Honglu Temple, the official residence of Shaoqing.
Li Xuan sat behind the black mahogany desk. A dozen heavy books were placed on the left side of the desk, and there were more books on the right side.
Li Xuan was looking at the book in front of her attentively, and whispered in her mouth: "Yingxu Chamber of Commerce, Yumen Zhechong Captain, February of the first year of the Yuan Dynasty..."
The book records the number of caravans that the Yingxu Chamber of Commerce under Li Jingye has entered and exited the Western Regions through Yumen Pass in recent years.
These things are unexpectedly recorded in the official archives of Honglu Temple.
Since ancient times, entry and exit from other countries have been strictly controlled.
Even in the Tang Dynasty, there were already four towns in Anxi of the Tang Dynasty in the Western Regions, but caravans leaving Yumen Pass required the highest level of customs clearance documents.
Such customs clearance documents need to be approved and stamped by the caravan at the Ministry of Household Affairs, Ministry of War and Honglu Temple.
After all, it involves trade, commerce, traveling to foreign countries and the Ministry of War checkpoints, and requires approval from every yamen involved.
Moreover, every time you return to Chang'an and set off again for the second time, you need to go through re-approval.
Most caravans go to the Western Regions for trade and then come back. A trip takes at least a year, and no one would find it too troublesome.
…
"Three caravans a year go to the Western Regions through Yumen Pass. The scale of Li Jingye's caravan is really big." Li Xuan couldn't help but marvel.
Li Jingye gathered a large number of British public servants to transport a large amount of tea, silk, porcelain and other goods from the Tang Dynasty to the Western Regions. When he came back, he brought back a large amount of gems, spices, furs and other specialties of the Western Regions. He made a lot of money every time. The bowl is full.
But the journey to the Western Regions is long after all, and if something goes wrong, it is likely to result in heavy losses.
Or maybe for more benefits, Li Jingye set his sights on Tubo.
The same benefits are huge, but the risks are smaller. Li Jingye has indeed made a lot from Tubo over the years.
Later, this trading company was confiscated by the court for smuggling Tibet and betraying court secrets.
In addition to the caravan being split up, a large number of officials and generals were involved. Those who were removed from their posts were dismissed, and those who were interrogated were interrogated. A large number of people were implicated in this process.
The most unlucky person here is Li Jingye. He has been under house arrest in Shuzhong for more than half a year and has just returned to Beijing.
Li Xuan also suffered a lot from his caravan.
Although the Shaofu and the secret guards divided up most of the wealth, the most important people and relationships were left out intentionally or unintentionally.
After all, they have no use for these things.
In the end, Li Xuan took advantage of him.
Li Xuan originally only planned to make money through the caravan, but she did not expect that Li Jingye's key could be found in it.
The bookends on Li Xuan's left side all record the passage records of Li Jingye's caravan.
…
With a "pop" sound, Li Xuan closed the bookends, stood up and walked outside.
The Eight-sided Han Sword hanging in front of the door was casually taken down. Li Xuan nodded calmly to his subordinates at the door, and then left Honglu Temple.
It was almost noon, and everyone left the official residence and went to the canteen to have a meal.
At this moment, a figure appeared silently in Li Xuan's mansion.
He quickly entered Li Xuan's room, then read through all the books Li Xuan had read, and finally exited carefully.
The amazing thing is that nothing in the entire mansion has changed since he came here.
Soon, a note was passed to the north gate.
Ming Chongyan, who had been waiting at the north gate for a long time, immediately took the note and was surprised when he saw the content on it: "Li Jingye, why him?"
Yuan Wanqing, Fan Lubing, Liu Yizhi and others all gathered around.
Ming Chongyan handed the note to everyone and said at the same time: "The King of Nanchang checked the number of British government caravans entering and exiting Yumen Pass at Honglu Temple today."
"Are you sure that the King of Nanchang is investigating the British Duke because of the incident in the Prime Minister's Mansion?" Fan Lubing was the first to speak cautiously.
"The King of Nanchang has nothing else to do now!" Ming Chongyan shook his head slightly, and then said: "Besides, the last time the person who got the wish stone was the governor of Lingzhou on the Yellow River. Lingzhou is only a short distance from Yumen. , and don’t forget, Yumen is under the jurisdiction of the Dunhuang Governor’s Mansion.”
"It seems to be correct." Yuan Wanqing pressed his hand on the table and said with certainty: "Li Jingye has a chance to get the wish stone, and he also has a chance to frame the Dugu family and make the Prime Minister look embarrassed."
"But why?" Fan Lubing raised his head and asked puzzledly: "Why did he attack the Prime Minister? Although he is in a bad situation now, attacking the Prime Minister will not do him any good, and it is even possible that he will be killed. The Prime Minister is forced to the opposite side."
Yuan Wanqing shook his head slightly and said, "Brother Shi Ning, think about it, what would have been the consequences if King Nanchang and Dugu Zhong hadn't discovered this?"
Fan Lubing was stunned for a moment, and said thoughtfully: "There is a fire in the palace. If it is not discovered early, it can easily cause a fire. There were countless princes and nobles in the palace at that time. Not to mention all the accidents, even if something happened to one or two people, the consequences would be unimaginable. The Prime Minister cannot bear the responsibility, and neither can we. We will definitely be held responsible by Your Majesty and the Queen..."
"Then who will benefit?" Yuan Wanqing asked again.
Fan Lubing's expression became serious, and he said with some difficulty, "It's the prince."
With the word "Prince", everyone present suddenly began to breathe heavily.
