Chapter 384: Discussing and Polishing While Traveling Together

Jin Ling, Office of the Ministry of War in the auxiliary capital.

A clerk from the Ministry of War took a document and entered the office of Zhang Kangnian, the Junior Vice Minister of War.

Because the Senior Vice Minister of War, He Yongzheng, was old and sickly, he mostly recuperated at his mansion and was in a state of semi-retirement.

Therefore, the daily decisions of the Ministry of War in the auxiliary capital were primarily handled by the Junior Vice Minister of War.

The previous Junior Vice Minister of War had died suddenly due to illness; when someone is unlucky, someone else will be lucky.

Zhang Kangnian happened to be there at the right time, which gave him the opportunity to be transferred to the Ministry of War in the auxiliary capital, which was seen by outsiders as a glorious promotion.

Since taking office a year ago, Zhang Kangnian had not shown any outstanding performance, and he followed the routine for the daily affairs of the Ministry of War in the auxiliary capital, but he was a seasoned bureaucrat with deep schemes and methods.

In addition, he came from the Jin Ling Guard system and had once served as the Commander of the Jin Ling Regional Military Commission, so he had extensive connections among the various guards in Jiangnan.

The main official business of the Ministry of War in the auxiliary capital was the coordination of military affairs and the management of the various guards in Jiangnan. Zhang Kangnian had a unique advantage in this regard.

Therefore, since his glorious promotion to the Ministry of War in the auxiliary capital, various official businesses had been carried out smoothly, and his prestige in the Ministry of War in the auxiliary capital had grown day by day.

Therefore, since Zhang Kangnian took charge of the Ministry of War, the head of the Ministry of War in the auxiliary capital, the Senior Vice Minister He Yongzheng who was recuperating in the mansion, had become less and less present.

Although Zhang Kangnian was steady in his actions, he was quite strict in managing his subordinates, so the officials working under him were very careful in their daily actions.

The matter that the clerk wanted to report today was quite difficult to handle, so he felt quite anxious when reporting to Zhang Kangnian.

"Reporting to the Lord, the Jin Ling Regional Military Commission sent an official letter. Before the five new-style cannons sent from Shenjing are equipped to the Su Zhou Guard and the Songjiang Guard, it is necessary to form two guard artillery teams."

"The Jin Ling Regional Military Commission has reported the list of soldiers selected for the two guard artillery teams and requested the Ministry of War to contact the Firearms Division of the Ministry of Works, so that the Firearms Division of the auxiliary capital can compile a training plan for the cannons and train the artillery soldiers of the two guards."

Zhang Kangnian took the document presented by the clerk, read it carefully, and said: "This is a routine matter. You go to the Firearms Division of the Ministry of Works and ask the Jia Supervisor to formulate the cannon training plan."

"After the Ministry of War receives the training plan, we will follow the routine to implement it. Go."

The clerk looked embarrassed and said: "Before I reported to the Lord, I had already been to the Firearms Division of the Ministry of Works, wanting to connect some pre-training matters."

"But the clerk of the Firearms Division said that Jia, the official in charge, went to Gusu this morning and will not be in the office for the next few days, so the relevant official business needs to be postponed."

When Zhang Kangnian heard this, he was stunned and asked with a frown: "What is he doing in Gusu, abandoning his daily official duties? Is it for the official business of the Firearms Division?"

The clerk's face looked a bit strange when he heard this, and he said: "I originally felt the same way, but later I heard a colleague mention this matter, and then I knew there was another reason."

Zhang Kangnian looked a bit surprised and asked: "What is the reason? Tell me quickly."

The clerk replied: "That colleague often goes to the Qingyin Pavilion to meet friends, so he knows the news of the Qingyin Pavilion recently."

"He said that since Jia, the Supervisor, arrived in Jin Ling, he has often lingered in the Qingyin Pavilion."

"A new pipa musician from the Shenjing Music Bureau came to the pavilion. She was ordered by the Ministry of Rites to purchase theatrical and singing courtesans in Jiangnan. I don't know how she got along with Jia Cong, and the two often met in the private room of the pavilion."

