But everyone knows where the money came from.
Why did that person give Chen Qianyuan counterfeit money?
Moreover, this counterfeit banknote is particularly realistic. If he were not an old official who has worked in the Ministry of Justice for decades, he would definitely not be able to see it.
Or is this one a fake banknote?
Zhong Yu picked up the stack of banknotes next to him and began to read each one one by one.
The more he looked, the tighter his frown became.
These banknotes, like the first one, all have problems.
But it was so fake that even he could only detect something was wrong, but he couldn't tell what was wrong.
If I didn't make a mistake in judgment, this counterfeiting technique shouldn't be too extraordinary.
"General Li, please take a step to speak." Zhong Yu turned around and looked at Li Changkong solemnly.
Hearing this, Li Changkong didn't react yet. Instead, Zhang Hongfa said first: "You guys chat, I still have something to do, so I'll leave first."
"Chen Qianyuan should be dealt with as he should. I should treat him as if he had never had such an apprentice!"
When Li Changkong heard this, he also nodded. Ever since this batch of gold and silver jewelry was found, the whole thing has completely changed its nature!
After Zhang Hongfa left, Zhong Yu was still worried and said to the officials of the Ministry of Punishment: "You guys go out to look out. I have important matters to discuss with General Anbei."
Upon hearing this, all the officials from the Ministry of Justice stood up and left.
After a while, only Zhong Yu and Li Changkong were left in the entire secret room.
At this time, Zhong Yu lowered his voice and explained the whole story in Li Changkong's ears.
"Counterfeit banknotes?" Li Changkong pondered for a moment, frowned, and said, "Are you sure there is something wrong with everything?"
Zhong Yu nodded and said, "I can't tell you the reason, but something is definitely wrong."
"What about other things? There are also problems with gold, silver, jewelry, agate, jade, etc.?"
"No, there's only something wrong with the banknote." Zhong Yu said.
Hearing this, Li Changkong's heart suddenly sank to the bottom.
If there's something wrong with the banknote, it's going to be a big deal!
Agate and jade are all treasures. Even if they are faked, it is only a matter of tens of thousands of taels of silver.
But banknotes are the currency in circulation today!
If there is a problem, I am afraid it will shake people's livelihood!
After thinking about it again and again, Li Changkong took a deep breath and lowered his voice again: "Master Zhong, this matter is of great importance!"
"You, the Criminal Department, should hide this batch of banknotes first and don't report it."
“We’ll talk about it after we can confirm whether it’s true or false.”
When Zhong Yu heard this, he couldn't help but frown, and said: "This batch of banknotes is quite large, and so many people have seen it just now."
"Even if I were the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, it would be impossible to intercept it and not report it to the police."
"What's more, this matter was ordered by His Majesty. If something goes wrong..."
"It doesn't matter. If something goes wrong, I'll be responsible. I won't implicate Mr. Zhong."
"Also...if this batch of banknotes cannot be cut off, can they be replaced?"
"Replace it?" Zhong Yu was dumbfounded: "What do you mean by General Li's words?"
"The prince and I paid for it and took out banknotes with exactly the same amount. The Ministry of Punishment first handed over these banknotes as stolen money, while the counterfeit coins were kept and studied slowly."
"Ah?" Zhong Yu was even more dumbfounded. This batch of banknotes was quite a lot!
At least it costs hundreds of thousands taels. Is this... Wulinghou Mansion so wealthy?
"This can't be done?" Li Changkong couldn't help but frown.
"It can be done! Don't worry, General Li. Although we can't cut off all the banknotes, we can just change them. I, Zhong Yu, still have this ability."
"Okay, let's not delay that matter. I'll go back to raise money first and discuss it with the prince."
"Lord Lao Zhong is in charge of the overall situation here. Just follow the procedures."
"clear!"
After a while, Li Changkong hurriedly came down from Wugong Mountain and went straight to the East Palace without going home.
As the deputy commander-in-chief of the Royal Forest Army, the Qianlong Camp soldiers guarding the East Palace are all his direct subordinates. In addition, they are familiar with the prince, so everyone knows it.
So you can come almost as soon as you want, without the need for communication.
I don't know how much more convenient it is than ordinary officials.
"Your Highness! Your Highness!" Li Changkong shouted at the top of his lungs as soon as he entered the door.
"Old Li, what are you shouting for? It's over here!" Within a moment, Liu Yu came out to welcome him. Seeing that Li Changkong was dusty, he knew that something big was going on, so he hurriedly led him in.
But when I entered the door, I realized something was wrong.
There is another person in the palace, it is Princess Huaiqing!
"Your Majesty, Li Changkong, I have met Her Royal Highness the Princess!" In front of the most prestigious woman in the royal family, Li Changkong didn't hold anything back. He bowed his hands generously and saluted.
"I've met General Li." Huaiqing felt his heart suddenly skip two beats, but on the surface he still looked normal and stood up to return the courtesy.
"Your Highness the Princess is discussing with His Highness the Crown Prince?"
"It's not something important. It's just a casual chat. If General Li has something important, Huaiqing can avoid it first."
"What are you talking about, princess? You are the biological sister of the Highness's mother. Is there anything else that I cannot say in front of you?"
Li Changkong smiled and said nothing else. Instead, he took the lead and asked: "Your Highness, Your Highness the Princess, before I express this matter, I would like to ask a question first."
"How does the annual expenditure of Prince Jing's Mansion compare with that of the East Palace?"
As soon as he said this, Liu Yu said without hesitation: "Far worse!"
"Both Prince Jing's Mansion and East Palace are allocated money from the treasury, and there is not much difference between the two. It's just that the East Palace is depleted every year, while Prince Jing's Mansion has a huge surplus."
"Brother King Jing will also return the remaining silver to the treasury. As time goes by, his father will love him more and more, and his reputation will become more and more famous." Princess Huaiqing added Liu Yu's statement.
"But...I dug out a secret room in Chen Qianyuan's house today. There are countless gold, silver, jewels, emeralds and jade in the secret room. Silver notes are piled up in baskets. Preliminary estimates indicate that there are hundreds of thousands of silver taels!"
As soon as these words came out, both of them were shocked.
Although one of them is a prince and the other is a princess.
However, Emperor Jing Xing always advocated frugality and did not like extravagance and waste.
So they had no worries about food and clothing, but they had never seen so much money.
Fortunately for Liu Yu, he made some money through the Zhenguo Fast Food business.
But Huaiqing had really never seen so much money. At this time, listening to Li Changkong's explanation, he felt a little frightened.
"How can a mere Taoist priest have so much money?"
"I'm afraid this money came from the wrong way!" Huaiqing said.
"What the princess said is true. Most of this money was given by King Jing to bribe Chen Qianyuan to depose the prince and establish King Jing."
"No, we just said that the annual expenditure of Prince Jing's Mansion is far less than that of the East Palace."
"With these hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, even the Eastern Palace cannot afford it at once, let alone Prince Jing's Palace." Princess Huaiqing frowned and fell into deep thought.
After a long time, he said with a firm tone: "This batch of silver is fake!"
"If it was some other fraud, you wouldn't be so panicked. I'm afraid the fraud is just a banknote!"
"This is a major matter concerning the fundamentals of people's livelihood!"
