Tibet

Pei Zunqing was here, and Li Dai couldn't talk to his son in depth. The two immediately said goodbye and left. Li Ye sent 300 cavalry to escort them back to the city.

In the big tent, Li Ye paced back and forth, and he was also thinking about today's assassination incident.

One hundred and twenty crossbow arrows were fired at the same time, without any sequence, so no contact signals such as bangs and rockets were found, and there were no special reference objects on both sides of the carriage.

So the question is, how do the ambush troops in the woods on both sides launch simultaneously?

There is only one possibility, and that is tacit cooperation. This requires repeated training to achieve such tacit understanding.

From this discovery, Li Ye judged that the opponent was an army, a well-trained crossbow army.

The second doubt is, why did the other party place the assassination location outside the city?

If they ambush on both sides of the sky streets in the city, the killing effect will actually be better, the distance will be shorter, and the soldiers' armor may not be able to withstand the crossbow arrows.

The other party was actually a professional crossbowman. Li Ye believed that the other party also understood this truth and must have studied the armor of his own soldiers.

After ambushing them in the city, they can disguise themselves as civilians and hide.

But they didn't do this, so it was because they decided to ambush themselves?

Obviously it's impossible. I just arrived today and it's too late to make an impromptu decision.

Li Ye vaguely thought that the other party did not enter the city, probably because they were barbarians and were too eye-catching and could easily be spotted by the Plum Blossom Guards, so they hid outside the city.

If they are Hu people, the scope is greatly reduced. They are either Uighurs, Khitans, or Goguryeo. The Japanese are unlikely, as they do not use crossbows.

Thinking of this, Li Ye said to the soldiers outside the tent: "Go to the assassination site and have a look. If Peng Siqing is still there, please ask him to come to my tent."

Peng Haiyan was still looking for a suspension rope in the woods. When he heard that King Qi invited him to go to the military camp, he immediately rushed to the military camp with several of his men.

Zhang Yun was already waiting for him at the gate of the camp. When he saw several officials coming on horseback, he asked loudly: "Is this the Minister of Dali Temple, Peng Shijun?"

"Exactly!"

"Your Highness is waiting. Please follow me."

Peng Haiyan asked his men to wait outside the military camp. He dismounted and followed Zhang Yun to the Chinese army's tent.

Arriving at the door of the main tent, Peng Haiyan bowed and saluted, "Your Majesty, I see you for your humble duties!"

Li Ye smiled and nodded, "Please come in!"

Peng Haiyan walked into the tent and saw Qi King Li Ye looking at the map on the table. When he came closer, he was shocked to see that it turned out to be the sand table of Luoyang City. There were also the Tianjie outside the city and the woods at the assassination site, all shrunk in it. On a table-sized sand tray.

"Your Highness, this is amazing! There are actually woods?"

Li Ye smiled slightly and said: "There was no forest originally, it was added temporarily. Did Peng Shijun make any new discoveries?"

"We found an eyewitness, a villager who lived nearby. He wanted to come to the pine forest at night to steal firewood. He saw many men in black riding horses. He was so frightened that he hid quickly. After the incident, he saw people riding horses. The people went south, about fifty or sixty of them, the ambushers from the west."

"Didn't you see the other party's appearance clearly?"

"He said that the other parties were all wearing masks, and their faces were ferocious and ghost-like. They were also riding fast and very skillfully. There were no other clues."

Li Ye nodded, pointed to the carriage model on the sand table and said, "This is the carriage I am riding in. Have you carefully inspected the situation around the carriage?"

"I have carefully inspected it in my humble position, and have repeatedly checked every blade of grass and stone."

"Then are there any special markings on the sides of my carriage, or are there white lines drawn on the ground?"

Peng Haiyan shook his head, "None?"

"Are you sure?"

"Definitely not!"

Li Ye smiled and said: "If this is the case, then my inference will be established. This is a well-trained crossbow army. They are either Uighurs or Khitan people, but I think it is unlikely that they are Uighurs." , I have fought against the Uighurs many times, and they have no crossbows, only bows and arrows. If we remove them, then the only ones left will be the Khitans."

