"There's someone on the tree?" Li Longji raised his head and looked at the canopy of the cabin. It seemed like there was someone on the canopy as well. The result gave him quite a fright.
It wasn't that there were people up there, but that there were many people. The cabin he was in was the third floor. The ship had a total of four floors. Above the fourth floor was a small attic. Just like Xiaobei's ship, Xiaobei always liked to go into the attic and climb up the stairs in the attic to get a pile of snacks. She would learn from adults to enjoy the scenery and have fun.
There were at least six openings in the ceiling of the third floor. There was a person peeking out from each of the openings. Looking at their posture, it seemed like they could jump down at any time.
Li Longji glanced at the six people and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He said to Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan, "Is there a need to be so strict? Looking at the situation, there really is someone on the tree. "
"It's good that it's strict. I don't want to die from an assassination. I've always been afraid of death. There are many people who want to kill me. When Cuckoo and I were in Zhuangzi, what we liked to do the most was to dig tunnels, build walls, and use visual errors to create dark rooms. There was also …"
Zhang Xiaobao paused for a moment and picked up a dried fruit from the table. He shook his hand and threw it out. It hit a wooden pillar in the middle of the cabin and said, "Come out and meet me."
With a creak, a door suddenly appeared on the pillar. It was pushed open from the inside and two people walked out, one in front and one behind.
Li Longji stood up and stretched out his hand to push the two people apart. He peeked his head in to take a closer look and said, "Narrow, so narrow. When I am at night, won't I be … very safe? Isn't that right, Xiao Bao? "
"Your Majesty, look carefully. These two people are under the control of my adoptive father. When you are at night, you will not be affected at all. Just like in the palace, the skylight will be closed at night."
Zhang Xiaobao explained to Li Longji.
Only then did Li Longji set his gaze on the two people who had come out. With just one look, he knew that Zhang Xiaobao was right. He asked the two people, "Why can't I see you?"
"Replying to Your Majesty, there are rope ladders on the pillars that lead upwards. They rotate every hour to ensure a high degree of concentration," a young eunuch replied.
Li Longji entered the space between the pillars, stood up, and said to the two eunuchs, "Thank you for your hard work."
The two of them shook their heads vigorously in fear and trepidation. For a moment, they couldn't say anything. It was the person who spoke first who was a little braver. He said in a trembling voice, "Your Majesty, this is what we should do. If we were not taken in by the palace, we would definitely be looked down upon by others outside."
The other eunuch also nodded vigorously.
Li Longji patted the eunuch's shoulder and said, "When medical technology becomes more advanced in the future, perhaps people with the same illness as you won't need to enter the palace. At that time, the harem will probably be filled with palace maids."
As Li Longji spoke, he glanced at Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan. His meaning was clear.
He knew that the new eunuchs in the palace were all people who were born with defects. There were big ones and small ones. The big ones were discovered later, and the small ones were taken in when they were young.
Ever since Xiao Bao and Cuckoo became the registrar and deputy county magistrate, they began to oppose castrating normal people. They were willing to spend a lot of manpower and resources to find people with congenital defects all over the Great Tang. Based on their character and character, they would be taken into the palace and given a fixed amount of money every month to their families.
The old people were all from before, and they were also treated very well. Just the daily necessities for them and the palace maids cost the Zhang Family and Wang Family no less than three thousand strings of cash every month.
Thus, the palace maids and eunuchs in the palace treated the Zhang Family and Wang Family exceptionally well, not only because of their status and ability, but also because the eunuchs were very grateful to be able to 'escape' the cold eyes of others.
"Perhaps they don't need to work as palace maids for their entire lives. After working for a few years, they might be able to play a certain role elsewhere. For example, they might be able to help manage a certain fund or manage a medical department. Their knowledge in the palace would be far greater than those outside.
In the harem, we shouldn't just teach the palace maids the basics and rules. We should also teach them more knowledge in other fields. The number of palace maids in the palace should be doubled. "
Zhang Xiaobao followed Li Longji's words and explained the basics.
Li Longji was perplexed. "Since they don't need to work as palace maids for their entire lives, that means that you, Xiao Bao, don't like ordering servants around. Why do you want to increase the number of palace maids?"
"Who says that I don't like it? The purpose of doubling the number of palace maids is to reduce their working time by half. The remaining time can be used to study. When have you ever seen the inner court maids working for eight hours in a row?
Unless it's an emergency, the time they spend working adds up to six hours a day. Even if they want to work, I won't allow them to do so as to reduce their efficiency.
The extra time for them to study is to raise their abilities. The time for them to play is to allow them to relax and maintain their optimal condition. The prerequisite is that they don't leave the main household. Otherwise, all of the talents they nurture will end up running to someone else. "
Zhang Xiaobao explained his intentions to Li Longji.
Wang Juan added, "If it isn't the inner court, a normal wage for a craftsman is six hundred copper coins a month. If someone were to bribe them with money, it would be a huge loss for the original family. That's because the wages they pay are low, but the cost of nurturing them is several times higher." "I understand.
