When the slave's words fell, everyone present couldn't help but cast their eyes on Xu Jie.
What they were curious about was what happened that made the housekeeper so anxious that he sent the letter to Prince Yu's Mansion!
Facing everyone's gaze, Xu Jie secretly swallowed his saliva, took the envelope from the slave's hand as usual, and then gave instructions.
"Well, I have received the letter. You can go down!"
Upon hearing this, the servant immediately glanced cautiously at Zhu Zaijing, who was sitting not far away. Seeing Zhu Zaijing nodding, the servant breathed a sigh of relief and responded respectfully.
"Yes, Mr. Xu Ge!"
After that, the servant didn't stop at all. Without making any noise as much as possible, he turned and left the study, closing the door of the study with him.
After the servant left, everyone's eyes focused on the envelope in Xu Jie's hand.
For a moment, the entire study became quiet, and no one spoke.
Seeing this, Xu Jie immediately sat back in his seat, unhurriedly opened the envelope in his hand, and began to browse the contents.
Xu Jie was already furious after reading less than two lines of content. Immediately, Xu Jie slammed the table and cursed angrily.
"These damn fools are really failing more than they accomplish!"
Everyone was startled by Xu Jie's sudden action. After a moment of silence, Gao Gong stood up and asked Xu Jie.
"Mr. Xu Ge, what happened to make you so angry?"
At this moment, Xu Jie was not in the mood to answer Gao Gong's doubts. He just handed the letter in his hand to Gao Gong's hand and said slowly.
"See for yourself, these idiots are really stupid!"
Hearing this, Gao Gong immediately took the letter from Xu Jie's hand. Although Gao Gong had been mentally prepared before this, he was still shocked after reading the contents of the letter from beginning to end. arrive.
"Mr. Xu Ge, this, this, this..."
Immediately, I saw Gao Gong pointing his finger at the letter in his hand, his face was full of shock, and he was speechless for a long time.
Seeing this situation, Xu Jie sighed helplessly, and immediately explained: "Those idiots wanted to use a voucher for escorting official salt to divert the attention of Jiangxi Governor Cao Shunhe, but who knew that they were self-defeating? This Cao Shunhe discovered those buried bones!"
"And, among those bones, there is one missing, which means that someone survived!"
When Xu Jie finished speaking, the entire study fell into a strange silence!
Everyone present knew very well what Xu Jie's words meant, which meant that the things that had been covered up before would very likely be found out!
Hearing this, a look of panic suddenly appeared on Zhu Zaijing's face. He gritted his teeth and suggested to Xu Jie: "Mr. Xu Ge, how about we strike first, before Cao Shunhe finds out more things?" , take the lead in impeaching Cao Shunhe?"
After hearing Zhu Zaijing's suggestion, Xu Jie shook his head and said slowly.
"Your Highness, no, those officials who were previously impeached by Shangshu have been confiscated by the Jin Yiwei on trumped-up charges!"
"The dispatch of those royal guards was probably His Majesty's instruction. His Majesty's move was to draw a line, that is, the feudal officials cannot be impeached at will!"
"If anyone persists in his stubbornness, that will be the fate of those people before!"
After listening to Xu Jie's explanation, Zhu Zaijing quickly gave up the idea: "Yes, the miserable situation of those people before is still vivid in my mind, and now I am rushing to impeach them. Aren't I looking for death?"
After that, the look in Zhu Zaijing's eyes gradually dimmed, and he couldn't think of any way to avoid this.
Seeing that the atmosphere in the room was a bit gloomy, Zhang Juzheng immediately stood up and spoke comforting words.
"You don't need to be too worried. After all, so much time has passed. Even if there is still a little evidence, it cannot threaten us!"
"Perhaps, the few bones were washed away by the heavy rain."
However, Zhang Juzheng's comfort was destined to be ineffective, and the look in Xu Jie's eyes had turned gloomy.
"No, absolutely not. We are only one step away from overthrowing Party Yan. We absolutely cannot make any mistakes in such a trivial matter!"
