Chapter 1980

As Zhang Qianzhi guessed, the fundamental reason why these incidents attracted the attention of Haihan executives lies in the origin of the muskets used. Although the weapons that have appeared so far are not enough to affect the foundation of Haihan

, but these incidents themselves are already a danger signal and must be identified as early as possible to take measures to eliminate hidden dangers.

For Zhang Qianzhi, he not only has to trace the origin of the gun, but also continues to investigate the details of Xue Zheng and his group. He believes that if the identity and background of this group can be found out, he can follow the clues to find the source of the gun.

But judging from He Xi's tone, the current focus of the high-level investigation is obviously on the source of the guns. The situation surrounding the Joseon Crown Prince's inspection trip some time ago may be because someone has been arrested. The follow-up attention from the high-level officials is obvious.

Reduced a lot.

"Then what should we do with these captured people? They must have received relevant training and are very capable of resisting interrogation. I have been unable to confirm whether their confessions are true and valid." Zhang Qianzhi asked He Xi for instructions.

He Xi said in a deep voice: "Since these people think they can keep their mouths shut, they should keep it secret! Lock them up first and ignore them for the time being. Maybe the information that can be found in Jiangsu and Zhejiang will be better than the one you caught.

The first batch of people is more valuable."

Hearing his boss's statement, Zhang Qianzhi couldn't help but frown slightly. He had originally hoped that after these people were escorted back to Sanya, He Xi could arrange a more effective interrogation method to get Xue Zheng and others to confess. But obviously He Xi

The interest in this group of suspects was not as great as he expected, and he did not even plan to start a new round of interrogation on them immediately.

Although He Xi and Zhang Qianzhi were called superiors and subordinates, they had the same affection for master and apprentice as father and son, and they naturally noticed Zhang Qianzhi's emotions by observing their words and expressions.

"No matter how vicious the people you captured in Danzhou are, they are just weapons in the hands of others. Don't expect that the seized weapons will provide you with all the information you need."

He Xi enlightened: "I know what you are thinking, but sometimes to solve a case, we can also try different methods. Maybe you think that the case in Danzhou must find out the mastermind and the real purpose before it can be successfully concluded.

But you're still looking at this case in isolation, without realizing the real connections to clues found elsewhere."

Zhang Qianzhi thought about the views he had expounded before, and still felt a little unconvinced. He had obviously put forward two views on the possible connection between the cases in the two places, and He Xi also admitted that this was consistent with the current opinions of the senior officials. How could he do it now?

He also said that he did not realize the real connection.

He Xi slowly said: "Have you ever thought that the two possibilities you mentioned are actually the same situation?"

Zhang Qianzhi was a little confused after hearing this. After thinking for a moment, he understood what He Xi meant: "You are saying that it is possible that the muskets used by the Danzhou group were also purchased by Jiangsu and Zhejiang salt merchants and sent to Haihan.

To carry out the task? This situation certainly makes sense in theory, but there is no conflict of interest between Jiangsu and Zhejiang salt merchants and the Joseon prince. Even if Li Bo was assassinated and died in our country, it would still not be able to change the impact on the local salt market in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

The current situation. They can’t get any direct benefits from it, so why bother with so much trouble?”

He Xi changed the topic and said: "You mentioned before that the group of people who went to Danzhou to attack the Joseon Crown Prince came from different regions and probably belonged to different behind-the-scenes forces. Then think about it, among these people

Will there be people sent from salt merchants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang?"

"What you mean is that the salt merchants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang are not necessarily at odds with the Joseon prince, but for some reasons...for example, the person who provided them with weapons asked them to participate in or cooperate with this operation. They felt that they could not refuse, so they took advantage of the situation.

Have you sent someone to participate?" Zhang Qianzhi felt that he seemed to have found some ideas from He Xi's prompts.

He Xi nodded and said: "In this case, does it make more sense? I know you will think that such speculation has no actual evidence at all, and it is too far-fetched. But in fact, our daily intelligence collection in Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas

Work still plays a role, and I don’t know anything about the situation of the local salt merchants.”

