Eagle-eyed and wolf-watching

Chapter 1551 Untitled 1
Ma Wu could only make a living by doing odd jobs. Although he had his own small shabby house in the slum of Yijing, he still had to go hungry on weekdays.

But a few days ago, a young detective named Wang Lin under Yang Tao happened to meet Ma Wu when he was celebrating his mother's birthday at Baixiangju in Yijing!
When Ma Wu came out of prison that year, it was Wang Lin's constable who handled the case, so Wang Lin also knew Ma Wu!
According to Wang Lin, Ma Wu was at Bai Xiang Ju and ordered a squirrel fish, a plate of braised pork, a roast duck, a few small vegetarian dishes, and a bottle of Bai Xiang Ju's signature liquor, Bai Xiang Lu!

When Wang Lin saw this scene, he was also very surprised. After all, although Baixiangju was not one of the eight big buildings in Yijing, it was also a relatively high-end restaurant in Yijing and the consumption was not low!

For an ordinary constable like him, his annual income, including performance and New Year bonuses, can reach about ten taels of silver, but a trip to Bai Xiang Ju is very painful. If it wasn't for his mother's 50th birthday and he wanted to take her out for a good meal, he would not have gone to Bai Xiang Ju!
Ma Wu's table included wine, meat, and Bai Xiang Ju's most expensive Bai Xiang Ju. This table would cost at least one or two taels of silver, which was equivalent to an ordinary worker's two-month income. Wang Lin was very surprised!
At first Wang Lin thought that Ma Wu was trying to dine and eat for free, but he didn't expect that this guy actually paid the bill. So Wang Lin couldn't hide his curiosity, so he walked over and asked Ma Wu how he got rich and why he could eat so well suddenly?

Facing the sudden appearance of Wang Lin, Ma Lin was hesitant and finally managed to say that he had found some money left by his parents at home. Then, without waiting for Wang Lin to continue questioning, Ma Wu hurriedly left with the packed food...

Wang Lin didn't pay much attention to this matter at first. He just thought that this kid was lucky and made a fortune.

However, as the chief constable Yang Tao identified Li Yi as the suspect in a recent serial theft case and launched some investigations, Wang Lin realized that both Ma Wu and Li Yi had been in the Baidao Gang before and that the two might have had some connections. Wang Lin immediately reported his findings to Yang Tao.

The information provided by Wang Lin also attracted Yang Tao's great attention. Therefore, Captain Yang, who had no other clues for the time being, was determined to use Ma Wu as a breakthrough point to see if he could make any progress.

In order to get the position of chief constable that he had been dreaming of, Yang Tao immediately took action without any hesitation. He soon found Ma Wu who was eating wontons at the Changchun Garden wonton stall.

Yang Tao was originally skeptical about whether Ma Wu was related to Yi Ge's serial theft case, but when he saw that Ma Wu was still not satisfied after finishing a bowl of meat wontons, he immediately ordered a second bowl of meat wontons and asked the owner of the wonton stall to serve him a pot of wine. Yang Tao was sure that there was definitely something wrong with Ma Wu!

Although under the rule of Daqian, the price of food has become increasingly stable and most people can afford to eat, it is still just being able to eat. There is still a long way to go before people can have enough food or eat well...
According to incomplete statistics, 30% of the people in Yijing eat black steamed buns as their staple food, 50% eat old rice, and less than 20% can afford the new rice of the year. Meat is only eaten once during festivals. Although this wonton shop currently uses chicken, and the amount of meat used is not much, but two bowls of meat wontons plus a pot of wine will cost at least thirty cents!
If you use it sparingly, thirty cents is enough for a family of five to eat for a few days. It is said that Yang Tao makes a living by doing odd jobs, so these thirty cents are enough for him to work for at least ten days!

So this Ma Wu is very suspicious!

Thinking of this, Yang Tao was a little hesitant, not knowing whether to arrest Ma Wu immediately or to play it safe and catch a bigger fish!
If it were a normal situation, Yang Tao would definitely play the long game and catch the big fish. He is already an experienced fisherman, not one of those clumsy newcomers who has just entered the business!

