"Board leader, this is the home of Guo Fengyou, the gang member from Kuaiban."
This is an alley in Dongmen City Wall Street. Although it is adjacent to the bustling Dongzuomen Street, it is still dominated by thatched houses. The alley is full of neighbors. When Pang Yu arrives, they are all pointing and talking.
There were cries from the thatched hut, and Pang Yu walked in.
Inside, an old woman in her fifties was sobbing, and two fast men in soap uniforms were accompanying her.
After taking a look at the furnishings in the house, it is indeed very simple, which clearly reflects the economic situation.
The injured Guo Fengyou showed no sign of weakness. He was lying on the bed, eating steamed buns fed by a government servant. When he saw Pang Yu, he quickly stood up, but stopped with a grin on his face as soon as he moved.
Pang Yu stretched out his hand to stop him, "You lie down and recuperate. I'm here to see you, not to cause trouble."
The two yamen servants said to the old woman, "Aunt Guo, please don't cry. Our squad leader is here to see you."
The old woman knelt on the ground, held Pang Yu's hand and cried, "My life is hard. If he has some shortcomings, how will I live in the future?"
Pang Yu quickly helped the old woman up and said, "Mom, don't say any unlucky words. Brother Guo is blessed with great fortune and will definitely be able to pass this test."
He is the helper of the Kuaiban, patrolling and hunting down criminals. There are always dangers. Even if something unexpected happens, Tongcheng Kuaiban will help you take care of yourself in your old age. Pang will not let the courageous people feel cold."
Several government officials in the room looked at Pang Yu. There was no guarantee for the government officials at this time. If the suspect was caught and killed, no one would protect the family. Therefore, when there was civil unrest, it was a reasonable response for officials to run away and avoid harm.
.
Now Pang Yu has made a promise. Although he is only a squad leader and cannot yet represent official credibility, he is much more secure than before.
The old woman was slightly relieved and cried again, "I gave birth to four babies in the past years, all of them short-lived, and this is the only one left.
It's hard to take care of a baby. His father is a watchman. He has to take care of these kids all day and night. He didn't learn how to do it when he was young. He only likes to go to watch with his dad. When he gets older, he often does it.
He fights people back and forth, but he never gets anywhere, and the neighbors look down on him.
His eldest brother died last year, and he finally understood something. He followed the official as a helper, and thought it was a serious matter, but he didn't know that he could still hurt his life."
"Brother Guo is doing serious things."
Pang Yu turned to look at Guo Fengyou and said, "He caught a murderer. This squad leader saw it with his own eyes. Brother Guo was not afraid of danger and was thoughtful. He saved many innocent people. The people of Tongcheng must thank him. He will go out in the future."
If you keep your head high and your chest high, no one will dare to look down on you."
After hearing this, the old woman wiped away her tears and said, "The doctor came just now and said that the soup and medicine would cost a lot."
Guo Fengyou said angrily on the bed, "Mom, why are you telling the class leader this?"
Pang Yu waved to him, took out a small bag and handed it to the old woman with both hands, "We must find the best bruises doctor. Brother Guo was injured on the job. No matter how much the soup and medicine are, Pang will pay for it. He will never pay for it."
Let Madam spend the money.
During the period of recuperation, I will receive work, food, salary, and pay. This is a personal thought from my team leader. Please accept it, ma'am."
The old woman didn't shirk it, she quickly put it in her arms, opened it and looked at it briefly, and she seemed much relieved.
Pang Yu said to the two government officials, "You two will take care of Brother Guo here. If there is any inconvenience for my aunt, you can help me. How much money was spent on the decoction, medicine, and wound medicine? Write it down for the quick shift leader."
Also remember that the cloth used to bandage the wound must be boiled in boiling water, disinfected, and dried in the sun before use."
Guo Fengyou suddenly raised his head slightly and said, "If so-and-so can survive this time, he will work hard with the squad leader in the future."
Pang Yu nodded and comforted, "Brother Guo, rest in peace and recover."
Coming out of the room, Pang Yu said to Pang Ding who was following him, "Write it down for me. Regardless of the strong or fast class, a captain and two subordinates will be arranged to come over to visit every day."
Xu Lengzi scratched his head next to him and said, "The captain of the strong squad doesn't even know this Guo Gangxian, so he sent him to see what happened."
Pang Yu ignored Xu Lengzi and walked towards the alley with his hands behind his back, "Go and check the inn."
Pang Ding pointed at Xu Lengzi and whispered, "If you understand, you should be the leader."
..."This month's store calendar!"
In the lobby of Dongzuomen Tongji Inn, the shopkeeper looked up and saw Pang Yu standing in front of the cabinet with a few official servants. He nodded and bowed quickly, then rummaged in the cabinet for a while and handed a booklet to Pang Yu.
