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At this time, in an open courtyard in the western suburbs of the capital, Xu Qingyan was sitting on an imperial chair in front of the courtyard. His body and head were slightly tilted to the left, his left fist was clenched slightly to support his cheek, and his elbow was He was leaning on the armrest of the chair, looking thoughtful, with his brows slightly furrowed.
In the room behind him, there was constant movement at the moment. There were sounds of bones cracking after being beaten with sticks, stern questioning sounds, painful grunts from people whose mouths were covered when being beaten, and weak and panicked begging for mercy. Voice.
It was clear that a torture session was taking place in the room, and that it was not a small one.
But all the movements seemed to be unable to interfere with Xu Qingyan's thinking. Ever since he sat here, he had been thinking quietly about something, as if there was an important plan with far-reaching implications being brewed, and as if there was an important decision related to the future. Making a decision - As for everything that happened in the room behind him, it seemed like it was just a trivial matter.
In fact, Xu Qingyan's mind was empty at the moment. There was no plan for him to make, no decision for him to make. He didn't think about anything, he just wanted to make such a gesture.
In short, Xu Qingyan is just deliberately imitating Zhao Junchen's daily behavior and demeanor, thinking that such behavior and demeanor are very classy, nothing more.
In fact, in recent times, as long as Xu Qingyan is not with Zhao Junchen, he will always deliberately imitate Zhao Junchen's speech and behavior every time he comes into contact with lower-status outsiders.
In Xu Qingyan's eyes, there is nothing shameful about this deliberate imitation. Instead, it is evidence of his own gradual growth.
Even if I only imitate 20-30% of the young master's methods, I, Xu Qingyan, can be considered a rare talent among the millions of people in the Ming Dynasty - this is Xu Qingyan's true thoughts.
This time, Xu Qingyan was solely responsible for dealing with the Jurchen spies who spread rumors. Naturally, he would not miss the opportunity to show off his "growth" and still tried his best to imitate Zhao Junchen.
At the beginning, Xu Qingyan was indeed forcing himself to seriously consider some things, such as the future expansion and operation of the "Storytellers' Guild", the publicity of the salary increase for all officials in the imperial court, and the fact that Chu Jiayi has not been able to do anything recently. Talk to him... and so on and so forth.
However, Xu Qingyan was not Zhao Junchen after all. He still lacked the ability to analyze a matter in depth, nor could he maintain focused thinking for a long time, so his mind soon became empty.
In this way, the torture in the room lasted for half an hour. During this half hour, Xu Qingyan kept pretending to be thoughtful and maintained the same posture and movements, and his body gradually became numb. , I just feel a little unable to hold on.
"Should we change our actions? Well, every time the young master hesitates, he will pinch his eyebrows with his fingers. Sometimes he will lean forward and cross his hands to support his chin..."
And just as Xu Qingyan was thinking like this, all the movements in the room behind him gradually stopped.
Apparently, the torture was finally over.
Noticing this situation, Xu Qingyan perked up and thought to himself: "It's finally over. I've been waiting so hard!"
Then, I saw a middle-aged man pushing open the door and walking quickly in front of Xu Qingyan, bending down and whispering: "Master Xu, the torture of these people is over, and they have all committed suicide."
Xu Qingyan put on a "recovering" expression, frowned again, as if his thoughts were interrupted, and then said calmly in a casual tone: "These people are Jianzhou Jurchens" The spies are all traitors to the Han people. They are born weaklings. Of course they will confess after being tortured. But I never thought that weaklings like them could survive your torture for half an hour. ...Mabourne, are your skills rusty? Or are your helpers slacking off?"
Xu Qingyan's seemingly inadvertent sighs, but they contain a sense of encouragement that cannot be ignored. Such words are obviously deliberately imitating Zhao Junchen.
It has to be said that Xu Qingyan has followed Zhao Junchen for a long time and accepted Zhao Junchen's words and deeds. Although he is deliberately imitating at this time, he is somewhat similar in appearance.
The person who reported to Xu Qingyan was named Ma Bo. He was a yamen servant in Shuntian Prefecture a few years ago. Like many government yamen servants, this man was a black and white figure. He was from the government on the surface, but secretly he was from the capital. There is a group of green skins in the backstage. They usually not only receive a salary from the court, but also receive a share of filial piety from the green skins. They have been quite prosperous for a while.
However, perhaps because of his complacency, Ma Bourne unintentionally offended his boss at Shuntian Prefecture three years ago, and was soon kicked out of the Shuntian Prefecture Yamen, and almost got a lawsuit. After this incident, Ma Bourne became much calmer. And because he had no other means of making a living, he simply led the group of green men who had been protected by him to hang out on the streets all day long, doing some shabby things, and gradually became a well-known gang leader in the capital. .
