On the night that Luo Sigong submitted the report of confiscation, Zhu Yijun stayed alone in the study of his bedroom. He asked the old eunuch beside him to keep watch outside while he met with a man in black alone.
"That is to say, Zhang Jing and Luo Sigong had a meal with Shen Yicheng respectively, and then the 200,000 taels of silver were divided?"
Zhu Yijun held a report in his hand and looked at it carefully.
"Yes, Your Majesty. The estimated value of the property confiscated this time should be around 1.2 million. The Imperial Bodyguard, the East Faction Guards, and Shen Yicheng shared about 200,000 taels of silver. They did not report it."
The man in black knelt on one knee in front of Zhu Yijun and was quite respectful.
"Alas … Daming, is the salary given to the officials really too low?"
Zhu Yijun put down the report in his hand and rubbed his temples.
"It's not that I don't allow them to make money. I also know that it's impossible to control every official and prevent them from making money. I don't find it strange at all that they make money. Out of ten taels of silver, one tael, I accept it.
Two taels, three taels, four taels, I … I also accept it. I eat meat, I will give them soup. The only thing I can't accept is that they make money behind my back. They make money that I don't even know. Even I don't have meat to eat. It's all eaten by these bastards! "
The man in black said, "Your Majesty, I will try my best to do what you have asked me to do."
"Be careful. Don't be too anxious. Don't give yourself away. Otherwise, if Luo Sigong and Zhang Jing discover something, I will be unhappy. You haven't been discovered, have you?"
The man in black nodded and said, "If we were discovered, I'm afraid we wouldn't be able to see Your Majesty."
"Humph! They don't dare. If I don't see you again, I will immediately kill those two dogs of a slave. They are traitors. "
A cold light flashed in Zhu Yijun's eyes.
"Then, Your Majesty, do you need us to take action and take Luo Sigong and Zhang Jing …"
The man in black slit his neck.
"We haven't found a suitable replacement for them, so we'll keep them alive for now. We've already intimidated them, so they won't dare to betray us again. However, we can't keep these two people alive either. We'll replace them when we find a suitable replacement. Before that, you keep a close eye on these two people. If we succeed, we'll reopen the inner factories, and you'll be our supervisor."
When the man in black heard this, he immediately knelt on the ground.
"I will sacrifice my life for Your Majesty!"
Zhu Yijun nodded and waved his hand. "You may leave. Call Zhang Cheng in. Remember to keep an eye on those two, as well as Shen Yicheng. If they have any plans, inform me immediately."
"As you command!"
The man in black slowly retreated.
The old eunuch, Zhang Cheng, quickly entered.
"Your Majesty."
"Hmm, how's the matter I gave you? How many people have you recruited? "
Zhang Cheng hurriedly said, "I dare not slack off on the matter Your Majesty has given me. I have secretly recruited a thousand people and sent them to the mountains to the west of the capital to train in secret. There are also six hundred eunuchs in the palace who are loyal to Your Majesty. I'll organize them for Your Majesty."
Zhu Yijun nodded.
"One thousand six hundred, one thousand six hundred … It's still not enough. We need at least three thousand people to control the imperial city. Zhang Cheng, prepare at least three thousand people for me. When Xiao Qing returns with his troops, he can bring back at least ten thousand people. Thirteen thousand people should be enough to control the capital."
Zhang Cheng immediately agreed. "I'll do as you say. I'll do it for Your Majesty immediately."
"Hmm, do you have enough people?"
"There are starving people everywhere inside and outside the city. Those who are lucky enough to survive are also on the verge of death. They can easily be made to work for Your Majesty. They are all very loyal to Your Majesty."
"Good! Those bastards made my people starve, so I'll let my people help me deal with them! Also, did anyone from the Empress Dowager's side come into contact with this matter? "
Zhang Cheng nodded. "I've already taken care of it, Your Majesty. This time, the Empress Dowager will definitely not know anything."
"Even if she knows, you must put her under house arrest and not allow her to leave the palace. This time, Shen Yicheng won't be as lucky as Wang Xijue. Let's see if he knows what's good for him. If he doesn't, I won't be lenient."
Zhu Yijun's expression was very sinister.
After the black-clothed man left the palace, his figure disappeared into the darkness from a small path. When he reappeared, he was already in a room in the Imperial Bodyguard Command Department.
There was another person in the room besides him.
Luo Sigong.
"How's the matter?"
"It's been done according to your orders. It's just that His Majesty has … the intention to kill you and Zhang Jing."
The black-clothed man knelt on one knee in front of Luo Sigong.
"En, I got it. Very well, you've done very well in this matter. Take it!"
Luo Sigong threw a banknote worth ten thousand taels of silver to the black-clothed man. The black-clothed man's eyes widened when he saw it.
"This … isn't this too much? I don't dare to accept it … "
"It's not much. This is what you deserve. Besides, that lover of yours is a spendthrift. Use it to buy some rouge and some silk to make the beauty happy, right?"
The black-clothed man's face turned red, and he looked a little embarrassed.
Since ancient times, heroes had a weakness for the charms of a beauty. He was not afraid of anything, but he could not resist his primitive instincts. He really liked that lover, but something happened. If Luo Sigong had not intervened, that beloved beauty would have fallen into someone else's hands.
Now that he had a beauty in his arms, she was good at everything except for spending a lot of money. Therefore, he was satisfied with just a little more money.
Luo Sigong smiled and said, "In order to ensure the stability of the Daming Imperial Court, this is something we have to do. What you've done is even more important. Now that His Majesty has been deceived, we must protect His Majesty from being deceived by Thief Xiao! By the way, do you still not know the contents of the two secret letters? "
The black-clothed man looked hesitant. "I've thought of many ways, but I couldn't find out the specific contents of the two secret letters. His Majesty is becoming more and more cautious, and Thief Xiao is also very cautious. He immediately burned all the letters after reading them. Moreover, at that time, I didn't know that Thief Xiao was plotting a rebellion. I thought he was a loyal person to the Emperor …"
Luo Sigong nodded.
"It's not your fault. Thief Xiao hid himself too well. If I hadn't intercepted the secret letters, I wouldn't have known that he was plotting a rebellion. However, he bewitched His Majesty, saying that someone around His Majesty wanted to rebel, and gained His Majesty's trust.
Now that Thief Xiao controls hundreds of thousands of soldiers, it's extremely dangerous. We, the Imperial Bodyguards, are the Emperor's personal army, and we shoulder the mission of protecting His Majesty. We must not allow him to continue bewitching His Majesty, and let His Majesty make mistakes again and again! Otherwise, the An-Shi Rebellion is just around the corner! "
"Understood!"
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