The clouds in the evening were brilliant, as if on fire, reflecting the entire sky red.
In the corridor of Qianqing Palace, Zhu Qiyu stood with his hands behind his hands, looking at the gorgeous clouds in the distance, not knowing what he was thinking.
The sound of footsteps came from far away, and a slightly flattering voice sounded: "Slave Shu Liang, please give your regards to the emperor."
Zhu Qiyu did not turn around, but said calmly: "Get up, it's your turn to check, how are you doing?"
Today is already the sixth day since the memorial of Honglu Temple was sent to all yamen, and tomorrow will be the day of the court meeting.
Shu Liang stood up carefully, took two steps forward, and said.
"Back to your Majesty, the matter has been clarified. I have submitted the memorial these days. Many of the ministers who support the mutual market were entrusted by Yu Shangshu and Mr. Yu Ge."
"Yu Qian?"
Zhu Qiyu was a little surprised. In these days, he had received a lot of memorials one after another, some supporting and some opposing.
The people who objected were actually just the reasons he mentioned when he was facing off against Shen Yizuo.
But what surprised him was that the voices of support were much louder than the voices of opposition.
Although Shen Yi has been preparing for the mutual market since years ago, and has also mobilized many personal connections of his own.
But it is obvious that before he comes up with the final mutual trading regulations, the number of people he can convince is limited.
However, the fact is that the number of people in the DPRK who support this matter far exceeds Zhu Qiyu's imagination.
Later, Zhu Qiyu specially summoned Shen Yi to inquire, but found that he was also confused. Many of the ministers who presented him had no friendship with him at all.
But he didn't expect that it was Yu Qian who was behind it.
However, after thinking for a moment, Zhu Qiyu put the matter aside for the time being and continued to ask: "What about those who objected? How is the investigation going?"
Logically speaking, it is normal for there to be all kinds of voices in this kind of government affairs.
But Zhu Qiyu is not the kind of novice emperor who is not familiar with government affairs. As he handed over the memorials these days, he easily noticed that although these people had many reasons for their objections, the core spearheads were all pointed at Wang Wenshan. Make a claim.
It's not surprising that one or two people do this, but when a large number of people do it, Zhu Qiyu has to think that there are also people behind it.
When Shu Liang heard this, the smile on his face faded slightly, and he spoke with a hint of coldness.
"Your Majesty is wise and wise. There are indeed some young people who are doing some tricks behind the scenes. I have been investigating for a long time and found that although these people are attacking Lord Tianguan, they are not from the same group."
"More than half of those officials who came from the elite ranks of the Imperial Academy are disciples of Gao Cifu, the cabinet minister. Even if they are not, they have all visited Gaofu in recent days."
"The other group of officials in the Metropolitan Procuratorate are more mixed, but to a greater or lesser degree, they are all related to the left deputy imperial censor Luo Tong or the British government."
"In addition, a few days ago, the spy posted outside the British Palace reported that Luo Tong, Ning Yuanhou, Ning Yangbo and others secretly gathered at the British Palace late at night."
"So I estimate that Luo Tong is most likely defecting to the British government and wants to cause trouble in this matter."
Since the last time Zhu Qiyu talked with Lu Zhongshen, the cooperation between Dongchang and Jinyiwei has become closer.
Although Shu Liang is now the admiral of Dongchang, Jin Yiwei's information channels in Beijing and the official network of contacts collected previously are also in his hands.
After the integration of the two secret services, the effectiveness was more than doubled.
With Zhu Qiyu's acquiescence, although Dongchang acted in a low-key manner, in fact, it had gradually formed a strict intelligence network.
Not only have people been deployed in the major brothels, wine shops, and teahouses in Beijing, but also in the mansions of some honorary relatives and middle- and low-level officials.
Some of the difficult-to-penetrate residences of veteran relatives and high-ranking officials require special attention, and there are also people who are secretly observing them day and night.
Takagu? Luotong?
Zhu Qiyu sighed softly, and a cold look flashed between his eyebrows.
If nothing else, Gao Gu’s goal should be Wang Ao, the chief minister of the cabinet. This fact has actually been revealed in the memorial.
Although they were mainly attacking Wang Wen, they would also mention Wang Ao, who was also on the mission together, intentionally or unintentionally.
Takagu, this old guy, looks kind and gentle, but in fact, his ambition for an official career is not small at all.
Zhu Qiyu had actually noticed it before. Compared with Chen Xun, Gao Gu was much more concerned about winning over his disciples.
However, Chen Xun was senior and many officials from the Hanlin Academy were always headed by him, so Gao Gu's presence was not strong.
But now that Chen Xun left the capital and went to Shawan to take charge of the overall situation in order to build the canal, Gao Gu couldn't hold himself back.
After missing this opportunity, it will not be easy to mobilize so many Qingliu officials for his use.
This is probably the reason why Takagu is unwilling to give up.
As for Luo Tong, this was something that had been expected.
Before, Zhu Qiyu suspected that he was involved with Xu Bin and others. Now that Yang Shan and Xu Bin are not in the capital, it is not difficult to understand that he was attracted by the British government.
Seeing that the emperor was silent, Shu Liang hesitated for a moment and then spoke carefully.
"Your Majesty, in addition to this, I have also found out that Luo Tong has visited Gao Mansion several times in the past two days. I am worried that these two groups may want to join forces."
The coldness on Zhu Qiyu's face became stronger, but his voice remained calm: "I understand, is there any other news?"
Shu Liang couldn't see the emperor's expression and was a little worried. He hesitated for a moment and continued.
"Also, there are some rumors in the capital recently. The discussion is not about court affairs, but about you, the emperor..."
After pausing for a moment, seeing that the emperor didn't respond, Shu Liang had no choice but to continue.
"The first one is about the Imperial Store. I don't know where the news was leaked, saying that Your Majesty intends to take over the trade, make huge profits from this matter, overhaul the palace, and enrich the harem."
"The other one is about the talent show. It said that Your Majesty, you are greedy for beauty, and you want to select girls from the talent show. It also said that the young prince of Chengguo Palace, in order to please the Emperor, specially collected the donations of beautiful women, and wanted to bribe the Emperor.
, take back the title."
He spoke clearly, but every time he said a word, Shu Liang felt frightened and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
In fact, what is being said outside is even more outrageous.
Greed for money, lust, excessive lewdness, and excessive rewards for noble titles are as ugly as they sound, and Zhu Qiyu is almost a fool.
After Shu Liang finished speaking, seeing that the emperor still had no reaction, he became more and more uneasy and said quickly.
"Your Majesty, please calm down. These are ignorant people on the streets talking nonsense. I have sent people to trace the source of the rumors. Now there are some clues. If nothing else, these rumors are all from the British government.
It was released by people on the other side."
At this time, Zhu Qiyu finally reacted. He turned around, his face was as calm as ever, but his brows were furrowed tightly.
The matter of the Imperial Store cannot be kept secret from the beginning.
The Ministry of Revenue has been preparing for mutual trading for some time. No matter how careful Shen Yi is, news will inevitably leak out.
In addition, Huangdian has been purchasing various bulk supplies in recent times. It is not difficult for those who are interested to guess the real role of Huangdian.
However, the matter of the draft...
Zhu Qiyu frowned and gave instructions after a moment.
"Shu Liang, go and summon Zhu Yi to Qianqing Palace. Cheng Jing, come with me to Kunning Palace."