Give you a spring

On the second day, the sun was shining brightly, and Ping Wei stood in front of the Hall of Concentric Hearts.

Last night when he and He Zhou were going to sleep after taking a bath, the palace sent someone to say that Emperor Chong wanted to see him and asked him to come to the palace at noon tomorrow morning, so Pingwei got up early in the morning and appeared in the palace.

A little eunuch came in to report the moment he arrived, and then Eunuch Tang said that His Majesty was having breakfast early in the morning and told him to wait a while, Ping Wei nodded very understandingly, saying that he was fine.

However, after standing under the scorching sun for less than a quarter of an hour, he was already sweating from the heat. The clothes on his body were really heavy, and besides, he got up too early today...hadn't had time to eat yet.

The emperor was feasting inside, while the courtiers were waiting outside.

Ping Wei sighed inwardly.

"Are you ok?"

Just as he was thinking about it, a familiar voice came from behind.

Ping Wei turned around, it was his second brother Xie Lianzheng.

"Second brother," he saluted.

"Your Majesty also asked me to come here, probably to hear us talk about the palace examination." Lian Zheng said.

Pingwei said "hmm", noticed the direction he came from, and asked, "Second brother, don't you have to go to court today?"

"I asked for a sick leave." Lian Zheng shook the file in his hand, "You don't remember, I was asked to find the list of officials who were selected into the Six Departments due to cheating in the past two years. I talked with my staff yesterday. After staying up all night to sort out the specific list, His Majesty said he needed me for something, so he simply asked for leave and didn't go to the morning court, so as not to lose energy later."

Lian Zheng paused, then reminded, "There will be a palace exam later."

Ping raised his eyebrows slightly, only to remember that the palace examination was open today, and the other party was the last one to present the question.

"Do you have time later? Maybe you can take a look at how the palace test is conducted," Lian Zheng said.

"Okay," Ping Wei said, he could just take this opportunity to see the level of the candidates and select the ones he wants to recruit.

"Have you waited for a long time? How long has Father been eating there?" Xie Lianzheng asked again.

Speaking of this, Ping Wei smiled wryly, "It's been about a quarter of an hour."

Lian Zheng understood, "It's almost there, basically he will finish eating in one more incense stick."

"..." Pingwei was speechless, thinking that although Chongdi had no relationship with him, Xie Lianzheng was the one he had seen growing up since he was a child, so he couldn't bear the heart of him waiting outside for so long. is commonplace.Pingwei had no choice but to wait patiently.

Then at six o'clock in the afternoon, the closed door of the palace was opened, and Eunuch Tang came out, and said with a low eyebrow, "Your Highness, please come in."

Only then did the two meet the emperor who had just eaten and drank enough.

Still standing beside the dragon chair.

"Father."

"Well," Emperor Chong glanced at them, his eyes resting on Pingwei, "I haven't seen you for a long time."

Ping Wei lowered his head and didn't meet his gaze. He heard that he was referring to himself, so he raised his eyes and said, "I also miss my father very much."

Emperor Chong smiled, saying that he was worried, but there was no emotion on his face. He shook his head and looked at Xie Lianzheng, "How is the palace examination going?"

Lian Zheng hesitated for a while, not sure if he meant cheating this year or the previous two years, and said carefully, "I have carefully read the questions of this year's palace examination, and the answers are very pertinent. After the political discussion questions are finalized, I will hand them over to you." The Ministry of Rituals looked over and they all said that there is no problem. The imperial examinations in the past two years...Erchen and Hepingwei have all been investigated and found out, and the relevant personnel involved have also been sorted out. "

He turned to look at a young eunuch next to him, who immediately came over and took the file from His Highness Second Highness, and handed it to Eunuch Tang.

Emperor Chong looked through his dossier with complicated eyes. It was very long and filled with people's names. After pondering for a while, he asked, "What do you think...how should we deal with this matter?"

I didn't ask Ping Wei, because what the other party said at the first meeting had already fully stated their position - to act in accordance with the law, to kill relatives righteously, and perhaps not to be very close.

Lian Zheng hesitated for a while, and said, "I think that the officials written on the file will be dismissed immediately for investigation, and the bribe-taking examiners and middleman Wang An handed over to Qi Zheng will be punished uniformly according to the law, and the cheating candidates will also have to be dismissed." Exam eligibility."

