Compared with the huge attention when he entered Liaodong, which quickly triggered a series of turmoil, when Zhao Junchen left Liaodong, the situation was deserted and no one paid attention. Only Jin County officials stood at the fishing port to see him off, while Liaodong
The vast majority of the main officials in the territory still stay on the front line in Fushun or in the Jinzhou camp, focusing on dividing interests and shirk responsibilities.
From this aspect, Zhao Junchen's trip to Liaodong felt like it started but ended at the end.
But Zhao Junchen doesn't care, as long as he realizes his intention.
Judging from the results, Zhao Junchen believes that his trip has been fruitful and he returned home with a full load.
Especially considering that Linghu Guang's secret surveillance kept Zhao Junchen restrained and once forced Zhao Junchen to overturn all the planned plans, such a gain is even more valuable.
At the same time, Zhao Junchen's low-key performance when he left Liaodong also triggered an unexpected gain.
That is, when Zhao Junchen arrived at Shanhaiguan by boat, because the Shanhaiguan defenders did not expect Zhao Junchen's sudden appearance at all, they were naturally unprepared and did not bother to cover up their tracks and whitewash the peace, so Zhao Junchen accidentally discovered
Something happened.
This is something that must not be exposed and is sensational!
*
But he said that two days later, when Zhao Junchen sailed into the waters under the jurisdiction of Shanhaiguan, he saw another medium-sized ship docked in the Shanhaiguan harbor from a distance.
Zhao Junchen did not pay special attention to this medium-sized ship at first, but after he sent someone to inform Shanhaiguan of his identity and intention of coming, he delayed for more than half an hour before he was allowed to dock. Apparently, he deliberately wanted to delay the ship.
Just as the Shanhaiguan defenders were deliberately stalling for time, the medium-sized ship hurriedly lowered all its flags, apparently to conceal its origins, and at the same time quickly raised all its sails, eager to leave the harbor.
After seeing the sneaky behavior of this medium-sized sea-going ship, Zhao Junchen couldn't help but feel moved. He immediately ordered two sea-going ships under his command to block its route, and then forcibly joined the ship and sent people to board the ship to investigate.
Zhao Junchen had hundreds of Forbidden Army guards under his command, which can be said to be overwhelming in numbers. Although they encountered fierce resistance when boarding the ship, and Shanhaiguan also fired artillery frequently as a warning, they finally successfully controlled the river.
sea ship.
And the final investigation results were shocking!
The cabin of this seagoing ship was actually densely packed with people from the Ming Dynasty. They were all imprisoned in cramped cages like cattle and sheep waiting to be slaughtered. There were as many as three to four hundred people!
It stands to reason that an ordinary medium-sized sea-going ship can only accommodate more than two hundred passengers and sailors at most, and in this sea-going ship, there are only three to four hundred Ming people imprisoned in the cabin. The environment is such that
You can imagine how bad it is. The air is extremely turbid and even breathing is extremely difficult.
Although we still don’t know where this ship wants to sail, if nothing happens, the imprisoned people of the Ming Dynasty will definitely suffer from a large number of illnesses and deaths during the voyage, and then they will be dumped into the sea and buried in fish
The belly is just like the black slave trade of the same era.
After receiving the news, Zhao Junchen was naturally shocked.
He initially thought that this sea vessel was an ordinary smuggling trade ship. Shanhaiguan has an excellent seaport, so smuggling was naturally unavoidable. Zhao Junchen originally just wanted to take the opportunity to investigate the specific situation of the Wu family's smuggling business in Shanhaiguan.
After finding out the truth, he wants to take advantage of the opportunity to involve the Wu family in Shanhaiguan into his ocean-going plan.
But I never expected that the end result would be human smuggling!
Zhao Junchen did not dare to neglect, and immediately boarded the ship in person to investigate the situation. He also personally contacted the people of the Ming Dynasty who had been imprisoned and trafficked, and asked about their origins.
After questioning, Zhao Junchen found that most of these people came from Xingzhou, and a small number of people came from Liaodong.