Yuan Wanqing nodded and said: "If something happens to us, the Queen's control of the court will inevitably be affected. The prince's strength will soar and may even threaten His Majesty."
"Could it be said that Li Jingye has surrendered to the prince?" Liu Yizhi finally couldn't help but speak.
"It may not be that he is seeking refuge with the prince, but this matter should have nothing to do with the prince." Yuan Wanqing turned to look at Ming Chongyan.
Ming Chongyan nodded and uttered four words: "Fish in troubled waters!"
Taking a deep breath, Ming Chongyan said: "The prince's temperament is weak and he cannot do such vicious things. Zhang Da'an of the East Palace will not do such a thing. Targeting the prime minister and burning the royal family in this way is tantamount to treason. The prince's situation is far from clear." It’s not that critical yet.”
After a slight pause, Ming Chongyan said with an indifferent expression: "The secret guards have been watching the movements of the East Palace. Li Jingye did try to visit the East Palace, but they were all rejected by the prince... The prince has been very honest these days and has been accompanying the prince. Concubine, after all, there are only a few days until the Crown Princess gives birth."
After Ming Chongyan said the last words, the tension in the eyes of everyone present immediately relaxed.
They were really worried that the prince would be involved in this matter. After all, even they were not prepared for the prince to rebel.
However, there is no need for the prince to plot rebellion. At this time, he will not even think about being stained with blood, and will even deliberately avoid it.
After all, his eldest son was about to be born.
Ming Chongyan looked solemn and spoke again: "Back in the court, if something happens to us and the court becomes unbalanced, His Majesty will definitely take action, targeting the prince and the East Palace. By then, who will remember Li Jingye's affairs? Moreover, At that time, more positions will inevitably be exposed, and won’t Li Jingye’s opportunity come now?”
After Ming Chongyan finished speaking, everyone present fell silent.
Ming Chongyan settled everything down and had to admit that this was the best solution to Li Jingye's current situation.
"This British gentleman has such a deep calculation!" Fan Lubing took a deep breath and said softly: "Why didn't you know he was so powerful before?"
"Because he is not in the court all the year round." Yuan Wanqing looked solemn and explained: "When the British Duke was still there, Li Jingye was known for his intelligence and wit. Later, when he was appointed as the governor of Meizhou, the barbarians made trouble, and Li Jingye only took two men with him. The official calmed down the chaos, and even the British prince shook his head when he took dangerous actions, and said: I never take risks, and the person who will destroy the lintel of my family in the future will definitely be this son."
Ming Chongyan nodded and said: "You can already know a thing or two about Li Jingye's character just by seeing how dare he smuggle iron weapons with Tubo."
"But I will report this to the Queen." Fan Lubing raised his head, looked at the crowd and said, "Given the British Duke's status in the Queen's heart, if we make rash guesses without any real evidence, we will offend the Queen."
Li Ji, during the turmoil of deposing the king and establishing Wu, Li Ji stood clearly on the side of Empress Wu. In addition, he held military power for many years after that, and he was extremely trusted by Empress Wu.
Even in these years, Li Jingye was not allowed to go to the front line to lead troops because of Li Ji's final entrustment.
Li Jingye's marching style makes it hard to say that he is just another Xue Rengui.
"How can we make rash guesses?" Ming Chongyan looked up at Fan Lubing, shook his head slightly, put the secret report in his hand to the side, and said softly: "These are the investigations of the King of Nanchang, what have they got to do with me, I, etc. It’s just to report King Nanchang’s movements to the Queen of Heaven.”
Yuan Wanqing nodded in agreement and said: "Those things that we can guess, the Queen of Heaven can also easily see through."
Fan Lubing was speechless for a moment, what kind of person the Queen is.
The news they reported about King Nanchang naturally meant that King Nanchang's guess was theirs.
At this moment, a secret guard sent in a secret report again.
Ming Chongyan took a look and immediately smiled: "The King of Nanchang went to Qianniuwei to interrogate the people who were caught in the British government caravan at the beginning of the year. It seems that he wanted to find evidence from these people. .”
Yuan Wanqing immediately spoke: "Have someone send a message to King Nanchang to wait for the time being. We need to report King Nanchang's request to the Queen of Heaven."
Everyone present nodded in agreement at the same time.
Because they all knew that in this case, it would fall on the King of Nanchang to find evidence to crucify Li Jingye.
…
Li Xuan sat calmly drinking tea in Zuo Qianniu Wei Mansion. He was the only one in the room, with two guards at the door.
Today's Zuo Qianniuwei, General Li Jingjia of Zuo Qianniuwei, is leading his army on the front line of Yizhou. Although another general of Zuo Qianniuwei, Zhao Gui, was transferred to the governor of Kuozhou, his position as General Zuo Qianniuwei was not It's weird that it hasn't been removed.
But at the beginning, no one cared. After all, Zhao Gui, General Zuo Qianniuwei, had always been a decoration.
But now, Li Jingjia led his army to the Yizhou front line, and the affairs of the Qianniu Guard in Beijing could only be handled by Wang Jishan, the general of Zuo Qianniu Guard, personally.
However, Li Xuan didn't come to Zuo Qianniu Guard to find Wang Jishan. For that matter, he only needed Zuo Qianniu Guard's general, He Wei.
But unfortunately, He Kuan went away for a long time and didn't come back.
At this moment, a palace servant suddenly appeared: "Your Majesty, the Queen has called you."
"Your Majesty Li Xuan obeys the order."
Li Xuan bowed her head, and the corners of her mouth quirked up slightly.
(End of chapter)
