Eunuchs who traveled through the Qing Dynasty

The few brothers he brought were all well-chosen, skilled and daring, and immediately sneaked into the harbor at dusk, and slipped onto the cargo ship without a sound.After searching for a long time, I found that the goods were raw silk, cloth and medicinal materials, and there was nothing special.But everyone always feels that there is something

, but can't tell.

Just as he was hesitating, not knowing what to do, suddenly officers and soldiers patrolling the ship walked by, and several people quickly got into the cargo cage to escape.A brother accidentally stepped on a plank of the ship, and everyone discovered that the cargo ship had been refitted with a dark cabin.I got in and took a look, I couldn't help being surprised, I saw that there were not only new-style rifles and paper-wrapped bombs, but also boxes of high explosives and detonators.

In addition, there are three heavy howitzers, as well as special heavy shells.There is nothing wrong with transporting weapons and supplies as an army, but why is it so concealed?This guy, Shengbao, is he trying to hide something?

Just as he was wondering, suddenly two foreign devils came up on the deck, chatting in bird language, none of them could understand.The dark hatch was lifted, and besides the two foreign devils, there was also a Qing army general wearing a hat and a Chinese man dressed as a businessman.Look at the top of the general officer, he should be a member of the leadership, he doesn't speak as unscrupulously as the foreign devils, and discusses something with the businessman in a low voice from time to time.Ma Chao and the others hid in the dark and couldn't hear clearly, but judging by their expressions, it seemed that this fellow was only in charge of escort or delivery, while the two foreign devils seemed to be the real owners of the goods.

Private sale of arms!This thought immediately popped into Ma Chao's mind.He was originally from the firearms battalion. The management of the Qing army camp had always been chaotic. Sometimes the soldiers deserted and simply sold the guy for travel expenses, or in exchange for drinking or whoring women.Officials, on the other hand, are more courageous. When they sell arms, they always sell them in batches.

The difference is that those officers and soldiers usually sell general fire to gangsters and bandits, but Shengbao, a bastard, seems to be selling it to foreign devils!

After those people left, Ma Chao and the others searched carefully again, and found a piece of paper in the wooden box where the rifle was stored, with strange symbols drawn all over it, but none of them could recognize it.Several people discussed it, and felt that this batch of munitions was of great importance. Even if it was blown up and sunk, it could not be easily handed over to the foreign devils.Immediately connected to the fuse of the explosive package, quietly withdrew.Following a series of loud bangs, the entire cargo ship was blown to pieces and sank to the bottom of the Yellow River.

After hearing the ins and outs of the matter, Xiao Ran was startled and angry, and slammed his fist on the table, making the teacup jump wildly.Unexpectedly, Shengbao would dare to collude with the foreign devils and engage in this arms smuggling business, which is really unbearable!

Ma Chao took out the paper full of symbols and asked Xiao Ran to have a look.Finally, when Xiao Ran saw it, his complexion changed again, and he blurted out: "Lu's Firm!"

It turned out that this piece of paper was an English bill of lading, and the numbers marked on it were also Arabic numerals, so Ma Chao and the others naturally couldn't understand it.Hearing Xiao Ran mention Lu's Firm, Ma Chao slapped his forehead fiercely, and said, "Oh, I just forgot to tell my lord! On the bow of that cargo ship, there is a red lacquer circle with the word 'Road' written inside it." word mark!"

"Lu's firm, Lu's firm!" Xiao Ran's brows were frowned, but the doubts that had been mixed together in his mind were sorted out bit by bit.Why did a declining businessman in Lu Tingshan, who was studying abroad, turn around in a short period of time, acquire such a large property, and make every effort to make friends with local bosses like Zeng Guofan? What does all this mean? , could not be more clear.

Lu's Firm is most likely a secret spy agency set up by the British in China. On the one hand, it infiltrates the inland business, and on the other hand, it also conducts arms smuggling and export. The lifeline of shipping with inland rivers!

Thinking of this, Xiao Ran couldn't help but squeeze cold sweat in his hands.If Yulai hadn't been cautious enough, what kind of consequences this would lead to, I really dare not even think about it!Just at this time, the person Liu Quan sent to Shandong to inquire also got news: It turned out that the owner of Lu's firm was originally named Lu Qinzhi, and Tingshan was his name.At that time in Shandong, Wanqing Commercial Bank was established, but its business declined day by day due to poor management.Later, Lu Qinzhi took the risk, selling opium and smuggling people by sea at the same time. As a result, he aroused public anger and was almost beaten to death.In desperation, he abandoned his family and son and went into exile in England.

