Chapter 149

The others were fine, but Jia Yuancun was a Grade 4B Ying Tian Prefect. There were still some risks in soft detention.

Fortunately, Jia Cong explained the severity to him. Jia Yuancun was extremely greedy for salary and obsessed with his career. Now that he heard that the Ying Tian Prefecture yamen was suspected of colluding with ronin.

He was already scared out of his wits, fearing that he would not be able to clear his suspicion. You must know that Prince Ning was under imperial order to handle the Longtan Port case in Jin Ling. If there is any suspicion, Prince Ning has the power to decide on the spot.

A memorial could make him lose his official position and return to his original form. At that time, whether it was the Jia family or the Wang family, no one could save him.

Now that he heard that staying in Prince Ning's temporary residence for one night could clear his suspicion, how could he be unwilling? As for the face of officialdom, he didn't take it to heart.

It's just that seeing Jia Cong acting meticulously and experienced, and even Prince Ning seemed to follow his words, and he was promoted by the Emperor recently, this kind of ability and luck made him feel shocked.

He felt more and more that the Jia family youth was really a rare commodity to be hoarded, and hearing him say he wanted to mobilize the yamen archers, he agreed immediately and wrote an order for him to use with full authority.

After all matters were arranged properly, the opportunity for future trouble was removed.

Early this morning, Jia Cong asked Qin Ye to use the excuse that the wood and lime in the warehouse were severely damp, so the construction site stopped work for a day, and took the opportunity to mobilize more than fifty craftsmen and laborers, as well as some garrison soldiers guarding the construction site.

Under the premise of sufficient manpower, they piled stones to block the road at the mountain pass where they set the ambush.

Prince Ning received Jia Cong's report and finally found the whereabouts of those Eastern Japanese ronin. He couldn't help but be overjoyed and admired Jia Cong's agility and resourcefulness even more.

Although they encountered a Huang You'an who was very familiar with the internal affairs of the Ying Tian Prefecture yamen, fortunately, Yang Hongbin was steady and experienced, and the Ying Tian Prefecture documents in his hand were not wrong at all, so it was thrilling but safe.

That imperial edict of his asking Jia Cong to act as Advisor to Prince Ning's temporary residence was the wisest decision he made after arriving in Jin Ling.

……

Until the afternoon, Prince Ning saw Jia Cong and Yang Hongbin return safely with exhaustion, and finally let out a long sigh of relief.

Yang Hongbin said, "Reporting to Your Highness, this time we set an ambush in the mountain pass on the north side of the Great Mercy Temple. Our side lost four people, killed forty-seven Eastern Japanese ronin, and captured five alive. None escaped.

At the time of the bloody battle at Longtan Port, these Eastern Japanese ronin killed more than a hundred garrison officers and soldiers and were able to retreat unscathed, which shows their bravery and ferocity.

The past night was so long for everyone in Prince Ning's temporary residence.

They also sent people to nearby villages to purchase a large number of lamp oil porcelain jars, making them into simple incendiary bottles. This thing is famous in later generations for its simple production and unique lethality.

The Advisor is outstanding in military strategy and also personally beheaded the ronin leader."

It seems that there are many people, but facing more than fifty Eastern Japanese ronin with extremely strong combat power, the risks are unpredictable.

They could only rely on the thirty fire gunners trained by Prince Ning, more than thirty of Prince Ning's personal guards, more than ten yamen archers, and the platoon leader Liu Hai who was guarding the construction site and some soldiers under his command.

After everything was prepared, Yang Hongbin took some of Prince Ning's personal guards and the rotation documents for prisoners prepared by Jia Yuancun to lure the group of Eastern Japanese ronin out of the construction site.

But to achieve success in one battle, the risks are not small.

Because of the Longtan Port case, the Jin Ling garrison, the Water Supervision Department, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard are all somewhat involved. To prevent accidents, none of their people can be used.

Prince Ning's expression was excited and said, "Without using a single soldier from the Jin Ling garrison, relying solely on our own people, to have such a battle result is really rare. This King will definitely memorialize to ask for credit for you!"

He also laughed, "Everyone knows that the Advisor is a seed of reading. I didn't expect to have such military strategy. Not only can he command properly, but he can also kill the fierce and stubborn with his own hands. Amazing."