In recent years, Zhao Junchen's tentacles of influence have spread to all aspects, not only secretly trying to infiltrate the officialdom, the army, and the inner court, but also involving the three religions and nine streams. The Qingpi Gang on the streets also bought a group of people. During this period, Zhao Junchen valued Ma Boern more than others. Qingpi still had some discernment and skills, so he took him for his own use. He usually inquired about information and did some shady tasks for Zhao Junchen.
This time, Xu Qingyan was responsible for dealing with those Jianzhou Jurchen spies who were spreading rumors, so he borrowed Ma Bourne's gang power, not only because Ma Bourne was familiar with the market situation and could silently control these Jianzhou Jurchen spies, but also because Ma Bourne was a yamen officer. Proficient in torture techniques.
However, it took Ma Bonn half an hour to finish interrogating these Jurchen spies in Jianzhou. Xu Qingyan was still feeling numb in half of his body, so he felt a little dissatisfied and took the opportunity to strike a few words.
On the other side, Ma Bowen didn't know that Xu Qingyan was just imitating Zhao Junchen. Now that he heard Xu Qingyan's knocking words, he felt that Xu Qingyan was worthy of being the long-term follower of the powerful officials of the imperial court. He was indeed unpredictable, so naturally he did not dare to neglect, and quickly explained: "I hope Mr. Xu can forgive me. It's not that the villain is unfamiliar with his skills, nor is it that the gang members are slacking off. But you also know that the villain and the gang members always hang out in the capital city. It can be said that there are many dignitaries gathering at the feet of the emperor. Maybe it's just a seemingly ordinary woman buying groceries, but a certain noble or important minister can be involved behind the scenes. Out of caution, the villain has been telling everyone to leave some room for daily affairs!
So, Mr. Xu, don’t look at the gang of green men under the villain who seem to be arrogant and vicious, but in fact they rarely attack people. They were not used to the torture of Jianzhou Jurchen spies just now. It took a long time. It took a long time to gradually adapt to the heavy hand, and was underestimated by the Jianzhou Jurchen spies, so it was delayed. "
After hearing the explanation, Xu Qingyan turned his head and looked at Ma Bowen carefully, then nodded slightly and said: "It's a good thing that you are so cautious in normal times. No wonder my cabinet ministers would choose to take you for their own use. I After I go back today, I will inform my cabinet ministers of your performance in detail. I believe that my cabinet ministers will look at you more highly after hearing the report... Now, let's not talk about these trivial matters. You first talk about the interrogation. How is the result?"
Ma Bowen quickly thanked him and said: "Thank you Master Xu for your kindness. If you have anything else to do in the future, you only need to inform the villain, and the villain will do it properly... I hope Master Xu will know that after our torture, these spies They have gathered all the information they can know, but their status among the Jianzhou Jurchens is not high, so there is not much information they can confess.
According to their confessions, we have captured all the Jianzhou Jurchen agents arranged in the capital, and no one has escaped the net. The tasks of these Jianzhou Jurchen agents lurking in the capital include collecting various information from the capital center. In addition, they are spreading rumors about Zhao Gechen, but they don't know much else. "
Xu Qingyan nodded clearly and said: "These spies are just insignificant people. I didn't expect to find out more information. I arranged this interrogation just as a precaution."
Maburn hesitated for a moment and then added: "However, based on their confessions, there are three things worth paying attention to."
"Which three places? Just tell me."
"First, the person who arranged these spies is named Qian Tong. It is said that he is a confidant of the Jianzhou Jurchen Khan. At the end of the year, the Jianzhou Jurchen sent an envoy team to congratulate His Majesty. This person was the leader. According to these spies, , Jianzhou Jurchen will send people to contact them in the future, and Qian Tong may also show up in person... Do you think we should make some secret arrangements to arrest Qian Tong when the time comes?"
Xu Qingyan thoughtfully nodded and said: "Your idea is very good, I will leave this matter to you, but this Qian Tong stole the show on His Majesty's birthday. Your Majesty was deeply impressed by him. It is said that He is still a smart and cautious person. If you have a chance to catch him in the future, you must not make any mistakes, otherwise he will definitely use his identity to cause trouble, and the cabinet minister will need to personally deal with it."
