Ah Gui is dead.
This sentence hit the East Bay dock, and even the sound of the wind by the river seemed to be suppressed.
Shopkeeper Lu was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly turned his head and rushed half a step towards the gang member.
"What nonsense are you talking about!"
"Ah Gui was perfectly fine, how could he die?"
The gang member shrank back after being yelled at by him, his trouser legs covered in mud, panting with his chest heaving.
"He's really dead, hung from the beam, his tongue even sticking out. There are people gathered at the door of the warehouse, and a confession letter was stuffed in his arms. It says the charcoal was secretly stuffed by him and has nothing to do with Guangyi Firm!"
The dock exploded instantly.
"Silenced, right?"
"Extorting people during the day, stuffing goods at night, and when the incident is exposed, the buddy dies. Guangyi's hands and feet are too fast!"
"The confession letter is already prepared, is this still a coincidence?"
Shopkeeper Lu turned back and yelled at the crowd.
"Shut up! Whoever shouts nonsense again, I will make him have no boat to run in the future!"
As soon as these words fell, Pang Yu kicked the wooden stake next to him.
"Still acting mighty?"
"Shopkeeper Lu, your buddy just hung himself, and your first sentence wasn't to ask how he died, but to first fear he would say the words Guangyi. Your reaction is really so damn practiced!"
The flesh on Shopkeeper Lu's face twitched, and he wanted to speak again, but Tao Boyong raised his hand first.
"Go to the South Dock, seal the corpse, and don't let idle people get close."
Two patrolmen immediately responded and turned to leave.
Xu Wuyou spoke up.
"Wait."
The patrolmen stopped in their tracks.
Tao Boyong turned around.
"Hall Master Xu wants to stop the officials again?"
Xu Wuyou pointed at the two patrolmen.
"The corpse at the South Dock, the government will seal it, and Shuicheng Hall will also send people to seal it."
"Ah Gui is a person from Guangyi Firm, died in Guangyi's warehouse, with a confession letter stuffed in his arms."
"This case happens to tie up the account of the charcoal in the bottom cabin. Whoever touches the corpse first has the chance to change things."
"Patrolman Tao is not afraid of being accused of destroying evidence, I am."
Pang Yu immediately waved his hand.
"Old Oarsman, you take four people and go. Don't touch the corpse, seal the door first. Whoever wants to touch the paper, chop off his fingers first!"
Old Oarsman stuck his pipe behind his waist, pointed out four old gang members, and followed the two patrolmen quickly towards the South Dock.
Tao Boyong endured and endured, finally suppressing his anger.
"Xu Wuyou, you meddle too much."
"If Patrolman Tao had been stricter earlier, I wouldn't have to be so tired."
Xu Wuyou put the signed paper back into the wooden box, just about to let Old Zhou seal the second layer of wax, when Pang Yu suddenly noticed a patrolman's cuff bulging.
That patrolman had originally been standing behind Tao Boyong. Just now, hearing the news of Ah Gui's death, his toes had already turned in a direction, as if he wanted to retreat.
Pang Yu narrowed his eyes, reached out, and firmly pressed the man's arm.
"Brother, where are you rushing to?"
The patrolman's face changed.
"Let go!"
Pang Yu grinned, applied force with his hand, and yanked his sleeve down.
Clatter.
A roll of oil paper fell onto the muddy ground.
The patrolman immediately bent down to pick it up, but Pang Yu was faster, stepping on the oil paper with one foot, and grabbing his collar with one hand.
"Patrolman Tao, the people under you are hiding things in their sleeves."
Tao Boyong's face darkened.
"Bring it here."
Pang Yu didn't hand it to Tao Boyong, but first looked at Xu Wuyou.
Xu Wuyou walked over, picked up the oil paper. It was wrapped in two layers on the outside, the seal didn't have an official stamp, only tied with a fine hemp rope.
He opened it and saw that the paper was densely written with boat numbers, warehouse names, times, and cargo values, followed by a few columns of small characters.
Loss.
Profit sharing.
Xu Wuyou's hand stopped.
Pang Yu leaned over, just glanced at it, and the rogue smile on his face vanished on the spot.
"Hall Master, this is not a small account."
Xu Wuyou spread the oil paper on the dock's cutting board and pressed down on the four corners.
The torch pressed forward, revealing the words on the paper.
North Line Military Grain Shipping Schedule.
