Daqing Criminal Division

saltpeter.

It is quite unexpected that such rare things that ordinary people would not be able to touch on a daily basis should appear on the watermelon seed in the throat of the deceased Zhang Santong who hadn't had time to swallow it.

Last night, when he was at the inn, Duan Xiao had carefully read the dossier left after the autopsy of the gangsters from Jiangning Mansion.

At that time, he had already speculated in the bottom of his heart that the first two possibilities were ruled out, and the only way to freeze the head and those watermelons was to make ice with saltpeter.

Besides, this is the only way to smash Zhang Santong's head off his neck.

After over-freezing, the hardness of the human skeleton itself will change due to the hardness revealed by the ice cubes. At this time, it will be easier to handle Zhang Santong and the frozen head just like this with a watermelon.

Prior to this, the Jiangning government, including Sima Zhun, had a little doubt that had not been completely resolved.

That's why Zhang Santong and the seven watermelons were frozen overnight when Jinling didn't have a cellar that was very deep from the ground.

Now that a watermelon seed stuck deep in the head and throat and a small amount of contaminated saltpeter powder are exposed, this problem is solved easily.

Because maybe Zhang Santong happened to eat such a piece of chilled watermelon the night before his death.

The eaten watermelon should have been soaked in some kind of incompletely melted saltpeter in a large container, perhaps because of this, the surface was accidentally stained.

This indirectly explained the night when he was beheaded by others.

He should have been to a place where a lot of saltpeter was stored and watermelons were backlogged, so that these physical evidences were preserved after death.

The old shopkeeper said that Zhang Santong often didn't come back in the middle of the night in those few days, and suddenly made a lot of money. They all guessed that he met some fellow countryman he knew in the past, so his life prospered.

Now that I think about it, those "citizens" who teamed up with Zhang Santong in the dark were the ones who killed him with their own hands, which also ruled out that this was not an individual homicide, and Zhang Santong died of a group of people in hand.

In the historical files that Duan Ou personally read, there are written records about saltpeter, which first appeared in the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period, and reached its peak in the Tang and Song Dynasties.

At that time, such special substances resembling white stones were dug out from time to time.

At first, the common people didn't know what it was, but later they found that it could ignite fire, and it had a special ignition point.

It began to be widely used in alchemy by alchemists, and most people called it fire nitrate.

Fire nitrate is a very important raw material for making basic gunpowder.

There is a saying that, from the former dynasty to the current dynasty, the mining rate of fire saltpeter mines among the people reached the highest peak since ancient times. Although the court tried to strictly control it, this kind of saltpeter mines were still very large in circulation at one time, which was completely impossible. be effectively controlled.

People who specialize in collecting this kind of ore only need to go to the mountains to try to sweep up this nitrate-containing clod.

Put it in a barrel at home, soak it in water, and filter it through a special method, then boil or dry the remaining filtrate to obtain saltpeter crystals with very high purity.

As for the method of making ice with saltpeter, it was originally used by street merchants in the early Song Dynasty to resist the heat and heat. They used this substance to make fruit wine ice drinks and sold them in the market.

Because saltpeter is ground into powder and added to water, the water at normal temperature can be quickly frozen under the premise of rapid freezing, and it is non-toxic and tasteless, so the method of making ice with saltpeter has been handed down since then.

But as mentioned earlier, if it weren’t for the alchemists who specialize in alchemy and the businessmen who specialize in this field, ordinary folks would rarely use fire salt nowadays, and the amount of saltpeter needed to make ice is huge, so why kill them? Zhang Santong's person has to carry so much firepower——

"...Duan Xiao, so what you mean now is that it's best to find out the relationship between Zhang Santong and the Wannan water bandits or gangsters?"

He was called to Yizhuang by Duan Xiao early in the morning, and then went to the Jiangning government together.

Knowing that one of the three cases, the head watermelon case, had a major turning point that was unexpected, the general Jiang Ning, who had never been able to find out the case before, was also shocked.

Therefore, Zhang Santong was beheaded before, and has been unilaterally defined by the government as a vicious murder in Yizhuang.

Although Sima Zhun, based on his many years of experience in handling cases, always felt that the three seemingly unrelated strange cases should be related in themselves, but who killed the usually inconspicuous shop assistant Zhang Santong for what reason? It is puzzling.

All the investigations about the life and past of the deceased only stopped at the fact that he was just a shop boy who came from out of town to make a living.

The three old shopkeepers of Meixiang Inn also said that Zhang Santong was very diligent in his hands and feet before, and he didn't like to argue with others, and he had never seen any relatives and friends come to Jinling to find him he.

But Duan Xiao obviously had a different opinion on this. Even after the autopsy ended, the watermelon seeds suspected to be Wan pumpkins and the saltpeter were used as direct evidence.

