"Then, sir, guess again, how did Pu Kaishan escape from prison?"
Han Mo spoke while looking again at the architectural drawings on the ground.
"I will take people to verify it now!"
After exhaling a long breath, Shao Bowen spoke directly.
"Absolutely do not alert the enemy!"
"My lord, you can rest assured, I know what I'm doing!"
It was precisely Han Mo's admission that speaking with intelligent people indeed made things much simpler.
He had only offered a simple hint, and Shao Bowen immediately understood his meaning.
Although Han Mo still couldn't be certain where Pu Kaishan would escape to,
based on the current situation, it was highly probable that this fellow intended to cause some trouble for Han Mo.
Following this clue, no matter where he was, the places he would ultimately go would likely be limited to a few fixed locations.
Either he would cooperate with the rebels to open the city gates, or he would set fires within the city to incite panic.
Compared to these two actions, setting fires would naturally be much simpler, as the city gates were undoubtedly guarded by soldiers. Moreover, even if these soldiers were lax, they would not dare to play any tricks at this time.
After all, the names of all the soldiers Han Mo had mobilized were carved on that stone tablet, and each of them had handed over a letter of submission, their hands stained with the blood debt of the Manichaean sect.
If they were regular government troops, they might have shown leniency and pardoned some based on their actions.
However, those rebel soldiers outside the city were completely different. After all, the backbone of these rebels was overwhelmingly composed of Manichaean members. If they dared to play any tricks in this matter, they would be the ones in trouble.
After all, whenever anything related to religion is involved, matters often become very complicated.
Even if only to maintain the cohesion of the Manichaean sect, these rebel soldiers had no choice but to send all those whose hands were stained with the blood debt of the Manichaean sect to the executioner's block.
The principle of "blood for blood" was understood even by an old woman by the roadside, let alone soldiers who had served in the army.
Under such circumstances, even if Pu Kaishan offered a higher price, no one would be willing to risk their own lives.
With this foundation, the remaining matters after the rebellion became much simpler. As long as patrols were strengthened at the granaries and no major issues arose, the rest of the matters were actually very simple.
The original residents of Mingzhou, along with the army within the city and the merchants who had recently occupied it, had a total population of just over 100,000. However, now the city had been forcibly packed with 300,000 people.
With an increased population, although it made it troublesome for the government to conduct investigations, it also caused no small amount of trouble for Pu Kaishan and his group.
After all, before allowing these people into the city, Han Mo had already spoken with all the village elders and clan leaders, warning them that if anything happened to anyone in their households, they would be the ones to suffer the consequences.
In this era, clan concepts were truly deeply ingrained.
Even the laws of the Great Song dynasty stipulated that if one's elder committed an offense, the younger generation had the obligation to help conceal it.
Moreover, although the legislation of the Great Song was significantly more lenient than in previous dynasties, it still retained many original bad customs in certain major issues, such as the system of collective punishment.
This was not during normal times. If it were ordinary times, the impact might have been limited to oneself and one's direct relatives. However, this was a state of war. If any unworthy descendant of a clan committed an act of treason for personal gain, it would truly lead to the extermination of nine generations.
Under these circumstances, how could these people dare not to exert their utmost effort?
"My lord, the people have been brought back!"
Half an hour later, Jiang Yan finally arrived before Han Mo with a group of people.
"Mm, let them all in!"
A moment later, a group of three clerks, along with five soldiers, stood before Han Mo with flattering expressions.
"Your subordinate pays his respects to my lord!"
Upon seeing Han Mo, they all quickly saluted him together.
After all, honest people could not survive in the prefectural yamen. Those who could live securely in the prefectural yamen until now were all shrewd individuals.
Han Mo was currently the most influential figure in the entire city of Mindu. Even Li Yueyang, the prefect, had to bow and scrape respectfully when meeting him, let alone these minor figures.
Especially now that Mingzhou was in a state of war.
Naturally, they had to curry favor with the actual controller of the entire Mingzhou city. If they were to displease Han Mo, and he decided to deal with them using military law at this time, they would have no place to appeal.
"Can any of you explain to me what this is?"
As Han Mo spoke, he directly pointed to the ink marks on the map.
In critical times, one must employ extraordinary methods. At this moment, he had no time to waste with these people, playing a guessing game.
Moreover, Han Mo had already guessed who had copied this map with about eighty to ninety percent certainty. He merely wanted to obtain confirmation from their mouths.
If these people were sensible, sparing their lives would not be an issue, but if they remained insensible, then killing them would be...
The smiles on the faces of the group, which had been full of smiles, completely froze when they saw where Han Mo was pointing.
The air suddenly became quiet, and the entire tent fell into a deathly silence.
"Why is no one speaking? You should look clearly. The current Mingzhou city is not the Mingzhou city of the past. Those prison guards have been incorporated into the Death Squad by me. Do you want to follow in their footsteps?"
As Han Mo said this, he reached out and tapped the desk in front of him.
"I know you are all still murmuring to yourselves, but it's alright. I will give you time to weigh the pros and cons. There are eight of you, but I only need one informant! The first informant might still survive, but the remaining seven will surely die. Remember, you only have the time it takes for an incense stick to burn!"
"Guards, take them away and detain them separately. If no one speaks after an incense stick has burned, drag them all out and behead them! At a time of national crisis, daring to hand over the Mingzhou architectural drawings to the enemy is treason!"
As Han Mo spoke, he slammed his palm forcefully onto the desk in front of him again.
Instantly, the eight people kneeling on the ground became as silent as cicadas in winter.