"Smuggling?" Gu Yanwu frowned: "Smuggling is indeed under my jurisdiction!"

Gu Yanwu's official position was Tongpan of Quanzhou Prefecture.

In the Ming Dynasty, the duties of the Tongpan in different regions were different.

Generally speaking, the prefectural magistrate was responsible for managing the official warehouse, supervising the collection of tax grain, and encouraging agriculture and sericulture.

The Tongpan of a prefecture where a relatively large river passes through its territory is also responsible for managing water conservancy.

The prefectural magistrate in coastal areas was also responsible for coastal defense.

If the prefect is the mayor, then the magistrate is the deputy mayor in charge of different areas.

What specific responsibilities you have should be determined based on the actual situation.

Quanzhou Yuegang was an ocean-going trade port during the Ming Dynasty.

As the Tongpan of Quanzhou Prefecture, Gu Yanwu was not only responsible for coastal defense matters, but also had to manage smuggling.

It was reasonable for Li Shan to expose Shi Lang's smuggling to him.

"Are you sure that what he smuggled was gunpowder?" Gu Yanwu asked again.

"Sure, I saw it clearly."

Gu Yanwu reminded: "The imperial court's control over gunpowder is not particularly strict. After all, this stuff can also be used to make fireworks and firecrackers. So as long as the quantity is not particularly large, it cannot be considered smuggling."

"A lot, too much, at least hundreds of thousands of pounds!" Fisherman Li Shan said, swallowing his saliva, "A few days ago, I saw his men seal the gunpowder and load it onto the ship, and he personally escorted it out to sea."

"How did you see that?"

"I was at the dock moving gunpowder onto the ship, and I personally moved dozens of boxes of it."

"In other words, Shi Lang is your employer?"

"I guess...I guess so." Li Shan replied stutteringly.

"Why do you want to expose your employer? Your employer is smuggling, and you are an accomplice just because you help move the goods." Gu Yanwu began to look for any flaws in the fisherman Li Shan.

The reason why he did this was mainly to confirm the authenticity of the case and to rule out the possibility that he was set up and used as a pawn.

When he heard that he was an accomplice, Li Shan suddenly panicked.

He said intermittently: "I...I am just...just a worker, how can I...be considered an accomplice?"

"Knowing the law and breaking it is an accomplice." Gu Yanwu continued to exert pressure.

Li Shan became even more panicked. He immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed, saying words like "forgive me, spare my life".

Seeing Li Shan's genuine fear, Gu Yanwu felt about 70% confident.

He first tried to calm Li Shan down with words, and then asked after he calmed down, "Why did you expose your employer?"

“He won’t pay me after the work is done!”

"No way?" Gu Yanwu was doubtful. "He dares to deduct such money? It doesn't make sense!"

Seeing that Gu Yanwu was a little unconvinced, the fisherman Li Shan became anxious and began to say: "Five days ago in the morning, I came to Yuegang to load a cargo ship as agreed."

"When moving the goods, one of the boxes was accidentally broken, and the gunpowder inside spilled out. The moment I saw the gunpowder, I realized that what I was doing was a life-threatening job."

"After I finished moving the goods, I went to the foreman to ask for my wages. The foreman said that I broke the gunpowder box and spilled the gunpowder, so he would deduct my wages to compensate for the loss."

"He also warned me that the cargo on this ship belonged to Lord Shi Lang. If I report this to the government, I will be in big trouble."

Gu Yanwu rolled his eyes. "That is to say, you only heard about Shi Lang's smuggling from the foreman, but you didn't see him appear on the ship in person, right?"

"It's true that I didn't see Shi Lang himself! But the ship was flying the flag of Zheng's trading company. If the smuggler was not Shi Lang, it must be Zheng Zhilong!" Li Shan said with hatred.

"Don't talk nonsense!" Gu Yanwu's housekeeper pushed Li Shan, "You can eat whatever you want, but you can't say anything you want. If you eat the wrong food, you will only have diarrhea, but if you say the wrong thing, you and I will lose our lives."

Although Zheng Zhilong was born a pirate, his personal power developed very rapidly after he surrendered to the imperial court.

Not to mention the Quanzhou Prefecture where he was located, even officials in the entire Fujian Province had to look at his face.

Now Li Shan is trying to blame Zheng Zhilong for the smuggling incident.

If nothing is found out, it's fine. Just treat it as a false accusation.

If anything was really found out, Zheng Zhilong would kill all the people who knew about it quietly.

When the court questioned him, they said he died of a serious illness, or he suffered from acclimatization, or he drowned while on patrol.

Anyway, the coroner doing the autopsy is one of our own, so he can write the cause of death however he wants.

Looking at the hot potato in front of him, Gu Yanwu asked in a deep voice, "Where is the final destination of this ship?"

"They went out to the East. I don't know where they went."

"Any other clues?"

"No more." Li Shan replied.

Gu Yanwu fell into a long period of contemplation.

Is this matter credible?

According to the rules, you have to check it regardless of its credibility.

But here comes the problem.

Shi Lang was Zheng Zhilong's man.

The officials of Quanzhou Prefecture and even the entire Fujian Province were very close to Zheng Zhilong.

As long as they investigate, it will inevitably alarm Shi Lang and Zheng Zhilong.

If Li Shan was making a false accusation.

Even if the truth is revealed and Shi Lang is cleared of all charges, he will still harbor resentment, which will be extremely detrimental to his future work.

If Li Shan hadn't framed...

Judging from Zheng Zhilong's style of doing things, Gu Yanwu was not far from death.

What to do?

He looked at Li Shan and felt that the other party was not a hot potato, but a box of gunpowder that was about to explode.

He can't be extinguished, and he can't escape.

"Master," the butler came over when he saw this, "why don't we suppress this matter first?"

There are two meanings behind the butler's suppression.

One is to find someone to kill Li Shan and pretend nothing happened.

The second is to let Li Shan go back and delay the investigation.

But the problem arises again.

No one can guarantee that Li Shan will not tell others about this.

If the news leaks and the smuggling is true, both he and Li Shan will be in danger.

"Master," the butler suggested again in a low voice, "Li Shan is most likely making a false accusation. Considering that he is a first-time offender, just beat him up and let him go."

"No," Gu Yanwu refused, "Although I am not a gentleman, I cannot do such a despicable thing."

After thinking for a while, Gu Yanwu suddenly had an idea in his mind.

He said to Li Shan, "I will investigate this matter thoroughly. You can go back for now. Remember, keep your mouth shut when you go back, otherwise you will be in big trouble."

Li Shan looked up at Gu Yanwu, then knelt down to say goodbye.

Before Li Shan could walk away, the housekeeper asked in a low voice: "Master, when will we start?"

"Why?" Gu Yanwu rolled his eyes at him. "Li Shan is indeed a trouble, but I want to give this trouble to someone else."

"Others?" The housekeeper was puzzled. "I looked all over Fujian and no one dared to take on this trouble."

"Haha," Gu Yanwu laughed out loud, "Of course there is, and it's in Quanzhou Prefecture."