When Hu Liang couldn't sleep over and over again, there was also a group of people on the bank of the canal who were very uneasy.
After they got on the boat from Hu Liang, they began to follow all the way, by land, along the river. The boat was going downstream. In good weather, they would start sailing. It was not only easy, but also fast. quick.
But the people they follow are riding horses. People can insist on not eating for a long time, or eating and drinking on horseback. If the riding skills are good enough, sleeping on horseback is not a problem.
But as horses, they can't bear it. Standing and sleeping are two different things from running on the road. After running with the boat for a day, the horses only rested for more than half an hour.
At night, the horses obviously couldn't bear it. The small team of seven people looked like merchants on the surface, with horses, and carriages. The carriages contained things that were difficult for outsiders to see and were covered by cloth.
After half the moon climbed up, finally a horse couldn't stand it anymore. It was not very fast, but without much rest, and fell to the ground. After a bang, he couldn't get up again. Come.
"No, we can't continue to follow, otherwise the horse is exhausted. Let's not think about it." A man who was still riding on horseback was lying on the ground at this time. It is warmer than the capital. Many, not only the wild grass showing two inches of body on the river bank, but also the nearby trees also sprouted new buds.
The speaker happened to be lying on the grass, crushing the grass a lot, panting. He didn't know if he was tired from riding a horse or was thrown just now.
"My third brother, it’s sunny today. It’s better for you to get up quickly to avoid catching a cold. The eighth brother is also true. After he got on the boat, he would find a way to inquire about the news, and then pass it to us. Until now, I saw him on the boat. He was having fun with others on the deck, but no news came back. I really don’t know what he thought."
Another person said to the person lying on the grass.
The lying person propped up his upper body with his arms, glanced at the gloriously illuminated fleet that was still fast going downstream, and said: "Fifth brother, I think the eighth brother has his own problems. Didn't he have been with him before he got on the boat? Have we said that.
If he can’t pass the message, it means he’s in a bad situation. Let us be careful, be careful, and be careful. It’s best if the follower can rotate between the two, don’t be targeted, and at the same time, you can’t send a telegram. , Wait a minute, see if the eighth brother will not send us a message tomorrow, if that is the case, it means that the eighth brother is very dangerous. "
"Wait, wait, I want to wait too. The question is whether the person who sent us is still willing to wait. When our task is not completed, we should be punished again when we go back."
The one who was called the fifth brother by the person who lay before was not very happy. Seeing that he couldn't catch up, he had to gritted his teeth and squeezed out the words word by word.
Another person followed his words and said: "What the fifth brother said is that the eighth brother is not smart enough to do things exactly, maybe he really forgot, we should send the news back as soon as possible.
Sometimes, the more dangerous you feel, the safer you are in fact. If you don’t pass the news and delay things, you and I can’t afford it, and I am in favor of telegraphing. "
"Where are the others?" a silent person asked, glanced at the remaining six.
"I agree, I oppose, and I agree..." the other six people said unevenly.
At the last glance, three supported the telegram and three opposed the telegram, and everything fell on the questioner.
The man paused and said, "Well, if that's the case, I also agree to send a report. The eighth brother is timid, saying that the telegrams we send are easy to be intercepted. After all, we use Datang's messaging method. People will inevitably strengthen the prevention and review of every telegram.
The current situation, there is a big possibility that we will be exposed, but I think it is impossible. We telegraphed and did not use the kind of words that are very obvious at first glance. Instead, we specially conveyed it to other places. The price of various local food and meat products.
The person in charge of their review, can it be that every time they compare the prices we send out, make judgments about what we are doing badly behind the scenes? "
"I approve of the big brother's proposal. Sending a report is better than I can't keep up with the other party now. No matter whether the eighth brother has encountered a problem or he forgot to contact us, we must report the matter truthfully."
The old fifth who spoke just now spoke out in support.
The third one looked at the second brother, and saw that the second brother looked like he was indispensable. He sighed and said: "Four votes to three votes. If that's the case, then find a place to send the report."
