"What did you say?!"
Faced with various matters in the court, Emperor Zhou, who had always been calm and composed, changed his expression slightly.
"Come on! The five major granaries in the capital, except Yongji Granary, all the other four granaries caught fire last night!" Yang Qingyuan, who was standing in the study, reported back.
Yesterday, when Yang Qingyuan led his troops to Ruifengcang, the burning fire had already lit up half the sky. Not only Ruifengcang, but also Kaiyuancang, Fengyuancang and Anjicang where Li Xunhuan, Ye Jianhan and others were going. All on fire!
Overnight, the fire dragon burned the warehouse, and the grain reserves for several years were burned, leaving only ashes!
"The four major granaries are on fire. Once there is a natural disaster or war, it will be difficult for Yongji alone to support it!" Emperor Zhou's face was already ugly! If he is not careful, the country will be in turmoil, and he will be the sinner of the Zhu family!
Emperor Zhou, who was agitated, picked up a cup of tea and took a sip to calm his mind.
"Report to the superior! The Yongji warehouse has also been stolen! The original one million dan of grain in the warehouse now only has 200,000 dan left!"
"Bang!" Yang Qingyuan's news that made matters worse made Emperor Zhou completely break his guard and the tea cup in his hand fell!
Emperor Zhou, lost his composure!
"Let me see, is the fire a fake?! The food theft is real!! Who is causing trouble? Is it to disrupt our great Zhou Dynasty?!"
Emperor Zhou dropped the jade unicorn tightly held in his left hand to the ground.
But Emperor Zhou, after all, was a wise king. After a moment, he immediately calmed down.
"Yang Qing! Sit down!"
At this time, only Yang Qingyuan and Emperor Zhou were left in the study. Before Yang Qingyuan could report, Emperor Zhou dismissed the servant.
"Thank you!"
Yang Qingyuan sat in front of Emperor Zhou's desk, with the emperor and his ministers facing each other.
"Who else knows the details about this?!"
"Li Xunhuan, the censor of the Gyeonggi Province, and Ye Jianhan, the chief of the anti-theft department of Dali Temple, are investigating the case with their colleagues and know the details. The rest of the people, even the great scholar of Wuying Palace, also know the unknown!"
Emperor Zhou nodded. Although Yang Qingyuan was young, he was cautious and experienced enough in dealing with things. This matter should not be spread outside now, otherwise it might lead to changes.
"Li Xunhuan?! I remember that he was third in the imperial examination in the same year as you, right!?"
"Exactly?! Both Li Yushi and Wei Chen were Jinshi in the 13th year of Yong'an!"
Emperor Zhou's eyes were filled with appreciation at this moment. The imperial examination in the 13th year of Yong'an almost gathered the aura of the 20th year of the Great Depression.
Wang Hua, the top literary scholar on the Tianbang list, is mature and prudent, and has a talent for governing the world. His articles and scriptures are unparalleled, and he can be called an all-rounder.
Second on the list, Yang Qingyuan, was born in a Taoist sect, was recommended by the Imperial Master, and was known for his poetry and songs. His talent was favored by heaven, and his strategies and calculations were astounding to the world.
Li Xunhuan is the most popular person in the ranking. He comes from an aristocratic family. He has seven Jinshi in his family. His father and son are the most popular among them. He is handsome and unrestrained, and possesses both civil and military skills.
There are also many talented people in the second list, which can be called the most aura of the imperial examination since he ascended the throne.
These people are all important ministers of the country that he left to future generations, but now this important task can only be handed over to the hands of two young people, Yang and Li.
Emperor Zhou handed a memorial to Yang Qingyuan: "It snowed heavily in the north, a secret memorial from the governor of Jizhou! It snowed heavily three days ago in Jizhou, and a snow disaster broke out. It is urgent for the court to transport grain for disaster relief!"
After reading the memorial, Yang Qingyuan immediately understood the reason why Emperor Zhou lost his temper. The house leaked and it rained all night.
"Higher position! At this time, Bing and Youzhou have too much to take care of themselves, and now there is no food to be transferred in the capital! The fire in the four warehouses can no longer be concealed, and the theft of Yongji warehouse must not be spread! Otherwise, chaos will occur in Jizhou."
