Zhang Juren glanced at Yuan Su, and after a while he recognized the officer. Immediately, anger surged in his heart, and he angrily scolded: "I know you, you came to my house not long ago to ask for bail.
Fees. Hmm, it’s really ridiculous. You paid the fees to protect the border, but in the end, how did you ever see you protect the border and make the people safe?”
Yuan Su's face gradually became serious, but his tone was still calm and he said: "Sir Zhang, the matter has come to this, how can you catch those thieves if you only complain about us? We soldiers do have the responsibility to ensure the safety of the country and the people.
But we don’t have magical powers, we can’t predict the future, and we can’t fly into the sky to escape. For this plan, please cooperate with Mr. Zhang as much as possible, so that we can bring these villains to justice in the shortest possible time.”
Zhang Juren took a deep breath and gradually controlled his emotions. Although the anger in his heart was still unquenchable, Yuan Su's words were reasonable and it would be useless to dwell on his emotions. He followed
Sighing, he turned around and walked back to the central hall, leaving a message at the same time: "Let's talk after we come in."
Chen Wennian asked the soldiers to stay in the small courtyard. He, Yuan Su and two other officers followed Zhang Juren into the hall.
At this time, there were many people gathered in the hall, most of them should be relatives of the Zhang family, as well as some women and children. An open space was specially cleared next to the hall. The ground was simply spread with mats or sheets, and seven or eight people were placed there.
A wounded person. The woman was sobbing softly, and the children were sleeping or making noises hiding in the woman's arms. Some of the wounded were motionless, while others were wailing. There were people holding different weapons at the back and side doors of the hall.
Guarded by young men, this hall is like a temporary shelter.
When people in the hall saw the officers and soldiers walking in, the originally tense atmosphere finally relaxed a bit. Regardless of whether these officers and soldiers arrived late, at least they could give people a sense of security now.
Zhang Juren sat down on the main seat, his expression suddenly became tired and hesitant, and his previous excited attitude was gone.
Chen Wennian turned sideways and said to Yuan Su: "Zijing, since you know Zhang Juren, it's up to you to ask questions. I'll ask the others first, and we'll get together later."
Yuan Su nodded, and then walked up to Zhang Juren. Since Chen Wennian would ask other people, sooner or later he would understand the details of the robbery that happened last night. There was no need for him to ask Zhang Juren any more questions in this regard. Brief summary
After some thought, he calmly asked: "Mr. Zhang, what are the casualties in the house right now? Do we need to dispatch medical personnel from the city?"
Zhang Juren seemed to be touched by the words, his eye circles suddenly turned red, and his whole body gradually began to tremble. He stretched out a hand to support his forehead, as if he was worried that he would fall if he lost control of his emotions. After taking a few breaths, he took a few breaths.
, He said in a deep voice: "These evil thieves who have been stabbed a thousand times are just robbing people, so why do they want to kill people? My wife and second son were both killed in the accident last night, along with ten other people."
Many servants and servants..." At this point, his throat was choked with sadness, and he could no longer say the next words.
Hearing this, Yuan Su couldn't help but be surprised. Chen Wenian, who was not far away, also had a heavy expression on his face.
Yuan Su never expected that these thieves could be so vicious. As the saying goes, "Being a thief has a guilty conscience." However, instead of showing any signs of guilt during the burglary in Zhang's house, Yuan Su looked very rampant and arrogant. He exhaled solemnly, his expression
He solemnly said: "Mr. Zhang, I'm sorry for what happened to you, and I ask for my condolences. I can't make too many guarantees now, but I promise that these murderers will be brought to justice in the shortest possible time, and I will definitely do so."
Give these murderers the harshest punishment."
When he said these words, he had a righteous and awe-inspiring aura, and his tone was even more sonorous and powerful. Although it was ultimately an empty talk without much practicality, it still brought a kind of comfort to people.
Zhang Juren nodded sadly, and after a long sigh, he said: "Those villains also kidnapped the female family members of the house. They are really worse than animals."
Yuan Su immediately realized that this was a clue. He had heard the gunmen outside guarding the hospital mention that the gangsters had robbed hundreds of stones of food and grass last night. If hostages were also taken away, the gangsters would have escaped.
It can't be too fast, nor can it be hidden thoroughly, but it can make it easier for the officers and soldiers to track it down.
When he thought of this, he quickly asked: "How many female relatives in the house were kidnapped?"
Zhang Juren slowly shook his head and said: "We don't know yet, but my niece's whereabouts are unknown now. Some say she escaped through a side door, while others say she seemed to have been kidnapped by those evil thieves. Alas, alas!"
Yuan Su's expression changed slightly and he asked again: "Is this Zhang Hanling, Miss Zhang?"
Zhang Juren said distressedly: "Exactly..."
Yuan Su didn't know whether to laugh or cry for a moment, and he said consolingly: "Mr. Zhang, please be relieved. Miss Zhang is currently in our 79th Biaobiao Department. If Miss Zhang hadn't come to report this morning, we would never have known what happened in Anshan Town so quickly.
