Detective Di Renjie's legend of Wu Dynasty

Chapter 538
The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal starts from Tongzhou in the sixteen prefectures of Yanyun in the north, and ends in Hangzhou, which is known as the "paradise on earth" in the south. The natural river channel was repaired and dredged to form the Grand Canal of later generations.

It used to be the lifeline connecting the north and the south of the imperial court, and played a major role in the economic and cultural exchanges between the north and the south.

Hangou along the Huai River of the Grand Canal is the first ancient canal channel excavated by King Fucha of Wu in the late Spring and Autumn Period and expanded by the Sui Dynasty. It connects Huai'an in the north and Yangzhou in the south.

At this moment, on the Grand Canal, at the interface of Hangou, where the Yangtze River leads to the Huai River, dark clouds and black clouds enveloped the surface of the river.

Thunder and lightning flashed overhead, as if to tear the sky apart. Suddenly, a strong wind blew, and the willows on both sides of the river danced wildly like crazy women's long hair. In an instant, heavy rain poured down on the canal, smashing the river with white waves. roll.

Amidst the storm, a group of official ships sailed on the water with difficulty against the wind and waves.

The leading seagull boat raised a large flag, which can be seen by the light of lightning. On the flag, there are seven big characters of "Jianghuai Salt and Iron Transshipment Envoy" in italics.

The hull was tossed up and down by the huge waves and kept shaking. The boatmen braved the heavy rain and rushed to the deck. The transshipment made Chang Feng stand on the bow of the ship wearing a bamboo hat, shouting loudly: "Quickly, lower the mainsail and bring The jib is hoisted!"

More than a dozen boatmen agreed loudly and rushed under the main mast. One boatman quickly climbed up, untied the rope and lowered the mainsail.

The rest of the people rushed forward, pulled the sail rope, and the jib sail slowly rose.

Chang Feng let out a long breath.

A huge wave hit the face, and the hull immediately tilted.

Chang Feng's center of gravity was unstable, and his body rushed towards the ship's side. The assistant transporter behind him supported him, and shouted loudly: "My lord, the wind is strong and the waves are strong, we can't move forward!"

Chang Feng nodded and shouted: "The front is the territory of Shanyang County, order the fleet to dock!"

The deputy envoy agreed loudly and ran towards the stern.

Suddenly, there was a loud bang at the front of the seagull boat, the hull stood sideways, and several boatmen screamed and were swept into the river by the big waves.

Chang Feng shouted sharply: "What's going on?"

The helmsman at the top of the building rushed out of the cabin and shouted loudly: "My lord, the bottom of the ship has hit a rock!"

……

In the stormy Shanyang County, a hand desperately slapped on the door knocker of the Shanyang Villa.

With a loud bang, the door opened.

Two guards rushed out in the rain and shouted sharply, "Who are you?"

The Shanyang county magistrate in a green robe shouted out of breath: "Shanyang county magistrate Lu Jiying, I have something important to report to Mr. Li Han, the doctor of the Ministry of Water!"

The guard said: "Ah, it's County Magistrate Lu, please come in. Master Li is now in the second hall!"

Lu Jiying rushed into the second hall and shouted in panic: "Master Langzhong, something is wrong! The Jianghuai salt and iron transfer caused the official ship to sink in Hangou..."

Suddenly, his voice stopped, and his pupils slowly dilated.

There is a person hanging on the beam in the middle of the second hall, with a white silk wrapped around his neck.

This person is wearing a purple robe and a jade belt hanging from his waist. It is Li Han, a doctor of the Ministry of Water.

Lu Jiying exclaimed: "Master Li!"

He took a step forward and grabbed Li Han's feet, and looked up, only to see Li Han's eyes turned white, his face purple and blue, he had been dead for a long time.

Lu Jiying took a deep breath, glanced around, and saw that the hall was in a mess, the drawer fell to the ground, and the door of the cabinet was wide open...

There is a brazier in the middle of the ground, which is full of burnt paper ash.

Lu Jiying calmed down and lifted the embroidered pier under Li Han's body.

The corpse's feet were two feet away from the embroidered pier.

Lu Jiying's lips trembled, and she slowly let go of her hands.

……

The Shanyang Villa was heavily surrounded by government soldiers. Li Han's body was lying on the ground, and Cui Liang, the governor of Yangzhou, squatted down to examine the body carefully.

Chief History Wu Wendeng stepped forward and said: "Lord Inspector, I found a letter on Lord Li Han's desk. The letter said that there were frequent major incidents in water transport, official ships capsized, and salt was damaged. I feel deeply ashamed." The imperial court has owed the grace of the saints, so they can only commit suicide to apologize."

Cui Liang let out a long sigh: "Counting the transshipment ship that capsized in Hangou last night, this has been the No. 15 time in the past year. Li Han will choose a dead end."

He looked around and said, "Why is this hall so messy?"

Wu Wendeng said: "The humble official also finds it strange. It seems that Mr. Li searched and burned some documents in the hall before his death."

Cui Liangliang nodded: "It's weird."

Wu Wendeng looked around, and said softly: "My lord, I just led a routine inspection by my humble officer, and found a wall in Master Li's study, and there are two letters from the cabinet in the wall."

Cui Liang was taken aback: "Oh?"

Wu Wendeng hurriedly submitted the letter.

Cui Liang took it and looked closely, only to see that Pingxin was a small silver card with the words "10 taels" engraved on it.

The same goes for the other one.

Cui Liang said in surprise: "20 taels!"

Wu Wendeng nodded.

Cui Liang asked: "Who was the first to discover Master Li's body?"

"It's Lu Jiying, magistrate of Shanyang County."

"Call him in."

Wu Wendeng hesitated and said, "This, this, my lord, he, he..."

Cui Liang turned around and asked, "What happened to him?"

Wu Wendeng said, "He's drunk."

Cui Liang snorted heavily: "It's unreasonable! As a nobleman of a county, he likes to drink too much and delay his work. I don't think he wants to do it as a county magistrate. Send him to the court immediately!"

Wu Wendeng quickly bowed and said, "Yes, yes."

With that said, he turned and walked out the door.

I saw Lu Jiying stumbling into the second hall, knelt down on the ground and kowtowed his head with a "plop", he said with his tongue out: "Humble, humble, lowly, Shanyang ordered Lu Jiying to kowtow to the governor! You are old and healthy, Everything is fine, everything is going smoothly, everything is going well, and the millennium is good..."

Cui Liang frowned: "Okay, get up and answer!"

Lu Jiying hurriedly said: "No, no, it's better to kneel down, I kneel at your feet, I feel so comfortable, so comfortable, so..."

Cui Liang waved his hand impatiently: "You were the first to discover Master Li's body?"

Lu Jiying trembled all over: "Hey, I was so scared to death! Last night it was windy and rainy, and I reported to Mr. Li about the sinking of the official ship.

No, no idea, as soon as I entered the door, I saw Mrs. Li hanging on the beam of the house, I was so frightened that the humble officer was so scared that I didn't dare to close my eyes all night.

No, I got up early and said that you have arrived, Lord Inspector, and I just drank a couple of ounces of burning knives. The wine is strong and cowardly, isn't it?Otherwise, he would not even dare to leave the door if he was humble! "

Cui Liang frowned and asked, "What else did you find at the scene?"

Lu Jiying said: "Oh, I also found out that even the humble job was discovered by others."

Cui Liang raised his eyebrows: "What?"

(End of this chapter)