I'm a detective for Dongchang

Chapter 159 Rainy Night
Is there a way for me to go to the island to see it?

After Lu Xizhi put forward his idea, Yuan Yanxi sat there without speaking for a full 10 minutes. From what she understood, the man was making a decision in his heart, weighing the pros and cons, so he didn't disturb her.

"Okay, but before that, I'll take you to a place first." After speaking, he got up and walked out first.

Located in the vicinity of Fahua Temple, thirty miles away from the capital city, there is a large school yard. Besides the school yard, there is also a piece of land surrounded by bamboo walls. This open space has long been turned into a workshop. In the largest ironware workshop, within the bamboo walls, there are five old iron melting furnaces burning fiercely. Hundreds of artisans in the city and nearby countryside are busy there, melting the scrap iron in the furnaces into molten iron.

Although the school yard doesn't seem to be that big now, it was the only weapon manufacturing place in the previous dynasty, and all kinds of craftsmen from all over the country worked here.

In the past, when the weaving industry in Yangcheng was the most prosperous, there were tens of thousands of spinning wheels and looms inside and outside the city. .

Qi Tianyin has a gentle personality and loves elegance. In the past ten years, he has vigorously developed the cotton spinning industry. He simply turned Yuncheng, which is the closest to Yangcheng and rich in products, into a textile city, and transported all the spinning wheels and looms there. .

Therefore, for the military generals in the imperial court who marched and fought all the year round, it was a consensus that Emperor Taihe did not attach importance to military defense, so this arsenal had long since declined. Fortunately, several generals headed by Chang Chonghu repeatedly petitioned, which made some Skilled craftsmen are still here, and because of this, it is easy to find hundreds of craftsmen, who are hired here to make various weapons for the army.

Entering the workshop, Lu Xizhi saw a long spear with a handle of more than seven feet leaning on the wooden frame. This is equipment made by craftsmen for soldiers. It is the cheapest and most common weapon. This kind of weapon is just because it is cheap and easy to manufacture, and most of the military troops in the north and south of the river use it as a weapon.

"Hey, are you going to use this to conquer the world?"

Looking at the long guns, Lu Xizhi could only sigh from the bottom of her heart. Gunpowder had been used in military affairs since the Tang Dynasty, and it was widely used. In fact, she also heard from her parents that there were a lot of saltpeter and Sulfur mines, so, in addition to Taoist priests, there are also many folk shops for making fireworks.

Yuan Yanxi also said that before the Taihe Emperor's birthday, some of the envoys who came from Europe for the first time brought blunderbuss. After the banquet, Chang Chonghu persuaded Qi Tianyin to buy ten of them.

Walking to a room, Yuan Yanxi pushed open the door, made a gesture of invitation, and walked aside, took out something, and handed it to her.

Lu Xizhi took it over, it was a very primitive blunderbuss.

"The power of this bird gun is really unsatisfactory. Although it is much more advanced than Da Jin's existing weapons, its caliber is relatively small, with a caliber of only about one centimeter. This kind of musket is not to mention thirty feet away. The power is extremely limited, and sometimes, even within ten feet, it may not be able to penetrate heavy armor."

Of course she could see the flaws and workmanship of this gun, but if there were hundreds of such guns pointing at the enemy at the same time, it would be more than a hundred times stronger than the red-tasseled gun, and it would cause a large area of ​​casualties.

In the shed at the end of the workshop, several large iron pots are supported on several muddy stoves. The shed not far away is filled with purified and filtered saltpeter, sulfur, and refined charcoal. This is where the craftsmen The gunpowder workshop in the workshop.

Unlike usual, the craftsmen invited from the firecracker shop in the city did not mix the medicine as usual, but refined the nitrate and sulfur according to the requirements.

Before Yuan Yanxi entered the work shed, the craftsmen knelt down and kowtowed one after another.

"Small, little one, I have seen the factory supervisor!" Looking at the factory supervisor Yuan Da who entered the workshop, the craftsmen all seemed a little nervous. They had a kind of reverence for this young man from the bottom of their hearts, so naturally they didn't dare to make mistakes.

Seeing the craftsmen kneeling together in front of him, Yuan Yanxi said hastily: "Everyone, please get up quickly! Everyone, get up, get up!"

