Dozens of small boats were less than a mile away from Yuliang Island. When the soldiers saw a dozen vehicles and boats parked quietly on the shore of the island, the leading general was extremely excited and shouted: "Get ready for action!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a three-thousand-stone warship suddenly appeared in the darkness. It was so fierce that it rammed into dozens of small boats.
The small boats were unable to dodge and were knocked over by a crash. Seven or eight of them were knocked over. The soldiers fell into the water one after another. The big boats did not look back and sailed straight to the west.
"Save me!" the general shouted as he floated up and down in the water, waving his arms desperately.
The horrified soldiers suddenly discovered that the dozens of vehicles and ships they had previously targeted were missing.
Then the rumble of the paddle wheels was heard, and crossbow bolts were fired from all directions in the darkness. The soldiers on the ship had no way to resist, so they had to jump into the river one after another. However, they could not escape the crossbow bolts even if they jumped into the river. Hundreds of soldiers were crying in despair.
He died shouting in the waves of the Han River.
At the northeast corner of the city, dozens of generals gathered around Dong Xian and were paying attention to the movements on the river. They were looking forward to the blazing fire. Unfortunately, they never saw the light of the fire, but they heard a frightening roar.
"It's over!"
Dong Xian closed his eyes. He heard that this was not the roar of a car or ship. It was at least dozens of cars and ships sailing rapidly in the river. Their sneak attack showed no sign of action. This could only mean one thing. They had fallen.
He fell into the trap of the Song Army.
Half an hour later, it was completely quiet outside the city. There was still no fire. Everyone's heart felt cold. The sneak attack failed.
Kong Yanzhou gritted his teeth and said: "Marshal, it is impossible for the Song Army to know about our sneak attack. Someone must have leaked the secret. It must be the Song Army's spies in Xiangyang. We must investigate strictly."
Dong Xian was thoughtful. He also felt that someone must have leaked the secret.
He looked back at Jiang Yanxian, "Jiang Dutong, what do you think the problem is?"
Jiang Yanxian pondered for a moment and said: "There are two possibilities. One is that someone in the army leaked the secret, and the other is that we were seen during the exercise. But no matter which possibility it is, the Song Army spies have to find a way to spread the news. I think it is okay
Let’s start with the people entering and leaving the city in the past few days.”
Kong Yanzhou hurriedly clasped his fists and said, "I'm humble enough to ask for an order to investigate the murderer strictly!"
Dong Xian ignored him. He knew very well the brutality of Kong Yanzhou and his army. Once he was asked to investigate, his army would definitely take the opportunity to rob or extort, and many people would be ruined and their families would be destroyed.
"Jiang Dutong, I will leave this task to you. Find it out for me in three days!"
After saying that, Dong Xian turned around and walked away, leaving Kong Yanzhou, who looked angry and sinister, on the top of the city.
At dawn, shopkeeper Lao Xie and a man hurried to the small courtyard where Hu Yanlei rented, and found Hu Yanlei who had just returned from outside.
"Proprietor, this is Miao Changjun, an aide to Magistrate Xue. He has important news."
The current county magistrate, Xue Yong, was the Prime Minister of Xiangyang County in the Song Dynasty. This was the practice of the Puppet Qi Dynasty. After occupying a place, in order to maintain stability, deputy posts were generally used to replace the principal posts.
The staff stepped forward and clasped their fists and said: "Dongzhu Li, the county magistrate asked me to tell you that the military has begun to strictly investigate people who have entered and left the city in the past few days, including entering and leaving the city. This morning, Jiang Dutong came to the county government office and demanded that people who entered and exited the city within three days
I gave him the list of the city, and the county king promised to give it to him before noon. There are twenty-one people in total, and Jingzhou Restaurant is among them. We only have half a day, so hurry up and deal with it!"
After speaking, the staff bowed and turned around to leave.
Hu Yanlei's face immediately became serious. It seemed that Xue County Cheng knew his true identity and was secretly helping him. She had underestimated him before. She really shouldn't have!
"Proprietor, what should we do now?" Lao Xie asked worriedly.
"Can I still leave the city now?" Hu Yanlei asked urgently.
Lao Xie shook his head, "I guess they won't give us another chance. Even if we can get out of the city, it will be a trap, waiting for us to fall into the trap."
Hu Yanlei was right when he thought about it. He forced himself to calm down and said to Lao Xie: "You go back immediately and close the restaurant, then take the guys and leave in ox carts, change a few more cars along the way, and finally get off at Erxian Bridge.
, you walk in through the back door of the inn, I will go to the inn to make arrangements now."
"It's not a good idea to all go to the inn. Why don't we split up a few people to go to the carriage house?" After all, Lao Xie is older and can think more carefully about the problem.
