Chapter 267 Is it evil or good? Behind the scenes!
On the third day after the discussion, Qin Hui, together with the three generals who went on the expedition, came to give his speech.
After seeing them off, Li Qian did not delay any more, but directly invited Wei Zheng to Ziwei Hall.
In Li Qian's opinion, no one is more suitable than him to investigate Li Jing's illness.
"Your Majesty, Wei Zheng, is here to see you."
Wei Zheng had two dark circles on his face. Looking at him like this, he must have been very tired these past two days.
If the Jingzhao Mansion and the Military and Horse Division are responsible for the people in the capital and preventing them from causing trouble, then Yushitai is responsible for the imperial court.
The censors, who are responsible for supervising all officials, must be responsible for the stability of the court, which is within their scope of authority.
"Give me a seat."
To a person with Wei Zheng's personality, Li Qian didn't have too many polite words, but went straight to the point: "Wei Qing's family, do you remember when Li Sima fell ill?"
Wei Zheng was obviously startled when he heard this. He seemed to have never expected that at such a tense time, His Majesty the Emperor would ask such a question that seemed completely irrelevant to the situation at hand.
However, he responded quickly. He only thought about it for a moment before replying: "Your Majesty, according to Pei Butang of the Ministry of War, it started on April 19th."
That is the day before the extension.
Li Qian nodded lightly, frowned and said, "I have always been curious about why Li Sima fell ill so coincidentally at the time when the Jinlu invaded the south."
Wei Zheng was stunned.
"Until the day before yesterday, when Prime Minister Qin came to see me, he told me that Li Sima might not be sick himself, but was assassinated."
"The person who did it was either a spy sent by Jinlu to the capital, or someone was bribed by Jinlu and colluded with him. Otherwise, it would be impossible to know in advance that Jinlu was going to invade the south."
stab in the back?
Wei Zheng's eyes suddenly became sharp.
Li Qian stopped talking and just looked at Wei Zheng like this.
He knew that people like Wei Zheng, who was responsible for inspecting court discipline and had seen too many corrupt officials, did not believe in coincidences.
I was so busy running around before that I probably didn't have time to think about it carefully, but now that I have come to my senses now, I will definitely be able to find some doubts.
"Your Majesty, I will investigate this matter thoroughly."
Wei Zheng took a breath and said very firmly: "No matter who is behind the scenes, we cannot let this person go!"
When they reach the position of the second-level minister, they not only represent themselves, but also represent the face of the Daqian court to a certain extent.
If he is really being plotted against, then the court will definitely find out the truth at all costs!
"Um."
Li Qian nodded: "But Wei Qing's family, you haven't investigated this matter in a big way."
Looking at Wei Zheng's expression, he explained: "The first is to prevent the mastermind behind the scenes from being alerted and completely lurking, and the second is to prevent the news from completely spreading."
The former is very simple, and the latter is also to prevent everyone in the court from being in danger if they know that a Jinlu spy has entered the capital.
Even a well-guarded mansion like Li Jing was able to sneak in and assassinate him, but what about the others?
Aren't the others naked and exposed in front of Jin Lu? How can they feel safe?
Wei Zheng just thought for a moment and then nodded: "Yes, Your Majesty."
He has been dealing with the situation in the DPRK for a while to prevent these officials from causing any trouble. How could he not understand the harm of this news leaking at this moment?
Li Qian waved again, and the old eunuch at the side came to Wei Zheng holding a dark red wooden box.
After opening it, there was an old ginseng with its roots completely intertwined, lying quietly inside, like a little person.
"Li Sima has worked hard for the imperial court for so many years. This time he was sick and I didn't have the chance to see him."
Li Qian sighed with emotion: "Wei Qing's family, if you go to visit him at his house, you can help me give this to him. It is my wish."
Wei Zheng hesitated for a moment, then took the wooden box.
"I would like to thank Your Majesty on behalf of Li Sima."
Li Qian's words also provided him with an idea. He could take the opportunity to visit Li Jing and ask him something.
"Pay attention to rest these days."
Li Qian looked at his appearance, paused for a moment, and then warned: "There are endless chores in the court. Li Sima has fallen ill. Wei Qing's family, you should also take care of yourself."
"Thank you, Your Majesty. I understand."
He said he understood, but looking at him like this, he didn't seem to have listened.
Li Qian waved his hands helplessly: "I'm tired."
"Please excuse me."
Wei Zheng put the wooden box into his sleeve and stepped back from Ziwei Hall.
"Your Majesty, would you like Lu Bu to do some research in the city?"
The old eunuch asked tentatively: "Maybe I can find out something."
