"What's going on in this village? Why are you the only ones here? Where are the others? Why are they missing?" Fang Zian asked.

The old men looked at each other for a few times, with hesitation in their eyes, and refused to answer. Fang Zian asked several times, but the old men only drank and ate, but remained tight-lipped.

Zhao Gang snatched the wine glass from an old man's hand and said angrily: "Why do you pretend to be deaf and dumb when our master asks you something? Why don't you say anything when you eat our food and drink our wine? Why don't you say anything when we ask you something?"

If so, spit out all the drinks and food."

The old man said: "You guys are merchants, why bother meddling in other people's business? Old man, I don't think you are merchants, you are more like officials. If you want to use this method to find out what we are talking about, it is impossible. I won't drink your wine."

Yes."

When Zhao Gang was about to scold him, Fang Zian waved his hand to stop him. He smiled and said to the elders: "Old men, we are indeed not sent by the government. We just come here often. When I came here today, I found that something was wrong. At the east end of the village

Wanda Longtou's yard was smashed to pieces, and there was no one in the village. We were worried that something had happened. So we found a few people here, so we asked more. If you don't feel comfortable talking, then don't

Just ask. I invited you to drink the wine, so why should you spit it out? Come on, come on, fill it up, fill it up."

The old men rarely drank this kind of good wine, and they were greedy for wine. They all smiled when they heard this. Fang Zian poured the wine for them personally, and while drinking, the old men also pointed out and cursed Zhao Gang.

"This gentleman is still benevolent and righteous, and he speaks well. My old men have lived for hundreds of years together. What battles have I never seen? When I was a boy, there were pirates on the coast of eastern Zhejiang. I had a knife on my neck. Old man, I also

Didn’t blink. Some people thought they could scare us, but that’s not the case.”

"That's right, the master is not arrogant, but the servants are very arrogant. This world is also strange."

"This is called the King of Hell. It's easy to talk about, but the kid is difficult to deal with. The more statusless a person is, the more domineering he is. Look at those officers, one by one nodding and bowing in front of the adults like a big yellow dog. When they come in front of us, they are not

Is it so big to blow your beard and stare? It makes people laugh."

"..."

The old men's words were heart-wrenching, which made Zhao Gang hairy. If Fang Zian hadn't stopped him with his eyes, he would have become violent again.

Fang Zian just talked about drinking, took out the beef jerky, pork jerky and other things he brought and drank with a few people who were chatting and laughing. While drinking, he also talked to them about some common things. Sons, daughters-in-law, grandchildren, their legs and feet are good, and their bodies are strong.

Not tough, what was the harvest of fishing at sea, etc. The elders were very satisfied with this considerate young man, and they drank a few more drinks, and gradually started to talk more.

Before Fang Zian could ask, an old man started talking about things in the village.

"Little brother, I think you are very good. It's not that we didn't know how to praise you for not telling you about the things in the village. It's just that it's useless to tell you about this matter. If you want to know, it's okay to tell you. But

Just don’t spread the word. Don’t you think so?”

"Yes, yes, you can say it, but you can't spread it." The other elders nodded with their tongues open.

Fang Zian smiled and said: "A gentleman doesn't pry into people's privacy. If you don't want to talk about it, we won't listen."

"It's okay, it's okay, I just told you." Several old men said one after another, even if Fang Zian didn't want to hear it.

Zhao Gang was speechless, and Feng Yiming smiled beside him. He knew that Fang Zian was using hard-to-get tactics. Coupled with his diligent persuasion to drink, several old men were already drunk. At this time, they would say anything loudly. Fang Zian was so

One move is much more effective than forced interrogation. Now several old men

They all rushed to say it.

"It's like this. A few days ago, officers and soldiers came to our place, searching every house. They said that we were harboring criminals. The officers and soldiers were very fierce, smashing and beating us. They threatened us to hand over people, otherwise they would come again. Our village's

Everyone was very frightened and ran away to seek refuge. A few of us old bones were unable to walk, so we stayed and hid here."

"Yes, the officers and soldiers are very fierce. They came on horseback and were led by someone who said he was Qin Hui's grandson. They came from Wantou Village. There is a shipbuilding and ship repair manufacturing bureau in Wantou Village. We

Many young people are working there. The officers and soldiers said it was opened by criminals, and the court wants to seal it down and arrest people."

The two old men talked about what had happened.

Fang Zian frowned and said, "Are they here to capture the village leader Wan Dalongtou and the boatmen who work with Wan Dalongtou?"

"How do you know?" the old men asked in surprise.

Fang Zian said: "Wasn't Wan Dalongtou's home smashed up? If you weren't here to take him, who would you take?"

"Yes, yes, it is true. But they are not only here to take Wan Dahai, they are also here to take other people. The turtle grandson of Qin Hui who led the team... No... Qin Hui's grandson said that anyone who works for the prisoner

, will be arrested. If we are arrested, half of the people in our village will be arrested. Many people in our village follow Wan Dahai to work in the shipyard."

Fang Zian breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Did they catch anyone in Wantou Village?"

"No... why are you here to catch me after you caught me? You look smart, but you don't have a good mind." An old man pointed at Fang Zian and sneered.

Fang Zian rolled his eyes and said, "You didn't catch any?"

"Not even half of them were caught. Everyone ran away before they arrived. What else could the officers and soldiers do except burn the house to vent their anger? I heard that everything was emptied." The old men laughed.