Peng Haiyan was shocked, "How did Your Highness deduce this?"

Li Ye told Peng Haiyan his inference in detail, and Peng Haiyan was silent for a long time.

Li Ye asked with a smile: "You don't have to deliberately cater to my judgment. After all, you are a professional expert in solving cases. I want to hear your thoughts."

Peng Haiyan smiled bitterly and said: "The humble position is just based on experience. Soldiers who have been trained for a long time are more likely to obey orders. Someone must shoot the first arrow first, and then others will follow him and fire at the same time. It gives people the impression that they are firing simultaneously. This is one of the reasons." .

Secondly, there is indeed no reference object on the road, but according to my humble experience, there must be a reference object, not necessarily on the road, but more likely in the woods, such as a branch. The archer, the branch and the carriage are exactly in line. The same goes for the woods on the opposite side, so the first arrows in the woods on both sides will be fired at the same time. This is actually not a military practice, but a common practice for assassins. "

Li Ye nodded happily, "It makes sense, keep talking!"

Peng Haiyan continued: "They did not enter the city not because they were barbarians, but because they rode horses. If more than a hundred people rode into the city, they would definitely be arrested by the Plum Blossom Guards, and they would not even be able to enter the city at all."

"They can also abandon their horses and march into the city!"

"Your Highness, it's too hasty. They had no idea of ​​entering the city before. If Your Highness comes today, they will assassinate today. It is simply unrealistic to arrange to enter the city to assassinate at the last moment."

Li Ye nodded and smiled: "Your judgment is indeed more convincing. They were unable to enter the city because they were riding horses. They are not necessarily Khitan people, but wearing masks is a clue, and they must have been seen during the day. However, if we search around Luoyang, we will definitely find clues."

"Bizhang also thinks about it this way. Solving the case requires continuous investigation. The clues are accumulated little by little. When a certain amount is accumulated, there will be a breakthrough. Bizhang will start a comprehensive investigation outside the city tomorrow morning."

At night, a carriage slowly stopped in front of Yuan Zai's house. It was Li Fuguo who came in person. Yuan Zai quickly welcomed him to his outer study.

Yuan Zai had an uneasy feeling. It might not be a good thing for Li Fuguo to come to him at this time.

Sure enough, Li Fuguo sat down and said straight to the point: "The emperor has made a decision to let Zhang Li become the prime minister, so he has no choice but to aggrieve the envoy!"

Yuan Zai cursed in his heart, it was not the emperor who made the decision, it was clearly Li Fuguo and Queen Zhang who reached a deal and betrayed him.

Yuan Zai struggled in his heart, "What about the arrangements for the humble position?"

"You'd better go to Taiyuan and serve as the observer of Hedong Road and the governor of Taiyuan. You are more familiar with it there."

Yuan Zai didn't want to go to Hedong, so he gritted his teeth and asked, "Can I be appointed to Liangzhe Road instead?"

Li Fuguo's face sank and he said coldly: "Empress Zhang only plans to make you the governor of Taiyuan. I won the observation post for you. Just be satisfied!"

Yuan Zai lowered his head and remained silent. Li Fuguo gritted his teeth and said, "Think about Li Dai! He has served as prime minister three times and been dismissed three times. He has no complaints. You have just started. What is there to be frustrated about?"

Yuan Zai cursed in his heart, if he had a son like Li Ye, he wouldn't care whether he should be the prime minister or not.

Although he was angry in his heart, he did not dare to show it. Yuan Zai could only nod his head and said: "I don't dare, I will obey the arrangement!"

"That's right. The new prime minister will be announced tomorrow morning. You and Zhang Li will hand over the job in the afternoon. You will take two days off to take office in Taiyuan."

After Li Fuguo finished explaining, he got up and left.

Yuan Zai hurriedly walked out of the gate and watched the carriage go away. He couldn't help but let out a long sigh.