After the fourth master and I wear each other [Qing wear]

Heavy rain, deserted temple, dark outside the window without light.

The master of ghost stories in this dynasty was telling the live version of ghost stories, and the sudden door call sent a chill down the spine.

Wu Fuyi showed his calm attitude as an old ghost.

The big deal is that one of the same kind really came, how could it be so bad?

If there are really powerful monsters in this world, they see a kind of hope, which is the hope of being able to reverse time and space and return to their own world to eat, drink and have fun.

Take two guards to open the door.

There is no ghost outside the gate, there are only two half-grown children in coarse blouses.

Looking at the age of eleven or twelve, his skin is tanned, and his similar appearance should be relatives.They all carry poles on their shoulders, and they can smell a fishy smell faintly, maybe they are fishermen by the sea.

"come in."

Wu Fuyi had inquired that the deserted temple was the only foothold within a radius of ten miles, presumably the people nearby were used to staying here.

The little fishermen were obviously a little surprised. They didn't expect that the people who came to the deserted temple tonight were different from those in the past.

Although he couldn't understand the specific material of the clothes, the person who came was richer than the merchants he had seen.

At the moment, he was a little hesitant.They can't afford to offend the rich and powerful, so don't avoid trouble just to avoid the rain.

Wu Fuyi understood the concerns of the two of them, and the world was difficult, so her tone softened.

"There is no way to go to the front of the village or to the back of the store. I still go in to hide from the rain. It's hard to feel the wind and cold."

The two fisherman brothers looked at each other and felt that the old man who opened the door was very kind, and their hearts were slightly relieved.

"Thank you, master.", "Master is merciful, you are really a good person."

This is to thank you while entering the deserted temple.He took off his coir raincoat, and carefully placed the pole in the corner by the gate.

The two of them didn't dare to get close to the fire, they just wanted to hide in the corner.But after hearing that an old man in the hall blew himself up, he called himself Pu Songling.

Pu Songling?

The two immediately straightened their eyes.

Pu Songling, almost everyone in Shandong knows him.

Even if the common people don't know a few big characters, they have more or less heard of the story characters such as the city god, the vixen and the scholar, Nie Xiaoqian, etc., and call Pu Songling Mr. Liaozhai.

In the early years, Mr. Liaozhai collected materials at the entrance of the village and provided free tea to passers-by who told stories.

In the small seaside village where the fisherman brothers lived, some people in the village drank the bowl of free tea.Back to the village to show off, is to tell Mr. Liaozhai the legend of the sea monster fish.

Later, "Strange Tales from a Liaozhai Studio" came out, and everyone in the village wondered whether there were any strange fish mentioned in the book?

After finally asking the teacher in the next village, I flipped through the book again and again, arguing whether the article "Big Sea Fish" came from their village?

When the fisherman brothers met Pu Songling, they were so excited that they forgot to shrink back.

He took the initiative to join the fire, and first introduced himself as coming from Yujia Village.The elder brother Yu Dayu and the younger brother Yu Xiaoyu are in charge of delivering fish to the town, and now they have to go home after finishing their work.

The big fish and the little fish asked a question that has been curious for a long time, does Mr. Liaozhai remember the strange fish story told by Yu Huzi?Was it included in the book?

Pu Songling couldn't remember Yu Huzi's appearance at all, but he still had an impression of the strange fish story.

Different from the "Big Fish in the Sea" that Yu Jiacun thought, he adapted the experience of encountering strange fish in the sea, and finally wrote "Tired Dragon".

"Oh, everyone in the village guessed wrong."

Yu Dayu didn't feel much disappointed, today he and his cousin ran into Mr. Liao Zhai, and when they returned to the village, they would be able to talk about it.

On the side, Yu Xiaoyu was eager to try, "In the early years, I was too young to deliver goods. Later, I went to the town, but I never met you again. Sir, do you still accept stories now?"

Pu Songling doesn't plan to write a sequel to Liao Zhai, and just said that she wants to write agricultural books and compile medical prescriptions, but seeing Yu Xiaoyu's excited appearance, she can't bear to beat her children and say no.

"The little brother is willing to talk, and the old man is naturally willing to listen. In the future, maybe Tim will write some interesting articles in a book."

As a gesture of affection, Pu Songling gave the Yu family brothers two pieces of dry food.

The two declined one after another, saying that they brought it by themselves.

It was Wu Fuyi who said that since they were listening together, he would invite big fish and small fish to have a sip of warm soup, just to drive away the night rain and chill.

This time, the Yu family brothers no longer refused.

Yu Xiaoyu drank the soup and talked about the weird rumors in the next village.

