Chapter 2065
Compared with large trading ports such as Sanya and Zhangzhou, which are frequented by maritime merchants from many countries all year round, the number of foreign businessmen traveling to and from Magong Port in Penghu is obviously much smaller, and the difficulty of checking against registration information is correspondingly much smaller. The relevant investigation did not take too long, and the target person's information was found from the registration information of the Port Authority.
About half a year ago, two merchant ships visited Magong Port. The name of the ship owner registered with the port authority at that time was Tagawa Kenji. This name was completely consistent with the confession of Sun Yongjun, a member of the Zhangzhou Jinyiwei family. However, the two ships only stayed in Magong Port for three days, purchased a small amount of seafood and left without setting up a permanent presence in the local area.
"That's it?" Yu Yao felt a little lucky after hearing the report from his subordinates, but he was also a little disappointed. Although he doesn't want to cause trouble, if he can find more clues, maybe Penghu can also take a share in it when the merits are rewarded afterwards.
Yu Yao is a relatively cautious person. Although there is no evidence that Tagawa Kenji came to Penghu for any impure purpose, he still ordered to further expand the scope of the investigation to check whether there were any newly established commercial institutions and house buying and selling activities in the local area around this time. , and whether there have been changes in the rental situation of warehouses near the terminal.
This additional investigation was entirely based on Yu Yao's intuition, because since he took office in Penghu, Magong Port has rarely been visited by Japanese merchants. As far as he knew, Japanese maritime merchants were more inclined to trade with the Ming Dynasty, and the few trading projects related to Haihan were mostly completed at Dinghai Port in Zhoushan, which is closer to Japan. It is by no means that the products are not rich and Penghu is not on the route between Japan and Ming Dynasty.
A Japanese merchant brought two ships and stayed there for three days, only purchasing some seafood of limited value. This was a waste of time and energy, which seemed a bit strange to Yu Yao.
Of course, if it were not for the investigation, no one would actually pay attention to such trivial matters. Magong Port would rarely conduct special investigations on businessmen from a certain country, or create barriers for foreign businessmen to set up commercial institutions in Penghu. However, Haihan's official registration information is very complete, so even if a relatively long time has passed, relevant clues can still be found.
This investigation revealed new clues. Two days after Tagawa Kenji left Penghu, a local business store changed owners, and the new owner changed the name of the business store to Zhengyuanji - the same name as Zhengyuanji in Zhangzhou. The difference between "福记" and "福记" is only one word. This store itself is a combination of commercial and residential space with storage function, so if the business scale is not large, there is no need to find another residence or warehouse.
"Immediately send a team of people to check this Zhengyuan Ji. They will search carefully inside and outside. If there are any suspicious people, they will be detained first." Yu Yao, with the idea of rather than letting go, immediately Order someone to check the situation of this store.
The adjutant was about to deliver the order when Yu Yao remembered something and stopped him: "It is said that the target to be traced this time has a lot of muskets in his hands. The city in Zhangzhou was closed for three days and the city defense army was dispatched to attack. It was not easy to get them." Next. Let’s be careful in our actions to avoid being plotted... mobilize more troops and seal the place first. If we encounter resistance, we will deal with it as a first-level situation!"
The so-called first-level situation means that the troops encounter the enemy and engage in combat, which is not handled according to the standards of civil security incidents. The adjutant listened carefully to his superior's words and did not dare to show any slightest hesitation. He accepted the order and left.
Since Yu Yao had already warned of the seriousness of the situation, the adjutant, for the sake of safety, transferred the infantry company stationed on the island to perform this task. Of course, he did not forget to reiterate Yu Yao's warning to the company commander.
The company commander thought, since this action was risky and he had been warned by his superiors, if something went wrong, it would be his own incompetence. So he also followed the plan for the offensive operation, not only prepared door-breaking tools and heavy armored infantry, but also pulled a small-caliber field cannon from the weapons library in case of emergency, and then dispatched the only ten-horse war horses in the base , used for peripheral monitoring, pursuit, and ordering.
