Hearing the emperor's question, Yuan Shang frowned and looked at Man Chong aside. Man Chong lowered his head and closed his eyes. It seemed that he was unwilling to speak. Yuan Shang raised his head and looked at Liu Xi.
Xi could see the confusion in his eyes, but Yuan Shang still said: "Your Majesty, this morning, I learned from the letter from the embroidered messenger that someone had exchanged the food provided by the temple and replaced it with grains of sand.
see..."
"There are countless amounts of lost food and grass. Only Sikong knows the specific amount... Before this, I have never heard any relevant information, Your Majesty..." Yuan Shang's words were trembling. It can be seen that he was very worried.
Worried that His Majesty would doubt his loyalty, Liu Xi smiled and said: "Xianfu, you don't have to be like this. I doubt that anyone will doubt you... You were promoted to this position by me personally...
."
Yuan Shang felt relieved, but still felt a little ashamed on his face. He bowed his hands and said, "I failed to find out enough. I hope your Majesty will punish you severely."
"Forget it, forget it... Manjun, have you made any progress there?" Liu Xi asked again, but Man Chong glanced at Yuan Shang beside him and said nothing. Liu Xi sighed and said: "Man Chong
Jun, Xianfu and Jun are both from the East Palace, why should it be like this?"
Man Chong obviously couldn't trust Yuan Shang and refused to speak in front of Yuan Shang. Yuan Shang seemed to have suffered a great shame and humiliation. His face turned red and he stood up. He wanted to say something to Man Chong, but he couldn't.
Gritting his teeth, with veins jumping on his forehead, he said: "Your Majesty, it's okay, I'm waiting outside the door!" After saying that, he turned and left. Before Liu Xi could even persuade him, Yuan Shang had already walked out of Houde.
temple.
Seeing him leaving, Liu Xi looked at Man Chong helplessly, waiting for his explanation.
"Your Majesty, it's not that I can't trust him, it's just that this matter has a great connection with the Yuan family, so... I hope your Majesty will forgive me." Man Chong said, with an extremely solemn expression, and he said: "Responsible for the escort.
Everyone who was responsible for mobilizing supplies and sorting out documents was arrested by the minister. These people included Sikong's eldest son Yuan Tan, his concubine Yuan Mai, his nephew Gao Gan, Situ Gong's son Cao Zhi, and the military scholar Lu Meng...
."
"I have been examining it for a long time... Lu Meng is indeed unaware... He just learned yesterday that he wanted to transport supplies, and this was ordered by General Gongsun Zan and Sikong. After investigation, I went to see Gongsun in person.
General, General Gongsun said that what happened to Lu Meng was sent by His Majesty, as well as His Majesty's edict. Therefore, this person really only learned about it yesterday, and there is absolutely no way he could do these things in one night..."
"And the ordnance he is responsible for is also the most intact among these people, and there is little corruption in food and grass..."
Man Chong added: "However, Your Majesty, Lu Mengyan, he learned yesterday that he went to the carriage early this morning and watched it personally. From this we can see that the supplies were probably replaced before yesterday, and all the food and grass were there before.
Sikong Mansion..."
After hearing Man Chong's analysis, Liu Xi nodded and asked, "So, do you think this matter is related to Sikong?"
"No...if Sikong had this intention, why did he want to expose his plan? He could do it without anyone noticing. What's more, after investigating these days, I found that most of the food and grass were owned by Yuan Sikong himself.
Funded... The national treasury was not enough to carry out various decrees, so Sikong sold some cultivated land and family property to obtain enough grain and grass for use in various places. As Sikong, he also established an IOU to the Yuan family...
"
"These are Sikong's own grains. If he wants to take them back, why would he resort to such means?"
Man Chong asked rhetorically.
Liu Xi was a little surprised and asked: "These are all funded by Sikong? Why don't I know??"
Man Chong said: "Your Majesty may not know that during the Xiping period, Emperor Xiaoxian went on an expedition to Guishuang. At that time, the treasury was in crisis and there was little money. Emperor Xiaoxian asked Sikong to find a way by himself. From then on, Yuan Sikong began to use his own
The family property was used for administrative purposes... This has continued to this day... It was only because Sikong was afraid that this would cause taboos among the ministers, so it was never spread. I only discovered this when I checked the information of Sikong Mansion today..."
"In addition, I also found evidence of Sikong Gong's corruption... Sikong Gong wooed local officials and embezzled a lot of money..." Man Chong said, Liu Xi was even more surprised, his eyes widened, Yuan Shao still needs
Corruption?? His family is so rich! Man Chong said: "Your Majesty, don't be surprised. All his money was also used on state affairs..."
At this time, Liu Xi didn't know what to say. He rubbed his forehead and said, "Let's forget about Sikong. Let's talk about the food and grass matter. Who is the most suspicious?"
Man Chong said: "Your Majesty, there are two people I suspect. One of them is Yuan Mai, the concubine of Sikong. This person lives in Sikong's mansion. He has been idle all year round and is not liked by Yuan Sikong. Sikong has reprimanded and beat him several times. This person
He also likes gambling, so he is the most suspect. Maybe he learned about the grain transportation from Sikong in advance, so when the grain was piled up in Sikong Mansion, he took the opportunity to replace it..."
"The other person is a high-ranking cadre. Yuan Sikong has entrusted him with the responsibility for mobilizing this material transportation. The grains being delivered now have all passed through his hands, so he is the most powerful
Complete these."
