He Zhenting was led directly to the small courtyard where Che Mingde lived. It was obvious that he had specially arranged to come after knowing who was coming.
When Che Mingde came back and saw someone, He Zhenting took the initiative and said with a smile on his face: "Mingde, I heard that you were out, and I thought you would have to wait for a while, but I didn't expect to come back so soon."
"I went to visit friends, but I didn't expect my uncle to come." Che Mingde said with a smile.
"Originally I planned to wait two days to come here, but after I went back last night I felt restless and couldn't calm down so I came here." He Zhenting laughed at himself.
"Your Majesty has arranged it this way. It would be strange if you and I could be safe." Che Mingde also smiled and nodded.
The two parties sat down, and Che Mingde asked Wanxia to prepare some wine and food to bring over, and he and He Zhenting would drink and chat slowly.
Although the two people were relatives in name, they had just met each other after all. As they chatted, they couldn't help but talk about Lin Haoming. As the two people admired and respected Lin Haoming, they seemed to get closer.
When Duofu came to deliver the message in the evening, Liang Changmao had already returned and asked Che Mingde to go to the study after dinner.
Knowing that Liang Changmao was going to see Che Mingde, He Zhenting was a little uneasy. Che Mingde did not let him go back first, but asked Duofu to arrange for him to rest while he went to see Liang Changmao first.
When I saw Liang Changmao, he had just finished dinner and looked a little tired because of the hard work these days.
"Grandpa Liang, what happened this time?" Che Mingde asked straight to the point.
"Your Majesty has talked to me about this matter. The matter in Tangzhou is not an isolated case, and there is another case that is more difficult for Your Majesty than the matter in Tangzhou. You haven't noticed that the three of you this time are not related to the aristocratic family. People with too many connections." Liang Changmao asked.
"I found out, so I was a little worried. What kind of case was it that made His Majesty so careful that he would use people like us?" Che Mingde said.
"You are just assistants. The person who is really responsible is not you, but Zhang Feng, the censor Zhongcheng." Liang Changmao said.
"Executioner Zhang Feng?" Che Mingde was a little surprised when he heard this.
"Haha, what? Are you scared by the name of this cruel official?" Liang Changmao couldn't help laughing.
"It's just a little unexpected." Che Mingde said.
Liang Changmao said seriously: "Mingde, others say Zhang Feng is an executioner and a cruel official, but to His Majesty, it is a sharp knife. If he takes action, others will only hate him and not complain about Your Majesty. Do you understand this?"
"I understand, it seems that this matter involves a lot! What exactly is it?" Che Mingde asked again.
Liang Changmao also sighed silently: "I have been with His Majesty these two days, and I have also been discussing this matter. In the previous Northern Expedition to the Ming Dynasty, a lot of supplies were seized, many of which were weapons, swords and armor handed over by the Ming Dynasty after the surrender. , the spears, bows and crossbows are enough to equip 300,000 elite soldiers."
"This happened nearly two years ago. A batch of supplies was transported to Anyuan City first. No, it was still Anyuan County at that time. My father personally checked and transported it. It was almost enough for 50,000 elite soldiers," Che Mingde recalled. He said.
"You are right. I was about to leave office at that time, and I went to inspect it. However, including this batch of ordnance, a selected part of it was sent to the capital and entered into the armory of the Forbidden Army. But the remaining 200,000 ordnances were sent to Tangzhou, Shangzhou, Chengzhou and Tengzhou in the southeastern border with Bai, Changlong and Kun. This time the Xihe River burst its embankment, destroying the armory in Tangzhou. It was also washed away, but after the water receded and the situation was stabilized, when I wanted to dig out the ordnance to prevent it from wandering out and causing trouble, I found that the excavated things were not as good as the original ones, both in quantity and quality. Liang Changmao said.
"Grandpa Liang means that someone actually resold this batch of supplies. Isn't this too courageous?" Che Mingde was a little surprised.
Liang Changmao also nodded and said: "The total number of ordnance stored in the warehouse should be enough for 50,000 people. Less than 20,000 people were dug out, and most of them were broken items, so it is estimated that at least 30,000 people's ordnance is missing."
"With so much ordnance, if someone sells it to another country, that would be treason. If it is sold to private individuals, the problem will be even bigger." Che Mingde also realized the dangers involved.
"You are right. This is the current situation we are facing. The armories in Shangzhou, Chengzhou and Tengzhou have not been inspected. The risk of this incident is really not small, and there are only a few people who know about it. , the matter has not been spread to the public, and even those people only thought that the batch of things was washed away by the flood, so the future troubles can be completely solved, but His Majesty's secret investigation has already begun, and when there are clues, I am afraid that he will take action immediately, and let you few, It's just because you are clean, otherwise no matter how powerful Zhang Feng's methods are, his men may not be safe." Liang Changmao also said helplessly.
"This is really a matter of national danger. Jingwai is prosperous on the outside, how could such a thing happen?" Che Mingde sighed bitterly.
"There's nothing you can do about it, but it's good that you know this. I know that He Zhenting is here today and even wants to see me. You can tell him anything. After all, you are related, and the He family is in Yingzhou. It is also very influential. Whether it is me, you or His Highness Ninth Prince, they all need local and external support." Liang Changmao said.
"I understand, what about today?"
"He is still waiting. In this case, let him come. I will also meet him to reassure him, and then you can work together. He is a military commander himself. With him working with you, it may be better. It's safer." Liang Changmao considered.
"Okay, then I'll go find him right now." Che Mingde also nodded and left first.
He Zhenting was overjoyed to learn that Lieutenant Liang was willing to see him and immediately followed Che Mingde.
After coming over, Liang Changmao did not say a word, but he was very polite to him. This made He Zhenting very happy. When He Zhenting walked out of the study in the middle of the night, the He family had followed Taiwei Liang's strength.
At noon the next day, the people from Yushitai delivered official uniforms belonging to Che Mingde.
Jingguo implements the system of three ministers and nine ministers, and the nine-rank Zhongzheng system, but there is no distinction between the nine-rank officials. The prime minister and the Taiwei are all high-ranking officials of the first rank, and they are also the entire Jingguo. Except for empty titles, or unusual officials like the national preceptor There are only two first-rank officials in the system, followed by the Yushi Dafu who is in charge of the Yushitai. The Yushi Dafu is the second-grade, followed by the Yushi Zhongcheng. There are two of them, who are considered to be the deputies of the Yushi Dafu. Next are the three agencies in charge. , which are the Inspection Station, Prison Station and Palace Censor Division respectively. Che Mingde will later enter the Inspection Station as the Supervision Censor, and this is a sixth-grade official, which is already quite high.