Corrupt official in the Red Chamber

Chapter 447 Trial

"My lord, I'm ready at my home. I'm ready to receive you at any time." Zhen Dianjun's attitude was very low.

Wangcai nodded with satisfaction, then drank all the tea in his hand, ate another piece of snack, clapped his hands and stood up and said:

"Now that we are ready, let's get started. Don't waste my uncle's time."

Zhen Dianjun did not dare to neglect and quickly led Wangcai to a small yard nearby.

There were many strangers in the small courtyard, and Wangcai knew at a glance that these people were special.

One of them, a man who looked like a bookkeeper, looked ordinary, but in the intuition of a wealthy warrior, he felt that this man was very dangerous.

Of course, if it is said to be dangerous, it means that people in this world, and Wangcai, a close confidant who has inherited the world of Jia Rui's martial arts, do not take it lightly.

Zhen Dianjun took Wangcai into the main room and saw seven or eight people standing inside.

These people all lowered their eyebrows and didn't even dare to raise their heads. They looked very submissive.

When they saw Zhen Dianjun and Wangcai coming in, they immediately knelt down on one knee and said, "Young ones have seen the adults."

But when he said this, his tone was a little unnatural.

Wangcai understood as soon as his eyes rolled. It turned out that these people were all slaves of the Zhen family. When they met Zeng Dianjun, he wanted to call him his master. I am afraid that the master knew his future fate and had received special instructions from the old lady of the Zhen family. That's why the name was changed.

Wangcai didn't care and sat directly on the imperial chair in the middle. Zeng Dianjun took out a few notebooks from the box next to him and handed them to Wangcai.

Wangcai took it in his hand and looked at it carefully. It turned out to be a page-by-page roster.

Wangcai closed the roster at the top and asked, "How many people are there in total?"

"Sir, there are one thousand official personnel and four to five thousand peripheral personnel."

Wangcai had never expected that this intelligence department would be so large. Although he didn't know what the intelligence department of the imperial court was like, the intelligence network of the Zhen family, even if it was not as good as the intelligence department, was not much different.

No wonder my uncle let Zhen Dianlun go. It turned out that the Zhen family paid such a heavy price!

After that, a middle-aged man who had been standing just now also brought a book and carefully came to Wangcai's side.

"Sir, this is a store we control. Firstly, it is used for intelligence collection expenses. Secondly, it is also to have a foothold and a support point."

This time Wangcai didn't look at it, but put it with those rosters.

"Since you have surrendered to my Duke, you can no longer be here. You gather everyone and me to return to the Duke's mansion to see our Duke."

The few middle-aged people below heard Wangcai's words and did not feel dissatisfied at all. Instead, they nodded in agreement with smiles on their faces.

In fact, they also hope to submit to the imperial court or Jia Rui, who controls the imperial court.

They used to work with the Zhen family, and they were still nominally slaves of the Zhen family. If something happened and the Zhen family couldn't survive, they would have to risk their lives.

And if you follow Jia Ruigan this time, you will be a member of the imperial court. Then going out will not be like the Intelligence Department, with five or six people, unlike now like rats hiding in the gutter, afraid to show their heads.

Wangcai stood up with a few account books and rosters in his arms, and said to Zhen Dianjun with a smile: "I'm busy today so I won't stay any longer. When I go back, I will definitely tell the Duke of your family's sincerity. It will be necessary then." The benefit of your family."

After saying that, Wangcai followed him out of the door, followed by seven or eight people in charge of the original intelligence network.

When Wangcai came outside, he stopped for a moment and took a look. He saw a person like Mr. Accountant still standing outside.

"Who is this? Is he one of us too?" Wangcai asked a stall driver following him.

"Sir, this is the housekeeper of the Zhen Mansion and has nothing to do with us."

Wangcai sighed regretfully and then ignored him. He led the people out of the small courtyard. When they went outside, one of them blocked his head and clapped his hands. After a while, sixty or seventy people gathered outside the courtyard.

They are all members of the headquarters of this intelligence network, and they all have some abilities.

Afterwards, Wangcai, surrounded by these people, left Zhen's Mansion in a mighty manner and returned to Wu Guogong's Mansion.

After Wangcai left, Zeng Dianjun breathed a sigh of relief and went back to report to his mother.

Besides, Wangcai returned to Wu Guogong's mansion and temporarily arranged the people he brought back in a small courtyard in the front yard.

Afterwards, Wangcai went to the second gate.

When he came to the second gate, he greeted the eunuch guarding the gate and asked him to go in and report.

Although Wangcai is still Jia Rui's confidant, he can no longer enter the second gate. Now all the inner houses after the second gate are taken over by eunuchs.

The eunuch also knew Wangcai's identity, so he smiled and agreed and hurried inside.

After about a quarter of an hour, the eunuch finally ran back in a hurry.

"Steward Wangcai, the Duke of Guo asked you to wait in the outer study."

