Cross the Sea in the Red Chamber

Jiang Yuan's character is of course worthy of Jiang Ning's trust, so there is nothing to hide from him, so Jiang Ning said directly: "This group of assassins are very careful, no matter the clothes, shoes and socks on their bodies or the weapons and blades they hold The specific origins were revealed without revealing any flaws. The word "Nan'an" tattooed on their shoulders was obviously used to blame the king of Nan'an County and let him take the blame, and nothing was revealed. But I still found out from them Some things make me feel very strange."

"Oh, what's there?" Jiang Yuan sat opposite Jiang Ning, poured himself a cup of tea, and slowly listened to him.

"First of all, the shoes they wear." Jiang Ning said seriously.

"In order to make it impossible for us to identify them, these assassins wore new cloth shoes, and it was estimated that they had been on their feet for no more than two days. This can be seen from the degree of wear on the soles and the newness of the uppers. Come out. But then I checked the soles of their shoes, and each of them had a lot of mud on their soles, what does that mean? It means that they have stepped in water or mud puddles in these two days."

"But this is strange. The entire Shuntian Mansion hadn't rained in the past two days before the assassination. It is reasonable to say that there would not be so much mud on the roads inside or outside the city. This kind of cloth shoes with a layered sole The sole is made of cloth, and the layers of cloth are glued into a thick piece with paste, and then the soles are put together and then stitched with twine to form the sole. Because the paste is used for the sole, so It must not be wet by water, otherwise the soles will be easily broken, this is common sense.”

"If you happened to come across a puddle formed by two springs while walking on a mountain road, these assassins would definitely avoid it. What's the point of bypassing a puddle? But now all of them have thick soles. There is a thick layer of dried mud, which means that there are some mud or puddles on their travel route that they can't avoid at all, no matter how they walk, they have to step on the mud. Where is there such a puddle or quagmire? I haven't thought of it yet." Jiang Ning said with a frown.

This one is indeed very reasonable, Jiang Yuan nodded, motioning for Jiang Ning to continue.

Jiang Ning entered the state of reasoning, without looking at Jiang Yuan's reaction, and then said: "The second point is also very strange. I asked a familiar imperial doctor to check the daggers and arrows used by the assassins, and the poison/drugs smeared on the blades They are all relatively common species. Although the poison is strong, there is nothing surprising about it. But the poison in the nasty horse you surrendered is very special. The imperial physician did not say what it was after a long examination. Later , I asked other imperial physicians, and no one in the entire imperial hospital could tell the name of this medicine."

He looked at Jiang Yuan and said word by word: "Do you still remember? That nasty horse was foaming at the mouth and rushed towards His Highness and you guys. As the first attack of the assassination plan, the assassin The purpose is to use that crazy horse to drive you away, it is best to separate you from His Highness, so that it is convenient to kill His Highness."

"Then here comes the problem. You are famous all over the world for your innate supernatural power. There is no one in the whole capital who doesn't know that you can open a seven-stone bow and shoot arrows at stone tigers. And that crazy horse is just It's just the most common ragged horse, not very strong. Even if you carry too many horses in the downtown area, it will easily attract attention, leading to the leak of the assassination plan and resulting in the failure of the operation, but why do these assassins think that just such a ragged horse Is it enough to disperse you and His Royal Highness? Isn't this too strange?"

Hearing what Jiang Ning said, Jiang Yuan recalled the situation at that time, frowned and said: "When you say that, I seem to think of a strange thing. The power of that crazy horse is unexpectedly strong, Although it looks like an ordinary nauseous horse, its strength is like a rhinoceros or a black bear. Even taller and stronger war horses are not as strong as it when it goes crazy, and its speed is not so fast. It made me take two steps back before I could stand still. Even with my strength, I couldn’t subdue it smoothly, and I had to use some skill to divert its strength away.”

"I originally thought that the breed of the crazy horse itself was a bit special, but you said that it was just an ordinary sluggish horse. That would be strange. How could a sluggish horse get so much strength? It made me struggle Can't you even subdue your strength?"

Jiang Ning summed up what Jiang Yuan said, analyzed it for a while, and said: "That is to say, the assassin used some kind of special drug on that nauseous horse, which made the horse go crazy and possess strength comparable to that of a rhinoceros." They thought that such a mighty nasty horse would be enough to disperse you and His Highness the Crown Prince, but they didn't expect that your strength and skills were far beyond their imagination, even such a powerful nasty horse couldn't No matter how I got you, I was surrendered by you instead."

