Fenghou

Chapter 1298 Revenge
Hu Yun also did not expect that the other party would attack the raw materials of the "Beijing News". Although this move is despicable, it is very vicious, and it is equivalent to drawing salary from the bottom of the pot. But now is a critical moment, and the Western Army's Northern Expedition has made King Yong's legitimacy more and more popular. From the donations of the common people, we can see how much everyone supports and the defection of court officials. In just three days, nearly [-] officials have come to me to report and collect travel expenses.

And the other party is a little anxious to jump over the wall to attack at this critical moment. If I don't stop it decisively, I don't know what crazy things they will do.

However, the top priority is to continue to publish newspapers and continue to expand the influence of King Yong, so that no problems can occur at this critical moment.

Thinking of this, Hu Yun asked: "How long can the paper last?"

"It can still support about seven or eight days, and the ink inventory is large, which can last for one month."

"Are there other alternative sources of paper?" Hu Yun asked again.

Wang Mu said worriedly: "There are still a few paper-making workshops, and the purchase volume is not large at ordinary times, but I am more worried that they are afraid of retaliation and refuse to supply us with paper. This possibility is very high. I was thinking just now, can we Supply paper from Yangzhou?"

“Yangzhou is great!”

Hu Yun praised: "It only takes two or three days for the ship to arrive. Is there a paper merchant there?"

"There are three, but it takes at least ten days for them to ship the paper. However, I can purchase a batch from Pingjiang Mansion. We have a branch printing newspapers in Pingjiang Mansion. The paper is supplied by two local paper mills. I guess They can support a little, but not too much, three days should be enough, and now I am worried about whether the paper supply in Yangzhou will be in time, and I will rush to Yangzhou today to coordinate the paper supply."

Hu Yun thought for a while and said, "Let's do this! I'll let the deputy envoy accompany you to Yangzhou, and let the Yangzhou government participate in the coordination. In the future, Yangzhou will participate in the supply of paper and ink, and the multiple guarantees!"

Wang Mu nodded, "If the supply of paper is sufficient, I might as well open a printing branch in Yangzhou."

"Think about this for yourself. What I need to do is to cut off their thieves."

Hu Yun said coldly: "If you don't let them hurt once, they will still be unscrupulous."

There is a palace by the West Lake, which covers an area of ​​about [-] mu, and it is the place where the emperor takes refuge in summer. It was just completed last year and is currently being decorated inside. In summer, the emperor will bring his concubines to live in the palace.

At one o'clock in the night, the palace suddenly caught fire. The fire ignited from three directions. The fire was very fast and became one piece in a short while. The smoke billowed and the flames rose into the sky. The people in the west of the city saw the smoke billowing and walked out of their houses one after another. The entire street was full of residents, talking about it.

At this time, the fire was too intense, and the soldiers fighting the fire retreated one after another, standing in the distance, watching helplessly as the palace was engulfed by the fire.

The fire burned until the morning of the next day before it gradually extinguished, but the palace, which cost tens of thousands of guan, was also burned to the ground. Thousands of Plum Blossom Guard soldiers sealed off the surroundings of the palace, and they were carefully checking all kinds of clues.

At this time, a carriage was escorted by dozens of cavalry and drove quickly, until it came to the gate of the palace, the carriage stopped, and Qin Hui walked out of the carriage.

He walked up the steps and looked at the burning palace that was left with only ruined walls. He was really annoyed. Everyone in the palace was packing up and preparing to move here, but unexpectedly it was destroyed by the fire.

But there was still a trace of uneasiness in his eyes, Xiaoshan Zhifang was destroyed by fire the night before, and the palace was also destroyed by fire last night.Is there a connection between the two?
At this time, Yan Xin, the commander of the Plum Blossom Guard, stepped forward quickly, bowed and saluted, "See Mr. Qin!"

"Are there any casualties?"

"Reporting to my lord, the [-] craftsmen and more than a dozen patrolling soldiers who lived in the palace at night all escaped smoothly, but four Plum Blossom Guard soldiers were crushed by the collapsed wall while fighting the fire and died in their line of duty.

"That's unfortunate. Has the cause of the fire been found?"

Yan Xin nodded, "Master, please follow me!"