The first line read: March 27th, Jianghuai Warehouse military grain 8,000 shi, boat numbers Huaian 16, Huaian 17, Huaian 18, left warehouse at Shen time, headed north at the second watch, reported loss 1.2 tenths, profit sharing 380 taels.
The second line read: April 9th, Huaisi transfer grain 10,000 shi, boat numbers Sishui 3, Sishui 4, Sishui 5, Sishui 6, reported loss 1.5 tenths, profit sharing 620 taels.
The third line read: May 2nd, Xuanda military grain 6,000 shi, boat numbers Beiqu 21, Beiqu 22, reported loss 2 tenths, profit sharing 490 taels.
Further down, there were seven or eight more lines.
The most recent one was written more clearly.
June 4th, Xuanda Zhenbei City military grain 4,000 shi, boat numbers Qinghe 19, Qinghe 20, left warehouse at Jingji North Warehouse, transferred to river at the beginning of Zi time, reported loss 1.8 tenths, destination Zhenbei City.
There had originally been people whispering on the dock, but when these few lines were read out, the surroundings went completely silent.
Military grain.
Zhenbei City.
Reported loss 1.8 tenths.
These few words were too heavy.
Pang Yu's throat felt tight, but he still grabbed the oil paper and shouted out the rest.
"March 27th, Jianghuai Warehouse military grain 8,000 shi, reported loss 1.2 tenths."
"April 9th, Huaisi transfer grain 10,000 shi, reported loss 1.5 tenths."
"May 2nd, Xuanda military grain 6,000 shi, reported loss 2 tenths."
"June 4th, Zhenbei City military grain 4,000 shi, reported loss 1.8 tenths."
After reading the last word, he looked up and cursed.
"Motherfucker, this is cutting meat from the lives of the border army to eat!"
Someone from the boat households spoke up in a low voice.
"Didn't Zhenbei City cut off pay a few days ago?"
"My cousin is in the Northern Territory. He wrote a letter last winter saying the wounded soldier camp gets two watery meals a day, not even a drop of oil in the meat soup."
"I've seen military families come to the capital to ask for unpaid wages, and they were driven away by the people at the yamen door. That woman cried all day holding her child, and finally couldn't even enter the city gate."
"The military grain boats report a two-tenths loss on the way, what do the soldiers over there eat?"
More and more voices spoke up, and the more they said, the more uncontrollable it became.
Xu Wuyou felt a blockage in his chest.
He used to be a scoundrel in the capital, whoever provoked him, he would beat them up, thinking that the biggest thing in the world was just a knife and a punch.
But this piece of oil paper spread on the cutting board, a few lines of words, a few strings of numbers, could empty the pots and stoves in the Northern Territory, make the old soldiers in the wounded soldier camp starve through the night, and make Xu Qinghuan fill the hole with his life in Zhenbei City.
His palm pressed on the list, the oil paper under his fingers stuck with sweat.
This was not just Guangyi Firm eating black.
This was stripping military grain layer by layer, from the warehouse to the waterway, from the Caosi to the firm, from the exemption inspection plaque to the night cabin change.
Tao Boyong reached out.
"This list involves the Caosi case files, hand it over to this official."
Xu Wuyou looked up.
"Patrolman Tao, first explain why the patrolman under you would have the North Line Military Grain Shipping Schedule hidden in his sleeve?"
Tao Boyong immediately spoke.
"The patrolman secretly hid it, it has nothing to do with the Caosi."
The patrolman held down by Pang Yu suddenly looked up.
"My Lord!"
Tao Boyong kicked him.
"Shut up!"
The patrolman was kicked to the ground, but after getting up, he didn't dare to shut up anymore. His knees went soft, and he knelt in the mud, kowtowing repeatedly.
"It wasn't secretly hidden by this small one!"
"It was given by Shopkeeper Lu!"
"He said something would happen in the East Bay tonight, and asked this small one to bring the list to Patrolman Tao to verify. After the charcoal case is suppressed, the subsequent profit sharing needs to be changed. The North Line has been checked strictly recently, and the loss cannot be written as before!"
Shopkeeper Lu exploded on the spot.
"Bullshit!"
"You, a patrolman, whose money did you take to dare bite me!"
The patrolman cried and shouted.
Shopkeeper Lu, you can't just turn your back on me! Ah Gui shoved the oil paper to me, and the hemp rope on the outside is the fine thread used by the Guangyi accounting room. I was only responsible for handing it to Patrol Officer Tao!