He also deliberately stepped forward to help Fang Sicheng in the front. He is the owner of Fang's Cast Iron, and he is best at making and designing various weapons. Jin is a master craftsman who builds Zhen Guo weapons.

"When you see Yuan in the future, everyone, don't do this grand ceremony again. The younger generation is just an ordinary person. If the situation is not compelling, he is probably just a frail scholar. From now on, in this workshop, kneeling is not allowed at all. ! This rule is settled like this!"

After being polite, Yuan Yanxi led the people behind him into the shed, carefully inspected the saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal, looked at the powdery sulfur and charcoal, and asked Fang Sicheng beside him.

"Have these passed the sieve?"

"If you go back to Factory Supervisor Yuan, you'll have to sift it with rice noodles!"

This meeting, Master Fang is not as nervous as before. After all, this is his professional field, and he can be regarded as someone who has seen the scene.

The sieving of sulfur and charcoal was improved by referring to the bird gun. Dajin’s method of making gunpowder only pays attention to grinding the raw materials into fine powder and then using them. Granules, only keep the fine powder, so that it is easy to make pharmaceuticals, and the raw materials can be combined more closely to increase the threat.

After pinching some raw materials with his fingers, feeling the charcoal powder and sulfur powder as smooth as rice flour under his fingertips, Yuan Yanxi nodded in satisfaction.

After patrolling around, everyone came to the tea room to rest in the back.

"Master Fang, I heard that both Master Zhao and Blacksmith Wang have been ill recently." Yuan Yanxi asked.

"Hey, we're all getting old. Mr. Zhao has always suffered from back pain, and it got worse last winter. Not to mention Blacksmith Wang, that rheumatism is older than me. Hehe..."

This Fang Sicheng is also somewhat humorous.

"Where are Mr. Zhao's two sons now?"

"Zhao Da went to the mine a few days ago, and the second child may be taking care of him at home these few days, and there is no sign of him."

"Master Fang, if you need manpower, just ask. As long as you can prepare an improved musket as soon as possible, the emperor will reward you a lot."

Fang Sicheng sighed, waved his hands, and said meaningfully: "I... never did it for this big reward, oh..."

Lu Xizhi stared at the old man, and found that there was some water in the corner of his eyes, as if he suddenly understood the meaning of these words.

You hour of the second day

After a busy day, everyone is either at home or in a restaurant enjoying the joy and momentary satisfaction brought by the food. However, at the ferry, there is a three-story cruise ship, which is slowly picking up passengers on board during the dinner time.

Looking at the people dressed by the servants, they were not overly enthusiastic or cold to all the guests who boarded the ship, but they had appropriate expressions, natural and peaceful.

Among them, two small sedan chairs stopped by the ferry, and two middle-aged men with extraordinary temperament walked out of them. Looking closely, one of them was Marquis Wu'an and...

"Chang Renxin?"

Lu Xizhi exclaimed in a low voice, but Yuan Yanxi was used to it, and looked coldly at the several officials who filed out of the sedan chairs behind.

After the carriage was parked, the two followed the team unhurriedly. They both wore disguise masks made by Mengdan, and they pretended to be Zhang Liang, the lieutenant general under General Feng, and his entourage.

Lu Xizhi felt itchy on her face, and Mengdan reminded her not to scratch all the time, otherwise the skin would peel off...

Originally, I thought that the disguise technique could really confuse the fake with the real one, but it didn't actually look like it. Fortunately, it was night, if it was broad daylight, and I didn't wear a veil, I could still tell at a glance.

They were arranged on the first floor, and Chang Renxin and Marquis of Wu'an Xie Zhanbai went upstairs with an attendant.

"Looking at Marquis Wu'an's appearance, he seems to have recovered from the pain of bereavement." Lu Xizhi chuckled.

"Xie Manrou was hanged to death, the royal family has given him enough face, if he is still frowning, isn't he blaming the emperor." Yuan Yanxi also smiled coldly.

"That Mr. Chang is quite capable. With the face of Chang Shangshu, even if he doesn't enter an official position, he can win some favors from the major officials and walk among them."