You want my harem to help the entire Great Tang nurture female management talents. That's right. No matter where they end up, they'll still be working for the Great Tang. I won't compensate you for that. Tomorrow morning, I'll issue a decree to start a new class in the harem. "
Li Longji readily accepted the suggestion. He didn't mind hiring more palace maids. His wealth wasn't much lower than the national treasury's, so he could afford to hire twice as many palace maids. Besides, the Zhang Clan and Wang Clan would have to fork out more money as well.
After saying this, Li Longji suddenly recalled what he had just said and asked, "Xiao Bao, Cuckoo, did the two of you say that the old woman was speaking to the people in the tree?"
Zhang Xiaobao glanced at Li Longji with a look that said, "My Zhuangzi's thick tree is also hollow in the middle. There's an underground tunnel that connects to other places, so the tree won't die if it's hollow in the middle.
In truth, their spy system isn't perfect. If it were me, I wouldn't speak while leaning against the tree. I would throw stones into the river, and the person who receives the signal would hide the net under the water. Then, they would compare the number of stones in the net.
In fact, they could even go to a special place to buy things when they're strolling in the market every day. Then, they could arrange the distance and knot the knot according to different methods. "
"To think that it's that terrifying," Li Longji exclaimed in shock.
However, Zhang Xiaobao shook his head and said, "This isn't the scariest method of secrecy. The scariest part is that the higher-ups are only in contact with her. In other words, she doesn't know who the other party is, nor does she know when the other party will appear.
According to the method I mentioned earlier, as long as we keep an eye on her and know her daily routine, we'll be able to find out who's in contact with her. The scariest method is … Cuckoo. "
"The scariest method is that when she goes out to sell things, we'll know the way she walks, the way she arranges the goods, the order and angle of the goods, and even the quantity and price of the goods.
She's able to pass information to others. The people who buy things and look at things change every day. It's impossible for us to keep an eye on all the people who pass by her stall. The only way is to capture her and torture her to get a full grasp of everything she knows.
However, she doesn't know who her higher-ups are. When we torture her and waste more time than the time she's supposed to contact the higher-ups, the other party will cut her off. Even if we force her to use the same method to release information, we won't be able to catch her higher-ups. "
After hearing Zhang Xiaobao's hint, Wang Juan introduced another method of transmitting information to Li Longji.
Li Longji was dumbfounded. In his opinion, the most suitable method of transmitting information was secret writing or transmitting information through telegrams that didn't seem to be relevant. However, he didn't expect that under the situation of a single line of communication, there were many other methods that seemed to be the most common and accurate method of transmitting information.
"This kind of spy is not easy to train, right?" Li Longji finally found the problem. There were methods to use, but it was hard to find talented people.
"Yes, it's not easy to train them. At the same time, there's a high chance that they'll be discovered. Using the exhaustive method and the elimination method, we can still obtain useful information with a bit of effort. The process is a battle of wits and courage.
Your Majesty, Cuckoo and I still have other matters to attend to, so we'll take our leave for now. You don't have to think too much about it. Leave the dark side to me and Cuckoo. "
Zhang Xiaobao had to go back to work. Just as he said, he and Wang Juan were both from this kind of background. Back then, he and Wang Juan's department were very happy to fight, and he always had the upper hand. It wasn't that the people in Wang Juan's department weren't good enough, but that there were always more loopholes in the government's functions.
This was the proverb that said, those who were loyal to justice were the butchers, while those who were ruthless were the scholars. Of course, the most important thing was that the Meteor Squad of the Special Second Department couldn't possibly keep an eye on Zhang Xiaobao. He was just a swindler, and he had never done anything that directly harmed the people of the country.
Unless the leader had nothing better to do and sent all the members of the Meteor Squad to specifically target Zhang Xiaobao, then he could only restrain himself, restrain himself, and restrain himself even more. He would hide far away and never show himself.
But if that was the case, he wouldn't know what to do. Was it a confrontation? In a risky situation, to let the Meteor Squad shine, or to fail and be caught, no matter which one it was, it wasn't the result he wanted. Because he felt that the Meteor Squad … shouldn't shine because of him, he couldn't do it.
Zhang Xiaobao seemed to be reminiscing and hypothesizing. His emotions were fluctuating like Weiwei's, and he seemed a little more melancholy.
"What are you thinking about?" Wang Juan nudged Zhang Xiaobao with her arm and asked.
"Nothing, I was thinking about the past, and the Meteor Squad. Perhaps one day, when the Meteor Squad streaked across the night sky, I made a wish that I could find a wife that I was most satisfied with. I was so kind that I moved the heavens, moved the earth, moved the wind, and moved the snow and rain, and then I had you by my side."
As Zhang Xiaobao spoke, he reached out his arm to hug Wang Juan.
Wang Juan nimbly avoided him, ran ten steps, and turned back. "Sappy, I like that kind of iron."
"You have to change in the future. Iron is usually accompanied by sadness. Sappy is the happiness that everyone wants to have. Alright, according to the sappy arrangement, I should chase after you. You should slow down and run in front. Little Goat, don't run, Brother Wolf is coming."
Zhang Xiaobao opened his arms and chased after Wang Juan.
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