Chapter 2296: Arrested
The team included some Ming Army night sentinels who had been recruited after surrendering. The intelligence they gathered was generally accurate. Besides, there was currently no way to verify whether the Detective Team's reports were reliable; he could only grudgingly accept the results.
"Even with this intelligence, we can't be careless." Qian Duo thought to himself. Actually, nighttime didn't worry him much—as Zhu Si had said, with the city gates locked tight at night, a small enemy force reaching the walls would be useless. Tomorrow's daytime was the concern. Though there were no large enemy forces nearby, small bands could take advantage of the grain fleet's arrival to cause harassment.
Such harassment wouldn't actually damage the fleet, but it would create an atmosphere of panic and delay unloading. It wasn't a real threat, but it was a nuisance. Chief Xie currently placed great importance on "market stability" and didn't want anything happening that might alarm the populace.
If he had more manpower, Qian Duo would dispatch a platoon to sweep the surrounding area—not seeking to annihilate enemies, just to drive the small bandit groups active in the suburbs far enough away that they couldn't interfere with the cargo transport. But he simply couldn't spare the men.
"We'll just have to make do as things are." Qian Duo racked his brains for half a day but couldn't figure out where to scrape together more soldiers.
Though no martial law was announced during the day, the common people could still sense from certain telltale signs that something significant was about to happen. The more cautious ones—those with even modest property at home—simply didn't venture out.
Luo Yangming, however, was busy as usual, running around until his feet barely touched the ground. By the time he had everything arranged, it was already past four in the afternoon.
Though all the necessary tasks had been completed and other matters would have to wait until after the grain arrived, he still hadn't forgotten the problem of Yi Haoran's external verification. Before heading home, he stopped by Zhao Fengtian's office once more. The answer was still "No reply."
"Even if they can't locate him, shouldn't there at least be some response?" Luo Yangming found this strange. This clearly violated proper procedure!
"Don't worry," Zhao Fengtian said. "We've been busy these past few days. After the grain is warehoused, I'll trace it from the source for you and see exactly which step went wrong. Let me say again: if you're really not reassured, just have him arrested. We can release him once everything is cleared up."
Luo Yangming hesitated. Truth be told, though his intuition told him Hao Ran was a suspicious character, he had never laid hands on anything that could serve as "criminal evidence." Besides, Hao Ran did frequently go out, which was consistent with his story.
The person Hao Ran most often contacted was Jiang Qiuchan—a local Wuzhou woman with deep roots in the community. Her husband had been killed by Ming troops. From any angle, there was no possibility she could be acting as a spy for the Great Ming.
And from every perspective, Hao Ran appeared to be an upright, honorable gentleman—not some treacherous villain. Everyone in the shop and household had a favorable impression of him. Even Wen Iron Head said "Mister Hao is a good person."
Finally, he made up his mind: at this critical juncture, better to wrongly arrest than to wrongly release. He lowered his voice:
"Old Zhao! Truth be told, I'm still uneasy about him. Better to do as you suggest—detain him first. We can release him in a few days once we've drawn some conclusions."
"Done!" Zhao Fengtian, seeing how much attention Luo Yangming was paying to this Hao Ran person, couldn't help taking the matter more seriously himself. "I'll notify Zheng Ergen immediately and have him make the arrest."
After sending off Luo Yangming, Zhao Fengtian also felt somewhat uneasy. He had been so consumed with grain transport work these past days that he'd truly neglected the external verification letter problem. Even if objective conditions in Teng County made verification impossible, the Teng County office would still issue a reply letter. There was no way for news to simply vanish completely.
Could the letter have been lost somewhere in the process? Zhao Fengtian had originally planned to investigate after the grain transport work was finished, but thinking more carefully now, the situation seemed extremely suspicious. He decided: this matter couldn't wait—better to look into it immediately for peace of mind.
With this thought, he immediately summoned his staff, had them bring over the official document receiving and sending registry and other basic records, and called in the confidential clerk managing the correspondence to check together.
According to procedure, this external verification letter had been drafted in the County Office, signed and approved by Xie Erren, then placed in a special document bag and sent to its destination. The receiving party would then process it and send back a reply. Every step had a handover. A single check would reveal where the problem occurred.
Using the file number from Zhao Fengtian's records, the confidential clerk quickly determined that the document had been sent to Xie Erren's office for signature that day. But—among the documents returned from Xie Erren's office the next day, this document was not included!
Now Zhao Fengtian began to panic. Chief Xie might have his share of shortcomings, but he wasn't slack when it came to work. Aside from certain important matters he might hold for a few days to consider, routine documents like this "verification upon receipt" type were invariably signed the following day.
"Check all the registrations for the days after that! All the way to today!" Zhao Fengtian ordered.
Still nothing. Refusing to give up, Zhao Fengtian checked all incoming document registrations from Teng County once more. The document's number wasn't there either.