He gave a soft "huh" and said, "Strange, if I were an assassin, in order to be safe, I would have to prepare at least two or three horses to rush over together to be at ease. And even if the assassin leads two or three naive horses from the market There is nothing strange about the above, so why did these assassins only use one horse, resulting in the assassination falling short?"

Jiang Ning thought for a while, "...there is only one possibility. The medicine in that nasty horse is not as simple as we imagined. Maybe those assassins only have the medicine for one horse, and they won't have any more. Ordinary horses are No amount of it can help you, instead of leading so many horses to attract the attention of others and expose your actions, it is better to use only one drugged horse, and the success may be even greater."

Jiang Ning narrowed his eyes, "The knife cut on the buttocks of that nasty horse is also very strange."

He gestured with his hand, "The blade is long and shallow. It's not pierced in, but drawn up. Most people want to irritate the horse. Is this what they do? Normally, shouldn't the horse's buttocks be stabbed inward?" Is it right to go in? Just such a shallow stroke, I'm afraid it's better to whip a whip hard. It's completely unreasonable to do so, it seems to be trying to hide something."

He thought about it, and there were only so many suspicious points on the nanny, and the rest were the assassins themselves.

"Finally, there are doubts about the assassins. These assassins are short in stature, with a short stature, and the tallest is only five feet three inches. They don't look like northerners, but rather southern border residents. Their skin is dark and rough... This is also very strange , They are dead soldiers, assassins, and not farmers. How can they have such dark skin? This skin color is by no means natural, it must be caused by exposure to the sun. Could it be that they are people living in the desert? ? But why did the border people who were born in the south go to the desert?"

Jiang Ning frowned, "This is not the strangest thing, the strangest thing is their hands!"

With dark and rough skin and short stature, Jiang Yuan's spirit froze. Isn't this just like Cui Cheng? !They really are together!

"Hand?" Jiang Yuan asked.

"Yes, it's the hand." Jiang Ning stretched out his right hand, pointed out with the fingers of his left hand, and pointed out the position he wanted to say, "Look, these people are dead soldiers and martial arts practitioners. Generally speaking, if they use weapons for a long time , it should be calluses on the palm of the hand. If you use a bow and arrow to shoot, it should be that the palm of the hand holding the bow has calluses. If you rub against arrows, calluses will form."

"But what about this group of assassins? Two of them not only had calluses in these common places, but also had a thick layer of calluses on the side between the first and second knuckles of the middle finger of the right hand near the index finger. Calluses, why is that?"

Jiang Ning gestured, "If it's caused by holding a pen, it should be that there are calluses on the pads of the thumb, index finger, middle finger, and the part where the nameless nail connects. If it's caused by holding a weapon, what kind of weapon will cause it?" Come across this position, why is there a callus? I can't figure it out..."

Holding a pen... wait, it's holding a pen!Jiang Yuan suddenly thought of a possibility, "Cheng An, these people are not holding brushes, they are holding charcoal pencils!"

"Qingyuan, don't you use the pulp of your thumb, index finger, and middle finger to hold a charcoal pencil..." Jiang Ning still couldn't understand.

It wasn't surprising that he didn't understand.

Jing people are accustomed to using a brush when writing, and the way to hold the brush is "擫, 把, hook, grid, and touch". In this posture, only the thumb, index finger, and middle finger are connected to the flesh of the ring finger. The place will leave thick cocoons due to long-term friction with the pen holder.Brushes can be used to write on paper and silk, as well as on smooth walls. Therefore, under normal circumstances, it is not necessary for Jingren to use charcoal to write.

Jingren often uses charcoal pens to draw on rough surfaces such as the ground or earth walls.When drawing in such a place, the writing is often very large, requiring the arms to be stretched, and the movements to be opened and closed. In order to facilitate grasping and force, Jingren uses the thumb, index finger, and middle finger to hold the charcoal pen together. For writing, this posture is the same as that of most people in later generations when using chalk. Holding the charcoal pen in this way makes the tip of the pen more powerful, and it is convenient to leave black charcoal traces by rubbing on the place where writing is required.

If you use charcoal like Jingren, of course, as Jiang Ning said, calluses will be left on the thumb, index finger, and middle finger, but if...

"No, Cheng An, what if they hold sheepskin, straw paper and other items with their left hand, and write with charcoal pencils in their right hand?" Jiang Yuan put on such a posture.In the situation he mentioned, although the method of holding a charcoal pencil that Jiang Ning said is not completely impossible, it is very awkward.

