Chapter 304 [Surprise News from the Ministry of Households]
Gattuso's face was ashen, waiting for death to come. His whole body was shaking, and he couldn't even say a word for mercy. The icy cold front was stuck to his throat, and he didn't know when it was pulled over.
Xiao Su Guan stood there for a long time, and finally said: "Xue...Brother Xue, he is me...my brother, you can't kill him, you...you can't kill him!"
Xue Poye sighed: "Actually, I don't want to kill anyone, but you don't understand. Once Gattuso returns to Rome, the damage to my country will be immeasurable. Neither you nor I can bear this historical responsibility."
Xiao Su Guang pondered for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Brother Xue, I will not let him return to Rome."
Xue Poye said calmly: "Can you guarantee it? Xiaosu Gun, I have to tell you something clearly. If he really leaves Da Chu, even if you use your life to compensate, it will not be enough."
of."
Gattuso suddenly said in a trembling voice: "Brother Xue... don't worry, I will stay... stay in Da Chu. I won't go back to Rome, I won't go back... God can testify...!"
Xue Poye withdrew his sword, stared at Xiao Su Gun, and said slowly: "Xiao Su Gun, every move of the two of you is under my eyes, so you must ensure that Gattuso does not leave you even half a step. Once
If something changes, I'm sure neither of you will end well."
Gattuso saw that Xue Poye had withdrawn his sword, and his life was probably saved. He hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed on the snow: "Thank you, thank you... God bless...!"
Xiao Su Guan's eyes flickered. He had already seen the carriage in the distance, as well as several Yulin guards who looked like stone sculptures around the carriage. Looking at Xue Poye's armor, he finally understood that his backstage person really was
Officials of the imperial court.
Xue Poye suddenly smiled, sheathed his sword, and said calmly: "No matter what, today is a good day. Congratulations to you. Do you know what you will do next?"
Xiao Su Guan and Gattuso looked at each other, their faces suddenly blank.
Yes, the formula of gunpowder has been successful, what should we do next?
Xue Poye touched his nose and asked: "Are you still planning to use copper furnace heating to cause an explosion?"
Xiao Su Guang touched his head and said blankly: "Brother Xue, do you have any good ideas? I have been thinking about this issue recently. Now that the gunpowder has been developed and the formula is understood, I think it must be useful, but...
…, I can’t think of how it could be more useful.”
Xue Poye looked at the endless snow-white land and said with a smile: "Gunpowder is a wonder of human civilization. It can be used to the extreme whether it is good or evil."
With gunpowder, I'm afraid Yu Gong wouldn't have to dig mountains day after day, year after year.
Xue Poye was silent for a moment and waved. Xiao Su Guan hurried over.
Thinking of it, I...why didn't I think of it."
Xue Poye chuckled and said: "Smartness can lead to mistakes. If a person is too smart, he will neglect many small details. You can experiment as I said. If it succeeds, then you don't need to buy a copper stove for heating.
, and it will be much more convenient to use gunpowder in the future." After saying this, Xue Poye took a deep breath, felt the unique cold air in winter, and waved his hands: "You go ahead, I will come see you later."
Xiao Sugun said hurriedly: "Brother Xue, you... you wait a minute!"
Xue Poye stopped, Xiao Su Guang took out the gunpowder formula from his arms, handed it to Xue Poye and said: "Brother Xue, this... you accept it!"
Xue Poye nodded with a smile, took the priceless formula, and whispered: "Xiao Sugun, you must pay attention to Gattuso. If it runs away and returns to Rome with the formula, I will be in trouble."
Future generations will be in danger!"
Seeing Xue Poye's serious look and low voice, Xiao Sugun couldn't help but nodded.
After leaving Xiaosu Gun, Xue Poye returned to Xueyuan. The one thing that came to mind was Xiao Shitou. The man mentioned Xiao Shitou twice. There was naturally a great relationship between them. Xiao Shitou was currently practicing in his house.
Soul step.
The little guy's kung fu has advanced by leaps and bounds, and he is no longer the Wu Xia Amen of the past. Xue Poye is completely convinced that even if two or three fourth-level masters surround Xiao Shitou, Xiao Shitou will definitely be able to get away easily.
"Master!" Xiao Shitou saw Xue Poye coming back and said in surprise: "I have fully practiced the Ecstasy Step."
Xue Poye's ecstasy step was only fully practiced a few days ago. Unexpectedly, Xiao Shitou's speed was also very fast. He naturally praised it, then closed the doors and windows tightly, pulled Xiao Shitou and sat down in the house, saying softly
He said: "Little Shitou, has your godfather Wang ever told you what your parents' names are?"
