Chapter 1171 Weird Fire

After nightfall, Tongsheng Pier is completely free of the hustle and bustle of the day. The workers who have been busy all day have gone home to rest. There are only a few people left behind in various warehouses on the entire terminal. And the docking

There was also silence on the sailboat at the dock. It seemed that the crew had already fallen asleep in the cabin early.

But at midnight, several carriages appeared on Tongsheng Pier like ghosts, and the crew members of the Haihan fleet also appeared on the shore, quietly carrying the things on the carriages onto the ship, and then again

A lot of things were moved from the ship and loaded into trucks. At the same time, several people in Warehouse C were opening the wine boxes that were brought in during the day one by one, opening the Sanya Special Wine, and pouring the kerosene inside.

All over the warehouse.

At the second watch, flames suddenly burst into the sky along the Qiantang River. The warehouses on the shore and several sailboats on the river caught fire almost at the same time. The fire spread very quickly. When people from the surrounding areas began to come out to watch the excitement, the fire had already

It was burning so hard that it was difficult to get close. A few miles away, at the top of Hangzhou City, the soldiers on duty had also seen the fire and immediately reported it to their superiors.

About half an hour later, a Ming army force of several hundred people came out of Hangzhou and rushed to the fire site. However, this troop was not there to put out the fire, but to maintain order around the fire site to prevent anyone from fishing in troubled waters.

Doing illegal things. At the same time, it is also to urge the surrounding people to evacuate as soon as possible to avoid causing greater casualties.

At this time, the fire was out of control. Although the fire site was on the edge of the Qiantang River, onlookers could not get close to the high-temperature fire scene. They could only watch the fire burn the warehouse and several ships parked on the shore to ashes.

The fire lasted until dawn, and was naturally extinguished when there was no more burn. Green smoke was rising from the broken walls, and corpses that had been burned until they were curled and carbonized were vaguely visible. At this time, the Hangzhou government had sent several officers.

Ten police officers cordoned off the scene and prepared to investigate the cause of the fire. Since the strange inn fire outside Hangzhou last June, there has not been a fire of this magnitude in the nearby area. For the local police officers,

This will be another trouble that is difficult to deal with.

The head catcher leading the team is named Han Zhengshan. He is forty-one years old and can be said to be in his prime. He is also one of the four major catchers in Hangzhou, specializing in solving criminal cases. He had already received the call at midnight yesterday.

However, because only the army could leave the city before dawn, he had to wait until dawn before leading the team to the fire scene like everyone else.

The first time he arrived at the scene, Han Zhengshan heard a very bad news: the three sailboats burned on the shore were all under the name of Haihan. And the warehouse that had been burned into ruins was said to be

It is also filled with Haihan goods that arrived here yesterday, and their value is at least tens of thousands of taels of silver.

"Have the stewards and foremen of Tongsheng Pier been summoned to the scene?" Han Zhengshan asked.

Soon four men were brought to Han Zhengshan, including Gu Hui, who had contacted Haihan yesterday. It was almost early in the morning when someone came to wake him up at home, saying that there was a fire at Tongsheng Pier.

, asking him to hurry over and take a look. But by the time Gu Hui arrived at the pier, the fire had almost been extinguished, and he could only stare in shock as the pier that was fine yesterday turned into what it is now.

Han Zhengshan quickly confirmed the ownership of the burned warehouse and sailing ship from the stewards and foremen. Just as he had heard from the gossip before, the ship and cargo belonged to the Haihan people, but the warehouse was said to be his.

His boss, Hangzhou Prefecture, was trying to judge the property under Wang Yuan's name, which made him even more worried.

Not long after, the ship owner Lin De and some cargo owners also rushed over from Hangzhou. Most of the goods shipped to Hangzhou had completed sales and payment delivery, and were only temporarily placed in the warehouse here for the cargo owners to pick up.

That's all, so there are quite a few victims.

Lin De's face was livid, he cupped his fists towards Han Zhengshan and said: "Captain Han, I am the owner of these three ships. Yesterday I went to the city to meet friends. I was delayed for dinner and could not leave the city in time. I luckily avoided this disaster.

However, there are still more than 20 crew members on the three ships. Please ask Mr. Han to determine their casualties as soon as possible. In addition, there is also payment received yesterday on the ship, totaling more than 80,000 taels of silver. Please ask Mr. Han to check the silver quickly.

Are you still on board?"

