Lin Xian said: "They all obey the orders of the ministers, and whatever happens is the responsibility of the ministers. Please don't embarrass them, Your Highness."
Zhu Bai raised his eyebrows slightly.
He is said to be treacherous and shameless, but he is still somewhat responsible.
At this time, most people will choose to "sacrifice soldiers to save commanders."
Zhu Bai slightly raised his chin towards the inside: "I cherish my generals and advise you to rein in your horses. Don't obey someone's orders or disobey the imperial edict again. Get out of the way first."
Lin Xian hesitated for a moment and waved to the soldier.
The soldiers immediately gave way.
Zhu Bai went in. The food on the ship had been unloaded and it left the port.
Zhu Bai sat down in the middle of the accounting room.
Lin Xian and Cang Chang stood in front of him with their hands down.
Zhu Bai asked Zhang Yu and the others to wait outside, leaving only Fugui beside him, and asked Lin Xian: "Tell me, where did it come from? This will save me from calling someone to interrogate you."
The warehouse manager glanced at Lin Xian.
Lin Xian pursed his lips and hesitated for a moment and said, "I don't know. Mr. Hu only promised to transport the food, but didn't say where it came from."
Zhu Bai laughed: "I admire you two quite a lot. Other military granaries are transporting grain to other places. At most, they hold down their own grain and prevent others from moving it. You actually have the ability to ask Hu Weiyong to transport grain from the official granary. Make up for your shortcomings.”
Lin Xian knelt down on one knee and said, "Your Highness, I forgive you. I had the guts to ask someone to stop His Highness from entering the Taicang Army Granary that day because Mr. Hu promised to return all the food that was lost from the Mingzhou Army Granary."
Zhu Bai held his chin: "I have inquired about it and found out that you have a good reputation in the army. I see that you are leading the troops today and you are also a man who loves the people like a son. Hu Weiyong transferred you away from Yangzhou at a critical moment. I guess you must not be here yet." You are completely complicit with him, so he has to be on guard against you. Tell me what is your reason now, and I might be able to save you."
Lin Xian glanced at Zhu Bai, hesitated for a long time, and then gritted his teeth and said: "With the grace of the emperor, I have been serving as the commander of the guards in Mingzhou. Japanese pirates are rampant, and we spend more than two hundred days at sea fighting in a year. , there was no time to cultivate the fields at all. In order to pay for the army, Weichen could only quietly do business with some Ryukyu merchants to make money to supplement the money. However, Weichen only sold some silk and porcelain to them. He never bought copper. Iron is what is needed to make weapons."
Zhu Bai suddenly realized that the maritime ban in the Ming Dynasty was similar to the "smuggling" later on.
Lin Xian said: "Master Hu knew about this from nowhere, so he used it to blackmail Wei Chen. Wei Chen had no choice but to obey him. In the year when he transferred Wei Chen to the Yangzhou Guard, he asked Wei Chen to Some people made fake identities and acted as guides. They asked Weichen to help him introduce businessmen from Ryukyu. Later, Mr. Hu contacted them himself. Weichen had no idea what they were planning, and he never participated in the Japanese pirates."
Zhu Bai looked at him coldly: "You are very eloquent, and you can talk yourself out of it in just a few words. But do you know who are the people for whom you set up a private road guide?"
Lin Xian glanced at Zhu Bai and lowered his head: "I don't know."
Zhu Bai said: "They are all Japanese pirates. These Japanese pirates have robbed and killed countless Yangzhou salt merchants, and how many people have lost their fathers, husbands and sons because of you."
Lin Xian was stunned for a while before saying: "That's it."
His face was full of remorse, and he stood there blankly. Hu Weiyong only said that it was his relative who had committed a crime. Although he was not so naive as to believe Hu Weiyong's lies. But he never expected that Hu Weiyong would be so bold and bold to help the Japanese pirates. I thought Hu Weiyong just took those money.
