Zhao Ji looked at this rare bold minister thoughtfully, and saw a lot of ambition in his eyes, but he did not feel unhappy because this was a normal thing. If a minister has no ambition, , not thinking about making achievements is actually the problem.
Although Zhao Ji is one of the few foolish kings in the history of the Song Dynasty, he is not a fool after all. Of course, he can understand that Sun Tu's words are also reasonable. How could he not know that all the ministers he trusts have selfish intentions? It's just these People are more useful and obedient, so he keeps using them. Even if they enrich their own pockets, even if they share the same party with others and kill many loyal ministers and generals, he will just ignore it.
But this time, the situation was obviously different. It was a major event related to the Northern Expedition. This was a major event for Zhao Ji to declare to his ancestors and the world that his civil, political and martial arts skills were not inferior to those of his predecessors. At such a critical time, he could not accept the appearance of people in Tokyo. What a surprise.
If the Gu family business is really closely related to the enemy country, and if there are intricate connections behind it, then it will be extremely difficult to use officials from the Kaifeng Mansion or the Ministry of Punishment to find out the truth. Even if some culprit is brought to the table in the end, I'm afraid He may not be the real principal culprit.
On the other hand, Sun Tu was right. He had almost no foundation in the capital. He relied entirely on his military exploits in quelling the chaos in Jiangnan to get the official position. Moreover, he also had conflicts with Gao Qiu and others. If he was used to investigate the case, at least he would not be dismissed by the officialdom. Fettered by the complex relationship on the Internet, it is only a matter of fact. However, all this must be based on the fact that this matter has indeed endangered the Northern Expedition, otherwise Zhao Ji would not be willing to cause more trouble.
Facing the emperor's scrutinizing gaze, Sun Tu showed no signs of guilt. He just stood tall and respectful, waiting for him to make his final decision. After waiting like this for a long time, a voice came from outside the palace: "Qin Hui, the scholar of Hanlin Academy, has been ordered to see your majesty. I am here to see your majesty!"
Sun Tu, who was looking at his nose and heart, heard this slightly nervous and excited young voice, and his body shook slightly. He couldn't help but turn his head slightly and glanced at the man who was bowing deeply outside the open door. When he reached the ground, he saw a figure who was extremely humble—it was actually him!
If there wasn't someone with the same name, then the person speaking outside was the most notorious representative of traitors in history, the culprit who killed his junior brother Yue Fei, and the future prime minister of the Southern Song Dynasty, Qin Hui! Of course, when later generations were trying to reverse the verdict, many people began to speak up for this traitorous minister, saying that it was actually Zhao Gou's idea to kill Yue Fei, and that Qin Hui was just taking the blame for the emperor.
But in fact, he advocated peace, and he made all kinds of slanders, which ultimately led to Yue Fei's death before he left the army, and was finally unjustly killed in the Fengbo Pavilion. Everything was his figure. Many years later, he and his wife were also kneeling there in the Yue Temple, so if we really wanted to judge the crime, he should be the first!
However, at this time, Qin Hui was naturally far from the level of the treacherous Prime Minister of the Southern Song Dynasty decades later. He had only passed the Jinshi examination a few years ago, and was only in his twenties, about the same age as Sun Tu. In terms of confidence, He was even more incomparable to him. He looked trembling all over. After the emperor allowed him to enter, his steps seemed a little frivolous. When he got closer, he bowed again and asked, "What are your orders, your majesty?"
Qin Hui is indeed
There is reason to feel panic and excitement, because he is now just an extremely inconspicuous official in the capital. He can't even own a house of his own in Tokyo. He can only rent it in the West City area, where he can live everywhere. Ordinary civilian clothes. Young and without any background, he couldn't even find a way to curry favor with some officials in the DPRK. He could only do the simplest things in the Imperial Academy. Not to mention meeting the emperor like this, even during the DPRK meeting, He couldn't even enter the palace.
And today, just because someone came to the Hanlin Academy to ask who knew the characters of Liao, Xia and other countries, because he really made a good impression on his superiors in this regard, he was selected, and then he was brought in in a somewhat confused way. He entered the palace and finally appeared in front of the emperor. Until now, he felt that everything was so unreal. He, a seventh-grade official, had the honor to meet the emperor...
Zhao Ji didn't pay any attention to what this young minister looked like, let alone know that if history followed the original trajectory, when he was trapped in the Jin Kingdom and lived a life worse than death, he might have had a chance to return south. , but because of the existence of this person in front of him, everything was in vain.
He just handed a few letters on the desk to the chamberlain: "Please take a look at what words are in this letter and what it is about."
Qin Hui hurriedly agreed. After cheering up, he respectfully took the letter and looked at it carefully. In terms of knowledge, Qin Hui is quite good. It only took him a short moment to scan through all the letters and memorize them completely. Then he lowered his head and replied: "Your Majesty, these letters are all in Khitan script. The content written above is similar, which is to ask a boss Gu to send rice, salt and white cloth to the north. In addition, the last letter mentioned that a batch of important things will be sent out of Tokyo in early October. I hope his business will help cover it up and send it to the north safely as soon as possible."
