In the third year of Jianxing, on the thirteenth day of the first month, in the partial courtyard of the Tingwei Office.

It was a sunny day, with bright sunshine shining in the courtyard.

In the imperial history of the people who live here, Cheng Liao Li stretched his waist, yawned and walked out of the main hall, and shook his arms to move his limbs.

The two children in Tsing Yi who were waiting for him had already followed Ma Cheng to bring him hot water, toothbrushes, sulfur soap, and tooth cleaning salt.

Ma Cheng held a towel folded into strips alone in his hand, which was a cotton towel spun by Guanzhong in autumn and winter, which absorbed water than a silk scarf and was softer than linen and resistant to folding, so it quickly replaced a hand towel with a silk and linen texture.

Liao Li first rinsed his mouth, brushed his teeth, and asked Ma Cheng: "Are there any novelties in the city?" ”

Ma Cheng thought for a while, and concluded: "Sir, the price of pearls in the city has plummeted in the past two days, and a jeweler has set fire to death, and the mayor of Jinshi has issued a notice to the effect that the news of Lingnan is wrong, it is a folk rumor, and it should not be believed. ”

Approaching February of the old calendar, according to last year's custom, before the spring ploughing in February, there will be a large number of agricultural tools produced in Beifu to be sold in the Yangtze River Basin; Except for a small number of people in the villages and townships along the coast who raised funds, the vast majority of them were purchased with public funds from the county government or borrowed money to repay the debts in installments.

Metal tools related to agricultural production...... There's never too much to be done.

In addition to the routine sale of farming tools, before February, Lingnan will also arrive in Jiangdu New Year's first batch of materials, mostly Lingnan local products.

In March, when the Beifu Boat Gang goes back and forth to the Xiangjiang River and the Li River to the north again, they will cross the Jiangdu and transport production resources to Nanyang.

For more than half a month, the Beifu Boat Gang will come to Jiangdu and bring many luxury goods.

According to Ma Cheng's account, this year, the Lingnan Heng Navy caught many savage tribes who were good at diving and pearl diving on the islands of the South Seas; Naturally, the first batch of pearls shipped to Jiangdu this year will be several times or ten times more than in the past.

Coupled with some other news, the boat gang has not yet come, and under the urging of the market, some luxury merchants have suffered huge losses...... Even if the loss is only on the books, or it is just a pessimistic estimate.

Luxury Merchant ...... There must be a powerful relative like a shareholder behind him, and he loses the money of the noble, even if it is a loss on the books and a loss at the time of estimation, which is an unforgivable gross negligence.

Ma Cheng naturally deduced that under the pressure of some bad-tempered nobles in his eyes, it was normal for some pessimistic businessmen to commit suicide to avoid punishment.

But Liao Li held the toothbrush and pounded it, his attention shifted and he thought deeply.

After more than 30 years of war in the world, where are there still clean, self-made businessmen?

So Ma Cheng's reasoning is half right, but the other half is wrong.

A businessman who has just come out of the troubled times and is about to usher in the peaceful world is already well-informed, how can he take death and hide like farmers and tenants who are forced to pay debts?

Subconsciously concluded that there was something wrong with the death of this jewelry merchant, so he no longer thought deeply, he was a person who had been confined to the Imperial Mansion for three or four months, thinking about these irrelevant things, what to do?

After he finished washing up and was about to eat, a small official of the Tingwei Mansion came to pass the word, saying that Liu Yan was going to entertain Liao Li.

Contrary to Ma Cheng's expectations, his master agreed without thinking.

Naturally, he didn't know all aspects of Liao Li's measurements in his little head...... The turmoil of the suicide of the official Shangshu Yi was too big, and he, as a witness, should have expressed it.

If he also seeks death, it will be a mistake, and things will lose room for manoeuvre.

Now this is very good, not only shows the backbone, but also disgusts some ministers of the DPRK and the central government, which can be regarded as a bad breath for Yin.

