Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 53: The Legend of Hidden Mist Village

"Well!"

The bartender who was dozing on the counter raised his head, patted his cheeks, listened to Yan Xiu's instructions, and ran away.

"This kid is very fast. Sir, you won't have to wait long. There will definitely be news back!"

Yan Xiu fetched a wine jug, went to the table, set the bowls, and filled them with wine. "Young Master, you speak Mandarin very well, but your accent still has a hint of Qionghai. I tried the Shanlan wine there once, and it still has an unforgettable aftertaste. Haha!"

Haiyue sat down: "I can't drink much. Shanlan gets drunk after only three cups, so I can't enjoy such fine wine."

Ever since he got drunk that night at the academy and was identified as the suspect in the murder of Prince Annan the next day, he never drank again even after the truth was revealed.

I still drink a lot, but I’m no longer addicted. I don’t even drink at home, let alone drink with a stranger.

Yan Xiu also noticed it and poured himself a bowl. "Then I won't be polite! The matter of the Qiongzhou Tongpan is no secret. The five taels of silver are a bit of a loss, young master. If there is anything you want to talk about, I will give it to you!"

"You're quite good at business. Is this considered talk therapy?"

Haiyue was speechless, but she still started chatting with the other party.

Starting from the local scenic spots and historical sites, we talked about all kinds of people in the folk, and from the people in the folk, we talked about the three government offices in Guangdong Province.

Yan Xiu spoke eloquently, revealing a thorough understanding of all this. He even dared to comment on the Guangdong and Guangxi Governor, Lin Fu: "Governor Lin loves the people. He even submitted a memorial to the court, advising His Majesty not to engage in widespread pearl mining. We are all very grateful to him!"

"Pearl fishing?"

"My lord, do you know about the seawater pearls in Hepu County?"

"Oh, Hepu Pearl, of course I've heard of it!"

"Hepu pearls have been famous since ancient times. At the beginning of our dynasty, due to the period of recuperation, there was no large-scale mining. The first large-scale pearl mining took place during the Tianshun period, and the second was in the 12th year of the Hongzhi period. Eight thousand civilians were forcibly conscripted to go to sea to collect pearls. Thousands of ships alone were mobilized, but less than half returned. Tsk! The most recent was last year. The court ordered a pearl mining operation, and the three departments were mobilized. Hepu mobilized six hundred ships and ten thousand fishermen. It took over three months and they recovered 28,000 taels of pearls!"

"Your Excellency is indeed well-informed..."

"Oh! These are not things a commoner like me can know. It was Governor Lin who spoke on behalf of the local people. Our ancestors only fished for pearls once every few decades, but now they fish so frequently that it severely harms the people's livelihood. I beg Your Majesty to revoke your order!"

Upon hearing this, Hai Yue thought of the Portuguese she had met before entering the city, and asked casually, "I heard that Governor Lin is interested in trading with the Portuguese?"

"Yes!"

Yan Xiu said, "Master, are you dissatisfied?"

When entering the city, Wu Lin had some objections to this, but Hai Yue knew that trade did not mean submission, but rather that there were various considerations behind it. She deliberately tried to test him: "The Portuguese are not only greedy, but also have ambitions that merchants never have. If we treat them as ordinary foreign merchants, we will probably suffer a great loss!"

Yan Xiu spread his hands and said, "There's nothing we can do. The Portuguese can't do business in Guangdong, so they've moved to Fujian. And then there's Zhejiang. It's impossible to stop them! Since these foreigners are so ambitious, why not leave them here?"

Haiyue nodded slightly.

This is indeed true. After Portugal hit a wall in Guangdong, it did not give up. Instead, it moved to Fujian, Zhejiang and other places where conditions were more relaxed to continue smuggling. "Since then, Portuguese and other foreign ships no longer traded in Guangdong but sneaked into Zhangzhou."

Lin Fu, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, believed that Guangdong had dealt with the Portuguese before, and had even fought two wars with them, so they had a deep understanding of each other. Since it was impossible to prevent the other party's ships from cruising along the coast, it would be better to choose this place as a place for trade, which would be better than being harassed in other places.

As they were talking about this, the bartender Xiaochuan lifted the back curtain, walked in, stood in front of Yan Xiu, and whispered.

Yan Xiu asked a question from time to time, his voice as soft as a mosquito. Even though they were in the same room and facing each other, Hai Yue could hardly hear clearly. It felt like they were communicating in secret.

Of course, this is actually a manifestation of internal cultivation, which makes him think more highly of this scarred man.

After Ogawa finished his report, he swayed his body, lay down in front of the counter, and continued to sleep soundly.

"My brother is just like this, please don't blame me, sir!"

Yan Xiu drank the last sip of wine in the bowl and wiped his mouth happily: "Sir, you may ask about the matter concerning Zong Chengxue, the Tongpan of Qiongzhou Prefecture!"

"When did Zong Tongpan arrive in Guangzhou Prefecture?"

"March 21st."

"where do you live?"

"In a house on Gaudi Street in the north city."

"Why are you here?"

"He was ill. On the day he moved in, he invited He Yuanhui, a famous doctor from the He's Pharmacy, to come to his house to treat him."

"When did the incident happen to him?"

"March 25th."

"cause of death?"

"He hanged himself. According to the records in the Censorate, he took his own life due to a serious illness and unbearable pain."

"Who performed the autopsy?"

"Censor Zhou Xuan."

"Zhou Nietai personally performed the autopsy?"