"As long as this period of time is delayed, everything will be fine. Don't blame me. You brought this on yourself!"
In this way, Xu Jie made up his mind to silence all those who knew about it, so as to avoid involving himself in this matter.
…
On the other side, Yan Mansion.
While Xu Jie and others were discussing countermeasures in Prince Yu's Mansion, Yan Song was not idle either. At this moment, he was giving specific instructions to Yan Shifan.
Yan Song turned his gaze to Yan Shifan and asked.
"Do you remember everything I told you before?"
Upon hearing this, Yan Shifan immediately assured Yan Song without thinking.
"Father, the child has remembered it, and the child will definitely follow your instructions!"
Perhaps feeling a little uneasy, Yan Song picked up the teacup on the side, took a sip, and continued to give instructions.
"Remember, this matter must be done beautifully, and there must be no mistakes!"
When Yan Song said this, he seemed to suddenly remember it, and then added it.
"By the way, when the time comes to negotiate with those merchants, try to send some honest and capable people, like Luo Longwen and Yan Maoqing, and don't let them get involved!"
After Yan Shifan patiently listened to Yan Song's instructions, he immediately buried his head deeply and responded.
"Yes, father, the child knows."
Yan Song's reminder reminded Yan Shifan of many things.
Immediately, after Yan Shifan sorted out the words in his mind, he carefully reported to Yan Song.
"By the way, father, talking about this Yan Maoqing, the child suddenly thought that some time ago, this Yan Maoqing received a large sum of money from others, but failed to accomplish anything."
"Seeing that the matter was not completed, the person who sent the money to Yan Maoqing before wanted to ask Yan Maoqing to return part of the money, but Yan Maoqing was unwilling even if he died!"
"This matter made a big fuss not long ago, but it was suppressed by the children. You see..."
After Yan Shifan finished speaking, he stopped talking and quietly waited for Yan Song's instructions.
After listening to Yan Shifan's narration, Yan Song was furious and immediately gave instructions.
"Has this Yan Maoqing fallen in the eyes of money?"
"Since the matter has not been completed, it is appropriate for him to request a partial refund of the money. It is not necessary to ask him to return all the money. If he continues to be entangled like this, what should I do if the matter gets serious?"
After Yan Shifan heard this, he immediately asked Yan Song cautiously: "Father, what do you mean..."
Yan Song glanced at Yan Shifan and said impatiently.
"Isn't my meaning clear enough? Let Yan Maoqing return the extra money to others as soon as possible!"
Upon hearing this, Yan Shifan quickly responded respectfully.
"Yes, father, I will relay your words to Yan Maoqing now!"
Seeing this situation, Yan Song sighed helplessly, withdrew his gaze from Yan Shifan, and turned to sigh.
"Oh, how can I help His Majesty do anything good with such an insect?"
When Yan Song said this, he may have lost his patience, waved his hand and said to Yan Shifan.
"Okay, it's getting late, you should go back and rest early!"
"Yes, father!"
After hearing this, Yan Shifan bowed respectfully to Yan Song, then turned and left the room. In the room, the orange light reflected Yan Song's figure, and coughs continued to sound in the room.
…
After that, another three days passed.
Early morning, next to the pier.
Several officials from the Chief Envoy's Department were yawning constantly, gathering together and chatting.
A short and fat official sighed helplessly and turned to complain to his companions.
"Oh, how will we spend the next days? I don't know what the chief envoy is thinking, but he wants us to wait stupidly at this pier, saying that food will be delivered soon!"
"But it's been almost half a month, let alone food, I haven't even seen the shadow of a boat!"
The official's words undoubtedly aroused the resonance of everyone present. Seeing this, the remaining people also joined in.
A tall official stood up, looked around, and lowered his voice.
"Yes, we brothers are suffering and suffering here, but those adults are very comfortable!"
"By the way, there are no outsiders here. I heard that the relief food that should belong to those farmers was given by people from the government..."
Before the official finished speaking, he was interrupted by the rest of his companions.