"This is true. It happened four years ago, when the youngest was six years old. He was preparing to go out to sea with his father for the first time, but in July of that year, there was a strong wind and heavy rain for three days and three nights. Almost everyone All the fishing boats stopped."

It happened on a stormy night.

In the next door village, the Zheng family has a brother and sister who depend on each other.

In order to earn more money, Brother Zheng did not return in time after the old fishermen warned of the approaching gale.When the weather changed, Zheng Xiaomei went to the shore worried about her brother.

"During this trip, no one thought that Zheng Xiaomei would run into a ghost ship. In the heavy rain, there were no fishing boats in the nearby villages, but she saw a huge treasure ship. There were pale lanterns hanging on the mast, and most of them were killed. The wind blows it out, and only a few sporadic lights are still on."

At first, Zheng Xiaomei didn't realize that it was a ghost ship.

She came to look for her brother, zoomed out and asked if anyone on the boat had seen her brother?The big boat was approaching the coast, maybe it saved her brother halfway and sent him back?

Yu Xiaoyu continued: "Zheng Xiaomei yelled, and soon heard a response from the boat through the heavy rain, but the tone was very strange. She couldn't understand at all, because she was worried that her brother was still close to the big boat.

At this moment, a dwarf shaved head suddenly jumped out, with a green face and fangs, floating onto the deck.He stretched out his big claws and grabbed Zheng Xiaomei onto the ghost ship. "

When Hong Hui and Hong Qin heard this, they couldn't help getting closer to each other, but they didn't dare to say it out of face.

Taking a sneak peek around, he found that both Ama and Wu Zefujin had the same expression on their faces, and now they had to pretend to be a little man.

Pu Songling couldn't help but ask, "What happened later? Were the brothers and sisters of the Zheng family caught on the ghost ship?"

Yu Xiaoyu shook her head, "Zheng Xiaomei was terrified of being caught on board, she immediately sensed the horror of the ghost ship. A strange fragrance made her dizzy, and the cold white light almost blinded her.

She yelled her brother's name, but she didn't hear him reply, only a group of short, bald-headed ghosts surrounded her, talking nonsense as if they wanted to kill her.Zheng Xiaomei struggled desperately and jumped off the boat. "

Got off the boat and was chased by ghosts?

Su Peisheng was also fascinated, "Then she escaped?"

Yu Dayu sighed, "That night, Zheng Xiaomei escaped from the ghost ship, but she went crazy when she ran back to the village. In the heavy rain, she yelled that she had seen the devil, and the ghost ship killed people. She turned around and yelled out what happened before. .

The neighbors were alarmed, and several people went out to comfort Zheng Xiaoyu and send him home.Someone went to the shore where it was said to be haunted by a ghost ship, but saw nothing. "

That day, Zheng Xiaomei had a high fever.

There has been no news of the eldest brother of the Zheng family, and the neighbor who took care of Zheng Xiaomei accidentally discovered that he was missing.

"The storm stopped after three days, but the brothers and sisters of the Zheng family disappeared. Some people said that Zheng Xiaomei was taken away by a ghost ship. About four or five days later, the uncle of our village found a dead body in the sea. female corpse.

After asking around in the nearby villages, it was finally confirmed that the one who died was the missing Zheng Xiaomei.As for Brother Zheng, no one has seen him again, and he may have died in the shipwreck long ago. "

Since that day, there have been rumors of ghost ships haunting people during heavy rains in Yujia Village.

The fishermen were careful not to go to sea in rainy days. Four years later, fortunately, there were no new victims.

The story ends here.

The atmosphere in the barren temple hall was momentarily heavy.

Compared with Pu Songling's impromptu joke, Brothers Big Fish and Little Fish are talking about real deaths.

Although the ghost ship sounds like Zheng Xiaomei's nonsense, it is true that the two brothers and sisters of the Zheng family died and disappeared.

Brother Zheng had to work overtime in the rainstorm to make ends meet, and my younger sister braved the rain to find him.If it weren't for the force of life like this, the brothers and sisters would not have ended up dying in the sea.

After Wu Fuyi listened, his heart was heavy and at the same time he had several questions.

Do ghost ships really exist?What is Zheng Xiaomei's original personality, she suddenly became insane, she might have been greatly stimulated, did she see her brother's body that night?

When Zheng Xiaomei was found, were there any man-made fatal injuries on her body?Did she drown?Did he run out of the house and jump into the sea?

"Has Zheng Xiaomei's body been examined by Wu?"

Wu Fuyi asked the brothers of the Yu family, "The fishermen in your village found her, did they find anything unusual?"

