1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 606
"Fortunately, they are all non-fatal skin injuries." After examining the injuries on several assassins, Morgan finally came to a conclusion that relieved Xu Xinsu's mind.

When I came here just now and saw that the captured assassins were all covered in blood, Xu Xinsu almost had an outburst on the spot and wanted to scold Yang Lu.Of course he knew that Yang Lu was also eager to solve the case, so he would torture the newly caught alive, but Yang Lu didn't understand the thinking of the Haihan people at all. What they wanted was not just to let these assassins pay their lives, but to figure out the truth. The mystery behind the incident, the most important thing is to find out who is behind the scenes.And Yang Lu probably thought that even if he couldn't catch the real culprit, he would have to deal with the Xianghai Han people by chopping off a few heads. This kind of thinking seemed too naive to Xu Xinsu.If the Haihan people are really so easy to deal with, can they make such a big deal in just a few years after coming to Daming?
While Morgan was treating the wounds of several assassins, Xu Xinsu called Yang Lu aside, and asked in front of Ning Qi: "Have the captured assassins ever confessed?"

Yang Lu shook his head helplessly and said: "The mouths are tight, but the humble staff will find a way to pry their mouths open!"

Xu Xinsu was noncommittal to this statement, and continued to ask: "What is the situation in the city at this time?"

"After hearing the news of the assassination of the embassy, ​​I immediately ordered people to close all the city gates in Zhangzhou. No one is allowed to leave the city without the permission of the city defense army. I have sent more than [-] people from the city defense army to cooperate with the yamen to arrest. Search for the assassin's accomplices in the city." Yang Lu reported honestly: "There are two other assassins at large, and I believe that the escaped assassin's hiding place is probably where his accomplices are."

Ning Qi asked: "Are these assassins locals from Zhangzhou?"

Yang Lu hesitated for a moment, shook his head and said, "These people have mixed accents, and they should be from both Fuzhou and Guangxi."

Ning Qi analyzed: "I also went to the street on a temporary basis to visit today, so there should be no time to prepare for the attack launched by these people in the teahouse. Most of them followed the teahouse to see the environment there. There was a surprise attack. There were more than a dozen people who did it, and this group of people probably followed me since I left Master Xu's house. If they are outsiders, then they are likely to live in the same place, so that they can coordinate their actions. pace."

Xu Xinsu is also a smart person, and he can see through a little bit, and immediately told Yang Lu: "Why are you standing there stupidly? What Mr. Ning said is a clue! These outsiders eat and live together in the city, and they will definitely stay. Clues and clues! Hurry up and check all the inns and hotels in the city, as well as those Lixing and boat companies that like to hire foreigners! Anyone who acts suspiciously should be arrested first!"

Yang Lu suddenly realized that he was about to rush to make arrangements, but Xu Xinsu stopped him: "Wait!"

"What else does your lord want?" Yang Lu asked puzzled.

"Zheng's shop, we need to focus on checking!" After Xu Xinsu added an order, he waved his hand to signal Yang Lu to do it quickly.

After Yang Lu left in a hurry, Xu Xinsu explained to Ning Qi: "Zheng Zhilong's distant relatives opened a business in Zhangzhou, but they usually have no direct contact with Shibazhi, so they were not specifically prohibited from operating in this city."

Ning Qi nodded, expressing that he understood Xu Xinsu's explanation.But understanding is understanding, but he will not fully believe this statement.Earlier, he had heard from the father and son of the Gong family stationed in the local area that Shibazhi had arranged some hidden stakes in Zhangzhou. The method of concealing his identity was to pretend to be various commercial firms so that he could deal with the goods obtained by Shibazhi from the sea plunder. The thieves, and buy some necessary supplies from the mainland on their behalf.And Xu Xinsu specifically told Yang Lu to focus on investigating the property under the name of Shibazhi, obviously also had doubts about the origin of these assassins.

Ning Qi said without hesitation: "Actually, after the accident just now, the object of my suspicion is also Shibazhi. Because if our mission is attacked, they should benefit the most. First, we can treat our Haihan's The prestige will cause a certain blow, destroy our visit to Fujian this time, and secondly, it can split the relationship between you and me, and it may even make us turn against each other and make the Fujian government lose the backing of Haihan."

