Tibet.

Chapter 1310 Dengzhou Investigation
Just as the sky was getting light, a team of cavalrymen wearing black and yellow armor rushed into Penglai County, Dengzhou.

The people of Dengzhou had never seen cavalrymen in this kind of armor, and they all looked at them curiously. The cavalrymen galloped to the gate of the state government, dismounted, and a soldier ran up the steps, holding up a black and yellow brass plate, and said sternly to the gatekeeper: "Internal Guards, we have come from the capital to investigate the case!"

The soldier was startled and stammered, "Please wait a moment, I will report it right away!"

The Internal Security Bureau is equivalent to the FBI and NSA in the United States. They specialize in investigating major cases and have great power, especially for smuggling salt and minting coins. Once they find out, basically the entire family will be killed and there will be a sea of ​​blood. Although they do not have the power to suspend local officials, once they find that the government is colluding with salt dealers, or that the children of officials are committing major illegal crimes, they will ruthlessly arrest non-officials and report to the Censorate, and the Supervisory Censor will come immediately.

Therefore, there is no local government that is not afraid of the internal security. Of course, it is also because some local officials themselves are not clean. If they are honest and upright, there is nothing to be afraid of.

It was not yet time for government affairs in the provincial government, and only Sima Wang Zeng, who was on duty, arrived early. When he heard that the inner guards had arrived, he was startled and hurried out to greet them.

"I am Wang Zengzheng, the Sima of Dengzhou. Welcome the Internal Guards to Dengzhou to investigate the case!"

The leading inner guard general was none other than Liu Wutong, who had long been a guard of Li Dai and his wife. Now he was transferred to the inner guard and given the title of General of the Central Army. He was appointed as an investigator for the first time and led fifty of his men to Laizhou and Dengzhou to handle a case.

They stayed at post stations along the way to rest and change horses, and rushed for half a month before reaching the Shandong Peninsula. They then split into two groups, with Deputy General Zhang Wen leading 20 men to Laizhou, and Liu Wutong personally leading 30 men to Dengzhou.

Liu Wutong was getting older and not as sharp as the younger generals. He was more tactful and polite in his words and deeds.

Liu Wutong took out the silver medal and showed it to Wang Zengzheng. He said politely, "I am Liu Wutong, the General of the Internal Guards. I have been ordered to come to Dengzhou to investigate the spies. Please, Sima Wang, settle us down first, and we will talk in detail later!"

When Wang Zengzheng heard that it was the detective who committed the crime, he breathed a sigh of relief and said quickly, "That's right! That's right! You all must have been exhausted from the journey. I will arrange for you to go to the posthouse to rest!"

He quickly called one of his men, took out the VIP card, and arranged for him to take the inner guards to a nearby VIP inn to stay and rest.

When Wang Zengzheng saw that all the inner guards had left, he quickly sent soldiers to inform the governor and the chief secretary.

Soon, Dengzhou Governor Sun Yuan and Chief Clerk Li Chaoyang hurried to the government office, and the three of them negotiated inside the office first.

"The leader of the other side is the Lieutenant General of the Internal Guards. He wears a silver badge and has a high status. He said he was here to investigate spies who committed crimes. He must be here to investigate spies by sea."

The governor Sun Yuan nodded. Dengzhou is a special place. The sea envoys from various countries in the northeast all landed here. For example, the Japanese envoys to the Tang Dynasty, the Silla envoys to the Tang Dynasty, etc., all landed in Dengzhou and then went to Chang'an.

Therefore, it was not surprising that the Internal Guards came here to investigate spies. It should have nothing to do with them. The three of them breathed a sigh of relief. After all, they were ruthless Internal Guards and they were under a lot of pressure.

Li Chaoyang, the chief secretary, pondered for a moment and said, "In another month, the coronation ceremony of the regent will be held. I guess they are here for this matter. They may not have a purpose, it's just a routine investigation!"

Governor Sun Yuan shook his head. "If they didn't have a target, they wouldn't have run so far. They must have a target. It's probably related to Liaodong, and maybe even to Silla in Japan."

Wang Zengzheng asked quickly, "Could the Bohai envoy who landed last time be related to them?"

Sun Yuan still shook his head, "It shouldn't be. Since they are coming to the Tang Dynasty openly, there is no need for the inner guards to come to Dengzhou. They are here for the lurkers."

At this time, the soldier at the door reported: "The commander of the inner guards is here!"

The three were shocked. It was so swift and decisive, coming just after they settled down.

Sun Yuan quickly said to Wang Zengzheng: "Sir Wang, you are fully responsible for the reception. If you have any needs, just tell me directly."

Although Wang Zengzheng was reluctant, he had no choice. This was his duty, so he had to agree and stood up to greet him.

Wang Zengzheng led Liu Wutong and his two men to the back hall, where they sat down as host and guest, and Wang Zengzheng asked the tea boy to serve tea.

Liu Wutong pondered for a moment and said, "The first day of the first lunar month is the coronation ceremony of the Regent. Because the Tang Dynasty is on the eve of a war with Liaodong, the internal guards are worried that the enemy will send assassins to disrupt the ceremony and assassinate the Regent. Since the land route is blocked, the assassins can't come. Then there is only the sea route, and Dengzhou will be the first to bear the brunt. I am here to check if there are any suspects landing."