Xiao Shitou was stunned, wondering why Xue Poye suddenly mentioned his parents, his expression dimmed for a moment, he shook his head and said in a very soft voice: "No, I don't know, I never know anything about them.
"
Xue Poye nodded and said thoughtfully: "You... do you know the name Ye Qingyao?"
When Xiao Shitou heard the name, his whole body was shocked, he frowned, and seemed to be trying his best to think of the name. After a long time, he said blankly: "I haven't heard of it, no, I... I feel a little familiar...!"
He squinted his eyes and thought again, and finally shook his head and said: "Master, I don't know, who is Ye Qingyao?"
Xue Poye stroked his little head and whispered: "Ye Qingyao? She is a very beautiful... woman!"
Little Shitou seemed to understand, and asked doubtfully: "What does it have to do with me? Why did the master ask me if I know her?"
"It's nothing." Xue Poye stood up, changed the topic and said, "Practice this ecstasy step more, so that if you encounter danger in the future, you will be able to avoid it."
When Xiao Shitou heard the mention of the Ecstasy Step, he hurriedly pulled Xue Poye and said, "Master, I also revealed the three pages with blood last night."
"Three pages?"
Don’t know what kind of kung fu it is?
Xiao Shitou seemed very excited. He took out the "Book of Ecstasy" from his arms and opened three pages. This page was full of bright red handwriting. It was densely packed. I'm afraid there were thousands of words. Such a piece of paper said
There are thousands of words, and the handwriting is very small.
Xue Poye took a closer look and saw that this time it was not Sanskrit, but the real word Da Chu.
The first four words: "Live to honor your orders".
Xue Poye and Xiao Shitou looked at each other. It was strange. They immediately carefully identified each word. It took a lot of effort to identify these densely packed small characters. More importantly, the entire article was very
The old saying is difficult to pronounce, and it is very difficult to read it, let alone understand its meaning immediately.
When the two of them read the last part, they had forgotten most of the previous words. It took them half a day to read a thousand words, but they had no impression at all. The paper was full of ancient sayings.
However, this article mainly mentioned the word "fire". The last line they saw was "picture book".
Both of them are smart people, and they soon understood that the meaning of this so-called "illustrated book" is very clear. This article must have pictures to prompt it, but there are no half-length pictures on both sides of the page, but they don't know what it means.
Where to find pictures in the "Illustrated Book".
Xue Poye frowned, this "Book of Ecstasy" was not only strange, the kung fu in it was mysterious, but every page seemed to be playing tricks on people, deliberately leaving people with trouble.
One page was roasted by fire and poured with water, but not a word or a picture was revealed. It was not until the blood dripped on the small stone that the secret was revealed. The second page was blocked by Sanskrit. Fortunately, Gattuso solved it. Now we have arrived.
There are three pages, but I need to find a picture. But where can I find this picture?
Xiao Shitou blinked and asked: "Master, will the picture be on page four?"
It was not that Xue Poye had never thought about this. At this time, he felt that the possibility was extremely small. After all, the first two pages were devoted to one skill per page. On the third page, this rule may not change.
"If recorded in pages, then this page with thousands of words can be divided into two pages." Xue Poye shook his head and said: "But you guys, it's all on one page, and the possibility of having a picture on four pages is relatively low.
"
"How about giving it a try?" Xiao Shitou whispered.
Xue Poye frowned and pondered for a moment, nodded, but said: "The kung fu in this book of ecstasy is very particular. It is a page-by-page practice and cannot be skipped. Therefore, if you are not proficient in the kung fu in these three pages,
Do not practice the four pages, do you understand?"
Seeing Xue Poye's serious expression, Xiao Shitou immediately nodded and said: "Yes, master, I have written it down."
Little Shitou was about to drip blood again to show the picture, but before the needle penetrated, he heard a respectful voice outside the door: "Sir, the General Guard asked the Deputy Chief Guard to lead a hundred Fenghuoying brothers to Huhu.
Ministry of Finance."
Xue Poye was concentrating in the room when he suddenly heard a sound. He was startled and couldn't hear clearly for a while. He hurriedly asked Xiao Shitou to put away the "Book of Ecstasy".
He adjusted his armor slightly and immediately opened the door and came out. He saw a rank guard captain from Fenghuo Camp kneeling in front of the door, with anxiety on his respectful face. Xue Poye knew that this captain was the sixth major captain of Fenghuo Camp.
One, Captain Furukawa.
When Gu He saw Xue Poye coming out, he hurriedly said: "Sir!"
Xue Poye raised his hand and said, "Get up, what happened?"
"Your Excellency, the General Guard has issued a military order, asking your Excellency to command a hundred feather forests and rush to the Treasury of the Ministry of Finance." Furukawa said quickly: "The subordinates have gathered, please leave immediately."