Fang Zian also smiled and asked: "You are really capable. They didn't come to Wantou Village, but they ran away again. Where can they hide? You said that the imperial court issued an order to arrest them. The world is so big, they have

Where can I stay?"

"They went..." An old man was halfway through his words. Another old man next to him hurriedly reached out to cover his mouth and scolded: "Don't talk nonsense, how do we know where they are hiding? We didn't follow them.

, how do you know where they went?"

Several old men suddenly woke up and shut up. Although they were drunk, there is a saying that a drunken mind knows something. They still consciously guarded some bottom lines. They were unwilling to leak key information such as their hiding place.

Fang Zian used different tricks to coax them to tell them, but the old men were very wary and shook their heads and said they didn't know. One old man said: "I really don't know this. If you insist on asking, we have to spit out the wine we drank.

"

Fang Zian had no choice but to sigh and reveal his identity.

"Sir, I am the prisoner Zian that the court wants to arrest. Wan Dalongtou is working for me. I was on a mission to the Kingdom of Jin before, and now I am back. I am not only looking for Wan Dalongtou, but also my wife and children.

The family members are also gone, so I asked about the situation. Have they been caught by the officers and soldiers, or where are they hiding? Please let me know, I am very anxious at the moment."

"Ah? Are you that Mr. Fang? The Mr. Fang that Wan Dahai praised you as a flower?"

"Oh, you have brought trouble to so many people. We, Wanjia Village, have been harmed by you."

"How dare you show up? I heard that the emperor issued an imperial edict to arrest you, why don't you run away quickly?"

Elders seven

He spoke eloquently. There were both complaints and surprises and worries in his words. Almost half of the boatmen in Wanjia Village worked with Wan Dahai in Fang Zian's manufacturing bureau. Every household benefited. In fact, Fang Zian was very grateful.

It's just that this incident has already affected them, so naturally they have complaints in their hearts. Fang Zian knows that ordinary people can't expect their moral standards to be high, nor can they expect them not to blame themselves when something goes wrong, so he doesn't care.

"My dear husbands, I was wrongly accused. The matter will be clarified soon and everything will be back to normal. I would also like to ask some of you to tell me the specific situation. I have to go find them to confirm whether they have been arrested. Instead

Aren't you anxious because your loved ones are missing? Please do whatever it takes." Fang Zian said in a deep voice.

Seeing this, an old man hesitated for a moment and sighed: "Forget it, let's tell him. Being an official is great, but being unlucky is also pitiful. We were favored by Mr. Fang before. My big boss is creating

I worked in the bureau and made hundreds of taels of silver in a few months. I married my granddaughter-in-law and came back. Wan Laosan, isn’t your family the same? Your youngest son is sick and can’t go to sea, so Dahai takes him to look after the material pile.

If you don’t get a salary of five taels of silver in Yue, where can you find such a good job? All this money was given by Mr. Fang."

Hearing this, several other old men nodded and said, "That's right. Since Mr. Fang wants to know, it wouldn't make sense if I didn't tell him. Wan Laoshuan, just tell Mr. Fang."

The old man named Wan Laoshuan then said to Fang Zian: "Mr. Fang, it's like this. Those officers and soldiers didn't arrest anyone in Wantou Village. Before the officers and soldiers went to arrest people, two large boats in Wantou Village picked up people.

We went to sea. Some people who worked in our village also got on the boat and fled to the sea. Wan Dahai notified the villagers to prevent the officers and soldiers from coming and causing trouble, so every household got on the boat and went to the sea. When the officers and soldiers came to our village, all the people in our village were gone.

We old guys couldn't stand the rough wind and waves, so we stayed here. We are all in our seventies or eighties, and we are not afraid of death. Although the officers and soldiers are fierce, there is nothing they can do in the sea. We saw two

The big ship was loaded with people and things, and it went into the sea with black smoke. Hey, this is the first time I have seen the old man on the ship with black smoke."

Fang Zian widened his eyes and said in surprise: "You mean, they went out to sea early by boat? The officers and soldiers didn't catch anything?"

"No, they all went to sea." Wan Laoshuan nodded.

Fang Zian was overjoyed when he heard this and laughed: "Smart, this is really smart. Take a boat out to sea and find a small island to stay. Isn't that the safest place? You are really smart to think of this way to escape. You guys are very smart.

Dad, I don’t know which island they are hiding on.”

The old men shook their heads and said: "I really don't know. There are so many small islands on the sea, and even an island as big as a palm can hide hundreds or thousands of people. We don't know which island is specific. If we are not old, we can't stand it.

There was a storm on the sea, so we went there too. Hey, actually hiding is not an option. How about hiding in the sea for the rest of your life? That’s not a problem either. Mr. Fang, tell us, you should surrender as soon as possible to avoid inconvenience to everyone.

."

"What did you say?" Zhao Gang cursed angrily.

Fang Zian hurriedly waved his hand to stop Zhao Gang. There was no need to worry about these things with the old men. They were ordinary people, so naturally they thought about themselves first, and there was nothing wrong with that.

At this moment, Fang Zian was in a good mood, and his previous worries disappeared. Who would have thought of such a precaution? This is really a good way to avoid disaster. The two steam engine ships of the Manufacturing Bureau came in handy. The two ships are enough to transport everyone and valuables.
Chapter completed!