Wang Zengzheng nodded, "It is indeed very important for the regent to ascend the throne. It is related to the stability of the Tang Dynasty. Our Dengzhou county government will fully cooperate. In addition, I would like to remind General Liu that overseas landings do not all come to Dengzhou. Laizhou also has some. Generally, it is 30% to 70%, Dengzhou 70% and Laizhou 30%. I think the internal guards are keeping an eye on Dengzhou, and the other party also understands it. Maybe they secretly go to Laizhou." Liu Wutong smiled slightly, "Don't worry, Sima Wang, my deputy is leading 20 men to handle the case in Laizhou, and I am responsible for Dengzhou."

"I can rest assured that!"

Wang Zengzheng thought for a moment and said, “There are four main types of foreigners coming to Dengzhou. The first is official envoys, such as the envoys from Silla and Japan to the Tang Dynasty, and the envoys from the Bohai Kingdom before;
The second category is merchants. They are the largest group and can be found almost every day. They pay taxes and register at the Maritime Customs Office, and then get a pass to go to the inland areas.

The third category is foreign fishermen, who are the most difficult to control. They do not deal with the government. They park their boats in some secluded place, sneak ashore, go to the market to sell their seafood, and then buy some goods to take back. They usually come and go at night, their whereabouts are uncertain, and there are many of them, so the government cannot control them. As long as they do not cause trouble, they will turn a blind eye.

The fourth category is the stowaways. They are the same as the third category, but their goal is basically to go to Luoyang and Chang'an, and they are usually picked up by local people in Dengzhou. "

Liu Wutong felt overwhelmed after hearing this. It would be difficult to investigate just the merchants. He had read the files of previous assassinations and found that most of the assassins were disguised as merchants. There were too many foreigners in Chang'an, and once they were disguised, they would have entered the country legally and would be impossible to investigate.

Now there are so many smuggling fishermen and illegal immigrants whose whereabouts are unknown. How can we track them?
Liu Wutong pondered for a moment and said, "I brought thirty men to Dengzhou. I plan to divide them into two groups, one to investigate merchants and the other to investigate foreign fishermen and stowaways. We will go directly to the Maritime Customs Office to investigate merchants, and we will have to ask Sima Wang for help to investigate foreign fishermen and stowaways."

Wang Zengzheng nodded, "I'll take the general to the county government! The county magistrate is not as good as the county manager. The state government still doesn't know the specific details, but the county government should know better than us. They deal directly."

"Then I'll trouble you, Sima Wang!"

Wang Zengzheng then brought Liu Wutong to the Penglai County Government Office. It was already morning and the county government office had begun its busy day.

The magistrate of Penglai County was named Zhou Ji. He was a graduate of the Mingjing examination in the second year of Zhide. He was about thirty years old and looked quite smart and capable.

He already knew that the inner guards were coming to Penglai County, and he was feeling uneasy. Suddenly, he heard that the state Sima had come with the inner guards. He was so scared that he hurried out to greet them.

The three men came to the inner hall. Wang Zengzheng introduced the situation to County Magistrate Zhou and then passed the hot matter to him. He sat aside and drank tea. Although he could not leave, he was quite calm and composed.

County Magistrate Zhou thought for a moment and said to Liu Wutong: "There is still a way. Although the government is not clear about foreign fishermen and illegal immigrants, some people know them. Local fishermen know them very well because they are related to their own interests."

"What kind of benefits?" Liu Wutong asked.

County Magistrate Zhou smiled bitterly and said, "They are not here to sell fish. Selling fish and seaweed is just a cover. They are actually smuggling goods. For example, Silla's paper is quite famous. There is a 20% tax when it leaves Silla and a 10% tax when it enters the Tang Dynasty. If it is smuggled, 30% of the tax will be evaded.

It's not just taxes. Private workshops are half as cheap as government-run workshops. Of course, there are other goods. These foreign fishermen dare not go ashore, so they sell to local fishermen at low prices. Local fishermen sell to local merchants. Because the price is cheap, the merchants are profitable. They know it is smuggling but still accept it. In the past, the Maritime Customs would check it, but there were too many of them, like ants. The Maritime Customs only had a few ships and 10 to 20 people. If they encountered a tyrannical person, they would lose their lives. Now they basically don't check it. "

Liu Wutong was not here to inspect taxes. He was not interested in smuggling and was only concerned about suspicious criminals.

He asked Magistrate Zhou, "If I want to investigate the assassin, where should I start?"

County Magistrate Zhou nodded and said, "I just said there is a way. I mean investigating the fishermen. As long as it is clear that we are not investigating smuggling and illegal immigration, but assassins, I believe the fishermen will help."

"How do we investigate that?"

"I will take the general to the dock now and gather the captains for a lecture!"

Liu Wutong smiled at Wang Zengzheng and said, "I have County Magistrate Zhou to accompany me, so I won't bother Sima Wang."

Wang Zengzheng was just waiting for this, and he quickly stood up and said, "If there is any need for the state government, just ask. If there is any need for state soldiers, we will send them out immediately."

"I understand. Thank you, Sima Wang!"

After Wang Zengzheng left, County Magistrate Zhou called the county lieutenant, the chief constable, and a dozen constables, and the group led the internal guards to the dock.

(End of this chapter)