After Song Huizong finished speaking, he stood up and left without giving Li Qi time to receive the order.
Li Qiden was stunned. Although he had received many tasks since he became an official, this was the first time he received such a strange task. From beginning to end, he could not figure out what was going on.
And it was under this background that Song Huizong directly appointed him to investigate the matter. The faint king is not such a righteous person!
"Your Majesty---Your Majesty---."
After waking up, Li Qi could not care about the red tape and went to chase Song Huizong.
"The bold economist dares to make noise in this hall."
Liang Shicheng hurriedly stopped him and whispered: "Do you want to die? Do you know what you are doing?"
"But Lieutenant---."
"Okay, the matter has come to an end. It's useless to say more. You'd better go and prepare quickly." Liang Shicheng interrupted him and then followed Song Huizong.
Prepare? I don’t understand anything about this. How can I prepare? Li Qi rolled his eyes in anger. Suddenly he saw his colleagues looking at him with extremely strange eyes, quite a bit gloating about his misfortune. This made He became even more panicked and hurriedly walked outside. He looked up and saw Gao Qiu leading the way. He cursed secretly, "Okay, brother Qiu, you are so unloyal. You actually want to abandon him at this time." If I leave, how can I let you succeed?
"Taiwei, Taiwei."
Li Qi kicked off his flying legs and quickly caught up with Gao Qiu.
When Gao Qiu saw Li Qi chasing him, a trace of depression flashed in his eyes, but he still asked: "What do you want from me?"
Pretend! Keep pretending! Why did Li Qi care so much? He got straight to the point: "Lieutenant, you have to help me this time!"
Gao Qiu sighed, shook his head and said: "Li Qi, I won't hide it from you. There is really nothing I can do this time. The emperor will not allow others to interfere in this matter. The only thing I can do is for you to get out of Sanya Don’t ask me for help, you can make your own decision.”
Are you helping me, or are you in a hurry to get away? Li Qi said depressedly: "Lieutenant, can you tell me what you know? That's all right."
Gao Qiu said: "You already know everything I know about this matter."
"ah?"
Gao Qiu sighed heavily and said, "You must be cautious in this matter! I'm leaving first."
After he finished speaking, he turned and left.
Li Qi stared blankly at Gao Qiu's back, his heart at a loss. Originally, the first impression this incident gave him was that it was weird, but it was nothing more than 20,000 shi of military rations, but now it seems that it is not that simple.
As a result, he was even more afraid to act rashly.
However, he didn't know many people in the court, and there were only two people with whom he had the closest relationship. One was Gao Qiu, who had just left, and the other was Cai Jing.
Since Gao Qiu is powerless, he can only ask Cai Jing for help. In fact, he can't even ask for help now. He just wants to get more information. After all, he has so little information now that he doesn't even know where to start. .
Taishi Mansion.
"Steward Cai, is the Grand Master in the mansion?" After Li Qi came out of the palace, he didn't even return home. He went directly to the Grand Master's Mansion.
Cai Yong shook his head and said, "Master, he has not returned from court."
Impossible. I searched the palace for a long time and couldn't find this old guy. He should be back. Did this old guy also mysteriously disappear? Or was he deliberately avoiding me? Li Qi thinks the latter is more likely. Being older, I couldn't help but feel a little annoyed, and thought to myself, I've spent all my time with you today. I smiled and said, "It doesn't matter, then I'll just wait in the mansion. Butler Cai won't be stingy with this cup of tea."
Cai Yong felt that something was wrong with Li Qi's tone, but he couldn't tell what was wrong. He was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said: "Economic Minister, please do so."
With that said, he took Li Qi to the front hall.
Li Qi drank a cup of tea and suddenly said: "By the way, is the second master back?"
Cai Yong shook his head and said, "No."
"What about the British father?"
Cai Yong said: "The economic envoy didn't know that after my uncle came back from Yanjing, the emperor rewarded him with a house. He had already moved out a few years ago."
It seemed that the conflict between Cai You and Cai Jing was getting deeper and deeper. Li Qi nodded slightly and did not ask any more questions, because he knew that Cai Yong would not say more.
The two of them just chatted, and soon, an hour passed.
Seeing that Li Qi had no intention of getting up, Cai Yong asked curiously: "Economic envoy, do you have something important to do when you come here this time? Do you need me to send someone to look for you?"
Find someone! Maybe Mr. Cai is hiding here. Li Qi said with a smile: "We can't talk about important things. I just encountered something that I don't understand. I want to ask the Grand Master, so there is no need to bother Butler Cai.
, I have nothing to do today anyway, I have nothing to do, so it doesn’t matter if I wait.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a rather majestic voice suddenly sounded from outside: "I didn't expect you to be so leisurely and elegant now. It seems that the emperor has entrusted you to someone else!"
Old man, you are finally willing to come out. Li Qi turned around and saw Cai Jing and Cai Sui walking in from outside, but they really looked like they had come back from outside.
"Li Qi has met the Grand Master."
Cai Jing glared at him slightly, ignored him, and said to Cai Sui: "Sui'er, you go back first."
"yes."
Cai Sui lowered his head and responded, then turned and left.
Cai Jing waved to Cai Yong again, and Cai Yong understood and left with the servants in the room.
Cai Jing then sat down, took a sip of tea, and said to Li Qi: "Sit down."
Li Qi thanked him and then sat down.
Cai Jing stroked his beard and said, "Did you just think that I was avoiding you on purpose?"
Li Qi hurriedly shook his head and said: "Of course not, how could I think so? The Grand Master is busy with official duties now, so it is normal for him to be away from home."
Cai Jing laughed and said, "You kid, don't fool me here. How can I not see what you are thinking?"
It's now, can I not think so? Li Qi remained silent.