The second child who didn't speak said aloud at this moment, and suggested: "If we send a telegram, we should buy more goods first, so that people will know that we are real businessmen, not spies."
With the resolution, the seven people also paid attention to the fact that they were still in the middle of the night, walking along the road, knocking on the roadside people’s surname, especially in places like small shops, spending a bit more than usual to breed and plant them. The goods in the fleet have been bought, which enriches the cargo in the fleet.
Then, without waiting for dawn, immediately find a place where you can send a telegram. Usually the place where you can telegram is twelve hours without a break. Unless you encounter special circumstances, if someone else has an urgent matter, they may not be able to deliver the message in time. .
When the telegram sounded, the seven people could no longer see the fleet of Beckham and others going south down the canal.
…
The seven people did not rest, but sent a telegram, which prevented Zhang Xiaobao from taking a good rest.
Seeing it was midnight, Zhang Xiaobao, who was sleeping soundly with Wang Juan in his arms, was awakened by the movement outside the cabin, put on a piece of clothing and opened the cabin door, and saw people in the inner courtyard standing at the door waiting, looking a little bit in a hurry.
"Little son, Hu Liang's accomplices have been found. They sent an order for the price of vegetables to Jiangzhou just half an hour ago tonight. Look."
The inner courtyard was talking and handed the information to Zhang Xiaobao.
After taking a look, Zhang Xiaobao showed a disdainful smile at the corner of his mouth, nodded to the people in the inner courtyard, and said, "Continue to stare and dare to play this trick with us. It is really too small to look down on us, and wait for them to continue to telegraph. Please collect it, compare it several times, and try to crack the key algorithm."
"Yes." The inner courtyard agreed, turned and ran away.
"Xiaobao, what's the matter? Did they use secret electricity?" Wang Juan also woke up, rubbing his eyes and asked.
"Using it, I have a good idea to quote the price of vegetables from other places, but it is rather silly. You said that where rice can be sold for seven cents a catty, this is clearly a set of high-number corresponding codes.
It's all right now. People in Jiangzhou keep up. Don't even try to run away. Even if we can't crack it, we can follow the vine and find the other party's secret copy. "
Zhang Xiaobao shook the tele-paper in his hand twice and said to Wang Juan.
Wang Juan lay down again after hearing this, and murmured: "Don't worry, Jiangzhou will not be able to send an order for a price to the other party tonight. There are still a few hours to arrange the time, even if the other party finds out from the telegram. The situation is wrong, and there is no chance to run away, go to sleep."
…
Xiaobei naturally also got the information. After hearing the analysis of the person in charge of the matter in the inner courtyard, Xiaobei slept well with the information.
When it was dawn the next day, when Hu Liang was going to freshen up again and went to eat, the inner courtyard that led the way came up with an intelligence paper in his hand and said to Hu Liang, "Master Hu, we were yesterday. At night, I received a telegram message from someone else. Oh, it was intercepted.
The quotations for vegetables, fruits, and grains, etc., we didn’t notice, but seven cents per catty of rice is too expensive, and the price of rice is more than three times the normal price.
Some of us joked that the person who sent the telegram has a problem with his head. Where can I find such expensive rice within thousands of miles north and south by the river? If you don’t believe me, take a look, isn’t it interesting? "
The time of speaking, the inner court passed the telegram.
Hu Liang didn't wait to read the content of the telegram. He only listened to the inner courtyard. For a moment, it seemed as if he had been hit by a thunderbolt from the blue sky.
After receiving the telegram stupidly and looking at the content on it, Hu Liang exhaled softly and slowly closed his eyes. After a while, he opened again and asked, "How did you find it?"
"We have a dedicated group of people who are responsible for the encryption and decryption. The methods you use are really too simple. We don’t have to work as hard as you when we send messages. We send back a group of numbers or letters directly, and then Restore again.
Let's just say, what's the content of the telegram sent by the five of them? I believe you know that in Jiangzhou, no matter who receives the telegram, they will not escape our surveillance. We will give you a chance to do meritorious service. We are satisfied, and you can still see your family. "
The inner courtyard explained a little, watching Hu Liang's expression, and asked.