"Because this musician wanted to go to Gusu to select theatrical and singing courtesans, Jia Cong followed her to Gusu."

Zhang Kangnian's face showed sarcasm, and he said with disdain: "As a dignified Count of Weiyuan, a fifth-rank official, he was ordered by the Emperor to come to Jin Ling to handle official business."

"In order to please a theatrical musician, he actually abandoned his post and took a beauty to travel around Jiangnan. It is truly absurd."

"I originally thought he was a capable person, but I overestimated him. Descendants of noble families are just like this..."

"You go back to the Regional Military Commission and say that Jia Cong, the official in charge of the Firearms Division, is not in his position, and the Ministry of War is powerless. The cannon training can only be postponed..."

……

Jin Ling, Longtan Port Pier.

An exquisite and clean single-sail passenger ship cut through the rolling waves, slowly drove out of the pier, and wound its way up along the Yangtze River waterway.

Such passenger ships were very common on the waterways in the south. Although the scale was not very large, it was no problem to carry more than ten people.

But this ship, except for the boatman, only carried five people. The leader was a pair of young man and woman, and the other three were dressed like servants.

This pair of young man and woman had outstanding appearances and extraordinary bearing, like golden boys and jade girls, and their demeanor and conversation were intimate. As soon as they appeared on the pier, they attracted the attention of many people.

And they also brought three attendants with extraordinary appearances. This lineup must be the young master and young lady of some noble family in Jin Ling going out for a tour.

Such a situation was not rare on the pier. Others just marveled at the extraordinary bearing of the young man and woman, but it was limited to this.

By the time the ship left the pier, no one cared about this matter anymore.

……

Jiang Liu sat at the stern of the ship with two firearms soldiers, looking curiously at Jia Cong and Zhou Niangzi.

Jiang Liu, as Jia Cong's confidant attendant, was one of the few people who knew Jia Cong's true purpose for coming to Jin Ling.

He followed Jia Cong in and out daily, so naturally he knew the relationship between Jia Cong and Zhou Niangzi.

He knew that Jia Cong met this Zhou Niangzi the first time he went to the Qingyin Pavilion. After that, Jia Cong asked him to book a private room on the third floor of the Qingyin Pavilion so that he could meet Zhou Niangzi at any time.

When Jia Cong came to Jin Ling last time, Jiang Liu had not yet started to follow Jia Cong, so he did not know the details of the Jin Ling Water Supervision Office case, and Jia Cong had never told him about Zhou Niangzi's unique and bizarre background.

Therefore, Jiang Liu only thought that Zhou Niangzi was sent to Jiangnan by the Shenjing Music Bureau to handle affairs, and he knew nothing about other situations.

He had known Jia Cong since he was a child, and he had been following Jia Cong for the past two years. He was Jia Cong's most trusted confidant and knew Jia Cong's temperament very well.

Although he knew that women often appeared around Jia Cong, he was not a simple person who was greedy for sex.

Especially since he was ordered by a secret decree to come to Jiangnan to handle affairs, it was even more impossible for him to lightly leave Jin Ling and go to Gusu just to please this Zhou Niangzi.

It was just that from Jiang Liu's perspective, he really couldn't think of what kind of relationship this delicate Zhou Niangzi had with the important matters they were handling in Jin Ling.

By the time the passenger ship left Longtan Port, the appearance that the Cong Sanye and Zhou Niangzi were still harmonious had vanished. That Zhou Niangzi began to be cold to the Cong Sanye, which made Jiang Liu a bit confused.

Jia Cong knew that although Zou Min'er had fallen into the lowly status of the Music Bureau, the dignity and restraint of a young lady from an official family in her bones had not yet completely vanished.

Although he used the excuse of taking a beauty to Gusu to cover up his tracks, for Zou Min'er, it tarnished her reputation and had the suspicion of being frivolous and teasing.

That was why she didn't want to give him a good face as soon as she left the public eye.

However, Jia Cong didn't care at all. He was just doing it for the sake of convenience and to avoid making any moves that would startle the snake before the inside story was revealed.

