Fenghou

Wu Taigu nodded, "How do you think I got the money to buy the land? He Sheng is a spy from the Kingdom of Jin."

The wife slapped her thigh and said anxiously: "Then what should I do! Otherwise, you can run away overnight!"

"Run away!"

Wu Taigu sighed, "Now I'm doing something for him. If I do well and can avoid the death penalty, I hope that bastard He Sheng will come to me quickly!"

……

In the morning of the next day, Pi Xiangyang returned to Taiyuan. The journey was full of dust and dust, but he didn't care about rest, so he called Song Kuan to explain the task.

"This time, Marshal Du personally gave me the task, asking me to get the formula or sample of Tiehuolei no matter what. This is also the emperor's will. Our task is very heavy."

Song Kuan hesitated and said, "I remember I got an iron fire thunder once before? It also cost fifty thousand coins."

Pi Xiangyang shook his head, "I suspect that it is a fake iron fire mine. Both the gunpowder and the iron casing are suspicious. I personally saw the iron casing left before I left. It was polished very smooth and dense, very thick. Although the wood fire Thunderbolt and Porcelain Firebolt are both thick-walled, but they are easy to break, so they must be thicker, and they can explode even if they are thicker, but this is pig iron! How can such a fine and thick iron Firebolt explode? Can it explode if it is thinner?"

Song Kuan laughed and said, "The manager is right!"

Pi Xiangyang snorted and said, "But those firearms makers said that I was talking nonsense, I didn't understand anything, and I was talking nonsense. They just said that this Tie Huo Lei must be true, and I had nothing to say, so I wanted to find it One really shows them."

"If you want to find the real thing, I'm afraid you have to go to Jingzhao!"

"You don't understand this!"

Pi Xiangyang said lightly: "The closer you are to Jingzhao, the stricter the management, the less you can find things. If you want to find Tie Huolei, you have to go to a remote place."

At this time, his subordinates reported in the hall, "Boss, Zhou Qing is here!"

Pi Xiangyang smiled and said, "I was looking for him, and he came, let him come quickly!"

Not long after, Zhou Qing hurried up the hall, knelt down on one knee and saluted, "See the manager!"

Pi Xiangyang asked: "Have you done everything that Lao Song told you?"

"Before Beizhi, I knew a Dutou who specialized in firearms. This time Commander Song specially instructed him, and Beizhi invited him to drink twice."

Pi Xiangyang was very interested, and quickly asked: "Have you talked about Tie Huolei?"

The first thousand 290 chapter two see through

"He said that Tie Huo Lei is gone now."

Pi Xiangyang was startled, "What do you mean?"

"I also asked him what he meant. He meant that all the small and medium-sized iron fire mines were destroyed, and only the large iron fire mines were kept in Jingzhao. Now the fire mines sent to them are all wood fire mines. It's the same as before."

This news disappointed Pi Xiangyang. If Tie Huo Lei was destroyed, where would he find samples?

Zhou Qing took out another folded piece of paper and handed it to Pi Xiangyang, "The manager can take a look at this!"

"what is this?"

"This is the sketch of Tie Huolei. I said I had never seen it before, so he drew one for me to see."

Pi Xiangyang took over the sketch, the Tie Huo Lei on it was like a wax gourd, and there was a handle at the top, which looked like a man, and the drawing was a little numb.

"What is this handle?"

"He said it was a wooden case, waterproof, with a matchlock inside, and knocked it off with a hammer when using it."

Pi Xiangyang nodded, "If it's waterproof, it can be used to blow up a ship!"

He asked again: "What does this iron shell look like?"

Zhou Qing pointed to the pockmarks on it and said, "I asked him what the pockmarks meant, and he said that the iron shell was very rough, and it looked like it was made of broken copper and rotten iron."

Pi Xiangyang patted his thigh, "I'm just saying! How could it be a dense and thick iron shell? Those bastards won't admit it even after they got the fake."

Song Kuan also shook his head, "After one or two years of research, it's really incompetent to actually research a fake fire mine. With these idiots around, even if you give them the formula, you can't make it."

"It's very possible!"

