Naturally, the changes in Wei Chengnian's expression could not escape Sun Tu's eyes. Combined with some of the things he noticed when he first met him, he made a clear judgment: "Wei Sizheng was also a lieutenant general in the army at the beginning?"
Wei Chengnian had nothing to hide, he nodded and said: "Yes, more than ten years ago, I served as a commander at Yanmen Pass, and also fought against the Liao people..." His eyes were slightly reminiscing, and then revealed a little more. Angrily: "The reason why I am here as a fifth-grade official doing nothing all day long is all thanks to those traitors who colluded with Liao Gou. I didn't expect that after all these years, there are such thieves even in Tokyo!"
Although his words were quite vague, Sun Tu still understood. Obviously, this old general was betrayed and defeated in a confrontation with the Liao people, and was seriously injured, so he had to retreat from the front line. However, his results were quite good. Many frontline soldiers either died on the battlefield or died in old age with no one to rely on... But all of this had long been completely covered up by the false scene of a prosperous age.
Wei Chengnian adjusted his mentality very quickly, and immediately said: "I don't know how Yuehou wants to investigate this case. The Gu family firm is very famous and powerful in Tokyo, and many of them have friends with high-ranking officials in the DPRK and China. It's really It will not be easy to conduct an in-depth investigation, and it will also involve countless people who we cannot afford to offend..." After many years in the capital, he has become cautious and cautious, and is no longer as powerful as before.
Sun Tu smiled: "These are the officials I want to investigate. Without the help of these people, I don't think the Liao spies could really get the crossbows and large amounts of wound medicine from Tokyo. Now, the Gu family and others are under my control Among them, it’s time to bring them here for interrogation by the Yan family!”
"But... our Imperial City Department currently only has thirty or forty men, and we only have two palms available. I'm afraid it will be difficult to help Yuehou." Wei Chengnian gave a wry smile and revealed his own embarrassing situation. . The Imperial City Division has been suppressed and deprived of power, and has been idle for decades. Most of the officials have found other jobs, and there are very few capable people left. Even if the old general wants to contribute, he doesn't know how to do it well. Thinking about the big words he just said, Wei Chengnian felt even more ashamed.
Sun Tu hurriedly comforted him: "There is no need to be embarrassed, Secretary Wei. Since I have taken over this matter, I will naturally find a way to deal with it. The Imperial City Division does not have many manpower today, but as long as it can borrow this name, it will be enough. And as long as If we can really get to the bottom of this case, why worry about not being able to make our Imperial City Division make a comeback in the future and regain its former glory?"
After a pause, he explained: "I still have an army of Tigers and Horses under my command, which is enough to deal with all the current problems. The current Imperial City Division is just a borrowed place and name."
Only then did Wei Chengnian realize it, and he glanced deeply at Sun Tu again: "I have heard about the name of the Marquis of Yue for a long time, and I have learned it today. It turns out that he is a worthy scholar despite his great reputation, so I can rest assured!"
As Sun Tu said, he had already made a plan for the next step, so only half an hour later, the relevant people who had been detained by him were escorted to the Imperial City Division one after another. Gu Hui and Gu Youzhi Father, Boss Li and all the clerks and shopkeepers of the Gu family business, including Zhang He from the front office, Zhong Yang from Kaifeng Mansion, Jiang Heng from Yushitai... these court officials, whether they are related to the Gu family or not
, he was also brought here by force. Almost everyone had a look of fear on their faces. Obviously, they all knew that this time things were really serious.
However, Sun Tu was not in a hurry to interrogate these people. Instead, he first asked someone to take out the crossbows and wound medicine as the most important physical evidence, and handed them over to the more experienced Wei Chengnian to examine them carefully to see if there were any traces of them. Any further discoveries.
Seeing this, Wei Chengnian cheered up even more. He first picked up a pack of wound medicine and opened it, then picked up a handful and looked at it carefully, then put it to his nose and smelled it carefully. After a while, he said seriously: "This is indeed a good medicine for knife wounds. It is extremely rare even in the army. Non-officers will not use it if they are injured! I didn't expect that they would even transport such good medicine to the Liao people. It is really shameful!"
"In Wei Si Zheng's opinion, where can we get these medicines?"
"Well, you can buy some from drug stores, but the quantity is limited, and the government will pay attention to it at any time, and it is easy to expose flaws. But if the people prepare it by themselves, it is impossible to have this effect, so this matter is It's really weird." Wei Chengnian frowned deeply, he really couldn't understand this matter.
Sun Tu originally thought that all these things could be bought with money at major pharmacies in the capital, but now it seems that things are far from that simple. But he was not in a hurry to find the answer now, and picked up a crossbow again: "What about this? Si Zheng looked at where this came from? It can't be made by the private sector, right?"
