The two girls went straight to Guo Mansion, approached Guo Huan, and asked him about the weirdo.
Guo Huan did not know that there was such a person in the city, but he did not dare to neglect him. He quickly took the two girls to the county government office and asked the county government officials.
Those officers were all common people serving corvees, and they knew best about family affairs. One of them said: "You are asking about Madman Jia. Because he spread rumors in the city, Deng County Lieutenant suspected that he was a spy, so he asked us to imprison him."
Get up."
Guo Huan hurriedly asked: "Is he in the county jail now?"
The guard said: "We were released two days ago."
"Do you know where he lives?"
The officer said: "There should be records in the prison."
So Guo Huan sent someone to call the warden from home and asked for the roster in his hand, which recorded the information of each prisoner in detail.
Qin Lingjun took a closer look at the roster and saw that there was indeed a person named Jia on it, named Jia Ban, who was forty-six years old and rented in Liuyang Hutong.
Liuyang Hutong is located in a low-rise earthen house in the west of the city, adjacent to a canal. The people living here are the poorest people in Jiangdu, and they are basically foreign tenants.
It was already the middle of Xu, and the moon and stars were sparse. Everyone came to the canal in the west of the city and looked up. There were no lights in the houses in this area, and it was extremely cold.
Two officers held torches to lead the way, and Qin Lingjun and others followed behind, walking along the canal. The canal had turned into a stinky ditch, and waves of stench came from the black water.
Qin Lingsi wrinkled her little nose and said: "Guo Huan, you have been in charge of Jiangdu for so long, why are there still such smelly ditches in the city? Don't just talk about love with others!"
There was a slight cold sweat on Guo Huan's forehead. Even he himself did not know that there was such a place in the city. He hurriedly said: "Within a month, I promise to cure this smelly ditch!"
While they were talking, several people had arrived at Liuyang Hutong. After knocking on the door and asking several households, they learned that Jia Ban was renting a house with the surname Fang.
Arriving at Fang's house, the officer knocked on the door. A short and thin man opened the door a crack. Seeing the officer and officials coming, he hurriedly opened the door.
"County Magistrate Guo, why are you here? Come in quickly! Come in!"
Qin Lingjun asked curiously: "Do you know County Magistrate Guo?"
"Why don't you know me? My house was robbed by the damn Zhang Mingjian. Fortunately, the General Manager's Office distributed food relief to everyone. When I went to the General Manager's Office to receive food, I happened to meet Magistrate Guo! He was not the county magistrate at that time, but he was right
We are very good, we haven’t deducted any food!” The man surnamed Fang rambled a lot.
Guo Huan hurriedly interrupted: "Does your home have a tenant?"
The man surnamed Fang said: "You are talking about the man surnamed Jia, right? Don't worry, I already know that he is a craftsman and kicked him out!"
Qin Lingjun frowned and said, "Who said he was a meticulous artist?"
"The jailers of the government, they escorted the man named Jia back and said he was a craftsman and told me not to rent a house to him!"
Qin Lingjun and her sister looked at each other, feeling that this matter was quite fishy. Qin Lingjun thought about it and asked, "Do you know where he moved to?"
The man surnamed Fang shook his head: "I guess he left the city!"
It was too late. After leaving Liuyang Hutong, the Qin sisters separated from Guo Huan and returned to Oriole Garden.
Early the next morning, the two girls stopped going to the military camp and racecourse and searched for Jiaban separately.
Qin Lingsi took Geng Si to Simen and Pier to investigate to see if Jiaban had left the city. Qin Lingjun and Guo Huan searched the city together.
At half past noon, the investigation of the four gates and the wharf was completed, but Jia Ban had not left the city, so Qin Lingsi and Geng Si also joined the search team in the city.
There are light clouds and the sky is gray. It is already dusk.
One of Guo Huan's officers suddenly discovered that a blacksmith shopkeeper said he had seen Jia Ban.
"Probably the day before yesterday, after he saw the recruitment notice I posted outside the door, he came to the door and said he wanted to recruit a foreman." After everyone came to the blacksmith shop to inquire, the shopkeeper said leisurely.
"Foreman?"
Qin Lingsi was very surprised. She stretched her head and looked around in the shop, and found that there was no one inside except the shopkeeper.
The shopkeeper noticed her confusion and said with a smile: "My blacksmith shop is newly opened, and both apprentices and foremen are still recruiting workers."
It turns out that since Zhang Yangquan took over Jiangdu, iron tools were no longer banned in the city like in the Yuan Dynasty. Some craftsmen with a keen sense of smell started to make a living in blacksmith shops, and this shopkeeper was one of them.
"What about the foreman you recruited? Why isn't he in the shop?" Qin Lingsi asked.
The shopkeeper hesitated for a moment and said: "Let's go. Someone came over and said that he was a spy and I was not allowed to use him, so I paid him one day's wages and fired him."
"Who said he was a spy?" Qin Lingjun's eyes became sharp.
The shopkeeper seemed to have some scruples and hesitated to speak.
Qin Lingsi smiled slightly and said: "You don't have to be afraid, we are the people in charge of the mansion."