Xue Poye frowned and said to himself: "Hubu Bank?" Seeing Furukawa's anxious expression, knowing that the situation was urgent, he immediately said: "Let's go!" If he didn't stop, he would follow Furukawa to Hubu Bank.
But after I came back, I didn't have time to see the green lady. I wanted to indulge in handiwork, but I couldn't do it this time. Fortunately, before I went out, I finally saw the green lady coming out of the corner of the house. The two looked at each other and smiled. Xue Poye
Go with the crowd.
The Household Department is one of the six departments of Da Chu. It is the place where Da Chu manages household registration and finance. It controls the world's land, people, money and valley administration, and the difference in tribute.
The place where the world's silver is deposited is the Treasury of the Ministry of Household Affairs.
The Hubu Bank covers an area of tens of miles and is strictly sealed. No one can be trusted within ten miles. The Kyoto garrison guards the Hubu Bank. Those who enter the warehouse must be naked except for a pair of small pants, even in their mouths.
He put a special bamboo in his mouth, tied it behind his head, and fixed it in his mouth, just to prevent others from hiding the money.
Once someone who hides silver is caught, he will definitely be guilty of quartering his body with five horses, which is extremely serious.
Silver is the foundation of the country. It is a matter of great importance, and all dynasties have never dared to neglect it.
The Treasury of the Ministry of Finance has dozens of silver rooms. It is tall and majestic, as solid as a rock. It is made of extremely hard boulders. Even the door is made of boulders. It not only requires the activation of the mechanism, but also requires two strong men to open it with the force of the mechanism.
A stone gate is indispensable, otherwise it will remain motionless and as stable as a rock.
In the past, this place was peaceful and solemn, and outsiders were not allowed to enter without permission.
But today, a lot of people gathered in front of the huge black stone row with the four characters "Da Chu Silver Storehouse" on it.
Standing at the front was Liu Ziyin, the second prince of the Great Chu Kingdom. He was a prince, but he held the title of Minister of Household Affairs in the Household Department. Although he didn't usually take care of the affairs of the Household Department, he had to come today.
Prince Yin's expression was obviously much haggard than that of more than a month ago, and his eyes were sunken. Those eyes had lost the sharp light of the past, and were replaced by a kind of anger and a kind of fear in his bones.
Prince Yin was accompanied by the King of Hell of Kyoto Prefecture and the Minister of Punishment, Mo Yi, and the Minister of Punishment, Liu Tuo. In addition, there were also Luo Wuyan, the garrison of the Kyoto garrison office, and Teng Xifeng, the chief guard of the Yulin Camp.
Everyone looked solemn, Luo Wuyan looked ashen, and Wei Shantai, the King of Hell, who was always as smooth as a fox, also had a solemn look on his face this time, with an extremely stern expression.
With a loud "clang" sound, Xue Poye led a hundred Yulin Guards and rushed over like thunder and lightning, their armors shining and their armors rattling in the cold winter, which was daunting.
"I have seen you in this humble position, sir!" Xue Poye led several generals to bow down.
Teng Xifeng ordered: "The four doors of the bank are guarded by me. No one can enter or leave without my order."
Xue Poye responded: "Yes!" He stood up and said loudly: "Deploy personnel to guard the four doors of the bank. No one is allowed to enter or exit without the order of the general guard."
Liu Tuo couldn't help but sneered: "Can't we, the people from the Criminal Department, do the same?"
Teng Xifeng said coldly: "No, no one can do it without my order."
Teng Xifeng is the chief guard of the Yulin Camp and can be regarded as His Majesty the Emperor's number one confidant. Therefore, even if people from other yamen have opinions, they dare not refute him face to face.
Mo Yi, the Minister of Justice, just sneered twice and said nothing.
The Yulin guards were quick with their hands and feet, and were quickly distributed among the four gates of the bank.
Xue Poye looked at the tall and wide huge stone warehouse in the silver warehouse, and sighed in his heart: "Is it all filled with silver? My dear, there is really a lot of silver in this great Chu country." But this time there were so many heavyweights.
They were gathered here, but they didn’t know what happened. Just now on the road, Xue Poye asked Furukawa, but Furukawa knew nothing about it. He only knew that Teng Xifeng’s military order came down and everyone just obeyed the order.
The Yulin Battalion was heavily armored and drove away the soldiers of the Kyoto garrison at the four gates. They quickly blocked the four gates. When Xue Poye saw that everything was done, he returned to the stone row and said respectfully: "Master General Guard,
The four doors have been sealed and no one can enter or exit without the order of the Chief Guard."
Teng Xifeng nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile: "Deputy General Guard Xue, come here, I will introduce you to the adults."
