After the rebirth, the queen took the Meiqiang tragedy script

Chapter 257 Trading
After dinner, Chen Yuansi finally saw the person he had been waiting for.

The bright candlelight in the study illuminated the young face that he knew all too well. Chen Yuansi looked at Ye Qinghuai's black cloak and hood and said, "Isn't Your Majesty unwell and bedridden? But this old minister sees no sign of illness in Your Majesty's travel-worn appearance."

"To be honest, Your Excellency, I just returned from Qing County," Ye Qinghuai replied frankly.

Chen Yuansi was surprised for a moment. He did not expect Ye Qinghuai to be so open and honest. Without even a word of pretense, he directly admitted that he had been faking his illness and taking leave from court, and he did not even bother to hide his whereabouts.

But he quickly regained his composure and said, "This old minister received a letter from Yingzhou today, saying that His Majesty sent a secret envoy to the front lines to deliver an imperial edict, bestowing official titles and ranks upon the rebels. This old minister thought that someone was risking their life to forge the edict, but I never expected that His Majesty was secretly acting in disguise. It is truly His Majesty's decree."

"In urgent situations, one must act expediently. I hope Your Excellency will not blame me for my rash actions." After saying this, Ye Qinghuai bowed slightly to Chen Yuansi, lowering his eyes to show his apology.

"Your Majesty is too kind. Even such an important matter as bestowing the title of a first-rank official is not discussed with the cabinet. This shows that the cabinet is practically a figurehead to Your Majesty. In Your Majesty's eyes, this old minister, the Grand Secretary, is probably just an old man in his seventies who is a hindrance. How can I blame Your Majesty?"

Ye Qinghuai sensed the sarcasm in his words, but he was not offended. Instead, he patiently explained, "Please don't be angry, Your Excellency. To be honest, half of the reason I traveled this long distance was for your sake."

Chen Yuansi subconsciously shrank back and frowned. He looked at Ye Qinghuai, wondering what she was up to, and dared not speak easily.

"My promotion of Lu Yanchen this time is neither to spite the cabinet nor to protect the rebels in Qing County, but for a coal mine."

"Coal?" Chen Yuansi couldn't help but ask.

"Two hundred li northwest of Yexian, at the foot of Mangshan Mountain in the territory of Xirong, there is a place called Shuimogou. I have received reliable information that there are large coal mines in this place. I appointed Lu Yanchen as General Zhenxi so that he could conquer this place."

After listening, Chen Yuansi stared intently into Ye Qinghuai's eyes, his tightly furrowed brows full of doubt.

Ye Qinghuai paused for a moment before getting to the point: "Grand Secretary Chen, if we acquire this mine, it will still be handed over to the cabinet—mainly the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue—to manage it."

The doubt in Chen Yuansi's eyes vanished instantly.

The Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue have always been the two largest expenditure departments, and the current Minister of Works and Minister of Revenue of Dajing are both held by Yu Jianghui. Yu Jianghui is Chen Yuansi's protégé and can be said to be Chen Yuansi's most capable right-hand man. The Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue have been Chen Yuansi's purse strings for the past few years. Ye Qinghuai bluntly stated that he wanted to hand over this coal mine to the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue, which is tantamount to handing it over to Chen Yuansi.

In this sense, Chen Yuansi was truly the biggest beneficiary of her bestowal of the title upon Lu Yanchen for his expedition to the Western Rong.

"How did Your Majesty know there was a coal mine here?" Chen Yuansi asked. Ye Qinghuai did not reply immediately, but instead gave a meaningful smile and said, "Does Grand Secretary Chen think that Gu Haiwang was able to be rescued from the main camp of the Northern Barbarians and then transported 1,600 miles to my palace solely because of Lu Yanchen's courage and a few imperial guards?"

Chen Yuansi's expression immediately changed.

Ever since the change of commander of the Capital Garrison and the change of leadership of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he had begun to suspect that the emperor had his own intelligence organization, and a very strong one at that, strong enough to challenge Gu Shihai, who had deep roots in the army. But he never expected that the emperor's secret guard had existed for half a year, and that it had infiltrated not only the capital but also military camps thousands of miles away.

Training secret guards is extremely difficult, requiring a large amount of money and a long period of time. The emperor has only been on the throne for four years; how could there possibly be such powerful and skilled secret guards?
But if such a team truly existed, it would resolve Chen Yuansi's long-standing doubts. When Gu Haiwang was escorted back to the capital, he was immediately placed under house arrest in the palace. Chen Yuansi had pondered for a long time what Gu Shihai was up to. Now it seemed that it wasn't that Gu Shihai was unwilling to bring Gu Haiwang back to his home, but rather that he couldn't.

Chen Yuansi suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. Over the past year, a new force had emerged in the court, separate from Chen Yuansi and Gu Shihai. In the military, it was led by Lu Yanchen, and in the court, it was led by Lin Yuxiu. Since both of them were students of Wang Lisong, the head of the Imperial Academy, this emerging force also included many new students from the Imperial Academy, and was therefore secretly referred to by the court officials as the "Imperial Academy Party".

Chen Yuansi had always believed that these "literary faction" members were the ones who advised the emperor behind the scenes, and that it was their instigation that caused the emperor's temperament to change drastically in just a year and a half, becoming ruthless and troublesome.

In Chen Yuansi's view, the emperor was nothing more than a puppet of the literary faction. Without Lu Yanchen and Lin Yuxiu, the emperor would naturally revert to his previous harmless appearance, as if his spine had been removed.

But looking at the young man in black with piercing eyes, Chen Yuansi suddenly wondered if he had misjudged the situation and if the emperor might be the real mastermind.

He looked at Ye Qinghuai, and his eyes gradually revealed a look of vigilance and awe.

During that half-hour of silence, several different expressions flashed across Chen Yuansi's face. Finally, he said, "Salt, iron, and coal are the lifeblood of the nation, and should be mined under the leadership of the Ministry of Works, with the Ministry of Revenue responsible for overall coordination. Although I am the Grand Secretary, I am ultimately working for the court. Your Majesty says this is for my sake, but I don't quite understand."

Ye Qinghuai sneered inwardly: This old fox, he got the benefit but still pretends to be innocent.

She smiled gently and said, "Grand Secretary Chen, let's be frank. I promise you, I will not interfere with or inquire about the operation of the Shuimogou coal mine; it will be entirely up to you, Grand Secretary."

Having received Ye Qinghuai's promise, Chen Yuansi withdrew his probing expression and asked, "Your Majesty has gone to such lengths, surely not just to benefit others?"

Ye Qinghuai didn't keep him in suspense and said directly, "I have only one request. I hope that Grand Secretary Chen can be lenient and let Lu Yanchen off the hook. As for the rebellion in Qing County, I will handle it myself."

"It seems His Majesty truly favors General Lu," Chen Yuansi remarked, his voice tinged with a strange mix of melancholy and regret.

"My appointment of Lu Yanchen is not to make things difficult for you, Grand Secretary, but to keep Gu Shihai in check," Ye Qinghuai sighed. "Your Excellency, you may not know this, but since the Empress became pregnant, I have been unable to sleep at night. Grand Secretary Chen, you must help me in this matter of fighting against the Gu faction."