Unexplained things suddenly appeared at home. If they were some worthless gadgets, Shen Yi wouldn't take them seriously, but now someone actually sent a cart of silver bones and charcoal, which made Mr. Shen feel very strange. .
The size of this kind of gift would not be shabby for a prime minister's family.
If someone sent it with his name and spent a lot of money to make friends with Shen Yi, the future star, then it would make sense. But it would be a bit weird to send such a valuable thing for nothing and not be prepared to accept this favor.
Shen Yi asked his family to collect all these things and found two more extraordinary gifts.
One of them is a rather exquisite-looking vase. The gift list states that it is ordinary porcelain and is used for flower arrangements. However, there is a seemingly ordinary signature on the bottom of the vase, which proves that this thing came from the official kiln of the previous dynasty. It's been two or three hundred years now.
This thing has a real price in Dongshi Street Antique Alley, about 2,000 taels to 3,000 taels of silver.
The other item was a scroll of landscape paintings, and the gift list said it was an imitation painting. Shen Yi was not familiar with antiques and antiques, and he didn't take it to heart at first, but because he had the previous porcelain, Shen Yi bought it from Dongshi Street. I found an expert in this art to come to my house for appraisal. The master looked at it for half an hour and gave a comment that it was probably authentic.
This painting also belonged to a famous artist from the previous dynasty. If it were authentic, it would probably fetch five to six thousand taels of silver.
Master Shen frowned when he heard the news.
He didn't think this was a bribery incident.
Because he is not in charge of the Ministry of War, let alone the head of the Military Selection Department of the Ministry of War. If the military attaché asks someone to do something, he cannot ask for help. Now the military attache who can ask for help is the person who resisted the Japanese army, and those who The generals are all acquaintances, so it is impossible for them to do this for no reason, let alone spend so much money without leaving their names.
It is also unlikely that someone wants to use the stigma of "taking bribes" to discredit him.
Corruption and bribery have never been a big problem for the emperor. The emperor knows better than anyone else that there are not many officials below who are not corrupt. But as long as they don't go too far, don't step on red lines, and are useful to the court, the emperor will probably turn a blind eye. Close one eye.
Take Shen Yi's current situation as an example. Even if the emperor knew about his corruption and bribery, he would probably not deal with him. He would even worry about whether he would have enough money to fight the Japanese army...
Now that both possibilities have been denied, these gifts of unknown origin appear even more bizarre.
The next morning, Shen Yi sat at his home thinking about this problem. After lunch, he had these things sealed on the spot, and then he left home and went straight to the imperial city.
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After entering the imperial city, he did not go anywhere else, but went to the Di newspaper office.
Today, the Di Newspaper Division is running very smoothly and has become a relatively successful yamen under the inner court. The eunuch Sun Jin who works here is also highly valued by the high eunuchs. He often goes to the Ministry of Internal Affairs every now and then to interact with those purple-robed eunuchs. He was even arranged by Gao Ming to serve the emperor twice in the Manlu Palace.
After entering the Di newspaper office, Shen Yi went straight to Sun Jin without any nonsense. After the two of them saluted, Shen Yi looked at Sun Jin and said in a deep voice: "Eunuch Sun, I want to see Eunuch Gao, can you inform me on my behalf?
"
Sun Jin was stunned for a moment, and then he smiled: "Don't Sizheng often go to the palace? Go directly to the palace gate and make a call. It shouldn't be difficult to see Eunuch Gao."
After all, Shen Yi is the old leader of the Di News Department. Sun Jin here calls Sizheng instead of the chief. It's not that he doesn't remember things, but he wants to get closer to Shen Yi.
"In a hurry…"
Shen Yi whispered: "And it's not convenient to publicize..."
"Eunuch Sun, please do me a favor."
After Sun Jin hesitated for a moment, he nodded silently and said: "Okay, I will go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs in person. If Eunuch Gao is not waiting for His Majesty, I will immediately call Si Zheng to come into the palace."
As the position of Di Newspaper Division became more and more stable, Sun Jin's status in the palace was not low. Not long after he entered the palace, a young eunuch came to Di Newspaper Division and led Shen Yi all the way into the palace.
, in a side hall of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, I saw the high eunuch who was drinking tea and warming himself by the fire.
Shen Yi stepped forward quickly, lowered his head slightly and said, "Eunuch Gao."
Gao Ming looked at Shen Yi with some surprise and chuckled: "Master Shen is so anxious to see our family, what happened?"
Foreign ministers generally do not meet internal officials in private. After all, they meet many times. When they quarrel with other civil servants, they may be called ugly words such as eunuchs and lackeys.
Shen Yi found a chair and sat down by himself. After sorting out his thoughts, he roughly talked about what happened at home. Then he looked up at Gao Ming and whispered: "Eunuch Gao, this matter in Jiankang City, I'm afraid
Only you can help me."
"How can Chief Shen want our family to help?"
Gao Ming lowered his head and took a sip of tea and asked, "Do you want the inner guards to investigate this matter?"
Shen Yi nodded: "Yes, the official wants to know who is the person who gave the heavy gifts to the official's family and what is the relationship behind it..."
"In Jiankang City, several days have passed since the incident. I'm afraid only the internal guards can find out."
Gao Ming put down the teacup in his hand, lowered his head and thought for a moment, then looked at Shen Yi and asked, "Does Master Shen have someone to suspect? Otherwise, he probably wouldn't have come directly to the palace to see our family."
"have…"
Shen Yi was silent for a moment and said slowly: "The official suspects... that it was the Qi people who did it."
Gao Ming was not surprised by this answer. He looked at Shen Yi blankly and said softly: "In order to alienate the monarch and his ministers and destroy His Majesty's trust in Chief Shen?"
Shen Yi was silent and did not answer.
After a moment, he whispered: "I think I am not that important, but I have doubts in my heart, so I want to find my father-in-law for confirmation."
Eunuch Gao lowered his head to drink tea again, and then looked at Shen Yi blankly: "Master Shen, if it is really a gift from Qi Ren, it doesn't matter whether you accept these things or not."
Yes.
Once the seeds of doubt are planted, there will definitely be a crack in the trust between two people. The only difference is the size of the crack.
If this is really what Qi Ren did, then this is Qi Ren's conspiracy.
It only takes a little money to make the emperor suspicious of Shen Yi. As long as the emperor is suspicious enough, Shen Yi will definitely not be reused in the military in the future.
Shen Yi naturally understands this truth.
He stood up and said slowly: "That's why I came to my father-in-law in a hurry and wanted the internal guards to prove my innocence for me."
Gao Ming is the emperor's personal attendant and his majesty's confidant. Talking to him is actually not much different from talking to the emperor himself.
Shen Yi came to the palace in a hurry just to confess.
After all, if he didn't take the initiative to "report" it to the palace, and one day the internal security guards found out about this matter, then this matter would really be impossible to defend.
Eunuch Gao lowered his head to drink tea again, then glanced at Shen Yi and said calmly: "Our family knows about this matter. Don't panic, Master Shen. Just go back and wait for the news."
"As soon as the internal security has news, our family will send someone to inform you."
Shen Yi bowed his hands to Gao Ming to thank him, and then said: "Eunuch, those things in Xiaguan's house that have unknown origins..."
"Master Shen will keep it at home."
Gao Ming smiled.
"Your Majesty will probably reward you if he knows about it."