The left hand that holds sheepskin and straw paper is often placed in front of the chest, and the writing and drawing are often relatively small. The right hand must be retracted to write, and the range should also be reduced. The posture of the wrist is very awkward. Not only is it inconvenient to use force, but it is also difficult to change the angle of the pen tip.At this time, people tend to move their middle finger down subconsciously, and use the position where the first and second knuckles of the middle finger connect to hold the charcoal pencil from below.

That's right, it's the way modern people hold a hard pen!

Ordinary Jingren would use a brush to write even in this situation. Few people would choose to use charcoal. No wonder Jiang Ning, a master of reasoning, didn't think of it.

"But why do they use charcoal to write on the sheepskin and papyrus? Isn't it the same with brushes?" Jiang Ning was puzzled.

Jiang Yuan smiled slightly, "The reason is actually very simple. If you use a brush, you need to carry an inkstone, ink ingot and water with you. Even if you don't bring these things, you need at least a small bottle of ink. And that The bottle also needs to be stored very carefully, otherwise the ink inside will spill out or be accidentally dried up, which will be difficult."

"If it's in a room or in a town, it doesn't matter if you carry these things. But if it's in the wilderness, on a mountain or on a bumpy boat, it's not easy to handle. In the wild or on a barren mountain, people are required to carry as little as possible." Carrying things makes it easier to climb with free hands and avoid danger. On the boat, it is very bumpy, and if ink is used, it is easy to spill, so it is more convenient to use charcoal pens than brushes at this time."

"Although literati rarely do this, it is different in the army. When drawing maps or charts, most people still choose to use charcoal. After all, it is much easier to use than a brush."

"Wait... draw a picture... ship..." Jiang Ning was stunned, as if he had thought of something, but he seemed to have thought of nothing.All the clues were flying in his mind, and gradually, the useful clues were all connected together at this moment! "Dark, short...Dongping County King, Nan'an County King...Southeast...His Royal Highness..."

Jiang Yuan didn't dare to disturb him, so he sat silently and looked at Jiang Ning. After a while, Jiang Ning's eyes gradually cleared up, and suddenly he was in high spirits, and shouted loudly: "I see, I finally know how this happened It's over!"

Jiang Ning stood up and thumped the table hard, "Oh, why didn't I think of it earlier? It's obviously very simple! Those assassins are not Jingren, they are soldiers of Qixiang Kingdom, they are spies of Qixiang Kingdom!"

"Xixiang Country?!" This answer was completely beyond Jiang Yuan's expectations, and he couldn't help but startled.

Jiang Ning hurried to the door, opened the door and carefully looked left and right like a thief, until he saw that there was no one else around, then carefully closed the door and locked it back to his seat, and said in a low voice: "Don't make too much noise, you will be caught. others heard."

The corner of Jiang Yuan's mouth twitched, it was obviously you who said loudly just now, okay...

Probably because Jiang Yuan's gaze was too obvious, Jiang Ning coughed twice, and quickly changed the subject, "If they are from Qixiang Country, then all doubts will be connected."

"Xixiang Country is located on the sea to the southeast of Dajing. It is a small island country, less than a province of Dajing. I heard that the bloodlines of the people of Qixiang Country are extremely complicated, and they have the bloodlines of the extreme south, so the people of the country The figure is much shorter than that of Jingren. The island where the Qixiang country is located has little arable land, but there are many people in the country, so most of the people in the country make a living by fishing and subsidize their rations with seafood. Because of fishing, Qi The people of Xiangguo have been exposed to the sun on the sea since they were young, so their skin has become dark."

"The soldiers in this country are basically sailors who fight at sea. The soldiers are exposed to the sun all year round. Even if they leave the sea in the future, their skin will not change due to years of damage. If we say that those who know martial arts and bows and arrows If the assassin is a soldier of the Qixiang Kingdom, it is not surprising that his skin is dark."

"Qingyuan, as you mentioned just now, soldiers often use charcoal pencils to draw charts on ships, so those two assassins with calluses on their hands are probably the soldiers responsible for charting charts on ships. Hmph, but in Dajing , their task may become to draw a map of Dajing!"

This really makes sense. Seeing Jiang Yuan's expression of approval, Jiang Ning continued: "The reason why that nasty horse goes crazy, and it's so powerful that you can't even subdue it is not because it took poison/drugs, but It was because it was bitten by a special kind of snake."

"This kind of strange snake doesn't live on land or in rivers, but in the sea. Their tails are like loaches, but their teeth are very poisonous. There is this special kind of snake in the sea area of ​​Qixiang country. Some people in their country will raise this poisonous snake, and feed them various special herbs to change the toxicity on their teeth. After several years of continuous feeding, the venom of this poisonous snake has changed, and those bitten by it The prey will not die immediately after being poisoned, but will burst out with stronger power than before, and will become manic and irritable, and will not die from exhaustion until after a stick of incense."