ACCIDENT."
Zhang Juren immediately raised his head, the sad look on his face weakened a bit, and he asked urgently: "What did you say? Zhang Hanling is in Luanzhou City? Was she the one who rushed to inform you?"
Yuan Su nodded and said with confirmation: "That's it. Mr. Zhang doesn't have to worry. Miss Zhang and one of her maids are safe now. So, besides Miss Zhang, has anyone in the house been kidnapped?
"
Zhang Juren focused all his thoughts on Zhang Hanling. As long as Zhang Hanling didn't have any accidents, it wasn't that important whether others were kidnapped. He couldn't help but stand up and said quickly: "It's good news that Zhang Hanling is fine. The family is missing."
I don’t know how many people there are, but the whole house is in a mess right now, and no one can figure it out!"
Yuan Su did not continue to inquire further. Depending on the situation, he would have to investigate the situation on his own before he could know the true situation.
At this moment, there was a movement in the small courtyard outside the door, and soon Zhao Shanhe walked into the hall holding a rifle.
Chen Wennian went up to him and asked, "How is it?"
Zhao Shanhe's face was a little heavy, and he said briefly: "We took a look around the house, and the fire occurred in the granary in the backyard. I have left a few people to help put out the fire. I met some people from the house in the backyard,
I asked them about it, and they said they killed a thief during the resistance last night and took us to see the thief's body."
Chen Wennian said earnestly: "Who is that corpse? Do you and your men recognize it?"
After shaking his head helplessly, Zhao Shanhe said calmly: "We have all recognized it, but half of the body was burnt, so we couldn't identify it. Moreover, the clothes of the body were also ordinary, whether it was shoes or
Even in his underwear, you can’t tell he’s a deserter.”
Chen Wennian couldn't help but frowned, but before he could speak again, Zhao Shanhe handed over the rifle he was holding, and subconsciously lowered his voice and said: "Mr. Chen, this is the rifle used by the killed thief."
Taking the rifle from Zhao Shanhe, Chen Wennian recognized the standard of the gun at a glance. He pointed the barrel of the gun down again and carefully checked the factory mark on the bolt. He saw that the center of the bolt had mottled and blurred markings.
The word "Beiyang" and the three numbers "236" below the word "Beiyang". "Beiyang" represents the Beiyang Machinery Bureau, and "236" represents June of the 23rd year of Guangxu. Although
The current guns of 79 Standard are not completely uniform, but most of the guns are of this model and production date.
Chen Wennian nodded slowly, his expression soon became serious. He glanced at Zhao Shanhe and said, "I'm sure I'm right. In just four days, these people even changed their clothes."
, it can be seen that they are probably hiding in the villages and towns near Luanzhou."
Zhao Shanhe continued: "In addition, the servants also told me that these thieves seemed to be very familiar with the route of the courtyard. After breaking into the courtyard, they went directly to the accounting room and then to the granary in the backyard, and they acted very swiftly.
, there were people covering, people moving things, and people harnessing horse-drawn carriages and ox-carts. However, because there were so many things, it did take a while to haul them. As for whether the two sides fought for an hour, it’s hard to say. The situation was very tense at the time, and everyone didn’t care.
So much."
Chen Wennian pondered for a moment and murmured to himself: "It seems that we still have to chase!"
At this time, Yuan Su came over and asked: "Master Chen, Master Zhao, do you have any clues?"
Chen Wenian handed the rifle in Yuan Su's hand, briefly explained the clues, and finally said decisively: "In this case, Zijing, you stay here to take care of the aftermath, while Lao Zhao and I will take people out to track and identify these thieves.
You can't go very far with a bunch of things. Even if you can't catch him, you can at least find some new clues to pursue."
Yuan Su had no objection. He had previously thought of sending someone to try to track the direction of the thieves' retreat. As for who should pursue it, that was secondary. He immediately told Zhang Juren about it, and Zhang Juren was responsible for the loss of his wife and son.
He had long hated those villains deeply, so he naturally fully supported the officers and soldiers in taking immediate action. Not only that, Zhang Juren also ordered the housekeeper to bring out the remaining horses from the house and let the officers and soldiers use them.
Chen Wennian and Zhao Shanhe each led fifteen soldiers, each equipped with a horse. They first inquired in the town for a while to see if any townspeople had noticed which direction the thieves were escaping. After getting some uncertain information
After receiving the clue, the two men immediately chased in the general direction.
In the next few hours, Yuan Su organized the soldiers who stayed in Zhang Mansion and Zhang Mansion's servants to deal with the aftermath. First, he gathered the wounded and the dead separately; then he found a few literate people and gave them to several people respectively.
A person with a clear mind made a record. Although there were no such rules in the military camp, Yuan Su believed that these records would be useful in the future.
During this period, he also sent people to the outside of the town to call back all the townspeople who did not dare to return, and organized the young people and those with medical experience among these townspeople to come to Zhang Mansion to help.