After briefly explaining the contents of the letters, Qin Hui began to recite the contents of these letters sentence by sentence. The wording was so precise and there was no omission. Sun Tu felt like applauding him in his heart. Just his ability to memorize knowledge and memorize is enough to astonish people. What’s more, he is also proficient in many languages. No wonder he eventually became the prime minister of the Southern Song Dynasty! Therefore, apart from being a treacherous villain, Qin Hui still has real qualities.
Zhao Ji, on the other hand, didn't pay attention to Qin Hui's deliberate performance at all. He just nodded with a slightly gloomy expression: "It seems that the Gu family firm has indeed colluded with the Liao State, and the important thing mentioned in the letter , it is undoubtedly my Song Dynasty bow and crossbow!"
Qin Hui's body was shocked again. He unexpectedly knew such a big thing. Gu's Trading Company was a well-known big businessman in Tokyo. They actually colluded with the Liao people? Damn it! Today, Qin Hui is young and vigorous, and still full of justice in his heart, so he is naturally very unhappy.
Sun Tu said calmly: "Your Majesty, your Majesty, it seems that even though the theft of these crossbows has nothing to do with the Gu family, the evidence is conclusive that they colluded with the Liao people. What I am most worried about is that there will be Second, if we cannot dig out the fine works of the Liao Kingdom hidden in my Tokyo city, I am afraid that even if I can stop the crossbow this time, there will be another one.
. If the Song Dynasty wants to compete with the Liao cavalry on the battlefield, the most important thing is to advance in crossbows. If they take away even this, I am afraid that the Northern Expedition will be very difficult! "
"Yes, this matter must be investigated to the bottom of the matter. No matter who is involved in the theft of the crossbow, he must be severely punished!" Zhao Ji finally made up his mind and suddenly raised his eyes to look at Sun Tu: "Sun Qing , you just volunteered yourself, you want to share my worries, are you really sure that you can catch the Liao spies and the traitors hiding in my court?"
"I will do my best to prevent anyone from slipping through the net! No matter who they are or what their backers are, as long as they are related to this case, I will take them down!" Sun Tu answered decisively, but Qin Hui was frightened for a while. , as smart as he is, he has vaguely understood something, and this is probably going to cause a big storm in the official circles of the capital.
Zhao Ji just wanted to leave the matter of finding out the truth of the case to Sun Tu, but as he spoke, he thought of something else: "Of course I can give you an order to investigate the case, but you After all, he is just an officer in the front department of the palace, and I am afraid that he has some unfair reputation. If the political affairs hall exercises the power of refutation, it will be difficult for the decree to be issued smoothly." This is why the emperors of the Song Dynasty were more miserable than the emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in later generations. This is a tough place. Although it is easy on weekdays, it is far from enough to be arbitrary. Even the imperial edict may not be issued legally.
However, Sun Tu, the client, was not disappointed by this. He just smiled and said: "Your Majesty, this matter is quite simple. Although I am not an official from the Dali Temple of the Ministry of Justice or the Kaifeng Mansion, I still have an official from the Imperial City Department. I'm on duty, but I haven't taken up my post yet. If Your Majesty orders me to take office at this time, and investigates the case by the way, I think even the ministers in the political affairs hall will not dare to object. After all, the case is of great importance, and no one dares to mess with me. He's on fire."
Only then did Zhao Ji remember that Sun Tu had sent someone who had been promoted to Imperial City Secretary in addition to Yuhou, the former Secretary of the Palace. Immediately, he nodded and said: "This is a wonderful method. Just follow your wishes. I will immediately draft an edict for you to take office as the Imperial City Secretary. I will also have full authority to investigate the case of Gu's Trading Company colluding with the Liao Kingdom. I will investigate it to the end." , there must be no indulgence in the slightest!”
"I accept the order!" Sun Tu immediately bowed down to accept the order. He knew that this time, the initiative was entirely in his hands. Qin Hui on the side was slandered and cried. He had almost no real duties, but the military commander in front of him who was about the same age as himself had too much real power. He really was more powerful than others.
And when the two of them thanked the emperor again and came out of the palace, Qin Hui's heart moved. Suddenly, this was also an opportunity for him. Isn't he worried about not being able to find any backer? If he can rely on Sun Tu, his future career will be very beneficial - speaking of it, he really has no knowledge as a junior official, and he has no idea that Sun Tu has already arranged Gao Qiu, Cai Jing and others. The powerful officials in the court have been offended many times. If you take refuge with him, your future may be over.
But before he could say this, Sun Tu had already spoken: "Qin Xuezheng is very knowledgeable. There are really few talents like you in front of me now. Are you interested in working with me on this case?" ah?"