This is Pang Yucha's third inn today. They are all on Xianqian Street toward Dongzuomen.
Pang Yu took it and opened it. Today was the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, and there were only about twenty people recorded on it.
"Why are there only these many people?"
"Guan Ye Mingjian, most of the people staying in our hotel are businessmen who go back home during the New Year period. From the 25th of the twelfth lunar month, there are few people staying. It is usually not until the end of the first year that there are more customers."
"Nothing to hide?"
"How dare you disobey Mr. Kuai Ban?"
Pang Yu hummed and looked at the records carefully.
The management of the hotel industry in the Ming Dynasty required that the names, number of guests, and time of stay should be recorded on a calendar. Tongcheng was required to submit it to the military office for inspection, but in fact it was not strictly implemented for many years.
After Guang Shiheng came last time, Pang Yu noticed the spy he was talking about, and quickly began to ask each inn to re-execute it. Since it was implemented not long ago, each inn was mostly perfunctory.
"Have you had any customers with northern accents come to our store recently?"
The shopkeeper was stunned for a moment and then said, "There are two wandering Taoist priests in the records."
"Where's the accent?"
"I have never been to other places, so I don't know where the accent is.
But they probably came from the north. These wandering Taoist priests traveled to various places, and their original accents have changed a lot, making it difficult to tell where they are from."
Pang Yu stopped and pointed to the third line from the bottom of the record, "This person has no luggage, no goods, and he is a single person. The county government has clearly stated that such people are not allowed to stay overnight. Why did you knowingly do this?"
"This... small shop operates on a small budget. There are few customers during the first month of the year. If we don't accept it, we will lose money."
Pang Yu gave him a blank look, but he also knew that Tongcheng was located on an important thoroughfare, with countless merchants and laborers coming and going. It was impossible for these innkeepers to make money without making money, which was impossible to achieve in terms of management.
"Call out those two wandering Taoist priests and this one, I want to question them."
"These people all checked out and left yesterday."
The shopkeeper hurriedly walked out of the counter, apologized next to Pang Yu, pointed at the record and said, "Every villain writes down when they leave the store."
After the shopkeeper finished speaking, he added, "It's not just these three people. There are rumors that there have been murders in the city. The guests staying in the store may have been afraid, so they all left yesterday."
Pang Yu frowned. There was a murder case the night before. Yesterday morning, there was another murderer who broke into the door. The government officials searched the whole city. It was reasonable for these three people to leave Tongcheng yesterday to avoid trouble. Pang Yu didn't have extra manpower at this time.
I went to investigate and had to return the calendar to the shopkeeper.
"There has been a lot of trouble in the city recently. If there is a suspicious person, please come and inform the government immediately."
"Young man understands."
After walking out of the inn, Pang Yu looked up at the sky. The sun came out rarely today, and the sun was shining brightly above his head.
People were coming and going on the street, and they seemed to be walking faster than usual. A small team of strong men ran past not far ahead, and the people around them avoided it.
The Zhuang squad is conducting area-by-area sealing and inspections. They started from Xiangyang Gate yesterday and found no trace of Huazi. Today they have checked to the Xianqian Street area. If no trace is found, they will advance to Qingfeng City and Caojia Lane tomorrow.
After Yang Erming convened a meeting with Li Lao and the gentry, every village was searching for strangers. With this kind of mobilization, Na Huazi should not be able to escape, but there was no clue from yesterday to today, which made Pang Yu less confident.
"Master, where are we going?"
Pang Yu pondered for a moment and then said, "Take the people and continue to check the inn..." Just as he said this, he saw He Xianya hurriedly coming from the direction of the west gate, holding two black things in his hands, with a somewhat panicked look on his face.
Yu knew that something bad might happen, so he stopped talking and waited for He Xianya to come to him.
He Xianya stopped and handed the two things over, "Second brother, a commoner in Yangzi Lane told Mr. Li that he saw two people throwing things into the Tongxi River. It is said that they looked like swords. I will send someone into the water to retrieve them right away.
rise."
After Pang Yu took it, he led a few people away from the door and stood against the wall. After letting them gather around the outside, he opened the black cloth of the package. Inside were two waist knives. The scabbard of the upper one had copper patterns.
Pang Yu pulled out half of the upper blade. The blade was bright and sharp. It opened into two wide blood grooves that continued to the blade. The material of the handle was different from anything Pang Yu had ever seen.
Pang Yu looked at it for a while and said, "This knife is better than ours."
He Xianya hurriedly said, "My subordinate went to Zhang Ji's blacksmith shop on the way. He looked at it and said that the blade was made of pure steel. Although it was made using the flat method, the blade was slightly longer than the one used by merchants, with a larger arc and a sharper tip.
It’s almost shoulderless, especially with the inscription on it.”
