This extra long night for many people in Tokyo has finally passed and it is dawn!

Many people were sleepless all night, waiting for further news to come, but until dawn, the final news was that Sun Tu led the Hu Ben army to surround the Gu family's mansion and entered the inner rope. After that, no more news came out. No one knew what was going on inside, and they found something.

Shortly after a group of officials went to the yamen to work in a nervous mood, the latest news finally came, but it was so surprising that it was inexplicable - Sun Tu actually headed straight to the palace and asked to see the emperor!

This was too unexpected to everyone. Who would have thought that Sun Tu's behavior was completely in accordance with the rules of the officialdom and bypassed the emperor's head, and reported it directly to the emperor, without giving anyone the opportunity to deal with it. You must know that this is a big taboo in the officialdom. He has completely broken the rules and will inevitably make countless enemies and bring endless troubles to himself.

But as long as they think about what Sun Tu did in the past, they were somewhat acceptable, because this was a guy who looked down on the rules and was best at breaking the rules. He was like this in Jiangnan, and even killed a ban like Zhu Xie. He did not have any intention of restraining himself when he arrived in Tokyo. He had turned up the table before and made the corruption of the imperial guards in Kaifeng Prefecture's court. Therefore, after finding such a big case today, it was reasonable to not discuss it with any colleagues, and directly enter the palace.

Moreover, Sun Tu's identity is quite good. Not only did he have the title of Yue Hou, but he also wore a goldfish bag. With this, he could completely unblock the ground king. In this way, the case could not be concealed and all the countermeasures that many people originally thought of were shattered. Now it depends on what the current government attitude is.

Fortunately, with the ministers' understanding of the government, he was definitely not a tyrant king who liked to have a tyrant prison because of a little thing. Moreover, Sun Tu was not a court official who was deeply favored. No matter how much he said, it would be impossible to really affect the emperor's decision. At least he had to summon the ministers of the Political Affairs Hall to discuss it. In this way, there would be room for maneuver and he could take the initiative in this case from Sun Tu.

At least most officials think so, but only those who already know and fear him, such as Gao Qiu and Cai Jing, will have another consideration. Therefore, the former is called illness and avoid suspicion, while the latter is ready. Just wait for the storm to be together, and it is time to harvest the benefits yourself.

As early as the chaos in Jiangnan, when Sun Tu was named Marquis of Yue, he had been awarded a goldfish bag. This goldfish bag, which symbolizes identity and glory, is actually not very eye-catching. It is just a small fish-shaped bag embroidered with golden silk thread hanging on his waist. In the officialdom of the Song Dynasty, you did not compare your identity with the goldfish bag or silverfish bag. However, this goldfish bag still has a special purpose, that is, you can enter the palace and meet the emperor at any time.

However, this privilege is not necessarily useful for ordinary officials. Because major officials such as the Zhengshi Hall and the Privy Council have naturally been given goldfish bags, but they don’t use this thing to easily enter the palace for a chance. And those who do not have much authority but have to wear goldfish bags, how could they have any legitimate reasons to meet the emperor? After all, you can’t just use goldfish bags to enter the palace by using goldfish bags because you want to see the emperor or want to chat with him, and then you can’t just use goldfish bags to enter the palace without any voluntary action. That’s not to pretend to be a comparison, but to be a dying person.

But this time, the goldfish bag played an extremely critical role in Sun Tu's hand, allowing him to enter the palace smoothly, and saw Zhao Ji lying on the desk in a side hall that was not too large. However, the imperial desk in front of him was not a memorial text, but a very long picture. At this time, the emperor was watching with relish and nodding from time to time. Even Sun Tu had never cared about it.

After the Wenyou Zhengshi Hall and the Wuyou Privy Council helped the emperor to properly handle all the military and political affairs in the country, the Emperor of the Song Dynasty was indeed much easier than the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties who later dismissed from the position of prime minister. Even the emperors who were negligent in the Ming and Qing dynasties actually had to deal with many things in one day. It can be said that most people were busy from morning to night, and even diligent people were even busy until late at night. Only emperors who were completely unwilling to government affairs and were not afraid of losing power would ignore anything, such as the famous carpenter emperor Tianqi Zhu Youxiao.

In addition to the reasons for the political system of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Ji did not like government affairs, so he delegated power greatly and also had many hobbies, such as calligraphy and painting, and the cultivation of Taoism in Qingxuan, especially the former, which was played to the extreme by him.

Sun Tu stood at His Highness, but with his eyesight, he could clearly see that the scroll that was carefully viewed by Zhao Ji was the famous "Along the River During the Qingming Festival". But as far as he knew, this picture had been painted for many years, so why did the emperor take it out and look carefully at this time?

