novelAbuy Chapter 73 The Emperor's Questions
Chapter 73 The Emperor's Questions
Chang Yuan's spiritual energy reserves surged instantly, and he was so satisfied he almost laughed out loud.
The divine monster Zhang Qiyuan alone lost a full 650 points of spiritual energy.
Those cult members disguised as servants and guards also lost points, ranging from three to five points to as many as seventy or eighty points.
The drop rate and quantity of Spirit Sources alone demonstrate that the White Lotus Sect is of a higher caliber than any of the cults Chang Yuan had encountered before.
The imperial guards and soldiers entered the second courtyard before the Imperial Guards of the Northern Garrison cautiously entered the scene.
Their cautious manner greatly displeased the imperial guards of the Eastern Garrison.
Li Hui, young and impetuous, immediately muttered, "The Northern Garrison Command is supposed to be the headquarters, what kind of ghost is this, so afraid of death?"
Chang Yuan turned to look at him and said, "Don't talk nonsense!"
"The duties of the Northern Garrison Command and the Eastern Garrison Command are different, and their required qualities are also different."
"Charging into battle and fighting against cultists is our specialty in the Eastern Garrison Command, and it's no wonder we surpass our comrades in the Northern Garrison Command."
"Silent infiltration and spying on officials' secrets is the duty of the Northern Garrison Command. What they are about to do is something we simply cannot do."
Li Hui retorted, "It's just raiding homes and searching, as if nobody's never done it before. What's so difficult about it?"
However, he was immediately proven wrong.
Li Hui carefully searched the west wing of the second courtyard. He had moved all the furniture out and knocked on every floor tile before confirming that there were no problems.
However, the Imperial Guards from the Northern Garrison went inside and walked around twice, and then circled the outside of the house again, and confirmed that there was a hidden wall in the west wing.
Li Hui didn't believe it, so he followed the Imperial Guards to take a closer look.
Even though the other party hadn't searched very carefully, they still found the mechanism very easily.
The Imperial Guards moved a seemingly normal blue brick, and the solid wall slid forward, revealing the hidden entrance behind it.
Hidden within the walls, the Imperial Guards unearthed tens of thousands of silver dollars, duplicate records of the Ministry of Revenue's accounts, and deeds to properties, houses, shops, and workshops in the capital.
A rough estimate puts the value of these items at one million silver dollars.
Li Hui stared in disbelief and couldn't help but ask, "Brothers, how did you discover that?"
The Imperial Guards of the Northern Garrison laughed heartily: "We are from the Northern Garrison, and we have extensive experience in dealing with corrupt officials of the court. Of course, we can catch them every time."
Next, the Northern Garrison Command fully demonstrated their capabilities.
With tens of thousands of books on the shelves, they were able to pinpoint the crucial book containing the coded message.
Find the book of ciphers, glance through it casually, and you'll completely decipher its patterns, translating the confiscated secret letters, ledgers, and heretical books.
While securing evidence is important, their biggest achievement is confirming the target list for the next round of arrests.
Such a precise, efficient, meticulous, and thorough search left the observing Dongzhen Fusi (Eastern Garrison Command) officers deeply impressed.
Chang Yuan sighed, "Your Northern Garrison Command is no good at fighting battles, but when it comes to investigating civil officials' cases, our Eastern Garrison Command could never learn it."
The commander of the Northern Garrison laughed and said, "The officials in the imperial court have all passed the imperial examinations. They are the most intelligent people among the 500 million people of the Ming Dynasty."
"These people are best at word games, backstabbing, and exchanging favors."
"The vast majority of corrupt officials are troublesome individuals with complex and intricate networks of connections, spanning various key government departments, and harboring numerous hidden schemes."
"We, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, are granted special permission by the Emperor, so of course we should directly arrest them and throw them into the Imperial Prison, use the Great Memory Restoration Technique to pry open the mouths of the criminal officials."
"But this has a time limit."
"As soon as a corrupt official is arrested, his network of connections will inevitably be discovered quickly. Some may even tip him off, destroy evidence in advance, or deliberately cause turmoil in the court so that the case cannot be investigated further."
"These civil officials would even send people to infiltrate the Embroidered Uniform Guard to obtain the most direct information from within."