As soon as the three words Lu Qinzhi came into view, Xiao Ran couldn't help but burst into tears.That's right, Lu Qinzhi, Xueyao's father, isn't he called Lu Shenzhi?It seems that this time, it is really Yuanjia Luzhai, the owner of this road is Xueyao's Uncle of the Beast Clan!

There is no place to find when you break through the iron shoes, and it takes no effort to get it.Xiao Ran chuckled, and murmured: "Old whore, you're looking for death on your own, you can't blame me!"

♂ Volume 8 in the harem ♀

→Chapter 164 - Ingenious tricks to secure victory←

it's him! ! !This villain is worse than a beast!Me, I hate him! ..."

Xueyao trembled all over when she heard the word "Lu Qinzhi", her silver teeth clenching.Wanqing Commercial Firm was the ancestral business of her Lu family, and it was taken over by her uncle Lu Qinzhi after her father's death.At this time, knowing that the big enemy has been found, the hatred that has been suppressed for a whole ten years is ignited, and I can't help but burst into tears.

At this time, Xiao Ran didn't need to hide anything from her anymore, he told him what he learned now.Hearing that Lu Qinzhi is coming to the head office of Tongran Hall in the capital, this is a good deal delivered to his door, Xueyao was filled with sorrow and joy, extremely excited, turned around and ran away.

Xiao Ran was startled, hurriedly grabbed him, and said, "Why are you going? Don't you want to kill that old beast yourself right now?"

Xueyao gasped for several breaths before saying a word: "No, I'll go back and pack my bags first."

"Pack your bags?" Xiao Ran was confused and said, "Where are you going?"

Xueyao said: "Didn't you say that that bastard is about to arrive in the capital? Of course I want to kill him. I'll go clean up now, and then take his head and go back to Shandong to sacrifice to my parents' graves." !"

faint!Xiao Ran said in his heart that my wife thinks far enough.As Xueyao's big enemy, Lu Qinzhi must be killed, but it's too early to do it now.After pondering for a moment, he said: "Xueyao, this Lu Qinzhi must be killed, but it's not now. I want to let him live for two more days."

Xueyao immediately widened her eyes and said, "What? You, you don't want to avenge me?"

Xiao Ran smiled and said: "Look at you. What did you say? You are my wife, and your enemy is of course also my enemy. It's just that this old beast is not just our enemy. I'm [-]% sure that He has already become a traitor! Revenge is of course to be avenged, but killing him with a knife is too cheap. I want to see what this guy has done before trying to deal with him. Hehe, I Let him live but not die!"

Xueyao is not that unreasonable person either.Hear what Xiao Ran said.There is no more to say.There was a moment of silence.With tears in his eyes, he said: "Master, Xueyao's deep hatred is only counting on you! You, don't let me down!"

Xiao Ran said solemnly: "Don't worry! After this old beast is killed, I will go back to Shandong with you to pay homage to the graves of father-in-law and mother-in-law."

Only then did Xueyao smile through tears.Xiao Ran comforted her a few words, and then went back to the study alone.Calm down and go through all the things that happened recently in your mind.Anyway, Lu Qinzhi was going to the capital, and as long as he fell into his hands, he would not be afraid to fly out again. The most urgent task now is to find out whether Shengbao is really smuggling arms for foreigners.If the new firearms of the Qing Dynasty fell into the hands of foreign devils, the consequences would be self-evident.If the situation is true, this passage must be cut off immediately!

And this guy Shengbao, as Yi, is just a member of Shengbao, who is the second rank of Manchen.Once he moves him, it may cause suspicion and panic among others, especially Yi.And now this incident happened to be a rare opportunity, and he was charged with such serious crimes as colluding with foreign bandits and smuggling arms.Quantitative

However, just relying on a bill of goods is not enough to convict Shengbao. The key issue now is to find more direct and strong evidence of the crime, and make this case an iron case, so that Shengbao has no chance of turning over.At the same time, it is also necessary to find out whether his arms transaction is still related to the court.

