Lu Jing returned all the way back to the main hall of the Zhaoxin Bureau, and saw that Zhou Kun, Huang Yongzhong, and Chen Ke were all there, Zhou Kun was pacing back and forth with an anxious expression, Huang Yongzhong's face was extremely serious, and Chen Ke also looked grim.

Lu Jing's heart tightened, knowing that something big must have happened, and hurriedly asked, "Why did the lord summon the official back?" ”

Zhou Kun hurriedly handed the treasury bonds in his hand to Lu Jing, and said eagerly: "Huaijin, do you take a look at these treasury bonds first?" ”

After Lu Jing took it, he immediately checked the anti-counterfeiting numbers on it, and after some inspection, he found that these treasury bonds were real and fake, basically half true and half fake.

Each bond is printed with twelve numerals, two Roman numerals and ten Arabic numerals, all of which are stamped one by one by a miniature stamp.

The first Roman numeral represents the number of digits of the national debt number, the second Roman numeral and the last Arabic numeral add up to ten, the first five Arabic numerals are the number of the denomination to which they belong, and the last five Arabic numerals are the total number.

There is an overlap between the denomination and the total number of the fake treasury bonds, and the correspondence between Roman numerals and Arabic numerals is also incorrect.

And the texture of the stacked cover is not normal, the arrangement of the thickness of the lines in the secret mark is not standard, and in the orchid pavilion preface on the micro-carved cover, there are a few words that are simplified, deliberately wrong a few words, missing a few words, and the fake one did not notice these points.

Lu Jing handed over these treasury bonds to Zhou Kun again, and asked with a solemn face: "My lord, where did these fake treasury bonds come from?" ”

Zhou Kun shook his head with an ugly face, and then looked at Chen Ke with a frown, Chen Ke had to wait for a few of them to arrive before he could say that he and Huang Yongzhong still didn't know the specific situation.

When Chen Ke saw that everyone was gathered, he said: "These treasury bonds were discovered by chance from a few businessmen by the General Administration Department today. ”

After hearing this, Huang Yongzhong's expression became more and more solemn, and he hurriedly asked, "Lord Chen can play this matter to the emperor?" ”

Chen Ke nodded and said, "The emperor already knows about this!" ”

Zhou Kun's face became even more ugly when he heard this, and the General Administration Department had already reported the matter, and hurriedly asked, "What does the emperor command?" ”

"The emperor ordered the three adults to find out this matter within three days, otherwise the three adults will be unable to escape the blame!" Chen Ke said in a very solemn tone, and after finishing speaking, he looked at the three of them with complicated eyes, if he couldn't deal with the aftermath, I am afraid that several of them would be severely punished.

After hearing this, the three of them were all cold in their hearts, the emperor seemed to suspect that there was something wrong with them, and wanted to blame them for this matter, and in an instant, Lu Jing and the three of them were silent with solemn expressions.

After a long time, after Lu Jing stabilized his mood, Fang asked, "These treasury bonds were sold from within the Zhaoxin Bureau?" ”

Zhou Kun and Huang Yongzhong were shocked after hearing this, and immediately realized the crux of the problem, and hurriedly looked at Chen Ke.

Chen Ke nodded with a stern expression: "Yes, those merchants have complete formalities, and they all have purchase agreements issued by the Zhaoxin Bureau. ”

The three of them were all taken aback when they heard this, and at the same time they knew in their hearts, no wonder the emperor would suspect that there was a problem within the Zhaoxin Bureau, so it seemed that it was really their negligence that led to this incident, and for a while a chill appeared on the faces of the three of them, wanting to find out the traitor.

After thinking for a moment, Lu Jing frowned and asked, "Can the amount on their agreement match the number of treasury bonds in their hands?" ”

Chen Ke thought for a while and nodded: "The three we have found now can match the number. ”

"How many people now have fake national debts?" Zhou Kun hurriedly asked, and his heart was even more nervous.

Chen Ke shook his head and said: "The lower officials are not very clear, we only found out about this situation today, and we have not launched an investigation, but among the three that have been found, one of them bought treasury bonds as early as the sixth day of September, and the other two are today." ”

Zhou Kun and Huang Yongzhong's expressions became more serious when they heard this, realizing that this matter was far more serious than they imagined.

It has been seven days since the sixth day of the ninth lunar month, and these seven days are the time when the treasury bonds are sold at the most, and the buyers during this period are either important ministers of the imperial court or relatives of the emperor, and I am afraid that many of them have bought fake treasury bonds, so things will be even more difficult to handle.

Lu Jing is a little incomprehensible, buying treasury bonds needs to be handled by the Zhaoxin Bureau, one hand to pay the money and the other hand to deliver, the money and debts are cleared, if the real treasury bonds are mixed with fake treasury bonds, the number of the Zhaoxin Bureau should not be right.

But if the accounts are not matched, the Zhaoxin Bureau should have discovered this problem a long time ago, and hurriedly asked Zhou Kun: "My lord, the total income and delivery of the national debt may match?" ”

"The officer checks the accounts every day, and no problems are found in the accounts." Zhou Kun was also aware of this problem, and said in a heavy tone.

It's just that when I thought about checking the accounts in the past few days, I felt that the amount of sales had not increased much, but on the whole it was selling well, and I didn't care too much.

Lu Jing thought for a moment, and realized that the problem was in the trader and the agreement, some of them signed or handed over the agreement was fake, but in practice, the fake treasury bonds were sandwiched between the real treasury bonds and sold, and the agreement to the buyer was written on the real amount, but the agreement handed over was fake.

