Hu Yun did not expect that the other party would attack the raw materials of the "Beijing News". Although this move was despicable, it was very vicious and was tantamount to draining the firepower. But now was the critical moment. The Western Army's Northern Expedition made King Yong's legitimacy more and more popular among the people.
, we can see how supportive everyone is from the donations from the people, as well as the support of the court officials. In just three days, nearly twenty officials have come to report here and collect travel expenses.
And the other party was a little too anxious to act at this critical moment. If I didn't decisively stop it, I wonder what other crazy things they would do.
However, the top priority is to continue to publish newspapers and continue to expand King Yong's influence, and no problems can occur at this critical moment.
Thinking of this, Hu Yun asked: "How long can the paper last?"
"It can still last for about seven or eight days. The ink inventory is large and can last for a month."
"Are there any other alternative sources of paper?" Hu Yun asked again.
Wang Mu said worriedly: "There are still a few paper-making workshops, and the purchase volume is not large at ordinary times, but I am more worried that they are afraid of retaliation and are unwilling to supply us with paper. This possibility is very high. I was thinking about it just now, can we
Supply paper from Yangzhou?”
“Yangzhou is good!”
Hu Yun praised: "It only takes two or three days for the ship to arrive. Are there any paper merchants we can contact over there?"
"There are three, but it takes at least ten days for them to make paper and transport it. However, I can purchase a batch from Pingjiang Prefecture. We have a branch printing newspapers in Pingjiang Prefecture. The paper is supplied by two local paper mills. I estimate
They can support a little, but not too much. Three days should be enough. Now I am worried about whether the paper supply in Yangzhou will be available in time. I will rush to Yangzhou today to coordinate the paper supply."
Hu Yun thought for a while and said: "Let's do this! I will ask the deputy envoy to accompany you to Yangzhou, and let the Yangzhou government participate in the coordination. In the future, Yangzhou will participate in the supply of paper and ink, and the long-term guarantee will be guaranteed!"
Wang Mu nodded, "If the supply of paper is sufficient, I might as well open a printing branch in Yangzhou."
"You think about this for yourselves. What I need to do is cut off their thieves' hands."
Hu Yun said coldly: "If I don't let them suffer severely once, they will still be unscrupulous."
There is a palace beside the West Lake, covering an area of about 300 acres. It is the emperor's summer refuge. It was just completed last year and is currently being decorated. In the summer, the emperor will take his concubines to live in the palace.
At one o'clock in the night, the palace suddenly caught fire. The fire started from three directions. The fire was very fast. It only took a moment to connect into one area. Thick smoke billowed and flames rose into the sky. People all over the west of the city saw the thick smoke billowing and walked out of their homes one after another.
The whole street was filled with residents, talking about it.
At this time, the fire was so intense that the soldiers fighting the fire retreated and stood in the distance, watching helplessly as the palace was engulfed in flames.
The fire burned until the morning of the next day, when the fire gradually extinguished, but the palace, which cost tens of thousands of dollars, was also burned to the ground. Thousands of Plum Blossom Guards soldiers sealed off the area around the palace, and they were carefully examining all kinds of clues.
At this time, a carriage escorted by dozens of cavalry came quickly and arrived in front of the palace gate. The carriage stopped and Qin Hui stepped out of the carriage.
He walked up the steps and looked at the burned palace with only ruins left. He was really annoyed. Everyone in the palace was packing up their things and preparing to move them here, but unexpectedly it was destroyed by the fire.
But there was still a trace of uneasiness in his eyes. The Xiaoshan paper mill was destroyed by fire the night before yesterday, and the palace was also destroyed by fire last night. Is there any connection between the two?
At this time, Yan Xin, the commander of the Meihua Guard, stepped forward quickly, bowed and saluted, "See Mr. Qin!"
"Are there any casualties?"
"Reporting to my husband, the thirty craftsmen and a dozen patrol soldiers who lived in the palace during the night all escaped successfully, but four Plum Blossom Guard soldiers were trapped by a collapsed wall while fighting the fire and could not die in the line of duty.
"That's so unfortunate. Has the cause of the fire been found?"
Yan Xin nodded, "Master, please come with me!"
He took Qin Hui to the side, pointed to a dozen skin bags on the ground and said: "I picked these up from around. I can also pour out a little kerosene, and there are more than a dozen torches. I just threw them on the ground. Qin Xianggong understood.
