Chapter 1172: Event Fermentation
Linde's remarks seemed to be made in anger, but upon reflection they were very logical and pointed out several key points of this strange fire. First, the victims who died in the fire were all killed first and then set on fire. The murderer tried to cover up the means of his murder in this way; second, a large amount of cash on the ship disappeared without a trace, and the murderer's purpose was most likely Third, to be able to complete such a thorough operation on the night when the Haihan fleet arrived in Hangzhou shows that the perpetrators have been planning for a long time, are well-trained, and are familiar with the surrounding environment, and the number of people involved in the crime should be numerous. few.
Before and after yesterday's fire, the only armed personnel who publicly appeared near the fire scene were the Ming troops who hurriedly came from Hangzhou City after the fire broke out. Given the Ming army's organizational capabilities, professional skills, and familiarity with the surrounding environment, it was indeed in line with the characteristics pointed out by Linde. Moreover, the murderer's method of killing people and destroying corpses and traces of traces can be called brutal. This obviously has a deep grudge with Haihan. It is well known in the vicinity of Hangzhou that he hates Haihan deeply and has the ability and means to harm him. It seems that only Some people in the government.
Linde did not clearly identify the murderer, but what he said was very pointed. In just a few words, the fire was spread to the government. As a member of the public, Han Zhengshan naturally cannot just watch the other party drag the Ming Army into the water. No matter what the truth of the matter is, if Lin De leads him to this pace, then he will have to face objective difficulties if he wants to investigate the case later. There will be more.
Han Zhengshan refuted Linde's remarks, and was secretly angry that these people under his command were too talkative. The information obtained was leaked before the on-site investigation was completed, which would inevitably make his situation very embarrassing. He never imagined that these key information was not leaked by his subordinates, but because Linde was one of the planners of the arson case and had received instructions beforehand. All the words he said were arranged lines, every word. Heart-breaking. If you want to whitewash the government, you must first clarify what Linde said, otherwise it will only have the opposite effect.
Sure enough, Linde immediately retorted: "If I'm talking nonsense, please ask Capt. Han to reveal the truth of the case and point out what's wrong with what I'm saying. Even if Capt. Han can ban me, how can he ban everyone in the world?" Mouth? The right and wrong will be decided by those with discernment!”
Lin De was very sure that Han Zhengshan could not clarify anything, because the target of this fire was indeed the Ming Army. Even the scars on the corpses were made with Ming Army standard weapons, and there would be other points in the future. The evidence of the Ming army will be exposed one after another according to the needs of the situation. Anyone who can deduce from the various information left at the fire scene will generally draw conclusions that will not deviate from this direction.
Before Han Zhengshan could think of how to refute Linde's inflammatory remarks, many businessmen present started making noises. The goods they spent a lot of money to buy were completely burned by the fire last night before they even got it. They must urgently need the government to find out the truth. However, Han Zhengshan acted in an official tone on relevant issues, and the key information had to be disclosed proactively by Linde, the victim. This situation will definitely make many businessmen who have suffered heavy losses feel dissatisfied and angry.
When Han Zhengshan saw the scene, he couldn't control it, so he could only ask his subordinates to stop the excited victims first. It is understandable that these people want to know the progress of the case, but if the investigation results are announced in public, it is very likely that people like Linde will seize the opportunity to lead the way. If he hadn't considered the impact, he would have really wanted to order Linde to be arrested first.
But it is a pity that Han Zhengshan did not know the inside story of this matter, and he did not expect that the impact of this case would ferment so quickly that it was far beyond his control. While the Ming army and Hangzhou police officers were still dealing with the fire scene on the Qiantang River, various news about this unknown fire began to spread in many places inside and outside Hangzhou.
It is no longer news to the people of Hangzhou that Haihan people are doing business in Zhejiang. Various daily necessities from Haihan can often be seen on the market. Although the Municipal Shipping Department did not approve of this kind of cross-border trade, and even tried to impose heavy taxes on Haihan goods in the early days, semi-open smuggling operations in places like Tongsheng Wharf outside the city were actually operating very smoothly. Driven by profit, many local merchants will act as agents to sell the highly profitable Haihan products. After receiving enough benefits, the people of the Shipping Company will pretend to be deaf and dumb to this illegal operation method. . If the top officials of the government had not relented, it is estimated that the Haihan people would have entered Hangzhou and opened shops on their own.