In recent times, due to the large-scale civil unrest that broke out in Xingzhou and the frequent chaos in Liaodong, many people in Xingzhou and Liaodong fled their hometowns and became refugees and poured into Shanhaiguan.
But after these people fled to Shanhaiguan, they soon encountered a more tragic and desperate situation.
The Shanhaiguan garrison not only failed to properly resettle them and provide them with relief, but instead arrested them all, hoping to sell them elsewhere and take the opportunity to make a fortune!
After figuring out the ins and outs of the matter, Zhao Junchen was naturally furious and wished he could cut the whole Wu family into pieces right now.
But soon, Zhao Junchen forcibly suppressed the anger and impulse in his heart, and barely regained his composure.
After all, this is the territory of Shanhaiguan, and the Wu family is not an ordinary local snake.
If Zhao Junchen completely breaks up with the Wu family in Shanhaiguan, he will definitely be seeking death.
Just now, when Zhao Junchen sent people to forcefully board the ship to investigate the situation, Shanhaiguan had frequently fired artillery fire as a threat, but after all, it was just a bluff. All the artillery fire was deliberately missed and only caused some splashes on the sea.
.
But if Zhao Junchen must investigate this matter strictly, the next wave of artillery fire may not miss.
The Wu family in Shanhaiguan could have claimed to the outside world that they had never seen Zhao Junchen's ship after killing him, making the government and the public mistakenly believe that Zhao Junchen had just suffered a shipwreck and died accidentally.
People under the eaves had to lower their heads, so Zhao Junchen not only could not pursue the matter, but also found ways to cover it up, not only to leave a step for the Wu family in Shanhaiguan, but also to leave a step for himself.
Apart from that, the most that Zhao Junchen could do was to secretly warn the Wu family and try his best to save the suffering people, that's all.
Thinking of this, Zhao Junchen naturally felt deeply helpless. The sense of depression and restraint that he desperately wanted to reverse the corrupt status quo, but was unable to do so, became increasingly intense.
"Not enough! My power and strength are still far from enough! There are too many things that I can't do anything about! Even if it's by any means! I need to seek more power! Otherwise, sooner or later, I will be suffocated to death!"
Thinking of this, Zhao Junchen couldn't help but grit his teeth, his expression cold and sinister.
But before Zhao Junchen could think clearly about how he should handle the situation at hand, he received a report from his guards.
"To inform the cabinet ministers, a small boat has been sent from Shanhaiguan. On board is an envoy from the Wu family of Shanhaiguan. He is said to be the old head of the Wu family, the former governor of Jiliao, and the Marquis of Dingbian Wu Sangui. He wants to meet you as soon as possible."
After hearing this, Zhao Junchen nodded lightly, further regained his composure, and murmured: "It seems that there is still room for change, and Wu Sangui is not willing to completely break up... In this case, let me see this one in person.
Old fox!"
*
After another quarter of an hour, Zhao Junchen's ship finally docked smoothly, and Zhao Junchen also entered the extremely simple-looking Jiliao Governor's Mansion under the leadership of the Wu family's envoy.
In the main hall of the Governor's Mansion, an old man with a wrinkled face and a stooped figure had been waiting for Zhao Junchen for a long time.
Zhao Junchen carefully observed this historical celebrity and saw that he was old and gray, with gray beard and hair, and he looked like he was dying. He could be said to have no momentum. Compared with the people who were actually in power of the Wu family in Shanhaiguan,
A frontier general with outstanding merits, he is more like an ordinary old farmer.
And while Zhao Junchen was carefully observing Wu Sangui, Wu Sangui was also carefully observing Zhao Junchen. His seemingly dim and dull old eyes actually gave people the feeling of an eagle watching a wolf, and Zhao Junchen was finally convinced that he
The old man in front of him is Wu Sangui, who is famous in history.
After observing each other for a while, Wu Sangui stood up from his seat tremblingly, cupped his hands and said: "My legs and feet are weak and my movement is inconvenient. I can't greet Zhao Cabinet in person. Instead, I ask Zhao Cabinet to take the initiative to see you. It's really rude. Why don't you please invite me?"