No matter how you look at it, Ma Wu in front of him is just a small fry. Even if he is related to this case, he is most likely a role helping Li Yi. If he is touched now, it might alert Li Yi. If he runs away then, it will be extremely difficult to catch him!

Therefore, using Ma Wu to see if he can get Li Yi out is the right choice!

But this case is not an ordinary case. This man has repeatedly robbed the residences of He Jingyun and Zhu Xiaowen. According to the frequency of his crimes, this man is likely to continue committing crimes in the short term, so he must be arrested as soon as possible to prevent him from having the opportunity to rob the residences of those big officials.
The government of Yijing Prefecture is already under great pressure. If he is allowed to continue stealing from a cabinet elder or even invade the palace, the entire Yijing Prefecture from top to bottom will suffer...

So now is the time short and the task is heavy. The sooner we catch this big brother, the sooner everyone can feel at ease!
Apart from the ZZ considerations of this case, Yang Tao also has his own ideas. Although he now has some clues about the case, Yang Tao still dare not slack off. After all, there are more than one detective investigating this case!

It would be fine for others, but that fellow named Zhang’s methods are not much worse than mine. Moreover, this guy is good at both black and white, and is very familiar with people from all walks of life. It is very likely that he also knows about Li Yi’s matter!

If I let out a long line to hook a big fish, and that guy named Zhang follows the line and then takes the initiative to control Ma Wu, I will be in a very passive position!

The man surnamed Zhang, like himself, was experienced, capable, and meritorious among the many chief constables in the government office. If he could really solve the case before himself, the position of chief constable would probably belong to this man surnamed Zhang!
Just as Yang Tao was getting more and more confused, his constable Wang Lin came to him and reported:

"Sir Yang, I followed your orders to search Ma Wu's home. Although I didn't find any valuable clues, I learned from his neighbors that Ma Wu has been acting very abnormal recently. He basically doesn't do odd jobs anymore, and he stays out at night and sometimes doesn't even come back to live here!"

Yang Tao nodded slightly when he heard this. These situations were all within his expectations, but they were not of much value. It could only be said that they increased Ma Wu’s suspicion...
Just when Yang Tao was struggling over whether he should play the long game and catch the big fish, he heard Wang Lin speak:
"I don't know where Captain Zhang heard about Li Yi's situation. He even asked someone to make a portrait of Li Yi and is planning to issue a city-wide warrant for the arrest of this Li Yi!"

Yang Tao was stunned when he heard this, and then looked at Wang Lin doubtfully. Before, when he was with Li Fengshou, Yang Tao also wanted Li Fengshou to draw a portrait of Li Yi for him, but Li Fengshou said that although he was deeply impressed by Li Yi's lightness skills, he could not remember Li Yi's specific appearance because they had only met once and it had been many years!
The only thing that is remembered is that this Li Yi was of medium height and had a very ordinary appearance, the kind that one would not be able to stand out in a crowd. However, there was a burn scar on the back of his right hand. It is said that this scar was caused by Li Yi's lack of effort in practicing martial arts when he was a child, and his master Li Dashan burned him to teach him a lesson.

Yang Tao thought he had known these developments quickly enough, but he didn't expect that the person who wanted to know was faster than him and now even knew what Li Yi looked like!
Thinking of this, Yang Tao felt a sense of urgency in his heart, and immediately said to Wang Lin:

"Go back to the government office and find a chance to get a portrait of Li Yi from Captain Zhang!"

Wang Lin said with difficulty:
"Sir, you know that my relationship with them is not that good, and they have always been on guard against me!" Yang Tao said in a deep voice:

“Wang Lin, you can’t be stingy when doing big things. You must be brave enough to invest. If I get promoted this time, I will never treat you unfairly. You have been a constable for several years. It’s time to increase your burden…”

Wang Lin, who was about to shirk responsibility, suddenly brightened up when he heard Yang Tao say that. After hesitating for a moment, he gritted his teeth, nodded heavily and said:
"My Lord, I will do my best to get the portrait for you!"