Naturally, local businessmen have mixed feelings about the impact of Haihan's business. It is inevitable that some businesses will be dissatisfied with this strong competitor, but generally speaking, the public does not have any bad feelings towards the emergence of Haihan. , after all, most people do not know that Haihan stationed thousands of armed personnel in the Zhoushan Islands outside Hangzhou Bay, and forcibly occupied a large area of the sea area that originally belonged to the Ming Dynasty. His actions are no different from invasion. The top officials of the government did not dare to take responsibility for the loss of land, so they did not publicize this matter, and they did not dare to use troops to start a war. They could only create a small stumbling block for Haihan in the field of trade.
In this environment, the occurrence of the fire outside Hangzhou inevitably became a hot topic on the streets. While discussing the cause of the fire, who will be the biggest loser in this fire has also become one of the issues that people are most concerned about.
While Han Zhengshan was still investigating the fire scene, strange news about Haihan's losses in the fire had spread throughout the city - except for a few people who came to the city to spend the night, the 20 people who transported the goods were Many sailors were all killed in the flames, and the three sailboats became burial objects. Even the goods that had been carried ashore were not spared. The warehouse where the goods were stored was set on fire. In addition, the tens of thousands of taels of silver payment Haihan had received the day before were also lost in the fire.
This kind of tragedy where people and money are lost is naturally very sympathetic. The ruthlessness of the perpetrators also made the local people panic. This is no different from the inn fire last summer. The tragedy was said to have been caused by an unextinguished fire in the kitchen stove. It was considered a natural disaster. However, this fire is obviously not that simple, and judging from the results, it does not seem to be a coincidence. The disaster caused.
By noon, updated versions of the fire began to circulate in restaurants, teahouses and hotels in and around the city. More than 20 people died in this fire, but the cause of death was that they were killed with weapons and then set on fire to destroy their bodies. Moreover, the Ming army sealed off the fire scene immediately, seeming to be covering the murderer's whereabouts. After investigating the scene, Han Zhengshan, the Hangzhou police chief responsible for investigating the case, was hesitant and refused to speak clearly about the case, and did not allow the victim to reveal the inside story. His behavior was extremely strange.
All the information seems to show that the background of this fire is not simple. While the public is guessing the identity of the murderer, they can't help but wonder how the Haihan people, who have never suffered losses, will react to this. However, the vast majority of people treated this incident with a spectator mentality and could not imagine how serious the consequences would be.
Han Zhengshan stayed at the crime scene at Tongsheng Pier all day, and hurried back to the city government office when it was almost dark. Before he could take a sip of water, his subordinates came to inform him that Wang Tongpan wanted to summon him immediately.
Han Zhengshan knew that the Tongsheng Wharf industry was related to Wang Yuan, and that the other party was an official in charge of criminal litigation in the government. It was reasonable to be eager to understand the case and the progress of the investigation. He did not dare to delay at the moment and quickly got up to see his boss. .
When Wang Yuan saw Han Zhengshan, he immediately greeted him warmly: "Sit down, sit down, someone, come and show Han Captou some tea!"
After Han Zhengshan took two symbolic sips of tea, Wang Yuancai asked with a smile: "What are the results of Captain Han's investigation into the fire at Tongsheng Pier?"
Han Zhengshan had been working under Wang Yuan for a long time, and he knew that he had a smiling and tiger-like temperament. Even when he had a smile on his face, he was still calculating in his heart. He did not dare to be careless at the moment, and answered honestly: "There are many doubts about this case. , what I can determine so far is that the fire was not a natural disaster, but a man-made disaster. The victims all had fatal injuries, and there were signs of arson at the fire scene. In addition, the owner's property stored at the fire scene was missing. It must be an act of seeking wealth and murder. However, no relevant clues have been found as to who committed the crime." Wang Yuan nodded slightly and said: "The perpetrator is not a novice if he can commit such a major crime overnight without leaving any traces. Since there is still time to move away the property after committing the crime, it must be time to form a team.”