Yu Dayu knew the general idea, "I was also there when the body was fished ashore, and I helped find the straw mat. No one saw anything wrong at the scene, and there were no other wounds. This was reported to the county magistrate, and later the government officials took the body away. Yes, after asking around, I was sure it was Zheng Xiaomei from Shell Village."

The more detailed follow-up is not clear to the Yu family brothers.I can only be sure that the village next door said that what happened to the Zheng family was caused by a ghost ship, and there were no rumors of murder.

The night was darker.

The death of the brothers and sisters of the Zheng family made everyone not in the mood to chat, so they simply went to bed earlier, hoping that it would be a sunny day when they woke up.

Before going to sleep, each has his own thoughts.

Wu Fuyi glanced at Yinzhen, this person seemed to be thinking about something, but now is not a good time to ask a question.

On the other side, Pu Songling also made a decision. Anyway, he might as well go to Shell Village when he is free.

Based on his years of experience in collecting ghost stories, the ghost ship legend is a bit unusual.The most suspicious thing is why did Zheng Xiaomei suddenly go crazy?

The next day, the sky was bright, and the chirping of birds sounded.

The rainstorm stopped, the air was fresh, and the puddles on the ground were deep and shallow.Everyone ate a few mouthfuls and started on their way.

Big fish and small fish went straight back to Yujia Village.

Wu Fuyi heard that Pu Songling proposed to go to Jiaozhou Bay together, in order to find out the specific situation of the brothers and sisters of the Zheng family.

Tatsumi handed over and arrived at the next inn where he could stay.

Wu Fuyi decided to rest here for a day. She also had doubts about what happened to the brothers and sisters of the Zheng family, but whether she should go to Shell Village still needs to be evaluated.Safety issues must be taken into consideration. Are Honghui and Hongying suitable for traveling together?

"I think it is necessary to go to Shell Village to determine the cause of Zheng Xiaomei's death."

Yinzhen called Wu Fuyi to the guest room alone, contrary to his usual prudence, he expressed his thoughts in a firm tone.

He didn't make a fuss, and said directly, "That ghost ship is abnormal, and similar things have happened before."

Wu Fuyi thought about it for a while, and there was no similar incident recorded in the files of the Ministry of Punishment he read, but he also knew that Yinzhen would not just talk about it. "Please say."

"It was an old case in the Ming Dynasty 15 years ago, that is, 60 years ago."

Yinzhen talked about a secret recorded in the internal file, which he accidentally read when he was reading medical books when he was a child.

"That year, on the Jiaxing River in the south of the Yangtze River, officials of the Ming Dynasty intercepted a strange ship. It came from Dongying, but it was filled with Northeast ginseng."

Northeast ginseng is good, and the world knows it.

But how did it appear on the Dongying ship?Dongying does not produce northeast ginseng, and this shipment of ginseng was transported to the south of the Yangtze River. ①

Looking back in the past, the Ming Dynasty had a long period of ginseng trading with the Jurchens.

Take the records of the 12th year of Wanli as an example for the large number of purchases.At Zhenbei Pass alone, the transaction in March was 160 nine catties, worth more than 2000 taels of silver.

Ginseng became an important source of income for the Jurchens.

Such mutual market trade, because the war is over.

In the 15th year of Chongzhen, the war between the Later Jin Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty in Shanhaiguan was already very fierce. If the original business route was broken, a new method must be found.

"The ginseng loaded on that ship was worth 10 taels of silver, and the Ming court's annual finances were only 300 million taels of silver."

Yinzhen said, "For such a huge transaction, Hou Jin got the acquiescence of Emperor Taizong as the seller, and money was needed to fight the war. There were also people who wanted to buy it in the Ming Dynasty, and the demand for ginseng was unstoppable. So a triangular route was secretly formed."

Hou Jin took the sea route from the northeast and handed over the ginseng to Dongying.Dongying transshipped and drove the cargo ship to the south of the Yangtze River.This can explain why Northeast ginseng is on Dongying's cargo ship.

Such a smuggling trade route will end at the end of the Ming Dynasty.

Sixty years on, little is known about those old days.

However, after hearing the story of the ghost ship, Yinzhen made an ominous guess that an unknowing sea transportation line quietly appeared.

If it's true what the Yu family brothers said, without embellishing the facts, and Zheng Xiaomei said those crazy words herself, then the truth is probably hidden in the crazy words.

"In the story there are dwarf bald ghosts, and the Dongying people are short, and the hairstyle of the Dongying samurai is the Tsukidai head with the middle shaved. The so-called strange tone is the Japanese dialect that I can't understand."

