Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 786 Trace
A few days ago, Lin Ming fully communicated with the head of the fast team of the prefecture and county yamen, and initially grasped the law of Gao Shunqin's activities in Guangzhou.Like all high officials, Gao Shunqin's scope of activities in Guangzhou was limited, and he seldom went out except to go to the yamen, visit guests, and pay meals among big bureaucrats.Because of his strong advocacy against barbarians, he had very different political opinions with the local Guangzhou officialdom, which had obtained a large amount of gray profits in foreign trade, so he had little contact with Guangzhou officialdom.Most of the time in his mansion.

Lin Ming specially surveyed the entire high mansion.The tall house is small in size. It is a medium-sized house with three courtyards at the front and back, two courtyards at the east and west, and a garden outside. It used to be the private residence of a foreign businessman in Guangzhou.Because it is a rich merchant's house, the materials and labor used in the construction of the house are very particular. The walls of clear water bricks are extremely high, at least two feet four or five feet in size.It is impossible to climb the top of the wall without tools.

All the doors are locked, and the keys of the doors are in the hands of the housekeeper, and they are handed back to the upper room every night.After nightfall, all the courtyards are closed and locked, and the main gates are guarded by special personnel, and along the entire wall, there are Ding Watchmen patrolling and guarding all night.It should be said that this arrangement is quite rigorous.

Moreover, the inner study is at the core of the mansion. If someone can climb over the high wall in the dark night, escape the patrols, go deep into the mansion, and finally lead such a living person as Gao Shunqin without anyone noticing. Let's go, Lin Ming thought it was impossible.Although there are many legends of snitches who come and go without a trace, Lin Ming's family is the hereditary Jinyiwei.He has been fascinated by his ears since he was a child, and he has heard many cases from his elders. He has seen a lot at a young age, and he has handled many cases himself, so he knows that there are many exaggerated elements.He thought that if someone really kidnapped Gao Shunqin, there must be an internal response in Gao's house.

When it comes to interrogating suspects, he is not as hesitant as Yu Baocun, who hesitates before and after—Yu Baocun doesn't even dare to torture the prominent maid in the high mansion, he just summons him for interrogation and it's a passing scene.In Lin Ming's opinion, it was simply "indulgence".

Except that Su Ai is Gao Xunyan's favorite concubine, and before things become clear, she is temporarily exempted from suffering and only allowed to "jury".The Guangzhou government issued a sign, and brought all the gatekeepers, watchmen, and servants who guarded the door that night, the housekeeper who was in charge of managing the keys, and even Su Ai's personal maids to tortured overnight.The beating of whips and boards, the howling of a group of criminals...so much noise that passers-by would rather detour than pass by the Guangzhou government office.

Lin Ming once suspected the housekeeper's wife - she was from Guangdong Province, so she had a natural advantage in colluding with the local bandits, and she was in charge of the keys, and she knew very well the roads and daily routines in the mansion, which was an extremely useful internal response.So Li Yongxun was ordered to focus on torture this person.

Because Li Yongxun came to "handle the case with his cousin" because he made a fuss, in order to show that he was not a useless burden, he worked very hard on torturing the prisoner.Her family already had ancestral craftsmanship.It was even more unequivocal when she began to deal with the female prisoners. All the servants and maids were tortured to death by her. The "juror" Su Ai simply fainted from fright, and Li Yongxun found that the stool was wet when the caretaker helped her away.

"I'm so scared to pee when I see someone eat the whip a few times." Li Yongxun looked at it with a look of disdain, "It's really more than a young lady."

The housekeeper's wife was tortured but finally confessed: On the morning of Gao Xun's disappearance, the watchman found that the lock of the backyard door was unlocked.Reported to her at that time.The housekeeper's wife was afraid that she had neglected her duty and failed to investigate. If she reported it, she would be blamed by the master, and there was no sign of a thief stealing at first glance, so she asked someone to lock the door again, so that everyone would be silent.Later, when I heard that the master was missing, I was even more afraid to speak out about it.

As if Lin Ming had found a treasure, he arrested several other people at that time and tortured them. The confessions of each person really matched.Now it is generally clear how Gao Xunyan disappeared: Whether Gao Xunyan was kidnapped or walked out by himself, it was obvious that he went out through the open door in the backyard.

The problem is that there are still many links that are not clear, and even if they are tortured, they still can't find out who should be inside.But at this time, he got news from Jinghai Gate.Lin Ming felt that there was a new breakthrough in this matter, so he immediately led people to investigate along the way.

With Jin Yiwei's prestige, as long as the sign is displayed, all the scholars, civilians, businessmen and businesses along the way will ask questions and answer ten questions, and they dare not hide anything.And the sedan horses that left the city early in the morning were indeed very eye-catching, so they got the news very quickly, and the group immediately took the official road to Foshan Town after leaving Guangzhou.

After arriving in Foshan Town, I heard that a group of people got off their sedan chairs here to start their work.The head of the host is quite decent.Surrounded by several servants, I ate in the private room of a local restaurant.The shot is quite generous.Although the shop owner and "Qitang" couldn't see it very clearly, the facial features described were somewhat similar to Gao Xunyan.