As soon as Zhang Qianzhi heard this, he knew that his boss had set up an ambush with him, and there must be some key information that he had not told him. He immediately smiled and waited for He Xi to reveal the answer. As expected, He Xi had no intention of waiting for Zhang Qianzhi.

Asking a question, he continued.

Almost all of Haihan's overseas occupation areas have branches of the Ministry of Security. The Zhoushan Islands are close to prosperous coastal areas such as Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Naturally, there are also permanent personnel from the Ministry of Security in the area. Part of their functions is to collect information from all walks of life in the local area. These

Although the information is complicated, after screening and sorting, it will become an important reference for understanding local politics, economy, military, culture and other fields. Among them, important industries controlled by the state, such as salt and iron, are of course also the focus of intelligence personnel.

The key point is to try to monitor its production and circulation links. However, the specific implementation intensity depends on the actual local situation and the professional level of the resident personnel.

After several years of operation, the intelligence network established by the Ministry of Security in the coastal areas of Zhejiang has become relatively complete. Needless to say, Ningbo Prefecture, which has the closest relationship with the Zhoushan authorities, has long been penetrated by Haihan from top to bottom.

At this time, Taizhou, Shaoxing, Jiaxing, and the central city of Zhejiang, Hangzhou, all of which are adjacent to Zhoushan, have also established intelligence branches of the Ministry of Security.

The Ministry of Security official currently commanding the local intelligence agency in Zhoushan is relatively familiar with the situation in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, because before taking up his current position, he had lurked in Hangzhou as a civilian for a long time, and also participated in the

Haihan's important actions in Hangzhou. This person was Wan Fa, who was running a business store outside Hangzhou. In 1634, he cooperated with Gong Shiqi and Gao Qiaonan to assassinate the commander of a well-known anti-Haihan official in Zhejiang officialdom at the time.

Qian served in Pingfeng, Qian served in Chasi Guo Zheng, Jin Yiwei Baihu Liao Xun and others.

After the incident was completed, Wanfa burned down the store and escaped from Hangzhou. After that, he was transferred back to Sanya to work for a period of time and learned some new intelligence courses. He quietly returned to Sanya last year.

Zhoushan, took up the position of director of local security intelligence affairs. However, after the change, no one would associate him with the chubby shop owner outside Hangzhou.

The Ministry of Security has a limited overseas establishment, so Wanfa is responsible for a very large area, covering coastal states and counties in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. It has more than a hundred intelligence personnel at all levels under its command, including two field operations teams.

The number of people seems to be quite large, but in fact, in addition to the nearly thirty people in the field team, there are almost the same number of intelligence analysts who are stationed on Zhoushan Island and are actually intelligence personnel working on the front line. In fact, a state

There may only be two or three people in the house.

However, even with limited manpower, the work efficiency of the Security Department is still commendable. Every month, various information collected by these intelligence personnel will be summarized and screened on Zhoushan Island, and analysts will record and evaluate the most valuable information.

, and use this to predict changes in various local fields. Some of the more critical information will also be sent back to the Sanya headquarters as soon as possible, and it will be judged whether follow-up is needed for in-depth investigation.

In the first half of this year, local intelligence personnel had already heard some rumors. Salt merchants in the Jianghuai area had made harsh remarks to those in Zhejiang who were selling private sea salt as official salt. However, there was no follow-up.

No matter what happened, this action was naturally regarded as rhetoric and was not recorded. However, later it was reported that some salt merchants secretly donated money and people to organize a team called "Salt Protection Team".

Private armed forces are said to have hired specialized instructors for training.

These messages still did not attract enough attention from the intelligence personnel, because there are already some armed personnel in each salt field, and it is normal for wealthy salt merchants to have some private guards. This seems to be the salt merchants who paid to arm the salt fields.

Manpower is not a new operation.

It was not until the salt transport team from Ningbo Prefecture was repeatedly attacked that Wanfa realized that the competition in the salt industry had moved from the market to the battlefield, and was more direct and brutal, so he ordered to strengthen the monitoring and investigation of the Jianghuai salt merchants.

And dispatched more manpower to Huai'an, Yangzhou and other places to collect intelligence.

After the focus of work was adjusted, more information was gradually collected in Zhoushan. The musket pellets used to attack the salt transport team in Ningbo were also collected by intelligence personnel going to the Jianghuai area during this period, and then sent to Zhoushan.