"Of course it's impossible. How can civilian craftsmen have such skills? This is a high-quality military crossbow. Its range is two hundred and thirty steps, which is just shorter than our God's Arm Bow." As expected of someone who has been in the military for a long time. The veteran only glanced at it with his hand, and he could already see the characteristics of this crossbow: "But this thing is really weird. If it is a forbidden army crossbow, how can it be so easy to get it? And it's above There is no military seal, so it shouldn’t be a military item!”
Sun Tu nodded in agreement. He had also come into contact with many military crossbows. Those weapons were engraved with the specific numbers of the military units they belonged to, even down to a certain team. Especially for military weapons like crossbows, there were no People dare to ignore and neglect.
"In addition, looking at the appearance of the sword hanging on the string of this crossbow, it is obviously brand new, and it is even less likely to be a regular item in the army. Otherwise, there will always be some wear and tear, and it cannot be so intact." Wei Chengnian carefully said After looking at the crossbow machine for a while, he saw another problem, and at the same time his frown deepened: "This makes things even more strange. Where did they get the crossbow from?"
Sun Tu had already made his own judgment: "The only possibility is that it comes from the Gongnuyuan. Only the crossbows there are the latest, and compared to the heavily guarded Forbidden Army barracks, the Gongnuyuan's defense is much laxer. What's more, as long as they are careful enough, they can still steal things."
Not only Wei Chengnian, but also Qin Hui, who had been listening quietly from the side and had little military experience, took a breath of cold air when he said this. This Gongnu Institute was an important department of the Song Dynasty. If we want to compare it, it is like those important departments that specialize in military scientific research in later generations. Once the core secrets here are leaked, the consequences will be really disastrous.
"Can those Liao dog spies really do this?" Wei Chengnian was full of disbelief.
Incredible.
"Money can help them. As long as they can afford the price, there will always be someone who will take the risk to help them achieve what they want." Sun Tu sneered: "Just like if I hadn't caught him and showed up, who would have believed that Gu Jia would actually help the spies? How about sending these things out of the city?"
At this point, Sun Tu stood up: "Okay, I have understood what needs to be understood. Next, it is time to ask the relevant people to see how much of the inside story I can get out of their mouths." He He said it casually, but his expression and eyes showed deep murderous intent. This time, no matter who it was, it would be difficult for him to stop him from digging into the matter further.
At this moment, there was a sudden loud noise outside, and soon after, several soldiers who had been sent to guard outside ran over nervously: "General, many officials suddenly came outside, saying I want to find the general and ask you why you arrested officials without permission!"
"They came so quickly..." Sun Tu raised the corner of his mouth and showed a disapproving smile: "And their information is really well-informed. I have only been here for more than half an hour, and these people actually came directly to the door." But before he could make a decision whether to go out or not, several soldiers were pushed back into the courtyard with a few majestic shouts, and more than a dozen officials rushed in menacingly. , when he saw Sun Tu and others, he shouted loudly: "You are so brave, who gave the order to actually take the officials of my Yushitai? Jiang Yushi has always behaved upright, how can he make mistakes, and you are waiting for him? Arrest and humiliate at will!"
"Exactly, you and Qiu Ba are really insulting the gentlemen, and their intentions are to be punished. Why don't you release Jiang Yushi quickly, and then follow us to the Yushitai to accept the crime!"
Although these officials only wore low-grade green official robes, they were all powerful and did not take Sun Tu and the others seriously at all. It seemed that they could rush over at any time and tear them to pieces. And the soldiers in front of them, although they were powerful and had sharp knives in their hands, were all at a loss what to do. They didn't even dare to say a harsh word, let alone drive them away.
Just by looking at this posture and their clothes, Sun Tu quickly understood that these people should all be officials from Yushitai, which is the most difficult group of officials in the court today.
The Yushitai can be called a genius invention. Although the status of the officials here is not high, they all have a lot of power, at least they have a lot of power to impeach. They are all young and bold, and they dare to impeach almost anyone. They are first-class in both their words and writing skills.
These censors have no other errands to do on weekdays. All they have to do is to keep their eyes wide open and pick up on the faults of other officials. From walking and talking to doing things and handling cases, there is nothing they dare to criticize. Over time, they became a thorn in the eyes of many courtiers. In addition, there were many crows nesting on the big trees in front of the Censor's Platform, so the Censor's Platform was also called Wutai, and the Censor in it was also called Wutai. He was derided as a crow.
However, annoying crows can be swept away with sticks or killed with slingshots, but these crows in Yushitai are difficult to deal with. No matter who gets involved with them, there will be constant trouble in the future. But today, Sun Tu got close to Wutai, and looking at it, he stabbed the crow's nest directly...