"Your Majesty, the Imperial City Envoy is requesting an audience outside the palace!"
"Let him in!" Emperor Liu's emotions and attention were finally drawn to a certain extent, and he ordered calmly without even squinting his eyes.
"Young man, please visit the official's house!" Zhang Dejun soon entered, efficiently took in the situation in the palace, and bowed respectfully as usual.
In the past few days, Zhang Dejun did not visit him all the time and play things every day as before. Instead, he suppressed and stayed peacefully in the Yasi, feeling like he was watching the fire from the other side.
However, as soon as he was called, as if he had received some signal, he immediately cheered up and came to see him quickly. As the head of the Imperial City Department, Zhang Dejun naturally knew what was going on in the palace, and had even guessed the purpose of Emperor Liu's summons.
"Pingshen!" Emperor Liu called Zhang Dejun directly and asked, "You know everything about what happened in the palace, right?"
"I've heard a little about it!" Zhang Dejun responded with an unusually respectful attitude. If he wasn't clear, then he, as an imperial envoy, would probably have reached his end.
Emperor Liu looked like he didn't want to be verbose, and said immediately: "It's good to know! Now I give you this task, use your sense of smell as the Imperial City Secretary, go check it out, dig out all the moths in the palace, I want to see how many sensational and scandalous things there are beyond my field of vision!"
After hearing this, Zhang Dejun looked extremely excited and even heartbroken, and gritted his teeth and promised: "Don't worry, officials! I will definitely catch these beasts who have betrayed the grace of God, deceived the emperor, and eaten the inside and outside!"
Zhang Dejun's performance did not impress Emperor Liu, which shows that he was in a bad mood. Of course, for Zhang Dejun, it was enough for Emperor Liu to see his loyalty and respect.
Through Emperor Liu's attitude, Zhang Dejun also had a basic judgment on the official's anger this time, and he also had an idea about the appropriateness of handling this errand within a period of time.
Seeing that Emperor Liu had no intention of giving any more instructions, Zhang Dejun wanted to retreat, but was stopped by Emperor Liu. Emperor Liu turned around and pulled out a memorial on the imperial case, turned around and asked: "It is recorded here that the current annual allocation to the Imperial City Division is only 100,000 yuan. This amount is not small, but for the Imperial City Division's stall Is it enough?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Dejun couldn't help but feel frightened. Why did this involve his Imperial City Department again? What did the officials mean?
Unlike the Wude Division, the Imperial City Division's annual funds are directly allocated by the palace. They are Emperor Liu's real eagle dogs, and are naturally raised by the royal family.
After more than ten years of development, there are currently only more than 300 officially employed personnel in the Imperial City Division with titles and royal rations. As far as personnel salaries and daily operations are concerned, one hundred thousand yuan is enough.
However, the cost of running an intelligence organization or a secret service agency is much more than this. Various tasks, spying on various intelligences, placement of spies, etc. all need to be driven, nothing more than power and money, and money is the most direct and effective.
There are so many people in the Imperial City Division, even the so-called emperor's domestic slaves and eagle dogs. To say that these people are loyal to Emperor Liu and willing to die for Emperor Liu, Emperor Liu himself does not believe it.
After all, those who are willing to join an organization such as the Imperial City Division should not have high expectations of such people in terms of morality and integrity. Emperor Liu drove them mainly to rely on authority, but for most people in the Imperial City Division, what they pursued was nothing more than fame, fortune and wealth.
The operation of the Imperial City Division is obviously inseparable from money, which requires a lot of money. One hundred thousand guan, if you really have to calculate it carefully, the role it can play for the Imperial City Division is limited.
If it were limited to this, the Imperial City Division would not be able to develop to the extent it is today. Not to mention anything else, the total number of peripheral personnel under the Imperial City Division was not just five thousand, but three thousand. With so many people, it was not easy for Zhang Dejun to support them.
But the problem is that Zhang Dejun withdraws only 100,000 yuan from the inner court every year. How can there be no problems in this?