"In order to deal with these most intelligent officials in the land, the Northern Garrison Command can only strive to improve its technology, to secure evidence as quickly as possible, and to force the guilty officials to break down and confess their crimes even faster."
"At the same time, we should try to cut off internal and external communications and make the case airtight before the civil servants cause trouble."
Chang Yuan and his men nodded repeatedly, deeply impressed.
The Eastern Garrison is dedicated to dealing with cults and individuals with supernatural abilities. Their daily training is extremely rigorous, and they constantly recruit elite troops from the army, making them a formidable fighting force.
In particular, the elite cavalry squads under each centurion are all composed of highly skilled superhumans with extraordinary combat abilities.
In suppressing evil spirits and breaking through enemy formations to quell rebellions, the Eastern Garrison Command was unparalleled among the Imperial Guards.
The Northern Garrison of the Embroidered Uniform Guard headquarters is more adept at infiltration, bribery, investigation, and evidence gathering because it specializes in dealing with officials, nobles, and princes. However, its ability to engage in direct combat is quite weak.
At least in the eyes of the powerful Eastern Garrison's elite cavalry, the Northern Garrison's Imperial Guards were all weak.
But today, the Northern Garrison Command's thorough and meticulous search has overturned the officers' preconceived notions.
Among the elite police squad, Gao Su is the most versatile and is quite confident in his investigative abilities.
Now he is completely convinced.
Having set aside his excessive pride, Gao Su followed his colleagues from the Northern Garrison Command, carefully observing and learning, hoping to put his knowledge to use in the future.
Half an hour after the operation began, thirteen officials involved in the case were arrested in the northern part of the capital, while another sixty-one officials were killed for resisting arrest.
Neither the living nor the dead could stop the Northern Garrison from seizing all the evidence of their crimes.
After summarizing, comparing and analyzing all the information, the target was quickly identified as Xishan.
Upon receiving the report, Emperor Jinghe remarked with amusement, "The fact that this book originated from Xishan is exactly what the Grand Secretaries expected."
"The question is, why couldn't the imperial court pinpoint the source beforehand, instead relying on clues from a cult?"
Lu Huan, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, bowed his head and said, "I have failed in my duties. Please punish me, Your Majesty."
The emperor sneered, "Then can you recommend a suitable successor for me?"
Lu Huan was speechless.
The emperor snorted coldly and said, "You're already in your fifties, yet you're acting like a civil official, trying to shut me up with words instead of solving problems."
"You're really getting worse with age. How can I entrust my life to you?"
Lu Huan took a half step back, then suddenly knelt on one knee: "Your Majesty, I trust you!"
"For the previous two hundred years, the capital city, under the emperor's nose, was the most virtuous land of the Ming Dynasty, and there was never any space for the activities of cults."
"Therefore, the court did not establish the Eastern Garrison Command in the capital. I have already made plans to establish a new Eastern Garrison Command in the capital, and will begin to set up it after this suppression operation."
Emperor Jinghe nodded in satisfaction: "That's more like it."
"Lu Huan, Lu Qiming, this is the kind of person I can truly trust."
"Furthermore, I have a question that I have pondered for a long time, but I cannot find the answer: Why has a cult, which has not appeared in two hundred years, suddenly erupted in the capital today?"
Lu Huan was slightly taken aback and almost blurted out, "Because that book is about to appear in the world."
Fortunately, he reacted in time and swallowed his words.
That book was merely the trigger for the sudden outbreak of the cult, the spark that ignited the incident, not the fundamental reason why the cult was able to erupt in the capital.
Lu Huan thought about it for a long time, and finally could only shake his head and say, "Your subject does not know."
The emperor was quite disappointed and waved his hand, saying, "Go and get to work."
Lu Huan rose and bowed, saying, "Your subject takes his leave."
A moment later, Lu Linglong received her uncle's question through the magic artifact. She couldn't figure it out either, so she turned around and threw the question to Chang Yuan.
Chang Yuan answered without hesitation: "Because the seeds of capitalism have sprouted in my Great Ming Dynasty."
Lu Linglong looked completely bewildered: "Capitalism...in its infancy?"