The shopkeeper looked at her a few times, then looked out the door, and finally whispered: "It's from the Ordnance Bureau! We craftsmen are all under the control of the Ordnance Bureau, so please don't say that I told you!!" Qin Lingsi was moved in her heart and said: "From your tone, it seems that you don't believe what the Ordnance Bureau said?"
The shopkeeper smiled bitterly and said: "Master Jia told me. He said that he had offended a big shot in the Ordnance Bureau, and he was not allowed to stay in Jiangdu, so he spread rumors that he was a spy!"
Guo Huan's face changed slightly and he glanced at Qin Lingjun quietly.
Qin Lingjun didn't say anything more and asked the shopkeeper, "Do you know where Jia Ban has gone now?"
The shopkeeper sighed: "To be honest, this is the first time I have seen Master Jia's craftsmanship. I admire him very much, so I recommend him to the Cai family. I heard that the Cai family has opened a new iron-making workshop. They have a strong background and are close to Magistrate Guo.
If it matters, you shouldn’t have to worry about the Bureau of Ordnance."
Cold sweat broke out on Guo Huan's forehead and he coughed several times. Fortunately, none of the Qin sisters pursued the matter.
Qin Lingjun asked Ming the location of the Cai family's iron-making workshop, thanked him, turned around and left the blacksmith shop.
The Cai family's iron-making workshop is located in the east of the city, about a hundred feet away from the Zhenwu Temple. This street is also called Zhenwu Street and is one of the busiest streets in Jiangdu.
Originally, the properties on this street belonged to the Xue family. In recent months, many properties of the Xue family have been acquired by the Shen family, Cai family and Bian family, so this street has become more and more prosperous.
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As the business environment improves, even some small and medium-sized businesses are relying on their inherited advantages to become bigger and stronger, creating a situation where a hundred flowers are blooming.
The Qin sisters and Guo Huan passed by the Zhenwu Temple and came to the Cai family's ironmaking workshop.
Guo Huan went up to negotiate with the deacon of Cai Mansion.
Just after I asked a few questions, I suddenly heard a surprised voice. I saw Cai Han running out of a room, quickly came to Guo Huan, and said happily: "Mr. Guo, are you here to find me?" p>
Guo Huan hurriedly pursed his lips behind him. Only then did Cai Han notice the Qin sisters not far away. There was a hint of red on her face, and she turned around and wanted to escape back to the house.
"Miss Cai, please come here and talk."
Hearing Qin Lingjun's greeting, Cai Han had no choice but to turn around, walk slowly over with his head lowered, and whispered in a low voice: "I have met the steward's wife."
Although Qin Lingjun and Zhang Yangquan have not yet married, their relationship is well known throughout Jiangdu City, and everyone calls them the wife of the general manager.
Qin Lingjun said straightforwardly: "Miss Cai, is Jia Ban in your ironmaking workshop?"
Cai Han was stunned for a moment and said, "Are you here to find him too?"
Qin Lingsi narrowed her eyes and said, "Why, is there anyone else looking for him?"
Cai Han nodded and said: "An hour ago, people from the Ordnance Bureau came to find him and said that he was a spy and we were not allowed to recruit him!"
Guo Huan said hurriedly: "What happened next? You didn't listen to them, right?"
Cai Han glanced at him and said with a smile: "Then Jia Ban told a deacon of our family about the situation, and the deacon told my brother, and my brother and I came here to deal with the matter!"
In fact, the main reason was that the deacon of the Cai Mansion felt that the people in the Ordnance Bureau were too overbearing, and naturally he was not willing to give in easily, so he told Cai Heng about the matter.
After Cai Heng learned about Jia Ban, he expected that Jia Ban had superb skills, otherwise he would not be so feared by the supervisor of the Ordnance Bureau.
Everyone in Jiangducheng knows that the general manager Zhang Yangquan attaches great importance to the Ordnance Bureau. Anyone else would never dare to go against the Ordnance Bureau easily.
Cai Heng has deeper considerations.
He felt that Zhang Yangquan valued the Ordnance Bureau not because of any individual, but because of the smelting technology and the craftsmanship of the craftsmen.
It was precisely to suit his interests that he decided to open an iron-making workshop. Not only him, but Shen Qianqian and Bian Ying also opened iron-making workshops.
So when Cai Heng learned about a blacksmith whose skills were feared by Hu Guangcao, he had the idea of a rare commodity.
He planned to verify Jia Ban's skills first. If he was really a master, he would do everything possible to win over this person, and then recommend him to Zhang Yangquan after the relationship became close.
In this way, the Cai family has a high-ranking friend in the Ordnance Bureau.
Cai Heng specially brought his sister here because he wanted to use Guo Huan's influence to make the people from the Ordnance Bureau retreat. After all, he didn't want to have too much trouble with the Ordnance Bureau.
The effect was good. After the Ordnance Bureau official learned about the relationship between Cai Han and Guo Huan, he left in a hurry.
After hearing what Cai Han said, Qin Lingjun asked: "Where is Jia Ban now?"
Cai Han hurriedly said: "He is making something in a smelting room inside. Let me take you in!"
Leading the way, he led the three of them to an independent blacksmithing room.