Lin Ming was overjoyed, this was probably Gao Shunqin!As for whether he was coerced or voluntarily, it didn't matter--the important thing was that the high inspector was still alive.

"This is really a great joy!" Yu Baocun was overjoyed when he heard what he said about the investigation.As long as Gao Xun is not dead, things will be much easier to handle.Yu Baocun was most afraid of Gao Shunqin's death on the boundary of the Guangzhou prefecture - it was difficult for him, an official guarding the territory, to escape responsibility.

"Hehe." Lin Ming sneered twice, he knew very clearly what the magistrate was thinking, "Gong Bao! You are thinking too simply. Although Mr. Gao was safe and sound in Foshan, seven or eight days have passed. How do you know if he is safe now?"

"Yes, yes, Mr. Xin has worked hard." Of course Yu Baocun understood Lin Ming's meaning, and quietly slipped a Delong ticket, "Brothers have worked hard, let's drink tea for brothers."

Lin Ming rolled his eyes: 50 taels.He was quite satisfied with this figure - before the case was closed, he would have to bargain with him for a thousand dollars.

"It's easy to say." Lin Ming sat on the chair.Foshan is his lair, and the people are more familiar.The subordinates got important news after going out for a circle: the group stayed in Foshan for half a day, during which time they bought a lot of dry food and things needed on the road.Then we booked a passenger ship going up to Sanshui County and left.

Yu Baocun was perplexed, "Did you go to Sanshui?"

Lin Ming and his subordinates were very puzzled by this: they were very familiar with this waterway: passenger ships traveling up the river would not only go to Sanshui County, but the ships would go all the way north, passing through Qingyuan, Yingde, Shaozhou, Shaoguan, and finally Arrived in Nanxiong Prefecture.From Nanxiong Prefecture, go overland and look through Dayuling Mountains, and you will leave Guangdong.

"Yeah, brother, I'm also very puzzled-does Master Gao have any old relatives or friends in Sanshui?"

"I've never heard of it." Yu Baocun frowned, "Besides, even if it's a visit to relatives and friends, how can there be any reason to leave without saying goodbye?"

"Exactly."

Lin Ming immediately dispatched a few capable small flags to follow along the river, investigating Mr. Gao's movements along the way.He returned to Guangdong with other people—he felt that the root cause of this matter should still be in Guangzhou.He thought it necessary to find out exactly what happened in Guangzhou.

Now he thinks that the possibility of Gao Xunyan leaving by himself is very slim.Mr. Gao is an official in Guangdong, that is, there is no imperial edict for transfer, and no letter from an elder at home who wants to go home for funerals, so it is impossible to leave Guangdong like this.Therefore, the possibility of leaving by abandoning the official position is the least.

"Master Gao was mostly coerced by villains." Lin Ming said, "It's just that I don't know who this gang of villains is, and why they want to coerce Sir Gao?"

"Could it be for money?"

"Not like." Lin Ming shook his head.Kidnapping local officials for money, there is no such bold bandit in the world.Wouldn't it be faster and safer to kidnap rich people for money?

"Could it be the work of Australians or Franji?" Yu Baocun asked.Gao Shunqin's political opinion is to fight against the barbarians, and his sudden disappearance is very beneficial to both the Australians and the Francois.Without such a strong supporter in the officialdom, the anti-barbarians in Guangzhou will lose a lot of influence.

Lin Ming thought, this is very possible.However, if it was what they did, the route should not be from Foshan to Sanshui, but directly from Huangpu to the mouth of the Pearl River.Whether it is Haojingao occupied by Frangji or Xiangshanao occupied by Australians, they are all in the south of Guangzhou.

"I'm afraid it's a tactic to attack the west." Lin Ming said slowly, "I have already sent people to Sanshui to track down Mr. Gao's whereabouts. In the south, I will also send people to investigate."

"It's time for you to work hard. If you need any help from the students, the students will definitely help you!"

The place where Lin Ming and his subordinates stayed was in a courtyard of the Gao Mansion.After going back and forth for the past few days, he was very tired. After washing and changing clothes in a hurry, he lay on the bed but couldn't fall asleep.Gao Shunqin's disappearance case had too many details that he couldn't figure out.From a comprehensive point of view, there is a great possibility that Mr. Gao will be forcibly kidnapped, but who the kidnappers are, what their motives are, and how they did it are still a series of mysteries.

Overall, the Francois and the Australians are the most suspected.But there is no evidence that they did it, and the escape route is not right.Lin Ming thought: It is very necessary to send a few more people to the Pearl River Estuary to inquire about news.Try to find out Gao Shunqin's whereabouts.

Find out the situation before you can bargain.

Lin Ming's years in attacking officials are not too long, but the officialdom is very clear.Sometimes the truth of the incident is not the most important thing, but how to minimize "trouble" is the most important thing.Gao Shunqin's disappearance seems to be very tense in the officialdom, but what they are nervous about is not the safety of Gao Shunqin, but what kind of negative impact this event will have on his official career.Guangdong officialdom can no longer withstand a new round of turmoil-the death of Wang Du can be regarded as the scapegoat for Qiongzhou's fiasco.If there is another Gao Shunqin case, Guangdong officials will no longer be able to fool them.

(End of this chapter)