The two incidents that happened in Zhangzhou City recently served as a great warning to the newcomers. If it weren't for the Zhangzhou case, then Yu Yao would probably have just informed the Military Intelligence Bureau and asked them to send someone to check out the store. Are there any abnormalities in business conditions?
The caution of officers at all levels also allowed them to avoid possible casualties during the operation. Later, when the military tried to inspect Zhengyuanji, they encountered obstruction from the business owner. The officer leading the team saw something wrong and immediately ordered the arrest of the other party's personnel. After receiving the signal, hundreds of Haihan soldiers poured into the business warehouse and took control of the situation before the other party took further resistance.
During a later search, the soldiers found five muskets and nearly a hundred rounds of ammunition from a secret room in the warehouse, as well as a batch of swords, bows and armor. The excuses for using the weapons found as housekeepers or private collections are obviously not valid. There must be ulterior motives for hiding these weapons in the store.
After receiving the report, Yu Yao did not dare to neglect and immediately rushed to the scene to confirm the search results of his men. Seeing those standard muskets with completely uniform shapes and calibers, Yu Yao was also secretly frightened. It would be extremely dangerous if the opponent seized the opportunity to use these muskets to assassinate him on certain occasions.
"Temporarily seal off Magong Port. Only entry is allowed but no exit is allowed. All local people related to Zhengyuanji are identified and no one can be let go!" Yu Yao gave the order with a gloomy face. Now that Penghu has been infiltrated, the scope of the investigation must be expanded. He dare not confirm that Zhengyuanji is the only hidden danger in the local area.
Yu Yao immediately ordered the suspension of the naval fleet's action plan. Compared with the Japanese businessman Tagawa, who did not know where he was hiding, it was obvious that the new clues found at home were more worthy of in-depth exploration. Yu Yao ordered people to prepare a place and personally interrogate the prisoners captured in Zhengyuanji.
Zhengyuanji has a total of twelve shopkeepers and clerks in this store. According to the account books and goods entry and exit records collected in the store, its main business items are the purchase of dried fish, Gelidium, seaweed, coral, etc. from the local area. Seafood is simply processed and packaged and then sold to Daming. This business method of increasing the value of goods through rough processing is quite similar to Haihan's business model. However, in recent years, more and more businessmen along the coast of Ming Dynasty have imitated Haihan's business model, so it is not too unusual.
According to the official registration information, Lu Jiu, the store owner, is from Ming Dynasty, but his clerks come from a variety of sources, including not only Ming people, but also Ryukyus, Japanese, and natives from Taiwan Island, and several of them even I can't even speak Chinese very well.
But this situation is actually not uncommon in the local area. After the Battle of Penghu in 1632, there were only a few hundred indigenous people left in the local area. In order to replenish the island's population, the Penghu authorities relaxed restrictions on immigration, so the number of people entering Penghu through various channels gradually increased. In addition, in order to encourage people to move in, those who have settled in Penghu for more than half a year and have no bad records can apply for naturalization to the Penghu authorities. The conditions are much more relaxed than those in Haihan. Most of the immigrants who come to Penghu and have not yet got the opportunity to naturalize will choose to find a livelihood locally. For example, they can work in a store like Zhengyuanji. If not, they can also find a job as a baggage carrier on the pier. of trading. Therefore, the people living in Penghu are not all Ming and Haihan people, there are also immigrants from other countries and regions.
Of course, whether there are innocent people among Zhengyuanji will need to be slowly identified after interrogation. In short, they must all be treated as suspects for now. Even if someone is wrongly accused, they can only endure it for now.
Yu Yao personally interrogated Lu Jiu, the shopkeeper of Zhengyuanji. According to reports from his subordinates, something was wrong with this guy when he saw the Haihan Army coming to the door. He also tried to instruct his associates to stop the Haihan Army from searching the store. Clearly an insider.
"Lu Jiu, whether this is your real name or a pseudonym, first of all you have to know one thing..." Yu Yao's opening remarks were simple and cold: "...if you die in Penghu, your name will soon be Forgotten by everyone, no one will remember who you are, where you come from, and who you work for. If you still want to see your family again and suffer less, you'd better cooperate with us honestly and tell us what you know. Say it all!”
