There is a god in the sky

Chapter 145 The Mystery of the Dock 12

Xiao Ji played three games of chess with County Magistrate Zhang, winning all three.

He stood up and asked, "It's getting late. What clue did Lord Zhang mention?"

As Zhang Yanqiao put away the chess pieces, he said, "There's a problem with one of Steward Jiang's ledgers."

"Oh?"

Zhang Yanqiao retrieved the account book and handed it to Xiao Ji. "There are problems with the income and expenditure in this account book. Many purchases were made with inferior goods and prices were deliberately inflated. Therefore, I believe that Jiang Zheng's death may have been caused by an unequal distribution of profits."

Xiao Ji carefully read through a few pages. The handwriting in the ledger was not Su Qiyu's, and he didn't know where Zhang Yanqiao had gotten the ledger.

"In that case, Steward Wang becomes the prime suspect."

"That's...possible. Perhaps I should take him back to the yamen for a thorough interrogation."

Xiao Ji closed the ledger, tossed it onto the table, and said with a smile, "Then I'll go check out the dock. The weather's nice today, so perhaps I can set off."

"This humble official will escort you there, sir."

Zhang Yanqiao followed closely behind Xiao Ji.

The group arrived at the dock, where cargo was being loaded onto ships in a bustling atmosphere.

Xiao Ji instructed Sui Feng: "Have Constable Chen carry our luggage onto the ship."

"Yes." Sui Feng glanced at the boats on the river.

Apart from their official ships, this cargo ship was the largest and had the deepest draft.

Xiao Ji stood on the dock, feeling the wind and a slight chill.

The snow is melting, which means the temperature is not low today.

Zhang Yanqiao stared at the movements over there, muttering unimportant things.

"I sent someone back to the county office yesterday to report that if the magistrate learns that Lord Xiao is here, he will definitely come to see you."

"I am merely passing by; there is no need for such a fuss."

Xiao Ji pointed to the cargo ship and asked, "Since this is an abandoned dock and not under the jurisdiction of the government, how does the government collect taxes on such cargo ships when they go down the river?"

Zhang Yanqiao was stumped by the question.

They were doing this in private, but now that it's been exposed in public, how do they explain it?

"Your Excellency may not know this, but Tong'an County was originally a wealthy county, and Jiyan Wharf was once a bustling and prosperous place."

Unfortunately, the dock was abandoned due to some events. However, waterways are more convenient than land routes, and some merchants would still ship their goods from here for convenience.

Taxes are definitely collected, but the county government can't easily report this amount, so..."

He bowed to Xiao Ji and pleaded, "This humble official begs Your Excellency to keep this a secret and give the merchants of Tongan County a way to survive."

Xiao Ji looked at him with a half-smile, "If that's the case, why doesn't the government reopen this dock?"

Zhang Yanqiao said with difficulty, "Such an important matter is not something that a mere county magistrate like myself can decide."

As they were talking, Chen Shi arrived with his men.

Shen Lan was also among them. She walked to Xiao Ji's side and bowed to the two of them.

Zhang Yanqiao asked curiously, "May I ask how this young lady is addressed?"

"Her surname is Shen, and she is my coroner," Xiao Ji introduced Shen Lan.

"A coroner? That's really rare. There has never been a female coroner in this dynasty."

Zhang Yanqiao himself was in charge of criminal cases, so it was inevitable that he would take a second look at such a young and beautiful female coroner.

Shen Lan said sweetly, "I am grateful that Lord Xiao does not mind and is willing to give me this opportunity."

Just as Zhang Yanqiao was about to speak, a gasp came from the other side.

"Oh no! The box has cracked!"

The crowd looked in the direction of the sound and saw that the wooden crate being loaded onto the boat had cracked open at the bottom, and the porcelain bottles were rolling into the river.

Manager Wang shouted anxiously, "Quickly, scoop it out!"

One by one, the porcelain vases sank to the bottom of the water.

Some people jumped into the water to try to retrieve the body, but the river was murky and the weather was cold, so they couldn't hold on for long and had to swim back up.

Only a few bottles were found. Manager Wang found another box, packed the bottles up, and sent it onto the ship.