I forgive you."
Since he didn't have the guts to fall out with the Wu family in Shanhaiguan now, Zhao Junchen also had a cordial attitude and a respectful expression. He bowed his hands and returned the courtesy and said: "You are a highly respected senior, so it is natural that a junior should show up to pay homage to you."
Afterwards, Wu Sangui invited Zhao Junchen to sit at the main seat. After the Wu family's servants served tea, he and Zhao Junchen started talking casually.
Wu Sangui first praised Zhao Junchen's various achievements in recent years. After a few words of humility, Zhao Junchen expressed concern about Wu Sangui's physical condition. After Wu Sangui sighed that he was about to die, he changed the subject and asked about the current situation in Liaodong. Zhao Junchen naturally selected some
Public information was told to Wu Sangui. After Wu Sangui learned that Wu Yingxiong's trip to Liaodong did not take any advantage, he did not show any disappointment on the surface. Instead, he expressed his pleasure at the rapid stabilization of the situation in Liaodong.
In this way, the conversation lasted for nearly half an hour, but both Zhao Junchen and Wu Sangui avoided talking about the private human trafficking in Shanhaiguan, as if this incident had never happened at all.
And just as Zhao Junchen was secretly thinking about how he should start the conversation, there was a sudden noise outside the main hall of the Governor's Mansion.
After a while, several Guan Ning cavalry military attaches were seen escorting a young man into the main hall.
Zhao Junchen took a closer look and found that the appearance of this young man was somewhat similar to Wu Shilin, the commander-in-chief of Shanhaiguan Pass.
Wu Sangui glanced at the young man and sighed softly: "Shiping... it really is you!"
Afterwards, Wu Sangui waved his hand and said: "Haidai, please tell me in detail what happened while Zhao Gechen was present!"
The leader of the Guan Ning cavalry general immediately raised his voice and said: "Pang Hai, the deputy general of Shanhaiguan, has met Zhao Gechen! Under the order of the old man, I have investigated Shanhaiguan's secret detention and trafficking of civilians.
The truth... all these things are related to Master Shiping! It was Master Shiping who secretly contacted some scum in the military, and wanted to take advantage of the influx of refugees from all over Shanhaiguan to arrest all the refugees for trafficking and making money!
According to a humble investigation, in the past month, Master Shiping has successively arrested and imprisoned more than 1,200 refugees from various places, and wanted to divide them into three ships for trafficking. Fortunately, God blessed him, and Zhao Gechen discovered the anomaly in time.
, the sea ship that Zhao Gechen intercepted not long ago was the first batch of people to be trafficked, and there were nearly a thousand other people who were imprisoned in a quarry within the territory by Master Shiping, so there is still room for redemption.
, the refugees did not suffer much loss, and they will all be rescued soon..."
As the report from Shanhaiguan Deputy General Pang Hai was completed, the "Master Shiping" cried loudly: "Grandpa! My grandson is wrong! My grandson dare not do it again! You must forgive your grandson this time..."
…”
This "Master Shiping" is obviously named Wu Shiping. If nothing unexpected happens, he should be the cousin of Wu Shilin, the commander-in-chief of Shanhaiguan Pass, and he may even be a biological brother.
Wu Sangui still looked old and decrepit. After sighing again, he slowly shook his head and said: "What a family ugliness! What a family ugliness! My Wu family has been loyal and loyal for generations, and has worked hard to maintain a clean reputation for decades, but it has been defeated by you.
…”
After sighing, Wu Sangui raised his hand and called: "Shiping, come to my grandfather and let him take a closer look at you..."
Seeing Wu Sangui's gentle tone, Wu Shiping was immediately overjoyed and quickly climbed up to Wu Sangui on both hands and feet.
But before Wu Shiping could cry and plead again, a sudden change occurred!
Without any warning, Wu Sangui raised the tea cup in his hand and hit the corner of the table beside him, causing the tea cup to shatter.
The porcelain fragment in Wu Sangui's hand stabbed into Wu Shiping's carotid artery!