Chapter 196 The location of the private salt farm
Zhao Jin and Ye Chongwen both looked at the rag that looked familiar, and for a moment they couldn't remember where they had seen it.
Chen Ping didn't tell them until three days later when he made some progress.
"This piece of cloth was found on the body of the pirate leader at that time." Chen Ping said as he spread the cloth on the table.
"Oh, yes, yes, I remembered what you said." Ye Chongwen suddenly realized that this was indeed what happened when he recalled the scene that night.
"What can you tell?" Zhao Jin knew that Chen Ping must have discovered something when he talked about it today.
They had looked at that piece of rag before and found that they were all incomprehensible numbers, with no clue at all as to what they meant.
"Luo Li went to investigate Qinghong Restaurant, and Guo Shan knew very little information, but after all, these are people from that mysterious organization. But where is their salt farm? Where is the ship that transports the salt?" Chen Ping did not.
Answer directly.
"I'm afraid you only know who Ren Chou is, right? After all, they are well-organized and all the information is gathered to him." Ye Chongwen's guess was correct, Ren Chou has control over the situation on all lines.
"This is indeed a problem. Ling Shu's goods were inspected at the beginning, but the place where the iron ore was produced was never found. Although it seems that Qianzhou has ceased operations, who can guarantee that it will not resurgence? After all, as long as the production site is not destroyed
, it’s nothing more than re-opening a transportation route.”
Zhao Jin expressed his concerns. It is important to destroy transportation lines, but iron ore and illegal salt production areas have not been identified, which is always a huge hidden danger.
People who are greedy for money are easy to find, but these resources and venues are not easy to come by.
"What you said is correct, so the private salt fields along the coast of Jianzhou and Qingzhou may be hidden here." Chen Ping pushed the rag in front of the two of them.
"Chen Ping, have you figured it out?!" Ye Chongwen asked excitedly.
"These days, I have secretly analyzed and compared these numbers." Chen Ping said as he took out two pieces of rice paper from the desk and said, "Look, these are all the numbers on the rag."
"Nine, seventeen, six, twelve. What does this mean?" Zhao Jin asked with a puzzled look.
"These pirates are all rough people, so they definitely won't have a very complicated design. Perhaps the meanings of these numbers are the most intuitive and simple." Chen Ping sold it out.
"Intuitively...it's not the distance, right?" Ye Chongwen frowned and asked.
Chen Ping smiled and said, "It's not the distance, but if we contact the Cheng family to take a look, it will be much clearer."
These goods were transported through Chengjia, and Chengjia Wharf was the dock they passed by that day. Nothing wrong was found at that time.
But when the sun appeared from the sea level that day, Chen Ping suddenly felt blessed and reacted.
"Pirates live at sea, but the distance at sea is different from the distance on land. It is too troublesome to rely on distance to measure. If you are at sea and want to find a hidden place..." Chen Pingshou
He pointed at the table and asked: "What is the most obvious logo?"
Zhao Jin was stunned and replied: "The most obvious sign? A boat?"
"No, the boat is moving," Ye Chongwen stared at the numbers and said, "Village? Tree trunk? Reef?"
Suddenly his heart moved and he shouted excitedly: "It's a lamp! It's a lamp! Am I right? Chen Ping."
"In addition to the lights, there are also mountains." Chen Ping nodded.
When a ship moves around, it relies on lights to guide the direction when it is anchored.
The mountains on the seaside are usually not too high, but for flat sea areas, they are extremely obvious.
Zhao Jin stood up and said, "I always thought these numbers were their delivery and purchase records!"
"But these are all my guesses," Chen Ping's face was still very calm and he was not in a hurry to be happy. "We have to send people to investigate one by one to know whether it is correct."
Zhao Jin and Ye Chongwen were still full of confidence, so they got up and went down to order everyone in Jiulong Hall to move.
Because they know that as long as they can find the location of the private salt farm, the ships transporting the private salt, and everything goes smoothly in Luoli, they can uproot the people in Jianzhou and Qingzhou.
Two days later.
A sea-going ship was parked at a pier. Several fishermen looked up and saw several big men stepping off the ship.
Everyone looked at each other in confusion, not knowing what these people were here for. They seemed to be friendly and did not look like pirates who usually haunted them.
"Old man!"
A man came over and said with a smile: "We are here to discuss business. I heard that there is a fishing ground near you. I don't know which direction it is in?"
There are many fishing grounds on the seaside, but there are really no large-scale ones nearby. They are all just worked by ordinary people at home.
"We don't have any fishing grounds here?" the fisherman replied.
The man was not in a hurry, he looked down at the crabs and fish in the fisherman's basket, and slowly took out a silver ingot from his sleeve.
"This fish is pretty good, old man, please sell it to us. My brothers haven't eaten anything today."
Seeing that the other party was generous, the fisherman quickly took the silver ingot with a smile and said: "Actually, the nobles have found the wrong place. We really don't have a fishing ground here, but there is an abandoned private garden. It has been there for many years. It has been fenced to prevent entry.
What?"
"Oh?" The man's eyes twitched slightly, "Which direction is it in?"
The fisherman raised his finger and pointed to the southeast and said: "In that direction, turn in a few times and you'll see the fence."
"Thank you, father-in-law. Someone, come and take the fish away and find a place to grill it!"
After saying that, he thanked several fishermen and then left leisurely.
A few men found a place, set up a fire to grill fish, ate and observed the surroundings. When the situation became clear, they walked towards the southeast.
Following the direction pointed by the fisherman, they turned a few corners until it was almost dark, and everyone stopped.
"There," one of them said, "Master Five, look, it's a fence."
The Fifth Hall Master made a look, and two of his men bent over and touched it.
In less than half an hour, they returned and reported: "It's a private salt farm. There are many people drying salt on the beach to the south after entering the garden, but they are all empty. I guess they heard the wind and walked in a hurry." "It seems that Young Master's guess is correct," the Fifth Hall Master looked up at the mountain peak not far away, "There are nine short peaks passing by the Cheng family's dock... Write down the location, let's go to the next location.
."
The crowd quietly retreated without making any noise.
According to Chen Ping's analysis and judgment, Hall Master Five found all the locations within a few days.
"The four places mentioned by the young master have all been found. They are either abandoned fishing grounds or private gardens. They are all built near the sea and are very hidden. However, no private salt farm was found in the last bay, but there were more than a dozen boats parked there.
Boats of any mark!"
This was what Chen Pingping wanted. He immediately stood up and asked, "Have the positions been marked?"
The nautical charts of this era were extremely crude, and most of them were in the hands of the government, otherwise pirates would not have used digital peaks as markers.
The Fifth Hall Master nodded repeatedly, "That's natural. Young Master ordered us. We won't make any mistakes."
"Hahaha, okay. Thank you for your hard work, brothers." Chen Ping finally showed a smile and ordered: "After two days of rest, we will leave Guanjia Town."
Everyone understood and immediately nodded and left.
Chen Ping has already investigated everything he can think of, and will wait to see if there is a breakthrough on Luo Li's side.
Now that the imperial examination is about to begin, it’s time to return to Qianzhou.