Wangcai smiled, then took out a piece of broken silver from his arms and threw it to the eunuch, "Thank you very much."

The eunuch happily took the money and said, "Thank you, Steward Wangcai, for the reward."

After that, Wangcai went to the outer study room and waited respectfully for Jia Rui.

About half an hour later, Jia Rui arrived belatedly.

When Wangcai saw Jia Rui coming, he trotted to Jia Rui's side and immediately saluted him.

Jia Rui just nodded and continued walking forward. Bang Cai quickly stood up and followed Jia Rui into the outer study. After entering the study, Jia Rui sat in the middle, "Did the reception go smoothly?"

"Going back to uncle, it went very smoothly."

Jia Rui didn't speak for a long time, as if he was thinking about something.

"Although you have taken over their territory, these people still cannot fully believe that from now on you will temporarily be in charge of this intelligence network, codenamed Shadow."

Wangcai was ecstatic after hearing this, but his face still looked very humble. He knelt down and kowtowed to Jia Rui to thank him.

Jia Rui did not let him stand up, but said: "There is a large courtyard next to the Dragon Guard. That courtyard is temporarily allocated to you as the headquarters of the shadow."

"Thank you, uncle."

"Don't thank me in a hurry. I've given you the place to live, but then you'll have to rely on yourself?"

"My slave understands that I must not embarrass the Duke."

"It's good that you know. Don't worry about your people and the affairs of the Jianghu. Also keep an eye on the Intelligence Department. Don't let them play tricks."

Wangzi's eyes flashed and he understood what Jia Rui meant.

My master is suspicious of the Intelligence Department, so let me supervise it!

"Don't worry, sir, I will definitely be optimistic about the Intelligence Department." Wang Cai assured him, patting his chest.

But Wangcai didn't know that Jia Rui also gave the Intelligence Department the same order, asking them to monitor the shadow in Wangcai's hands.

Jia Rui wanted the two largest intelligence agencies in the country to supervise and check each other so that he would not become blind.

Of course, Jia Rui still has a back-up. Although Hualan's hidden killing department is an assassination department, it also has certain intelligence capabilities. If necessary, if two major intelligence departments make mistakes, hidden killing can also be forced. Scalp up.

"Now I'll give you a task, which will serve as your training."

"Master, please give me your instructions."

"Isn't Enke going to be fired soon? Keep your eyes open during this period and keep an eye on the capital to see if there is any fraud."

"Young man, please go back and make arrangements now. You won't miss the uncle's affairs."

Jia Rui nodded, then waved Wangcai out.

After Wangcai left, Jia Rui stood up and walked a few steps in the study.

This time's favor is Jia Rui's way of showing favor to the prince of the world, so there must be no trouble.

He felt relieved about Jia Zheng. He was considered a gentleman, and his family was not short of money, so the possibility of accepting money was very small.

But Jia Rui was a little worried about the other two deputy examiners, so he thought it would be better to send someone to keep an eye on them.

As the day of Enke gets closer, there are more and more scholars in the capital. They gather in groups, discuss articles together, or talk loudly together.

Of course, there are some who are not in harmony among them. Some people are also talking privately about Jia Rui's monopoly on the affairs of the court. Some people are even preparing to give Jia Rui a chance to stand down during the palace examination.

The person who came up with this idea was also from Jinling, a frequent visitor to the Qinhuai River, and had a fairly good reputation among the scholars.

His surname was Lu and his name was Che. He was well-read in poetry and books, visited many scholars from various places, and was quite famous in poetry.

Many singers on the Qinhuai River were proud to sing his poems, and they looked like poetry immortals of this dynasty.

However, this person has a bad habit, that is, he easily gets into trouble.

This may be a good temper when it comes to writing poems and lyrics, but it is not a good thing when it comes to official examinations.

Ever since Jia Rui took over Chao Gang and imprisoned the emperor, this guy has regarded Jia Rui as a thorn in his side, thinking that Jia Rui will usurp the throne sooner or later.

If you know it, you know it. Anyway, everyone has guessed about this kind of thing. You are at home and no one cares about you. But this guy is different. He made a lot of nonsense at several class reunions.

Even the prefect of Jinling once knew about this incident and almost arrested him. Fortunately, the local academic administration interceded and the matter was dropped.

But no one knew that this guy was going to embarrass Jia Rui in this exam.

Time flies so fast, and the day of trying is here in the blink of an eye.

As the examiner, Jia Zheng had entered the gantry a few days in advance. After the examination began, the gantry was closed immediately and could not be opened again until the end of the examination.

Although Lu Che has a bad temper, it has to be said that he is indeed talented.

After several days of exams, he was the first to submit the paper each time, which attracted Jia Zheng's attention.

On the last day, Lu Che turned in his paper first as before. After he went out, Jia Zheng picked up his paper and read the article written on it.

The more I looked at Jia Zheng, the more I liked him, and later he even praised him.

"What a great article and great policy."

(End of this chapter)