Before Han Zhengshan had time to respond to him, a group of cargo owners came up and complained, asking Han Zhengshan to find out the cause of the warehouse fire as soon as possible and identify the person responsible so that they could recover some of their losses. It took Han Zhengshan a stick of incense to finally let these things go.

The person kept his mouth shut and waited for him to check the fire situation first.

Han Zhengshan has been engaged in this industry for twenty years and has seen quite a few fire cases. When he came to the dock and saw the scene, he already felt that something was wrong. The two fire scenes were a warehouse and three docks at the dock.

There was a sailboat, and the straight-line distance between the two places was at least thirty or forty feet. Logically speaking, the fire should not have started at the same time. Moreover, there were more than twenty crew members on the ship, but not even a single living person was found at the scene. Is it possible?

Were they all burned to death in their sleep?

Han Zhengshan first checked the three sailboats that were said to have more people killed. Almost all the above-water parts of these three boats were burned to death. There were several small boats around that used poles to temporarily fix the floating hulls on the water.

, otherwise it may have been washed away by the river. Several workers were directing the dock workers to carry the remains in the remaining hull to the shore and temporarily cover them with mats. When Han Zhengshan came over to check, five or six fish had already been fished out.

A burnt black corpse.

"How is the situation?" Han Zhengshan called a widower and asked.

The man lowered his voice and said, "Sir, I'm afraid there's some secret behind this! These people on the ship were not burned to death."

"How do you say this?" Han Zhengshan asked.

The man squatted down and uncovered the straw mat covering the corpses: "Sir, please see, it is currently found that these corpses have fatal injuries on their necks or hearts that were obviously caused by sharp objects. Although they were burned by fire,

But they can still be clearly identified. Judging from the severity, these people were probably killed first and then burned to this point by the fire."

Han Zhengshan also squatted down and carefully inspected the conditions of several corpses. It was indeed as the author said. The necks of two of the corpses were obviously cut in half by sharp blades, while the chests of the other corpses were also pierced by sharp weapons.

It was very clear that such wounds could never have been caused by fire.

Han Zhengshan frowned and asked, "Did you find a large amount of silver on the ship?"

Wu Zuo shook his head and said: "Nothing has been found about this yet. However, if there is really a large amount of silver on the ship, it is unlikely that all of it will be melted with the intensity of the fire last night."

Although the melting point of silver is only around 1,000 degrees, it requires a higher ambient temperature to reach the molten state. Han Zhengshan knew that the government had to use fluxes such as iron crucibles and borax to smelt and cast official silver.

Okay. Although the unknown fire last night came quickly and violently, it is unlikely to burn away the more than 80,000 taels of silver claimed by Linde. There is no silver on the ship, or Linde is lying.

Either way, the 80,000 taels of silver probably disappeared before the fire started.

But there were so many local merchants on the dock who had just completed the transaction with Linde yesterday. The 80,000 taels of silver were almost all the payment they gave to Linde, and the money and goods were paid in full. However, many people were present to witness the transaction process.

Just like the fire last night, it cannot be faked. Considering the suspicious causes of death of these crew members, the latter possibility is relatively high.

However, there was currently insufficient evidence, and Han Zhengshan did not dare to draw any conclusions now. After inspecting the wreckage of the cargo ships, he returned to the dock to check the No. C warehouse where the fire broke out.

The detectives also found three corpses with suspicious causes of death in Warehouse No. C. However, they were burned beyond recognition after the fire and were difficult to identify. Han Zhengshan called the steward and foreman of the dock to ask, saying that in Warehouse No. C

The only people staying overnight were an old man who was guarding the warehouse and two guards hired by Haihan, which matched the number of corpses.

However, after completing the on-site investigation, Han Zhengshan discovered new doubts. The fire was originally ignited in the warehouse, and there were at least five or six fire points. It is difficult to explain the fire with ordinary lamp fires.

The reason. Although Han Zhengshan didn't want to admit it, judging from the situation at the fire scene, 99% of the cases were intentional murder and then setting fire to cover up the tracks. It seemed that the method was very similar to the situation on the ship.

As the investigation progresses, the facts of the case have gradually become clear in Han Zhengshan's mind. Haihan's monthly trade fleet that comes to Hangzhou may have been targeted for a long time. Last night, this group of people started to attack the ship in the middle of the night.

