Chapter 2053

Although the Xu family has great influence in Fujian, and has even gradually replaced the command of the imperial court and the Ministry of War in the military field, they are still nominally subjects of the Ming Dynasty, and they dare not easily violate some established rules. For example, they are called

Xu Xinsu, the emperor's royal guard, would also strictly order his subordinates to avoid conflicts with him as much as possible, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble.

No matter how good the relationship with Jin Yiwei is, the yamen will not get much benefit, but if it offends this group of people, the trouble will really continue. Xu Xinsu does not want the industries and connections that her family operates outside Fujian to become the target of Jin Yiwei.

, so I have always kept a respectful distance from Jin Yiwei, and tried my best not to offend the river.

But if Jin Yiwei is bold and wants to deceive him, that's another matter. Xu Yuxing realizes that the Jin Yiwei here is behaving badly and is trying to engage in some unfriendly actions under the Xu family's nose, then he will naturally

I will no longer exercise restraint. When it comes to the safety of the Xu family, there is no room for compromise.

After the city defense army and their subordinates conducted a preliminary search inside the Jinfa and determined that there were no safety hazards, Xu Jiaqi, Xu Yuxing and Jin Ming entered the place to check the real situation inside.

The Jinfa residence is quite large, with four courtyards in total. The city defense army has gathered all the people arrested here, as well as several people who were shot dead with muskets during the attack, into the second courtyard.

In the patio.

Xu Yuxing and the other three walked into the courtyard and saw a dense crowd of people kneeling in the courtyard, their hands shackled behind their backs. In the open space next to them, there were various weapons seized from these people, except for a few hand crossbows.

In addition, there are several Jinyiwei standard waist knives and two long and short fire guns.

How could an ordinary businessman hide so many weapons in his own business? Just based on these seizures, it can be basically confirmed that these people are not ordinary people.

"No waist badge?" Xu Yuxing glanced at it and asked the subordinate responsible for searching the evidence. If these people were Jin Yiwei, then they would definitely carry Jin Yiwei's unique identity badge.

The subordinate was very clever. He leaned behind Xu Yuxing and lowered his voice and replied: "My lord, I have found the badge. I thought that putting this thing on display might make it difficult for you to deal with it, so I put it away first."

Xu Yuxing glanced at him sideways and nodded slightly to confirm his approach: "You are quite smart...well done!"

If this group of people reveal their identity cards, then the matter will become a public-to-public fight between the two yamen. Although Xu Yuxing is not afraid of Jin Yiwei, it will inevitably cause a lot of trouble in dealing with it. But first, collect their identity cards.

Well, even if these people self-reported their identities, Xu Yuxing could not accept them and treat them as a group of thugs who used force to fight against the government. Even if the Jin Yiwei came forward to arrest them afterwards, Xu Yuxing could openly argue that they could not confirm these things at the time of arrest.

person's identity.

Of course, this also brings up another question. Since there are real Jin Yiwei inside, why don't they directly reveal their identities before, but choose to fight. Even after the city defense army arrives here, they still have a chance to reveal their identities.

But why didn't they do it after all?

The answer lies in the third courtyard. Xu Yuxing saw a large pile of still smoking ashes here. Judging from the shape, it was not difficult to tell that these were the remains of a large amount of burned paper, which meant that this place was besieged just now.

While staying, the people inside gave up the opportunity to identify themselves and surrender, and took the time to destroy some of the information recorded on paper by burning it.

Xu Yuxing's face was very ugly, which meant that the situation that Jin Ming reminded him of earlier had become a reality, and the reason for giving the other party an opportunity to take advantage of it was more or less due to his command errors. He originally wanted to

Haihan's colleague showed his skills in front of him, but now it looks like he messed up.

Of course, this cannot be entirely blamed on Xu Yuxing's poor command. If he had directly ordered a storm before mobilizing the city defense troops, there would of course be a chance to capture the stronghold and prevent the opponent from burning the evidence. But judging from the weapons captured, it must be necessary.

It is possible to achieve the goal only by paying a certain amount of casualties, and this is exactly the situation Xu Yuxing strives to avoid.