Han Zhengshan hurriedly raised his hands and responded: "Your Excellency, this is a clear warning! I think so too, even if I am humble."
Wang Yuan asked again: "Are there any gangs near Hangzhou Prefecture who are responsible for this case?"
Han Zhengshan hesitated for a moment, shook his head and said: "I have never heard of such a gang of thieves in the nearby state capital. Moreover, this matter was done cleanly and neatly, and it was definitely not something that a temporary team could accomplish."
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Wang Yuan put away the smile on his face and his voice became colder: "Captain Han, please answer me honestly, who is the most suspect in this matter?"
Han Zhengshan hesitated: "This matter... the evidence is not conclusive... I don't even know who the murderer is despite my humble position..."
"It's not that you don't know, you don't dare!" Wang Yuan snorted: "Who dares to touch the Haihan people's goods and do it so brilliantly, except the gang of reckless warriors from Zhejiang Dusi! ”
Han Zhengshan didn't dare to accept his words at all. In fact, he had already had such suspicions when he was surveying the site at Tongsheng Pier today, and Linde was also setting the pace in this direction intentionally or unintentionally, which was more or less true. Han Zhengshan's ideas for solving the case also had an impact.
This can’t be blamed on him not being smart enough. The scheme set up by Haihan is really too misleading. Anyone who sees the scene of such a major crime involving murder, robbery, goods, corpses and traces will not think that the biggest sufferer in the case is the perpetrator. He is so heartbroken that he would stage such a cruel trick. As a crime solver, Han Zhengshan deduces conclusions based on the clues left at the fire scene, and will naturally step into the trap set by Haihan.
But even if he had such a guess, he would never dare to say it in public. Although he is the head catcher of Hangzhou Prefecture and eats public food, he is still an ordinary person in front of the army. Offending the Haihan people may not directly affect Han Zhengshan's future career, but offending the army may mean that a small person like him will no longer be able to gain a foothold in Hangzhou in the future.
Wang Yuan was able to express his thoughts so frankly. Whether it was out of righteous indignation or because of the losses suffered by his property at the dock, Han Zhengshan still somewhat admired his courage. After all, with Wang Yuan's position and rank, he still could not afford to offend Zhejiang Dusi. Those big shots. But he had no idea that his seemingly angry boss was also one of the conspirators in the Tongsheng Pier arson case. Wang Yuanke knew much better than Han Zhengshan about what happened last night.
If the previous pace led by Lin De could only make Han Zhengshan doubtful, then after Wang Yuan expressed his opinion, Han Zhengshan became even more convinced of the so-called "truth" of this case. Apart from the Ming army stationed there, who else can implement this method?
But reason reminded Han Zhengshan that the evidence available for drawing a conclusion is not yet sufficient, and there is no empirical evidence to prove that this matter is directly related to the military. So even though he wanted to echo his boss, he finally endured it.
Wang Yuanyuan said without hesitation: "Not counting so many lives on Haihan's side, the direct loss of one entry and one exit would be worth at least hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. The matter is so big, I am worried that they will not I will give up and give up!”
Han Zhengshan answered in a strange way: "It's impossible for the Haihan people to raise their troops to attack Hangzhou City, right?"
After Wang Yuan heard this, he stared at him without saying a word. Han Zhengshan thought that this was a bit inappropriate and quickly apologized: "I just said it casually, please don't take it seriously."
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Although Wang Yuan roughly knew Haihan's plan, he was not sure whether the other party would stage a measured drama or take advantage of the opportunity to cause chaos and attack the city. Han Zhengshan's unintentional words just now really hit the mark on what he was most worried about. If Han Zhengshan hadn't changed his story immediately, he would have doubted whether his subordinate knew something he shouldn't know.
However, Wang Yuan also understands that it is enough to mention this kind of thing. Talking too much can easily appear deliberate. What's more, from the time the news spreads to the public opinion effect, sufficient fermentation time is also needed. The effect that the Haihan people wanted was to make small things big and big things deadlock, so that they could launch bigger actions. Wang Yuan did not have to rush to force Han Zhengshan to track down the garrison in a short while. Tomorrow at the latest, there should be a document from Haihan handed over to the government office, and that's when the real drama begins.
(End of chapter)