Chapter 394: Leakage Incident (Part 1)

It was already June, and it was the hottest day of the year. The scorching sun was scorching the earth, and all life retreated under the scorching sun. Whether it was the Daming Palace or the Imperial City, it became quiet by noon. Everyone stayed in the room. There was no one on the streets or squares outside. But with the bell of lunch break, sparse carriages began to drive out of the palace. This was the minister who went out for lunch. In the past, every day was unprecedented. Ministers invited me to invite me and went to Waifang to drink and party in groups. Now the weather is hot, most people are not happy to go out, so they just stayed in the court room and ate a simple meal provided by the court.

Despite this, there were still a small number of officials who were not afraid of the heat and made an appointment to have dinner at Waifang Restaurant. In front of the Censorate's Office in the Daming Palace, seven or eight officials walked out with laughter and joy. The two were the leaders, one was Yan Jiudu, the chief censor, and the other was Du Mei, the chief censor of the Censor. The chief officer of the Censor was called the Censor. He was a false position and regardless of practice, the specific matters were the Censor Central Committee. There were two Censor Central Committee in the Censor Central Committee. The left platform was the Censor Central Committee, and the left platform was the Censor Central Committee. The right platform was the Censor Central Committee.

The county and provincial customs are generally set up two censors in charge of the left and right platforms, and the eastern capital Luoyang also has one censor, which is purely symbolic. Since Zhang Huan added another supervision room on the basis of the two censors after ascending the throne, he simply removed the Luoyang Censors Central Committee and set up the third Censors Central Committee in charge of the Supervision Room in Censors Taichung, three Censors Central Committee, Yan Jiudu, was in charge of the left platform, Li Hanmo, and Du Mei, the Supervision Room.

Today is the third day after Du Mei took office. She has been busy completing various job procedures. Finally, she officially settled down today, and several colleagues made an appointment to go out to drink and welcome him.

"Brother Du actually was a Jinshi in the sixth year of Qingzhi, I was a Jinshi in the seventh year of Qingzhi, and Brother Hanmo was a Jinshi in the fifth year of Qingzhi. It was such a coincidence that it was interesting!" Yan Jiudu just read Du Mei's resume and couldn't help laughing. Du Mei was born in a poor family. Although he had always been an official in Longyou, his official position was privately granted by Zhang Huan as a military governor. He was just a private aide and was not recognized by the court. He had no record in the Ministry of Personnel. This time he was promoted to the Central Censorship, but this time he was the first time he had become an official in the true sense. Despite this, no one dared to underestimate him.

He is one of the five tigers in Longyou. The five tigers in Longyou refer to Hu Yong, He Lou Wuji, Pei Mingyuan, Du Mei, and Luo Guangzheng. When Zhang Huanyuan was expeditioning to Anxi, the decision of the entire Longyou group was that the five of them negotiated and decided. Coincidentally, four of them were all tigers, so they were nicknamed Longyou Five Tigers by the court. These five were definitely Zhang Huan's confidants. In this great change in the court, except for He Lou Wuji as the governor of Longyou and Luo Guangzheng as the governor of Shuofang, the other three were all going to the court to become officials, so no one in the court dared to underestimate them.

Du Meichu was a court official and was a little restrained. When Yan Jiudu said something interesting, Du Mei quickly bowed and smiled: "It turned out to be such a coincidence. It's a pity that Li Hanmo went to Hebei, otherwise we really would have gathered to have a drink."

"You might as well, there are opportunities. Hanmo is a famous drunkard in Chang'an, and Brother Du may not be able to hide."

"My name is Ziping, so Brother Jiudu just calls me Ziping."

"Okay! Brother Ziping asked to get on the carriage." Yan Jiudu turned around and waved his hand, "Everyone set out separately and was trying to concentrate on farming. I'll treat you today."

All the officials of the Censorate got on the bus and headed towards the direction of advising farmers.

The owner of the farmer who encouraged the farming residence was still Jingniang, but now Jingniang no longer operates in a restaurant, but lives in the East City. Since she started trading with the Western Regions, her business was extremely prosperous. She ate several stores in the East City and simply opened a large trading company, named "Mengxiyu". She became one of the famous big trading companies in the East City, specializing in supplying goods to powerful families. With her seven or eight years of hard work, she became one of the richest women in Chang'an. After Zhang Huan ascended the throne, she entered the palace once, nominally delivering goods to the palace, but actually staying in the palace.

The shopkeeper of the Congwoman House is also a young man. His Chinese name is Wang Meimei. He has been with Jingniang for many years. He is very smart and capable, and has a great memory. She can remember all officials who have come to her restaurant for dinner. Next time she comes, she can call out the other party’s official title and surname at once. It is not bad. The weather is hot these days, and most of the officials no longer come out to eat. The business of the restaurants in Wubenfang has become much lighter at noon. They all began to think of attracting some ordinary drinkers to eat in the restaurant. Congwoman House is no exception. Because we can meet many high-ranking officials from the court here, there are also many ordinary diners coming to persuade the congwoman to eat. The entire lobby is full of diners, noisy and bustling.