If we had to find fault, it could only be that Xu Yuxing did not make thorough preparations in advance and underestimated the difficulty of this mission. If he had activated the city defense troops to participate in the operation from the beginning, he would not have been kept out for so long.

In the final analysis, this was an underestimation of Jin Yiwei's strength. He never expected that the opponent would dare to make such a strong response in Zhangzhou City.

Jin Ming also sighed secretly when he saw these ashes, thinking that after all, he was a step too late and allowed the other party to destroy the key evidence. I wonder if there are any parts related to Haihan in these ashes. If it involves the matter he is investigating,

, which will inevitably greatly delay the investigation process. Although there are many people captured alive, these people are specially trained personnel. It is estimated that it is not an easy task to obtain credible information from them. And because

The special status of these people must have caused Xu Yuxing a headache as to how to deal with them.

Xu Yuxing said: "If there were only things on paper, they might not be so nervous. Search this place for me! What on earth are they hiding? We have to dig three feet into the ground to find it!"

Most of Xu Yuxing's men had received training in investigation and search, and they also had corresponding skills in how to find hidden places in the house. Everyone then split up and followed his request to find important evidence that might exist somewhere.

While Xu Yuxing was giving the order, Jin Ming was carefully observing the movements of the group of captured personnel. If there were really any great secrets hidden here, Xu Yuxing's order to search again would surely make the insiders among them react.

And just as he expected, when hearing Xu Yuxing's loud orders, several of them silently turned their heads and exchanged glances with each other, seeming to be a little nervous about this situation.

Jin Ming immediately informed Xu Yuxing of his observations, and the latter did not hesitate at all, and ordered the few people identified by Jin Ming to be taken aside. Since these people reacted, they were probably informed.

If so, you can focus on the interrogation later.

Although the courtyard of Jinfahao is not small, Xu Yuxing transferred enough people this time, and even if he searched carefully foot by foot, it would be very fast. Xu Yuxing had three chairs moved out from the flower hall, and Xu Jiaqi and Jin

Ming sat on the patio and settled down to wait for the result.

I have to say that the people under Xu Yuxing were quite capable. Within about a minute of burning incense, someone came to report that something had been discovered in the woodshed.

"Let's go take a look!" This is what Xu Yuxing was waiting for. He immediately jumped up from his chair and called Xu Jiaqi and Jin Ming to go check it out together.

For a house with such a large area, the kitchen and woodshed are naturally indispensable, and these are often easily overlooked during the search process. After all, most people hide important items in their daily living areas, so that they can be checked at any time.

The kitchen woodshed is not so convenient for servants to enter and exit. If a general police officer came to search, he would probably go in and walk around for a while and then come out. However, Xu Yuxing's men were so practical that they even searched the woodshed.

Thousands of kilograms of firewood piled up were all moved out, and then the things hidden under the firewood pile were revealed.

These are three long wooden boxes stacked together, about six feet long, two feet wide, and seven inches thick. The surface of the box seems to be painted with a layer of darker paint. This treatment is mostly waterproof and waterproof.

The top box has been opened by search personnel, and several muskets with oilcloth-wrapped barrels are neatly placed inside. There are also many dry straws for cushioning in the box. It is obvious that the search team

After opening the box, the personnel realized that these items were important evidence, and immediately notified Xu Yuxing without rushing to further examine the contents of the box.

"Master Jin, you said they were hiding these things in the woodshed just now when they closed the door and kept silent?" Xu Yuxing couldn't help but smile when he saw the contents of the box.

Jin Ming agreed: "The third young master is right. They clearly have so many weapons, but they didn't use them just now. It seems they don't want us to find out that they have these things."

Xu Yuxing waved his hand and said: "It's too dark in this woodshed. Take these boxes of things outside."

In the resistance just now, people like Jinfa would rather use crossbows than use these muskets. Either they don't know how to use such weapons, or they don't dare to expose these weapons to the broad daylight. And in Jinfa

It seems to Ming and Xu Yuxing that it is most likely the latter situation. After all, one of their original intentions in investigating the Jinfa No. was to try to find a connection between this place and the Spanish arms smuggling case, but now it seems that it has been

They found the most powerful evidence.