It was also contrary to Liao Li's expectations, he thought that a generous elder like Liu Yan would respect Zhuge Kongming's instructions and set up a banquet to alleviate their antagonism.

As a result, Liu Yan's face was haggard and in a trance, and he didn't look like he was holding a banquet to laugh and enmity.

He still forced a happy face and got up to welcome Liao Li into the seat.

After sitting down, he looked unhappy, raised his hand to signal the waiter to be dismissed, and his tentative gaze fell on Liao Li's face: "Duke Liao, the impeachment of the Imperial Historical Observatory is illegal, and there is nothing to correct." What if the Son of Heaven breaks the law? ”

Liao Li frowned, carefully looked at Liu Yan's face and expression, and slowly spoke: "The prince is guilty of the same crime as the people." If it is the Son of Heaven, how can any minister talk about the king's crimes? This great disrespect is also an unforgivable sin. ”

Liu Yan shook his head and laughed sadly, smiling desolately, bowing his head and shaking the wine glass gently, the knuckles holding the wine glass turned white with force, and said to himself: "I follow the emperor around the world, and when I meet a white blade, my face will not change, and my husband will die as he deserves." Now he is in the position of secretary, but he can't protect his face...... There is no white blade, and it is already in chaos. ”

Liao Li also picked up his wine glass and squinted at Liu Yan carefully...... With Zhuge Kongming's wisdom, will this be a game that misleads him?

In the bureau, I am afraid that Liu Yan, the person involved, may not know, but sincerely sigh and resent.

Liu Yan raised his glass, raised his head to drink a glass of himself, picked up the wine pot and poured wine, and said: "Don't hide it from Duke Liao, my wife Hu has been in the palace to congratulate the Queen Mother on the New Year for the twelfth day, and she has never stepped out of the palace gate. I sent people to inquire, but they all said that they did not know. Yesterday, I rashly visited Xiang Shizhong, and the waiter had an angry look on his face, but it was inconvenient to say it clearly. ”

Liao Li frowned when he heard this, and always felt that this kind of thing was unlikely: "I'm afraid there is something else hidden, and it is not appropriate to be suspicious." ”

The court was very chaotic, and the servants went in and out of the court at will, and they also stayed at the palace at night; When entering the palace, the servant will wear a sable crown, and the female official who manages the sable crown is called Diao Chan, and naturally there are palace people who hold the Diao crown.

The various stories that happened between the people of Diao Chan Palace and the servants of the past dynasties spread throughout the Han Dynasty and the opposition.

Isn't it normal to have an affair with a female officer of Diao Chan?

There have always been so many people in the palace, how could the emperor attack the ministers and relatives who entered the palace to congratulate the New Year?

Wait a minute...... This emperor seems to be a little miserable, and the size of the palace is only a hundred, and most of them are palace people who are eunuchs and criminal officials, and there are few palace maids who are young people.

In this way, the emperor did have some objective factors for committing crimes.

Liao Li's heart was pounding, this was a big handle, enough to knock the emperor down from that position.

But how to fight?

Liao Li's eyes looked straight over, Liu Yan noticed it, and couldn't help but smile more embarrassed, and Meiyu's indignation was even stronger: "Duke Liao, the prime minister has not returned from investigating and studying the political affairs of Maicheng, and I don't know what happened in the palace." Now I just want to ask for justice and understand, Liao Gong has always been as famous as the prime minister, in the case of Liao Gong, can the prime minister uphold justice? ”

"Difficult."

Liao Li thought about it for a while, and his tone was clear: "The prime minister has the skill of self-cultivation, how can he do such a reverse move?" I thought that the prime minister would be grounded and advise His Majesty, but he would not do anything about it, which would disgrace the first emperor. ”

This is no longer a matter of maintaining the face of the Han family or covering up the ugliness of the emperor, this is to cover up the shame of the first emperor.

Liu Yan suddenly realized, and his face was even more difficult to see.