At this time, when Emperor Liu asked, Zhang Dejun's heart rang with alarm bells. Facing the scrutinizing gaze, he only hesitated for a moment, but still did not dare to hide too much, and said: "In the official family, except for the funds allocated by the inner court, the subordinates of the Si Yamen , also runs some industries in Xijing, and the income is used to maintain operations..."
Emperor Liu was not surprised by this. In the Han Dynasty, even some Qingshui yamen had some job fields and industries, and the industries controlled by the Wude Division were even spread across major cities across the country. The Imperial City Division was basically based in Beijing. It is not surprising that there are some properties in China.
However, Emperor Liu had never been involved in such matters before. However, now, he couldn't help but have more thoughts, and looked at Zhang Dejun with playful eyes: "It seems that you are also well-run, otherwise why would you support the Imperial City Division without asking for more money..."
"The small businessman is not good at business, and the income from the business is barely sufficient! The officials trust the small businessman, so how can the small businessman taint the official family's ears with a small amount of money..." Zhang Dejun said.
Zhang Dejun may be really bad at managing money, but he has no shortage of people under his command.
"Haha! You should think about it for me and share my worries!" Emperor Liu responded calmly, thought for a while, and said: "Whether it is forced or not, I have no intention to find out. However, this time, you will manage the subordinates of the Imperial City Department For your property, please go to the Shaofu to prepare records, and the accounts will also be submitted to the Shaofu for review in the future!"
Emperor Liu was obviously going to tighten the purse strings of the Imperial City Division. Zhang Dejun was shocked when he heard this. He couldn't help but show a look of astonishment on his face, and he hesitated: "This..."
"What! Do you have any objections?" Emperor Liu looked at him for a moment.
Zhang Dejun was startled. He lowered his waist and shook his head. His tone was extremely affirmative: "I have no objections, I will obey the official order!"
"You don't have to feel aggrieved. Once the income is due, it will still be used in the Imperial City Department, but the accounts need to be supervised!" Emperor Liu said calmly.
"I understand, little one!" Zhang Dejun responded.
In fact, for Zhang Dejun, what he cares about is not reporting the property accounts to the Shaofu. This has no actual loss to his own interests. If the Imperial City Division wants money, there are plenty of ways to do it. If this kind of secret service agency doesn't have any gray income, it doesn't deserve to be called a secret service agency. What kind of supervision can the Young Mansion really do?
The question is, is the meaning behind Emperor Liu's decree aroused by the turmoil in the palace, or is it because of his sudden thoughts about the Imperial City Secretary, or about him, Commander Zhang?
When serving Emperor Liu, you don't dare not think too much, let alone lose your vigilance. Emperor Liu didn't care about Zhang Dejun's deep expression, waved his hand and said: "Go and finish the errands first!"
"Yes!" Zhang Dejun responded, and the solemnity on his face disappeared.
Before leaving, he glanced casually at Yan Tuo, with amusement in his eyes. In response to this, Yantuo frowned subconsciously, and his calm face couldn't help but become a little more gloomy.
When Emperor Liu called Zhang Dejun and handed over the task of investigating the inner court, Yantuo's mood sank. The grudge between the two made him have to be careful.
Based on Yantuo's understanding of Zhang Dejun, he might not be sure that this guy would dig a hole for him somewhere, set up a trap or something like that, but judging from the strange look in his eyes, his vigilance was obviously correct.
The exchange of eyes and the collision of eyes between the two eunuchs still made Emperor Liu aware of it. He also raised his eyebrows and called Zhang Dejun: "Wait a minute!"
"What other orders do the officials have?" Zhang Dejun turned around and asked.
Emperor Liu pointed at Yantuo and said, "You should also go and assist the Imperial City Division in the investigation!"
"Yes! I will do my best to help you!" Yantuo was slightly surprised, but immediately responded positively.
When Zhang Dejun saw this, his heart could not help but darken, but he did not show it and did not dare to object. He could only agree. The two eunuchs came out of the palace together, not in a good mood. Zhang Dejun was frightened that Emperor Liu had failed to recruit anyone, which was frightening. Yantuo was worried that these scandalous things would inevitably involve him, especially for Zhang Dejun. When the old dog is in charge.
