Qin Hui paced back and forth in the room, his face became more and more solemn, he shook his head and said to himself: "That's not right..."
At this time, Han Shizhong suddenly walked in and said: "Inspector, the other party came again to ask us when we will release him?"
Qin Hui stopped and said directly: "Tell them that they won't be released for a while and let them stay there honestly."
Han Shizhong frowned and said: "But they are just boatmen. Since they have been identified and they should be released, why are they still locked up?"
Qin Hui still treated Han Shizhong with courtesy, because Han Shizhong showed his integrity along the way, which made him admire him. He patiently explained: "General Han, this matter is of great importance and cannot be explained in one word.
Moreover, to be honest, I am also confused now, so I cannot let this person go no matter what."
Han Shizhong saw that he was not lying, and Qin Hui should have gone to Jiangnan immediately after investigating the matter, but he did not leave in a hurry, but stayed in Shouzhou, which shows that the matter is by no means that simple.
"Report---!"
A sentinel ran in.
Qin Hui hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "How is it?"
The sentinel gasped, shook his head and said: "Reporting to your lord, there is no movement in the capital, and I have never heard about the relief food?"
"What?" Qin Hui was shocked and said, "Have you found out more about it?"
The sentry detective said: "I dare not hide it. I went to the Grand Master's Mansion and the Taiwei Mansion to make inquiries according to the Lord's instructions, but both the Grand Master and the Taiwei said they had not received any news from the Economic Envoy."
"Impossible, absolutely impossible."
Qin Hui shook his head violently and said: "My lord will not hide such a major matter, whether public or private. Even if your lord wants to hide it, he will definitely investigate the matter thoroughly, so he must inform the Grand Master or the Grand Lieutenant.
How is it possible that so many days have passed without any news from the capital?"
At this moment, two more people came in from outside. These two people were Ouyang Che and Chen Dong who had just arrived from Chuzhou.
"Chen Dong (Ouyang Che) has met your lord."
Qin Hui nodded and said, "You are back. How are things over there in Chuzhou?"
Chen Dongdao: "Everything has been arranged. As expected, Ye Nantian is just a piece of shit. He spends all his time drinking and drinking without paying attention to official matters. The general magistrate of Chuzhou has always been handling official matters. So we will temporarily let that person
I believe there won’t be any problems if Tongjian takes over the post of magistrate.”
"That's good."
Ouyang Che suddenly asked: "Sir, what's going on over there in the northwest?"
Qin Hui shook his head and said: "It's not optimistic."
Chen Dong and Ouyang Che couldn't help but look at each other.
Qin Hui narrowed his eyes and said: "There are various signs that this is a conspiracy."
"ah?"
Ouyang Che said: "Then let's go to the northwest immediately to help the economy?"
Qin Hui waved his hand and said: "Since this is a conspiracy, if we break in rashly, we will probably fall into it. We are very important to you now, because we are your most reliable foreign aid. So we should do a good job
I will be ready at any time to meet your needs."
Chen Dongdao: "Sir, do you mean to continue stationing in Shouzhou?"
Qin Hui nodded.
Chen Dong asked again: "But what should we do over there in Jiangnan?"
Qin Hui pondered for a moment, then said: "You immediately send someone to spread the word, saying that the patrolmen went south to kill innocent people indiscriminately, frame Zhongliang, and disrupt people's lives. When the court learned about it, it was particularly angry and sent people to recall him for questioning."
Chen Dong was stunned for a moment. Then he said: "I understand, I understand."
"Go ahead."
.......
Linyou County.
When Zhao Jingyan took the letter, her expression was exactly the same as Li Qi's at that time. She said in disbelief: "This---how is this possible? How could this happen? The grain shipped from the Huainan granary had an error of only five thousand
Shi Nei? In other words, no one embezzled the disaster relief food at all, so where did the 80,000 shi of food go? Are they going to be eaten by fish?"
Li Qi rubbed his face and said, "I don't know either. I'm totally confused now. This matter is getting more and more complicated."
Zhao Jingyan frowned and said, "Do you think it could be Qin Hui---?"
Li Qi raised his hand and said: "It's absolutely impossible. Qin Hui is a smart man. He knows very well that everything he has now depends on me, even his life. If I fall, do you think the British prince Wang Fu will let him go?"
, so he will definitely try his best to help me find out about this matter."
Zhao Jingyan nodded slightly and said, "Did he miss it in the investigation, or was the grain embezzled by officials from other places along the way?"
Li Qi shook his head and said: "I am very confident in Qin Hui's ability. Also, read carefully what is written in the letter. Qin Hui said that he had strictly questioned the boatmen who transported the food one by one. His move was to prevent disaster relief.
The food was embezzled by someone on the road, because the boatmen had always followed the boat, and they were the people who knew the process best. Qin Hui wanted to pry open their mouths and learn the truth from them. How simple could it be?
But it’s too late.”
Zhao Jingyan frowned and said: "But have you ever thought about it, the letter you sent to the capital and the food shipped from the capital have not arrived, which means someone set an ambush on the road, but why the letter you sent to Jiangnan was safe?
And Qin Hui’s letter was sent back safe and sound.”
Li Qidao: "I'm also puzzled about this, but when the letter came, I sent someone to respond. Also, this letter is definitely not a fake."
"How do you mean you are so sure? There are many people in this world who can forge handwriting to look fake."
Li Qi sighed: "Actually, when Qin Hui went to Jiangnan, I was worried about accidents during the exchange of letters, so I specially gave him some letter paper. These letter papers were specially made by my paper factory and are different from ordinary ones.
The difference between the paper is that this kind of paper is rougher, and you will feel the obvious graininess when you touch it. They can imitate Qin Hui's handwriting, but they can't even forge the paper in such a short period of time, so this letter
The letter is absolutely true."
