Lin Ming had a thorough exchange with the boss of the prefecture and county yamen in the past few days, and initially grasped the pattern of Gao Shunqin's activities in Guangzhou. Like all officials, Gao Shunqin's activities in Guangzhou were not extensive, except for going to the yamen, paying customers, and being a big official in the bureaucracy.
He rarely goes out except for leisure time. Because of his strong anti-barbarian views, he has great political differences with the local Guangzhou officialdom, which has gained a large amount of gray profits from foreign trade, so he does not have much contact with Guangzhou officialdom. Most of them
Spend all your time in your own mansion.
Lin Ming specially inspected the entire Gao Residence. The Gao Residence is not large in area. It is a medium-sized residence with three front and rear courtyards, two east and west courtyards, and a garden. It used to be the private residence of a foreign businessman in Guangzhou. Because it is the home of a wealthy businessman.
, when the house was built, the materials and workmanship used were very particular. The walls made of exposed bricks were extremely high, at least two feet, four or five feet. It was impossible to climb up the wall without using tools.
All doors are locked, and the keys are controlled by the housekeeper and returned to the upper room every night. After nightfall, all courtyards are closed and locked. The main doors are guarded by dedicated personnel, and along the entire wall, servants are on duty all night.
The husband patrolled and guarded. It should be said that this arrangement was quite rigorous.
Moreover, the inner study is at the core of the mansion. If someone can climb over the high wall in the dark night, evade patrols, go deep into the mansion, and finally take a living person like Gao Shunqin away without anyone noticing,
Go, Lin Ming thinks this is impossible. Although there are many legends about snitches that come and go without a trace in the world, Lin Ming's family is a hereditary royal guard. He has been exposed to it since he was a child, and has heard many cases from his elders.
Qing Qing is well-informed and has handled many cases, so he knows that there are many exaggerations in them. He believes that if someone really kidnapped Gao Shunqin, there must be someone inside the Gao Mansion.
When it came to interrogating suspects, he was not as hesitant and hesitant as Yu Baocun - Yu Baocun didn't even dare to torture the famous maid in the high house, he just summoned him for questioning a few times and it was just a formality. In Lin Ming's opinion, it was just a formality.
"indulgence".
In addition to the fact that Su Ai is the concubine of the high patrol prosecutor, she is temporarily exempted from suffering until the matter is unclear and is only allowed to "judge". The Guangzhou government will make a sign and put the doorkeeper, watchman, and servants who will guard the door that night in charge.
The housekeeper who was in charge of the keys and even Su Ai's personal maid brought them all and tortured them all night long. The whips, the beating of boards, the howling of all the prisoners...it was so noisy that pedestrians would rather take a long way around than pass by the Guangzhou government office.
Lin Ming once suspected the housekeeper's wife - she was from Guangdong Province and had a natural advantage in colluding with local gangsters. Moreover, she held the keys and knew the roads and routines in the mansion very well. She was an extremely useful insider. Therefore, he ordered Li Yongxun to focus on interrogating this person.
people.
Because Li Yongxun came to "handle the case" with her cousin-in-law, in order to show that she was not a useless burden, she worked very hard in torturing the prisoners. Her family already had ancestral skills. She was even more unambiguous when it came to rectifying female prisoners.
, a group of servants and maids were tortured to death by her. Su Ai, the "juror", was so frightened that she fainted. When the caregiver helped her away, Li Yongxun noticed that the stool was dripping wet.
"Seeing someone being frightened to the point of peeing after being whipped a few times." Li Yongxun looked disdainful, "She is really a eldest lady than a eldest lady."
The housekeeper was tortured but finally confessed: On the morning when Gao Xunwen disappeared, the watchman found that the lock of the backyard door was unlocked. He reported it to her at that time. I am afraid that the housekeeper neglected her duty and did not investigate. Once the report is reported, the housekeeper will be blamed.
, and there was no trace of the thief at first glance, so he asked people to lock the door again and told everyone to be silent. When I later heard that the master was missing, I became even more afraid to make the matter public.
As if Lin Ming had found a treasure, he arrested several other people at that time for torture, and the confessions of each of them were indeed consistent. Now it is generally clear how Gao Xunjian disappeared: whether Gao Xunjian was kidnapped or he walked out on his own, it was obvious that
They all go out through the open door in the backyard.
The problem is that there are still many links that are not clear. Even if they are tortured, they still cannot find out who the spy is. But at this time, he got the news from Jinghaimen. Lin Ming felt that there was a new breakthrough in this matter, so he immediately led people
Follow along the way.
With the momentum of the Jinyiwei, as long as they showed their sign, all the people, civilians, businessmen and merchants along the way would ask questions and answers without daring to hide anything. And the sedan horses leaving the city early in the morning were really eye-catching, so they quickly got the news, and the group of people
After leaving Guangzhou, we immediately took the official road to Foshan Town.
After arriving in Foshan Town, I heard that a group of people were getting off the sedan chair here. The host was quite decent. Surrounded by several servants, they dined in a private room of a local restaurant. The owner of the restaurant was quite generous.
Although the appearance of "Qitang" is not very clear, the appearance and characteristics described are somewhat similar to Gao Xunjian.
