Holding a letter in his hand, Xiao Bazi led Wu Kaidi and walked quickly into the living room. As soon as he entered the door, he said to Li Rufeng: "Mr. Wu has brought a letter." After saying that, he presented the letter in his hand with both hands.
Wu Kaidi stepped out from behind Xiao Bazi, walked up to Li Rufeng, and said: "The letter was thrown in at Yinshi yesterday. It was shot into Leng's house by a headless arrow. The letter was written to me. Mr. Leng was very worried after something happened."
I was running around inside and outside taking charge, so the thieves must have thought I was in charge, so they rushed over as soon as I got the letter."
Li Rufeng nodded and did not reply. He immediately opened the letter and read it silently.
The letter was not long, so Li Rufeng read it carefully. After reading it several times, he gently rubbed the letter paper with his hand, then put the letter paper under his nose and smelled it, before handing the letter to Liao Sanniang who was standing aside.
.
Liao Sanniang took it and squeezed the letter paper. The texture of the letter paper was rough, and the letter only had a header. It was an anonymous white-headed letter, called a reminder letter. The letter was written with cinnabar, as red as blood, and it was eye-catching to read.
Liao Sanniang looked carefully and wrote in the letter: Brother Wu opened his mouth and kissed Qi. The servants were invaded by the war and the chaos, and they were raped by the powerful. The innocent people used their blood to feed the jackals and tigers. They were in a state of poverty, could not bear the abuse, and were forced to be reckless.
, I have long admired the Lord for his love of charity and the beauty of giving to those in need. When the servants heard about it, they expressed their admiration. Please invite Mr. Leng to stay in my humble place for a while. Xian Yanguan will lend you a hundred thousand taels of fine silk to help Su Kun.
On the day when the silver is collected, I will respectfully send the completed jade to Leng Gong. Brother, you should think carefully and do not use the official. Do not bring trouble to the Lord and cause Leng Gong to be humiliated. Be sure to hear about it. When will the transaction of personal funds be made?
Where, please wait for later.
After Liao Sanniang read it carefully, she was quite surprised. She turned to Wu Kaidi and asked: "This letter is not written like a bandit. It is very polite between the lines, but it is ruthless in its actions, and it hurts people's lives. It's strange. Can you see it?"
An archer?"
Wu Kaidi shook his head and said: "There were people squatting outside the door, but there were only lights hanging at the door. It was pitch black inside the alley, and I didn't see anything. The arrows shot directly into the courtyard from the surrounding roofs.
, the arrowhead is wrapped in cotton cloth, and the arrow shaft is covered with a jade scarf ring for binding hair. It was made for Lingao and has the inscription of Ziminglou. It was worn by Master Leng when he traveled. The arrow shaft fell to the ground, and the patrol dog barked.
The Huo family who was on duty at night came over to check, and that’s when they discovered it.”
Li Rufeng took the letter from Liao Sanniang, looked at it again, and said: "This writing is very powerful. It is not something that can be accomplished overnight. It is not something that a rough man can do. It looks like the handwriting of an old doctor who wrote the letter on his behalf."
After hearing this, Liao Sanniang frowned slightly and said: "There are many people who make a living by writing, and it is difficult to find out. For such secret things, most thieves are not willing to let others write for them. Among those thieves, there should be scholars. This word is not clear.
There is no shaking or dragging, the handle is neat, the pen is moved smoothly, and the handwriting is not concealed. It seems that we are not afraid of us recognizing the handwriting. It is believed that if we trace it, we can see that it is not an acquaintance like us. Letter paper is common in the market, nothing special. Although the cinnabar is
It’s expensive, but it doesn’t cost much to write. It’s enough to just take a little from anywhere, and it’s difficult to trace. I can’t tell many clues based on this letter alone.”
Li Rufeng walked around the hall for a few steps, sat back on his chair, and said in a deep voice: "The letter has arrived, let us wait for the future. We must find someone to contact us and ask for redemption."