Pang Yu turned the blade over, and there was a line of small characters engraved near the blade: "Xuan Da in the first year of Tianqi..." and pulled out another one. The inscription belonged to Shanxi Town.
"The sword of the border army."
Pang Yu threw the knife back into the scabbard, "This is not for businessmen, let alone a weapon that Hanako can get."
Everyone stared at him blankly, Pang Yu turned to Pang Ding, "Go and inform the strong squad to collect the team back to the barracks, and immediately transport bricks, kerosene, fireballs, firearms, lanterns to the city wall according to the plan, and build straw factories and shacks along the city wall.
A wooden frame for hanging curtains.”
"But Zhuang squads are scattered all over the city, how can we find them all..." Pang Yu interrupted without any doubt, "Then just run."
Pang Ding didn't dare to say anything anymore and ran away as fast as he could.
He Xianya also guessed what it was about, and asked with his throat a little dry, "Well, we don't have any definite information from the county government, so the Lord may not agree to go to war."
"Your Majesty just doesn't agree with disturbing the people, but Zhuang Ban can make preparations first."
"Then what are we going to do on the fast track?"
"The quick team continues to investigate the details in the city. Since two people threw knives, it means that there is more than one person in the city. Moreover, the investigation by the officials and people in the city has made them feel the pressure. They don't even dare to keep the knife. It shows that it is effective. I want to go immediately
Go to Tang Zun and ask him to increase his efforts. Quick class should work harder and catch these people as soon as possible."
Pang Yu paused and said to He Xianya, "Send a few people to prepare tung oil on Zilai Street."
"My subordinate understands."
He Xianya said nervously, "I wonder where they will come from?"
"It's probably still a hidden mountain, but who knows."
Pang Yu turned to look at Xianqian Street under the sunshine, "Let's take precautions. The rest will depend on what news Jiang Fan's horse can find out."
...On the eighteenth day of the first lunar month, in Wulipu, Nanwulipu, Hefei County, the capital city of Luzhou, although spring has begun, the fields are still covered in white snow. Only the snow on the official road has been trampled and melted, revealing black stone slabs.
Jiang Fan, who was riding on horseback on the official road, looked puzzled. There were groups of people on the official road heading south, but there was no one heading north in sight.
After the murder on the morning of the 16th of the first lunar month, according to Pang Yu's request, he sent most of the horses to Qianshan, but there were not enough people heading north, so he took two horses to inquire in the direction of Luzhou Prefecture. The plan was
To go all the way to Yingzhou, which borders Henan, we passed through Lujiang County today and have not yet reached Hefei County.
The three of them rode their horses and continued heading north slowly. A commoner who came towards them shouted to them, "Don't go north, the bandits are coming."
When Jiang Fan heard the word "rogue bandits", he got off his horse and stopped the people, "Who did you hear that rogue bandits are coming?"
The people did not stop, but walked around Jiang Fan and said, "They broke Fengyang Mansion and followed them to Luzhou."
Jiang Fan chased him and asked, "Have you ever seen a bandit with your own eyes?"
Another commoner passing by replied, "You guys are all from the south. You haven't even heard of this. The bandits massacred Fengyang on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. There is no news from hundreds of miles away. If we had seen them, we would have been dead."
.”
The man from before turned around hurriedly and said, "You guys, it's better not to go to Luzhou Prefecture. Hefei County has been closed down today. The people in the city have formed some sort of army to guard the gates. No one with a Hefei accent can enter the city. You guys
It’s all in vain if you go.”
As he was talking, there was a scream behind him, and he saw a group of people fighting with each other on the official road, seemingly fighting for something. When the few people who were talking saw it, they quickly quickened their pace and headed south.
Jiang Fan stopped and two horses came to him and said in panic, "Captain, the bandits are here. They are all on horseback. Let's run south quickly. It's too late. It's too late."
"Why are you running? Just a few bandits that the people say are here. When I go back, Pang Bantou asks us how many bandits there are and who is leading them. How should I answer him?"
Jiang Fan said angrily, "There must be definite news no matter what."
The two horses were chattering with their teeth and kept turning their heads to look north, as if rogue bandits might appear on the official road in the distance at any time.
Jiang Fan took a few rough breaths, looked at the two of them, then pointed at one of them and said, "Follow me and continue to Luzhou Mansion. We won't turn back until we have the confidence."
Then he pointed to another person and said, "Go back to Tongcheng immediately and inform Bantou Pang of the news you have learned now. You are not allowed to talk nonsense. You can only tell what you heard from the people on the road.
After you finish reporting, you go south to Qianjiang to find other people and ask them to return to Tongcheng quickly. If it's too late, run to Fucheng, Anqing Prefecture, and run to places along the river."
The person behind him felt like he had been granted amnesty. He was afraid that Jiang Fan would change his mind, so he quickly agreed, turned his horse's head, whipped it hard, and galloped away in the direction of Tongcheng.