One and a half million taels of disaster relief official silver were robbed, causing shock to both the government and the public.
Forbidden City, Golden Palace.
The emperor urgently summoned King Xiao to discuss matters.
Not long after the emperor ascended the throne, the power of the government was controlled by Shi Zhong, the eunuch in charge of ceremony and the official of Dongchang Factory.
When King Xiao entered the palace to meet the saint, Shi Zhong was already in front of the palace.
"Brother Emperor, something bad has happened." Before King Xiao could salute, the emperor said the first sentence.
After King Xiao bowed, he asked, "Your Majesty, what big thing happened? It made you so panicked."
The emperor hurriedly replied: "The 1.5 million taels of disaster relief official silver in Sichuan were robbed by gangsters in the Qingju Mountain area of Shunqing Prefecture before they left Sichuan during the escort process. Therefore, the emperor specially summoned the emperor to discuss it. This matter."
After hearing this, King Xiao was furious and said: "What a bold thief, he dared to rob the official's money. It seems that these villains have a good background. They must be people from the Jianghu. Ordinary young people in the green forest would not dare to go against the court."
Eunuch Shi also agreed: "Yes, the old slave also agrees with the prince. Qingju Mountain is not far from Phoenix Mountain, which is the territory of the Tang Sect. Other sects generally dare not make trouble here. In this way, the Tang Sect The biggest suspicion."
Prince Xiao immediately retorted: "Impossible. The Tang Clan has always been law-abiding. During this disaster relief, the Tang Clan specially donated 100,000 taels of silver. How could they have the idea of official silver?"
Eunuch Shi shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, what you said is wrong! People's hearts are sinister, and people in the world are all capricious. They do one thing in person and another behind the scenes. Things like this, overt donations and covert robbery, are not the same." Young Master. He openly donated one hundred thousand taels, which just made the world think he was a good person, and then secretly robbed official silver, so no one would suspect him."
The emperor also agreed after hearing this: "Yes, what Eunuch Shi said makes sense."
However, King Xiao still disagreed with Shi Zhong: "Tang Mugong, the leader of the Tang Sect, has always been a kind man with both moral character and moral integrity. He has been in charge of the Tang Sect for more than thirty years, and during this time, the Tang Sect has never done anything out of the ordinary. Phoenix Mountain The people in the area also know that Tang Clan is a virtuous family, so it is impossible for them to steal official silver privately."
After King Xiao finished speaking, Shi Zhong immediately responded: "I know that the prince has always been on good terms with the Tang Clan, but there is no need to protect the Tang Clan like this, right? Now some unscrupulous grain merchants in Huguang, seeing that the price of grain continues to rise, secretly Hoarding grain but not selling it, hoping to make a fortune, and not even giving the government face. If the official silver for disaster relief cannot be recovered in time and the grain is bought back from those grain merchants for disaster relief, I am afraid that there will be thousands of people in Huguang area Thousands of people starve to death."
Prince Xiao said: "What I said are all facts, and I am not trying to protect the Tang Clan."
The emperor said bitterly: "These grain merchants are really hateful. I really want to catch them all and execute them all."
Prince Xiao added: "No. People in Huguang are already panicked. If we continue to kill recklessly, it will only make the situation worse. The top priority is to recover the disaster relief official silver as soon as possible."
The emperor replied: "Brother is right, then I will leave this matter to you. Eunuch Shi, your Dongchang must cooperate with my brother and get to the bottom of this case as soon as possible."
Xiao Wang said: "I accept the decree. But if this matter is done by people in the Jianghu, I'm afraid it will be difficult for the government to trace it. In my opinion, if the government wants to continue to investigate, it is best to send an upright Jianghu. People, go to various factions in central Sichuan to visit secretly, so that you can double-check, the effect may be better."
The emperor said accurately: "It's my brother. Eunuch Shi, your Dongchang went to Sichuan to investigate the case with great fanfare. Brother, I'll leave the secret investigation to you."
