Tang riddles

On the first night of boarding, at the stern of the red ship, Kuta released a white dove.This white dove carried a first-class secret letter, which contained a warrant from the sect master to thoroughly investigate the internal personnel issues, and it would be sent directly to the current head of the Dark Crow Hall.

There is a problem with Qianyumen's intelligence network, this is what Shen Sui is most worried about.The biggest possibility is that the inside of Qianyumen has been infiltrated, but they didn't realize it until today.This matter is currently the thing that most affects Shen Sui's heartstrings, but she has the imperial order and is thousands of miles away, so she cannot personally preside over the investigation for the time being, and can only entrust it to the current head of the Dark Crow Hall.I hope that things can be found out as soon as possible.

The red ship traveled south along the Jialing River at a considerable speed.On the first day they boarded the ship, they had already crossed Jiameng and Cangxi and arrived in Langzhou.After resting in Langzhou for half a day, the red ship set off again. During the two-day trip, it passed through the south, Xinzheng, Xiangru, Nanchong, and the early Han Dynasty and arrived in Hezhou.

After passing through Hezhou, you will enter the Fujiang section of the lower reaches of the Jialing River, and soon you will reach Yuzhou.The Jialing River flows into the Yangtze River in Yuzhou. This is the core area of ​​the Ba people. Before the Sui Dynasty, it was called Chuzhou, and it is also the land where countless Chu people were raised.When they turn around Yuzhou and enter the Yangtze River, they will not be far from their destination, Kuizhou.

This trip was in a hurry, and they seldom got off the boat to rest. When they arrived in Yuzhou, they got off the boat, boarded the ancient Yuxiong Pass, and watched the spectacular scene of the confluence of the two rivers.The turquoise water of the Jialing River collides with the torrent of the murky yellow Yangtze River, creating turbulent vortices that are clear and turbid.From a distance, the billowing Jiang Tao looks like a mane of a wild horse, and the sound of the waves is like a galloping horse.When this scene comes into view, one can only feel the broadness in the chest, and the broad-minded and far-sighted feelings rise up, which makes people hesitate and want to write poems.

"Mount Emei's half-moon autumn casts its shadow into the water flow of Pingjiang River. At night, the clear stream flows towards the Three Gorges. I miss you and go to Yuzhou without seeing you." Standing on the ancient Yuxiong Pass, Shen Sui recited loudly.This is the "Moon and Autumn on Mount Emei" written by Li Taibai, a poet who has become famous in recent years, when he traveled to the land of Bashu. It is written in Yuzhou.Shen Sui stood facing the wind, looking at the river scenery, thinking in his heart, I heard that this young and very talented poet Li Taibai also traveled to the Yangtze River recently, I wonder if he would be lucky enough to meet him for a while.

On the seventh day of February, the red ship that the group took had gone deep into the Yangtze River Basin.

Eight days later, on February [-]th, the ship sailed through Fuling, Fengdu, Zhongzhou, Nanpu, and Yun'an, and along the wide surface of the Yangtze River, the red ship arrived in Kuizhou at the fastest speed.

In the early morning of February 24, the Red Ship entered the West Port of Fengjie, Kuizhou.Departing on the 22th of the first month, after [-] days, the investigation team finally arrived at Kuizhou from Chang'an.This is because the waterway was taken halfway. If the original plan was followed, it would take a month's journey to arrive.At this time, it has been a long time since the incident happened. There was news along the way that the salvage of the corpses is still going on, but what is certain is that after such a long time, no one has been alive or dead. Zhu Yuanmao, the all-powerful governor of Jingzhou, probably encountered an accident.

The capital of Kuizhou is Fengjie County, the throat of the four southwest roads, and the belt of Wu Chu Wanli.It was here that Liu Bei Baidi City entrusted Gu Zhuge Kongming.Around the last years of Emperor Taizong, in order to honor Zhuge Kongming's high character and integrity, the old name "Renfu County" was changed to "Fengjie County".

