The Fourteenth Year of Chenghua

Chapter 48

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Wang Zhi no longer regained his composure, and stood up quickly: "What's going on!"

The subordinate said ashamed: "When we followed the little girl all the way to the front of Tofu Chen Hutong, there happened to be a fight at the door of the shop next door, and the people all gathered around to watch, and immediately distanced us from the little girl. , when we catch up, the little girl has disappeared!"

Wang Zhi yelled: "Trash! Rice bucket! What's the use of raising you! Hurry up and find it!"

Now that's it, Zhu Yong's young daughter and Geng Shilang's granddaughter were not found, and they even took a sister of Tang Tuiguan to go in.

Tang Fan said, "Wait!"

He said to the Xichang Fanzi: "Can the people who fought at that time still be found now?"

Naxichang Fanzi said, "Yes, our people are right there."

Tang Fan said, "Then I'd like to trouble you guys and bring those two back for questioning. In case it's not accidental, maybe this is also a clue."

The Xichang Fanzi didn't answer, but looked at Wang Zhi first.

This is also normal. Their boss is Wang Zhi, not Tang Fan. Why should they listen to an outsider

Xichang has a great reputation, but now he has been negligent for a while and has made a big somersault. This is called hunting geese all day long.

Wang Zhi's face was ugly, and Tang Fan's face was even more ugly.

The former suffered from loss of face, and couldn't hold back his face to talk softly to Tang Fan, while the latter was in a hurry and didn't care about talking to Wang Zhi, so he left Xianyun Pavilion in a hurry. Can you find A-Dong's little figure

But he didn't plan to find it himself, but went directly to Wucheng Soldiers and Horses.

This year’s routine inspections are under the responsibility of the Wucheng Soldiers and Magistrates, and Shuntian Prefecture and Jinyiwei will each assign personnel to assist. As the person in charge of Jinyiwei’s side, Suizhou naturally does not need to go out in person, but in the Wucheng Soldiers and Masi Yamen. Sitting in town, so that when something happens to your subordinates, you can find someone at the first time. This is not the time to take the lead.

It is precisely because Tang Fan knows this that he can quickly find someone.

After greeting the others in a hurry, he told Sui Zhou about it.

When Sui Zhou heard about A-Dong's bait, his face immediately became tense.

He also just heard about the loss of Zhu Yong's young daughter and Geng Shilang's grandson, just before Tang Fan's arrival, but he is not responsible for this, so he still stays in the Wucheng Military Ma Si Yamen, but now Tang Fan As soon as he talked about A-Dong, he couldn't move.

"How long ago was this?" Sui Zhou asked.

"I came directly from the Xianke Building, about half an hour ago." Tang Fan said.

Sui Zhou nodded slightly and didn't say anything. After explaining to the others, he took Xue Ling and the others and walked out.

Tang Fan asked, "Where are you going now?"

When it comes to finding people, Jin Yiwei is naturally more professional than him.

Suizhou said: "Go to the tower first."

Tang Fan's eyes lit up, the tower was high and condescending, and the range he could see was farther and clearer, and it was easy to spot any changes underneath.

The group copied the path and hurried to the tower.

The Yongding Gate tower is facing the main road of the capital in the middle.

From tonight, the entire capital will spend all night for the upcoming Lantern Festival, which is the biggest festival of the year. The lantern festival will last until the day after the Shangyuan Lantern Festival. The streets were bustling with people's heads next to each other, a cloudy scene, laughter and laughter came from below from time to time, full of joy.

The people of the counties outside the capital also go to the capital to play during festivals, which makes the city's population far exceeds the usual level, and people can be seen wherever they go.

However, under the scene of this prosperous world of singing and dancing, there is also a hidden torrent. On such days, when every household is dispatched, it is also the favorite time for thieves who break into empty doors, thieves who steal things, and traffickers who traffic in human beings.

Therefore, after the Shangyuan Lantern Festival every year, the cases of suing officials from various yamen always increase sharply, both ancient and modern.