To investigate a secret state case, it was not like he was making Zou Min'er sacrifice anything important, just some empty names.

Moreover, now that Zou Min'er had joined the Central Vehicle Office, she should understand that she was no longer an ordinary woman. Jia Cong would not be so pedantic as to consider the concerns of those young ladies from official families.

Seeing that she was cold to Jia Cong, but Jia Cong seemed not to care at all, Zou Min'er felt a burst of anger and sadness in her heart, knowing that he didn't take her seriously at all.

In his eyes, she was just a tool of the Central Vehicle Office.

But since she was demoted to the lowly status of the Music Bureau, she had suffered hardships that were unimaginable in the past, and her will was no longer that of the pampered young lady of an official family.

She knew that it was difficult for her to get rid of the lowly status of the Music Bureau, and the only thing that could preserve her dignity was this position in the Central Vehicle Office.

It could allow her to gain more autonomy, and she didn't have to rely on selling her art or body to survive like other musicians in the Music Bureau.

Therefore, she would not let temporary dissatisfaction confuse her reason and the purpose of her actions.

So she endured her temper and asked: "Now that we are on the ship, you can finally say what kind of person you are looking for in Gusu this time?"

The decree of the Central Vehicle Office was written very clearly. Zou Min'er was under Jia Cong's command during her time in Jin Ling, and the command in officialdom was a strict distinction between master and servant.

Jia Cong could arrange for Zou Min'er to act, but Zou Min'er could not question Jia Cong.

At first, Jia Cong wanted to use Zou Min'er's name to go to Gusu, only saying that he wanted to find an important person in Gusu, and this person might be very helpful in investigating Zhou Zhengyang's major case.

As for what kind of person this was, Jia Cong had never explained in detail, and since he decided to go to Gusu, Zou Min'er had never given Jia Cong a good face, so Jia Cong was naturally too lazy to say more to her.

Now seeing her suddenly put down her face and take the initiative to ask him, Jia Cong felt a bit strange, but since they were working together, he didn't need to hide it from Zou Min'er.

He said: "Miss Zou, you traveled by water from Shenjing to Jin Ling. You must have passed through Yangzhou, Gusu, Changzhou, Zhenjiang, etc. Did you encounter any inspections by the guard troops along the way?"

Zou Min'er replied: "Naturally, there were. I encountered four or five inspections by military ships on this waterway, because in recent years, pirates and Japanese pirates have often harassed along the river."

"And those pirates who burn, kill, and loot, only a part of them are Eastern Japanese ronin samurai, and many others are the rioters of our Great Zhou. They disguise themselves and sneak in, which is hard to guard against."

"That's why the guard troops along the way strictly inspect passing ships."

Jia Cong smiled: "But I traveled from Yangzhou to Gusu. This area is a strictly inspected area for guard military ships. By conventional standards, I should have encountered at least three inspections by military ships."

"But my ship didn't encounter any!"

Zou Min'er wondered: "How could you not encounter any? What is the reason?"

Jia Cong said: "Because I accidentally found a special boatman in Yangzhou, and I spent forty taels of heavy gold to charter his ship from Yangzhou to Gusu."

"Because I wanted to avoid the risk of pirate harassment, the ship set off from Guazhou Ancient Ferry, went upstream through Zhenjiang and Changzhou, and then downstream to the shore within the Gusu boundary."

"That boatman's surname is Zheng. He has been running ships in these waters for half his life. Not only is his boat-driving skill superb, he is extremely familiar with the water conditions, and he is also a very thoughtful person."

"Perhaps because he has been running ships on these waterways for a long time, he knows the time and place of the inspections by the guard military ships along the way like the back of his hand."

"His nature is also quite honest. Because I chartered his ship with heavy gold, he didn't want me to be extorted by the water soldiers of the guard troops because of the inspection, so he steered the ship to let me avoid all inspections."

Zou Min'er understood the reason why Jia Cong went to find this person after hearing what Jia Cong said, but after thinking about it carefully, she felt something was wrong.