The boat sailed for about 10 minutes and arrived at the shore. The guests on the first floor disembarked first. Lu Xizhi noticed that there was a small stall beside the ferry. An old man in his sixties was sitting on the ground and saw The guests, there is no such thing as soliciting business, they just sang little nursery rhymes there on their own:

"Cross-footed plate, three years in the plate, subdued dragon and tiger, tied horse and ape, heart is like water, breath is like cotton, not a god but a sage..." Although he is old and his voice is a little hoarse, since ancient times, Wu Nong softly said , the kind and pleasant sound, the most pleasant to hear, actually made many people stop to listen to it.

"It sounds so good, the old man is full of energy." When the old man finished singing, Xie Zhanbai couldn't help clapping his hands.

Immediately, his eyes fell on the stall in front of him, and his eyes couldn't move away. The old man actually sold the famous Yixing Zongzi in his hometown Yixing, and Yixing Zongzi is most famous for its fresh meat dumplings, which are made of glutinous rice and soy sauce. , add cut pieces of fresh meat, and make it with salt and sugar, wrap it with clean zong leaves, cook it on a high fire with a slow fire, and take it out, the zong leaves are rich in fragrance, and then carefully peel off the zong leaves , the rice dumplings inside are glutinous but not rotten, oily and delicious.

Not to mention Xie Zhanbai, even other people couldn't help swallowing quietly when they saw the samples that were peeled off and placed there.

"This is a pre-dinner snack specially prepared by our master for all distinguished guests. Please feel free to taste it." The old man said with a smile.Then the old man muttered a few words, but no one could understand what he said.

what?Do you speak a foreign language?Lu Xizhi looked at Yuan Yanxi.

But Xie Zhanbai had already taken the lead and said: "Is the old man from Yixing too? Haha, what a coincidence, I am too." After speaking, he turned to the crowd and began to translate: "The old man means: This zongzi has just been made Yes, let's eat while chatting, the best thing is that rice dumplings are easy to accumulate food, so we can't eat too much greedily."

Heh, he just got off the boat, and he has already firmly captured the hearts of the guests before arriving at the Aria Building. The boss really has a lot of tricks and understands people's hearts very well.

Yuan Yanxi took two small pieces, smelled them, and was sure they were all right, so she peeled off the leaves and handed a piece to Lu Xizhi.

After one bite, it was really delicious, "It's delicious, it's really delicious!" Lu Xizhi praised it sincerely.

After a group of more than a dozen people had eaten their rice dumplings, all of them continued to follow the attendants in good spirits and walked to the singing and dancing building where the lights were flickering and the singing and dancing were flourishing.There are many lanterns along the way, and the whole way looks like daytime. There are so many vegetation on the island, plus all kinds of artificially planted flowers and peach trees, it is really a paradise.

Soon came to the first floor, where the decoration was luxurious, exactly as Yuan Yanxi described.

"Deputy General, please..."

Lu Xizhi and the others were led to a private room near the front on the second floor. As soon as the attendants left, the two of them checked quickly, and after confirming that there was no cubicle, Lu Xizhi said: General, be careful of catching a cold, and closed the window .

From the crack of the door, she saw that Xie Zhanbai and Chang Renxin did not stay on the second floor, but went upstairs directly.

Where is that on the third, fourth and fifth floors?Lu Xizhi secretly said, "Dirty."

Yuan Yanxi motioned her to sit down first, don't act rashly, today is really just for 'experience'.

"Deputy general, look, shall I pass the food to you now?"

It stands to reason that after eating zongzi just now, you will never be hungry, but since you are here, if you don't try the specialties, it will be unreasonable anyway.

But Yuan Yanxi said: "Why don't you have a pot of tea first, you're not very hungry."

When the attendant heard this, he smiled and said, "You two must have eaten a piece of zongzi too? It's okay, you have to trust the servant to help you with the dishes. Today we picked a lot of mushrooms that are unique to the island. Make a soup, and get a four-cornered water chestnut, the real Nanhu water chestnut, thin skin and white meat, fragrant and refreshing, the most digestible, and Yangmiao pickled vegetables, smooth, appetizing, and saliva, and then a portion of Xitang Bazhen cake...Finally Pair it with a jar of Yixing rice wine, oh, that's really good wine."

Lu Xizhi's saliva flowed out quickly, and he winked at Yuan Yanxi vigorously.

The man was helpless: "Pass."

The attendant said: Yes.

Before retreating, his eyes pretended to be inadvertently aiming at the closed window, and he retreated calmly.