Emperor Chong: "I'm not asking you this, how should your elder brother Xie Shi deal with it?"

"..." Xie Lianzheng was silent for a long time, then said softly, "He should be fined for two years' salary and banned for one month."

"Is it so light?" Emperor Chong asked intriguingly, he looked at the other, "Xie Xu, what do you think?"

"Five years' salary, and two years' claustrophobia," Ping Wei said, "To allow others to cheat in the imperial examination, and to exchange examinee's test papers without permission is a matter that endangers the country, the country, and the minister thinks that it should not be lightly forgiven."

Emperor Chong raised his eyebrows, "Then deal with him according to what you said. Xie Xu, do you think I should let him know, is this your idea?"

Ping Wei looked at the emperor standing on a high place, and said without humility, "Whether your majesty says it or not, the eldest prince will know, won't he?"

Listening to the conversation between the two, Xie Lianzheng thought that his younger brother really had little contact with Emperor Chong, so he dared to talk to each other like this.

However, the two people who were talking didn't think there was anything wrong - Emperor Chong knew Pingwei's character from the first time he met him.Now that he has made a decision, he has nothing to say. He handed the file to Eunuch Tang, and he ordered, "Let's do it."

Eunuch Tang left immediately.

Emperor Chong looked down again, "You can step back."

After standing outside for so long, Ping Wei just said something like this, just finished saluting, turned around to leave, the emperor above stopped him, "I didn't talk about you, Lian Zheng, you step back first, I have something to tell Xie Xu."

"..."

Xie Lianzheng raised his eyes to look at Pingwei next to him without leaving any trace, and quickly backed away.

Emperor Chong came down from the top and stood in front of Ping Wei, "Follow me."

They walked to the back of the Tongxin Hall, which is usually a place for Emperor Chong to eat, but at the moment there was a blueprint on the table.

Take a look in the past - the above is the distribution map of the cities in Daqi.

What does this mean?Ping Wei looked at Emperor Chong beside him.

Emperor Chong picked up the pen beside him and circled a place called "Ning Yao" on it.

"Do you know this small town?"

He looked at Pingwei - he had investigated all the things the other party did for their livelihood in the early years, and Pingwei had been to this place.

"Ah."

"Tell me about this place?"

Ping Wei thought for a while and said, "Although Ning Yao is poor, it has a very important role. It is the place where Da Qi transports all military supplies such as weapons and gunpowder to the frontier." Among the eight cities, Linjing City is its first city. In recent years, the border area of ​​Daqi has often been invaded by the two countries. A large amount of gunpowder and weapons have been produced in the capital next to Linjing City. Yao, Langqiao and Guangquan are transported to the frontier, which is the fastest way.

Although backward and poor, Ningyao is a very important place for Daqi's border area, but now Emperor Chong suddenly mentioned, could it be...

Ping Wei's eyes were serious, "Did something happen while transporting supplies to the frontier?"

Emperor Chong nodded, "Last night, someone came to report that a batch of Huoyao destined for the frontier had disappeared while passing through Ningyao."

"Someone took them away?" Ping Wei spoke quickly, "Could it be the work of spies from the enemy country?"

"It's very possible. Xie Xu, I need you to go to Ningyao and retrieve the batch of fire medicine."

Ping Wei had only been in Linjing City for more than half a month, if he just lost a batch of ordinary fire medicine, he wouldn't be able to find it himself, he asked, "How heavy is that batch of fire medicine?"

"Three stones," Emperor Chong looked at him, with deep emotions in his eyes.

"This weight is enough to blow up a city wall..." Ping Wei turned his head to meet Emperor Chongdi's gaze, "The personnel in charge of transporting...are all killed?"

"Not one left."

"How did the news spread to Linjing City?"

"The batch of huoyao was supposed to arrive in Ningyao on the first day of spring. Fengdu and Ningyao are not far away, and they can be there in about two days. After a week, I felt that something was wrong, so I sent someone to send the news to Linjing, spent three days on the road, and it was only last night that the news reached my ears."

Speaking of this matter, Emperor Chong's face was expressionless, and he was obviously a little angry about it.