She asked: "Although this person has such strange skills, the waterways in this area are vast. I am afraid that there is more than one boatman with this kind of skill."

"It doesn't mean that he took Zhou Zhengyang to avoid the inspections of the military ships along the way. You are traveling across states to find this person, which is a bit vague."

Jia Cong smiled: "What you said may make sense, but avoiding the inspections of the military ships by the boatman is risky. If it is discovered by the guard military ships, he will be charged with colluding with pirates."

"A small boatman will lose his life. So that boatman will definitely not do this kind of thing easily. It is only for big families like me who charter ships with heavy gold that he will feel it is worth the risk."

"This is also the survival way for these boatmen to make money. As long as they do it once a year, it is enough for the whole family to have enough food and clothing."

"There is one more important point. After my ship arrived in Gusu, when I left, the boatman's wife said something unintentionally:"

"Master, we have had good luck these two months, and we met such a good customer again. If we have a few more businesses like this, two years of food and clothing will be enough..."

……

At this time, night had fallen on the river, and Jiang Liu entered the cabin with a lit oil lamp. After putting down the oil lamp, he left the cabin and closed the cabin door behind him.

The light of the oil lamp illuminated Jia Cong's handsome face, and the meaningful smile when he just finished speaking.

Zou Min'er's eyes flowed under the illumination of the light, crystal clear and flashing.

She said excitedly: "The boatman's wife said that they met such a good customer again, which means that someone chartered the ship with heavy gold before you, and the boatman also helped him avoid the inspections of the guard military ships along the way!"

"You suspect that this person is Zhou Zhengyang!"

Jia Cong said: "My intuition tells me that this possibility is extremely great, otherwise there is no such coincidence in this world."

Zou Min'er's eyes were confused. She didn't know what "intuition" was, but she understood the meaning of his words, so she didn't struggle with this small problem.

She asked again: "If it is really this boatman who helped Zhou Zhengyang avoid the inspections along the way, why didn't he kill the couple to silence them!"

"You know that when Zhou Zhengyang fled Jin Ling, in order to cover up certain truths, he killed seven military officers suspected of being accomplices, and his methods were fierce, not to mention killing two civilian boatmen to silence them!"

Jia Cong saw a trace of coldness on Zou Min'er's face when she said these words, which covered her pretty face with a strange coldness, and his heart couldn't help but tremble slightly.

This seemingly delicate woman, when it came to the key point of the matter, would naturally think of killing to silence. I am afraid that she also has such a coldness in her bones.

If she were Zhou Zhengyang, would she have done such a thing?

Jia Cong couldn't help but think of the scene when he first met Zou Min'er in the Ziyun Pavilion of the Xue family. She was still an innocent and shy young lady of an official family, but now she seemed to be a different person...

Thinking of these, there was a strange sense of loss in his heart.

Jia Cong steadied himself slightly and said: "According to my guess, although the boatman helped Zhou Zhengyang avoid the inspections, Zhou Zhengyang must have gone ashore in the end and looked for another place to hide."

"The boatman couldn't know his final destination, so there was no need to kill them to silence them."

"Besides, since Zhou Zhengyang fled Jin Ling, the Jin Ling Yingtian Prefecture, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Jin Ling Regional Military Commission have all sent a large number of people to search strictly in various places."

"If he kills to silence at this time, I am afraid it will cause extra trouble."

"You know that the boatman couple has been running ships in these waters for many years, and many people must know them. Once they disappear for no reason."

"There must be people with ulterior motives who will notice. If they report to the government, and let people follow the clues to find out the clues, it will be very unfavorable for Zhou Zhengyang."

"So he doesn't need to kill to silence with great fanfare. On the contrary, if he acts as if nothing happened, he can make this matter disappear without a trace."

Jia Cong smiled: "But, things in this world, as long as you do them, you will leave traces. Who would have thought that I would happen to hire this ship with heavy gold?"

"If we really find the news of Zhou Zhengyang's whereabouts from that boatman, it would truly be that the net of heaven is vast and sparse, but nothing escapes!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 385 =====