I solved crimes in the Song Dynasty and strengthened the country [Seventh Five-Year]

51 Blossoms

Because Xu Zhizhou of Langzhou left a letter in the public post, inviting Jiang Lin and his party to meet directly in the waters where the military salary disappeared, so Jiang Lin and the others simply settled their luggage at the post, and then took a boat to Songjiang went.

It was already noon when everyone set off, and there was no time to go around the empty island in the north of Songjiang Dang, so the five rats, as locals, put their luggage on the boat and planned to go home directly after seeing the scene. .

After all, Jiang Lin assumed the title of an imperial envoy, besides Xie Ling and the others who were close to him, and Tan Cuo and Yun Shu who accompanied him, it was not appropriate to stay outside.

What's more, there is Fan Yushi with an unclear attitude watching beside him, teaching him not to dare to violate the rules in the slightest.

The only one among them who can come and go freely is Zhan Zhao.

The playful Bai Yutang kept urging him to visit Lu's Manor.It doesn't matter if you don't bring any luggage. My house is very big, and I have all kinds of clothes.

Zhan Zhao felt that it was not good for him to go empty-handed, so he politely declined Bai Yutang, and made the latter lose his temper.

But before Bai Yutang started to make a fuss, the boat they were on started shaking up and down.

Jiang Ping was worthy of the title of "Tianjiang Rat", and immediately stood up to help the boatman with the oars, resisting the turbulent water.

The rest of the people went into the cabin, and Lu Fang said: "Everyone, it's just that the wind has picked up, which has caused waves in the Songjiang Dangnan, which has never been peaceful. The boatman and the fourth brother have very rich experience on the water, so you don't have to worry too much about it." worry."

Jiang Lindao: "Why did Colonel Lu say that Dangnan 'has never been peaceful'?"

Lu Fang sighed, opened the hatch, pointed to a high place in the distance and said, "Jiang Shaoqing, can you see the two mountains named 'Black and White Tower' in front of you?"

The Black and White Pagoda Mountains were blocking the middle of the Songjiang River, and the boat that Jiang Lin and the others were on would pass through the huge natural caves in the mountains later.

He couldn't see clearly in the distance, but when Jiang Lin raised his eyes, he discovered the wonder of this mountain.

I saw the two mountains, one in the south and one in the north, one black and the other white. The black mountain seemed to have only mud, while the white mountain was dotted with faint greenery.

Xie Ling touched the center of his brows, and said: "The white layer on the top of the mountain can't be snow, can it?...But Xiaguan has never heard that it snows in the Chuan Gorge."

"This is the strangeness of this 'Black and White Pagoda'. There has never been snow in Langzhou, but every winter there will be a layer of snow on the White Pagoda, which will not thaw until the end of spring, and will freeze again in autumn. Therefore, during this season, the water flow in the Dangnan area connected to the 'Black and White Tower' will be more turbulent, and those who are not experienced boatmen generally dare not come here by boat."

More than ten days had passed since the army passed by here, and the momentary turmoil that Jiang Lin and the others felt due to the wind blowing at this moment was far less than what the army experienced at that time.

Jiang Lin frowned and said, "Then why didn't the team go north, that is, the route close to the empty island?"

Xie Ling was going to look up the case records that Xu Zhizhou put in the post station, but Fan Chunren, who was silent all the way beside him, said: "According to what Military Academy He who was escorting the military pay said, a dam to the north collapsed at that time, and the local soldiers and laborers in Langzhou It is being repaired, and the surrounding environment is very chaotic. Confidentiality and efficiency must be the first priority when transporting military pay and black iron, so he chose to go to Dangnan, which is even more difficult."

After speaking, Fan Chunren picked up a bowl of tea and sipped it.

His eyes didn't fall on Jiang Lin, but Jiang Lin somehow felt that he was despised by the other party.

But at noon, I was really busy confirming the documents and tokens, and I hadn't had time to read the contents of the physical evidence records carefully.

Jiang Lin was thinking about explaining, but the cabin seemed to be hit by some heavy object and shook violently.Immediately, Jiang Ping yelled from outside: "Hey, how do you sail the boat? Didn't you see my hand gestures?"

While Jiang Ping was talking, it didn't take long for him to use the long oar to get stuck on the nearby stone wall and stabilize the hull of the boat—it can be said that his boat skills are extraordinary.

Jiang Lin took a look through the hatch, and saw that the boat that hit them was heading towards them. Thanks to the efforts of the boatman on the opposite side, the speed of the boat was not spinning too fast.

Even though it was such a dangerous situation, the half-grown boys on the boat were not afraid at all, and complained to another young boy who was on the side of the boat: "Why do you take this crap as a treasure? It's all your fault The direction we pointed was not accurate at all, which caused us to crash into the opposite boat!"

As he said that, the child threw a round object onto Jiang Lin's boat and said, "You guys should get dizzy too."

Jiang Lin was closest to the cabin door, and he reached out to pick up the bowl-like gadget on the board, but now the two boats had moved far away, and he didn't think he could have the arm strength to pull the boat together. It was thrown back to the poor-looking teenager.

He touched the engraving on the small copper bowl, and his fingertips got some water stains, but he was still not sure what it was.

Bai Yutang on the side suddenly came over and said, "This 'Shui Siman' is quite clever, but a piece of the needle is missing, so it won't work anymore."

·

There was a slight delay on the road, and it was already dusk when Jiang Lin and the others came out of the black and white tower.After chatting with the officials waiting by the river, the sky became more and more drowsy.

