Taiping Inn

An autumn rain and a cold. The imperial capital of this dynasty is Youzhou of the previous dynasty. It is located in the north and the chill is already very deep. Every morning, there will be a layer of thick white frost outside.

Now many halls in the palace have been replaced with glass windows. You can see the scene outside when you sit in the house. Xie Zhi sat on a Fugui Mandarin duck couch made of red sandalwood, looking at the white frost outside the window, and her face was calm. , it makes people unable to see what she is thinking.

In addition to Xie Zhi sitting in the hall, there were also many people who were given seats.

The first is the Red Sheep Man among the Seven Hermits. After Yuxu’s sword fighting, the hermits no longer hide behind the scenes, but come to the front stage. As the second most recent person among the hermits after the Dragon, Chiyang Weng also represents the Dragon, and his identity is naturally unique.

The second is King Jin. Now King Jin not only participates in the government affairs, but also works as a choir of Zongren Mansion and Zongren. Among the Tian Family Royal Family, he is second only to Queen Mother Xie Zhi and Emperor Tianbao. He is the third person, so he is naturally qualified. Sit.

Then there is the new cabinet chief Zhao Lianggeng, the number one civil servant among the foreign court, known as the foreign minister, and was specially given a seat.

In addition, it is Liu Yi, the chief of the Sili Supervision Bureau, who was standing next to Xie Zhi at this time, the person closest to Xie Zhi.

In this way, in the huge hall, the left governor of the Qingluan Guard General Office was Ding Ce.

This is not a formal court meeting, not only because Chiyang Weng appeared here, but also because Emperor Tianbao did not appear here. Even if the empress dowager ruled behind the curtain, as long as she did not ascend the throne and became emperor in one day, the emperor in front of the stage would be unlimited. Xie Zhi was not as good as the empress and failed to fully control the court. If she wanted to be emperor, the King of Jin would not agree, Qingliu would not agree, and the Confucian Sect would not agree.

"Ding Ce." Xie Zhi spoke.

"I am here." Ding Ce replied calmly as he tried his best.

Xie Zhi said, "You said there is an additional secret organization called "Inn" in the world. Do you have any clues now?"

Ding Ce was furious and said respectfully: "When I returned to the Empress Dowager, I sent my subordinates to secretly mix into this 'inn' to find out the truth. However, the level of the matter is very strict, and there is a dedicated person responsible for checking the ups and downs of the inn. If there is any abnormal movement, I will be killed immediately. I... Many capable people sent by me were stripped of their heads after they were exposed and died of misfortune. In this case, there were still people who had not been exposed and dared not move at any time. Therefore, I also know the specific situation of the inn. few."

Xie Zhi's tone was slightly cold, "That is to say, you know nothing except the name of a 'inn'?"

Ding Ce was stunned and didn't know how to answer.

Qingluanwei is the subordinate of Bingbi, the chief of the Sili Supervisor. At this time, Liu Yi spoke out for Ding Ce and said, "As far as the old slave knows, there are many secret organizations in the world, such as Bailianfang, Wandumen, Tingfenglou, Wenxiangtang, etc., but these organizations are mainly aimed at making profits and making money, which is no different from merchants, so there are traces of the people in it. This 'inn' is not the case. It only pays no money, does not make a penny, but it spends a lot of money, and makes a lot of money, buying and winning over scattered people from all over the world, and even officials from the court. It can be seen that there must be someone behind the inn. Who would do this in the world? ? Who dares to do this? Who is doing this? I think this is no longer a question, it is only Liaodong."

Although Liu Yi's words were not true and were just speculative, everyone present agreed with this view, nodded, and looked at the Queen Mother.

Xie pheasant.

Xie Zhi refused to comment and said, "Liaodong will do this, and Liaodong dares to do this, but it may not be that Liaodong is doing this. This matter is turbulent, but I am afraid there will be great variables. Before things are determined, Don't draw conclusions too early. King Jin."

The King of Jin said, "I am here."

Xie Zhi asked, "What do you think about this?"

In the second year of Tianbao, when the Empress Dowager Xie Zhi took down the four ministers Gu Ming, he was only twenty-seven years old. The King of Jin who helped Xie Zhi was only thirty years old. Now it is the eighth year of Tianbao, Xie Zhi is 33 years old, and King Jin is 36 years old, and he is in his prime.

King Jin thought for a moment and replied, "I think what Eunuch Liu said is very true. Liaodong tigers have been watching the world for a long time. In order to lead their troops south in the future, they will install eyeliners and spies in the pass in advance, which is not incredible."

Xie Zhi asked again: "If it was really done by Liaodong, then who is the head of this inn? It would never be Qin Qing himself."

King Jin hesitated, "It is not a secret that Qin Qing lived in the Great Wilderness North Palace in Taibai Mountain for many years. He definitely would not take charge of the inn himself. On the contrary, Qin Qing's daughter Qin Su..."

Xie Zhi finally got a little impatient, "I have known Qin Su's life, but it's just a free cloud of wild cranes. In the past twenty years, Qin Qing has never let his daughter participate in any Liaodong affairs, even if he really wants to cultivate Qin Su , she would not have taken such a heavy responsibility as soon as she came up."

There was a silence in the hall, and no one answered for a while.

After a while, Chiyang Weng slowly spoke, "I understand the Empress Dowager's meaning. The Empress Dowager is talking about Mr. Qingping. After all, Mr. Qingping has already engaged to Miss Qin."

Xie Zhi turned her gaze to Chiyangweng, and her tone became softer, "I wonder what sir thinks?"