The shopkeeper Wang Meimei was smiling and introducing the history of advocating farming to several guests. When she turned around, she saw four or five carriages coming out of the carriage. Several officials from the carriages were recognized by Yan Jiudu at a glance. The people behind were all officials of the Censorate. This was the Censorate who came out for lunch together. She immediately sued her guilt and flew out like a butterfly.

"Yan Zhongcheng is here! The shop is so bright." Wang Meimei smiled softly, holding Yan Jiudu's hand, as if she was afraid that he would run away as soon as she turned around.

"Will the encouragement of farmhouses be shining brightly because of my coming? It's so polite to me." Yan Jiudu smiled and pointed to Du Mei beside him and said, "Meimei, let me introduce you to you. This is the new Du Zhongcheng of our Censorate. It turns out that he is an official in Longyou, and he is my senior. The first time you come to you to persuade farmhouses, you must treat him well."

Since the word "Longyou" was said, how could Wang Meimei not know it? She immediately gave Du Mei a gift, "I hope Du Zhongcheng can become a regular visitor to encourage farmers to return home. Meimei will definitely make you feel satisfied."

"Then tell me, how can you be satisfied?" Yan Jiudu looked at everyone and laughed loudly.

While chatting and laughing, everyone humbly walked into the gate of the sacred farmhouse. Although more than a dozen officials rushed into the restaurant, the sacred farmhouse was too big and could not create any deterrent force. Only a few diners sitting at the door looked at them in surprise, and the rest of the diners did not notice their arrival at all.

The lobby was still noisy and bustling, and everyone walked through the shop and prepared to go to the elegant room on the second floor for dining. Suddenly, Yan Jiudu seemed to hear a few diners talking loudly about a topic that should be classified by the imperial court.

"You may have thought about how much money is in Zuozang in the imperial court now? 23 million guan. I heard that this does not include Guangling's fines and taxes."

"Of course, I copied hundreds of clans and got this little money."

"Everyone, I also heard that the court is secretly storing gold and silver. I'm afraid the price of gold and silver will soar. If you have the ability, you might as well save some gold and silver."

Yan Jiudu suddenly looked back and said that he was talking about several diners dressed in businessmen, who were drinking red. Of course, they were not officials of the court, but what they were talking about was something that Yan Jiudu didn't know. A professional instinct made him feel a little alert in his heart.

Everyone went up to the second floor, and the second floor suddenly became quiet. This was not only because most of the second floor were elegant rooms, but more importantly, many elegant rooms were long-standing for lunch by some senior officials, who advised the farmhouse not to let ordinary people come in to eat. The Censorate also had a private room at the bottom of the second floor. In the past, Yan Jiudu and Li Hanmo had to come here for two drinks almost every day, and other Censorate officials also often came.

Two pretty maids led them to the private room. Yan Jiudu smiled at Du Mei and said, "This room is a place where our Censorate officials often come to drink. Over time, it will become our Censorate's special room. From now on, Brother Ziping will come to drink here and go into this room."

Du Mei nodded and said, "This encouraging rural household is indeed very good at doing business. The lobby below is already crowded, but they would rather not entertain guests than let ordinary diners go to the second floor. With this, I will come here often in the future."

"Does Brother Ziping know the backstage of this family who encourages farmers to live in farming?" Yan Jiudu narrowed his eyes and smiled slightly, "It's a bit related to you Longyou."

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly heard someone calling him behind him, "Yan Zhongcheng, but are you?"

When Yan Jiudu turned around, he saw a person leaning out from the door diagonally opposite the door, but it was Zhang Yanshang, the minister of Taifu Temple. The minister of Taifu Temple was originally appointed by Fang Zongyan. After Fang Zongyan was dismissed due to Chu Xingshui's involvement, the minister of Taifu Temple was promoted from Zhang Yanshang, the backbone of Zhang Party.

Zhang Yanshang was the Minister of the Honglu Temple. After Pei Jun came to power, he demoted him to the Julang. Later, he defected to Zhang Huan with Yang Yan, Yuan Zai and others, becoming the first backbone of the Zhang Party. He served as the chief censor for a period of time and worked with Yan Jiudu. The two had a very good relationship.

Yan Jiudu was also very happy when he saw him and hurriedly stepped forward to greet him, "Brother Zhang, why are you here too?"

"I'm treating a few subordinates to dinner." Zhang Yanshang glanced at Du Mei and asked with a smile: "Who is this?"

"Ah! I almost forgot, let me introduce it." Yan Jiudu quickly pulled Du Mei over, "This is the new Du Zhongcheng of our Censorate. Brother Zhang should have heard of it!"