In such a beautiful and quiet place, with a few exquisite side dishes and a jar of rice wine, the taste... For a moment, Lu Xizhi almost forgot what the purpose of this visit was.

Ten minutes later, there was a knock on the door of the private room, and then it was gently pushed open. A beautiful and gentle Jiangnan woman slid in, and then took a plate of delicacies from the attendant, and put them on the table slowly and orderly .

Lu Xizhi glanced at Yuan Yanxi who was opposite, but saw that he continued to drink tea without moving, his eyes were not squinted, and he was only staring at a few centimeters in front of him, as steady as Mount Tai.

After the woman finished distributing the dishes, she naturally stood beside him, flirtatiously raised her wide sleeves, and picked up vegetables for Yuan Yanxi. She just picked up a piece of fragrant and slippery mushroom and wanted to put it into his bowl, but he blocked it with her hand.

"Men on the march are not used to being waited on. You don't have to be polite, girl. Zhang can come by himself." The tone was cold and alienated, which made people shudder.

The woman's hand stopped in the air in embarrassment, but she quickly recovered her delicate expression, nodded, saluted and exited the door.

Seeing her coming out, the attendants waiting outside the door frowned and motioned for her to come and talk.

"Why did you come out?"

"Something's wrong," the woman said.

"Oh? Where?"

"The entourage brought by the deputy general seems to be... a woman."

The weather in February can change as soon as it is said, the sky was clear and clear just now, but now the wind is blowing and raindrops are falling.

"Wow wow wow..."

After a while, the bean-sized raindrops hit the earth and everything, as if they wanted to completely wash away all the unbearable dirt in the world.

"Huh...huh..." It was already late at night, but a thinly dressed woman was running on the country road.

The rain wetted her whole body, making her long disheveled hair stick tightly to her haggard, pale face. Her frightened eyes could not be fully opened due to the washing of the rain. She wiped her forehead with her hands as she ran. Rainwater flowing down from above, so that you can see the road ahead more clearly, and at the same time look back from time to time.

A ball of light followed her unhurriedly. It was a man carrying a lantern. The light hit the woman running in the rain and illuminated her way forward.

However, the woman was not grateful for this at all. Instead, she was terrified because of the man behind who couldn't get rid of it no matter how hard she tried.

The shoes on her feet fell off at some point, so that when she ran, she always brought up a lot of mud, and the mud kept splashing on her clothes. Coupled with the slippery road in rainy days and the panic in her heart, an uneasy Be careful and fell into the rain puddle with a "boom".

The knee of her left leg was immediately scratched by the gravel and bleeding came out, but she didn't even look at it, she looked back at the dazzling light behind her eyes in a panic, struggled to get up from the mud floor, and continued to run forward, but she didn't. After running a few steps, she fell into the mud again, and then got up again...

The man seemed to lose his patience, his footsteps began to accelerate slowly, and the distance between him and the woman was getting closer and closer.

When the woman fell for the third time, the man slammed on her right leg and stepped on it.

"Ah!" The woman let out a painful scream, but it was quickly covered by a thunder.

The man stopped, and pulled out a tool that looked like a hammer from behind.

The pain and fear made the woman tremble all over. When she saw the other person walking towards her, she endured the severe pain and struggled to crawl back, while tremblingly shouting: "Don't... don't come here! You... want money, right? Whether it's money Or something else, I'll give you whatever you want. Please...don't kill me!"

But he didn't give her the slightest chance,
"Boom!" The hammer hit her head hard.

The woman fell to the ground in response, blood flowed from the top of her head, and was quickly washed away by the rain.

The impact on her head made her consciousness blurred, but she still begged weakly: "Stop... stop, please... let me go, please, I... I will give you everything, please let go..."

Reluctantly, the man hammered again.

"Ah!" This was the last weak scream, and her body completely went limp.

A pair of hands moved from the woman's chest to the neck, and the fingers gradually tightened.

"No..." The woman's voice became weaker and weaker, until it was completely drowned out by the sound of rain.

The man straightened up, cruelly watching the woman's life go by slowly, and finally pulled her hair, dragging the body all the way back.

The bean-heavy rain kept washing the ground, as if to wash away all the sins, but destroyed the evidence that should be left behind.

The woman's eyes were open, watching the bean-heavy rain hitting her, looking at the endless darkness.

(End of this chapter)