Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 278: Old Case Reveals Secrets

At the Dengzhou Port, the moon is bright, the stars are sparse, and the waves are vast.

Two warships of 2,000 tons sailed out of the harbor one after another, cutting through the waves and sailing in the vast Bohai Bay.

There were two warships of 2,000 tonnes, one of which was a warship from the Jinling Water Supervision Bureau, and the other was temporarily requisitioned from Dengzhou Guard.

The leading warship was equipped with eight brand-new Portuguese cannons and two hundred musketeers from the Five Battalions.

Another warship carried Wei Yongzhou and three hundred musketeers, as well as three thousand porcelain mines and five hundred modified Rumi guns.

Jia Cong stroked the cold cannon body and seemed to be able to feel the power of this most powerful firearm of this era, but he believed that it would soon be surpassed.

Each falconet was equipped with a wooden wheeled gun carriage, and each falconet was equipped with three sub-guns.

When the artillery is in use, ammunition is loaded into the sub-gun and then loaded into the main gun for firing. The three sub-guns are used in turn, and three guns are fired in succession, which only takes twenty seconds.

At that time, this was an amazing continuous firing speed, almost catching up with the efficiency of a three-shot musket, but the power of three shots in a row was far beyond the reach of a musket.

If eight falconets were fired at the same time, it would create extremely terrifying battlefield lethality, easily destroying a charge of a thousand cavalrymen.

The Portuguese's after-sales service was quite thoughtful. Along with these Portuguese cannons, there was also a Portuguese artillery instructor in his twenties named Madeleine.

It is said that this person is very familiar with the structure and usage of artillery, and is a master gunner who never misses a shot. Whether this is true or not remains to be verified.

Even Jia Cong felt that the 50,000 taels of silver were well spent.

……

The person who escorted the artillery from Nanjing to the north was also an old acquaintance of Jia Cong in Nanjing, Liu Hai, the captain of the Jinling Jinyiwei.

This time, Liu Hai led fifty Jinyiwei from Nanjing and sailed for half a month to reach Dengzhou Port. After waiting for five days, he met up with Jia Cong who led his troops north.

Jia Cong smiled and said, "I didn't expect that it was Brother Liu who would escort the artillery north this time. It must have been a tough journey of thousands of miles."

Liu Hai quickly replied: "If it weren't for Lord Jia who uncovered the Water Supervision Bureau case and brought Zou Huaiyi to justice, I would still be the ostracized general flag in the Water Supervision Bureau.

Liu Hai is where he is today thanks to Master Jia. Master asked me to look after the Jinling Xinchun Store. I have told the brothers below that you can rest assured that everything will be fine. "

Before leaving the capital, Jia Cong received a letter from Qu Hongxiu saying that the Xinchunhao branches in Jinling and Ningbo were doing very well after their opening, and the perfume workshop in Jinling was also on track.

Through Lin Ruhai's relationship, the trade route between Yangzhou and Gusu has been opened, and a branch has also been opened. Currently, Qu Hongxiu has asked Wang Dequan to take care of it.

The perfume products produced by Jinling Perfume Workshop were tried to be exported to nearby foreign countries such as Japan, Ryukyu, Luzon, and Sulu via overseas ships.

Of course, the overseas sales volume is not very large. After all, the productivity of Jinling Perfume Workshop is limited. It is more of an attempt and a way to open up business routes.

According to the latest interest accounts sent by Qu Hongxiu and Keqing, Jia Cong estimated that he would be able to fulfill his promise to Emperor Jia Zhao in less than five years.

Of course he would leave enough margin for himself and at the same time not give the emperor too high expectations.

……

"Brother Liu, according to common sense, the escort of important military equipment such as artillery should be entrusted to the Jinling Guards. Why would you let the Jinyi Guards do it?"

This was the first question that Jia Cong thought of when he saw Liu Hai in Dengzhou Port.

At that time, he was involved in a major case of the Water Supervision Bureau in Jinling. On that day, at the birthday banquet at the Zou Mansion, Zou Huaiyi committed suicide on the spot, which made him suspect that there must be something hidden behind Zou Huaiyi.

Zou Huaiyi's sudden suicide was at best just a trick to cut off his tail and survive. He believed that he was not the only one who could sense this.

The Water Supervision Office was a government office under the Jinling Guard. Zou Huaiyi suddenly committed suicide and took on all the blame, and many clues of the matter were lost.

Later, he encountered another assassination attempt in Gusu by Cui Bowang, an officer of the Jinling Guards. Although it was later verified that Cui Bowang was assassinated out of personal vengeance, Cui Bowang was still undetected and was mysteriously killed again, which became another unsolved case.