There are mainly three officials that Jiang Lin met this time.

The local responsible officials in Langzhou are Xu Zhizhou and Su Tongpan.

Both are in their 50s and [-]s. The former speaks smooth and decent, while the latter is an official sent by the central government to supervise the local area, and his conversation is very restrained and rigorous.

The rest, of course, was He Military Academy who was in charge of escorting the military pay and black iron.

In this case of the disappearance of military pay, He Military Academy cannot absolve itself of the blame anyway.As soon as he saw the imperial envoy arriving, he immediately knelt down and admitted his mistake, and first he wanted to receive the penalty for dereliction of duty.

Jiang Lin glanced at the tattoos on his face and the white hair on his sideburns, and said, "He Military Academy doesn't have to be like this. I'm waiting to find out where this batch of military salaries went, and why the ships with the black iron on them didn't Fly on wings. You should tell me about the specific circumstances of the night when you disappeared."

"Yes." Military Academy He bowed his head and said, "On the afternoon of the fifth day of March, Xu Zhizhou and the general proposed to transport the grain and grass after the Dangbei dam was repaired, but the general wanted to transport the general's salary to the northern army as soon as possible, so he took a shortcut. Lead the fleet through the cave under the 'Black and White Tower' mountain."

"The last general paid great attention to the changes in the flow rate of the river along the way, and he kept walking very carefully, but he didn't expect that when he was walking near the exit of the cave, the army's ships ran into a hidden reef, and then collided with each other in a series... Teach all the cargo ships to sink in the process..."

"Didn't the soldiers on board save any military pay or black iron?"

Military Academy He shook his head annoyedly, and said: "This escort took the form of separation of salaries and soldiers. Most of the soldiers were concentrated on military ships that were convenient for combat. There were not many people on the cargo ships. They travel on the river on weekdays. The form is also conducive to the military ships surrounding the cargo ships, so that outsiders will not have the opportunity to get close to the military pay and black iron..."

"However, in the narrow and winding cave under the Black and White Pagoda, because there are not many soldiers with water access in the team, considering the safety of personnel, the military ships are arranged at the head and tail... But this is exactly what caused One of the reasons why the soldiers failed to rescue them."

"How many ships are there, and what size are they?"

"The cargo ships are about ten feet long, seven in total, and the military ships are nearly eight feet long, six in total." Military Academy He continued to talk about the situation at that time, "Those cargo ships are much heavier than the military ships, so even if they are close to the military ships Then, once it hits a hidden reef, the speed of the sunken ship is much beyond the imagination of the soldiers. Coupled with the vortex formed by the sunken ship in the water, it is difficult for most soldiers to approach the boxes that have sunk into the water...Only the extremely water-permeable Lao Lu alone saw the military pay... disappeared in the water."

Jiang Lin recalled the whole process of them passing through the black and white pagoda hole just now.

The interior of the cave is narrow, the light is pitch black, and it is almost impossible to see things.

When the current is turbulent, two ordinary passenger ships may collide, let alone a cargo ship used by the army to transport goods.

Jiang Lin estimated and compared the size of the boat with the length of the entire cave.

In the case of a relatively tight layout, when the three military ships in front approach the exit of the cave, most of the ships, except the one at the rear, should be in the shadow of the cave.

Jiang Lin's eyes fell on Lao Lu who was standing not far behind He Military Academy, and said, "Which ship were you on?"

"Above the penultimate military ship...At that time, I saw that the ship in front of me had encountered a hidden reef, and countless boxes fell into the water. I quickly taught people to moor the ship. I put a rope on it and went into the water to rescue it, but saw that the ship was broken. There seemed to be a layer of black mist spreading out inside the box, and when Beizhi dragged the box to the surface of the water, there was only water left in the box..."

Lao Lu asked with a tense face, "This, is there a ghost and a god at work?"

Xie Ling couldn't help trembling when she heard the words, but Jiang Lin touched her chin thoughtfully.

He specifically confirmed the location of Lao Lu just now because he was very concerned about how the other party could see the black mist underwater if he was in a dark cave.

However, the penultimate ship that Lao Lu was in should be right at the entrance of the cave. Combined with the direction of sunlight at that time, it is indeed possible to see the so-called black fog.

Well, since the other party's testimony may be true, he has to think about it from another angle, what is the reason why Lao Lu saw this cloud of black mist.

But before Jiang Lin could outline all the possibilities in his mind, Xie Ling, who was standing beside him, gasped and grabbed his sleeve.

"Look, Shaoqing, look over there..."

As soon as these words came out, most people's gazes followed the direction of Xie Ling's fingers, and then their scalps went numb.

I saw a ghostly figure floating on the river at the exit of the black and white pagoda cave.

The exit of the cave was pitch black, and if you looked carefully, you could see the "man" with disheveled hair on his temples, not to mention a long knife in his hand. It looked extremely hideous under the sky.

Looking at the surface of the water illuminated by the fire, blood-colored filth slowly spread.

This picture is really weird!

Before Jiang Lin could open his mouth for a while, he heard someone beside him murmur: "The dragon's head, the pig's body...it's him, it's him, that ghost general from the previous dynasty, that traitor..."

These words immediately resonated with a soldier: "He, why did he appear suddenly?...Could it be that someone is going to rebel?"

Jiang Lin's heart sank suddenly.

He understood the real purpose of the people behind the case.