Guo Mingyi glared at him helplessly, this guy must have received the benefits of the merchants in the city to inquire about the news, the city gate was not opened, and the merchants in the city suffered the most serious losses.

"Go back and tell them that the city gate will be opened later, but let them know in advance, it is very inconvenient to enter and exit, and it is best to obediently follow the instructions, otherwise don't blame the official for being polite." Guo Mingyi was too lazy to dwell on such a trivial matter, and he had already thought of a countermeasure in his heart, the city gate should be opened, but the inventory must not be relaxed. And this is also an opportunity, maybe the thieves who stole the treasury silver will take the opportunity to leave the city, as long as the inspection is stricter, it is very likely to be discovered.

"Yes, yes, the lower official will go back and explain the situation." Governor Zhao saluted the four officials, picked up his shirt and ran out.

"Lord Chen, the next thing is going to trouble you, immediately dispatch people and horses to guard the four gates, no matter what the identity of the passers-by must be checked, and all the accompanying items must be checked, get rid of it." As he spoke, Guo Mingyi got up and saluted Chen Hai.

"Lord Guo is polite, these are all matters within the officer's responsibility, you can rest assured, the official will go back and arrange, if the people under his command do not seriously do the big thing, the officer must be the first to deal with the army." Chen Hai said with his fists clenched.

"Thank you." Guo Mingyi said with a grateful face.

Sending Chen Hai away, Guo Mingyi turned his head and instructed Master Cha: "Lord Cha, please take someone to the silver treasury in person, this official does not believe that the thief can transport 300,000 taels of silver out of thin air!" ”

"Yes, the next official will go." Zha Shaobao hurriedly responded, and hurried back to his own inspection to mobilize experts from the yamen.

Hangzhou Mansion Prison.

Deputy Envoy Guo Lin had just passed his first year, and he was sitting on a straw mat thinking about last night's events, but after reviewing all the plots, he still didn't find any flaws. I just vaguely remember that I fell asleep in the house, and when I woke up, I was watched.

"Lin'er." A familiar voice interrupted Guo Lin's thinking, and when he looked up, he saw that it was his uncle.

"Uncle, my nephew has been wronged, my nephew has always followed his uncle's teachings, and he has never touched the silver in the treasury." Guo Lin got up and ran over, and said with grievances.

"The clear person is self-clearing, since you haven't done anything to be afraid of, when things are clear, you will naturally be given justice." Guo Mingyi looked at his nephew who had been following his father since he was a child.

Guo Lin grew up watching him, and he even knows more about his temperament than himself, he is silent and weak, otherwise he would have his uncle, who is a political envoy, to lead the way, and how could he be an obscure deputy envoy from Jiupin in the treasury.

"Lord Guo, Guo Lin's subordinate officials understand, this matter must have nothing to do with him, let's see if you let him out." Cai Wenyuan, who was standing beside Guo Mingyi, said cautiously.

"Thank you, Lord Cai, but Guo Lin, as the deputy envoy of the silver treasury, is suspicious before this matter is investigated, so it's better to take care of it." Guo Mingyi arched his hand at Cai Wenyuan.

Seeing that his uncle had no intention of letting him out, Guo Lin couldn't beg anymore, so he could only say: "Thank you, Lord Cai, I am grateful." However, what my uncle said is reasonable, it is more appropriate for Guo Lin to stay here. ”

"Well, it's good that you understand Uncle Wei's intentions, think about what happened last night these days, and report it immediately if you find it." Seeing his nephew so sensible, Guo Mingyi was also happy in his heart.

"My nephew has written it down, and my uncle can rest assured."

"Two adults, this matter has nothing to do with the lowly position, the lowly job went home to rest last night, and it is impossible to participate in this matter." As soon as he saw Guo Mingyi and Cai Wenyuan, Hou Baofeng, the ambassador of the silver treasury, immediately ran to the wooden fence to argue.

"Lord Hou, this official just wants to know, have you noticed anything wrong in the past few days?" Guo Mingyi frowned and asked.

"Lord Guo, the No. B silver vault has been guarding the door of the iron general, and it has been normal a few days ago, and the lower officials have not found anything wrong." Hou Baofeng said with a bitter gourd face.

"Then think about it again, and let you out if something happens." Guo Mingyi dropped a sentence, turned around and walked out accompanied by the cell boss.

"Lord Cai, I don't have a clue now, it seems that we can only report this matter to the court immediately, I don't know what you think." Cai Wenyuan's words to Guo Lin just now moved Guo Mingyi very much, and he was a lot more polite to him.

"Everything is under the orders of Lord Guo, the lower officials have no objections, as long as they can get the tax money back, everything is easy to say." Cai Wenyuan shook his head and said, with a sad expression.

Eight hundred miles of urgent paperwork, change horses do not change people, thousands of miles of travel in just four days, the dusty messenger stumbled into the household, at this time the competent department of taxation and silver.