Hu Liang nodded in frustration and asked, "You promise to let me go? Let me live a normal life?"
"As long as your answer is useful to us, nothing is impossible." The inner courtyard made an uncertain guarantee.
"Okay, I said, the content written above is that they found that my action had failed, and told the people in Jiangzhou not to act rashly. It is best to bear with it for a while, and do not react in any way when Xiaobei passes by. , Hiding in the dark, not exposed.
But I guess that the people in Jiangzhou may not completely listen to the words of the five of them. They will still send dead men to assassinate Beckham, instead of revealing any traces. I can’t guess the rest, unless you can come up with new ones. I can help analyze the information. "
Hu Liang looked like he had lost his fighting spirit. After speaking, he squatted there, staring at the tiny gap between the deck wood and the wood in a daze.
The inner courtyard nodded and said to him: "Okay, I will report the truth. As long as you truly repent, you will still have a new life."
After speaking, the inner courtyard left, and several other people were responsible for "protecting" Hu Liang from any "danger".
The inner courtyard that got the information found Xiaobei and others again, shook his head and said: "He still didn't tell the truth. I said that there were five people in their accomplices. He followed my words and said that it seems that the management of this organization is very strict. Even if the person who received the other party's intelligence was found in Jiangzhou, they could not find their roots.
Also, I judged that they didn’t know that we were going to Jiangzhou. If there was an ambush, it was probably in Hangzhou. Otherwise, Hu Liang would not emphasize the Jiangzhou assassination. He was from the maid’s mouth in our inner courtyard yesterday and the night before. Information obtained. "
Xiaobei's nine children looked at each other and nodded their heads at the same time. Xiaobei said: "It's fun, it seems that Hu Liang is not an ordinary person. Tell brother and sister. Let's speed up and don't give each other too much. Much reaction time."
After this incident, the speed of the fleet that Beckham was in suddenly accelerated, and Hu Liang could no longer hear any useful news from the maid’s words next door. As a result, on the third night of the boat, he suffered from insomnia again. Up.
…
Three days passed quickly and slowly as the wind blows and the clouds move.
As expected in Jiangzhou, the person who received the information did not immediately contact other people. It was a woman, to be precise an old woman.
She owns two houses and a small courtyard where the seeds have just been sown. The recipient of the telegram is her, and at the same time she added a sentence for her to pass it on to her son.
Of course, the intelligence personnel of Zhang Wang's family were unable to find her true identity, let alone her son. The only record was the household registration in the local government, and she was also surnamed Hu.
There are three sons, Hu Da, Hu Er and Hu San, but the household registration does not record anything in her family, so it is difficult to figure out whether her son exists or not and where.
For three days, the old woman surnamed Hu has been living very regularly every day. In the morning, it will be dark. She will get up outside and shake a bucket of water from the well to wash up, then go to the soup and cake restaurant outside to eat a bowl of noodles, and then she will be there. Walk slowly along a local river.
At noon, I went to another restaurant to eat a bowl of wontons. In the afternoon, I continued walking along the river. At night, I found a stall selling food at random on the street, bought two steamed buns, and made them by herself when she returned home. Pickles to eat.
In this way, there is no slight change. The watcher has never seen anyone visit her, and she never talks to others. The only time she can hear her talk a lot is when she wanders by the river and is tired from walking. Sitting there leaning on a big tree, mumbled at the unintelligible words spoken by the flowing river.
The news soon reached Zhang Xiaobao's boat.
After reading this, Li Longji was confused, and asked, "Xiaobao, are you staring at the wrong person?"
Zhang Xiaobao chuckled and replied: "If she is not like this, then she might be staring wrong. She is too regular, but abnormal, cuckoo, familiar or not?"
"Familiar." Wang Juan nodded when he heard Zhang Xiaobao's question, "Order, send someone to watch that tree for me, and look at it quietly at night, but don't make any movement, and give all the surrounding houses." I'm monitoring it."