When King Xiao returned to the palace, he immediately summoned the three most capable staff to discuss the matter. They were: Wu Buxiao, Cheng Shiyou and Bai Zhonghuan. Cheng Shiyou and Bai Zhonghuan were both King Xiao's most trusted martial arts masters, but Wu Buxiao was King Xiao's think tank. Whenever King Xiao encountered anything, he would ask him first before making a decision.
Prince Xiao opened his mouth and said: "The Emperor ordered me to investigate the robbery case of Shunqing Mansion's official banknotes. I want to find an upright person in the world to investigate this matter. Can you think of a suitable candidate?"
Bai Zhonghuan replied: "Shunqing Mansion is the territory of the Tang Clan, and the prince is on good terms with the Tang Clan, so naturally he is looking for the Tang Clan!"
Prince Xiao denied: "No. Now they are also suspected and cannot participate in this case at all."
Bai Zhonghuan answered wrongly, but actually laughed and said: "Hey! I answered wrongly again, what a talent!"
Cheng Shiyou then replied: "Then let's find a swordsman!"
Upon hearing this, King Xiao immediately clapped his hands and shouted: "This is a good idea."
When Cheng Shiyou heard that he got the answer right, he immediately became dejected and said sadly, "Why did I get the answer right again? Damn it!"
King Xiao said: "We are looking for swordsmen. We will soon find the ones with the highest martial arts skills, but we must find the most upright and least greedy people to handle this matter. Mr. Wu, I don't know if there is any suitable swordsman among the swordsmen." Candidate?"
Wu Buxiao replied: "If you want to find a swordsman, it's best to look for the top ten swordsmen on the swordsman list. Among the top ten swordsmen, there are indeed candidates who meet the prince's requirements."
King Xiao was overjoyed when he heard this and asked, "Oh? Who is he?"
Wu Buxiao replied: "The swordsman ranks fifth, and the sword shadow ranks fifth."
Prince Xiao said: "Well, let's find this person and ask Mr. Wu to invite him quickly."
Wu Buxiao said: "This matter is easy to handle, he is in the capital now."
"Wonderful! Then I must go and meet this person in person."
Cuiyun Tower in Beijing is not the most famous restaurant in Beijing, but it is the most popular restaurant in Beijing. The reason is that its wine is better than other restaurants. The wine is brewed by itself and uses a unique secret recipe called Cuiyunxiang.
The boss of Cuiyun Tower is an old man. No one knows his name. Everyone calls him Old Man Jin, or Old Golden Head. Cui Yunxiang has always been brewed by himself, and outsiders cannot learn from it. Because the wine is good, people in the capital's world especially like to drink here. People in the world don't care about the quality of the food, but the wine must be good. As long as the wine is good, you can cut up some cooked beef or something and drink it.
Three months ago, a young man came to his shop. He was very handsome and handsome, and even men were a little tempted by him. When Lao Jintou saw him for the first time, he couldn't help but praise: "What a handsome young man! How can there be such a water-like man in the world?"
The young man has long hair that hangs down to his waist. He has a high bun on his head, and his front bangs are tilted to the left. Because his bangs were too long, they would slide down and cover his left eye from time to time, so he always liked to flip his hair around.
Although Lao Jintou also felt that this young man seemed to be made of water, based on his decades of experience in understanding people, he knew that this man's heart was not made of water. He was a strong-blooded man.
He always carries a sword, and even the scabbard is shiny. You can tell it is a sword at a glance. His eyes were cold, but his words were very humble, even though he rarely spoke. He only orders two things every time he comes, a jar of green cloud incense and a roast chicken. He is very low-key, but how can a handsome young man like him really be low-key. No matter where he went, there were many eyes looking at him, either commenting or admiring him. He was obviously used to this situation and never paid attention to it.
From then on, young people came to him to drink every day, and Lao Jintou gradually became familiar with him. Every time he came, before he opened his mouth, Lao Jintou had already prepared the best Cuiyunxiang and the largest roast chicken, and sometimes even gave away a jar of Cuiyunxiang for free. Lao Jintou has always been good at doing business, and he must retain repeat customers like this.
When Lao Jintou saw his sword, he knew that he must be a member of the Jianghu, so he never asked more questions, and the young man never said much. For three months, they became familiar strangers.