"Zhou Neitai has been a veteran in criminal justice for thirty years. When encountering major cases, he always conducts autopsies personally. Zong Tongpan was an official who died suddenly in Guangzhou Prefecture, so naturally a detailed inquest was required."

"What about the scene?"

"The doors and windows were locked, no one was inside when the man hanged himself, and the servant was elderly and loyal, so there's no suspicion. Therefore, we rule out the possibility of murder." "Where's the body?"

"He has been sent back to his hometown for burial. He is from Min County, Fujian."

……

When Hai Yue came, she had actually asked her legal advisor Min Ziyong about the government's response after Zong Chengxue committed suicide.

Censor Zhou Xuan personally performed an autopsy and investigated the scene, and found that the situation was exactly the same as what this person said.

But there are some things that the other party did not mention.

Haiyue deliberately remained silent for a moment.

Yan Xiu raised his eyebrows: "Master, are you dissatisfied?"

Hai Yue said, "If that's all, I'm really not satisfied. Zong Tongpan left a suicide note, why didn't you tell me?"

Yan Xiu's expression grew serious for the first time. He reached for the wine bowl, only to realize it was empty after he lifted it. He sighed, "It seems the young master came prepared. I thought I got a bargain with five taels of silver, but now it seems I've lost money... I have to pay more!"

Haiyue looked at him.

"Okay! I don't want to destroy the sign yet!"

Yan Xiu sighed and said slowly, "Young Master, are you here to inquire about 'Hidden Mist Village'? The locals are very secretive and unwilling to elaborate, so you can only hear the truth from me..."

Haiyue immediately asked, "Since the locals are unwilling to tell, how did Brother Yan know?"

"Money can make the world go round!"

Yan Xiu took out some silver and weighed it. "Anyone who pays a lot of money will inevitably be a reckless person! Xiaochuan, go out and guard the door! Don't let anyone get close!"

"Oh!"

The bartender stood up, yawned and walked out.

Hai Yue narrowed her eyes slightly: "Why, what you are going to say next is not something that can be seen in public?"

"It's truly something that can't be exposed to the public. It's related to the heinous crimes of a prince who was granted a vassal position. I only heard this legend passed down by the ancestors of the locals, so I can't guarantee its authenticity!"

Yan Xiu leaned forward and said word by word, "If you regret it, it's not too late to leave now!"

Haiyue frowned.

Is it related to the prince who was enfeoffed?

This is Guangdong. A prince from the Zhu family came here to establish a fiefdom? Isn't that tantamount to exile?

"Speaking!"

However, as Yan Xiu continued his story, he discovered that there was indeed a son of the Zhu family who came to Guangdong to be a vassal.

Zhu Zhan'ao, Prince of Huai.

This person was the seventh son of Ming Renzong Zhu Gaochi. He was born in the seventh year of Yongle when Zhu Di was in power. However, compared with his elder brother Zhu Zhanji who was favored by his grandfather, the emperor Zhu Di, Zhu Zhanji was a little-known person.

Later, when Zhu Zhanji succeeded to the throne, he chose Shaozhou Prefecture in Guangdong as Zhu Zhan'ao's fiefdom, which made the prince furious and he cried out, "What crime have I committed! Send him thousands of miles away!"

This is actually not surprising. The political landscape at that time was like a messy chess game. Zhu Zhanji was playing the "strategic placement" routine and placed his brother in Shaozhou Prefecture in the north of Guangdong. It seemed to be a border area, but in fact it was an excellent chess piece to control the southern gate of the Central Plains.

The strategic vision may be to focus on the world, but it is unrealistic.

Because Zhu Zhanji could not accept being exiled at all, he wrote a series of letters requesting a change of fiefdom, citing the "many malaria" in Guangdong as the reason. Zhu Zhanji ignored his requests until his death and Ming Baozong succeeded to the throne. Empress Dowager Zhang, who got along well with Zhu Zhanji's mother, Concubine Li, finally called back the prince who had been "demoted" to Guangdong for six years and changed his fiefdom to Jiangxi.

Haiyue, who had no idea who this person was, now had a rough idea of ​​the prince's unfortunate deeds, but she was puzzled: "What does this have to do with 'Hidden Mist Village'?"

Yan Xiu said, "It is said that the prince once left the palace with a few followers, galloped all the way, and found a small road out of the territory of Shaozhou Prefecture..."

Haiyue's expression turned serious.

It was a serious crime for a vassal king to leave his fiefdom without the emperor's approval, especially in that era when the aftermath of the Jingnan Campaign was still lingering.

Yan Xiu's tone also changed: "The prince and his entourage ran and ran, and they were hungry and thirsty, and their horses could not run any longer. They found a village ahead and rode into it."

"The village chief, seeing these weary visitors with nothing to show for their money, was wary and unwilling to take them in. The prince took out a string of pearls, hoping to arouse the villagers' greed, but the villagers, who only wanted to have a full meal, still refused them."

"The prince was forced to continue on his journey, but was soon caught up by the palace guards, and his escape plan failed."

"And on the way back, the prince passed by that village again."

"He held a grudge and believed that the village's unwillingness to take him in led to his capture. He lied to the guards, saying that the villagers had stolen his jewelry and ordered them to search the village for it."

"The guards rushed into the village."

"The treasure hunt failed."

"The guards raised their butcher knives."

"As more and more villagers fell in pools of blood, the prince finally grew frightened and ordered the village to be burned down to destroy the bodies. At that moment, a sudden thick fog enveloped the entire village..."

(End of this chapter)