It took half an hour before Zhao Ji's eyes moved away from the scroll and smiled at Sun Tu without any apology: "Zhang Zeduan's painting is indeed very exquisite and very detailed. Every time I look at this painting, it is like traveling to the prosperous scene of my Tokyo Bianliang last time, so every few months, I will ask the inner treasury to take it out."

If Zhao Ji had anything good, it was that he was indeed close to his subordinates, and even if he was not very familiar with Sun Tu, he could explain it briefly. If Cai Jing was here, he would have to put aside his serious matters and first appreciate and evaluate the various wonders of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" with him. After making the emperor happy and satisfied, let's talk about other things.

But Sun Tu did not have this attainment. He knew that this painting was indeed a national treasure in later generations and seemed to have shown it in a real book one year, so he didn't know much about why the name of this painting was called Qingming Shanghe. He just thought it was a picture of Qingming visiting the grave, so he could not say anything with insight.

However, after hearing the emperor's words, he still understood what was painting, so he followed the meaning: "I have gained His Majesty's wiseness and had such a prosperous era. All industries in Tokyo are prosperous. With this painting, it is really a blessing for our subjects." At this point, he glanced at the emperor and then suddenly changed the subject: "However, I am still worried that such a good life will be broken at some point."

Sure enough, Zhao Ji's face suddenly sank when he heard this: "Mr. Yue, what do you mean?"

"Your Majesty also asks you to forgive me for being unruly. It is really a big deal. I have to risk my life to advise me!" If ordinary ministers were angry when they saw the emperor, they were always a little uneasy and could not have been as smooth as before, but Sun Tu still did the same and immediately explained his discoveries over the past few days one by one.

He started with Yan Ziliang deducting the money and food of the Hu Ben Army, and said that he followed the clues and found the Gu family's business company on the head, and then he found a large number of crossbow wounds from the Gu family's fleet, which changed his expression several times. Finally, he couldn't help but slap the imperial case: "It's outrageous. They are so brave that they dare to understand foreign enemies and do such a great thing that harms our Song Dynasty. It's really a pity!"

Sun Tu did not say anything to ask the emperor to calm his anger, but instead added fuel to the fire: "After that, I brought people around the Gu family's residence and found several letters in foreign languages ​​from it. I was short-school, so I don't know what was written on it. But I believe that this matter must be extraordinary. In order to prevent being deceived, I brought it directly into the palace and asked Your Majesty for the holy text!" As he said that, he raised several letters that he had found last night in his arms and over his head.

At Zhao Ji's instructions, an eunuch came forward to take the letter and delivered it to him. However, although Zhao Ji was a great calligrapher, he knew nothing about foreign words. After just looking through it for a few seconds, he said, "Go to the Hanlin Academy to find someone familiar with the characters of Liaoxia and other countries to translate these letters for me."

When the eunuch received the order to go out to make arrangements, Sun Tu continued: "Your Majesty, I think this matter is too important, so I have to say something."

"you say."

"Your Majesty, as far as I know, now my Song Dynasty has begun to prepare for the Liao Kingdom in the north? If the Liao people bribed some people in my Tokyo city, and even bribed important officials from the court through them, what would happen to the war ahead? I am afraid that hundreds of thousands of troops will be defeated by the Liao people. Not to mention recovering the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, it will become extremely difficult to defend the Yanmen Pass. Then, the Song Dynasty is in danger and Tokyo is in danger. Your Majesty has been working hard for many years to create, and it will be really destroyed. What I say is not an exaggeration, and I hope Your Majesty will understand it clearly."

Zhao Ji was not a fool. Although he didn't know much about military affairs, he knew that if there was really a steady stream of food from the Song Dynasty to the north, and if the Song Dynasty had a heavy weapon for the country, the enemy would be able to copy it, then the next Northern Expedition plan might be destroyed!

This time, the emperor was really furious and slapped the table again and shouted: "I must investigate this matter to the end. No matter who is involved, I will never tolerate it!"

Sun Tu seized the opportunity and made another statement: "Your Majesty, as far as I know, the Gu family has long established deep friendship with many officials in the court based on their hundreds of thousands of property. Therefore, if you really want to investigate this matter, it will inevitably involve countless people. The officials in the court dare not say that officials protect each other, but they have some concerns, just because they are afraid that it will not be easy to investigate this matter thoroughly. Most officials do not have such courage to deal with it. I am not talented, thinking that only if I, a new official, have not much contact with the ministers, can I not be afraid of criticism, regardless of closeness or alienation, investigate the case to the bottom of the truth!"
Chapter completed!