Yinzhen compared the story with the reality one by one, "As for the strange fragrance, I guess it is probably a large amount of ginseng emitting ginseng fragrance. The most important thing is the appearance of the ghost ship. The treasure ship is so big that fishermen can't afford it, it's more like It is a sea-crossing ship used by big businessmen, and it is also lit with white lanterns that the Japanese people like."

After hearing this analysis, Wu Fuyi was indeed logical, and also agreed with Yinzhen's conjecture.

"Zheng Xiaomei broke the secret, the other party wanted to kill people, and the threat of death drove her crazy. Even if she jumped into the sea and escaped, she became unconscious."

The matter did not end here, because only the dead can keep secrets.

The other party did not blatantly raise a knife and directly entered the village.Taking advantage of the heavy rain and no witnesses, they lurked near Zheng's house. When the guards left, they kidnapped Zheng Xiaomei, who had a high fever, and sank into the sea.

Wu Fuyi speculated, "That night, the villagers also went to the beach to see, but they couldn't find any trace of the ghost ship during the heavy rain, because the sea ship had already left.

Coupled with the fact that Zheng Xiaomei was insane, everyone believed that after losing her brother, she was too sad and committed suicide, leaving only the rumor of the ghost ship in the end. "

The brothers and sisters of the Zheng family are ordinary people, and they depend on each other for life and have no other relatives.In many cases, the people do not raise officials and do not investigate.

Even if the county government examines the body, as long as Zheng Xiaomei is not found to have any injuries other than drowning, then the case will not be further investigated.

The county government doesn't know anything about the so-called ghost ship?

When a large number of goods enter the country, someone always needs to be docked, and it is not teleported to the warehouse.

The county government to which Yujia Village and Shell Village belonged may not have known about it, because there was no other ghost ship legend for several years before and after the accident of the Zheng family brothers and sisters.

If the Japanese merchant ships really existed, it might be due to the strong wind, that is, the influence of the typhoon weather mentioned later, the ships deviated from the channel, and accidentally appeared on the coast of Shell Village, and the Zheng family brothers and sisters smashed the secret.

The county government to which the Shell Village belongs does not know about it, but it is uncertain whether there is collusion between the government and the business at the original unloading point.

Then again, what kind of smuggled goods needs to be killed?

The reason why Yinzhen guessed that it was related to Northeast ginseng is because the related trade profits are extremely high, and there are strict regulations on selling Northeast ginseng.

From the later Jin Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, ginseng has always been an important source of financial resources.

The imperial court established a set of participation management system.In the early days, according to the location of the Eight Banners, they were responsible for picking different hills.

Later, the Northeast Counseling and Management Department began to run official procurement, and soon after, it introduced qualified merchants and set up government-supervised commercial offices.

The government will issue a license every year, and only those who hold the license are eligible to collect ginseng.These ginseng are handed over to the government, and there are standards for the quality and quantity of ginseng.

In order to ensure the enthusiasm for ginseng mining, a subsidy will be issued to ginseng collectors at the beginning of the year, and at the end of the year, the actual amount of parameters received will be refunded and the deficiency will be compensated.

It is said that more refunds and less compensation, whoever is willing to hand over the money when they get it, basically has collected enough.

Under such a set of regulations, it is still possible for the mountain people to steal one or two plants and sell them off privately, but just like the transportation of ginseng by a whole ship during the Chongzhen period was a shocking case, it was never allowed to happen.

Zheng Xiaomei ghost ship case, accident or murder?

Is EGL's speculation correct?If yes, what are the items sold on the ship?Even if it is not ginseng, it should be said that it is also an item with huge profits.

After thinking about it, Wu Fuyi decided that he wanted to go to Shell Village, and disclosed this speculation to Honghui and Hongyu as appropriate.

Let the children realize that the rumors of ghosts are not terrible, but the dark truth behind the horror is deliberately buried.They must pay attention to it, realize that there are unknown dangers on the road ahead, and not run around.

It is risky to go to Shell Village, and you may be targeted by someone with a heart.

That being the case, Shell Village is not the most dangerous place. The stronghold of secret transactions is probably not here, and the real destination of the ghost ship is full of dangers.

Everyone has a reason to explore.

Yinzhen has it, and so does Pu Songling.The starting points may be different, but they all have one similarity, that Zheng Xiaomei cannot be allowed to die for no apparent reason.

Therefore, they traveled in groups under the guise of Mr. Liaozhai collecting strange stories.

Wu Fuyi's alias is Young Master Zhen, and he is a distant relative of Mr. Liao Zhai. This time he brought his family out for a trip, so he came here to join in the fun.