This is an extremely serious process loophole, and the consequences are very serious, once this matter is exposed, what should the person who bought the fake treasury bond deal with, and the fake treasury bond occupies the share of the real treasury bond, stealing the transaction amount that should belong to the real treasury bond, the Zhaoxin Bureau not only suffered a double loss, the treasury bond found this time is likely to be abolished, not only the credibility of the imperial court will also be greatly affected, and the follow-up trouble will be more.

If this is implicated in the selection of imperial businessmen, I am afraid that the first person to take the blame will be himself, and thinking of the matter of Gong Qu and a few people, Lu Jing realized that someone was deliberately sabotaging the issuance of treasury bonds and putting the court in a dilemma.

Zhou Kun and Huang Yongzhong are also aware of this problem, Huang Yongzhong is okay, the national debt is not very related to him, but he is worried that it will affect the affairs of the emperor and business, and he is a little worried for a while.

Zhou Kun was angry, the transaction process of Zhaoxin Bureau was discussed with Feng Shangshu, and Lu Jing made some small suggestions to supplement, so that he and Lu Jing could not escape the involvement, and he had to bear greater responsibility.

Moreover, most of the people in the Zhaoxin Bureau are from the household department, and most of them are selected by themselves, and they are the managers of the Zhaoxin Bureau, in charge of the general treasury, and are responsible for verifying the daily accounts.

Thinking of this, Zhou Kun forcibly suppressed his anger and said coldly: "This is easy to do, the treasury bonds we sold are recorded, and the agreement will be signed by the handler. ”

Huang Yongzhong also said with a chill: "Yes, this official also wants to see who dares to be so mad." ”

Although Lu Jing also wanted to immediately punish the black sheep in the Zhaoxin Bureau, he still forced himself to calm down and asked Chen Ke: "Who else knows about this matter?" ”

Chen Ke thought for a while and said, "Except for a few people from the Holy Lord and the General Administration, a few of us know about it at present. ”

After hearing this, Lu Jing said to Zhou Kun and Huang Yongzhong: "Two adults, according to the opinion of the lower officials, we not only have to find out the traitors of the Zhaoxin Bureau, but also need to find out the mastermind behind the scenes, otherwise we will not be able to explain to the emperor." ”

After Zhou Kun and Huang Yongzhong heard this, they quickly calmed down, feeling that they were too impulsive just now, and now that the people behind the scenes have not exposed this matter, the time must not be ripe enough.

Lu Jing continued: "We use copper engraving, if it is not a professional craftsman, it is absolutely impossible to engrave it in such a short time, and we use birch bark paper for printing, this paper is extremely strictly controlled by the imperial court, and it is not easy to obtain it. ”

"Yes, the identity of the person behind the scenes is probably extraordinary, but no matter who it is, the official must find out to the end." Zhou Kun said in a heavy tone.

The issuance of treasury bonds has been less than a month, and the copper plates, seals, and prints can be copied and printed in such a short period of time, I am afraid that the energy of the people behind the scenes is extremely great, and they themselves and others may not be opponents. But now that he has no way out, he must find out the mastermind behind the scenes in order to reduce his responsibility.

Huang Yongzhong also nodded when he heard this, understanding what Zhou Kun and Lu Jing meant, they must find out a weighty person, and there are only a few people who can have the courage to do this, and Lu Jing and Zhou Kun almost said who they are, but there is still evidence for now.

Although Lu Jing had the exact object of suspicion in his heart, he knew that with the current situation in the DPRK and China, even if he found them, he might not be able to deal with them, but he had to find someone who was strong enough to bear the matter, otherwise he would be severely punished.

The three of them reached a consensus in an instant, and at this moment they had the same mind and the same goal, and they had to find out about the matter.

Huang Yongzhong looked at Lu Jing and asked, "What should we do now, in my opinion, we should not startle the snake." ”

Zhou Kun agreed with a cold face: "Yes, we should stand still at this time, and after secretly investigating clearly, we will catch them all." ”

Lu Jing also nodded in agreement, told Gong Qu and the others about the matter, and then said: "If this matter is also done by the people behind the scenes, they must have a backhand, and we can use this matter as a cover to secretly investigate the fake national debt." ”

Zhou Kun said with a solemn face: "This matter will be handed over to this official to deal with, presumably this official will definitely be able to attract their attention, and the matter of fake national debt will be investigated by the two of you." ”

Lu Jing hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "It just so happens that the lower officials will be in the Zhaoxin Bureau every day, so the lower officials will find out how many people are still eating inside and outside the Zhaoxin Bureau!" ”

Huang Yongzhong pondered for a while and said, "That official is responsible for investigating the matter of craftsmen and paper. ”

Seeing that the three of them had their own division of labor, Chen Ke also said: "The lower officials will continue to look for those who buy fake treasury bonds, and control the three businessmen, and will not let them talk nonsense!" ”

After the division of labor was clear, they were busy.

Zhou Kun did not rush to Shuntian Mansion immediately, but waited for the other party's follow-up, intending to strike later.

Huang Yongzhong secretly traced the origin of the birch paper, and investigated the craftsmen who had recently disappeared.

Lu Jing also went to the front hall as usual, and took the opportunity to find Chen Ting and Ge Yin, and informed them of the matter, so that they could pay close attention to the traders' trading process.

After the Zhaoxin Bureau closed, Lu Jing immediately sent someone to follow Jiang An and Liu Zhi, who had been exposed, to see who they would hand over the silver tickets obtained from today's transaction.