The stakes were very high, and Zhang Juzheng, who received the news, did not dare to delay, and immediately went out to the cabinet to find Xu Jie.

Looking at the urgent express, Xu Jie was also worried, the imperial court needs silver, not to mention the officials' salaries, the most important thing is the salary of the border army, which cannot be owed.

Although the Great Tomorrow is large, most of the annual taxes and silver are paid by a few political secretaries in the south of the Yangtze River, while most of the inland are self-sufficient and cannot contribute much at all.

Now the loss of 300,000 taels of tax silver is undoubtedly a burden on the Ming Dynasty, which was already overloaded, and if it can't be recovered, this year's gap will be even greater.

"Come on, immediately send someone to invite the Shangshu Shilang of the Criminal Department to come here to discuss matters!" Xu Jie put down the report in his hand and commanded, and then said to Zhang Juzheng, who had been waiting in front of him: "Uncle, you immediately rush back to the household department to select and transfer the elite officials of the Zhejiang Qing Officials Division to prepare to go to Hangzhou." 300,000 taels of tax silver is a wonderful loss, there must be a lot of cats here, we must check, we must strictly investigate! ”

"Yes, the student will go back and make arrangements. Don't be too anxious, it's all the officials below who are not in a good position, and then they will be severely punished. Zhang Juzheng looked at Xu Jie's ugly face and hurriedly said comfortingly.

Xu Jie sighed, just shook his head but did not speak.

The selection of capable personnel, several adults of the Zhejiang Qing Officials Division are naturally located among them, including Shen Chongming, who has just taken office.

As soon as he heard Zhang Juzheng say that he would send himself to Hangzhou with Zhao Langzhong to cooperate with the Criminal Department in investigating the case, Shen Chongming couldn't help but think of his parents who hadn't seen him for more than a year, and couldn't help but say: "My lord, Xiaguan's family lives in Shaoxing, can you see if you can be accommodating, and when you finish your errand, let Xiaguan go home to visit his parents?" ”

Zhao Langzhong was taken aback, and couldn't help but smack Shen Chongming's guts, everyone in the household department knew that Zhang Juzheng was very rigid, and the most jealous thing was that he was an official who didn't do a good job and thought about his own private affairs.

Zhang Juzheng was also stunned, then patted his forehead and said with a smile: "Look at the memory of this official, I actually forgot that you are from Shaoxing, and you entered Beijing last year, right?" ”

"Yes, my lord, I left home in March last year, and I haven't seen my father and mother for almost a year and eight months, so I want to wait until I finish my errand and go home to have a look." Shen Chongming said with some embarrassment, and he didn't know how the life was at home.

"Well, filial piety comes first, I'm afraid this errand is not simple, and it would be good if it could be completed before the year. The official will allow you to go home to accompany your parents for the New Year, but remember that you must do a good job. Zhang Juzheng said with a smile.

Hearing that he had allowed him to go home to accompany his parents for the New Year, Shen Chongming couldn't help but be overjoyed, and hurriedly thanked him: "Thank you, Lord for your grace, the lower officials must fulfill their duties and do a good job." ”

"Hehe, that's fine, hurry back to pack your things, and set off for Hangzhou early tomorrow morning." Zhang Juzheng smiled and waved his hand.

Out of the room, Zhao Langzhong couldn't help but admire: "Lord Shen, you are really amazing, such a good thing has made Lord Zhang agree, admire." ”

Shen Chongming smiled and said modestly: "Lord Zhao is too famous, didn't Lord Zhang say it, filial piety comes first, and the lower officials are just in a hurry." ”

Zhao Langzhong smiled, nodded and said: "Yes, it is rare that Lord Shen has this filial piety to your parents, if Lord Zhang does not agree, it will be unkind." ”

Shen Chongming nodded and said with a smile: "My lord is right, it's not too early, let's hurry home and clean up, the lower officials have to buy something for their father and mother to take back." With that, Shen Chongming arched his hand and said goodbye to Zhao Langzhong.

didn't have time to go home, Shen Chongming's clothes didn't change into a carriage and rushed to tell the public, this time he must bring the silver back and redeem the shop and the acres of land.

"Pengcheng, how much silver do we have on hand." Shen Chongming doesn't manage money, so he must not know how much silver he has.

Xiao Pengcheng, who was flipping through the account books and calculating the cost of buying horses and carts in the past few days, looked up and said, "Brother Shen, aren't you on an errand in the Yamen, you ran back like this, and why are you asking about this?" ”

"Hehe, I'll go to Hangzhou tomorrow and I'm going to go home by the way. Brother, when I came to Guozijian, my father pawned the seller for 10,000 taels of silver, and this time I went back to redeem the belongings, so let's say, how much silver do we have in our hands? Shen Chongming's face was full of excitement, and when he returned with the silver, his father and mother would be very happy.

"Wait, little brother, I'll check it out for you." When Xiao Pengcheng heard this, he didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly took out a book of income and expenditure to check it.