"This special poisonous snake was recorded in the medical books of the previous dynasty, but at first we thought that the horse would go crazy after eating some poison, and we never thought that it was bitten instead of eating. Those The assassin grabbed the snake's head and stabbed the rump in the rump with the snake's fangs, and then used a dagger to cut open the skin where the snake's fangs had pierced, trying to prevent us from discovering the cause of the rook's poisoning, and we couldn't suspect it through this clue. On the head of Xiangxiang Kingdom."

"This kind of venomous snake moves very fast when swimming in the sea, it is difficult to catch, and the medicines fed are very rare. Once it is accidentally left out of the sea for too long, it is easy to die, so it is very difficult to raise. A venomous snake with teeth The venom on it is only enough to poison one horse or three people, it is very tasteless, so these assassins only carry one with them, and there is no way to carry more, which can also explain why there is only one nasty horse attacking you .”

Speaking of which, the identities of these assassins have basically been confirmed. Jiang Yuan was originally a smart person, but the truth of the matter became clear in a flash.He put down the teacup, squinted his eyes slightly, and said fiercely: "Dongping County King and Nan'an County King dare to support the bandits!"

"That's true." Jiang Ning nodded, and said, "The forces of Dongping and Nan'an are originally on the southeast coast, which is the place where the Qixiang Kingdom often harassed. The main enemy of their two armies is the Qixiang Kingdom. .”

"Thinking about it, they also know very well that as long as the Qixiang Kingdom will attack the border, the army in their hands will be of value to be preserved, and they will be able to continuously obtain military rations and salaries from the imperial court. But if the Qixiang Kingdom is gone It is estimated that His Majesty the Emperor will find ways to seize the military power in their hands. That's why the two of them want to collude with the Qixiang country to raise the bandits' self-respect, and use the Qixiang country's attack to protect their own military power!"

Jiang Yuan gritted his teeth, "That Cui Cheng is not a soldier of the King of Dongping at all, he is a soldier of the Qixiang Kingdom, it is estimated that this guy is the hub sent by the Kingdom of Qixiang to communicate with the King of Dongping County and the King of Nan'an County! The bows and arrows in the hands of those assassins are probably part of the armaments obtained from Dongping and Nan'an. Because of this, these bows and arrows are exactly the same as those used by the Dajing Army. This is the evidence of their self-respect. These Xiangxiang people The reason for knowing the details of the assassination of His Highness the Crown Prince is probably because the King of Dongping County missed it, so Cui Cheng knew about it."

Jiang Yuan continued: "Perhaps at the beginning, Qixiang Kingdom lived very well because of the retention and even nourishment of the two forces of Dongping and Nan'an, so naturally they didn't plan to do anything to them. But first, the Wang family of Dongping County was in the army. The power in the middle fell, and the emperor's men were replaced, which doubled their pressure. Then, the development of the building ships in the south has also made great progress. If the people in the shipyard are allowed to continue their research, sooner or later they will get The Dajing army with powerful ships will destroy the Qixiang Kingdom. So these people from the Qixiang Kingdom came up with the idea of ​​assassinating His Highness the Crown Prince. After all, once the Crown Prince is dead, the research on the buildings controlled by him will not be able to continue. If it goes down, of course Qixiang Kingdom can continue to exist, that's why they planned this assassination!"

"Hmph, raising a bandit's self-respect is tantamount to betraying the country and surrendering to the enemy. If the letters between the king of Nan'an and the country of Qixiang are used as a threat, Nan'an must go to the downtown area alone, otherwise the whole thing will be leaked, and it will naturally be forced. The king of Nan'an County disguised himself and went to Yuquanzhai alone. Ha, don't say that he just went to Yuquanzhai, even if he was going to some deep mountains and old forests, the blue sky and the yellow spring, the Nan'an County King had no choice but to follow obediently, otherwise once the fragrance The country wants to expose the matter and let His Majesty know that a serious crime of defecting to the enemy and betraying the country is enough to kill his whole family and ransack his family, and his troops far in the south can't save his life!"

"But why did the assassins of the Qixiang Kingdom blame the king of Nan'an for the assassination?" Jiang Ning asked in puzzlement, "This is the only thing I haven't figured out. , show mercy to Xixiang country, and often supply them with weapons, money and food. Logically speaking, shouldn't Qixiang country keep such a "friendly opponent"? Why did they push all the offending charges on him? up?"