Zhou Qingdao: "The firearms all said that the iron shell is very difficult to make. It's not good at all. Either it can't be exploded, or it has no effect after being exploded. It's not as good as the wood fire mine. They said it took a year of trial and error to make it. , I don’t know if it’s true or not, anyway, he said it’s a pity to destroy it now.”

"I see. Don't ask too much about firearms. Asking more will make the other party suspicious. Anyway, if you have a good relationship, you can go!"

"Retire from humble position!"

Zhou Qingyili left, Pi Xiangyang was a little nervous, the Tie Huo Lei was destroyed, where could he find a ready-made Tie Huo Lei?

"Boss, is there no other way?"

Pi Xiangyang shook his head, "It can only be said that it is unrealistic to start the iron fire mine from the Western Army. Regardless of the blueprints, formulas, and craftsmen, it must be their top secret. Unless they can start from the top like the Song Dynasty, it is obviously impossible for the Western Army. , so I thought about going back. In the year of Jingkang, the Song army guarding the city once made iron fire mines. Although only one out of ten bombs was blown up, it was made after all. There are two master firearms inspectors from the Song Dynasty living in Taiyuan Mansion, as long as we find these two, even if we can’t make the Western Army Iron Fire Thunder, we can still make the Song Dynasty Iron Fire Thunder.”

Song Kuan was stunned for a moment, "Taiyuan Mansion is so big, there are many counties below, and there are huge crowds, where can I find these two people?"

Pi Xiangyang smiled slyly and said, "Of course I'm looking for clues. I believe that there must be detailed records of the two of them in the government's old files, so I asked you to give Wu Taigu 200 taels of silver. Isn't he just in charge of the household registration?"

……

There is an alley in the east of the city. This kind of alley is also called Yihu Alley. There are walls on both sides, and there is only one door at the end. There are not many such alleys, and they are usually rich people.

The house in this alley has been closed for several months, and it was rented out only two days ago, and the tenant is naturally Jiang Zhu'er.

The street where the alley is located is a commercial street, and there are shops along the street. There are seven or eight shops on the opposite side of the alley, and one of them is called Xiaoying Powder Store. The owner of the shop is a pair of sisters. They look normal, but they are members of the internal guard surveillance camp, including middle-aged men, old people, women, teenagers and so on.

At this time, a carriage came and turned directly into an alley. After a while, the door inside opened and the carriage drove directly in.

The two watching women were stunned, and the younger sister hurried to the official office to report.

……

The reason why Zhong Huan was able to stand alone was that he was prudent and decisive in doing things, thoughtful, and not impetuous. Although the carriage found by his subordinates was probably Pi Xiangyang's return, he still did not order the arrest. First, he only saw the carriage. , did not see anyone, just a guess, and secondly, Wu Taigu has not met Pi Xiangyang, and Feng Abao has no news.

You can't think that Pi Xiangyang has returned just because of a carriage, if not, if they act rashly, they will startle the snake.

It was precisely because of various considerations that Zhong Huan restrained the urge to arrest and ordered his subordinates to continue monitoring and not to act rashly.

At noon, Wu Taigu came to the teahouse again at the invitation of He Sheng.

"I'll keep it short!"

He Sheng took a sip of tea and went straight to the topic, "We hope you can help find two people. These two people were master craftsmen of the Bianliang Firearms Bureau 20 years ago. They returned to Taiyuan Mansion during the Jianyan period. They are both around 60 years old... "

"What are their names?" Wu Taigu asked.

He Sheng shook his head, "I don't know!"

"That's hard to find!"

Wu Taigu frowned and said: "There are counties under Taiyuan Prefecture, with huge crowds. Moreover, household registration registration generally does not register occupations. You said they are 60 years old. What if they have passed away?"

"It's hard for us to find, but it's not difficult for you. You can look up your previous household registration information, find craftsmen, and craftsmen have their offices in the remarks column. It's easy for you, but we I'll give you 200 taels of silver, that's the best of humanity, don't just take the money and not do anything."

At the end, He Sheng's tone became severe.

Wu Taigu said for a while: "Okay! I'll start to check when I get back, but I have to make two points clear. First, don't rush me. The old materials in the warehouse are piled up like a mountain. It's not that fast to find what you want; second, I Only Yangqu County is guaranteed, if they are in other counties in Taiyuan Prefecture, I don’t know.”