Hearing Man Chong's words, Liu Xi nodded and said: "So you haven't found the real culprit yet..."
Man Chong shook his head and said: "I just pretended to be aware of the situation. The purpose is to let the thief's accomplices show up..."
"Okay... I understand. You can go out and continue the investigation. You can make arrests, but you are not allowed to kill without my order..."
"Here you go!"
Man Chong walked out, but Yuan Shang walked in.
Facing Yuan Shang, Liu Xi was relatively more casual. He asked Yuan Shang to sit in front of him. Liu Xi looked at him seriously and said, "Xianfu... Manjun thinks these are the actions of Yuan's family, so he
I don’t want to talk to you more, don’t think too much, I trust you anyway, I believe that all this has nothing to do with you.”
When Yuan Shang heard this, he said helplessly: "Your Majesty, our Yuan family is not poor, why do we need to steal that food? Why did Manjun think that it was my Yuan family who did it?" Liu Xi smiled and said:
"Xianfu, how much do you know about your young brother Yuan Mai?"
"Yuan Mai???" Yuan Shang was startled. He frowned and thought seriously for a long time before he said: "Manjun is doubting him?? My younger brother is indeed incompetent, but your Majesty doesn't know something.
, he is naturally timid, and he can’t even speak to us. My father is very disappointed in him. No matter how he teaches, he is still like that. How could he have the courage to do such a thing?
?”
"Oh? Then does he have any resentment towards you, including Yuan Sikong?"
"Your Majesty, even though he is resentful, he is the one with the lowest status in the family. He is simply incapable of doing such a thing. No one will listen to his orders, including the servants in the family, who all treat him with disdain.
how can that be possible?"
Liu Xi didn't ask any more questions, just nodded and said: "Xianfu, you still need to investigate this matter carefully. If you have any news, please remember to report to me..."
Yuan Shang quickly agreed and left Houde Hall.
After both of them left, Liu Xi frowned. This news was like a thunder to him. He really didn't expect that there were such bold and reckless people in Luoyang who dared to act like this.
Liu Xi was very angry because he didn't take him seriously at all, but he still had to hold back his anger. Anger would not help the current situation. He could only hope that these two could make progress...
After Man Chong left Houde Hall, he rushed directly to Zhijinwu Camp.
When he saw Lu Bu, he didn't waste any time. He directly took out the emperor's decree and asked General Lu Bu to help him investigate the case. The main purpose was to search for the whereabouts of the grain in the city. You know, since the traitor exchanged grains of sand for grain, what about these grains?
The food must still be in the hands of the traitor, and it is naturally more appropriate for Lu Bu to do such a search. Lu Bu, who was not aware of it at first, was extremely angry after hearing Man Chong's story.
He frowned and said: "Your Majesty is my beloved son-in-law. The traitor bullies his young age because he doesn't know the power of my sword!"
Immediately, Zhijinwu’s entire camp was dispatched, first sealing off Luoyang, and then began a house-to-house search. There were a large number of household registrations in Luoyang, and it was not easy to search them out. Fortunately, there was a county.
Ling, as well as the Duwei, Sili Xiaowei and other officials assisted, Lu Bu commanded these people to search everywhere in Luoyang. There was a lot of movement, but nothing was found.
Yuan Shang was different. He directly used embroidered messengers from various places and asked them to find out who had transported sand to Luoyang and who had sold grain in large quantities.
Both of them are acting, but they haven't found much evidence. They still have no way to find out who did it, and the time left for them is running out, because all parties have begun to urge them.
The supplies that were set out were left in Luoyang due to such things. The Northern Army had already arrived at Chaisang, but there was no supply to continue to replenish. They could only use local supplies. The local granary could not support the Northern Army for too long.
of.
Man Chong walked into Tingwei's prison, waved his hand and said: "Let Lu Meng and Cao Zhi go..." After hearing his words, the soldiers acted immediately. Before long, Lu Meng
Man Chong and Cao Zhi had already appeared in front of him. Man Chong frowned, looked at them, waved his hands, and said: "Get out of here quickly. Don't reveal the things here to anyone, otherwise, you will come back...
"
Lu Meng and Cao Zhi did not dare to say anything and left here quickly. Lu Meng felt that he was wronged, and Cao Zhi felt the same way. On that day, he had just left Tingwei with Yuan Shao, and within an hour, he was taken away again.
He arrived here and became a prisoner. During this period, Cao Pi came six times, but Man Chong did not let them meet. In the prison, he heard his brother's angry roar.
He obviously had a big quarrel with Man Chong and almost got into a fight.
When the two of them walked out of Tingwei's prison, they saw Cao Pi from afar. Behind Cao Pi, there were Cao Zhang, Yuan Xi, and Liu Yi. They all stood indifferently holding long swords.
Behind Cao Pi, he saw Cao Zhi and Lu Meng walking out. Cao Pi was speechless, but the other three people hurriedly stepped forward. Obviously, Lu Meng and Cao Zhang knew each other. They exchanged greetings, and Cao Zhi walked to Cao Pi's side. Cao Pi looked at
He looked at the Tingwei Mansion in the distance and said, "Go back with me."
Cao Zhi nodded, and the group walked towards the mansion.
But Yuan Xi still followed Cao Zhi, wanting to ask something about the Yuan family. Cao Zhi just shook his head slightly, and he couldn't say more. Yuan Xi sighed helplessly.