunuch's face suddenly change, he hurriedly explained: "He committed suicide last night in order to cover up the truth - Eunuch, may I ask how Your Majesty knew that he was the culprit in this case?"
These sentences are not easy to understand.
So the young eunuch was stunned for a long time, until Sun Shaozong asked for the third time, then he tiptoed and whispered in Sun Shaozong's ear: "Actually..."
Sun Shaozong was speechless for a long while after hearing this. He turned around to look at Du Ning's body again and couldn't help but sigh in his heart: This is really a case of being too clever and scheming, but in the end it only costs your own life!
To be honest, Du Ning is indeed a remnant, but he is not a remnant of Prince Yizhong, but a remnant of Goryeo!
At that time, Goryeo and Great Zhou were on the verge of war, and they selected a number of spies who were proficient in Chinese culture, secretly sneaked into the heartland of Great Zhou, waiting for an opportunity to gather intelligence.
Later, when Goryeo was destroyed, these spies became rootless. Most of them gradually forgot their original missions and regarded themselves as ordinary people of the Great Zhou.
But there were also some people who extended their loyalty to Goryeo to Joseon - Du Ning was one of them.
Last month, he accidentally heard that the North Korean delegation had arrived in the capital, and there were rumors that North Korea seemed to have rebellious intentions. Du Ning's "heart to serve the country" suddenly burned.
So he secretly bribed a guard who owed a large gambling debt, and with the help of insiders and outsiders, he smuggled the two muskets out, and took the opportunity of presenting official documents to secretly deliver them to the Korean delegation.
In order to ensure that the matter would not be leaked, he even staged a suicide farce!
However……
Du Ning risked his life to steal a valuable military weapon, but it was handed over to the court by the North Korean ambassador right away!