"Old Wang, you're in danger of dying. Don't talk nonsense about this kind of thing. If the Chief Envoy finds out, the rest of us will have to walk around without food!"
"Yeah, yeah, don't mention it."
The companion on the side saw this and quickly changed the topic.
At this moment, I saw a sharp-eyed official, pointing his finger into the distance, and said excitedly: "Look, what is over there!"
Everyone looked in the direction pointed by the man and saw several large ships suddenly appearing in the distance, with a slight breeze blowing by and causing ripples in the water.
"Yes... it's a ship, a ship transporting food. Report this matter to the Chief Envoy quickly!"
"Yes, sir!"
Soon, the officials on these docks became busy.
…
In the Chief Envoy's Office, at this moment, Zheng Michang was sitting at the desk, his brows furrowed and his face full of sorrow.
"Oh, there is only so much food left, what should we do next?"
After Zheng Michang finished speaking, he put aside the report compiled by his subordinates and rubbed his temples with his hands.
In that report, the remaining grain in the granary was recorded in detail.
If this continues, Zheng Michang can roughly predict what will happen next.
Until now, the relief grain farmers received from the government could barely fill their stomachs and prevent themselves and their families from falling into a more miserable situation.
But the resentment will gradually accumulate. Now the resentment in the hearts of these farmers against the government is about to reach its peak. At that time, it will only take a little spark to completely detonate the long-suppressed emotions in these farmers' hearts!
"It seems that when the time comes, the government will still be able to use heavy blows to suppress these farmers!"
Zheng Michang thought this way, and immediately planned to call his subordinates and ask them to make preparations in advance.
At this moment, there was a rapid knock on the door. Seeing this, Zheng Michang frowned slightly and immediately gave instructions.
"come in!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a guard hurried into the room, breathing heavily, and reported to Zheng Michang.
"Lord Chief Envoy, boats... boats, docks... there are many big boats coming from the pier!"
"What, say it again!"
When Zheng Michang heard this, he suddenly stood up from his seat and immediately asked the guard.
After Zheng Michang's repeated questioning, he got detailed information from the guard: "It turns out that not long ago, many large ships carrying food suddenly arrived at the pier!"
After Zheng Michang learned the exact news from the guards, he suddenly cheered and the stone in his heart finally fell to the ground.
After that, Zheng Michang didn't care about anything else and hurriedly took a sedan chair towards the Governor's Mansion. He wanted to share the good news with Hu Zongxian.
Zheng Mi Chang arrived at the Governor's Mansion very quickly. After the sedan stopped, Zheng Mi Chang hurriedly got off the sedan and headed towards the Governor's Mansion without hesitation.
However, as soon as he reached the door, Zheng Michang was stopped by the guards at the door.
"Mr. Chief Envoy, what are you doing?"
"Stop talking nonsense and let me in quickly. I have something important to report. If things are delayed, can you afford it?"
Although the guards were very afraid of what Zheng Michang said, they still abided by their duties.
"If the Chief Envoy wants to enter the Governor's Mansion, please wait until we enter to inform the Governor!"
"Okay, okay, you go in and report quickly. Just say that I have extremely important matters and I want to inform the Governor in person!"
Seeing the resolute attitude of the guards, Zheng Michang waved his hands helplessly and turned to speak.
"Yes, Lord Chief Envoy!"
Seeing that Zheng Michang's attitude was a little relaxed, the guards immediately responded with expressions on their faces as if they had been granted amnesty.
After that, a guard entered the Governor's Mansion with hurried steps.
At this moment, Hu Zongxian was in the study, processing corresponding official documents. At this moment, there was a knock on the door.
After hearing this, Hu Zongxian put down the brush in his hand and turned to give instructions.
"Come in!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the guard from before pushed open the door and walked in, reporting respectfully.
"Your Majesty the Governor, the Chief Envoy is waiting outside right now. He said there is something extremely important that he wants to report to you face to face!"
Hearing this, Hu Zongxian nodded and immediately gave instructions.
"Well, let him in!"
(End of chapter)