Xu Xinsu said solemnly: "It's fortunate that Mr. Ning was not injured, otherwise I really don't know how to explain to the Haihan Executive Committee. In short, no matter who the mastermind behind these assassins is, this old man will dig them out. He will be dealt with more to make an example to others!"

However, what Ning Qi said was only a part of his thoughts. In fact, who instigated these people to assassinate in broad daylight, Ning Qi thinks it is secondary, how to use the current situation to promote a favorable result for Hai Han, This is the main issue that Ning Qi is considering now.

The main purpose of the Haihan mission to Fujian this time is to try to terminate the truce peace talks that may have been underway between the Fujian government and Shibazhi.As for what method to use to achieve this goal, the executive committee did propose some plans before departure, such as increasing trade preferences to lure each other with benefits, or showing force to deter Fujian officials, intimidating and luring Both.But just now Ning Qi suddenly thought that this is an excellent opportunity for Xu Xinsu to express his attitude on behalf of the Fujian government.

Whether or not Shibazhi was instigating this incident has actually become a secondary issue. As long as Haihan resolutely pins this pot on Shibazhi's head, then Xu Xinsu has to make a choice. It is to take care of the old friend's emotions. , or to protect the old enemy, and the difficulty of this choice is obviously not too great.

If Xu Xinsu didn't take the initiative to set the fire on Shibazhi, then Ning Qi would also turn the topic to this aspect, to see if Xu Xinsu would protect Shibazhi because of ghosts in his heart.However, judging from Xu Xinsu's reaction, Ning Qi should have been worrying too much. Xu Xinsu's eagerness to clarify his mood was obviously also very urgent, and he probably didn't care about the truce and peace talks.

When Ning Qi and Xu Xinsu were talking here, the city of Zhangzhou was already boiling.Ordinary people didn't know what happened at all. They only knew that the officers and soldiers closed the gates of the city and began to search house by house.All non-local residents were cleared out, and the people in the yamen identified and checked them one by one.However, it will take quite a long time to check the tens of thousands of residents in this city with limited manpower.

The orders received by the soldiers and police officers on duty were that all suspects should be arrested first and then checked slowly. As a result, a long string of suspects tied with ropes could be seen everywhere on the street.

As for those firms that secretly worked for Shibazhi, they were all directly shut down.According to the instructions from above, all of these businesses, from the boss to the clerks, from the accountants to the laborers who carry the bags, have to be detained.

Yang Lu personally led people to the "Zhengfenghao" in Nancheng, which is what Xu Xinsu said was run by Zheng Zhilong's distant relatives.This shop usually specializes in specialties such as buckskin and antlers on Dayuan Island, and its background is self-evident.Yang Lu asked his officers to lead people to block the front and rear doors, and then sent people to call the door.

There was no response after knocking on the door for a while, and Yang Lu didn't bother to wait any longer, so he asked his men to climb over the wall and open the door.During this process, he did not encounter any resistance, but the result made Yang Lu very angry. The shop was empty, and there was no one left.Obviously, it was probably expected that the Ming army would come to clean up this place, and it had already been transferred in advance.

"These guys..." Yang Lu was so angry that he waved his hand and ordered: "Stop all the things in this store! All valuable property will be transported back!"

This time, I gained a lot. There are a lot of deerskins and antlers stored in the warehouse of the company, which are worth 8000 taels of silver at least.In addition, some gold and silver were stolen, and Yang Lu thought that this could subsidize the cost of the city-wide raid.

Now that Shibazhi's people have chosen to run away early, no matter who is responsible for assassinating Haihan's dignitaries in the street, Shibazhi has to recite it first.Yang Lu immediately asked someone to send the document, and immediately began to write the relevant arrest warrant in the "Zhengfenghao" shop, and at the same time sent someone to report the news to Xu Xinsu.

Xu Xinsu was also silent for a while after hearing the news, and then issued a new order: "In Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, all personnel related to Shibazhi must be arrested first!"

Ning Qi could hear it clearly from the side, and thought that this time it was completely embarrassing.