"Yes, and we need to carefully check his previous past experience, whether he has a history of major crimes such as robbery and murder in southern Anhui."

"Not only that, this Zhang Santong may have changed his name and age."

"Therefore, we have to search a series of unresolved major cases or those with previous convictions in the Jiangning General Army Yamen with a portrait of him before he was alive. If there is no accident, he must have some kind of major case on his body before he comes here. Jinling asks for a living."

Right now, Duan Xiao, who was sitting in front of a public case with Sima Zhun and discussing the case carefully, was sitting in the inner hall of Jiangning Mansion investigating the case.

In order to go to the other end to get another piece of 'physical evidence' that proves the hidden story behind the case.

Neither Zakshan nor Fucha Erji followed, so after the three of them split into two groups, he was the only one facing Sima Zhun, while a group of local policemen gathered around to watch.

In the eyes of everyone, this tall, thin and straight Mr. Wu Zuo, who is only dressed in poor civilian clothes, just looks arrogant and intimidating when he speaks, which attracts the little policemen to lie on the window while watching him and Sima Zhun discussed in a low voice while speaking.

"This is, the legendary 'two people' who solved several strange cases in various prefectures and captured the villains alive. I heard the strange things about these two people in the teahouse. It turns out that These two are truly amazing..."

"Yes, the one inside is one of those two! Who would have thought that they would come to our Jiangning this time! The Sima police officer notified early in the morning that they had found new physical evidence on Zhang Santong. We hope to solve this case..."

The discussion of the group of passionate little policemen who are all working in Jiangning Mansion sounds a little passionate.

It's just that as one of the "two people" in the legend, the deity in it doesn't know that he has become a legendary figure in the mouths of others.

Also here, Duan Xiao, who knew that the case was much more dangerous than he thought at first, took the watermelon seeds and saltpeter powder in the evidence bag on the table with one hand and showed it to Sima Zhun. After thinking about it, he opened his mouth and said,

"Before Liu Cen disappeared, he sent us a distress letter to Songyang. In the letter, he mainly talked to us about two things, 'The Qinhuai River is deep, and the waiter at the Meixiang Inn also fell into the water', 'The famous painting is missing, suspected to be Someone is guarding and stealing.'”

"He came to Jiangning this time, one is to pay taxes, and the other is because we have asked him to investigate a case of 'Chen Tea' sales before, so he must have privately visited the private sector involved in such illegal transactions again. criminal organization."

"..."

"When I first recognized someone, the old shopkeeper of Meixiang Inn should have told the government that Zhang Santong is from southern Anhui. He has come to Jinling for several years to seek a living. It seems that he has nothing to do with outsiders, but he is from southern Anhui. , but it is an undeniable fact that cannot be changed.”

"You might as well look at this. As Zha Keshan said, the watermelon seeds in his mouth are different from the local melons in Jinling. They are rounder and darker. Wan pumpkins and Jinling melons can be seen everywhere in the city during this season. Canals There are countless foreign ships coming and going on the road every day, if a group of people from southern Anhui pretended to be melon farmers and came to Jinling with a large amount of saltpetre, which is said to be used for long-distance iced watermelons, no one would pay attention to it.”

After saying this, Duan Xiao, who already had some eyebrows in his heart, stopped for a while.

The corners of his slightly pursed mouth were extremely cold, and his pair of eyes, which always turned into spiders and hid alone in the darkness, were filled with a gloomy light, speculating and guarding against others.

Therefore, the truth behind the case has been traced all the way to this point, which indeed verified the danger and depth of water that Liu Cen said in his letter at first.

If there is a slight delay in the case, I am afraid that the people and things involved after the incident are far more than just one or two lives.

So thinking like this, I need to inform Sima Zhun of the seriousness of it as soon as possible. Then Duan Xiao pointed to the seemingly inconspicuous but very useful saltpeter road,

"However, if these saltpeters are just used by ordinary merchants to freeze and preserve those watermelons on the boat, there is really no danger. I am afraid that some people have no purpose at all. After all, now we have a high probability of killing Zhang San. The same may not be one person, but a group of people, so the theft of the portrait, the death of Xiao Er, and the disappearance of the suspected insider are all linked together, which can already prove that these three cases are not coincidental.”

"You, you mean—"

Hearing this, Sima Zhun's complexion changed drastically, and Sima Zhun quickly remembered that the "Qing Yuan Ben Qing Ming Shang He Tu" hanging in the Inspectorate was originally used for the former Jinling city defense layout map, and his hands and feet began to feel cold .

Because as Duan Xiao said, among the three Jiangning cases that happened one after another, they were indeed somehow connected up to this point.