Shen Lan asked Xiao Ji with a puzzled look, "My lord, how are these bottles different from the ones we use every day? I am not knowledgeable enough to see the difference."

“There’s not much difference,” Xiao Ji agreed.

Zhang Yanqiao hurriedly explained, "Sir, you may not know this, but there is a merchant in this county who is skilled in making colored porcelain. This batch of goods is large and is being transported to Lingnan for sale. It may even be shipped overseas."

"No wonder the porcelain I used when I was an official in Jianzhou Prefecture was similar to these."

Chen Shi came over and reported: "Sir, the luggage has been prepared, and the boatman has gone ahead to scout the way. The river is passable."

"Alright, let's set off then."

Xiao Ji bid farewell to County Magistrate Zhang and led his men onto the official boat.

In the blink of an eye, an arrow flew over the crowd and struck a farmhand carrying a box.

The box landed intact.

But then another arrow came flying and landed firmly on the wooden box.

"There's a light!" Chen Shi shouted.

Shen Lan subconsciously pulled Xiao Ji back a few steps.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zhang Yanqiao running over anxiously, shouting as he ran, "Quickly pull out the arrows and pour water to put out the fire!"

Xiao Ji turned his head and asked Shen Lan, "What's in the box?"

"I suspect those bottles contained gunpowder."

Xiao Ji's expression turned serious.

At this moment, Suiying disembarked from the official boat and changed his clothes.

He walked up to Xiao Ji and handed him a package from his sleeve.

He lowered his voice and said, "Sir, this is something we just pulled out of the water. The bottle is full of gunpowder."

Xiao Ji squeezed the paper package in his hand, then held it to his nose and smelled it.

He ordered in a deep voice, "Officer Chen, take your men and capture them all!"

With so much gunpowder, what was the magistrate of Tongan County planning to do?

He had no doubt that these things belonged to the county magistrate, and that both Zhang Yanqiao and Jiang Zheng were working for him.

Chen Shi drew his sword and led his men to charge forward, pinning the laborers who were carrying loads to the ground.

"Don't move! Anyone who resists will be killed on the spot!"

These farmhands were also quite strong, and naturally they were unwilling to be captured without resistance.

But they didn't have time to retrieve their weapons before the officers subdued them.

County Magistrate Zhang was dumbfounded and shouted, "What does Lord Xiao mean by this? Release the man at once!"

The officers behind him immediately drew their swords to rescue him.

Suiying lifted the box on the ground and slammed it down on them.

Those people quickly ran away, the box fell to the ground and shattered into pieces, the porcelain inside was reduced to fragments.

Gunpowder powder was everywhere.

When Zhang, the county magistrate, saw that things had gone wrong, he turned and ran away.

He chased after him, but an arrow came flying straight at him, hitting Zhang, the county magistrate, in the chest. He watched helplessly as Zhang fell to the ground and died.

He chased after the archer.

Seeing this, Sui Feng stood in front of Xiao Ji to prevent the attacker from taking advantage of the situation.

Xiao Ji had someone bring Steward Wang before him for questioning.

He walked over and grabbed a handful of gunpowder in his palm; the gunpowder powder fell through his fingers.

"Manager Wang, please explain."

Manager Wang knelt on the ground, trembling, unable to utter a single word for a long time.

County Magistrate Zhang is dead. How could a mere steward like him stand up to a dignified fifth-rank official?

"Ha, selling gunpowder privately is punishable by the extermination of nine generations of one's family. How many people are in Manager Wang's nine generations of family?"

Manager Wang kowtowed forcefully, begging for mercy: "Sir, I was just following orders. I didn't know there was gunpowder in the box."

"You didn't know? You were in charge of the warehouse, you were the one who brought in the people, and you should have arranged the ship as well. You didn't know?"

Xiao Ji squatted down, lifted his head, stared into his eyes, and asked, "I will give you a chance to save your people."

"Yes, yes... I will certainly do as you say!"

"Where should this gunpowder be transported, and to whom should it be given?"

"I only know that this ship is going to Tanzhou, but I don't know where the next stop is."

"This isn't the first time, is it? It's been arranged like this before?"

“Previously, it was all arranged by Manager Jiang. This is my first time. Each step is handled by a separate person, so Manager Jiang has no idea where this batch of goods will be sent.”