"I can't drag it on. I'll give you three days. You first find the household register of the craftsman, and give it to us. We can also look for it through other craftsmen."

He Sheng explained the task, and then left in the ox cart, but he didn't know that an old man riding a donkey followed the ox cart calmly.

……

Pi Xiangyang and his woman, Jiang Zhuer, were resting after the rain. Pi Xiangyang was lazily lying on the bed, watching Jiang Zhuer sitting in front of the mirror to touch up her makeup, "Is the money I gave you enough?" Pi Xiangyang asked road.

"Look at what you said, when was the money enough?"

Jiang Zhu'er turned her head and gave him a blank look, and said: "My expenses here are also high. I have to raise servants, eat and drink, buy clothes, and buy makeup. Look, I used to use good makeup, but now I can't afford it." I have no choice but to buy some cheap makeup powder, which saves a few car rides and can be bought at the doorstep of my house."

"I'll give you some money later, buy some good makeup powder! Don't buy cheap makeup powder from small shops."

Jiang Zhu'er rejoiced in her heart and said, "Actually, the cosmetics store in front of our house is not bad. It's a newly opened store, and it's much cheaper than big stores. I feel that it's just for me."

"Why do you say that?"

"It's very simple! It didn't exist before. It opened as soon as I came here. It has only been open for two days, and there is no business. The only customers are me and a few maids."

Pi Xiangyang was startled, and he immediately became vigilant, "You mean, there was no rouge shop before, and you opened it after you came here?"

"Yeah! I moved here and it opened."

"Is the shop facing our alley?" Pi Xiangyang asked.

"That's right, so I said it was just for me."

Pi Xiangyang secretly screamed in his heart that something was wrong. Based on his experience, this store was probably monitoring his own store. Lu Mengda must have confessed that he knew about Jiang Zhuer's existence.

Pi Xiangyang put on his clothes immediately, took out a counter ticket from Baoji Cabinet Workshop from his bag, put it on the table, and put down half a piece of jade, "There is a thousand coins in it, use the counter ticket and jade pei to get the money, The password is Shangaoluyuan, you take it out and save it yourself, I’m going to Jingzhao in these two days, if someone asks me where I’m going, you just say I’m going to Jingzhao, and I’ll be back next month, understand? "

After explaining, Pi Xiangyang left quickly through the back door, but what he didn't expect was that the back door was also monitored by the inner guards. As soon as he went out, Wang Jinniu recognized him at a glance. He and two inner guards kept a close eye on Pi Xiangyang. .

The first thousand 290 chapter three arrest

Pi Xiangyang noticed that someone was following him, so he speeded up, and Wang Jinniu and the two inner guard soldiers who were following him also speeded up.

On the street, Pi Xiangyang galloped up, followed by the inner guards chasing after him.

Pi Xiangyang suddenly turned a corner and entered an alley, the three of them also chased into the alley, but unexpectedly the alley turned out to be a dead end, Pi Xiangyang suddenly turned around and pulled out the long sword in his waist.

At this time, he saw Wang Jinniu clearly, and said with a sneer, "I said which dog has such a sharp nose, so it's you bastard. Tomorrow, I will notify Marshal Du to kill your mother-in-law and son."

Wang Jinniu was furious, he drew his saber and rushed forward, he was stabbed head-on, Pi Xiangyang dodged, and slashed out with his long sword backhand, extremely fast, "Be careful!" shouted two inner guard soldiers.

But it was too late, just heard a scream, Wang Jinniu's left hand was cut off at the wrist, he took a few steps back, fell to the side, the huge pain made him faint.

An inner guard soldier rushed forward to bandage his wound, another inner guard soldier gave a loud shout, drew his knife and rushed forward, and the two fought fiercely together.

After bandaging the severed hand, the inner guard soldiers saw that their companions couldn't resist, so they also drew their swords and rushed forward to help. The three of them fought together. sword, clutched his throat and fell to the ground.

Another inner guard soldier's eyes were red, and the storm rushed towards Pi Xiangyang. At this moment, both of them froze. The inner guard soldier was also pierced through the chest by a sword.

