Tiger Owl

Chapter 214 The Leak Incident (Part 2)

“I have a badge that allows me to enter and exit Chaixi Town. I did some things for my brother-in-law, and he promised to give me money, but he hasn’t. Yesterday, I went to him to ask for it. While my sister was out buying groceries, I searched their boxes and found gold at the bottom. I took a piece and secretly slipped away.”

Wang Xiaoman narrowed her eyes; there was a lot of sensitive content in those words!

How much gold is at the bottom of the box?

"I didn't count them exactly, but there were probably around ten ingots."

Wang Xiaoman nodded and asked again, "What are you doing for your brother-in-law?"

"Hand a cloth bag to a man."

"When did this happen?"

“Five months ago, my brother-in-law said he would give me money at the end of the year, so I went to see him yesterday.”

Gold, cloth bag—Wang Xiaoman immediately understood that this must be an extremely serious leak of military secrets.

"Don't you have a sign? Where is it?"

Liu Wu'er took the token from her waist and handed it to Wang Xiaoman, saying, "My brother-in-law gave me this token!"

"This is a family member access pass, pass number 21!"

The rank is quite high, indicating that he is at least a master craftsman at the deputy supervisor level.

Wang Xiaoman realized the seriousness of the situation. He ordered his men to detain Liu Wu'er and then rushed off to see Gan Ning.

Gan Ning was preparing to return to his residence when he heard that Wang Xiaoman had a major incident to report. He immediately knew the seriousness of the matter and summoned Wang Xiaoman.

Wang Xiaoman reported his findings to Gan Ning in detail. Gan Ning was both shocked and furious. He really didn't expect that the craftsman could be bribed.

He glanced at the bronze plaque, immediately took out a roster to check, and quickly found his target: No. 21, Wang Lei, the seventh-ranked master craftsman in firearms research, enjoying the treatment of a deputy director, residing in courtyard number 47.

Gan Ning copied the list and gave it to Wang Xiaoman. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "Tonight, take several dozen brothers and take this couple away. Search their house and take away anything suspicious. Don't alert the other master craftsmen. Interrogate them overnight and report back to me first thing tomorrow morning."

"I understand!"

Wang Xiaoman bowed and left in a hurry.

Gan Ning walked to the window with his hands behind his back. He was really annoyed. He had made a huge mess of things. The intelligence had been sent out five months ago, and Cao Cao had taken away so much of his oil secrets with ten ingots of gold.

He now suspects that the incendiary bombs used by Cao Cao were most likely derived from leaked secrets.

There is a huge loophole here, namely the access card system. The little benefit that I originally gave to the craftsmen has been exploited by people with ulterior motives. This loophole must be plugged in time.

Gan Ning packed his things and took a carriage back to his residence.

Gan Ning's son had reached his one-month milestone, and a banquet was held to invite dozens of important officials and their families, allowing the child to make an appearance.

Coincidentally, on the day Gan Ning's son turned one month old, the imperial court also bestowed titles upon him. His one-month-old son was granted the title of Marquis of Nanxiang, and his three wives were also granted the title of Lady.

As usual, Gan Ning went to see his son first. His son was sleeping, just like always. He slept soundly most of the time every day. A month later, he had grown up to be chubby and healthy, and was being looked after by his wet nurse.

Gan Ning returned to his study and sat down in his seat, feeling rather down. Just then, Da Qiao entered with ginseng tea. Da Qiao had already finished her postpartum confinement and had recovered well; she was still as slender as ever, and you couldn't tell at all that she was a mother.

"My husband isn't in a good mood?" Da Qiao noticed that her husband was rather downcast.

Gan Ning sighed and said, "Today we discovered a leak. An important craftsman was bribed by Cao Cao with a large sum of money and leaked a lot of important firearm secrets. If it weren't for his greedy brother-in-law, this bribed craftsman would have been discovered at some point. We've only found one so far, and I'm worried there are many more that haven't been found yet."

Da Qiao nestled beside Gan Ning and comforted him, saying, "I remember my husband telling me before that once firearms are used, the enemy will quickly learn them. Unless you never use them, what does it matter if they are leaked? Can Cao Cao really use firearms to attack us?"

Gan Ning gave a wry smile and said, "That's what I say, but I still feel uncomfortable."

At this moment, Xu Wei said from the side, "If Cao Cao uses the firearms invented by my husband to attack the nomadic people, it's not necessarily a bad thing!"

Xu Wei's words made Gan Ning feel a little better. He remembered that Cao Cao's next step was to attack the Wuhuan tribe. If Cao Cao used the firearms he had invented to attack the Wuhuan tribe, it would not be a bad thing.

Gan Ning readily agreed, "Let's not talk about this anymore. Let's go have dinner; I'm a little hungry."

The next morning, Wang Xiaoman handed the interrogation records to Gan Ning.

The interrogation record was followed by a list of leaked technologies, including incendiary bombs, small missiles, fire kites, fire mud, firewalls, and so on, totaling thirteen technologies. He also admitted to receiving two hundred taels of gold from the other party.

After reading the statement, Gan Ning pondered for a moment and asked, "How did they find Wang Lei? Who was the middleman? Why isn't that mentioned in the interrogation report?"

"Reporting to Lord Chu, he doesn't know either. He said that half a year ago, after sweeping the tombs, he ate at a restaurant in Chaisang, and Cao Cao's spies found him directly. He asked them who introduced him, but Cao Cao's spies refused to say."

Gan Ning nodded. "This means there are still spies within our ranks."

Wang Xiaoman bowed and said, "This subordinate will definitely dig out this traitor."

Gan Ning thought for a moment and said, "There are still some strange things here. For example, how did Cao Cao's spies know that he went to sweep the tomb and then follow him? Also, why did they have his brother-in-law deliver the intelligence after they met three times? And why did the middleman contact Wang Lei instead of someone else? This Wang Lei is not the deputy chief steward, nor the top craftsman, but only the seventh craftsman. If they had contacted the deputy chief steward, they could have obtained more intelligence. I suspect that this middleman has a close relationship with Wang Lei and knows that Wang Lei is easy to bribe. If you break through from here and investigate the interpersonal relationships around Wang Lei, you may find clues."

Wang Xiaoman bowed and said, "This subordinate understands. This subordinate will continue the interrogation and unravel the mystery bit by bit. In addition, what should be done with this Wang Lei?"

Gan Ning pondered for a moment and said, "Wang Lei must be executed in the end, to make an example of him. His wife can be spared, their personal belongings can be returned to her, and their gold will be confiscated."

"Follow the order!"

Wang Xiaoman bowed and left.

As soon as Wang Xiaoman left, Lu Su hurriedly entered.

"Lord Chu, I have heard that a serious leak of secrets has occurred?"

Gan Ning nodded. "There are loopholes in the system, and we must fix them after the fact. The strategist can go to Wang Xiaoman and find out the situation properly. I hope this kind of thing will not happen again."

Lu Su felt truly ashamed. He was the one who formulated the secrecy system, and he had been soft-hearted for a moment, wanting to give the craftsmen a little freedom. He never expected that this moment of soft-heartedness would become a huge loophole.

"I will certainly learn from this lesson and ensure that a similar incident will not happen again."

Lu Su went to find Wang Xiaoman to find out what was going on.

Gan Ning pondered for a moment, then wrote a letter to Cao Cao, deciding to go all the way and teach Cao Cao how to deal with the Wuhuan people.

(End of this chapter)