A-Dong, a little girl, has long been submerged in these hundreds of thousands of people. At first glance, all the heads are high and low. Even if you have a clairvoyant, it is estimated that it is difficult to find.

At this point, Tang Fan knew that it was useless to be anxious, so he calmed down and observed the people below with Suizhou and the others.

As you climbed high and looked into the distance, many details that were otherwise difficult to perceive were immediately revealed.

People in the crowd molested their little daughter-in-law, women disguised themselves as men to play, and people who guessed lantern riddles quarreled with their companions. Although they were far away, they couldn’t hear what they were saying, but when they looked at them from a high place, they could quickly see them. Find.

Suizhou and the others made several observations. They watched it for half an hour. When everyone felt their necks were stiff and sore, they heard Xue Ling yell, "Big brother, look over there!"

Everyone looked at where he pointed, and saw a four or five-year-old child standing in front of a shop, sucking his fingers and looking eagerly at a hawker selling candied haws not far from him. The hawker beckoned to him, and he walked out by himself. The elder who brought him out didn't know if he was picking something in the shop, but he didn't even notice it.

Seeing that the child was still three or four steps away from the candied fruit hawker, a person suddenly came out from the side and took a candied fruit to the child. He held his hand at the same time. The child was attracted by the candied fruit. He was led away by the man.

Seeing this happening, the candied fruit hawker didn't make a sound. He wanted to come here with the peddler, but he was here to cover his companions by selling candied fruit.

Looking at the people around, they are still bustling and lively. Everyone is attracted by the things around them. No one will lower their heads to pay attention to the whereabouts of a child. The case of missing children.

With an order from Suizhou, Xue Ling quickly descended the tower with four Jin Yiwei guards and ran towards the place where the child had just been abducted.

The so-called white and underworld, each has its own way, and the business of abducting women and children is also not only done by a group of people, and there will definitely be a way for each gang to communicate with each other, just like they just saw the kidnapping of children. That person, the other party may not be the same group as those who kidnapped Zhu Yong's young daughter or A-Dong, but if you catch one, it will be much easier to find other clues.

Xue Ling's side will soon catch the person who kidnapped the child, along with the peddler who sells candied haws.

On the other hand, the family members of the children had just discovered that their children were missing, and they were chasing after them in panic. When they saw their children were found, they were naturally grateful.

Not to mention the gossip, Xue Ling and others brought the two traffickers to Suizhou and them.

This kind of person is used to doing this kind of thing, and his conscience has long been blackened. Naturally, he denies it in every possible way, and he also swears by the gods. It was to see that the child was temporarily alone and wanted to take him to his parents so as not to be abducted, and in short, he complained there.

Suizhou didn't bother with them, and asked coldly, "Which one are you guys hanging out with, Boss Lai, Liuzhi Li, or Ding Yimu?"

The two blinked their eyes, and one said, "Sir, what are you talking about, why can't we understand?"

Another person also said: "Yes, my lord, we are really peaceful little people!"

Secret agencies such as Jinyiwei or Dongxichang, although they are official people, are actually inextricably linked with those underworlds. In order to avoid conflicts with official people, some people also I will do more. If it is not too much trouble, the government will turn a blind eye.

But in the current situation, things have become a bit big, not to mention that Suizhou can't just get by, even if other people come, they must also be businesslike.

Seeing that the two of them refused to admit their death, he said to Xue Ling, "Take them back to the prison, you know what to do."

Xue Ling nodded, and grinned at the two of them again: "Keep it safe until they regret being born by their parents!"

When the two of them heard the prison sentence, they were so frightened that they lost their minds.

As soon as he finished speaking here, a faint voice came not far away: "Don't believe it, he is a Ding Yimu person."

With the sound, Wang Zhi walked over.

He glanced at the man and said with a grin: "It's not easy, you've already been arrested, and you dare to lie, you really can't cry without seeing the coffin!"

Wang Zhi said to Suizhou and Tang Fan again: "Whether it's Liuzhi Li or Boss Lai, those two people are now invited by me to the West Factory. They didn't kidnap any young children tonight, they should be Nancheng Gang Ding Yimu. The subordinates did it."