The Red Sheep Man is thin and has a goat whisker. He looks like an old goat. At this time, he stroked his beard and said, "Qin Su is not enough to take on the great responsibility, but Mr. Qingping Li Xuandu should not be underestimated. Half a minute, this man has learned the true teachings of the Great Sword Immortal and the Earth Master. He has far-reaching plans and great goals. If he built this inn, or if he was in charge of the inn behind the scenes, it would be impossible. "

Xie Zhi was silent for a moment and said, "If Li Xuandu was the person behind the scenes, then how many people would he have under his command?"

Chiyang Weng said: "The inn is cautious. Although we have caught some members, they are all small characters. We don't even know the existence of the inn and just use money to do things. Occasionally, we have caught several official members of the inn, and they are all single-line. Contact, once someone is caught, it is difficult to immediately cut off all contact. Unless a senior inn is really captured, it is difficult to guess the strength of the inn."

Speaking of this, Chiyang Weng paused slightly, looked around, and continued, "If you have to speculate, Li Xuandu has indeed recruited many people over the years. Not to mention the Taiping Sect, which is already under his name, For example, Ning Yi, a general under Li Xuandu, did a lot of great things for him. There is also the "Blood Guanyin" Shi Wuyue, who can escape the Jade Prison and return to the Xuannv Sect, and has a lot of things with Li Xuandu. Therefore, Shi Wuyue is mostly Li Xuandu's member. Li Xuandu is also in the old subordinates of Qingwei Sect and Li Xuandu has obtained the inheritance of the Earth Master, and many old people of the Earth Master have also been under his command. The power is so great that it cannot be underestimated."

After the words of Chiyang Weng finished, the hall was silent, and the air seemed to have solidified.

one

Li Xuan, who is alone, is already a headache, but Li Xuan still has to develop his own power.

Chiyang Weng seemed to think it was not enough, and said, "These are just Li Xuandu's confidant, and there are many forces that are not Li Xuandu's confidant but can be called by Li Xuandu, such as the Taiping Sect mentioned just now. There is also the Zhengyi Sect now, even the Xuannv Sect, Cihang Sect, Miaozhen Sect, etc. If Li Xuan is really the leader of the Taoist sect, I’m afraid it’s…”

Chiyang Weng didn't finish his words, but everyone in the palace understood his unfinished words.

Xie Zhi's face remained unchanged and said, "But Li Xuandu is not the master of the Taoist sect after all. Taoist sect has the Great Sword Immortal, and Dan Taiyun. It's not just that Li Xuandu and Qin Qing, the father-in-law and son-in-law, can be said. It's up to you. The key is still this inn. Whether the person behind the inn is Li Xuandu or Qin Qing from Liaodong, they are all confidants of the court and they must be solved as soon as possible."

Chiyang Weng immediately stated, "The Confucian Sect has done its best."

Xie Zhi looked at the others again, "What about you, the cabinet, the Silijian, the Qingluanwei, and the King of Jin?"

Zhao Lianggeng, who had never spoken, said, "I immediately ordered the Six Gates to assist Qingluanwei in thorough investigation of the matter."

Strictly speaking, there is no "Six Gates" in the court. If there is one, it should refer to the Supervisory Office of the Ministry of Justice.

In order to compete for power with the Qingyi Department, which was still affiliated with the Grand Governor's Office, the Ministry of Justice established a secret agency to deal with cases related to the jianghu people with the support of the cabinet. Because its headquarters hall faces north and south, opens doors on three sides, each side The two doors have a total of six, so they are called "Six Doors". The members are also called the headquarters "Six Doors" due to their confidentiality of their operations. The people in the Six Gate acted strangely, had fierce means, and were specialized in handling major cases. They entered the yamen and left the yamen. They were considered as figures in the yamen and represented the yamen to monitor the yamen. They had great power in the yamen, so they were not treated as such. The people who served in the imperial court despised themselves and their reputation was similar to that of Qingluanwei, and they were all regarded as hawks and dogs in the imperial court.

At the earliest, the Supervisor's Office and Qingluan Guard's predecessors, Qingyi and Yiluan Guard, were on par with the Qingluan Guard's Office. However, after Qingluan Guard was promoted to the Qingluan Guard's Office, the Supervisor's Office could no longer be compared with Qingluan Guard. Liushemen directly obeyed the Ministry of Justice, and was also controlled by the Dali Temple and the Supervision Bureau. These three yamen are all subordinates of the cabinet. To put it bluntly, Liushemen actually obeyed the cabinet directly.

At this time, Zhao Lianggeng said that he would ask the Six Gates to assist Qingluanwei to thoroughly investigate the matter. The key is to the word "assistance". "Thorough investigation" is to express his opinion, and "assistance" means to refuse to take responsibility and push all the responsibility to Qingluan Guard.

Liu Yi didn't understand, and said with a smile: "Qingluanwei belongs to the Silijian, and the Ministry of Justice directly belongs to the Cabinet. It is said that the Cabinet is the outer court, and the Silijian is the inner court. There is no distinction between high and inferiority. Why Let’s help? It should be the cooperation to handle the case.”

Zhao Lianggeng said expressionlessly: "The Ministry of Justice lacks manpower, not half of the Qingluan Guards, so it is mainly based on Qingluan Guards, which is naturally to assist."

Liu Yi was still trying to speak, but was interrupted by Xie Zhi's hand, "The matter is mainly based on Qingluanwei."

Then she looked at King Jin, "King Jin, what do you think?"

The King of Jin said: "I have no objection."

Xie Zhi stood up and sighed, "You are in trouble, Ai's family is in trouble, and the court is even more difficult. At this difficult time, we must work together."

Everyone stood up and said, "Abide by the Queen Mother's decree."