After all, there were too many military generals who deserted and made mistakes and were demoted, and they all wanted to be "reborn" through Hu Weiyong's operations.
Zhu Bai said: "Were the people who rescued Xiang'er and set fire to the Yangzhou government office sent by you?"
Lin Xian shook his head: "No, no, no. At that time, Wei Chen had already arrived at Mingzhou Guard. He never left during the period. Except for the time in Taicang, he never sent anyone out."
Zhu Bai pursed his lips and sat for a while.
Also, even if Xiang'er is rescued, she still has to leave Yangzhou City, and the people in Yangzhou City still need to cooperate.
In other words, the traitor has still not been found.
"Put this aside for now." Zhu Bai said, "Get the account book."
The warehouse manager hurriedly sent over the account book.
Zhu Bai asked Fugui and the others to start checking and counting the granaries, while he stood at the port silently looking into the distance with his hands behind his back.
Lin Xian came over and knelt down in front of him, crying bitterly: "Wei Chen deserves to die for his crime. The disaster has already been caused. I am willing to take the blame. It's just that Wei Chen's subordinates all obey Wei Chen's orders. I don't know the reason." , I beg Your Highness to let them go. Wei Chen’s family members are also innocent, and I beg His Highness to forgive them.”
"I can understand that you are doing business with Ryukyu merchants. But there are other things." Zhu Bai shook his head gently, "Ask those who died unjustly if they are willing to forgive you."
Lin Xian kowtowed again: "I beg you, Your Highness, to let me kill a few more Japanese pirates to atone for my sins, and then come back to accept the punishment. When the time comes, Your Highness will ask me to pay for my life, and I will not survive."
Zhu Bai said: "Yes, but I have a condition. Whatever Hu Weiyong asks you to do in the future, you must report to me and obey my instructions."
Lin Xian: "Now that I think about it, I want to kill the thief with my own hands, and I will never help him again."
After Fugui and the others checked, they said there were no mistakes.
Zhu Bai looked at Lin Xian: "Keep your granary safe and don't let anyone take it away again. I will come to check from time to time. If there are any mistakes again, I will not be lenient."
Lin Xian kowtowed: "I obey."
-----
In less than ten days, Zhu Bai had checked everything.
Returning to the palace, he presented the results of the investigation directly to Lao Zhu, and also told about Lin Xian's matter.
Lao Zhu pondered for a long time and said: "We also plan to leave him alone for the time being. Let's see what he does next."
Each granary suffered losses to varying degrees. Generally speaking, military granaries suffered more serious losses than official granaries.
Fortunately, except for the Changzhou Military Granary, the losses of other granaries were within a controllable and acceptable range.
Only then did Lao Zhu feel completely relieved.
All the warehouse chiefs of the thirty granaries were replaced by people from the Guanya Bureau.
And it is stipulated that they will be rotated every two years in the future.
Every time there is a rotation, the previous one must be clearly handed over to the next one. In other words, in addition to the censor who patrols the warehouse, the next one also assumes the responsibility of monitoring the work of the previous one.
After all, after counting, signing and sealing, if anything goes wrong later, the next person will be held responsible.
The original thirty warehouse managers were nowhere to be found overnight.
The guards officers who had lent horses to Hu Weiyong were also transferred from Yingtian and sent to Xifan or Dingliao.
Anyway, wherever you are suffering, go wherever you go.
Hu Weiyong and the others were terrified, waiting for Lao Zhu to make a big move.
Lao Zhu was silent again.
It seemed that after the lightning and the deafening thunder, a little drizzle fell.
So weird.
Hu Weiyong became more and more certain of his guess.
Lao Zhu's habit has always been: eat food one bite at a time and do things one by one. Play it safe.
But now Xifan is still fighting, and Chenzhou is also fighting, so Lao Zhu will not touch him for the time being.
Because if he touches him, the entire court will be turned upside down.
However, after the fight between Xifan and Chenzhou is over, if there is nothing else, it will be his turn.
Therefore, he has to step up.
