In the big tent, Yan Jun reported to Chen Qing the situation of catching the enemy spies.
"Your Highness, there are three spies in total. They are holding horses and carrying some goods. They claim to be lost merchants and have lost their way with the caravan. At this time, I have no doubts. After all, it is impossible to get across from the north because of heavy snow.
, Beizhi let them into the city and asked them to register at the county government. The next day, Beizhi sent his men to the county government to inquire about their registration status, but found that they were not registered. If they were not registered and did not have the county government sign, they could not live there.
The shop, the humble official became suspicious, and began to join forces with the county and government offices to search them in the city."
"Caught?"
Yan Jun felt a little ashamed and said: "Reporting to Your Highness, I only caught one of them."
Chen Qing frowned, "If you catch one person, you should catch the other two. What's going on?"
"Reporting to your highness, the man caught was a guide. He was separated from the two of them as soon as he entered the city. He was reluctant to spend money and stayed at the Chenghuang Temple for two nights. He was about to leave when he was caught by our soldiers."
"Then what? How do you know they are spies?" Chen Qing asked again.
"The humble official interrogated him. The guide said that the two of them came not from the west, but from the Yanshan side. They talked in Jurchen dialect along the way. The guide could understand a little bit. It seemed that they talked about the number of troops and equipment.
When they arrived at Datong Prefecture, they switched to talking in Chinese, and the conversation changed to prices, how much profit they would make, etc., so I judged that these two were spies from the Jin Kingdom."
"Wait a minute!"
Chen Qing suddenly realized, "These things you mentioned happened seven days ago. I just fell ill. You sent someone to report that you caught three spies, right?"
"It was seven days ago, but my humble position did not mean catching three spies, but discovering three spies. Maybe I didn't make it clear. The soldiers told me the wrong thing."
Chen Qing walked a few steps with his hands behind his back, then turned around and said, "Seven days have passed and their whereabouts have not been found, or have they already left Datong City?"
"Reporting to Your Highness, the city gates are strictly controlled, and everyone leaving the city will be strictly identified. They must still be in the city, and both the office and the county government are still investigating."
"How do you investigate and from which direction do you conduct verification?"
"I came from three directions, one was all the inns in the city, the second was the nearest rental house, and the third was the shop. The goods the other party carried were medicinal materials. We checked the pharmacies and medical clinics carefully, but they were never found."
Chen Qing nodded, "You are searching in the right direction. You have basically checked all three possible directions. If you still find nothing, there is only one possibility. They have an intelligence stronghold in the city, and the two of them are hiding in the intelligence stronghold.
Have you considered this possibility?"
"Bozhi and the county government have considered it, but they have no clue how to find the stronghold."
Chen Qing smiled faintly, "You have ignored a very important clue."
Yan Jun was stunned and quickly bowed and said: "Your Highness, please give me some advice!"
Chen Qing said slowly: "You have forgotten Li Bailing!"
Yan Jun slapped his forehead and realized that he had actually forgotten about Li Bailing. Li Bailing was a Jin spy and was still in prison at the government office. He was fooling himself! He ignored the important clues that were available.
"Bizhi Hutu, please allow me to investigate."
Chen Qing nodded, "I'll go with you. We've been out for a long time."
........
In the back hall of the government office, Li Bailing was brought to the court. He had been locked in the dungeon, and he was in fear every day for fear that a glass of poisonous wine would poison him to death. After being locked up for more than twenty days, he lost a lot of weight.
At this time, he was suddenly brought to the hall. He was so frightened that he thought he was going to be sentenced and executed. He couldn't even walk, so he was dragged directly into the inner hall by several soldiers.
Entering the lobby, he immediately recognized the person sitting in the hall, who turned out to be King Yong Chen Qing. He fell to his knees, kowtowed like pounding garlic, and begged, "Your Highness, please forgive me. I am a scholar and have never done anything evil. Please forgive me."
Give me my life!"