Yang Qingyuan understood the concerns of Emperor Zhou. Jizhou was the largest state in the world, and its population was still higher than that of Zhongzhou. If Jizhou was in chaos, King Zhao in the north would definitely take action, and the world would be in chaos.
Yang Qingyuan did not speak, but just watched Emperor Zhou closing his eyes and thinking quietly.
After a long time, Emperor Zhou said slowly, "To ensure that the north is not in chaos, at least 800,000 shi of grain are needed, but now there is no grain in the capital! I will order the grain from Yuezhou, Yangzhou, and Jingzhou to go north, but It's hard to put out the fire that's far away, and there's no time!"
"Yang Qing, the stolen food may be recovered in a short time!?"
Emperor Zhou looked at the young man sitting opposite him, with a hint of hope in his eyes.
"I can't say for sure whether the food can be recovered, but I have a way to temporarily solve the urgent need! But it needs authorization from the superior."
As soon as these words came out, Emperor Zhou was very happy.
"Yang Qing, it's okay to say it!"
"I request an order to conduct a thorough investigation of the granary case, and ask the superior to grant me arbitrary power, especially the power to clean up water transportation! With this privilege, I guarantee that within seven days, I will raise at least 300,000 dan for the superior!"
Emperor Zhou understood half of it, "You mean the grain is transported out of the capital by water transport! Then how do you raise grain!"
"Returning to the throne, I dare not make false claims at this moment! We still need to verify it. Water transportation is complicated, and I have no arbitrary power, so I dare not promise it."
complex? ! A cold look flashed across Emperor Zhou's eyes.
He was a wise king who knew the forces in the capital very well. Of course he knew that the person behind the water transportation was the Xungui Group in the capital.
Most of them are founding heroes, but they are the last among them.
The most outstanding founding heroes are none other than the four families of Zhongshan King, Kaiping King, Qiyang King and Dongou King. These four families were deeply favored by the late emperor, and there are still people serving in the military. Their families are wealthy and would not do such unseemly and illegal things.
The middle group of nobles basically all died in Taizu's rectification movement to rectify the law and discipline, and almost disappeared like a fault.
The remaining earls and viscounts, who behaved themselves at that time and did not dare to break the rules, stayed here and became the largest noble force today.
This group of nobles now has almost no one with real power, and the titles and rewards are not enough for them to spend, so they have focused on water transportation.
Emperor Zhou knew Yang Qingyuan's concerns.
"Yang Qing, I now order you to take charge of the case of the Gyeonggi granary fire, and add the post of inspector of water transport. You will be fully responsible for all matters related to Gyeonggi's water transport. If necessary, you can mobilize the Imperial Guards of the Jingying camp to Yanyi for assistance, and add Li Xunhuan. I am the Deputy Envoy of Water Transport Inspector and will assist in handling this case. The imperial edict will be issued immediately!"
"I obey the decree!"
Emperor Zhou stood up and picked up the jade unicorn that fell to the ground but was not damaged at all, and handed it to Yang Qingyuan's hands.
"Yang Qing, I don't care what method you use to raise food! I entrust the heavy responsibility of the country to your hands!"
…
-------------------
At noon, the news of the fire in Sicang, Gyeonggi Province, was already known to all the cabinet ministers and the six ministers.
Combined with the heavy snowfall in the north, the seemingly peaceful Gyeonggi Province turns out to be violent undercurrents underneath.
In the Dali Temple, Yang Qingyuan was discussing the situation, and Li Xunhuan, a non-staff member of the Dali Temple, was also sitting there.
Attendees included Yang Qingyuan, the Prime Minister of Dali Temple, Li Xunhuan, the Supervisory Censor, Ye Jianhan, Chief of the Anti-Theft Department, Di Zhiyuan, Song Huifu, Dali Temple's promotion officers, Tie Chengxuan, Ji Yaohua, Dali Temple's ink-clad arresters, and the first officer of Dali Temple A master of cuteness, Xiaobai.
"Meow!"
Just as a group of people were about to start discussing, Xiaobai rushed in from the window and lay in Yang Qingyuan's arms.
Ji Yao on the side didn't know who to envy for a while.