"Clang!" Pi Xiangyang's sword fell to the ground.

The inner guard soldier also fell limply, Pi Xiangyang half-kneeled on the ground, and pulled out the knife embedded in his shoulder forcefully, blood gushing out.

He was about to go forward and cut off Wang Jinniu's head. At this moment, the sound of hurried footsteps came, and some people shouted. Pi Xiangyang was startled, and he could not care about Wang Jinniu. Go up the wall and fall heavily behind the wall.

……

Wu Taigu honestly reported to Zhong Huan the purpose of He Sheng looking for him, and as expected, the other party's purpose was still for Tie Huolei, who actually wanted to find the former Bianliang gunsmith, this Pi Xiangyang really knew other ways.

At this moment, Zhong Huan finally figured out that Pi Xiangyang had returned.

"You can look for these two gunsmiths, but you must notify me immediately when you find them."

"I understand, I know where the household registration information is, and I can probably find it today."

Wu Taigu left in a hurry, and not long after he left, Zhong Huan received an urgent report that Pi Xiangyang left through the back door of Jiang Zhuer's house, followed closely by the surveillance guards, and the situation is unknown now.

Chong Huan was shocked, and immediately ordered the commander Huang Wei to lead fifty brothers to rush to support, while he himself rushed to the military office.

After a while, Zhong Huan rushed to the military office and begged Niu Gao to close the city gate immediately to prevent Pi Xiangyang from escaping from the city.

Niu Gao immediately ordered to close all the city gates immediately, and sent [-] soldiers to assist Zhong Huan in arresting the spies of the Kingdom of Jin.

The first person to be caught was Liu Kai. He was renting a house for Jiang Zhuer, but he was watched by the inner guard soldiers, who caught him at his residence and confiscated all his money.

The second person to be arrested was He Sheng. After he and Wu Taigu broke up in the teahouse, he was also watched by the inner guards. After Zhong Huan issued an arrest order, ten inner guards broke into the house and arrested He Sheng over him.

Inside the government office, Zhong Huan looked angrily at the two corpses on the ground, the corpses of two inner guard soldiers, and Wang Jinniu next to him was also seriously injured. His left hand was cut off at the wrist, and his face was pale due to excessive blood loss. The bleeding has been stopped urgently , the doctor was bandaging him. Although his life was saved, he was disabled.

"Commander Qi, we checked the scene and found that Pi Xiangyang was also seriously injured. There was blood on the wall and behind the wall. He got into an ox cart and headed west of the city. Now we are searching for this ox cart."

Zhong Huan was agitated for a while, but Pi Xiangyang escaped. If he knew that when the carriage entered Jiang Zhuer's house, he should have ordered the arrest. The chance was fleeting, so he was not decisive enough!

It's useless to regret it, now I can only find a way to catch him again.

At this time, a subordinate came forward to report: "Commander, Liu Kai confessed!"

Chong Huan was overjoyed that Liu Kai was in charge of internal affairs, and he handled all the rented houses. As long as he confessed, he would take the initiative again.

He immediately ordered: "Let him recruit all the hiding places of the spies, and dispatch them all accurately!"

As night fell, the internal guards, with the cooperation of the army, were still arresting people throughout the city. Song Kuan was blocked in the room and committed suicide by taking poison. Zhou Qing and several of his men were also arrested by the army in the barracks.

All the main leaders have been arrested, and most of the underlings have also been arrested because of Liu Kai's rent list, but the whereabouts of the main culprit, Pi Xiangyang, is still unknown, and the ox cart driver who transported him has no idea, or even where he is Getting out of the car, Pi Xiangyang's cunning really made Zhong Huan a little restless.

……

The gate of Wangji fur shop is still closed, and there are a few internal guards outside who are watching secretly. There is a small yard in the alley [-] steps away from the fur shop. This is the dormitory of the fur shop guys. The shops are also the earliest real estate purchases. Originally, there were four assistants. Some of the assistants were transferred to Jingzhao, and some moved to other places. Currently, Feng Abao only lives there.

Feng Abao also heard the news that the gates of the city were closed and the army was arresting people everywhere. He was quite nervous, wondering if he could be forgiven?