Ma Bourne nodded with a cautious expression, and then said: "As for the second thing, it was the news discovered accidentally during the villain's interrogation. I don't know if it is useful... That is, each of these Jurchen spies in Jianzhou The place where they get their money every month is the 'Rong Invoice Number'. They can receive 200 taels of silver from the 'Rong Invoice Number' every month through the bills in their hands. The owner behind this 'Rong Invoice Number' is Jin Chen Gongxing, who plays an important role in business, according to the villain... there is also a relationship between this boss Chen and Zhao Gechen!
Speaking of which, the fact that Jianzhou Jurchen spies received money from the 'Rong Invoice Number' may be just a normal situation. After all, a large number of people take notes to get money from various bank accounts every day, and the 'Rong Invoice Number' is a family. A large bank handles a lot of business, so you may not necessarily know their identity and mission, but the villain always feels that if you dig deeper into this matter, you may be able to find out more things. "
Hearing Ma Bowen's statement, Xu Qingyan couldn't help but change his expression, but soon he sneered and said: "Normal situation? Don't know about the 'Rong Invoice Number'? How is it possible! For this kind of thing, Jianzhou Jurchen must only They will use a ticket number that they can trust, so the 'Rong Ticket Number' must be deeply trusted by the Jianzhou Jurchens, and the relationship between the two parties is likely to be closer than imagined!
There has always been a secret collusion between Shanxi merchants and Jianzhou Jurchens. This is not a secret. Zhao Gechen has given many benefits to Shanxi merchants during this period, hoping that they will shift their attention to developing the Han provinces. Above all, don't continue to collude with the Jianzhou Jurchens, but it is obvious that they are still greedy for profit and will eat shit! It's a pity that Zhao Gechen has always been unable to get rid of the sand in his eyes!
When the cabinet minister took action to rectify the Huizhou merchants, several Huizhou merchants who were extremely wealthy were unlucky. In comparison, the Shanxi merchants were much luckier. On the surface, they had always cooperated with the cabinet minister, and The cabinet ministers have never been able to catch anything, but this time...'Rongbao No.', Chen Gongxing, Jianzhou Jurchen...if the relationship between these three is figured out, it may be an opportunity for the young master to rectify Shanxi merchants! "
As he spoke later, Xu Qingyan's voice gradually lowered and turned into a murmur.
On the other side, Ma Bourne straightened up, looked blankly, pretending not to hear Xu Qingyan's soft words to himself - the overt and secret struggle between Zhao Junchen and Shanxi merchants was definitely not something he could participate in. At this time, Ma Bourne only hoped that he would know less The better the news.
Xu Qingyan glanced at Ma Bowen and nodded with satisfaction again.
Xu Qingyan will notice the "Rong Invoice Number" this time, all because of Ma Bourne. If Zhao Junchen next takes action to rectify Shanxi merchants, then Ma Bourne will be the cause of the incident, so Xu Qingyan is not worried that Ma Bourne will reveal the news to Shanxi merchants. What he muttered just now was deliberately intended for Maburn to hear.
As the saying goes, "a big stick in one hand and sweet dates in the other", the more capable and ambitious people are, the more they need to be beaten from time to time, but after the beating, they must be given some benefits. Only in this way can they serve loyally - this The same method Xu Qingyan learned from Zhao Junchen.
Now, Ma Bourne's performance made Xu Qingyan take a high look and thought it was worth using, so he deliberately used the examples of Huizhou merchants and Shanxi merchants to beat Ma Bourne again.
Seeing that Ma Bowen knew how to advance and retreat, Xu Qingyan asked again: "Zhao Gechen will be very happy that you can find such information... You just said that there are three pieces of information worth noting, what is the last one?"
Ma Burn's attitude at this moment was indeed becoming more respectful and cautious, and continued: "As for the third piece of news, I don't know whether it is true or not, but among these Jurchen spies, one of them defected to Jianzhou Jurchen. The middle man, his identity is similar to that of the villain. He was also the leader of a group of green skins at the beginning. He was sentenced by the government to serve in Liaodong because of an incident where he accidentally injured someone. Then he was captured by the Jurchens of Jianzhou because of a war. From then on, he became the leader of Jianzhou. Jurchens do things...
According to him, he was now not only a Jurchen Jurchen spy in Jianzhou, but also a spy for the imperial court. After he returned to the capital, he managed to contact his original group of green-skinned brothers, only to find that those people had now been captured by the imperial court. A secret yamen was secretly recruited and he became the secret yamen's civilian informant. His gang of green-skinned brothers also invited him to join them, and he agreed out of the consideration of making a bet on both sides. "
"The secret government office of the imperial court? Which one is it? Dongchang? Westchang? Jinyiwei? Or Six Gates?" Xu Qingyan frowned again and asked.