I have been following Li Qian these past few days, and I know almost the whole story about this matter.
Li Qian turned to look at him, with a bit of surprise in his eyes.
In the past, unless he took the initiative to ask, the old eunuch usually did not dare to interrupt when he was approving memorials and dealing with political affairs, but what happened this time...
"It's okay to inquire, but don't make too much noise."
Li Qian glanced at the old eunuch and temporarily put this doubt in his heart.
The top priority now is to find out the person behind the scenes lurking in the capital.
In fact, Li Qian has been thinking about the possible identity of the person behind the scenes in the past two days.
After thinking about it, I still feel that it may not be a true work of the Jin Dynasty.
Li Jing has been on the battlefield, so he must be more vigilant than normal people, and more sensitive to things like subtlety and plotting.
Generally speaking, it is difficult for outsiders to plot against him. The only people who can make him relax his vigilance may be the people around him and those close to him.
But if we really want to doubt it from this angle, then there are too many people who are suspicious.
Two ministers of the Ministry of War, Li Jing's relatives and friends, servants in the house, maids, and even his wife and children...
Before investigation, no one can escape suspicion.
Rubbing his brows, Li Qian felt more and more that this was a very huge project.
At this time, he felt more and more how important it was to have an intelligence organization similar to Jinyiwei.
But water from afar cannot quench the thirst for nearness. Not to mention the resistance that may be encountered during the establishment process, it is too late to start now.
"We can't just rely on Wei Zheng to find it slowly..."
Now the front line is at war with the Jin Kingdom. If there are still Jin Guo agents in the capital, or people who cooperate with them, the risk will be too great!
After pondering for a moment, Li Qian suddenly said to the old eunuch on the side: "You have someone go to the Hanlin Academy and ask Zhuge Liang to come over to Xuan Hanlin to compile the book."
When he was weak in the past, he always liked to do things personally and fight alone.
But now that you have trustworthy people around you, you need to rely more on them and use the power of others more.
This may be what it means to be an emperor or a leader...
Not long after you were about to give the order, Zhuge Liang came to the outside of the palace and walked in under the leadership of the old eunuch.
"I see your Majesty."
The past two days have been quite tiring, and Li Qian did not give any daily lectures, so the two of them have not seen each other for a few days.
At this moment, Zhuge Liang was wearing a blue official robe, walking calmly, with his ink beard gently floating under his chin as he walked, and he still looked so leisurely... In Li Qian's words, he had an air of immortality.
It was as if he had not been affected by the official turmoil of the past two days at all.
Li Qian had already stepped down from the main seat above and was leaning casually on the soft couch at the side of the hall.
A small table was placed on the soft couch. On the table was a yellow porcelain teapot with a dragon pattern and hot air and the aroma of tea coming out of the spout. There were two teacups beside it.
"Kong Ming, sit down."
Li Qian pointed to the position opposite the small table.
After Zhuge Liang paused for a moment, he stepped forward, poured the tea in the pot into a small and exquisite teacup, and placed it in front of Li Qian.
"Have you heard about Jinlu's invasion of the south these days?"
Li Qian waved his hand and motioned for him to sit opposite.
"I heard about it."
After Zhuge Liang sat down, there was some emotion on his face: "Jinluo is coming with great force this time, and I'm afraid his purpose is not simple."
"However, Your Majesty has sent Prime Minister Qin to Jizhou. There should be no serious problems in this trip."
Li Qian was stunned when he heard this, and then he remembered that he had already issued an edict, and that Qin Hui, the Right Prime Minister, left the capital with such a big movement that it was impossible for all the officials in the court not to know about it. However, he had been so busy these two days that he didn't even think about it for a while. Think of it.
"Let Prime Minister Qin go over..."
Li Qian was silent for a moment, then shook his head slightly: "I don't know if this is the right choice."
He knew, however, that Qin Hui was not a very moral person at all. It would be bad if he suddenly tried to make peace with Jin Bing after running to Jizhou.
Li Qian looked at Zhuge Liang opposite the table: "Kong Ming, do you think my move is right or wrong?"
"Your Majesty is of course right." Zhuge Liang replied immediately.
Li Qian glanced at him and said helplessly: "Kong Ming, don't be so formal. I invited you here today just to hear your opinions."
As he spoke, he also lifted the teapot on the table and filled the other teacup.
"Don't have any scruples in front of me. Daqian has reached this point, with droughts and floods, wars everywhere, and alien invasions..."
There was a hint of exhaustion on Li Qian's face: "Now we must give priority to those who are capable, instead of following the official rules of seniority, teeth order, and origin..."