In recent days, the port area has been extremely busy. Except for the normal merchant ships and passenger ships, all the military ships and official ships that can be mobilized are all on the nearby river. The government even recruited many fishing boats from the people. Carry out fishing operations.Every day, these ships have to come in and out of the port non-stop, reporting the progress of the salvage.The governor of Kuizhou, who presided over the salvage, simply set up his headquarters on an official ship moored at the port, and he himself lived on the ship.Every day, the governor of Kuizhou would go down the river in person, and he did his best, but unfortunately, the results were not satisfactory.

When the red ship Shen Sui and others took entered the port, the governor of Kuizhou received the news immediately, and hurriedly led his auxiliaries to welcome it.

Pei Yaoqing, Liu Yucheng and Shen Sui, the three officials representing the Third Division, all put on their official uniforms, took their appointment orders, and walked down the board from the boat to the trestle bridge.He saw a local official in a fourth-rank official uniform, leading a large group of people, coming towards them.

With a dozen or so steps away, the local official had already folded his hands and bowed to Shen Sui and the others.This bow was so long that he walked up to him and bowed his back deeply.

"Brother Cheng Bing, don't do this big gift, get up quickly." Pei Yaoqing who was standing at the front quickly helped him up.

"Pei Shilang, Liu Yuanwailang, Shen Sizhi, I'm looking forward to you. If you don't come again, I will really be unable to hold on." He raised his head, and Shen Sui saw his appearance.Medium build, thin body, official robe dangling on the body.The beard is messy, the fundus of the eyes is blue, and the face is haggard and vicissitudes.

This is the current governor of Kuizhou-Liu Zhiliu Chengbing.

"Why do you want to be an official? You are a fourth-rank official, higher than any of us." Pei Yaoqing laughed.

"Pei Shilang's words are wrong. You are imperial envoys, representing saints, and Liu is naturally a subordinate."

On the way to Kuizhou, Shen Sui got acquainted with the history and personality of the governor Liu, and knew that he was a Jinshi in the first emperor's dynasty. After the sage ascended the throne, he officially became an official, and his first position was the local county magistrate.Now I have been an official for 17 years, never entered the central government, and has been an official at the local level. On average, my political performance is almost at the upper-middle level every year.As the name suggests, he is extremely upright, sometimes a bit pedantic.He is very serious in doing things and considers the people very much. He can be regarded as a good official of Qingming.This time, in the land under his jurisdiction, such a major event happened, and it was difficult for this local official.

Without further ado, Liu Zhi introduced the search and rescue team he is currently leading.First, there are two supervisors - Shi Haoye, the governor of Jingzhou, and Sima Jiangteng, the governor of Jingnan, followed by an assistant - Shi Li Zhongyuan, the governor of Yizhou, and finally three deacons - Sima of Wanzhou Hu Liang, Gui Governor Shi Qingxiyuan, and Fengjie County Magistrate Sun Fei.

In addition, there is another key person - Zhang Shuo, but Zhang Shuo is not here at the moment, he is participating in the search and rescue at the scene of the incident.The former prime minister can't sit still now, this time it's about his innocence, not to mention the person who had the accident was his old friend.

There were too many people, Shen Sui didn't remember all of them for a while.Liu Zhi was impatient, after the introduction, he rushed to take Shen Sui and the others to another official search and rescue ship to the accident site after a few words of greeting.

Pei Yaoqing and Liu Yucheng had just arrived after a long journey, and they were very tired. They hadn't taken a breath yet, so they really didn't want to go to see the scene now.On the contrary, Shen Sui was very enthusiastic and said that he could leave at any time.

Pei Yaoqing and Liu Yucheng also knew that the matter was urgent, although they were tired, they reluctantly agreed.As soon as everyone got off the red ship, they boarded the official ship again. The official ship started and slowly sailed out of Fengjie West Port.

Liu Zhi was probably out of his mind, he hadn't noticed that there was a lady in white behind Shen Sui's three officials.Liu Zhi didn't ask about Zhang Ruohan's identity until he boarded the official ship.Hearing that Zhang Ruohan is the youngest daughter of Zhang Jiuling and a female official of the princess' mansion of the Jin Kingdom, she came all the way to Kuizhou to worship Buddha and pray for the princess, he nodded to express his understanding.It's just that he was a little strange in his heart. Since he came to worship Buddha, why did he run with their official ship? Could it be that Mrs. Zhang San is also very interested in this case?

