With a delicate smile, the rough guy bows down for the beauty

Chapter 63
Royal study.

Emperor Jianning sat behind the desk with a gloomy expression, and a group of ministers stood in front of him.

The left and right censors of the Procuratorate, Su Yi and Jiang Chong, Xu Fu, Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, Luo Wenyuan, Minister of the Ministry of War, Xu Changnian, Duke of Ruiguo, and Qin Zhao, Marquis of Jingchang.

"You have read the confession, tell me, do you think King Yu has much to do with this matter?"

Emperor Jianning threw the red sandalwood beads in his hand on the table, and glanced at the people below.

"Xu Shangshu, you go first."

Xu Fu's face tightened when he was called, and he stepped forward half a step and cupped his hands.

"Your Majesty, I believe that the gunpowder mentioned in this person's statement was transported to Yuzhou. Regardless of whether King Yu interferes in this matter, he must first be guilty of negligence."

As the vassal king of Yizhou, he made gunpowder privately and sold it in his fief. King Yu was indeed negligent of his duty.

After all, the title of king is not for you to go there to have fun and enjoy the happiness, but also has the responsibility to govern one side.

Emperor Jianning couldn't deny it, and turned his eyes, "Su Yushi, you have been in the Inspectorate for many years and supervised all the officials. What do you think of King Yu?"

When the question was thrown, Su Yi's eyes moved, and he quickly thought about how to deal with it.

"Returning to the emperor, the Inspectorate has not found out anything wrong with Yuzhou officials over the years, but Yuzhou is still far away from Bianjing. If a high-ranking person deliberately conceals it, it will be difficult to detect it. You have to send someone to the local area of ​​Yuzhou , so that we can in-depth monitoring."

"And I think that the sulfur, charcoal, and saltpeter needed to make gunpowder can be obtained in the first two ways, but saltpeter must be obtained in large quantities from the mines, and the mines are all in the hands of the imperial court. If you want to secretly sell some of the mines to black workshops, it is inevitable that some of the high-level officials who manage the mines will use their power for personal gain."

After hearing Su Yi's words, Emperor Jianning seemed to have obtained some information he wanted, or what he wanted to hear, and slowly looked away.

Then he said in a deep voice, "The Ministry of Industry is in charge of mining. The wife of Minister Feng Gan of the Ministry of Industry is from Yuzhou."

As soon as these words came out, the officials present knew that the emperor must have checked before calling them here today, otherwise how would they know where a minister's wife is from?

So Xu Changnian, Duke of Ruiguo, stepped forward immediately.

"Your Majesty, using power for personal gain has still moved the court's official mines. If this matter is serious, it is not a trivial matter, and we have to investigate it carefully."

"Of course we need to find out." Emperor Jianning raised his eyes, "If it is related to King Yu, it is due to the collusion between the court officials and the vassal king. The gunpowder was transported privately. If it is used in the military, then it may have the intention of conspiracy !"

"Emperor calm down!"

Everyone immediately lowered their heads and said in unison.

As the sixth prince of the first emperor, King Yu was also discussed as a heir at that time, so he would not be a person without ambitions at all. It is normal for Emperor Jianning to be afraid of him.

At this time, Jingchang Hou Qin Zhao stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I remember that among the people arrested by the Ministry of Punishment this time, there were not only gunpowder manufacturers, but also those who came to buy gunpowder. I wonder if there is any news from these people? "

When he asked this, Emperor Jianning looked at Xu Fu.

The latter said, "That group of people are very stubborn. They didn't pry out anything useful. They only said that the people above asked them to make gunpowder, and someone would come to buy it at regular intervals. They didn't know anything else. What was the gunpowder bought for? , They don’t know either, as for those firearms, they made them themselves for self-defense.”

"The reason Shen Qianhu bumped into me that day was because the gunpowder buyers said that the gunpowder was faulty and of poor quality, so they went back to theory, and then they showed their whereabouts. Usually, they picked up the goods when there were many people in the night market. In a crowd, it's hard to be seen."

These people either spoke bluntly and did not fully explain, or they really only knew this.

At this moment, Luo Wenyuan, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, added on the side.

"Your Majesty, I think that the discovered gunpowder workshop is not big. If you want to mass-produce gunpowder for military use, it may not be enough. The production volume is probably suitable for making fireworks for sale. Bianjing City conducts a search to see if there is such a gunpowder workshop."

After he finished speaking, Xu Fu immediately picked up.

"Back to the emperor, I have sent people to investigate, but there is no result for the time being."

"If those people have accomplices, if they are caught, the others must stop immediately and hide, and it will be difficult to investigate." Qin Zhao said, "I feel that the control of personnel entering and exiting the city gate of Bianjing should be strengthened, and these people cannot be allowed to get out."

Emperor Jianning nodded in agreement.

"Luo Shangshu, send an order to the city defense battalion to strengthen patrol control."

"I obey the order." Luo Wenyuan cupped his hands.

Then everyone listened to Emperor Jianning speak again.

"The person behind this matter is really rampant. After the den was destroyed, he didn't stop there, and even dared to assassinate court officials in broad daylight. It can be seen that he is unscrupulous and has people behind him, so he must reveal the truth of the investigation. Otherwise, the Son of Heaven is restless, where can Beidi be safe?!"

All the courtiers immediately agreed.

After a stick of incense, several ministers left from the imperial study.

However, the two censors of the Procuratorate, Su Yi and Jiang Chong, and Xu Fu, Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, were left behind.

Emperor Jianning decided that he had to give King Yu a chance to defend himself, so he asked the Procuratorate and the Criminal Ministry to send people to Yuzhou to investigate the case and see if there was any change in King Yu.

East Palace.

Rui Guogong Xu Changnian went straight to this place after leaving the palace.

When the prince heard that he was coming, he met him in the study.

"I see Your Highness." Xu Changnian saluted.

The prince waved his hand, "Uncle, please sit down. What did the father say today? He is busy with tax matters. It seems that the father does not intend to let me intervene in this matter."

After Xu Changnian sat down, he opened his mouth in a deep voice.

"Today I read the confession brought by the Ministry of Criminal Justice. The person who assassinated Shen Qianhu confessed that someone sent him and two other people to follow Shen Qianhu and wait for an opportunity to kill him. Probably because Shen Qianhu destroyed the gunpowder workshop. Someone above wants to kill him to vent his anger, but I don't know who it is, but we know that the order came from Yuzhou."

"There are also the first group of people who were arrested. They only knew that the gunpowder was shipped to Yuzhou. They didn't know anything else, including the source of the gunpowder raw materials. The emperor suspected that this matter was related to the Ministry of Industry and the King of Yu. Now the thunder is furious. .”

After hearing these words, the prince's expression also sank a little.

"If it is true that the vassal king colluded with the ministers and gunpowder was involved, it is inevitable that there will be suspicions of recruiting troops for treason. It is expected that the father will be furious. I am afraid that this time the father will send people to Yuzhou to thoroughly investigate the case."

"I also have this guess. After the emperor sent everyone away, he left only the people from the Inspectorate to talk to the Minister of Punishment. I don't know who he will send in the end." Xu Changnian said.

The prince nodded and took a deep breath.

"The taxation issue in Gu Yan's hands has not been settled yet, so I'm afraid I won't be able to get away, but this case is not trivial, and Gu can't know the progress of the case at all, so I ask uncle to take the trouble to arrange it."

Xu Changnian cupped his hands, "Don't worry, Your Highness, I will definitely try to let our people go with us."

(End of this chapter)