The group chatted for a few more words, and invited Jia Yuancun to comfort him, asking him to return to the yamen to sit in command, but the other personnel of the Ying Tian Prefecture who participated in the Shicao Wozi case were still detained in Prince Ning's temporary residence.

This was also Jia Cong's suggestion to Prince Ning, to further block the news of the discovery of a large number of corpses in Shicao Wozi.

Eastern Japanese ronin intercepted and killed yamen runners and prisoners of Ying Tian Prefecture halfway, which must be provided by someone. And this person is familiar with the affairs of the yamen, and what connections are behind this person, no one knows.

So to prevent the news from leaking and causing extra trouble, they had to detain these people first.

They also sent the five live captives to the Ying Tian Prefecture prison. To avoid the incident of Wang En being killed in the Embroidered Uniform Guard prison, Prince Ning not only strictly ordered Jia Yuancun to share the responsibility.

He also let Jia Cong and Yang Hongbin take thirty fire gunners to move into Ying Tian Prefecture to prevent accidents, and at the same time interrogate the prisoners all night.

That night, the lights in the Ying Tian Prefecture prison were on all night.

The four captured ronin were interrogated separately for half the night.

Although these ronin were fierce and fond of killing, there were veteran torture experts in the yamen prison. It didn't take much effort to ask for the confession.

According to the ronin's confession, they were nominally crew members of the Great Inner Clan merchant ship, but secretly they were Eastern Japanese ronin samurai who were recruited by others. They not only did foreign goods business for the people behind the scenes.

They even colluded together to do some killing and looting, and then sold them in Jin Ling, Ningbo, Fuzhou, and other places in the name of the Great Inner Clan merchant ship to make a profit.

But the person behind the scenes who recruited them was only known to their leader, but that person was seriously injured by Jia Cong in Qixia Mountain because he wanted to attack and kill Jia Cong, and was later shot to death by random guns.

At that time, the Eastern Japanese Great Inner Clan merchant ship and the Shallow River Clan merchant ship entered Jin Ling Longtan Port at the same time. The Shallow River Clan merchant ship bribed the eunuch Wang En, who guarded the Shipping Department, through a Great Zhou interpreter.

The Shipping Department allowed the Shallow River Clan merchant ship to enter the port in advance, while the Great Inner Clan merchant ship was detained in the port. Those ronin were always unruly and wouldn't suffer losses, resulting in a dispute between the two ships, which led to a fire fight.

Because the Shallow River Clan merchant ship was full of ordinary Eastern Japanese merchants and crew members, compared with the Eastern Japanese ronin who made a living by fighting and killing, the military strength of the two sides was really disparate.

After a fight, all thirty or so people on the Shallow River Clan merchant ship were killed, and the soldiers guarding the port and a battalion commander of the garrison were also killed in the chaos.

Afterward, the Jin Ling garrison sent government troops to encircle and suppress, but they broke through the encirclement and fled into the Jin Ling urban area, slaughtering civilians and causing a great disaster.

But according to the ronin's confession, when they confronted the government army, there was no other group of ronin, let alone the situation of taking the opportunity to loot goods.

So who took advantage of the chaos to grab this batch of goods worth 200,000 strings of cash, drove the ship to escape, and left the Water Supervision Department soldiers with no results in searching?

It wasn't until Jia Cong and Yang Hongbin interrogated the ronin accomplice named Huang You'an that the truth of the matter was revealed, or perhaps this was not the whole truth.

After Jia Cong sent the confession of Huang You'an and others to Prince Ning's temporary residence, Prince Ning urgently transferred twenty personal guards, and after informing Prefect Jia Yuancun, the Ying Tian Prefecture prison was immediately strengthened in guard.

All personnel in the prison were strictly checked for entry and exit. Prince Ning's personal guards personally guarded Huang You'an and the four ronin captives, and even the jailers of the Ying Tian Prefecture prison could not get close.

Even the two torture experts who participated in the interrogation were detained in the prison and forbidden to leave.

Early the next morning, given the importance of the matter, a memorial about the interrogation and investigation results of the Longtan Port case was sent to the Divine Capital by 800-li fast report.

It's just that it will take at least seven or eight days to wait for the Emperor to issue a reply. I'm afraid everything will be delayed.

At the same time, Jia Cong and two of Prince Ning's personal guards, carrying Prince Ning's golden seal and letter, went straight to the yamen of the Salt Administration Censor in Yangzhou.

(End of chapter)