They killed all the people in the warehouse, took away their belongings, and then set fire to the scene. Even if the thieves left traces such as footprints and ruts when they entered and exited the scene, the crowds and Ming army who came to the fire scene to watch in the middle of the night yesterday would have already removed these traces.

The destruction is complete.

Han Zhengshan thought that it would take more than three or five people to complete such a big case in the middle of the night, killing people, stealing goods, and setting fires all at once. Moreover, the guards at other warehouses on the dock did not hear anything at all at night.

He shouted for help. When he discovered the fire, he went out to check. The thief who had done it had long since disappeared.

Since the thieves are most likely here for money, after the arrival of the Haihan fleet yesterday, the only people who knew the contents of the goods carried on the ship and the delivery status of the silver goods were probably the stewards on the dock and the merchants participating in the transaction.

Han Zhengshan believed that it was very possible that one of them had colluded with the thieves, both internally and externally, and provided the key information, which led to the tragedy at night.

However, the security in Hangzhou Prefecture has always been good, and Han Zhengshan has never heard of any gangs of gangsters operating in nearby prefectures. What's more, the Haihan people are said to be very powerful. When they first arrived in Zhejiang, they invaded all areas outside Hangzhou Bay.

The good man took care of himself well. Wasn't Lin De, who ran errands for the Haihan people, one of the gang leaders on Liuheng Island in Ningbo Prefecture? Han Zhengshan was really surprised that someone dared to disturb the Tai Sui of Haihan.

Don't understand.

When Han Zhengshan returned to the dock, he was stopped by the passionate businessmen again. As the biggest sufferer, Lin De obviously became the mouthpiece of this group of people and asked loudly: "Captain Han, you have also seen it live.

, but what is the conclusion? How did these people on my ship die? Where are the belongings on the ship?"

Han Zhengshan opened his mouth, but did not answer immediately. He knew that since Shanghai Han was involved in this matter, it was no longer a simple arson case. In the past, Hai Han goods did not dare to be so blatantly traded at the dock outside Hangzhou, that is,

After the unexplained disappearance of those adults who were running against Haihan in June last year, Haihan goods gradually turned from covert to bright and began to be openly traded. In the past few months, there are many people who have benefited from it and are jealous of it.

, there are still many voices in the official circles that oppose Haihan's entry into Zhejiang under the pretext of trade. At this time, Haihan had so many people died in Hangzhou and lost so much silver. If one detail is not handled well, it may turn into a disaster.

Big trouble.

If it was immediately announced publicly that this was a man-made arson case, it would likely affect the subsequent investigation work, and it was difficult for Han Zhengshan to determine how Haihan would react to this. So he hesitated.

In the end, he responded in an official tone: "This case requires the collection of evidence before we can infer the case. Please be patient. Each company can first make its own statistics on the damage to property and personnel. In addition, cargo owners, ship owners, and general public have recently

The foremen in charge of Sheng Pier are not allowed to leave their station at will in order to cooperate with the Yamen investigation."

How could Lin De let him go? He shouted loudly at the front of the crowd: "There were many casualties among my men. Captain Han watched the scene for a long time without even telling the cause of death? I heard that when the fire broke out last night, there was an explanation."

Is it possible that the military is on site to isolate people who want to put out the fire? What do these Ming soldiers want to do? Can Chief Han explain it in public? "

Han Zhengshan thought to himself, I am just a policeman, not a soldier, so how can I be qualified to explain for the Ming army? Although he was not at the scene last night, he also knew the purpose of the Ming army rushing to the scene of the fire, but it was not up to him to say this.

It was so appropriate that the Ming army had to come forward to explain it. But after such a toss, the rhythm was completely thrown off by Linde.

Lin De said loudly: "I have asked someone to inquire just now. The people who were burned to death in the fire were all killed with weapons, not burned to death. Where did Hangzhou Prefecture come from so many well-trained thieves?

Silently killing dozens of people in the middle of the night, removing a large amount of property, setting fires and destroying corpses without leaving any traces?"

Although Lin De's words have not yet been named, those who hear him will involuntarily associate the "well-trained thieves" he mentioned with the Ming army mentioned earlier. Yes, the most powerful person in Hangzhou Prefecture

Besides the Ming army, who else could have a well-trained armed organization?

Han Zhengshan's face changed color and he said: "How dare you! How dare you talk nonsense and confuse the public! Even if you are the victim, and the case is not yet clear, you cannot create rumors and slander unrelated people!"
Chapter completed!