"Everyone, Your Majesty has appointed me to take charge of the granary case. According to the results of the investigation the day before, the granary case is inextricably linked to the Li Bailiang case, the canal transport plague, Zhao Dehan, a member of the Ministry of Revenue, and Qian Liangping, the supervisory censor."
Yang Qingyuan erected a wooden board in the hall and covered it with paper to serve as a blackboard.
Putting Xiaobai on his shoulder, Yang Qingyuan picked up the jianhao on one side and walked to the edge of the board.
"The deaths of Li Bailiang, Zhao Dehan, Qian Liangping and the porters at the water transport terminal can be confirmed to be from the same cause of death. Is that so!? Mr. Song!"
Yang Qingyuan turned his attention to Song Hui's father who was aside.
"That's right. During the time when your Excellency went to Yongjicang, I have experienced the corpses of Lord Zhao and Lord Qian, and checked the files of the Imperial Hospital and Jingzhao Mansion on the victims of the disease at the canal transport terminal. It can be confirmed that, They all died from blood drinking Gu."
Following Song Huifu's words, Yang Qingyuan recorded it on paper.
"After Zhiyuan's investigation, it can be determined that the case of Li Bailiang was secretly guided and controlled by the An family!"
Di Zhiyuan nodded.
"Everyone, please see, Anjia is the largest grain merchant and banker in the capital; the epidemic happened to the porters and boatmen at the water transport terminal; Li Bailiang is the largest shipping merchant on the Wei River; Zhao Dehan, a member of the Ministry of Revenue, was a former grain inspection officer ; Qian Liangping, the supervisory censor, has just resigned from the post of censor; plus the Gyeonggi granary was stolen and set on fire! Everything revolves around 'grain' and 'water transport'."
Yang Qingyuan wrote these events on paper, and it was these two keywords that linked the case.
"In fact, now, we can vaguely deduce the general facts of the case. The masterminds led by the An family colluded with the Gyeonggi Granary to steal and resell the official grain of the imperial court, and then transported the stolen official grain out of the capital through water transportation."
Song Hui's father added here, "Zhiyuan and I went to Qian Yushi's home to investigate the scene, and used your lord's grain-revealing powder to find traces of rummaging in his home! Although the intruder tried his best to cover it up later, there were still traces of There are no traces!"
Yang Qingyuan drew a circle on Qian Liangping's name, "Then everything is clearer now! After the forces led by the An family stole official grain, the patrol censor Qian Liangping discovered the clues in the water transportation! During the investigation, he was The An family took the lead and killed the insiders of the water transportation, that is, the boatman and Li Bailiang at the water transportation terminal."
"Subsequently, Zhao Dehan, who killed his co-conspirators, and Qian Liangping, who discovered what had happened, learned that Brother Li, Jian Han, I, and I were going to Yongji Warehouse, so they set fire to the warehouse and destroyed all traces left in the other four warehouses! Let us There’s no way to find out!”
Through Yang Qingyuan's explanation and the graphics on the wooden board, the truth of this series of shocking cases is slowly emerging.
"Brother Yang, what should we do next!?"
Li Xunhuan was the person present who was least good at criminal investigation except Xiaobai and Ye Jianhan. Although he saw the facts of the case clearly, he didn't know how to start.
(Xiaobai: Meow!)
(Ye Jianhan:???)
"Mr. Song! Zhiyuan! I have to go to the trouble of you two. You two immediately go to the four burning warehouses of Ruifeng warehouse, Kaiyuan warehouse, Fengyuan warehouse and Anji warehouse. I have ordered the Imperial Guards of the Beijing Camp to guard the scene. You two Responsible for investigating the fire scene! Chengxuan! You lead people to protect the two of you!"
"Yes!" Di Zhiyuan, Song Huifu, and Tie Chengxuan stood up and accepted the order!
"Jian Han, go and arrest Mr. Liu who has access to the six doors and ask him to come over and talk to you!"
Ye Jianhan nodded coldly, this kind of job is most suitable for him!
"Brother Li and Ji Baotou will follow me to thoroughly investigate the water transportation in Beijing! In this troubled autumn, I hope that you will unite sincerely and fulfill your duties! Serve the country!"
"I obey Jun's order!"
After everyone stood up and accepted the order, they set off immediately!