After listening to the father and son of the Gong family about the complicated conflicts of interests between Xu Xinsu and Shibazhi, Ning Qi actually understood why the war in Fujian had lasted for several years without ending, except for the fact that Xu Xinsu's naval forces showed some strength. In addition to the shortcomings, the hidden interest disputes between the two sides also affected the direction of the battle.On the one hand, the two sides are in a state of war, but on the other hand, they use other identities as a cover to carry out underground transactions.

Shibazhi blocked a part of the sea routes, which of course affected Xu Xinsu's sea trade business, but Shibazhi also had to spend a lot of money every year to purchase various materials from the mainland through Xu Xinsu's business firms.In fact, Xu Xinsu got back a considerable part of the benefits lost in the sea trade from Shibazhi through such means.Moreover, these two groups have business dealings with the Dutch, and this common interest makes them maintain a strange tacit understanding when they are not fighting.

How many people Shibazhi has deployed in the cities along the coast of Fujian, a local snake like Xu Xinsu will not be unaware of it, and now ordering to clear these places is also a measure to cut Shibazhi's back with a ruthless hand.It is very difficult for Shibazhi to rely on the few immigrants under his command to grow enough food for tens of thousands of people on Taiwan Island. Now without the operation of these commercial firms, Shibazhi's own material supply will become a very troublesome problem.

Of course, they will definitely find other solutions, such as buying grain from farther away in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, but this will undoubtedly increase operating costs, and it is difficult to guarantee the stability of supply.After all, they are not like the Haihan people who are entrenched on Hainan Island, and there is a rear granary like Annan who can purchase a large amount of food at any time.

Ning Qi deliberately asked: "If Shibazhi has personnel stationed in Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, then you might as well invite their person in charge to come over and explain it face to face, or maybe it's hard to say who did it."

Xu Xinsu shook his head and said: "Everyone has run away. This is obviously a guilty conscience. What else can I say? If the old man gets their person in charge, he will definitely send it to Mr. Ning, and Mr. Ning will ask him personally!"

Ning Qi thought in his heart that if you send it to me, even if it is not made by Shibazhi, it will be made by Shibazhi.But since Shibazhi's people have chosen to run away, it seems that they are indeed playing tricks in the dark.

After Morgan dealt with several wounded assassins, he continued the interrogation.However, in order to save the lives of these assassins for the time being, Morgan forbade the yamen servants responsible for interrogating them to use punishment. Instead, he taught them a new method without hurting their flesh, that is, 24-hour fatigue bombing tactics.

Fatigue interrogation is to rely on the rotation of interrogators, uninterrupted questioning of suspects, and using various methods to prevent them from getting information.This method does not seem to directly torture the body, but it is very severe to the spirit. Even those tough guys who can resist various punishments will often gradually lose their minds during the uninterrupted interrogation for several days and nights , Lost the ideological line of defense.In the time and space before the time traveler came, this interrogation method was already included in the category of torture to extract confessions by the legal profession, and it was an improper interrogation method.Of course, there are not so many taboos in this time and space. As long as a confession can be obtained, no one will care about the life and death of these prisoners-anyway, from the moment they are caught, the final result is already doomed.

Morgan was sure that this interrogation method would yield some useful questions. As long as the prisoners were constantly stimulated in various ways to prevent them from falling asleep, sooner or later the line of defense would collapse due to mental fatigue.The only problem is that the time required for this type of interrogation is often very long, and it may take two or three days or even longer to meet some people who are more determined.

However, Ning Qi didn't mind the interrogation taking a little longer. Anyway, the city search operation here will take a certain amount of time, and it may not be possible to catch the prisoners' accomplices outside before they confess.

Shi Diwen, who was stationed at the Zhongzuo Institute, sent a telegram three hours after the incident, asking if it was necessary to send people or ships to pick them up.Ning Qi called back and declined Shi Diwen's kindness. Obviously, the other party's assassination method was just a flurry, and there was probably no time to prepare any follow-up actions in a hurry. Now Zhangzhou City is under martial law, and Ning Qi is 30 meters away. There are at least one or two hundred guards inside, personal safety is no longer a problem at all, but we must seize this time and destroy the progress of the peace talks between Xu Xinsu and Shibazhi first.

(End of this chapter)