It turns out that this capital is prosperous, and there are especially many rich and noble families. The children here are all well-bred and carved. They are completely different from the common people who escaped and sold themselves as slaves. They are the favorite targets of human traffickers.

Among them, there are two gangs that specialize in human trafficking on the underworld.

In addition to human trafficking, these two gangs also do other businesses, such as selling salt and iron tea in private, etc. These are the main sources of income for the gangs. Otherwise, where can so many people be sold, the brothers would have starved to death. .

Boss Lai and Liuzhi Li have been in the capital for many years. Of course, they cannot represent all the underworld forces in the capital. However, for a long time, there are really not many people who make a living in the capital, only three.

These two gangs are local snakes, and they know who is easy to mess with and who is hard to mess with. They will never do anything like abducting and selling the family members of officials. , or abducted and left a letter to their family members, extorting a large amount of money, and then put the person back.

But besides them, there is also a Nancheng Gang.

Their leader is Ding Yimu. This gang has a wide range of knowledge and is also bolder than Boss Lai and the others, with darker hands, less picky targets, and only looking for good-looking children. If it is a wealthy family, it will mainly extort money. If there is no money to make, it will directly sell people to the south to train in those Qinlou and Chu museums, which is also a huge income.

Ding Yimu is quite righteous and wealthy, and is very famous on the road. The Nancheng Gang can be more unscrupulous than Boss Lai and Liuzhi Li, and it is precisely because Ding Yimu can be a man.

However, many of the Nancheng Gang's businesses are run by Deng Xiucai, the second-in-command. This guy has a bad heart and has a lot of lives under his control. Open one eye and close the other.

In addition, the Nancheng Gang sometimes abducted and sold the children to the palace, and the people in the palace received them, and after they were cleansed, they were brought into the palace as eunuchs.

This has to talk about the major sources of eunuchs, either like Wang Zhi, who is a borderer himself, because the rebellion failed, the clansmen were escorted to Beijing, and the children were sent to the palace to be eunuchs, or they were like pregnant women. Well, it was originally an official family, but the family committed a crime and was implicated. Because of his young age, he was also sent to the palace as an eunuch. Of course, there were also those who voluntarily castrated in order to gain wealth and honor in the palace. Huan Wang Zhen.

But note that not everyone can enter the palace like Wang Zhen. Many people voluntarily leave the palace and are blocked from the palace gate. One of the jobs of Jinyiwei every year is to make these repatriated to their country of origin.

It sounds ridiculous, but it's the truth. The eunuchs in the palace are already full, you can't enter if you want, since the palace is only the first step. However, it is up to you to be able to let the palace accept it after you leave the palace.

Boss Lai and Liuzhili were dissatisfied with their business being robbed. They had gone to each other for trouble, but they all came back in vain. Later, the three families reached a peace agreement to divide the territory in the capital. quiet.

Knowing the news of Zhu Yong's young daughter's disappearance, Wang Zhi paid attention to it, but he didn't realize the seriousness of it. He just asked people to come to the door first, and arrested Boss Lai and Liuzhi Li for questioning, and brought Boss Lai and Liuzhi to him. Li Zheng cried for his father and mother, and repeatedly complained, saying that he knew that today was the first day of the lantern festival, and the government and yamen must be strictly investigated, so they simply did not allow the people under their command to do anything, let alone what they had seen. Yong's little girl.

As for the rest of the Nancheng Gang, Xichang Fanzi went to one of their most frequented gambling halls, but found that no one could be found at all. Ren Xichang turned the gambling hall upside down and sealed it down. The people who didn't show up didn't show up, and they were all unknowing little scumbags.

Wang Zhi felt that something was wrong.

In this case, due to the rush of time, the case needs to be solved as soon as possible, and there is no time to deal with the Nancheng Gang slowly, so he saw Tang Fan bringing A-Dong to the lantern festival, and he had an idea and came up with A-Dong as bait Fazi, I hoped to find out who started the attack directly, but I didn't expect that even A-Dong disappeared together.