Zhuge Liang paused for a moment and then said: "Your Majesty, I understand."
"very good."
Li Qian smiled at him and then said: "Kong Ming, do you think it is right or wrong for me to ask Prime Minister Qin to go to Jizhou? Is it bad or good?"
Zhuge Liang pondered for a moment and replied slowly: "Your Majesty, it is most appropriate for Prime Minister Qin to go to Jizhou."
"But whether bad luck is good or bad...I can't tell clearly. It still depends on what the people behind the scenes will do next."
The person behind the scenes?
Li Qian was startled, but then he realized what was going on. Could it be that Zhuge Liang also noticed something unusual?
"Go on." He sat up straight.
Zhuge Liang nodded and continued: "In my opinion, it is too coincidental that Li Sima fell ill this time."
"It coincides with the invasion of the Jinlu, and the great Sima of the imperial court suddenly fell seriously ill. There must be someone behind the scenes who is secretly using evil methods."
"good."
Li Qian nodded: "I and Prime Minister Qin think so too. I just asked Doctor Wei to investigate the matter thoroughly..."
"But since the people behind the scenes dared to take action, they must have made complete preparations. It may be difficult for Dr. Wei to find out anything."
"Not only Master Wei, but also Jizhou where Prime Minister Qin went."
Zhuge Liang's face became a little more solemn, and he added: "If the people behind the scenes have any conspiracy with the Kingdom of Jin..."
There may be a second time if there is a first time!
The first time was when Li Jing, the Minister of War, fell ill, but what about the second time?
If he can even affect Jizhou, will it affect the entire front line and collapse the war situation?
Li Qian's face gradually became serious, and he realized the huge danger hidden behind it.
"In this case, we must find this person before he strikes again."
He looked at Zhuge Liang: "Kong Ming, actually the main reason I'm looking for you today is to catch this person."
"Do you know of anyone who is suspicious, or a place where Jin Guoxisaku might be hiding?"
Now that he knew the threat from this man, Li Qian couldn't wait to let Zhuge Liang watch the stars at night and find him... He didn't know if Zhuge Liang would do it.
Zhuge Liang paused for a moment after hearing this: "Your Majesty, there is indeed some, but I don't know whether I should talk about it or not."
There was a rare hesitation on his face.
"But it doesn't matter."
Li Qian's eyes lit up, there really was one!
Zhuge Liang nodded and said directly: "Master Cai."
"Master Cai?"
Li Qian was stunned for a moment, opened his eyes slightly, and looked at Zhuge Liang: "Cai Jing?"
Zhuge Liang nodded.
"Cai Jing..."
Li Qian gradually narrowed his eyes and savored the name carefully, but he quickly thought about Cai Jing's recent behavior.
In fact, Cai Jing has really done nothing recently.
Cai Jing has been very honest ever since he was caught out in the examination hall, causing the Cai party to lose two ministers.
Li Qian thought he was hurt by the beating, was frightened, and wanted to temporarily rest and gather strength.
But if it is true as Zhuge Liang said, then they are definitely not as peaceful as they appear on the surface, nor do they have much time to rest and recuperate. Instead, they have been brewing everything secretly for a long time.
After talking to Zhuge Liang for so long, Li Qian felt a little dry. He subconsciously picked up the teacup on the table, put it to his lips and sipped it gently.
The slightly bitter tea soup entered his mouth, followed by a slightly sweet and rich aroma, which stimulated Li Qian's senses and made his mind more flexible.
At this moment, Li Qian thought of the strange situation in which Cai Jing and Cai Dang suddenly elected Qin Hui during the meeting that day.
That was Cai Dang's first move in recent days, just to send Qin Hui away.
It makes sense when you think about it. Qin Hui has caused trouble for them more than once, so it is very reasonable for them to fight back.
What Qin Hui said to Li Qian before leaving also confirmed some of his guesses.
The object of Qin Hui's suspicion was not Jin Guo Xizuo at all, but Cai Jing. After all, the two of them were old enemies...
It's just that Li Qian didn't know what information Qin Hui had, so he would target Cai Jing. Is it just a grudge between the two of them?
Li Qian temporarily wrote down this doubt, and then thought of Li Jing's illness.
Before, he only thought of Li Jing's subordinates, friends, and servants, because subconsciously, Li Qian felt that only these people had the opportunity to serve Li Jing's food and daily life.
But now that I think about it carefully, Cai Jing, Li Jing’s boss, also has a chance!
He wanted to take revenge on Qin Hui and plot against Li Jing. At the same time, he had a wide network of contacts and knew the news on the grassland and the frontier...
Cai Jing seems to have fulfilled all these prerequisites.