Lu Jiu was about forty years old. He seemed a little depressed, but his response to Yu Yao was unceremonious: "Master Yu, I lost my life many years ago. What is it called?" My name is not important to me at all. As for my family... I can only see them after I die. If Master Yu wants to threaten me with death, it will probably not work."
Yu Yao was slightly surprised when he heard his response. If what he said was true, it meant that all his family members had died long ago and now he was the only one left. He had long taken life and death lightly and would not be afraid of Yu Yao's death threats.
"So you came to Penghu with the intention of dying? Then presumably what you did in Penghu will help to untie the knot in your heart... Let me guess, your purpose is revenge, so Even if there is a very high risk, you still have to stay here and wait for a chance to take revenge!”
Since death threats don't work, we can only use other methods. As Yu Yao spoke, he paid attention to Lu Jiu's expression, trying to detect some subtle emotional reactions on his face, so that he could make immediate adjustments to his interrogation strategy.
But Lu Jiu was very calm, his eyes were slightly closed, and he did not respond to Yu Yao's words again. But Yu Yao noticed that the fists clenched by this man's hands tightened again, and even the veins on the back of his hands bulged out, as if he was stimulated by Yu Yao's words.
Yu Yao immediately hit the snake on the stick and continued: "It has been more than four years since I was transferred to Penghu. During this period, Penghu has been basically peaceful. No major incidents have happened, and I have never heard of any. Something like a massacre happened. So if you say that your family members are dead and you are still alive, it must have happened in the past few years, or the location is not in Penghu. Of course, the most likely scenario is that you are still alive. The culprit behind the murder of my family is here, like me, or someone else.”
Yu Yao noticed that although this man was trying to control his emotions, his subtle body movements still revealed that he was reacting to the situation he had speculated. However, Yu Yao didn't think that the other party's enemy was him, because he had briefly looked into each other's eyes when he came in before, and he didn't feel any hatred, but his anger and unwillingness were more obvious.
Although the other party was unwilling to respond to him, Yu Yao believed that his guess was in the right direction, because when he threatened him with death before, this guy immediately responded to this impossible assumption.
However, the other party refused to respond now, so Yu Yao could not continue to speculate out of thin air. However, looking at the other party's indifferent posture, it was probably difficult to get him to speak through words. He could only use more direct methods. Try to break down the opponent's psychological defenses.
"Although you are not afraid of death, there are actually many things in this world that are more difficult and painful than death. If you are not willing to cooperate well, then I can only give you some pain." Yu Yao waved his hand and signaled. The torture expert who had been waiting nearby for a long time gave Lu Jiu some tricks.
Yu Yao didn't think Lu Jiu's will could be strong. People who weren't afraid of death might not be able to endure the pain. According to Haihan's interrogation experience over the years, many interrogation subjects who claimed to be not afraid of death chose to confess during the torture process because they could not bear the pain. There are also some hard-line elements and desperadoes among them, but a group of torture experts trained by Haihan over the years have summarized many effective execution methods, which will cause the subject to suffer physical pain that ordinary people cannot bear in a short period of time.
Of course, there is no need to equip a small place like Penghu with few security incidents in a year, but Lu Jiu is really unlucky. There happened to be a military intelligence ship stopping at Magong Port in the past two days. On board were several agents returning to Sanya from Zhoushan to supply supplies. One of them was an expert in torture and extorting confessions. After capturing the person from Zhengyuanji, Yu Yao thought that the torture expert might be put to use, so he specially transferred him to suppress the battle.
After receiving the order, the torture expert first gave a military salute to Yu Yao, then walked up to Lu Jiu who was tied to a chair and could not move, stretched out his hand and pinched him a few times, and put his fingers on the side of his neck. For a moment, it seemed like he was checking his pulse.
Yu Yao was surprised by what he saw and couldn't help but ask him what he meant. The man quickly responded: "I'd like to briefly check the physical condition of the suspect first, so as not to cause him to die too quickly due to improper torture. This man has a strong body and a pulse." With strength, I can carry out the execution.”
(End of chapter)