And among all these things, there seems to be a vague connection with Jinling Wei, which is why Jia Cong asked Liu Hai this question.

Liu Hai said: "Master Jia, you don't know that according to common sense, the Jinling Guard Water Supervision Department is responsible for the escort of military equipment.

But after Zou Huaiyi was executed, all the middle and lower-level military officers in the Water Supervision Bureau were cleared out, and the newly transferred officials came from all sides, and their backgrounds were somewhat complicated.

After the last major case involving the Water Conservancy, the court had always had doubts about the Jinling Guards, but it just had no relevant evidence.

This time, the military department's escort document was sent directly to the Jinyiwei, who were given full responsibility for escorting the artillery. The Jinling Guard was not involved at all, and they only borrowed the warships of the Water Supervision Department. "

Jia Cong pondered in his heart, for the Ministry of War to directly bypass the Jinling Guards on such a military matter as escorting the artillery, it could only be with the emperor's instructions. It was clear that the emperor had long been wary of the Jinling Guards.

The Jinling Guards were responsible for protecting the secondary capital of Jinling, and their influence extended to eight prefectures and one state in the south of the Yangtze River.
The Jinling Guard has over 10,000 naval troops under its command, which is twice the number of troops of other ordinary military guards. It is the most powerful standing army in Jiangnan.

The eight prefectures and one state in the south of the Yangtze River are the fertile foundation of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Emperor Jia Zhao will never allow any unrest to happen here.

Therefore, even if he had doubts about the Jinling Guards, he would only look for the right opportunity and would not act rashly.

Liu Hai asked, "Master Jia, do you still remember Dong Lao Er?"

Jia Cong replied, "Of course I remember. He kidnapped the young lady from the Zhen family in Gusu. Although I rescued the girl, Dong Lao Er escaped."

Liu Hai added: "The Jinling Guards have captured this man in Zhenjiang. According to his confession, he makes a living by selling foreign goods, and all his foreign goods come from a sea merchant named Zhou Suqing."

Jia Cong said, "I learned about this when I was in Nanjing. The whereabouts of the large amount of foreign goods looted by Zou Huaiyi is still unknown. It is related to Zhou Suqing, but this person has not been arrested yet."

Liu Hai smiled and said, "The Imperial Guards tortured Dong Lao Er and got a lot of information out of him, one of which Lord Jia might be interested in.

Dong Laoer said that he had known Zhou Suqing in Gusu more than ten years ago. At that time, he was called Huo Qi, and it was he who lost Miss Zhen on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

Later, fearing that he would be pursued by the Zhen family, he took his money and fled to Japan on a ship. After more than ten years of hard work and becoming rich, he returned to Nanjing and started a foreign goods business.

Dong Lao Er knew Zhou Suqing, but Zhou Suqing didn't know that he was the kidnapper. Dong Lao Er even used his background as a threat to buy a lot of foreign goods from him at a low price.

Jia Cong was also shocked when he heard what Liu Hai said. Zhou Suqing was actually Huo Qi, the servant of the Zhen family. This was indeed beyond his expectation.

Liu Hai continued, "Dong Lao Er also confessed that Zhou Suqing worked for a high-ranking official in Jinling, and the reason he was able to escape was that someone provided him with a way out.

As for who this person is, Dong Laoer doesn't know either. This time, I'm delivering artillery on the orders of Captain Ge, and another important task is to search for Zhou Suqing's whereabouts along the way.

Going north from here, I passed through four states. Every time I arrived at a port, I would stop for half a day and send people into the port to investigate, but I found nothing. "

Jia Cong was silent in his heart, Zhou Suqing was the only one who escaped the big case of the Water Inspectorate.

Despite the tight nets laid by the Jinling Jinyiwei and the Yingtianfu government offices, this man still managed to escape.

Without the protection of someone in a high position of power, he would not have been able to escape unscathed.

The Jinling Jinyiwei were so serious about arresting Zhou Suqing that they must have received instructions from the capital.

When he left Jinling, he thought that there must be some hidden story behind the Water Conservancy case, and it was definitely not as simple as just Zou Huaiyi.

The Dali Temple and the Court of Inquisition in the capital had sent many capable personnel to Nanjing to clean up the Water Conservancy Bureau case. Through investigation and interrogation, they would certainly realize this.

Perhaps only when Zhou Suqing is arrested, the true inside story of the Jinling Water Supervision Bureau case will be revealed.

(End of this chapter)