Return to Sanya for inspection.

Although the attack teams equipped with muskets are elusive and unpredictable, the Ministry of Security has a detailed grasp of the itinerary of every salt transport team from Ningbo to other areas and can send personnel to accompany them nearby. Therefore, as long as the opponent takes action, there will be many opportunities.

There is a great opportunity to conduct tracking. Although the specific person behind it has not yet been confirmed, the scope of activities of this mysterious musketeer team has been basically grasped.

Speaking of this, He Xi said proudly: "Even the Military Intelligence Bureau doesn't know about the information I have now. This is exclusive information!"

"Boss, please stop being so pretentious. What clues make you so sure that the fight between salt merchants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang is related to the assassination in Danzhou?" Zhang Qianzhi listened for a long time, but He Xi still didn't reveal the key evidence, and he was a little confused at the moment.

Eagerly, he finally couldn't help but urge He Xi to show his trump card.

He Xi smiled and said: "Your boss, I am sitting in Sanya, strategizing, and discerning the opponent's conspiracy. Can't you feel a little proud? In fact, the answer is very simple. We found that there are foreigners in that musketeer team."

The "foreigners" mentioned by He Xi obviously refer to countries other than the Ming Dynasty and Haihan, but Zhang Qianzhi still asked in confusion: "So? Which country are they from?"

"North Korean."

This answer really shocked Zhang Qianzhi, but He Xi hadn't finished speaking yet.

"...There are also Westerners. Maybe more than that, maybe there are people from other countries."

Zhang Qianzhi felt a little confused for a moment. If there are North Koreans who want to deal with Li Bo, the motivation is probably for political reasons. After all, Li Bo's identity as the heir to the throne will block the way forward for many people. Around power,

The various bloody battles that unfolded are not uncommon in the history of Korea. But what is the situation when Koreans kill people and buy goods for salt merchants in Zhejiang? What is the situation of Westerners? Is it possible that if you have money, you can do it?

If the ghosts push the mill, even the Western ghosts will go work for the salt merchants for the sake of money?

"If the intelligence we have is correct, then there are personnel from at least three countries in this musketeer team, and the actual situation may be even more than this. Tell me, what does this situation remind you of?" He Xi shared the key information.

After the disclosure, questions were raised about Zhang Qianzhi.

In the past days, He Xi often used this method of asking questions to guide Zhang Qianzhi to think about the problem. Zhang Qianzhi was also accustomed to this kind of conversation. After hearing the question, he began to think about it silently. He Xi saw this

Without prompting, he slowly sipped the tea with his legs crossed, waiting for Zhang Qianzhi's answer.

Zhang Qianzhi was not very sure about the answer he was thinking of, but he did not need to have any reservations in front of He Xi, so he readily gave his answer: "I am humble and stupid, I only thought about our country in the two years of this year."

foreign wars, the Battle of Manila at the beginning of the year, and the war in Korea in the middle of the year."

"That's right!" He Xi seemed very satisfied with the answer given by Zhang Qianzhi, and then gave his own comments: "Both wars were led by our country, with multiple parties participating to form a coalition to fight. In the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions,

The musketry team that appeared is actually a small multinational force!"

"But I still don't understand, what's the use of such a small fight? I heard that the musketeer team only has a few dozen people every time it is dispatched. Even if the size of this musketeer team is ten times larger, it will still be useless."

They are no match for the garrison in Zhoushan, let alone openly hostile to our country." Zhang Qianzhi still didn't understand the key point.

"They are not organizing an army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. I think this is actually a special form of the 'salt protection team' to complete military training for certain specific targets locally."

At this point, He Xi changed the topic again: "You know about the foreign military students in Sanya Military Academy, right?"

"You mean, these people are gathered locally to receive actual combat training, and then take the military skills they learned back home?" Zhang Qianzhi vaguely noticed something, but it was still not clear enough.

"It's not just military skills, there may also be weapons and equipment." He Xi said slowly: "Someone provided them with weapons and taught them how to use them. Maybe they also taught them how to cause trouble for our country."
Chapter completed!