When everyone present was introduced one by one, except for Luo Wuyan, the guard of the Kyoto garrison, and Mo Yi, the minister of the Ministry of punishment, Xue Poye knew everyone else, and Xue Poye had naturally met them one by one.
Xue Poye finally walked to Prince Yin who was quite far away from everyone.
Prince Yin stood at the front, a few feet away from the group, staring blankly at the vast and tall warehouse. His face was actually a little pale, his lips were black, and he had completely lost the spirit of the past.
There is no doubt that this battle between him and Prince Fu has hurt both sides. The power that he was once proud of has been completely eliminated by His Majesty the Emperor this time.
He already felt a kind of fear.
"I have finally met His Highness the Second Highness!" Xue Poye sighed inwardly and saluted respectfully.
Years of hard work are destroyed in one day, so suddenly and completely, no matter who it is, they will fall into huge panic and helplessness.
Prince Yin turned around, saw Xue Poye, and said with a bitter smile: "It turns out to be Mr. Xue, but we haven't seen each other for some time."
"How are you, Your Highness?" Xue Poye said calmly.
Prince Yin pondered for a moment, then smiled bitterly and said: "Okay, very good." After a pause, he said calmly: "Master Xue, have you found out today whether Rou Ji was stabbed by Wu Huan?"
Xue Poye was startled. In fact, the investigation of Rou Ji's case stopped that day after Wu Huan died.
Death without joy is just an introduction.
Prince Yin suddenly asked this question today, which was a bit special. Xue Poye thought for a while and finally shook his head and said: "Your Highness, I was not in charge of the assassination of Rou Ji, so I don't know the truth until today."
Prince Yin was not angry, but nodded, thoughtfully, and after a while, he whispered: "If it was really Wu Huan who stabbed me, I would have nothing to say until now. If it hadn't been for Wu Huan..., hehe
,Forget it, forget it...!"
Xue Poye frowned. Although Prince Yin's words were not stated directly, Xue Poye understood the meaning.
If Rou Ji was really killed by Wu Huan, then the fight between Prince Yin and Prince Fu was nothing more than a fierce life-and-death battle, a battle that had been brewing for a long time without gunpowder.
But if Rouji hadn't been killed by Wu Huan...!
Wu Huan's killing of Rou Ji was the trigger for the fight between the two princes. Everyone thought it was Wu Huan who ignited the trigger. However, if Wu Huan was not the murderer, it could only mean that someone was pretending to be Wu Huan to assassinate Rou Ji.
Provoke a war between the second prince and the fourth prince.
Who is instigating this?
Who is sitting on the mountain watching the tiger fight?
Prince Yin obviously thought of this, so he was very unwilling to do so. Maybe he is now trying every possible means to find the mastermind behind the instigation.
Xue Poye was also curious about this sentence.
Yes, who could it be?
Gradually, Xue Poye felt cold all over his body, not because of the cold air of winter, but because of the weird guess that he could instigate a fight between the two princes and hide it from the two princes and the two factions. The person behind it was a person.
What kind of role?
Moreover, the assassin not only pretended to be Wu Huan's "Viper Sword Technique", but entering Fubo Palace was like entering a deserted place. The elite Yulin Guards did not even notice it. How high is that person's martial arts?
He is a man of great scheming and martial arts. Who could he be?
Xue Poye and Prince Yin both stood in a daze, saying nothing.
But at this time, a figure in the distance ran towards everyone like lightning. In a moment, the man came closer, purple clothes fluttering, but it was the purple clothes of Kyoto Prefecture.
Wei Shantai hurried to meet him, and Ziyi knelt down respectfully in front of him.
"Is Chen Shangshu here?" Wei Shantai asked in a deep voice.
Ziyi immediately said: "Your Excellency, Chen Shangting, the Minister of Household Affairs, drank poisonous wine and died at his house at noon today. We have found out that the poison is ordinary crane top red."
"Dead?" Wei Shantai was startled. When the officials behind him heard this, they were all shocked.
"Chen Shangting had lunch, took a shower, and then went to the ancestral hall to pay homage to his wife and son Chen Qian. Then he walked into his study, closed the door, and told no one to disturb him." Ziyi said clearly: "Subordinate
Following the wishes of His Highness and His Excellency, we took people to the Shangshu Mansion to invite Chen Shangshu to come here. The servants then led us to the study, and kept shouting that no one was there. After the subordinates opened the door, they found that Chen Shangting had died of poisoned wine.
."
Xue Poye was already approaching when the man in purple was running towards him. He was stunned when he heard the man in purple's narration.
He suddenly understood that something big had happened in the household department, and something huge must have happened in the bank of the household department, otherwise it would have been impossible to alarm so many important people.
He turned his head, looked at the wide and tall warehouse, and asked secretly: "What happened?" dd