Zhao Jingyan said: "If--if it is true, then wouldn't we have been wrong from the beginning?"
"Now it seems that this is probably a conspiracy." Li Qi said with a solemn expression: "Qin Hui said in the letter that the food was transferred by land only after it arrived at Jingzhao Prefecture. Jingzhao Prefecture is next to Fengxiang Prefecture. In other words,
The food may have been lost in Fengxiang Mansion."
Zhao Jingyan said: "Just assume that the food was lost in Fengxiang Mansion, then who did it?"
Li Qidao: "In Fengxiang Mansion, only Ji Minren and Zhe Yanzhi have this ability."
"And that group of mysterious people hidden in Fengxiang Mansion."
"But those people are just minions. The real mastermind may also be one of them." Li Qi said and sighed, "Actually, I didn't completely trust them at the beginning, but after these few days,
During the investigation, I found that the local people said that Ji Minren was a good official. He had been an upright and honest official for more than ten years and had outstanding political achievements. Therefore, he should not be the mastermind. Besides, how dare he, a prefect, swallow up such a large amount of food?
He doesn’t have this ability either.”
"So, is it most likely that he will be imprisoned?" Zhao Jingyan sighed softly and said, "Unexpectedly, after checking for a long time, we are back to the starting point."
Li Qi shook his head and said: "It seems that Zheyan is the most suspect, but what is his starting point? Why did he embezzle this disaster relief food? If he wants to rebel, then this food is not enough, and after getting the food, he
On the contrary, why do you need to do this again and distribute your military rations to the people? Isn't this unnecessary and self-contradictory?"
Zhao Jingyan said: "No matter what, they are all suspicious. You can't believe everyone in Fengxiang Mansion now, right. Have they not read this letter?"
"Of course I won't show it to them. I told them that due to some problems with the road conditions in the south of the Yangtze River, the food arrived half a month late, which took a while." Li Qi said helplessly.
Zhao Jingyan glanced at him and said in surprise: "It's rare to see you so depressed."
Li Qi said depressedly: "Can I not be frustrated? Ever since I entered Fengxiang Mansion, I have been led by others. When have you ever seen me so passive? Moreover, the food transported from the capital is very likely to be robbed.
Well, Tian Qi’s whereabouts are unknown, and it must be a disaster. How can I explain to Carpenter Tian and explain to their parents after I go back? Alas, I really lost a lot of money this time.”
So is he worried about this? This person is really unpredictable. Sometimes he behaves very cold-blooded, but sometimes he is so affectionate and righteous. Zhao Jingyan said: "Don't worry about them now. The most dangerous people now are
It’s you. You made a promise in front of so many people. If this life-saving food fails to arrive, anything may happen. Even if you want to leave now, I’m afraid you won’t be able to leave.”
Li Qidao: "I know this, but the matter is at this point. It's useless to think too much. The only thing we can do is to find out the matter as soon as possible. Moreover, I vaguely feel that the 80,000 stone of grain is just a fog, and there may be a bigger secret hidden in it."
conspiracy."
Zhao Jingyan nodded and suddenly said: "We seem to have missed something? Your letter to Qin Hui and the letter sent to the Grand Master were less than a day apart. Why was the capital side robbed, but Qin Hui's side was not? This
This shows that the enemy is most concerned about the capital. At that time, they did not expect that your first letter was sent to Jiangnan, and you were rushing 800 miles away. They could not catch up even if they wanted to. We used to think that it was North Korea.
Some of them were worried that the news would be leaked to the capital, so they stopped the letter on the way. But now it seems that it was not done by people in the capital. Otherwise, they would not have to wait until the food was delivered to Jingzhao Mansion before taking action.
Isn't this unnecessary, and suddenly there is a shortage of 80,000 shi in a certain place. This is too obvious and can be easily found out. There have been many cases of embezzlement of disaster relief food in the past, but they were not done by one person.
It cannot be justified that people were greedily taking away little by little along the way."
Li Qi opened his eyes and said: "If it wasn't someone from the DPRK who did it, then the other party shouldn't be so nervous that my letter will be delivered to the capital, because my letter only stated that someone embezzled the disaster relief food, even if my letter was delivered
When we arrive in the capital, the emperor will be furious at most, and in the end he will only ask me to step up the investigation. It is no different from now. It doesn't matter whether the letter has arrived in the capital or not. The other party will not hesitate to expose the target, even Gao Taiwei's people
They will not let go of the relief food sent this time. What are they trying to cover up?"
Zhao Jingyan said: "Moreover, you will return to the capital sooner or later, and you will be exposed by then. Unless the other party does not intend to let you go, then things will undoubtedly become more troublesome. The emperor sees that you have not returned and there is no news.
You will definitely think that the Zhejia Army has rebelled, and they will immediately send a large army. This is more serious than corruption."
Li Qidao: "The key to this matter has never been the 80,000 shi of military rations, but whether the Zhejia Army rebels or not. If the Zhejia Army really rebels, who will benefit the most?"
"Xixia."
The two said in unison.
As soon as they finished speaking, the two of them felt their hairs stand on end. If it was really as they imagined, the situation would be far more serious than it is now.
Zhao Jingyan frowned and said: "But what's the explanation for the letter you sent to the capital? If your letter is sent to the capital, then the court's attention will shift from the Zhe family army to the embezzlement of disaster relief food. This is not for them.
Is it a good thing?"
Li Qi shook his head and said, "No. There is another hidden content in the letter."
"Impossible, the letter was written by me. It was all about the 80,000 stones of military rations. The people involved were all high-ranking officials in the court, and nothing else was mentioned." After Zhao Jingyan finished speaking, her eyes suddenly flashed.
He opened his mouth and said: "No, there may be something revealed in the letter." (To be continued...)