...So eleven days have passed since the day Lihuo powder was robbed, Pingwei thought for a while, "If it was done by the spies of the enemy country, at least five carriages would be needed to transport three stones of gunpowder. Didn’t the officials in the other two places notice the movement?”

This is the strange thing about this matter, Chongdi said in a deep voice, "According to the person who sent the letter, it is indeed the case. The soldiers in charge of guarding the city gates in Langqiao and Fengdu did not watch it in those few days. to carriages acting suspiciously, or transporting large quantities of goods."

It is impossible for so many huo medicines to disappear for no reason, and they will not stay in Ningyao. Ping Wei wondered, could it be that the officials in Langqiao or Fengdu are from the enemy's side, and they just lied and said they didn't see them? After passing those carriages, they had already mixed into the city.

So what would their purpose be?

Snatch the gunpowder that originally belonged to Daqi, and one of the lands is close to Linjing.

Shouldn't it be...

A very bad thought suddenly popped up in Ping Wei's heart.

He looked at Emperor Chong, who was sinking like water—Emperor Chong might have thought of that before he asked him to investigate.

"I know." In private, Ping Wei no longer called himself "son", he said every word, "I will leave to seal the capital tonight."

He planned to start checking from the nearest place first.

However, Emperor Chong said, "It's too slow tonight, you can start your journey later."

"Kechen still plans to take part in the palace examination in the evening..."

"Don't go, it's just a palace test, it's not as important as finding out where the explosives are." Emperor Chong said without delay, waving at him, "Go, find someone you need."

"......" Emperor Chong didn't want to fancy some young talents in the palace examination, so he should strengthen his arms.

It's really the emperor's mind.

Pingwei said helplessly, "I know."

He backed off after speaking.

After walking out of the palace gate, He Zhou was sitting in front of the carriage, and when he saw him approaching, he immediately jumped out of the carriage.

"We have to go to Fengdu." Ping Wei whispered beside him.

He Zhou froze for a moment, "What's wrong?"

"I'll tell you on the way." Ping Wei raised his head, grabbed a young eunuch, and ordered, "Help us drive to Linzhi Street, can you?"

The other party recognized Ping Wei, was stunned, was about to say that he had other matters, saw the anxious look on the other party's face, and nodded in response.

Ping Wei pulled He Zhou into the car and told him in a low voice what happened in the Hall of Concentric Minds just now.

He Zhou asked, "Who are you going to take?"

"Guan Yue, he is in the Ministry of Industry, and he is familiar with the terrain and the trend of mountains and rivers in various places. In addition, Liang Jingzhao can also be called. His father is from the Ministry of War. Maybe he is more familiar with the frontier and has good skills."

He Zhou nodded, "Then I'll go home and pack my things later, you go find them, and then go to Fengdu together?"

"Okay." Ping Wei squeezed his hand tightly.

When Pingwei came to him, Jingzhao was having morning tea at Baxianju. He only did two things every day, practicing martial arts and discovering the delicacies of various teahouses.

He had already practiced martial arts in the early morning, and now it was eight o'clock in the afternoon, which happened to be the time for him to enjoy the food.

But before taking a few bites, Pingwei arrived.

"Ping Wei? Why are you here?" Liang Jingzhao looked up in surprise, wanting to invite him over to taste the delicious food, but saw Ping Wei shaking his head at him seriously.

"Hmm... don't you want to eat, what's the matter?"

Guan Yue was still working on a bunch of trivial and boring things in the Ministry of Industry today, but halfway through the work, his boss suddenly came over and said that he would be given two weeks off and told him to go home immediately.

Guan Yue was very surprised, and asked if he had done something wrong recently, and quickly recalled the things he had done before, but he couldn't come up with an answer.In the end, I thought of Zhao Shenghe in Yuzhailou. Could it be that I forced him to ask who the person behind him was, and that the other party wanted to fuck me?

He returned home with a lot of worry, and before he could sit down, Pingwei walked in and told him about the theft of Ning Yao's zha medicine, and then he realized—that's why he gave himself a vacation.

The four of them packed their luggage and made an appointment to meet at the gate of the city. They each rode on the prepared horses and set off to seal the capital.