Ma Bourne slowly shook his head and said: "No, it's a big expert factory!"
After all, Xu Qingyan's knowledge was too little, so he asked with increasing confusion: "Da Mingxing Factory? What kind of yamen is that? Why don't I know?"
Ma Bowen was born as a yamen servant in Shuntian Prefecture, so he had some knowledge and further explained: "The so-called 'factory guard' is actually the abbreviation of 'three factories and one guard'. The word 'guard' naturally refers to Jinyiwei, and 'three factories' They are respectively the East Factory, the West Factory and the Da Neihang Factory. Among them, the Da Neihang Factory is also called the 'Nei Factory'!
At that time, Liu Jin, the eunuch of the Bureau of Ceremonies, had a conflict with the East and West Second Factory, so he set up a large internal factory in the old warehouse of Rongfu in the capital, which was one of the four inner court departments. The Second Factory is much bigger. In addition to supervising the officials and the people, even the Second East and West Factory and the Jinyiwei are also under the supervision of the inner factory, and the torture must be more severe! However, although the Da Neihang Factory was extremely powerful, its existence was extremely short-lived. After the fall of Liu Jin during the Zhengde Period, the Da Neihang Factory was abolished along with the West Factory!
At the beginning of last year, Zhao Gechen personally took action to rebuild the West Factory, which attracted the attention of the world for a while, but there was no news about the big expert factory. The villain thought that this organization had no chance to see the light of day again, but if the famous builder If the confessions of the state Jurchen spies are not false, it means that the reconstruction of the inner factory has been completed secretly. However, unlike the great fanfare when the west factory was rebuilt, the reconstruction of the inner factory was silent. All parties None of the forces received relevant news! "
After listening to Ma Bourne's explanation, Xu Qingyan immediately realized the importance of this information.
By accident, he seemed to have discovered Emperor Deqing's secret arrangement! ——The only person who can rebuild the inner factory quietly is Emperor Deqing!
Thinking of this, Xu Qingyan could no longer sit still, quickly stood up and said: "This news is extremely important, I must report it to Zhao Gechen immediately!"
After saying that, Xu Qingyan was about to leave.
Ma Bowen followed a few steps and asked: "Master Xu, how should these Jianzhou Jurchen spies be dealt with?"
Xu Qingyan replied without any hesitation: "Except for the Jurchen spy in Jianzhou who is related to the inner factory, all the others will be killed and buried!"
A hint of ruthlessness flashed in Ma Bowen's eyes, and he nodded: "It's okay, let's take this opportunity to let the brothers practice their courage, so as not to be soft next time and make Master Xu laugh."
This time, Xu Qingyan did not respond to Ma Bowen, but quickly left the yard and rushed towards the capital.
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But he said that after the founding ceremony of the medical school, Zhao Junchen quickly returned to the Zhao Mansion and received Xu Qingyan's report in time.
Zhao Junchen had other arrangements for Qian Tong and Chen Gongxing and did not respond quickly. However, Zhao Junchen paid great attention to the reconstruction of the internal factory.
Therefore, Zhao Junchen immediately ordered several intelligence agencies in his hands to collect information related to the internal factory.
Zhao Junchen originally thought that it would be extremely difficult for him to collect information related to the internal factory, but he did not expect that this matter turned out to be unexpectedly smooth. Only two days later, Zhao Junchen had already received the internal factory reconstruction report. detailed information.
From a certain point of view, the reason why the reconstruction of the inner factory has not attracted the attention of the major forces in the government and the opposition is not because the existence of the inner factory is so hidden, but because the current strength of the inner factory is too weak. To the point where it was impossible to attract the attention of various factions.
After all, the inner factory is currently only in its initial construction stage, and when Emperor Deqing rebuilt the inner factory, he actually wanted to hide it from everyone in the outer court and the inner court. His actions were extremely slight, and the power and resources projected were minimal. In addition, Emperor Shangdeqing rarely showed great patience in this matter. He did not ask the inner factory to play its role quickly. Instead, he patiently waited for the inner factory to gradually grow in strength. This also made the inner factory not only extremely powerful after its reconstruction, He is weak and has very few activities, so he avoids the eyes of various factions.
However, although the strength of the inner factory is extremely weak, Emperor Deqing has always been eager for quick success and has invested so much patience in the inner factory. This phenomenon itself means the importance of the inner factory!
In particular, the current factory director of the Da Nai Hsing Factory - the person who, under the authorization of Emperor Deqing, is solely responsible for the reconstruction of the Da Nai Hsing Factory - has a sensitive identity, so Zhao Junchen has to be even more cautious!
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