Li Bailing had met Chen Qing, but Chen Qing saw Li Bailing for the first time. He looked very upright. Although he had lost a lot of weight, it can be imagined that he was still handsome and imposing before, otherwise Zheyan would not have the same quality.
Use him as a staff member.
"Are you Han?" Chen Qing asked slowly.
"The villain is a Han from Yanshan Prefecture. He has been Han for generations. His grandfather Li Kun also participated in the struggle against the Liao and returned to the Song Dynasty, and was caught and executed by the Liao Kingdom."
Chen Qing snorted, "Your grandfather was a hero, but you are a spy. Do you have the nerve to face your ancestors?"
Li Bailing lowered his head in shame. He originally wanted to use his grandfather to alleviate his crime, but he didn't expect King Yong's words to hit his vital point. He was a little confused.
Chen Qing glanced at him and asked, "Are you the chief clerk in Yixian County?"
"Reporting to Your Highness, the villain was once a Jinshi of the Liao Kingdom, but because he was a Han Chinese and because of his grandfather's involvement, he was never awarded an official position and could only teach at home. After the fall of the Liao Kingdom, the villain was appointed by the Jin Kingdom and became the head of Yi County.
Bo, I have been doing this job for more than ten years, and there has been no chance of promotion. My daughter also married a scoundrel, Du Shun. They still rely on me to support me. I don’t have much money myself, and my life is very embarrassing. Two years ago, Wan Yan
Helisa found me and asked me to come to Datong Prefecture to lurk and collect intelligence about Datong Prefecture, not military intelligence, but mainly about population, grain harvest, official situation, etc. Then someone introduced me to Zhe Yanzhi as an aide."
"Who introduced you to be Zheyanzhi's staff?" Chen Qing suddenly discovered the key point.
"It's a senior official from Qin!"
Chen Qing turned around and looked at Yelu Qiyan, who said: "This man's name is Qin Huairen. He is a famous businessman in Datong Prefecture. He has a large business and specializes in fur and medicinal materials business."
"ah!"
Yan Jun exclaimed, "Your Highness, isn't it right to be in the medicinal materials business?"
Chen Qing glared at him fiercely. He was so uncontrollable that Yan Jun quickly lowered his head.
Li Bailing was a veteran in officialdom and immediately spotted the opportunity.
He quickly kowtowed and begged: "Your Highness, I am willing to explain everything. I just ask Your Highness to spare my life. I still have my wife and daughter. What will they do if I die?"
Chen Qing said coldly: "Are you negotiating terms with me?"
"I don't dare, the villain. Whatever your Highness wants to know, I will tell you everything!"
"Is this Qin Huairen also a Jin State spy?"
"Reporting to Your Highness, I don't know if he is. Wanyan Helisa arranged for me to come to him. I stayed in his house for two months, and then he introduced me to Zheyanzhi, and I talked to him altogether.
Three times, but never talked about the Kingdom of Jin."
"Then what are you talking about?"
"Talk about the Western Army, His Highness, and Jingzhao. He is very familiar with the situation of His Highness and Jingzhao. He even knows how many children His Highness has."
Chen Qing asked again: "Do you think he is a spy?"
"I didn't feel it at the time, but looking back now, he seems to know too much, which is inconsistent with his status as a businessman."
Chen Qing nodded and asked him again: "Is there an intelligence point for the Jin Kingdom in Datong City?"
Li Bailing thought for a while and said: "There should be! The villain knows that there is a stronghold, but don't know where it is? They never contact me or pay attention to me."
"To be more detailed, how do you know there is a stronghold?"
"About last month, the villain collected a lot of information about the population, farmland, wells, roads, officials, etc. of Datong Prefecture. Then a man came to me, showed me the spy silver medal, and asked for the information I collected.
After leaving, I asked him how to send the information to Yanshan Mansion. He said that he would send someone to send it.
A spy from the government, probably the leader of the spies."
Chen Qing suddenly became interested and asked further: "What does this person look like? Where does he live?"