"What? You don't want to defend yourself?" Cai Jing sighed and said, "Do you know where I went just now?"
Li Qi shook his head vigorously.
"Just after he retired from the court, the emperor suddenly sent someone to summon me to go to Chongzheng Hall immediately to discuss matters."
Li Qi opened his eyes and asked quickly: "But what about the 20,000 stones of army rations?"
Cai Jing did not answer but asked: "Is this why you came here?"
Aren't you talking nonsense? Do you think I'm here to chat with Cai Yong now? Li Qi nodded and said: "To be honest, Grand Master, I haven't figured it out yet. Why does the emperor want to do this task?"
give it to me."
Cai Jing sighed: "Actually, the emperor is helpless!"
"An act of desperation?"
Li Qi wondered: "Is there no one in the government and the public who is more suitable than me?"
Cai Jing nodded and said: "You may not be the best choice, but for the moment, you are the most suitable candidate."
Isn't this tantamount to talking nonsense? Li Qi scratched his head and said: "Grand Master, Li Qi is stupid. I hope Grand Master can speak more clearly."
"You have to remember that all matters related to the Zhe family army, no matter how big or small, are top priority for the emperor."
"Oh? The Zhe family army is so important?"
"More than that." Cai Jing laughed and said: "Among the Western armies, the Zhejia Army is the oldest army. It has been around since the early Tang Dynasty. It has stood firm in Fuzhou for hundreds of years.
, this alone is enough to explain everything. Especially for the Song Dynasty, its importance is self-evident. Since the founding of the Song Dynasty, the Zhejia army rejected the Khitan in the north and conquered Xixia in the west. In addition, they also attacked Hehuang
The battle made a significant contribution. It is a veritable victorious army of our Song Dynasty, and it is also a barrier to the northwest of our Song Dynasty. As long as the Zhejia army is there, there will be no worries in the northwest. It is not at all said to be 'protecting China from the inside, and fighting the barbarians from the outside'
It’s not an exaggeration. At the beginning, Emperor Taizu issued an imperial edict that all generals in the Zhe family army should adopt the hereditary system. This is a great honor, and it is the only one in the Song Dynasty. What is even more valuable is that the Zhe family has been loyal for generations.
, is the army that our Emperor of the Song Dynasty most relies on and trusts the most. It can even be said that as long as it is a matter of destroying the family army, it is the emperor’s family matter. Twenty thousand stones of military rations is not a big deal at first, but these twenty thousand stones
Once the Shi Junliang is labeled with the Zhejia Army logo, the nature of the matter will change. In addition, the more than two thousand soldiers who are missing will be added to it, so the emperor has to pay attention to it!"
Wow! So awesome? No wonder Brother Qiu was so cautious just now. Li Qi said confused: "If that's the case, then the emperor still sends me, a young boy like me?"
"At this time, do you think this false modesty can change everything? The emperor has always regarded you as a lucky general and trusted you very much. Of course, you have never let the emperor down." Cai Jing changed the subject and said:
"But this is only one, and the other is that you have also seen everything that happened in the hall today. You must also know the reason why my eldest son is eager to go to war."
Li Qi nodded slightly.
Cai Jing sighed: "Because of this, the emperor will definitely not send You'er to lead the troops, because if he goes there, it is very likely that a war will break out. Although the roots of the Zhe family are in Fuzhou, in recent years, the influence of Xixia has increased.
The war continued, and later troops were sent to Hehuang to conquer Tubo. Therefore, the Zhejia Army was not only guarding Fuzhou. Since Tong Guan sent troops to Tubo a few years ago, Fengxiang Prefecture was also guarded by the Zhejia Army. Since the Zhejia Army was in the capital
It is a hereditary system, so now there are many relatives of the Zhe Family Army living around Fengxiang Mansion. If a fight breaks out, anything could happen."
Li Qidao: "So, the emperor doesn't want to send troops at all?"
Cai Jing waved his hand and said: "That's not true. Two or three thousand soldiers have disappeared without any reason. It is very likely that the entire army has been wiped out. This matter is of great importance. If we don't send troops, it may be difficult to solve."
The more Li Qi listened, the more depressed he became, and said: "Grand Master, actually I am not afraid of trouble, but there are too many doubts about this matter. The emperor can send someone to find out secretly before making a decision! There is no need to let me lead the troops directly.
investigation."
Cai Jing nodded and said: "Just now in the main hall, I was puzzled by this. It wasn't until the emperor called me to come that I understood. It turns out that the emperor had already known the news, but it involved the Zhe family army, so
The emperor also had to act cautiously, so the emperor sent three groups of people to secretly investigate, but these three groups never came back, which made the emperor feel very uneasy, which is why today's incident happened."
"What? Never come back? This---what is going on?" Li Qi said in horror: "Then--then isn't it dangerous for me to go this time?"
Obediently! This person will never come back. If the same happens to me, then I am not unjust! He didn’t kill the Jin people, but he killed his own people first. Zhao Ji, you are tricking me.
me!
Li Qi's hair stood on end and he felt uneasy.
"I can't guarantee that." Cai Jing shook his head and said: "But the past three times, the emperor was afraid of making things worse, so he didn't send many people, but this time the emperor has authorized you to lead the vanguard army. In addition,
, The emperor also decided to let the Zhong family army be on hand to assist you in case of emergency, so it is not very dangerous for you to go. Oh, I have already asked the emperor to let Zhong Shidao rule Gyeonggi Road again, and lead a part of the Zhong family army in
I will protect you. Your Majesty has already announced it. I believe Zhong Shidao has now received the secret order. But you must remember that you must not allow any conflict between the Zhe Family Army and the Zhong Family Army. If this happens, our Song Dynasty will be in danger.