"That's okay. You, Xiaosi, and Ah Quan will go to the carriage shop, and the others will go to the inn."
After a pause, Hu Yanlei said again: "Lao Xie, you'd better burn all the information."
"But the restaurant only has very little information, I can take it with me."
"I know, but it's best to burn the information and don't carry it. I'm just afraid of what might happen."
Lao Xie nodded, "I understand, burn it when you get back!"
The two immediately split up and the Jingzhou Restaurant was closed. There were seven people in the restaurant, including the shopkeeper Lao Xie, two chefs and four bartenders. All seven of them were Hu Yanlei's subordinates. Lao Xie burned more than a dozen pieces of information and took them with him.
Several chefs and bartenders hurriedly left through the back door.
Jiang Yanxian could not wait until noon. There was still more than half an hour before noon. Jiang Yanxian took his men to the county government office. Before that, more than a hundred farmers who went to the city to sell vegetables every day had been arrested. These farmers selling vegetables had been arrested.
Of course, it was impossible to go to East Lake to explore the secret, but Jiang Yanxian suspected that someone had paid them to bring the news out.
"Jiang Dutong, if you just want to get the card to leave the city within three days, I can give it to you early in the morning. There are only three companies in total. But if it was done before, they can still leave the city these days, so I have to spend some time to get them all.
sort it out”
"I understand, stop talking nonsense, where is the list?"
Xue Yong, the county magistrate, handed a list to Jiang Yanxian, "I sorted it out a little. There are twenty-one people in total. This is the whole list."
Jiang Yanxian quickly took the list and read it carefully, then picked up a pen and circled three shops, Zhaoji Mule and Horse Shop, Wuweizhai Restaurant, and Jingzhou Restaurant. These three shops came to the county government after the warships conducted night drills to go out of the city.
, the three of them are the most suspect.
He immediately divided his troops into three groups and went to these three houses to arrest people.
At noon, Jiang Yan first came to Jingzhou Restaurant with his men. The other two restaurants were caught, but only Jingzhou Restaurant was empty and closed down.
A staff member stepped forward to report, "To the commander-in-chief, we have interrogated Zhao Ji Mule and Horse Shop and Wuweizhai Restaurant. They have been in business for more than ten years, and neither the shopkeeper nor the waiters have changed. However, this Jingzhou restaurant seems to have been opened a month ago."
The proprietor has changed, and both the shopkeeper and the waiter have changed."
Jiang Yanxian frowned, "Are you sure?"
"I have asked the surrounding shops and some old drinkers, and I am sure."
Jiang Yanxian snorted heavily, "Go to the backyard and have a look!"
He could basically conclude that this Jingmen restaurant was most likely the intelligence point planted by Chen Qing in Xiangyang.
They came to the backyard and saw that the shopkeeper's room had been knocked open.
They searched the room and found no clues. They didn't even know where the restaurant clerk rented his apartment.
The soldier brought out a large copper basin, which was filled with ashes of burned paper. "Du Tong, apart from this, there are no other clues."
Jiang Yan first pulled out his sword and rummaged through the ashes, but couldn't find any clues. He pondered for a moment and said to several of his subordinates: "Go to the county government office to check the information on this restaurant and look for any useful clues. The key is its owner.
What other stores are there in Xiangyang, and then find the residence of the shopkeeper and the clerk as soon as possible."
Several of his men went off to take action separately. Jiang Yanxian then hurried to see Dong Xian.
"Did you find the clue so quickly?" Dong Xian said with genuine approval.
"The main reason is that the clues are relatively obvious. As long as you grasp the fact that you can leave the city within three days, you can find it quickly. Now that Jingzhou Restaurant meets all the conditions, I can basically be sure that it is it!"
"But the problem is that the person ran away, which is difficult to handle!"
"There is no other way but to search the whole city or offer a high reward."
Dong Xian walked a few steps with his hands behind his back: "The key is what is the reward? We have never met the shopkeeper of Jingzhou Restaurant. Do you think the reward will be effective?"
Jiang Yan pondered for a moment and said: "I am considering using both light and dark lines to investigate. The reward is a bright line, and even the search is a bright line. The purpose is to stabilize the opponent, but we secretly search in the other two directions. Which other stores are shopkeepers this month?
They were all replaced together. I think the person we want to find must be here, and we can bribe the beggars and scoundrels in Xiangyang City to search for him."
"What's another direction?"
"Another direction is the county magistrate Xue Yong. The restaurant was closed too soon. Someone must have tipped off the news. This magistrate Xue delayed it for a long time on purpose. I feel very suspicious!"