"Very good! Let's do it! Get the portrait and send it directly to my house!"

"Yes!"

After giving Wang Lin the instructions, before Yang Tao could think further, Ma Wu, who had just finished eating the wontons, burped, took out a few dozen coins to pay the bill, and then swaggered away from the wonton stall!

Seeing this, Yang Tao immediately followed. Originally, compared to the quick-success-seeking arrest, Yang Tao was more inclined to play the long game and try to hook Li Yi out. However, Zhang had already made a breakthrough, so Yang Tao had to take a risky move!

As Ma Wu left Changchunyuan Market, Yang Tao originally wanted to find an opportunity to catch him, but when he found that Ma Wu was walking towards his home, Yang Tao became patient. After all, catching Ma Wu directly on the street would be too conspicuous!
About half an incense stick of time later, Ma Wu, who was singing a little tune, returned to the slum where he lived. Yang Tao, who had been following him all the way, watched Ma Wu enter the house. After observing for a while and seeing that there was no one around, he jumped directly into the yard.

As soon as Yang Tao steadied himself after entering the yard, he saw Ma Wu, who had heard the noise, coming out of the room. The two looked at each other and Ma Wu immediately said with some vigilance:
"who are you?"

Yang Tao didn't waste any words with him and just chopped him with his knife. Ma Wu wanted to resist, but he was no match for Yang Tao, the highly skilled constable of Yi Jing. As soon as they met, his eyes went dark and he fainted on the ground...

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Yijing, South City

Accompanied by the new Minister of Industry Su Junjie, Ye Mingsheng once again came to the factory workshop under the First Manufacturing General Administration.

This time Ye Mingsheng came to inspect the steam engine project. Zhao Fei, a project engineer, also explained beside Ye Mingsheng:

"Your Majesty, in the past few months, the technical team I led has overcome several technical difficulties. I think the steam engine we developed is now fully ready for sea trials. According to the original plan, we will go to Tao Port for sea trials in a month!"

Ye Mingsheng asked with interest:
"So if the sea trial is successful, can we directly drive the battleship?"

Facing Ye Mingsheng's question, Zhao Fei, an engineer, hesitated for a moment, and then said seriously:
"Your Majesty, this depends on the results of the sea trial. Although I am very confident in the steam engine developed by our team, I think that from the current point of view, the steam engine cannot completely replace human and wind power in a short period of time. If you want the steam engine to completely replace human and wind power, you need to continue to make progress! This takes time!"

"From the current perspective, the steam engine should still play an auxiliary role, allowing the warship to travel faster, saving the sailors on the warship more effort, and ensuring that the warship moves forward steadily in the case of headwinds!"

Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly when he heard this:
"As expected of an engineer, he speaks rigorously..."

Hearing Ye Mingsheng say this, Su Junjie on the side quickly reported:

"Your Majesty, Engineer Zhao is the best engineer in our First Manufacturing Bureau. His work ability is obvious to all in the First Manufacturing Bureau!"

Faced with Su Junjie's praise, Zhao Fei, who had been serious, scratched his head a little embarrassedly.

Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng smiled and nodded, and then continued to inspect the factory with Su Junjie and others. Because Ye Mingsheng had been to this factory several times, he was actually not unfamiliar with it, but today was a little different from the past!
In the past, Chen Changgui, who was the director of the First Manufacturing Bureau, would introduce Ye Mingsheng to all the details of the factory on the way to inspection.

Chen Changgui himself was a craftsman, and during his normal work he would often visit factories on the front line, so he was very familiar with every aspect of the factory. When he introduced it to Ye Mingsheng, he did not need to prepare at all and could just speak freely.

But Su Junjie was different. He was born as a merchant and was better at doing business. Besides, he had just been transferred to the Minister of Industry and didn't know much about the situation of the First Manufacturing Bureau. So he seldom spoke along the way. Even when he spoke, he would just say something like this one had strong work ability, that one had a serious work attitude, etc. which were meaningless...