Zhang Yanshang is the son of Zhang Jiazhen, the famous prime minister of Kaiyuan. The word "Yanshang" in his name was given by Li Longji. During the Li Longji era, he entered the palace as a guard officer. Later, he was recruited as a son-in-law by the left prime minister Miao Jinqing. He is a famous family and has always been arrogant. An important reason for his good relationship with Yan Jiudu is that Yan Jiudu is the son of Yan Zhenqing and the uncle of the current queen. Although Du Mei is one of the five tigers in Longyou, his family is poor. How could Zhang Yanshang look down on him? In addition, he is nearly 60 years old this year, so he is even more unworthy to make friends with these younger generations.

So after Yan Jiudu introduced Du Mei, he just bowed his hands very lightly and said: "I have heard of Du Xian's name for a long time. Today, I saw it, I am indeed elegant and handsome, and I live up to the rumor."

Even Yan Jiudu could see the coldness in Zhang Yanshang's eyebrows. He was slightly dissatisfied and did not want to recommend Du Mei anymore. He smiled at Zhang Yanshang and said, "If you don't disturb Brother Zhang's drinking, we will be hungry."

After saying that, he led Du Mei into the room, but Zhang Yanshang grabbed him and said, "I have something important to ask you. Can you borrow a step to speak?"

Seeing that he had a serious expression and was indeed a big deal, Yan Jiudu said to several subordinates: "You can bring Du Zhongcheng in to order food first, don't think about saving me, I'll come immediately."

Zhang Yanshang hurried to a secluded place. Seeing that there was no one on the left and right, he said solemnly: "I heard someone talking about Zuozang's treasury money in several places today, and he said it was not bad at all."

Yan Jiudu suddenly remembered what he had heard in the lobby just now, and nodded, "I also heard someone talking about it. This should be a secret of the court. How could these ordinary people know about it? I can't figure it out."

Seeing that Yan Jiudu also heard about this, Zhang Yanshang hurriedly said, "Yan Zhongcheng doesn't know anything. The amount of money in Zuozang's treasury was not counted until yesterday morning. It was extremely secret. Even the emperor didn't have time to report it. How could these common people know?"

Yan Jiudu pondered for a while and said, "Can it be that the person who participated in the inventory went home and leaked it to his family, so it was rumored."

"Impossible!" Zhang Yanshang flatly denied, "There are more than 100 people participating in the inventory. They only know the amount of their respective amounts. The total amount is only known to me and two Shaoqings. Moreover, everyone took stock of the silk pieces overnight last night, and no one returned home. They are still resting in Curry until now. How could it be spread? I suspect that the memorial I wrote to the emperor yesterday afternoon was leaked."

Yan Jiudu was shocked, "How can I see this?"

"Because the people of Chang'an talked about the secret that the court was reserving a large amount of gold and silver, which was also mentioned in my memorial, so I dare to assert that it must have been leaked from the memorial."

Speaking of this, Zhang Yanshang said in panic: "It would be fine if the money in Zuozangku was leaked, but the secrets of the reserved gold and silver will be leaked, which will inevitably lead to a sharp rise in the price of gold and silver. Once the emperor is furious, who can bear this responsibility?"

"This..." Yan Jiudu also realized the seriousness of the problem. He pondered for a moment and said, "This can only be found in the memorial yesterday. First, check the Ministry of Revenue, then the Ministry of Public Security, and then the Secretariat. There are many places and people passing by, so it is really difficult to find out who leaked it."

Zhang Yanshang leaned his head and looked into the corridor, and immediately lowered his voice and said, "I have checked it secretly just now. My memorial was taken back to the mansion by Pei Jia, the Minister of the Secretariat last night. It was a memorial with a secret seal. How could he take it back to the mansion?"

Yan Jiudu suddenly understood the meaning of Zhang Yanshang talking about this matter. He wanted to impeach Pei Jia, but he was afraid of the power of the Pei family, so he wanted to let himself stand up. Having said that, this is indeed his own responsibility. Yan Jiudu pondered for a while and said, "This matter is of great importance. Let me go back to collect evidence and then do the impeachment."

Zhang Yanzhang was overjoyed, and he quickly bowed, "I'll ask Yan Zhongcheng for this matter. If necessary, I will cooperate with you."

Yan Jiudu smiled bitterly and could impeach Pei Jia and take the secret back home to review it, but it was difficult to find direct evidence to blame him for leaking the secret. After all, Pei Jia is not the only one who handled it.

He walked back to Yashi with great worries. The dishes in Yashi had been ordered. Everyone was talking and laughing. When he saw Yan Jiudu coming in, he shouted that he would punish him three cups first.

Seeing Yan Jiudu's expression serious, Du Mei couldn't help but feel a little surprised, so she quickly stood up to stop everyone and asked Yan Jiudu, "Brother Jiudu, what happened?"