But he didn't care about so much, the official ship set sail and sailed eastward quickly along the current.On the boat, the search and rescue team represented by Liu Zhi sat down with the investigation team of the third division that had just arrived and held a seminar on the case. Liu Zhi explained the case in detail for Pei Yaoqing, Liu Yucheng and Shen Sui.

"On the eve of the Shangyuan Festival, Zhu Yuanmao arrived in Yizhou from Chang'an and visited Zhang Daoji. On the morning of Shangyuan, the two set off from Yizhou, chartered a passenger ship operated by local people, and traveled eastward along the river from Yizhou. On the evening of the [-]th day of the first lunar month, they arrived near Qutang Gorge and Wu Gorge in the lower reaches of Kuizhou.

From the day they boarded the ship, Zhu Yuanmao and Zhang Daoji set up wine on the deck every day, enjoying the scenery along the river while having a banquet.The [-]th day was no exception. The two were in high spirits, and they were already very drunk near dusk.Zhang Daoji fell asleep leaning against the armchair, and when he woke up, he found that it was already dawn. He was covered with a blanket and slept on the deck all night.

He found that Zhu Yuanmao, who was sitting across from him, had disappeared, and a boatman saw that he was awake, and came to serve him.He asked where Zhu Yuanmao had gone, but the boatman was not sure, he only guessed that Zhu Yuanmao probably went back to the cabin to rest.Zhang Daoji didn't care, and went back to his room to catch up on sleep.When he was woken up again, the boatmen were already in a mess, all clamoring that Zhu Yuanmao had disappeared.Zhang Daoji was frightened into a cold sweat, and quickly got up and led the boatman to search the boat inside and out, but he really couldn't find anyone.Only then did Zhang Daoji realize that something had happened, so he hurriedly ordered the boat to dock and went ashore to report to the officials.At that time, their ship had already arrived in Guizhou. "

After Liu Zhi finished speaking, Shen Sui spoke:

"There are two questions. I would like to know more about them. The first is the time. The time Governor Liu just mentioned is rather vague. If someone's understanding is correct, Zhu Yuanmao disappeared from the evening of the [-]th to the dawn of the [-]th, right? "

"Exactly." Liu Zhi nodded.

When Shen Sui asked questions, everyone's eyes were on her. Liu Yucheng had personal experience, and he knew that once Shen Sui asked questions, others would have nothing to interrupt.This Xuedao Mingjuan will change his low-key style in the process of handling the case, and become very vigorous and aggressive. He will definitely ask questions clearly and clearly.And Shen Sui's name has spread far and wide since the case of Ci'en was solved.When Zhu Yuanmao's disappearance broke out, when Liu Zhi and his group of local officials received the list of investigation teams sent by the central government, they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when they saw Shen Sui's name, because they knew that the savior had arrived.At this moment, this "savior" showed his demeanor in front of everyone for the first time, and people couldn't help watching with bated breath.

"This time is too broad, I don't know if it can be more precise." Shen Sui said.

Liu Zhi was also very helpless, shaking his head and said: "This time was provided by Zhang Daoji. At that time, he was the only one on the boat who was closest to Zhu Yuanmao. The rest of the boatmen did not dare to disturb them. They were all busy or resting in other places, and did not witness the incident with their own eyes. The situation at that time. Unfortunately, Brother Bo Zhao, this time cannot be more accurate."

Shen Sui nodded, expressing his understanding.Then she asked:

"The second point I want to ask is the composition of the crew on that ship. Except for Zhu Yuanmao and Zhang Daoji, what is the situation of the other boatmen? What about Zhu Yuanmao and Zhang Daoji's personal companions?"