The policeman who secretly visited the location of the criminal organization disappeared, the famous painting with the complete map of Jinling was stolen, and the waiter who was suspected to be familiar with a group of people carrying small things died strangely and tragically.

"...I'll go to investigate right away, you give me four hours, oh not five hours! And wait here first-I'll send someone to investigate right away!"

After saying this, he immediately understood the seriousness of the situation, and Sima Zhun, who was sweating from his back, quickly raised his finger and pointed outside, then got up and went outside to call someone again.

When going up the Grand Canal to Jinling Mansion, it is faster to walk by water than by horse.

Now send a yamen servant to set off, and those who go to Jiangning Governor's Mansion in the evening can quickly get back what Duan Xiao wants.

Wait for Sima Zhun to give an order.

Near noon, on the main road of Jiangning Mansion, a fast horse with an ultimatum in hand, hot and sweaty, ran over the city gate in a hurry.

The people on the road didn't know what to do, so they hurriedly avoided, and let the figure of the yamen servant go away, but in the dark, this big case that disturbed the peace of Jiangning Mansion really found a breakthrough.

Apart from the crowd, pedestrians with all kinds of luggage scattered on the road.

A boat carrying live animals slowly passed by on the canal, but half a moment ago, it was seen that Zakshan, who was walking ahead in a hurry, had led a group of officials to temporarily surround and block the outside of Meixiang Inn.

Because the government came to investigate the truth about the head watermelon case, most of the guests staying in Meixiang Inn today have been emptied out.

The old shopkeeper and the three who were left behind didn't know what happened, and they just stayed downstairs with a look of panic. It was also at this time that Fuchaerzi, who had officially revealed his identity, faced the three of them and asked again. Talk about the resurrection of Zhang Santong who was "floating" in the inn that night.

Because when they came to check in before, they didn't say who they were, but now they found out that Fuchaerji and the others were official servants, which frightened the old shopkeeper at first.

Only in this way, the three people in the inn who had avoided before did not dare to lie.

So the old shopkeeper and Xiao Mazi Zeng Ming respectively led the way, and took Fucha Erji, who said he wanted to see the scene of the resurrection, to the squatting toilet that was said to have been closed for about a month.

Fortunately, Fucharzi doesn't look like a serious official, so it's just right for him to personally reveal the truth about the "resurrection" of the half-corpse hidden in the inn for many days.

The squatting toilet and small kitchen built of bricks and stones have been sealed off since the appearance of the "half corpse" that day, but they look very clean.

At the back is the Tongpu where Zeng Ming and Zhang Santong used to live together at night. There are two rooms on the left and right, where some small chickens and ducks are kept. There is also a water tank vent connected to the corridor on the third floor above.

Also in this situation, when Fucharzi, who was at the back of the small kitchen, first bent down and squatted down a little, then tapped the fire vent connecting the whole inn with his fingers and heard the sound, he said Just turned around and asked.

"Zeng Ming, do you still remember the appearance of the corpse you saw that night? Did he appear upright or backward?"

This question made the waiter in the Xiaomazi shop on the side a little confused, but scratching his head and thinking about it, he still replied truthfully.

"It seems, really, it's upside down."

"you sure?"

"Sure, it's upside down."

Hearing this, Fucharzi squinted his eyes and looked up and down the distance between the Meixiang Inn from the bottom to the top, and the location of his own fire rope, then turned his head to Duan Yuanbao who was following him on the other side A sentence.

"Brother Bao, go out and get me a tool that can pry open this place, and find some hemp rope, make it stronger."

"okay."

Duan Yuanbao Fuchaerji, who was small and helping behind him, told himself this, and hurried out to help him get the tool to pry open the fire vent.

After searching around in and out of the small kitchen, Duan Yuanbao and the old shopkeeper found an iron-plated fire stick and hemp rope before kicking Xiaobu back.

After receiving these things, Fucharzi first used one hand to directly punch the iron rod in his hand into the inlaid vent at the bottom, and then used a little force with the other hand, just using one hand to squeeze it The entire fire escape was opened.

At the moment, just listen to the sound of 'boom'.

There was a muffled muffled sound from the fire escapes set up in the entire four-story inn.

Seeing this, Fucharzi, who was standing in the old-fashioned fire escape, leaned down and lay down, then leaned half of his body into the dark vent and looked up.

Because it was very dark inside, Fucharzi, who bent down to get in to check the situation himself, also had poor eyesight due to old injuries.

He squinted his eyes and looked upwards. He really couldn't see what was in the sealed top water tank on the fourth floor of the inn.

The air smelled of water-stained filth and mossy dampness.

In addition, the fourth floor on the top of Yinhe Inn has not been visited for a long time, and there is still a smell like something that has rotted away.

Something that has long since rotted.