The three wooden boxes were carried outside the woodshed by Xu Yuxing's men. Xu Yuxing made a gesture of invitation to Jin Ming, meaning that he would be the first to check the origin of these weapons.

Jin Ming came here for this purpose, so he didn't refuse immediately. He reached out and took out a musket from the box, and removed the oilcloth tied to the gun body, revealing the complete gun body.

Although he was not a soldier, he had a lot of knowledge about weapons due to his work. He could tell at a glance that this thing was not made by the Ming Dynasty or Haihan. After a closer inspection, he already had a preliminary understanding.

judge.

Jin Ming handed the musket to Xu Yuxing and said, "Third Young Master, General Xu, please take a look. The patterns on this gun are the characters used by the Spanish!"

After Xu Yuxing examined it, he sneered: "Jin Yiwei dared to secretly collude with the Spanish. How good it is!"

Although he didn't read Spanish, he knew that Jin Ming would definitely not joke about such a thing. There were actually Spanish muskets hidden in Jinyiwei's stronghold. This matter might not be easy to clear up. Although the Ming Dynasty did not have any relations with the Spanish

They have become enemies, but they have not formally established diplomatic relations. The crime of arms smuggling cannot be avoided.

The shock in Jin Ming's heart was actually more. Although the intelligence department had suspected that the Spanish's export of arms was supported by some special agencies of the Ming Dynasty, no relevant evidence had been found. This time in Zhangzhou

The weapons seized in the city provide strong evidence for this speculation.

However, just the discovery of these weapons is not enough to form a complete chain of evidence to prove that the mastermind behind the import of Spanish weapons into the north is the Jin Yiwei. Because no matter what, it is impossible for the Jin Yiwei to help Spain provide military assistance to the Qing Dynasty, its mortal enemy.

It makes no sense both emotionally and rationally. Only by clarifying the specific channels through which these weapons entered this place can we confirm the role played by Jin Yiwei in this matter.

Judging from the previous resistance and destruction of evidence by the Jin Yiwei here, they obviously do not want people to discover that they possess these weapons - they have so many muskets secretly hidden in Zhangzhou City, and they intend to use these weapons against someone.

The goal seems self-evident.

Xu Yuxing and Xu Jiaqi had obviously thought of this. Xu Jiaqi held a musket in his hand and looked at it carefully. His face was as black as coal. It was impossible to guard against how much trouble this thing could cause in the hands of Jin Yiwei.

If it weren't for the good luck in seizing this batch of weapons here today and allowing Jin Yiwei to put them to use, I'm afraid Fujian would be in chaos.

"This matter needs to be reported to your lord immediately." Xu Jiaqi said solemnly: "Since it is related to Jinyiwei, then Jinyiwei's other places to stay in the city must also be carefully investigated!"

"More than that, the relevant people must be detained as soon as possible to find out the truth. If Jin Yiwei can't come up with a reasonable explanation, it can only explain one thing." Xu Yuxing stopped abruptly and did not continue.

After all, this kind of thing can only be thought about and cannot be spoken out, otherwise it is very likely to cause great disaster to the Xu family.

Jin Ming had already understood what Xu Yuxing wanted to express. If Jin Yiwei could not give a reasonable explanation for why he smuggled muskets into Zhangzhou City and resisted the search of the local army, then it could only explain this

The arrangement was not planned by Jin Yiwei, but came from instructions from a higher level.

If the people in power in the court have already thought of using some special means to undermine Xu Xinsu's dominance in Fujian, it means that the superficial harmony between the two parties has come to an end, and there is no way to maintain the current superficial relationship between monarch and minister.

This will undoubtedly be a huge test for Xu Xinsu, who has never planned to separate himself from the mountain and become king. He must decide whether to handle the matter in a low-key manner and continue to maintain a superior-subordinate relationship with Mingting, or simply use the

This was an opportunity to raise a flag for rebellion and start a new one. But open rebellion is taboo at any time. Even though the Xu family was a local snake in Fujian, Xu Yuxing did not dare to talk about it in public.
Chapter completed!