"Hey! Don't mention it."

Yan Jiudu waved his hand and sighed, "Eunuch Zhang told me that the secret of saving money in the imperial court had been leaked. I also heard it when I was in the lobby just now. I really don't know who leaked the secrets of the imperial court."

"Do you want me to help you?" Du Mei smiled slightly.

Yan Jiudu suddenly realized that Du Mei had an inspection room on her hand, which was the Emperor's former Internal Affairs Department. Why did he forget this? He grabbed Du Mei's wrist and said anxiously: "This matter is of great importance. Brother Ziping must help me this time."

After lunch, Yan Jiudu and the officials of the Censorate returned to the Daming Palace, while Du Mei drove towards the Imperial City in a carriage.

Since the Internal Affairs Department was officially renamed the Supervision Office and transferred to the Censorate, its office was temporarily moved to the Imperial City from Chongrenfang and officially listed as the Supervision Office. The Supervision Order was appointed by the Censor Du Mei. It is divided into the Military Inspection Department, the Prefecture and County Office and the Taiwan Provincial Office. As the name suggests, the Military Inspection Department is the supervision system. When Zhang Huan's Longyou Army was gradually reorganized into the Mansion Army, the Supervision Office will be carried out by the Ministry of War, and the Military Inspection Department of the Supervision Office is responsible for supervising the border generals of various military governors; the Prefecture and County Office are supervising local officials and major local events; the Taiwan Provincial Office is supervising major events that occurred in the Central Court and Chang'an.

Unlike the Censorate's explicit inspection, the Supervision Office's supervision method lies in undercover investigation, which is a supplement to the Censorate, and there are many people. If the Censorate is equivalent to the current Discipline Inspection Commission or Supervision Department, then the Supervision Office is the current National Security Bureau.

The chiefs of the Third Division were all from the sixth-rank censors. Although the grade was not high, they had great power and could obtain information by all means. There was one principle that could not be violated, that is, they had absolutely no power to deal with officials. Any major intelligence must be reported to the Censorate. Du Mei wrote the impeachment seal and submitted it to Zhang Huan alone, and Zhang Huan approved it to the Ministry of Personnel or the Ministry of Justice for handling.

The first censor of the Taiwan Provincial Department was Li Qiu's aide Huang Yunqing. He finally got his wish and became a formal official of the court and no longer became an undercover agent. This means that he will have the opportunity to be transferred to the Censorate or other departments, and will be completely inseparable from the spy from now on.

The weather was hot, so he stayed in the room to review the reports from branches in various places, then took out the major events, summarized them and prepared to report them to Du Mei, and then handed over all reports to archiving for reference.

In today's report, he drew two more important things. One was a fight in the Ministry of War. Wu Yuanheng, the Minister of War, was injured by Pei Mingyao, the Shaoqing of Guanglu Temple. The specific reason is to be investigated. The other thing is that the rumor that the imperial court reserved a large amount of gold and silver reserves caused the price of gold and silver to soar. Among them, the black market price of gold and silver has reached 18 liang, and the silver price has also reached 30 liang. The gold and silver jewelry of major jewelry stores in the East City have been removed from the cabinet. Affected by this, the rice price has also risen by 10%, which is very likely to trigger a chain price increase effect of various materials.

Huang Yunqing was lowering his head and writing a report when he suddenly felt something. He looked up, but he didn't know when Du Mei had entered his room and was looking at him with a smile.

Huang Yunqing quickly stood up and saluted, "I didn't know that Zhongcheng was here and had never come far away to welcome him. Please forgive me."

"You're welcome, I'm here for official business," Du Mei smiled and waved her hand. Seeing that there were two reports on the table, he asked curiously: "What big thing happened today?"

Huang Yunqing quickly handed over the report, "My subordinates are sorting out one. One is that Wu Yuanheng, the Minister of War, was injured by Pei Mingyao, the Shaoqing of Guanglu Temple."

"Why?" Du Mei asked in surprise. The Ministry of War and Guanglu Temple are far apart, and their official duties are irrelevant, so how could there be conflicts?

"I don't know the specific reason yet, and my subordinates have ordered someone to investigate."

"You must find out the specific reason." This incident involved the Pei family. Du Mei did not dare to be careless. He took another memorial and asked, "What else is there?"

"The second thing is that something strange happened in Chang'an. Zuozang's savings were rumored on the streets and alleys, and it was also rumored that the court was reserving a large amount of gold and silver, which caused the price of gold and silver to soar, and also affected the price of rice."

"I came for this matter. This matter is of great importance. We must find out the source of the news." Du Mei handed a note to Huang Yunqing and lowered her voice: "The Censorate suspected that the news may have been spread from this person. You must send the most capable subordinates to find out the matter."
Chapter completed!