"The owner of the boat is surnamed Zhou, and Xingyi is generally called Zhou Dalang. There is one helmsman, Zhou Dalang's younger brother Zhou Zhoulang. There are three boatmen, two of whom are Zhou Dalang's sons and one is Zhou Zhoulang's son. Zhou Dalang's eldest son is Zhou Mao, the second son is Zhou Jin. The son of Wednesday is Zhou Zhong. In addition, Zhou Da’s wife Zheng, Wednesday’s wife Feng, and Wednesday’s daughter, these three daughters are responsible for lighting the fire and cooking on the boat, and are in charge of cooking. I don't come out to meet people on weekdays.

Zhu Yuanmao went to Chang'an alone, with no relatives around him, only servants and guards, but because of the large number of people, Zhou's boat was not a big boat, so they couldn't all go aboard.In order to be clean, Zhu Yuanmao had parted ways with these servants and guards when they boarded the boat.Zhang Daoji originally lived in Yizhou alone, with only one old servant by his side. He was also on the boat when the incident happened, but because of seasickness, he had been resting in the cabin.There were only two distinguished guests, Zhu Yuanmao and Zhang Daoji, on board.These servants took another ship and set off after a day and a half.Although they walked the same waterway, they didn't know that something happened to Zhu Yuanmao.They didn't know the news until they arrived in Jingzhou. "

Speaking of this, a guard from outside came in to report, saying that it was near Qutang Gorge, the current is relatively fast, and the boat will be a little bumpy, so everyone should be careful.

But Shen Sui stood up and proposed to go outside to have a look, and without waiting for everyone's reaction, she put up her robe and left the cabin.Everyone could only follow behind her and also left the cabin.

Once on the deck, you can see the long river winding forward in front of you. On both sides of the river, cliffs stand tall, forming a visual effect of gradually closing and clamping forward.The rock walls are grey-yellow, occasionally covered with plants, rugged and steep, and strangely shaped.

The river wind blew Shen Sui's robe, and she saw Zhang Ruohan standing on the railing not far away, watching the scenery quietly, Wuya and Qianhe were not waiting by her side.Shen Sui walked towards her involuntarily, and stood beside her.Zhang Ruohan tilted his head slightly, glanced at her quietly, and turned his eyes back to the river view on both sides of the bank again.

"Among the colorful clouds of Chaoci Baidi, thousands of miles of Jiangling will be returned in one day. The sound of apes on both sides of the bank can't stop, and the light boat has passed the Ten Thousand Mountains." Shen Sui read with a smile.

"It seems that Shen Sizhi likes Li Taibai's poems very much." Zhang Ruohan also smiled.

Pei Yaoqing's calling sounded from behind:

"Brother Bozhao, go back to the cabin, the ship is bumping, it's not safe on this deck." Pei Yaoqing said with a confused face after his long beard was blown flying.Liu Zhi beside him also nodded in agreement, and all the officials followed behind them.

"Everyone, go back to the cabin. Mr. Shen wants to take a look on the deck, maybe it can inspire you." Shen Sui turned around and said with cupped hands.

Pei Yaoqing was still waiting to persuade her, but suddenly, Liu Yucheng, who was at the side, suddenly pointed to a strange sight that appeared on the cliff not far away, and said in surprise:

"What is that? But the coffin?"

Shen Sui turned around to look, and saw a long, dark object slowly appearing in front of him at the corner of the river, above the cliff.These long strips are distributed on the cliff in an irregular shape, or like steps, or like a chessboard, scattered at first, and gradually densely packed as the boat goes deeper.

Shen Sui smiled and said:

"Liu Yuanwailang is right. That is the inner and outer coffin, the hanging coffin of the Bo people."

Liu Yucheng felt goosebumps and scalp numbness, and blurted out a sentence:

"Wuman, it's really evil."

The author has something to say: Hanging coffins are one of the burial ceremonies of ethnic minorities in southern my country, and are generally popular in Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Anhui, Hubei and other places.Even in modern times, it is very unbelievable.In the eyes of the Tang people at that time, especially the people of the Central Plains, it was very evil.In the Central Plains where Confucianism prevails, burial is the most correct burial method.It is the most common thought to regard death as life, and to burial generously and grandly.Buddhist cremation was once unacceptable to the common people in the Central Plains, and it took hundreds of years to gradually integrate into it.Nailing the coffin to the cliff was simply unimaginable for the ancient Central Plains people.