Royal study room.
The emperor sat on the chair with a sullen expression and looked at Jita with an unkind look.
"You asked Eunuch Chang to wake me up so early. If you can't come up with an excuse, I won't be able to spare you!"
Ji Tai, who had been waiting for half an hour, quickly bowed and said, "Your Majesty, it's a big deal! A big deal!"
"tell me the story."
"Your Majesty, I have just received news that one hundred thousand shi of tax grains were transported from Jiangnan Province to Kyoto..."
The emperor's body suddenly sat up straight, and his eyes were no longer hazy as before, and suddenly became sharp.
"You won't tell me that you were robbed again, right?"
"I remember that at the great court meeting, didn't you say that there was peace in all directions in Ningguo, there were very few bandits, and every village had their doors open at night?"
Jita suddenly choked, paused for three breaths, and quickly bowed and said:
"Your Majesty, I didn't expect the bandits to be so bold!"
Emperor Ning raised his eyebrows, his eyes widened, and his voice suddenly became majestic:
"So, the taxes and grain were really robbed by bandits?"
"Back to the Emperor...exactly!"
Emperor Ning was silent for a long time, shook his head and suddenly smiled: "Last year, Jiangnan's taxable grain was lost. How did you deal with it?"
"Back to the Emperor, I originally asked the Ministry of War to dispatch the Guangling Navy to Shuangjiao Lake to suppress the bandits, but, but... Han Yue, the Minister of the Ministry of War, said that the Guangling Navy is now in name only. Even if it is sent, it will only kill more people. That’s all.”
"Besides, the Guangling Navy also went to Shuangjiao Lake to suppress the gang of bandits a few years ago, but they all came back defeated. So after thinking about it, I decided that it would be better to wait until the country becomes stronger and the navy becomes stronger again before suppressing the bandits. Things."
"In order to make up for the loss of taxes and grains in Jiangnan last year, the veteran ordered all provinces to increase taxes by 20% this year, but I never expected that something would happen again..."
"emperor,"
Ji Tai bowed and said: "The Imperial City Division is not under the control of the old minister, but the Imperial City Division's duty was originally to gather information and suppress bandits... This kind of thing happened in broad daylight, and the Imperial City Division didn't know anything about it. !”
"I dare not say whether Lord Changsun is right or wrong, but this matter is too big for me to deal with... Is the emperor asking the Imperial City Department to handle this shocking case? If it can be recovered, then the worry about the emptiness of the national treasury can be solved. !”
Emperor Ning pondered for a few breaths and then told Eunuch Chang who was waiting on the side: "Go and call me the eldest grandson Jinghong!"
"Slave obeys the order!"
Eunuch Chang turned around and was about to leave when he heard Emperor Ning say again: "Call Li Chenan too!"
Eunuch Chang agreed, bowed and exited the imperial study.
Emperor Ning didn't ask Ji Tai another word. He sat in front of the dragon case, rubbed his temples, and picked up a stack of paper beside him.
These are the sixteen poems from Li Chenan's Mid-Autumn Festival.
He read the sixteen poems again, and his mood seemed to get a little better.
"I will return to Changle Palace in three days."
Ji Tai was happy in her heart, but she was surprised on her face:
"Your Majesty, you can't leave now!"
Emperor Ning put the stack of paper next to him again, "It's not far from Empress Lu's memorial day. I'm going to make preparations."
"As for this matter in court, you must take it seriously."
"Guild Master Sun Jinghong and Chen An are here... I know there is some quarrel between you. You are both my ministers and serve the country of Daning. What do your personal grudges mean?"
"Put it all down!"
"Let me have some leisure time, and you can spend more time on state affairs, so that the people can live a better life."
Ji Tai bowed again and said, "I will remember what the emperor said... I did have some misunderstandings with Master Xiao Li in the past. I will host a banquet to invite Mr. Xiao Li someday. I hope we can put aside the past suspicion and serve the emperor together."
As soon as he finished speaking, Chang Zuoqing hurried in.
"Your Majesty... Something happened at the Imperial City Department. Lord Changsun and Lord Xiao Li are not here."
Emperor Ning frowned, and his mood suddenly became bad again, "What happened to the Imperial City Division again?"
"Back to the emperor, I heard that an old man died."
"...Just such a small thing?"
"Your Majesty, this seems to be no small matter, because not only Master Changsun and Master Xiao Li have gone, but almost all the people in the Imperial City Department have also gone... to pay their last respects to the old man."
Ji Tai was shocked. He had never expected that the Imperial City Secretary would pay so much attention to the old man named Miao Qiufen.
Then I thought about it, that guy had been lurking around him all these years, and he must have sent a lot of information to the Imperial City Division. Fortunately, he was discovered by Xi Wei.
He deserves to die!
The Imperial City Division is trying to steal the chicken but lose the rice, so let them cry!
As a result, he suddenly felt happy, but unexpectedly, Eunuch Chang looked at him and looked like he was hesitant to speak.
The emperor was also startled at this time, "Have all the chief and deputy officials gone? Where have they gone?"
"Back to the Emperor, I have just learned the news."
"Tell me, I said that Mr. Li, who had left the Imperial City Department with the funeral procession first, passed by..."
Eunuch Chang glanced at Ji Tai again. This time Ji Tai saw the strange look in Eunuch Chang's eyes, and her heart suddenly skipped a beat. Then she heard Eunuch Chang say again:
"When passing through Changyue Alley, Mr. Li ordered the team to stop for a moment at the door of the Prime Minister's Mansion."
The emperor raised his eyebrows and asked in confusion: "Why is the entrance to the prime minister's residence?"
Ji Tai's eyelids suddenly twitched, and he had a bad premonition. He looked at Eunuch Chang with his old eyes wide open.
"Master Xiao Li ordered his men to smash the door of the Prime Minister's Mansion... In addition, Master Xiao Li also threw two jars, the fireworks that blew up the Fish and Dragon Club on Mid-Autumn Night... into the Prime Minister's Mansion!"
Ji Tai's face suddenly turned pale, and then turned red!
The prince was also shocked when he heard this.
Although he didn't know what it was, he had heard that it was very powerful.
On the Mid-Autumn Festival night, Li Chenan used this thing to break through the defense of the Fish and Dragon Society headquarters, blow up the wall of the second prince's palace, and also blow up the study room of Prime Minister Ji Tai's palace.
"……This issue……"
Emperor Ning turned to look at Ji Tai, "Young man Chen An has been living in the small place of Guangling City in the past. Although his poems and articles are very good, his work is still a bit arrogant."
"After all, this is also the nature of youth."
"As the prime minister of a country, you don't have to argue with him...Why did he break down your door and blow up your yard?"
Ji Tai's desire to kill had already arisen, but at this moment he could only suppress it in his heart.
He bowed and said: "Back to the emperor, I still don't know the reason!"
"Your Majesty is right. At this old age, I certainly cannot vent my anger with Mr. Li."
"Didn't they just blow up some buildings and tear down the door of the Prime Minister's Mansion?"
"After the next court, I will hire a craftsman to repair it again and it will be fine."
"That's the old minister's small family. It's not important. What's important is our Ningguo family, Your Majesty!"
"The barbarians in the Western Region have made some changes, and the western frontier army is in short supply of food and grass. The veteran believes that investigating the water bandits in Shuangjiao Lake is the biggest thing now!"
Emperor Ning touched his short beard and said, "Well, that makes sense!"
"Eunuch An,"
"The slave is here!"
"Go and see where Chen An and Changsun Jinghong have gone? Take them to the Imperial Study Room, and I...ask them how to handle this matter!"