Now Zhao Fengtian was completely stunned. Only one possibility remained: Chief Xie had kept this document in his possession and never signed or released it. Strictly speaking, this violated procedure—once a document was numbered, it had to have a documented whereabouts. Even if he disagreed with the matter, it had to be returned according to procedure. There was no practice of simply holding onto a document indefinitely.
Hao Ran's external verification document had just... vanished? This was too strange!
He was an experienced naturalized citizen cadre. He knew this matter was likely complicated and couldn't help growing nervous. He immediately ordered someone to fetch Zheng Ergen.
"Old Zheng, send your men to Luo Yangming's rice shop right now and arrest a clerk there named Hao Ran."
"Yes!" Zheng Ergen acknowledged. "After the arrest, is there a direction for interrogation?"
"Lock him up first. This is a preventive arrest."
"Understood. I'll send someone now."
After Zheng Ergen left, Zhao Fengtian drank several cups of tea in his office but still couldn't sort out a coherent thread. What on earth was going on with this document?! Looking at it now, the problem could only have occurred on Chief Xie's office side...
Recently, Chief Xie had been working alternately between the Prefecture Yamen and the Three Headquarters, carrying his document box with him. It was difficult to judge exactly where the problem had occurred.
"I'll just have to investigate at the office." Zhao Fengtian thought to himself. This document's inexplicable disappearance had to have a reason. He had to get to the bottom of it.
Yi Haoran was at that moment correcting the red-tracing calligraphy practice that Qi Liheng had submitted during his morning lesson. He circled the well-written characters in red and struck through the poor ones with ink bars, then wrote model characters properly.
He was nearly finished with this homework. Yi Haoran thought to himself: this would likely be the last time he corrected this child's work. Tonight was the moment of action. After the chaos of battle, whether he lived or died, he would not return here to continue teaching and resolving doubts.
Ah Heng was a clever child with considerable natural talent. One could imagine his father must have been a promising young scholar. A pity he had died so young in the chaos of war.
Given time and careful instruction, this child's future in the Civil Service Examinations would not be insignificant. But now, with the nation declining by the day, where could one find peace for a scholar's desk? Once the Australians had stolen and occupied Huaxia, the Teaching of Names would surely face extinction. At that point, perhaps no one would read the Sage's books anymore—let alone take civil examinations!
This child would probably be ruined too. Without a father's protection and blessing, his future life would likely be very hard. In chaotic times, a person was nothing more than a floating duckweed leaf, drifting wherever the waves carried it...
"Mister Hao." Ah Chun appeared at the door, her expression somewhat nervous. "There are some constables outside looking for you."
"Oh." Yi Haoran's brush paused briefly. "Wait just a moment. I'll be right out."
He finished writing the last few model characters, put away his brush and ink, then walked with measured steps to the shop's main hall. Several Australian police were waiting for him.
"You are Hao Ran?" the lead officer asked.
"This student is he." Yi Haoran's mood was calm, untroubled.
"This is an arrest warrant." The policeman produced a paper document.
Li Wensheng hurried out from the accounting room, his expression both nervous and excited. "What is this about?! Why are you arresting Mister Hao? What has he done?"
The policeman said, "We're acting on orders. Whatever he's done, he can explain at the station."
"You can't just take someone for no reason! Mister Hao works for our owner, Master Luo. Master Luo is the Bureau Director of this prefecture's Aftermath Bureau! Don't act recklessly!"
"Sir, please don't get excited," the lead policeman said amiably. "This is an arrest warrant. We're here on official business. Let's not make this awkward for everyone."
Yi Haoran said, "It's nothing. I haven't done anything to trouble my conscience. I imagine it's nothing serious. I'll go along. It won't interfere with anything." He cupped his hands to Li Wensheng: "Please report this to the owner. The accounts are all in the usual place; last month's ledger has already been balanced. And please let Sister Jiang know that I won't be able to teach Liheng for the next few days. I've already corrected his practice notebooks—they're on my desk."
Li Wensheng, seeing his calm demeanor and measured words, sensed a faint air of "farewell" about him. Right now, with the Two Guangs campaign unsettled and Wuzhou under military law, killing was as casual as a routine meal. Once Advisor Hao was arrested, tomorrow his head might be hanging at the city gate. They had worked together these days, becoming close; he didn't want his chess companion to die suddenly and inexplicably. He said hurriedly, "Sir, don't lose heart. When the Master returns, I'll report to him and ask him to find a way to rescue you."
Then he said to the policemen: "Officers, my master is the Bureau Director of the Aftermath Bureau. He frequently appears before Master Xie. Please look after this Mister Hao—there will definitely be generous thanks." He called Ah Chun to fetch four silver dollars from the counter.
"These four dollars are for the officers to buy a pair of straw sandals."
The policemen's faces lit up with pleasure, but the lead officer kept a stern expression. "Keep your money. We don't want it. Whoever you find to appeal is your business. We'll naturally treat him well. Take him away!"
Next Update: Volume 7 - Guangzhou Governance Part 500 (End of Chapter)