I don't even understand the secret codes for splitting the profits. What use would a lowly one like me have for this thing!
Shopkeeper Lu raised his foot to kick the man, but Pang Yu blocked him with his body.
Do you want to beat a second person to death right here?
Shopkeeper Lu was trembling with anger.
This is not a profit-sharing ledger, this is a trade route valuation table!
When military grain ships take the northern route, the merchant firm has to estimate labor, wear and tear, and risks. What is so strange about writing down depreciation?
Xu Wuyou did not argue with him, turning to Old Zhou instead.
Bring the Waterway Hall's northern route shipping schedule.
Old Zhou already had the ledger clutched to his chest. Hearing this, he immediately flipped to the twenty-seventh day of the third month.
Torches gathered around.
Old Zhou verified it line by line.
The twenty-seventh of the third month. Huaian sixteen, seventeen, and eighteen. Military grain from the Jianghuai granary. Headed north at the second watch. Hung the Transport Commission's exemption plaque when passing the south dock.
The ninth of the fourth month. Sishui three to Sishui six. Huaisi transfer grain. Rushed the northern route. Did not inspect the hold when passing the lock.
The second of the fifth month. Beiqu twenty-one and twenty-two. Xuanda military grain. Changed holds at night. The porters used were not locals.
The fourth of the sixth month. Qinghe nineteen and Qinghe twenty. Zhenbei City military grain. Transferred rivers at the beginning of the rat hour. Stopped at the old granary on the south dock for half an hour.
Old Zhou closed the ledger and tapped his finger on the oil paper.
The ship numbers are all correct, the times are all correct, and the departure locations are all correct.
The so-called depreciation ratio also overlaps with the dates Guangyi Merchant Firm passed the lock.
Shopkeeper Lu, this is not a valuation table. This is a military grain loss manifest.
Curses erupted across the dock once more.
You dogs!
I've tracked military grain ships before! Once night falls, they won't let anyone near, claiming it's exempt from Transport Commission inspection!
For the past half year, all the northern route military grain ships have been like this. Changing holds at night, hanging exemption plaques, bringing in outside porters. All of us old dock workers get chased away!
The Old Oarsman was not there, so another old boatman stepped forward, his voice hoarse.
Let me add something.
A few months ago, when Qinghe nineteen stopped at the old granary, my family's boat was right next to it. We were chased away three times by patrolmen with blades.
They said military grain was crossing the river, and any idlers who got close would be treated as grain thieves. But I heard the sound of bags being moved in the hold. They tossed about, going in and out for half an hour.
The next day, that ship sat higher in the water.
As soon as these words came out, even Tao Boyong could not immediately respond.
Sitting higher in the water meant there was less cargo.
Xu Wuyou pointed at Pang Yu.
Write down their names.
Pang Yu immediately snatched a pen and paper from the accountant's hands.
Whoever just said the northern border wounded soldier camp was short on grain, step forward.
Whoever said military families were chased away when asking for owed wages, step forward too.
Those who mentioned changing holds at night, exemption plaques, and outside porters, register one by one. The Waterway Hall will protect you tonight. If anyone dares to cause you trouble later, they'll have to ask me, Pang Yu, if I agree first!
A few boatmen hesitantly stepped forward.
Some reported their own ship numbers, some reported their relatives' battalion numbers at the northern border. One porter's hands were shaking violently, but he still stated the exact time grain was moved at the old granary that night.
Tao Boyong finally couldn't hold back anymore and reached out to snatch the roll of oil paper.
This item is a Transport Commission case file. It must not fall into the hands of a gang!
Xu Wuyou slammed the imperial envoy's military supply document down onto the manifest.
Paper pressed against paper, seal matching seal.
Patrol Officer Tao, this manifest involves northern border military supplies. The Waterway Hall does not try cases; we only preserve evidence.
The original will be sent to the Ministry of Revenue at dawn.
A copy will be handed over to the Imperial City Department.
Another copy will be transcribed and sent by fast horse to the imperial envoy's headquarters at the northern border.
Tao Boyong's hand stopped in midair.
Xu Wuyou stared at him, enunciating every single word.
The capital route, the water transport route, and the northern border route. Three paths taken simultaneously.
Whoever wants to destroy the evidence had better think clearly first whether they can cover three mouths at the same time.
The color completely drained from Shopkeeper Lu's face.