In the darkness, Fucharzi, who had already noticed something, also thought about the expression on his face.

And this week when he looked up along the fire escape that ran through the inn all the way down, he saw that the fire rope connected to the water tank on the top floor was also connected here, and he also wanted to go up in person after thinking about it all night last night. have a look.

After all, the night that the 'floating' Zhang Santong came back, if everything happened that night, as the other three people in the inn said, the 'truth' of the watermelon with a head is probably hidden in the fourth floor where no one has ever gone up. up.

So I clearly know that going up from here is very dangerous.

Fuchaerzi, who hadn't done this kind of work for a long time since leaving the old "days", only let Duan Yuanbao wait for him at the bottom, and tied the hemp rope to the lifting bucket with one hand, and With one hand, he tied the knot around his waist.

After tightening the knots on both sides with a special technique, we are in the dark fire exit with the stench of nameless flesh and blood.

Fucharzi, who supported the walls on both sides with both palms, stepped on the passage beside him very well, and then climbed up the passage little by little with the strength of the up and down.

This process, he does not take too much effort, although in the eyes of ordinary people, this kind of skill is already rare.

But except for my disabled eye, I still can't see clearly.

Fucharji really didn't take this kind of climbing over walls and stairs seriously. After waiting for a while, he had already stepped up to the large water tank outside the fourth floor, which had already been sealed. Seeing this, Fucharzi of the rope stretched out his hand and pushed open the upper cover with his arms.

The first thing that came over me was, as expected, the familiar stench of corpses.

If the lid had been opened, the smell of corpses would have spread inside and outside the inn. Just by smelling it, one could tell what else was in the water tank besides some accumulated rainwater.

The so-called "resurrection" of the half corpse, as expected, has been hidden at the top of the fire escape of this inn for many days.

Fucharzi, who was still hanging in the air while waiting for others, pinched his nose and clicked his tongue.

After groping in the dark, he stretched his hand into the big water bucket on the top of the fourth floor and groped for a while. He had already touched half of the dead man's stiff and smelly corpse and another 'thing' with one hand. Pushing his feet against the fire-proof wall, he walked down slowly.

"Brother Bao, hurry up and tell Zha Keshan at the door to ask Sima Zhun to find someone to come over and tear down the entire roof of the fourth floor. The other half of the body and the lost portrait of the inspectorate have been found."

This night, the Jiangning Mansion Yamen is destined to not be peaceful.

Duan Xiao, who had been waiting for news all night, called.

The group with Fucha Erji who was called to smash the wall and dig the water tank to retrieve the body at the Meixiang Inn were busy.

This one is looking for people, and the other is picking up corpses. It is not a delay at both ends.

Because the incident happened suddenly, everything can only be concluded after getting accurate information. Jiangning General Sima Zhun sent people to the Jiangnan Governor's Mansion overnight to collect criminal records. Finally came back.

It was also the yamen servant who rushed to his superiors to get back the physical evidence and rode back all night sweating, but at the same time, he also brought a piece of news that everyone didn't expect.

Because it was just as Duan Xiao and Fucharzi had speculated based on the scattered clues.

Zhang Santong, a man from southern Anhui who is said to have come to Jinling to live alone, is not actually called Zhang Santong, nor is it true that he is only fifteen or sixteen years old this year.

The so-called Zhang Santong is just a false identity that does not exist in the world at all.

According to the face on the portrait and the original household registration in the government office, he found clues that his real name was originally Wang Tianxiao, and he is a 24-year-old adult this year.

The reason why he can always pretend to be a young man and hide in Jiangning is because he is short and has a soft voice, so he is always treated as a child.

As for his face, why is it recorded in the Jiangnan General Military Mansion.

When Duan Xiao got the portrait of this person who had dressed up in another way, he who had always felt that this case was vaguely familiar before finally showed a different kind of coldness——

Because four years ago, the real Wang Tianxiao and the fake Zhang Santong committed a major crime together with four other fugitives who were not captured by the government at that time, and then fled bizarrely.

He was the only inmate whose face was witnessed by the victim.

But in the end, he also mysteriously disappeared in the prison of Shuntian Mansion and escaped.

And this big case that caused the government and many houses of Shuntian Prefecture to be blown up at that time, and the gold and silver were taken away afterwards, leaving no trace of clues, is called——

The strange case of pigman bombing and hostage-taking in Shuntian Prefecture.

The author has something to say: the past of the old section will start to be mentioned~

This case sounds very nonsense at first glance, but it really has a theoretical basis.

Because the time bomb really existed in the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty was better than anyone else in this matter. Fire thorns and liquid gunpowder appeared earlier.

So did Dakar guess that this is actually not a murder case, but an upcoming bomb attack on Jinling——