Less than two hours later, Sun Tu returned to Changxingfang again. Although the fire that raged all night has been extinguished, the entire originally prosperous market was also destroyed. Thousands of homes and hundreds of shops were turned into ruins. Only a few residential buildings in the northern corner of the main square have been preserved, but they look particularly desolate standing next to the ruins.
At this time, in addition to the soldiers and horses in the city who were still patrolling around the square to prevent a resurgence, there were also many people who were crying and looking for things in their homes. The homes where these people had lived all their lives were suddenly destroyed by fire. Naturally, they felt sad and frightened. All they could do now was find something to recover the losses.
Seeing this scene, Sun Tu felt quite heavy, but he could only sigh and call it a day. After all, his abilities were limited. Only the government could help them in such natural disasters. The group of them continued to move forward, and soon saw Zhong Yu who was still guarding here, with bloodshot eyes. He was really doing his duty.
This Zhong Yunai is a deputy chief of the Tokyo City Street Department, and he is in charge of fire prevention. Therefore, when the fire broke out here, his burden became extremely heavy, and he did not dare to slack off at all.
The Street Department was an agency established by the imperial court to control various chores in Bianjing City and to maintain local cleanliness and safety. Its responsibilities were somewhat similar to those of the urban management department in later generations, but it had greater power and could be seen in every lane and street. Their people, even the fire brigade are under their jurisdiction. Moreover, in addition to their superficial responsibilities, this Neighbor Division also has another hidden identity. They are a force under the Imperial City Division.
Seeing Sun Tu bringing people over, Zhong Yu, whose face was full of fatigue and nervousness, finally had a smile on his face: "Sun Dutou, why don't you go to rest and come here again?" Sun Tu helped him a lot last night, and he Naturally, I have a very good impression of this young man.
"Your Majesty has met Zhong Sizheng. I came here this time on the orders of Xue Tongpan of Kaifeng Prefecture to investigate the cause of the fire." Sun Tu explained in a hurry. Seeing that the other party was slightly confused, he briefly explained his official duties and other matters: "So this time there is such a big disaster here in Dongcheng, and the lower official is even more responsible."
"I see." Only then did Zhong Yu understand why Sun Tu was so dedicated last night, so he nodded and said: "Then you can take people around, but be careful. There may still be embers in some corners. It would be dangerous if there was another fire."
"I understand." Sun Tu nodded in agreement. After getting the other party's permission, he asked his men to spread out to search for relevant clues and find those who survived to find out the inside story. As for himself, he took Cui Luoshang straight to the west, heading towards the location of Maojia Lane in his memory.
The disaster here is more serious than elsewhere. Almost all the buildings have been reduced to ashes of charcoal. In front of a shop on the street, a middle-aged man is kneeling on the ground, crying uncontrollably: "It's over, it's all over... I'm done." The brocade that cost a total of 50,000 guan to be transported from Shu was burned, and the previous inventory was still there..." Apparently all his wealth was in this shop, and now it has been reduced to nothing. His crying was really heartbreaking, but everyone else around him was also concerned about his tragic experience, and no one came forward to comfort him.
Sun Tu saw him, and after a slight hesitation, he stepped forward and patted the other party on the shoulder: "Brother, if the money is gone, you can still find ways to make money again. Talent is the most important thing."
This person was startled for a moment, but still cried sadly, and muttered: "It's over, if I had known I should have sold the goods earlier that day..."
Sun Tu said nothing and turned around and walked forward. Cui Lueshang who was following him showed a strange look on his face after sniffing hard for a few times. But he didn't rush to say anything. He just followed Sun Tu and continued forward. After turning a corner, he came to Maojia Lane, which was also completely burned down and turned black.
Sun Tu glanced around Maojia Alley inside and outside, then walked into it. At the same time, he asked Cui Luoshang: "Old Cui, can you tell from experience whether the fire started in this alley? ?" After all, he had never done any criminal investigation work before traveling through time, so it was difficult for him to make arbitrary judgments.
When Cui Lueshang heard this, he immediately narrowed his eyes and carefully observed the surrounding situation. After a while, he said: "Come to think of it, this place does look like a fire place."
"Oh? Are you sure?" Sun Tu asked again, worried that the other party said this just to flatter him.
Cui Lueshang nodded sternly: "My other abilities are mediocre, but after twenty years of experience, my tricks and nose are pretty good. No clues found at the murder scene can escape my investigation." When he talked about it later, he looked a little proud.
When Sun Tu heard this, he immediately felt happy. If it was true as he said, he would really have a good helper. He immediately said: "Then take a closer look and see which house started the fire first in this alley."
Cui Lueshang agreed and walked cautiously inside, his eyes constantly scanning the high and low ruins, looking for clues. There is not much difference between these things in the eyes of Sun Tu or others, but in his eyes, there are subtle differences.
After walking forward so slowly for a while, Cui Luoshang suddenly paused in his steps, then turned around, walked a few steps to the side, stopped in front of a ruins, and said after a moment of silence: "If You see well, this is the source of the fire."
"Oh? What's the proof?" Sun Tu looked solemn and asked quickly.
Cui Lueshang pointed to the wall beside him and said: "Please look here, Dutou. The color of the earthen wall in this section is obviously much darker than that on the left and right. This proves that the fire here is the most ferocious and the fire lasted the longest."
Sun Tu observed carefully for a while before he noticed the subtle differences. He couldn't help but glance at the other party in surprise: "Old Cui, you really have good eyesight. You can see the clues in this."
"I'm so impressed. That's all I have for eating." Cui Lueshang laughed, but then he stopped laughing because Sun Tu said again: "Then you think this place is actually quite familiar?"
"Ah?" After this reminder, Cui Lueshang also reacted suddenly: "This is..." Just now he was only looking for clues and did not carefully identify the location. Now he realized that he had actually been here not long ago. Location: "Is this Zhang Laosi's house where Huang Qi and others caused trouble that day?"
"Yes, this is it." Although the walls of the surrounding houses were in ruins, Sun Tu could still judge where he was at this time with his sense of direction, which made his expression become more serious: "Unexpectedly, it was In a few days, this place has turned into a scorched earth. But don’t you think it’s strange, why did his house suddenly catch fire? Is it just a coincidence? "
Cui Lueshang still didn't understand what he was saying. His whole face turned a little pale: "Du Tou, are you suspecting that this fire was deliberately caused by someone? And the person who set the fire was..." He said the following words. I was so scared that I couldn't speak out, because this matter was really too big.
The fire not only burned many people to death, but also burned the entire Changxingfang into ruins. This was the city of Tokyo under the emperor's feet. How dare they do such a crime worthy of death
Sun Tu's eyes kept scanning the surrounding ruins, and after a while he said: "I also hope that I guessed wrong, but do you think the fourth child and his family will be so careless in this chapter? And it's still late at night. Does it make sense that the fire started in the yard when the whole family was supposed to be sleeping?"
After a pause, he continued: "It's hard to say whether this fire was a natural disaster or a man-made disaster, but since there are clues and questions, I should investigate further. Otherwise, how can I be responsible for the people who died?"
Cui Lueshang was so frightened by this sudden discovery that he froze on the spot. He even forgot about his previous discovery. There was only one thought left in his mind: "Is this fire a natural disaster or a man-made disaster?"