Originally, I thought it would be safer to go directly to Yi.Seeing that it was sunset, he prepared his chariots and horses and went straight to the mansion of Airen, the servant of the Ministry of Industry.

Airen was originally the censor of Zuodu. After the Xinyou coup, he was transferred to the Minister of the Ministry of Industry.If you want to vigorously develop the industry, the Ministry of Industry is particularly important, and Mei also thinks that Ai Ren is an upright person, so that he is allowed to take this job.Unfortunately, when Xiao Ran came, Ai Ren was having a dinner party with several ministers and did not return. The servants reported that the two sons of Ai Ren were shocked when they heard that Eunuch Xiao was coming. Benevolence.

When Ai Ren heard that Xiao Ran had come to the mansion, her heart skipped a beat. In the civil and military circles of the Manchu Dynasty, all important officials naturally knew Xiao Ran's weight.This is a guy who doesn't go to the Three Treasures Hall for nothing, so it must be nothing good to come to the mansion in person.Immediately rushed back in a hurry, saw Xiao Ran was leisurely sitting in the hall drinking tea, without any make-up clothes, he was a little relieved, and hastily approached to salute.

After exchanging greetings, Airen said anxiously: "Brother Xiao is a very busy person, and he can't even invite him on weekdays. Dare I ask you to come to my humble house tonight, what's your business?"

Xiao Ran giggled, tilted his head and stared at Ai Ren, his eyes flicked back and forth on his face

He felt flustered, and his palms were sweating.I don't know what to say. I feel like I'm sitting on pins and needles.After a while, Xiao Ran picked up the teacup and took a sip, and said: "The position of Minister of the Ministry of Industry earns a lot of money, right?"

Ai Ren was listening to him with all her attention, she accidentally said this sentence, and almost sat down on the ground with a thud.The teacup in his hand was knocked over, dripping all over his body, he didn't care to wipe it off, got up hurriedly, and stammered: "Xiao, Mr. Xiao, what do you mean by that?"

Xiao Ran said slowly: "The Ministry of Industry is in charge of national engineering affairs. Civil engineering construction, water conservancy engineering, machine manufacturing, mining, metallurgy and textiles are all under the control of the Ministry of Industry. I say I love you, if you can earn a living with such jobs How much money do you have to earn for doing business?"

Ai Ren's face was pale, and he hurriedly took a step forward and grabbed Xiao Ran's sleeve, saying: "I'm wronged, I'm wronged! Mr. Xiao, you don't dare to talk nonsense. As for the matter of being loyal to the emperor, you must abide by integrity and be loyal to the Lord. Heart can show the sun and the moon..."

Snapped!Before he finished speaking, Xiao Ran took out a piece of paper from his sleeve, slapped it heavily on the table, and said with a sneer, "Love, so what should I say?"

As a minister of the Ministry of Industry, Ai Ren has been exposed to Western affairs, so she also knows a few foreign languages.He took the piece of paper and looked at it, and there was a sound of ah, and he was dumbfounded.The goods listed on the manifest are new-style rifles, howitzers, fried rubber, etc., and the quantities are marked in Arabic numerals. How can Airen not understand?

After being stunned for a long time, he suddenly plopped down on his knees, grabbed Xiao Ran's sleeve and said, "Elder-in-law, save me!" As he spoke, old tears came down.Xiao Ran didn't have any bad impressions of him yet. Seeing him kneeling with gray beard and hair, he couldn't bear it, raised his hands up, and said kindly: "Your Excellency, don't be so alarmed. If you don't want to give you a hand, our family will also be here today." won't come to you."

As soon as Ai Ren heard that there was a way to survive, her mind cleared up a bit, and she said, "Brother Xiao, where did this manifest come from? I really don't know about it, so I hope I can tell you. I am very grateful." all!"

Xiao Ran thought in his heart: That's right, the old man's first question was not that anyone has seen this inventory, but where it came from. It seems that he really didn't know.Immediately said seriously: "My lord, you can be regarded as an old and important minister of our dynasty. I believe you will not do such a thing that violates your conscience. You may as well tell you the truth, this paper bill is from Shandong. Where did Tong Shengbao, the deputy commander of the Eight Banners Garrison, find out? According to what I know so far, the transaction was sold to the UK through a Lu’s foreign firm in Ningbo.”