Lin Ming was overjoyed, this was probably Gao Shunqin! It didn't matter whether he was coerced or voluntary - the important thing was that Inspector Gao was still alive.
"This is such a great joy!" Yu Baocun was filled with joy after hearing what he said about the investigation. As long as Gao Xunqin was not dead, things would be much easier to handle. Yu Baocun was most afraid that Gao Shunqin would die on the boundary of Guangzhou Prefecture -
―As a local official, it is difficult for him to escape responsibility.
"Haha." Lin Ming sneered twice. He knew the governor's thoughts very clearly, "Bao Gong! You think too simplistically. Although Master Gao was still safe and sound when he was in Foshan, seven or eight days have passed.
Who knows if he is safe at this moment?"
"Yes, yes, dear dear, thank you for your hard work." Of course Yu Baocun understood what Lin Ming meant, and quietly stuffed a note from Delong, "Brothers, you have worked hard, let me drink tea for you."
Lin Ming's eyes curled up: fifty taels. He was quite satisfied with this number - before the case was concluded, he would have to bargain with him for a thousand dollars.
"Easy to say." Lin Ming sat on the chair. Foshan was his hometown, and the people were more familiar. His men went out for a walk and got important news: this group of people stayed in Foshan for half a day, during which they bought a lot of dry food and
I needed something useful on the road. Then I booked a passenger ship bound for Sanshui County and left.
Yu Baocun was puzzled: "Go to Sanshui?"
Lin Ming and his men were very puzzled by this: they were very familiar with this waterway: passenger ships could go up the river, not only to Sanshui County, but also to the north, passing through Qingyuan, Yingde, Shaozhou, Shaoguan, and finally
We arrived at Nanxiong Prefecture. From Nanxiong Prefecture, we took the land route and passed through the Dayu Mountains before leaving Guangdong.
"Yes, brother, I am also very confused - does Mr. Gao have any old friends or relatives in Sanshui?"
"I've never heard of it." Yu Baocun frowned and said, "Besides, even if we are visiting relatives and friends, is there any reason to say goodbye without saying goodbye?"
"Exactly."
Lin Ming immediately sent out a few of his subordinates to track down the river and investigate Master Gao's movements along the way. He took the others back to Guangdong - he felt that the root cause of this matter should still be in Guangzhou. He believed that it was necessary to find out what was going on in Guangzhou.
what's going on.
Now he thinks that the possibility of Gao Xun's running away on his own is very slim. Mr. Gao is serving as an official in Guangdong well, even if there is no order from the court to transfer him, and he has not received a letter that an elder in the family has died of illness, and he has to go home to attend the funeral. It is impossible for him to just do this.
He left Guangdong, so the possibility of abandoning his official position and leaving is the least likely.
"Master Gao was probably kidnapped by some gangsters." Lin Ming said, "I just don't know who these gangsters are and why they kidnapped Master Gao?"
"Is it for money?"
"It's not like that." Lin Ming shook his head. There are no such bold gangsters in the world who kidnap local officials for money. Wouldn't it be faster and safer to kidnap wealthy people to get money?
"Could it be the work of the Australians or the Francois?" Yu Baocun said. Gao Shunqin's political opinion was to resist the barbarians, and his sudden disappearance was very beneficial to both the Australians and the Francois. The anti-barbarians in Guangzhou lost such a person
A strong backing in the officialdom will lose a lot of influence.
Lin Ming thought that this was very possible. However, if it was really their fault, the route should not be from Foshan to Sanshui, but directly from Huangpu to the Pearl River Estuary. Regardless of whether it was Haojing Ao occupied by the Francons
The Australians still occupy Xiangshan Ao, but they are both south of Guangzhou.
"I'm afraid this is a plan to make a splash in the east and attack in the west." Lin Ming said slowly, "I have sent people to Sanshui to track down the whereabouts of Lord Gao. I will also send people to the south to investigate."
"Thank you for your hard work. If you need any help from students, students will definitely help you!"
The place where Lin Ming and his men stayed was in a courtyard of Gao Residence. After running back and forth for the past few days, he was very tired. After hurriedly washing and changing clothes, he lay on the bed but couldn't sleep. Gao Shunqin's disappearance case is as follows:
There were too many details that he couldn't figure out. On the whole, it seemed that it was very likely that Mr. Gao was forcibly kidnapped, but who was the kidnapper, what was their motive, and how did they do it? There was a series of
fan.
Overall, the Francois and the Australians were the most suspect. However, there was no evidence to prove that they were responsible, and the escape route was not consistent. Lin Ming thought: It is necessary to immediately send a few more people to the Pearl River Estuary area to inquire.
News. Try to find out the whereabouts of Gao Shunqin.
Only after you find out everything about the situation can you bargain.
Lin Ming hasn't been attacking officials for too long, but the officialdom is very clear. Sometimes the truth of the incident is not the most important, but how to reduce "trouble" as much as possible is the most important. Gao Shunqin's disappearance case seems to be
Everyone in the officialdom is nervous, but what they are nervous about is not the safety of Gao Xunjian, but the negative impact this incident will ultimately have on his official career. Guangdong officialdom can no longer withstand a new round of turmoil - Wang Duzhi
He was blamed for the fiasco in Qiongzhou. If another Gao Shunqin case were to occur, the Guangdong officialdom would no longer be able to fool him.