Liao Sanniang's eyes flashed and she said: "Looking for the man, I'm afraid the delivery is not near the capital. Could the thief be from a nearby village? Among this group of thieves are Cuoda who can write, archers who can control strings, small people in the city, and horse racers.
The knights, so well prepared, seem to be doing something big, which makes people feel a little more excited."
Li Rufeng touched the beard on his chin and said: "Now I can only make a blind guess. Normally, this kind of reminder letter will be delivered to my home the next day. It took Leng Zhai nearly two days to receive it. I think the thief wants to pass the scarf back and forth.
The ring was used as a sign, which delayed the journey. In addition, it took two days to wait and see the weather in Lengzhai."
Liao Sanniang nodded, turned to look at Wu Kaidi, and asked: "Mr. Wu, can you collect one hundred thousand silver redemptions enough?"
Wu Kaidi took a deep breath, with a troubled face, and said: "One hundred thousand silver is not a small amount. Although the store has been closed down and there is no risk of runs, the pure silver in the store is also limited. If you take away all Delong's living water, the family's wealth will probably be
It's enough. It's just that I misappropriated it privately without the authorization of the head office and cannot make money. I'm afraid it will be difficult to explain. This is one of the reasons; the other is that once the owner comes back and Delong reopens, tens of thousands of taels of silver will inevitably be needed."
Liao Sanniang lowered her head and pondered for a moment, then said: "According to the calculation between Australia and Song Dynasty, one hundred thousand silver should be worth 3,700 kilograms. It cannot be transported by non-heavy vehicles. It will be very eye-catching. If the large vehicles are shipped, I am afraid that the government will be alerted and people will be shocked immediately."
You know, something will happen."
Wu Kai said: "We can't hide this matter. Official Liu from Shuntian Prefecture comes to Delong every day and wishes he could live here. But if we want to redeem the person, Zhongfu Yin will not object. As long as the person comes back,
Once Delong reopens and the incident subsides, he will be fine. Shopkeeper Leng’s whereabouts have been unknown for a long time, and he is under great pressure.”
Li Rufeng said in a deep voice: "I understand. In this case, Shuntian Mansion doesn't need much, it's just a pass out of the city. It's not difficult, it's just about opening up the joints and spending more money so that the soldiers and horsemen and the gatekeepers can't
Call Pancha Delong and the people from Liansheng. Do not make any noise, break them into pieces, and only select reliable people, whether they are cars, horses, or people. They will only take them out in any number, piece by piece, and send them to the gathering outside the city.
One hundred thousand taels is not much, but it can be done in three or two days, and it just takes some effort. When the thieves killed the captives, they had already alerted the government. The so-called not to communicate with the officials is to pay for redemption, and the investigation will not be allowed.
Communication between the government and the government is unimpeded."
Speaking of this, Li Rufeng paused for a moment, shaved his chin and sideburns, and said with a hint of worry: "There is only one thing to worry about. When you are in high position, the kidnappers often have to kill their hostages and redeem them after they are kidnapped."
During the massacre, most will only receive corpses."
Liao Sanniang pondered for a moment, shook her head and said: "I'm afraid the bureau chief is overly worried, but that may not be the case here. The government system of Qiongzhou in the Song Dynasty was different from the world situation in the Ming Dynasty. The reason for the frequent kidnappings and hostage killings in Lingao was due to the excellent staff of the Political Security Bureau and the Police Department.
Li, and also has the skills of light, photography, and painting. There are pictures of wanted pictures published in the daily daily, and the police patrols search according to the pattern. The bandit villages outside Lingao City have also been raided long ago. In the city, household security guards are everywhere, and every house has a house number.
Outside the city, it is extremely difficult to store hostages in the city. Every step of checking the quality, paying the money, and redeeming the hostage involves taking huge risks. The official bills and silver coins in Lingao have Australian codes, and you can follow the traces and get the money.