If Wang Zhi could keep calm when he heard the news of Zhu Yong's young daughter's disappearance, A-Dong's disappearance made him unable to sit still.

You must know that he was in front of Tang Fan a moment ago to make a deal, but the next moment he disappeared, how could this not make Eunuch Wang lose face and become furious

Just now in the Xianyun Pavilion, Tang Fan walked away with a swirl of his sleeves, and Eunuch Wang couldn't hold back his face. Now that he calmed down, he explained the cause and effect in a stiff tone, and regarded it as an explanation.

Although Tang Fan and Suizhou knew a little about shady forces like Boss Lai and Nancheng Gang, they didn't know as much as Wang Zhi, because Wang Zhi himself was the admiral of Xichang, and there were many people available for dispatch. The resources of the entire West Factory are concentrated in his hands, and he can mobilize as much as he wants. Naturally, he knows more than Suizhou and Tang Fan. This is actually asymmetric information, which has nothing to do with personal ability.

But after Tang Fan heard it, he asked, "Are those fighting people suspicious?"

Wang Zhi knew what Tang Fan was asking. When the people from the West Factory were tracking A-Dong just now, because of a fight in the middle, the people gathered around to watch, and that's why the people were lost.

He shook his head: "No, I checked it, it should be an accident and a coincidence."

Tang Fan was silent, because A-Dong was lost by chance and coincidence, but speaking of which, if Wang Zhi hadn't asked A-Dong to be the bait, all this could have been avoided.

Of course, being able to find Zhu Yong's young daughter is also a very important thing, but everyone is different. If A-Dong hadn't disappeared, Tang Fan would be concerned about the case now, but he wouldn't be in this mood at all.

But it's useless to say anything more now. The most urgent task is to get people back, and the rest can be discussed later.

Suizhou said: "The Nancheng Gang has been in the capital for two years. Apart from human trafficking, there must be other ways to make a living?"

Wang Zhi nodded: "Yes, this is what I'm going to tell you. The Nancheng Gang is stronger than Boss Lai and Liuzhi Li, and they are more ruthless. They are not easy to deal with. I let A-Dong be the bait. I thought that it would be fine to get those people out, but I didn't expect that even A-Dong has been lost now, so if I don't want to make a big fuss, I have to make a big fuss."

Suizhou pointed directly to the core of the problem: "This gang can bribe the officials in the palace and send young children into the palace. The background is not too deep. Will it affect our investigation?"

Wang Zhi glanced at him with a strange expression: "It's a little background, but you shouldn't ask me about this, you should go back and ask your commander."

Suizhou frowned and said nothing.

Wang Zhidao: "But even if the Nancheng Gang has an official background, it should have nothing to do with this case. It should be that some people under them are doing things wrong. The forest is big, and there are all kinds of birds."

Tang Fan felt that Wang Zhi's attitude this time was very strange and ambiguous, just like before, since he had already found out that the matter might be related to the Nancheng Gang, he could just start directly with the Nancheng Gang, but because of the rush of time, he had to let A-Dong As a bait, it seems that he just wants to find the murderer who kidnapped the young child, but he doesn't want to target the entire Nancheng Gang.

Combined with his answer to Suizhou's question just now, Tang Fan guessed that maybe it was because the Nancheng Gang had colluded with Wantong, the commander of Jin Yiwei, and Wantong was the younger brother of Concubine Wan, so Wang Zhicai wanted to throw the rat

It can make Wang Zhi, who has always been lawless and afraid of no one, want to calm down. It can be seen that the ability of this Nancheng Gang is really not ordinary.

But to be able to send young children into the palace to be eunuchs, would it only clear Wantong? Wang Zhi is so secretive, could it be because the Nancheng Gang has other backgrounds

In an instant, many thoughts flashed across Tang Fan's mind.

Before he had time to think deeply, he heard Wang Zhi's cold voice saying: "But it is probably because of this that they are more and more reckless, relying on their presence in the officialdom, they act arbitrarily, this time the incident is too big , has reached the sky to hear, no matter what, we must find people back as soon as possible."

