Red Mansion is so charming

Chapter 75 Obtaining clues and looking for the Cao Gang (Please collect and read)

Su Ran swept away everything in the box without leaving anything behind.

These things are not official records, but their value is no less than the latter.

This is a set of account books, but what is recorded is not the ordinary transactions of the Zhen family, but some shady money flows.

For example, on a certain day of a certain month of a certain year, in order to accommodate the missing children of three officials, a banknote of 5 taels was given to Cui, an official of the Ministry of Personnel.

On a certain day in a certain month, he paid 3000 taels of silver and hired someone to kill a certain country gentleman surnamed Ma who was about to go to Beijing to sue.

Another example is that one day, the Jiangsu General Soldier took in his fifth concubine and paid him 3 taels of silver as a congratulatory gift.

In short, none of these things can be stated openly.

Since things have been taken, people must not keep them.

Therefore, before leaving, Su Ran directly sent Manager Zhao on his way.

As for the maid, she was innocent and provided important clues, so Su Ran ignored her.

After leaving the Zhen family mansion, Su Ran rushed directly into the dusk.

When she returned to the inn, Hongshuang was sitting alone under the lamp in a daze.

Su Ran threw the bundle in his hand on the table and began to read through the books one by one.

Seeing that Hong Shuang was still dazed, Su Ran pulled her over.

"Quickly, help me search and see if there are any records related to Jiading County Magistrate Zhang Jiagan."

Hearing this, Hong Shuang immediately sat down and started to help look through the account books.

The hard work paid off, and Hongshuang really found a clue when she turned to the fifth book.

"Master, look, there is Zhang Jiagan here."

When Su Ran heard this, he immediately took the account book.

Sure enough, the handwriting on it is still relatively new, it must have been written not long ago.

[Jiading County Magistrate Zhang Jiagan, the following offender, practiced impeachment. He hired twenty ax hands to kill seven people and paid him 6000 taels of silver. 】

When Su Ran saw this line of records, she couldn't help but feel secretly.

At the beginning, Emperor Qingyong said that all six people sent by the Ministry of Punishment were hacked to death, but Zhang Jiagan's body was not found.

And now seeing this record, it is obvious that Zhang Jiagan must have also been poisoned.

The only thing that doesn't match up is that Zhang Jiagan's body is missing, but this is obviously not important.

If you think about it, things like death without testimony are the most difficult things to do.

On one side, Zhang Jiagan and officials from the Ministry of Punishment were silenced, and on the other side, the clues involved in the impeachment documents were cut off one by one, so the matter could only be left alone.

Su Ran didn't expect that he would have figured out the matter before he arrived in Jiading County.

The mastermind behind the scenes is the Jiangnan Zhen family.

This incident also proves that the Zhen family and Feng Bingyuan are in the same boat.

At this point, Su Ran no longer intends to go to Jiading again.

The person who killed Zhang Jiagan could be Zhang San or Li Si, but does that matter?The most important thing is that there is only one messenger, and that is the Zhen family.

Therefore, if you want to avenge Zhang Jiagan, you must get rid of this cancer that has harmed the people in Jiangnan and turned the officialdom in Jiangnan into a miasma.

Su Ran collected all these account books and prepared to take them back to the capital and hand them over to Emperor Qingyong.

But now that we're here, we can't just leave like this. We have to leave some greeting gifts for the Zhen family.Su Ran remembered that when he came to Jinling last time, he learned that the Caobang was quite dissatisfied with the Zhen family.

But he has always been intimidated by the opponent's strength, so he had to bow his head and surrender.

At that time, Su Ran had secretly planned to take Caobang away from the Zhen family and use it for his own use.

And now that the Zhen family is acting more and more arrogantly in Jiangnan, Caobang's situation will definitely become more difficult.

At this time, if we extend an olive branch to the Caobang and let them escape the control of the Zhen family, it shouldn't be a big problem.

However, it was already very late now, so Su Ran did not act too hastily, but hugged Hongshuang and slept another night.

Early the next morning, he left the inn again.

Su Ran had escorted food and grass with Han Jinchuang before, and from what he said, he knew that those who wanted to find the Cao Gang could go directly to the river.

Most of the boat people on the riverside are members of the Cao Gang.

Su Ran came to the riverside and inquired, and soon found out the location of Caobang.

The Cao Gang is different from other gangs in that it does not have a fixed place in Jinling City.

But this does not mean that they have no fixed abode or a place to live.

These people who have been living on the water for a long time like to live near the water. The place where they live is commonly known as the water village.

Caobang claims to have a total of 72 water villages, and each water village represents a sub-rudder.

The largest water village in Caobang is called Xingyun Village, which is where the chief helm of Caobang is located.

Su Ran inquired all the way and finally found the location of Xingyun Village near noon.

Xingyun Village is located to the north of the Yangtze River and is built facing the south. There are hundreds of boats of different sizes parked around the village.

Su Ran sneaked into Xingyun Village in the name of discussing transportation business. However, what he didn't expect was that the person who received him was an old acquaintance, Han Jinchuang.

Regarding Su Ran's details, although Han Jinchuang did not know exactly, he also knew that he was a member of the imperial court.

Therefore, as soon as he saw Su Ran, he immediately took him to a deserted place.

"Brother, how did you find this place? The last errand made the brothers suffer. The Zhen family knew that the food and grass were sent to the wrong place, and they didn't even give us our hard-earned money. Not only that, the gang leader also gave us money for this matter. I was blackmailed out of 5 taels of silver by the Zhen family, and just because of this, the gang leader almost threw me into the river to feed the fish."

When Su Ran heard this, he smiled and said: "You can't blame me for this. I was just following orders. However, your gang has been extorted money, and I have a way to help you get it back."

"Then tell me." Han Jinchuang immediately became energetic when he heard that he could get the silver back. "Is there any way to get the 5 taels of silver back?"

Seeing this, Su Ran lowered his voice and said: "I'm afraid you can't make the decision on this matter. I want to meet your gang leader."

After hearing this, Han Jinchuang hesitated for a moment, but after a moment of silence, he finally nodded: "It's okay to meet our gang leader, but you have to promise to get back the 5 taels of silver."

"If the money doesn't come back, I will use my own money to fill this hole." Su Ran heard this and immediately patted his chest and said.

Han Jinchuang got the guarantee and said no more. He got up and led Su Ran to a place that looked a bit like the Liangshan Juyi Hall.

Su Ran sat for a while and saw Han Jin rushing away and returning.

However, this time it was not him alone, but a woman in blue clothes.

This woman is about in her early twenties, with fair skin, big and bright eyes, and a bit of heroism between her eyebrows.

Especially the two bright silver earrings hanging on the ears add a bit of wildness to the whole person.

When the woman saw Su Ran, her eyes were not frightened, and she immediately sat down on the animal skin chair at the top of the hall without any hesitation. She stepped on the chair with her leather boots, looking very cool.

When Su Ran saw this posture, he knew that the woman in front of him must be a cheerful woman, so he immediately said that he wanted the Caobang to be freed from the control of the Zhen family without beating around the bush.

(End of this chapter)