It’s also difficult to spend. Qiongzhou is bounded by the sea. The eucalyptus can only wander through the miasma and have nowhere to hide. Once the eucalyptus is caught and the crime is proven, it will be immediately hanged and shot. There will be no mercy. Therefore, those who dare to capture people for ransom
, they are all extremely vicious people, and it is difficult to hide hostages. They are afraid of being exposed, so they often kill hostages, and they are only a few people who conspire together, which is not a good situation. The Ming Dynasty is different. It is a little far away from the capital, and the capital is in the Beizhili area.
Within a short period of time, there were many thieves setting up strongholds on the mountains and gathering together to make noise. These people were not afraid of the government's suppression. They dispersed when the soldiers came and gathered when the soldiers left. The elders in the countryside led them to build bridges and trade in the strongholds.
There is no need to worry about the Tibetan people who are high-profile, and there is no need to worry about inspections and other matters. In this way, they still abide by some rules. As long as the government does not interfere with the bastards, the people will be released after taking money from the village. When we hand over the redemption, we must inspect the people and steal the money.
Before I get it, I will never harm Master Leng easily."
Li Rufeng pondered for a long time, gritted his teeth and said: "Allocate money, let's do it! Now the matter is clear, the thieves are just kidnapping people for money. There are two situations for thieves to kill protons, one is to report family records to the officials, and the officers and soldiers
If you go into suppression and are forced to a corner, you will kill the hostage; secondly, if there is no hope of ransom and you can't get any money, you will get angry and kill someone. Now that Mr. Leng's safety is the most important thing, you can't care too much about the amount of ransom money.
The heavier the silver, the more stable Mr. Leng is. Negotiating prices wastes time and only increases variables. You must not offend the thief at this time. No matter what, Mr. Wu and I are responsible for the misappropriation of the money."
Wu Kaidi nearby couldn't help but was stunned when he heard this, and then his face turned pale. He didn't know why he and Li Rufeng suddenly had to share this fate. He wanted to open his mouth to tell the difference.
There were a few words, but he didn't know where to start. He didn't object or approve. He babbled a few times and said nothing, like a dry and dying fish.
Liao Sanniang said: "There is another way to kill someone."
Li Rufeng was stunned and asked: "What else?"
Liao Sanniang said softly: "Unexpected changes."
Without waiting for Li Rufeng to ask, Liao Sanniang went on to say: "If Mr. Leng quarreled with words or tried to escape, he would provoke the thief to kill him; otherwise, if he met the gentleman on the way, or even just the thief was hesitant, it could lead to accidents.
The change of life and death is just a thought. Capturing people for ransom is very different from killing people and stealing goods. When the crime occurs, the people are dead and the goods are lost. It is a foregone conclusion. It only depends on how to capture them. When kidnapping people, we are always with the thieves.
We are all moving together. The thieves are moving, and we are also moving. The Political Security Bureau said during the training that the longer the prisoner is dragged out, the more dangerous it becomes. In Lingao, you cannot break the prisoner or redeem the person within ten days.
There is a 60% chance that the hostages will be killed. There is no post office, telegraph, political security, or police station here in the capital. The transmission of news is very slow, and the rural control is weak. The cost may be doubled in time, but it is also crucial to be caught within twenty days.
, the Ming Dynasty is now in chaos, and everything is unpredictable."
Li Rufeng slapped his thigh and said loudly: "Since the moment it happened, this matter has been out of control. Don't think about the unexpected. Just adapt to circumstances. We are weak in the capital and can't do much. Now we have news.
, is it better than us dragging around outside? Mr. Wu, you send an urgent letter to Lingao. The top priority is to allocate funds. We are anxious, and the thieves are also anxious. We are anxious for Master Leng to return home, and they are anxious to get money and escape."
After saying this, he said: "Let's go back to Helian Sheng immediately. There are Shuntian Prefecture government officials protecting us outside. I don't think anyone dares to come to the door to vote. If the person who spoke to vote can't come to the door, this matter will be dangerous!"
After Li Rufeng finished speaking, he picked up Wuyoudi, who was standing still like a wooden man, and walked out.