The first stop is not Shell Village, but to the county government office writer.

As the saying goes, crabs have their way, shrimps have their way, and loach and eel have their own way.

The king of Yongjun could not reveal his true identity to others, and Yinzhen's spies never reached Jiaozhou Bay, but Pu Songling was there.

Mr. Liaozhai didn't bark for nothing.Collecting ghost stories is of course inseparable from the work of often dealing with corpses.

Huang Wuzuo, who performed the autopsy on Zheng Xiaomei, can be regarded as Pu Songling's drinking friend.

Huang Wuzuo cannot be compared with Song Ci, a famous criminal official in the Southern Song Dynasty.

He didn't have Song Ci's official position, nor did he have the autopsy skills that he wrote books on, but he was experienced and had been doing it for many years.

Pu Songling patted his chest and assured, "Old Huang is addicted to alcohol, and his favorite daughter is Hong. This old man has known him for ten years. Let's go to him privately to ask the detailed cause of Zheng Xiaomei's death. The key is to bring a few jars of good wine, and he will speak up. "

Wu Fuyi bought the wine on his own initiative.

Perhaps it was because of the charming fragrance of the daughter's red wine that Huang Wuzuo didn't slap Pu Songling in the face.

"Hiss! Delicious!"

Huang Wuzuo finally spoke after drinking half a jar of good wine.

"I can't say for sure. I remember Zheng Xiaomei. Her body was swollen from being soaked in the sea. She had a chest dissection. The cause of death was drowning, and there were no other fatal injuries. Obvious signs of bondage."

Speaking of this, Huang Yuzuo raised his hand, "Don't worry about asking, I know what you want to ask, but the traces of binding can't explain the problem."

Because Zheng Xiaomei went crazy, the village tied her up for a period of time in order to bring her back to the house, and then untied her when she was in a coma with a high fever.

It took two and a half hours from untying to disappearing. By the time the corpse was found, the traces of binding were very shallow, and the exact time of binding could not be determined at all.

"The rope was not found at sea, and no one else in the Zheng family asked to continue the investigation. The county magistrate naturally closed the case with suicide."

Huang Yuzuo spread his hands, that's how the world is.Even if there are doubts, not every case can find the truth.

But Pu Songling was not reconciled. What he wrote about Liaozhai was not about ghosts, but about people's hearts.Even if you don't have the ability to be an official to help more people, at least you have to figure out the matter when it comes to it.

"Old Huang, tell me the truth. Do you have any other news about this matter? One of the brothers and sisters of the Zheng family is dead, and the other is missing. There is no difference between death and death. Since we have encountered each other, we must figure it out, instead of admitting that it is a ghost." There's trouble on the boat."

Huang Wuzuo glanced at Pu Songling, and then at Young Master Zhen who was said to be a distant relative of the Pu family who came with him today.

This young master Zhen has a handsome appearance and a faintly extraordinary demeanor. Is he really a distant relative of the Pu family?If so, can Brother Pu fail to win the exam at the age of 62?

There was a moment of silence, thinking about it.Some things are not said, it is for the good of friends, and I don't want Pu Songling to be involved in unfathomable conspiracies at his age.

But as a human being, the most painful thing is not being confused enough.

Huang Yuzuo took a deep breath, and this time bet that Master Zhen, whose origin is unknown, has real skills.

"I do know some news. Last year, I went to Jiaxing to visit friends, and I learned from a local foreman that a headless corpse floated on Taihu Lake in Jiaxing four years ago.

Coincidentally, the headless corpse was in the same location as the Zheng family boss's old scar, which was bitten by a dog on his right leg.Old and old injuries, at least ten years.The age of the headless corpse matches that of the eldest son of the Zheng family.I asked, the corpse's clothing is not a common fabric in the south of the Yangtze River, but it is consistent with the clothes of the people in Shell Village here. "

I realized something then.

If the headless corpse is the missing boss of the Zheng family, why did he disappear from the Yellow Sea to Taihu Lake?There must be something going on here, but it's not something Shengdou Xiaomin can touch.

Huang Wuzuo once chose to remain silent, but he still spoke out at this moment.

"I haven't mentioned this matter to the outside world. If you want to investigate, you can go to Zhou Tong Zhou in Jiaxing County to do it. However, I advise you two, the water in the south of the Yangtze River is deep, be careful of drowning."

The author has something to say: ①In this chapter, the case of ginseng in the south of the Yangtze River during the Chongzhen period and the collection of ginseng in the Qing Dynasty refer to the "History of Ginseng Domestication" mentioned in "The Evolution of Materia Medica" edited by Fan Yakun.