Is it? Someone used kerosene to set a fire and deliberately threw the evidence on the ground for us to see. As for who it is, Mr. Qin should know very well."
Qin Hui's face suddenly became very ugly. Except for the intelligence spies of the Western Army, no one knew how to use kerosene, and they were the only ones who had this kind of kerosene. As he feared, the Western Army was taking revenge.
He pondered for a moment and said: "Destroy the kerosene bag immediately. The information about this matter is sealed and no one is allowed to leak it. Do you understand?"
"I understand the humble position!"
Qin Hui immediately got on the carriage and rushed back to the palace to report.
Zhao Gou only found out about the fire in the palace this morning, and he immediately ordered Prime Minister Qin Hui to go investigate.
In the imperial study, Zhao Gou paced back and forth with his hands behind his hands. In fact, he vaguely guessed that this was the Western Army's revenge. If this was true, it would be a bit scary. The key is that there is no equality. They only burned the paper mill, but the other party burned it.
Palace, what if you order the newspaper office to be burned again? Will the other party directly burn the palace?
Zhao Gou shuddered. He felt that if the other party wanted to do this, there was nothing he couldn't do.
"Your Majesty, Mr. Qin is here!"
Zhao Gou said quickly: "Xuan him to come in!"
Soon, Qin Hui hurried into the imperial study, bowed and said: "Your Majesty, I have been to the palace!"
"How's it going?"
Qin Hui shook his head, "It's not good. The entire palace was burned down, and four soldiers who put out the fire died."
Zhao Gou gritted his teeth and said, "Who did it? Can you find out?"
"Your Majesty, there is no need to check. There are more than a dozen skin bags missing at the scene. There is also kerosene and torches in them. There is only one company that can use kerosene."
Zhao Gou suddenly turned pale and said slowly for a while: "Go and question them. The agreement they signed was clear. Their people are not allowed to destroy Lin'an anymore. Now they openly set fire to it. What do they want to do? If the agreement is useless, then I
Just take back Jiangnan West Road!"
"Your Majesty, Wei Chen just went to see Hu Yun!"
When Zhao Gou turned around, he saw Xu Xiantu standing at the door. Xu Xiantu bowed and said: "The humble minister is rude, you should report it first!"
Zhao Gou allowed Xu Xiantu to come in directly without announcing anything. He waved his hand and said, "What did Xu Aiqing just say?"
"Weichen went to question Hu Yun. Weichen also went to the palace early in the morning and saw the oil skin bag, so Weichen rushed directly to the special envoy's house and asked Hu Yun why he broke the agreement?"
"Then what did he say?" Zhao Gou asked anxiously.
"He said we didn't have enough evidence and asked us not to make random accusations. If it was them who did it, they wouldn't throw it away. This is obviously a very low-level frame-up!"
Zhao Gou frowned and asked, "Maybe what he said makes sense, but how can he explain the source of the kerosene?"
"He said that kerosene is sold in drug stores in Yan'an Prefecture. You can't buy much of it, but you can still buy one or two barrels. He also said that in the past, Zhang Jun's warehouse management was not strict, and thousands of barrels of kerosene were used.
They were stolen from the warehouse and sold, and their whereabouts are unknown. It is simply ridiculous to identify them based on just a few kerosene skins!"
Zhao Gou was speechless for a moment, and he looked at Qin Hui again. Qin Hui said coldly: "They did it, but they don't admit it. There are eight torches at the Xiaoshan paper mill and eight torches at the palace. This is not a coincidence.
"
"If they don't admit it, don't we have anything we can do?" Zhao Gou said angrily.
Qin Hui sneered, "They just do it but don't admit it. We can just do it but don't admit it. From Wei Chen's point of view, burning down the "Beijing News" newspaper office is as easy as a piece of cake."
Xu Xiantu immediately said anxiously: "Your Majesty, have you forgotten how Xiangyang was lost? Chen Qing sent 30,000 more troops to Quanzhou. Your Majesty, Chen Qing is waiting for me to take action first!"
Zhao Gou sat down slumped. After a while, he waved his hand and said, "You all, please step aside!"
At this moment, he felt a little timid. He couldn't bear the consequences of losing Fujian Road for a newspaper. Zhao Gou suddenly realized that Chen Qing's next target must be Fujian Road.