The rise of the late Song Dynasty reigns supreme

Chapter 209 The fog is heavy
"The plan was made at that time, and only a few people participated in the profit from it, so it was impossible to leak it!" Tong Guan continued, "We didn't realize that something was wrong until after the incident happened. The first time I thought it was a coincidence, but it happened several times later. The problem is very wrong.”

"The strangest thing is that no matter how hard we investigated, we still had no clue. We basically didn't participate in the next few times, and we were still on guard, and something happened. Therefore, Cai Jing and I concluded that someone made the first move, but we didn't know who did it. It is in our hands, who else would dare to be our enemy!"

"At first I wanted to continue the investigation, but unexpectedly, something happened to Cai Jing, and I was also implicated. In the end, this matter was left alone. Today, you revealed that this matter was investigated, and only then did you know that this matter caused a lot of trouble. The person in question is a mystery, and even I am in the middle of the game."

Zhao Gou asked, "Is it because of the two of you that Zhu Minzhong, the former Minister of the Household Department, resigned and went back to hiding?"

Tong Guan nodded and said, "That's right, it's exactly what we two did! He knows too much, and he also knows our plan, but he didn't know where he got it from. It just so happens that he and us are political enemies, and with the help of his hands It's easy to force him to go into seclusion."

"And how did you do it?"

"Zhu Minzhong is worthy of being a queen of a famous family. He is upright and has a close mind, so he has to guard against it!" Tong Guan praised, "Cai Jing and Ye Mengde have a very close relationship, and they recommended him to the emperor, and he did not disappoint Cai Jing's expectations. He entered the household department by coincidence. .”

"After making the plan, Ye Mengde trusts Cai Jing and is loyal to the emperor when he wants someone to respond from the sidelines. It's just that he has a good literary talent, but he doesn't understand conspiracy, let alone our plan. Let's make some things out of it, I also said a few words in front of the emperor, Zhu Minzhong has a straightforward personality, he was really fooled, he started arguing with the emperor in the early court, and finally dismissed him from office, thinking of his achievements, he did not punish him, but let him resign and go back to seclusion."

"I got Ye Mengde to be the Minister of the Household Department as I wished, and then used our mutual relationship to inquire about the internal news of the Household Department. He also told the truth, and Cai Jing gave some pointers. Ye Mengde's ability is limited and he cannot control the overall situation. Some things are discussed with Cai Jing. , our plan unfolded."

"Thousands of calculations are still neglected. Someone stepped in when we were doing it, so that our efforts came to naught, and a whole 200 million taels fell into other people's pockets. How can we let go of making wedding dresses for others. At that time, We thought that there was a mistake in the plan, and we didn't think anyone was involved in it."

"Decided to shoot again, the same situation happened three times in a row. When we opened the wooden box and found that it was not gold, but an empty box, we knew that we had been tricked. At that time, we decided to investigate to the end, but found that there was no trace."

"Where do you decide to attack?" Zhao Gou believed that they would not be so stupid as to act before leaving the capital or when they were sent to the place. They must act halfway, otherwise someone would definitely find out.

"Various post stations along the way!" Tong Guan replied, "We need to distribute this batch of silver coins to the victims, and escort them all the way. The escort team is the people from the Ministry of Criminal Justice. It will not cause shocks, and then the money in the hands of local officials is less than half, as long as the victims of the disaster are not killed."

"There must be your internal response in the escort team!"

"There are indeed our people. When Zhu Minzhong was still in office for the first time, he personally selected people from the Ministry of Punishment to escort, and we could only intersperse some people. We didn't take it to heart when we failed; the next few times, Ye Mengde When I took office, the escorts were all arranged by us, and it was only when something went wrong that I realized that things were far more than what they appeared to be, making wedding dresses for others!"

"A dumb man who eats Coptis chinensis can't say anything!" At this time, Zhao Gou remembered a sentence. Cai Jing and Tong Guan wanted to embezzle the state treasury without talking about it. Their ambitions swelled and they asked for trouble.However, Zhao Gou still had some doubts in his heart: "Who is the person behind the scenes? Why does he know the overall plan of the matter? Only Cai Jing and Tong Guan should know about it, as well as the guards who participated in the escort. Could it be..."

"Have all the yamen guards who escorted the team been silenced?"

Zhao Gou asked bluntly, which surprised Tong Guan and said, "How do you know? They all died, very strangely!"

"A strange death?"

"All the people who participated for the first time were silenced by us, and only half of them came back. It is said that many brothers died when they encountered bandits fighting with them on the way, and the rest were all silenced by us; I also encountered the same situation, no one survived, all died on the way back to Beijing, we also sent people to Shandong and other places to investigate, there was no clue, even the local sheriff and others did not know that there would be such a group in their jurisdiction Desperado, after the failure of this matter, we will no longer pay attention to this."

The more Zhao Gou heard it, the more he felt that something was wrong. The whole thing was like a game. The person who started the war was unexpectedly taken over by someone, and he didn't know who did it. He smashed his teeth and swallowed his own blood to marry others. Clothes.Or maybe this incident was premeditated, and it happened just at the right time.

Cai Jing and Tong Guan discussed and planned this matter, wanting to make a fortune, but they were the only two who really knew about it, the others kept silent, and no third party knew about it.There was nothing wrong with them not being aware of the mistake the first time; if the same situation happened the second and third time, it was not a coincidence, but someone did it on purpose.

All the yamen servants who participated in that year also died. Except for the first batch, the other batches were inexplicably removed by a group of bandits on the way back to Beijing.Although the bandits were rampant, they would not dare to confront the court. At that time, there had not been such a big class conflict in the Song Dynasty, and it was impossible to cause such a big problem.

Therefore, Zhao Gou concluded that the identities of the bandits were doubtful. He was expected to be sent by the people behind the scenes to pretend to be bandits and then silence them all after the incident, or they didn't silence them, just to cover up their eyes and ears.However, Cai Jing and Tong Guan arranged among those people, so why didn't they find something strange? These issues are worth considering.

After Zhao Gou got what he wanted, he left the prison and walked on the road, thinking about what happened in his mind.Zhao Gou sorted out his thoughts over and over again, and found an important clue, that is what kind of role Ye Mengde, the minister of the household department, played in it.

When I saw him for the first time, I just felt that this man had a strong bookishness, a little silly, and he didn't seem like a conspiratorial person.He is also a pawn of Cai Jing and Tong Guan, he doesn't have much effect, he is just used by them.

However, Tong Guan's words made him a little strange. He always felt that Ye Mengde had many secrets that were unknown, and it was really hard to say the specific reason.However, Zhao Gou made up his mind to investigate this person again to see who he is, and he must not let go of any clues.

(End of this chapter)