Simply telling the story, Airen was shocked.If such a big incident happened, even if he, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, had nothing to do with him directly, he would have to be punished for negligence of supervision and dereliction of duty.At the least, he will be dismissed from his post for investigation, and at the worst, he will be exiled into the army. This calamity is probably inevitable.Thinking of this, I couldn't help crying, and sighed with sobs: "It's over, it's over! Unexpectedly, I will be famous all my life, and I will lose my life when I get old! Eunuch Xiao, I hope you will be remembered as the elder of the three dynasties of Ai Ren." , at least protect me in front of the Queen Mother!"

As he spoke, he struggled to kneel down again.Xiao Ran pulled him up and said: "When are you still talking about this? The most critical issue now is to find out the truth of the matter, see if there is any collusion between Shengbao and the arsenal of the Ministry of Industry, and how many weapons have flowed into In the hands of the foreign devils, is there any way to remedy it, and it is said that it is not too late to remedy the situation!"

Ai Ren suddenly came to his senses, and said: "Yes, my brother's words are absolutely correct. Speaking of which, the Shandong Eight Banners Army is indeed replenishing its equipment recently, and has reported to the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This document was personally approved by the Empress Dowager. The delivery of ordnance from the Ministry of Industry has always been done in accordance with the rules, and the shipment is delivered upon receipt of the order, without any delay."

Xiao Ran said: "Then can the original form be preserved?"

Ai Ren said: "Yes, the deposit is in the Ministry of Industry, and I will send someone to send it to my brother for inspection tomorrow morning. I remember that the booklet didn't say anything, it only said that it was for the defense of the river, and the need for equipment increased. There are two pieces of ordnance in total, and the quantity is not too large."

Xiao Ran frowned immediately, and said coldly: "The quantity is not large? Then dare to ask my lord, what kind of quantity is large? These new-style firearms are the life of our Qing Dynasty, even if they are shot and fired, they are not allowed to go out." Any mistakes! Do you want me to teach you this truth?"

Ai Ren broke out in cold sweat immediately, and said submissively: "Yes, yes, yes, the lower officials were negligent, the lower officials were negligent! What I mean by this old man is that these two ordnance were shipped out of the warehouse according to the regulations, we only need to calibrate the bill of lading with the actual Whether the quantity out of the warehouse matches, we can investigate whether the factory has secretly colluded with Sheng Baoyou."

Ran agreed to Airen's suggestion, and told him at the same time that once the matter is done, let anyone know.If the news leaks out, it will definitely cause unnecessary trouble.

Ai Ren knew that this matter was of great importance, so she didn't dare to neglect it, and started a secret inspection the next day.After careful proofreading and inventory, the results came out. The two batches of ordnance sent to Shandong Shengbao Department were consistent with the quantity reported to the court.In this way, the frequency and quantity of Shengbao's smuggling can be roughly estimated, and it also shows that the supplementary equipment this time was handled in accordance with the normal way, which indirectly ruled out the possibility of collusion within the court.

If this is the case, King Yi Yizheng is basically ruled out. He is high in power and would not take such a risk for money.It can be concluded that this incident was entirely caused by Shengbao himself. It is not an exaggeration to punish the Jiuzu by taking advantage of his position to smuggle arms and make extra money.

What is most needed now is direct and powerful evidence that can nail him to death at once. The best way, of course, is to find ways to stimulate him to ship again, and then catch him.But the last time Ma Chao and others blew up and sank the cargo ship, I'm afraid it will arouse Shengbao's vigilance.Sheng Bao was able to climb from a scholar to the position of deputy governor, so it is conceivable that people are also ghosts and ghosts.If he got suspicious, it would be very difficult!

After thinking for a long time, Xiao Ran sent someone to call Ma Chao, and asked Ma Chao to carefully recall the details of the day.According to Ma Chao, when he got on and off the cargo ship with a few brothers that day, he was very careful, and he could be sure that no one would find out, even if the cargo ship was bombed and sunk.It is also difficult for people to judge whether it is an accident or man-made.

From this point of view, there should still be a chance for Yin Shengbao to take the bait, Xiao Ran was immediately relieved.The next thing to do is how to set up a game so that Shengbao can get in willingly.