"Sir, what's wrong?" When Zhu Ainao saw him, he couldn't help but asked with concern.
Zhang Mingwei handed the memorial to her and said, "Read it to me!"
There is no punctuation for this kind of vertical arrangement in ancient times, and there are many memorials in traditional Chinese characters. It makes my head hurt to read them. Although he could roughly understand what it meant, he needed to know the details, and with Zhu Yuluo as his secretary, he certainly wouldn't let it go.
After hearing this, Zhu Ainao quickly took the memorial and started reading it.
As she read, her voice changed and became a little angry.
It turned out that the local government reported that a group of thieves had been found wandering around the capital, and recently they had arrived in the southwest area of the capital. They blocked roads, robbed people, robbed people, and even killed people. Many refugees who returned home suffered as a result.
At this time in the fifteenth year of Chongzhen's reign, Zhang Mingwei certainly knew that there was unrest outside. However, he did not expect that those bandits would dare to appear in the prefectures and counties near the capital and openly kill and loot.
These are really troubled times!
But even so, Zhang Mingwei still asked angrily: "What do local officials do for food? Even the surrounding areas of the capital are like this?"
"Sir, although the world is not at peace, there is no such thing around the capital when we can go." After hearing this, Wang Erbiao quickly replied, "There is speculation in the palace that they may be going for those refugees. Therefore, long live the Lord." Let our family forward this memorial to your husband."
Having said this, he raised his voice a little and emphasized: "Sir, don't worry, Long live the Lord is furious and has ordered the local government to investigate the matter strictly."
Zhang Mingwei was stunned when he heard this. It had never happened before. But now it appears. Could it be for the refugees? If this is really the case, who would it be? Are they coming for the refugees or for themselves?
After thinking about it, he couldn't think of any result.
However, in these troubled times, it is not wrong to predict the worst outcome. So, after Wang Erbiao left, Zhang Mingwei sent an order to call someone.
In the lobby, except for Zhu Yuluo and Zhou Yuji, there was only one kneeling person.
"Get up and talk!" Zhang Mingwei waved his hand and said, "Is there anything unusual about the people I asked you to stare at?"
"Thank you, Mr. Guo!" The man responded and stood up, then lowered his hands and replied respectfully, "The common people have already arranged it, but it has only been a few days and nothing unusual has been seen yet!"
Indeed, it has only been a few days, and Shanxi merchants have quite a lot of property in the capital. If Luo Zujiao didn't have enough people, most people wouldn't be able to keep an eye on him.
However, if they want to see any abnormalities, the requirements for them are too high. After all, they are not professional in this and have not been trained in this area.
After thinking for a while, Zhang Mingwei said to the person in front of him, Zhou Wenzhen: "I'll look back at Jinyiwei and Dongchang. If there are any personnel details in their houses, I will give you a copy. If not, I will give you a copy. Find your own way to figure it out, and then you can focus on targeting people."
After hearing this, Zhou Wenzhen quickly agreed, but he was a little puzzled. He couldn't understand why this big shot asked him to keep an eye on those Shanxi merchants?
I wanted to ask, but in the end I didn't dare.
The last assassination incident was caused by his own naivety. I originally thought of using this opportunity to make good friends with the commander of the Jinyiwei, so that the Luozu Sect could openly preach like Taoism and Buddhism. Unexpectedly, the emperor was so furious after hearing this that he wanted to kill everyone who was not conducive to the commander of the Jinyiwei.
Thanks to Zhang Mingwei's intercession, he was saved, and then he worked for Jin Yiwei to atone for his sins.
Zhou Wenzhen was thinking in his mind when he heard Zhang Mingwei ask him again: "You have a lot of followers in the Luozu Sect. I guess there must be some outside the capital, right?"
This is not a secret. Zhou Wenzhen nodded quickly after hearing this.
When Zhang Mingwei saw it, he continued to ask: "Have you heard about the recent cases of refugees returning home being robbed and killed?"
"I heard it!" Zhou Wenzhen nodded quickly and said, "Sir, there is something fishy about this matter!"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Mingwei couldn't help but be stunned. After he came to his senses, he immediately became interested and asked quickly, "What's strange?"
"In the past, it was commonplace for some people to die outside, and no one would care." After hearing this, Zhou Wenzhen replied cautiously, "But this time, the fact that the refugees were killed was immediately spread in the capital. It's open, and it's being talked about in many places. Common people thought...that there was someone behind this deliberately spreading the news."
Hearing this, Zhang Mingwei was shocked. This was indeed abnormal, so he asked: "Then can you find out who is spreading the news?"
"Now that the news has spread, I'm afraid it will be difficult to check!" Zhou Wenzhen said with embarrassment after hearing this.
Hearing this, Zhang Mingwei frowned. It's not that he is angry, but he feels that this matter of monitoring public opinion must be done. In this way, if there is any trouble in the capital, he can grasp it in time.
However, it is not that easy to monitor public opinion in the capital.
In divided areas, people are assigned to keep an eye on restaurants, teahouses and other places where people gather, collect information, organize it daily, and organize and archive it. These things are easy to say, but if they are really done, manpower and funds are problems.
Thinking like this, Zhang Mingwei kept this matter in his heart, and then asked Zhou Wenzhen: "Do you know who the thief is who killed the person?"
After finishing speaking, seeing the embarrassment on Zhou Wenzhen's face, Zhang Mingwei suddenly snorted: "The rise and fall of the Luo Ancestor Sect is all on you. If you don't do things well, believe it or not, I can uproot you? If you do things well, I have made great contributions to the imperial court, not to mention rectifying your names, but even giving you a foundation is possible!"
Both Buddhism and Taoism have their own foundations and strong incense. But today's Luo Zujiao is hiding in Tibet, worrying about the suppression of the imperial court all day long. If it was mainly because of the suppression of Buddhism that the Luozu Sect could still hold on, the man in front of me, in a blink of an eye, the Luozu Sect was really different between heaven and earth.
At this time, Zhou Wenzhen didn't know if he regretted getting involved with Jin Yiwei. He quickly answered Zhang Mingwei in a cold sweat: "Please give the common people some time, I will contact the believers in the capital to check the situation."
After hearing this, Zhang Mingwei nodded and said: "Do it well and I won't treat you badly!"
"Understood, the common people understand!" After hearing this, Zhou Wenzhen wiped his sweat and nodded repeatedly.
As soon as he left, Zhu Yuluo, who had been listening beside him, asked with some confusion: "Sir, can he find out?"
Cats have cat paths, mice have rat paths. Some things are difficult for the authorities to investigate, but people from all walks of life can get twice the result with half the effort. Zhang Mingwei has watched too many Hong Kong and Taiwan dramas and knows this truth even if he has never experienced it.
So he smiled and said, "Look!"
As night falls, officials at all levels disperse from their offices. Some of them are in a good mood, some are in a depressed mood, and some are extremely anxious.
One of them, the one who was blowing his beard and staring, was obviously fed up with the anger in the court.