The two people who were caught just now saw Wang Zhi pouring their bottoms clean, not only pale, but also frightened.

Tang Fan said: "Although you are members of the Nancheng Gang, Admiral Wang said just now that he only asked the first evil, and threatened to be lenient. Since the child who was just kidnapped by you has been found, as long as you are willing to cooperate actively, If you honestly explain that the Nancheng Gang will kidnap the place where the children are hiding, they will not be convicted. Not only that, but there is also a reward."

Neither of them spoke.

Although Tang Fan was in a hurry, he still showed a calm and comfortable expression on his face: "Since you won't be questioned, I can't think of any other reason for you not to confess, could it be that you really think about going to jail or Xichang? At that time, when all kinds of tortures begin, you can’t live without asking for death, and it’s too late for you to regret it.”

After he finished speaking, Sui Zhou waved his hand in cooperation: "Take them away, take them back to the imperial prison, and play the pipa first. Look back and watch again, you won't have to worry about finding other accomplices!"

Xue Ling agreed and showed his white teeth towards the two people: "You still don't know what playing the pipa is? Let me tell you, that is, use a sharp knife on your ribs to bounce back and forth like playing the pipa, and you will die. No one, but no matter how the knife is sharpened back and forth, your flesh will be picked out. In the end, only the bones are left, and the knife is ground on the bones. That sound, tsk tsk, makes my teeth sour..."

Under such language torture, without having to experience how to play the pipa, the two of them collapsed completely, and they burst into tears: "Sir, it's not that we refuse to say it, it's really the rules in the gang, if the second master knows about it If we do this kind of thing, we are afraid that we will be skinned, and we will also not be able to live by then!"

Tang Fan asked, "That Deng Xiu is responsible for the human trafficking in your gang?"

One of them snorted: "Yes, this kind of thing has always been in charge of the second master. I heard that a good batch of goods was abducted tonight, but we are not very high in the gang, and we are not very clear!"

Tang Fan said warmly: "You don't have to worry about retribution. After the incident, the government will help you to arrange a new identity for you, give you a sum of money that is enough for you to live in, and let you start over in the south, so you can always rest assured. Are you done?"

Xue Ling made a gesture to take them away: "Master Tang, why bother with them, since they don't want to, when they experience playing the pipa, they will naturally be willing to say anything!"

Under the combination of hard and soft, the two finally gave in completely: "We say! We say! We say everything!"

Although this Nancheng Gang is also in the business of human trafficking, apart from that, they did not sell illicit salt like Boss Lai and Liuzhi Li. Instead, they opened brothels, casinos, and loan sharks.

In fact, human trafficking is not necessarily illegal. For example, in the Ming Dynasty, natural and man-made disasters occurred in many places, and people could not survive. It was normal to sell children and girls, and this was also the source of slaves for many high-profile families.

However, as mentioned earlier, sometimes for high profits, these traffickers will also target ordinary children and kidnap them. When they meet rich people, they will either extort a sky-high price or sell their beautiful faces to the south. In rich places, like Yangzhou, go to work as a prostitute.

Looking at the worth of Feng Qingzi, the courtesan of the Huanyi Building before, it is not difficult to imagine the huge profits. If people like the Nancheng Gang are doing both human trafficking and opening a brothel business at the same time, then there is no need to change hands and directly transfer those poor and innocent people. of young children cultivate a cornucopia.

Such practices are naturally devoid of conscience, but all dynasties and dynasties have banned them, and there is no cure, just whether the situation is serious or not.

According to the information provided by the two people, Tang Fan and the others found a brothel.

The author has something to say:

small theater:

Wang Zhi: I heard that many readers are dissatisfied with me because of using A-Dong as bait, right

Tang Fan: Yes~

Suizhou: Yes~

Xue Ling: Yes~ (The author didn't misspell my name today, it's so rare!)

Wang Zhi: . . . damn, are you readers! (╰_╯)#