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- Fu and Xiong Jian, on an eleven-month smuggling trip from Yarkand Li Fu had transported 90 pieces of jade, while Zhang Luan admitted transporting 51 pieces. While in Suzhou, Li Fu had sold 62 pieces of jade for over 126,000 taels and had already collected a sum of 59,000 taels. Of the remaining pieces, four had been carved into objects and 24 were still in Li Fu's possession. After his confession Zhang Luan s properties were confiscated, which included 39 pieces of uncarved jade and 12 carved objects, with a total weight of 813 catties, as well as 249 catties of jade fragments. Furthermore, they found one piece of azure jade and 17 pieces of river jade in varying sizes. Ninety-two other pieces which Zhang Luan had handed over to jade carvers were also recovered. In the end, Zhang Luan�s confiscated goods were handed over to the Provincial Treasury to be stored and the sums of money not yet collected by Li Fu were further investigated Zhanq Luan s brother further revealed that Zhang Luan was the leader of a merchant group, who all chipped in some money to his illegal jade racket, which presumably entitled them to a share of the profits. It soon became clear that Zhang Luan was the leading culprit in the group. Without him, Gao Pu would not have had the riaht channels to dispose of the jade. a
A priority notice was sent out to the officials along the Grand Canal to do every�thing within their power to apprehend Li Fu and Xiong Jian. The emperor attached extreme importance to this case, so there was a massive dragnet mounted by the anxious officials of the region.
On November 14,1778 the location of Li Fu�s boats was finally discovered not far from the customs office at Huaiguan. The officials sent to investigate discov�ered that Li Fu and Xiong Jian were on board and arrested them. All the goods on board were seized. In total there were 40 chests containing 84 jade pieces of vari�ous size and colour, 24,080 taels of silver, 249 ounces of gold, two golden brace�lets weighing four ounces, satin fabrics and miscellaneous items. Furthermore, bills of exchange, time drafts, receipts and account books were also seized. An impor�tant official was despatched to thoroughly investigate the situation and verify the identities of Li Fu and Xiong Jian. Because of the urgency of the case he travelled day and night to get to the spot.
Over 11 months had elapsed from the time Li Fu and Xiong Jian had left Yarkand until their unexpected arrest. Here is a quick recap of their route (see map). On November 10, 1777, Li Fu, Xiong Jian and Zhang Luan departed Yarkand with 16 carts carrying approximately 2,700-2,800 catties of jade-stone. They had travel permits and with Gao Pu�s connections and official banners, they encountered few obstacles along the way, and arrived in Jiuquan (Gansu Province), on January 10,1778. On February 5, they left Jiuquan carrying the iade by mule train through Ganzhou and Liangzhou to Zhongwei, where they crossed the Yellow River. On February 25, they arrived in Fenzhou, then passed through Henan province arriving at Huaiguan on April 12. From there they travelled to Pukou (Nanjing), leaving here on April 23, to go to Suzhou, where they took up lodgings at the shop of Zhang Luan�s friend. Around this time they sent a letter to Gao Pu saying that all was well, whereupon Gao Pu started preparations for a second shipment. Li Fu and Zhang Luan soon began making numerous deals with the illegal jade until they were apprehended in November.
Another part of the Gao Pu case involved a second group of smugglers led by Gao Pu�s trusted aid, Chang Yong, and a merchant named Zhao Junrui. On May 15, 1778 one month after the first jade shipment arrived safely in east China the second group left Yarkand transporting 5 or 6 cartloads of illegal jade to Jiuquan. On October 12, Chang Yong left Jiuquan for Liangzhou. However, from then on he
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