He took Qin Hui to the side, pointed to a dozen leather bags on the ground and said, "I found these around, and I can still pour out a little kerosene, and there are more than a dozen torches, so I threw them on the ground. Mr. Qin understands." Someone set the fire with kerosene and deliberately threw the evidence on the ground for us to see, as for who it is, Qin Xianggong should be very clear."

Qin Hui's expression turned very ugly. Except for the intelligence spies of the Western Army, no one knew how to use kerosene, and they were the only ones who had this kind of kerosene. Sure enough, as he feared, the Western Army was retaliating.

He pondered for a moment and said: "Destroy the kerosene bag immediately. The news of this matter is blocked, and no one is allowed to leak it, understand?"

"Understandable!"

Qin Hui then got into the carriage and rushed back to the palace to report.
Zhao Gou only found out about the fire in the palace this morning, and he immediately ordered Xiangguo Qin Hui to investigate.

In the imperial study room, Zhao Gou paced back and forth with his hands behind his back. In fact, he also vaguely guessed that this was the Western Army's revenge. If this was the case, it would be a bit scary. Xinggong, what if I ordered the newspaper to be burned down again?Will the other party directly burn the palace?
Zhao Gou shuddered. He felt that if the other party wanted to do this, there was nothing he couldn't do.

"Your Majesty, Mr. Qin is here!"

Zhao Gou hurriedly said, "Show him in!"

Soon, Qin Hui hurried into the imperial study, bowed and said: "Your Majesty, I have been to the palace!"

"How's it going?"

Qin Hui shook his head, "It's not very good, the entire palace was burned down, and four soldiers who put out the fire died."

Zhao Gou gritted his teeth and said, "Who did it, can you find out?"

"Your Majesty, there is no need to investigate. There were more than a dozen skin bags lost at the scene. There was still kerosene and torches in them. There is only one family that can use kerosene."

Zhao Gou's face turned livid immediately, and he said slowly for a while, "Go and question them. The agreement signed at the beginning was clear, and their people were not allowed to destroy Lin'an again. Now they openly set fire to it. What do they want to do? If the agreement is useless, then I will Just take back Jiangnan West Road!"

"Your Majesty, I just went to see Hu Yun!"

When Zhao Gou turned his head, he saw Xu Xiantu standing at the door. Xu Xiantu bowed and said, "I'm rude, I should inform you first!"

Zhao Gou allowed Xu Xiantu to come in without notification, he waved his hand, "What did Xu Aiqing just say?"

"I went to question Hu Yun. I also went to the palace early in the morning and saw the kerosene skin, so I went directly to the special envoy's mansion and asked Hu Yun why he wanted to break the agreement?"

"Then what did he say?" Zhao Gou asked anxiously.

"He said that we have insufficient evidence, so let's not make random accusations. If they did it, they wouldn't throw away the skins. This is obviously a very low-level planting!"

Zhao Gou frowned and asked, "Perhaps what he said made sense, but how did he explain the source of the kerosene?"

"He said that kerosene was sold in the pharmacies in Yan'an Prefecture. You couldn't buy a lot of it, but you could still buy one or two barrels. He also said that Zhang Jun's warehouse management was not strict before, and thousands of barrels of kerosene were sold. The warehouse was stolen and sold, and their whereabouts are unknown, so it is ridiculous to identify them with just a few kerosene bags!"

Zhao Gou was at a loss for words, he looked at Qin Hui again, Qin Hui said coldly: "They did it, it's just that they don't admit it, there are eight torches in Xiaoshan Zhifang, and there are also eight torches in the palace, it's not a coincidence. "

"If they don't admit it, is there nothing we can do?" Zhao Gou said angrily.

Qin Hui sneered, "They just don't admit it, and we can just don't admit it. In Wei Chen's opinion, it's easy to burn down the "Beijing News" newspaper."

Xu Xiantu immediately said anxiously: "Your Majesty, have you forgotten how Xiangyang was lost? Chen Qing sent [-] troops to Quanzhou. Your Majesty, Chen Qing is waiting for me to strike first!"

Zhao Gou sat down slumped, and after a while, he waved his hands, "You all step back!"

At this moment, he felt a little timid in his heart. He really couldn't afford to lose Fujian Road for a newspaper office. Zhao Gou suddenly realized that Chen Qing's next goal must be Fujian Road.

(End of this chapter)