In the evening, Zhang Cambodia and Li Qiao came to Li Hong and reported to him on the progress of the investigation of the tax problem in the eastern and western cities. Li Hong asked the two of them to sit down, and then asked Zhao Hong's skirt to serve tea, and then asked, "How are you checking?" ”

Li Qiao glanced at Zhang Cambodia, and Zhang Cambodia put the accounts in his hand in front of Li Hong's case and said, "Your Highness, we have checked the tax accounts of the eastern and western cities handed over to the Ministry of Household Affairs by the Chang'an County Ya and the Wannian County Ya in the past two years, and a total of 80,000 copper coins will be handed over every year. However, through my private interview with Li Sheren's microservice, it is estimated that the merchants in the east and west cities have to pay 160,000 yuan in commercial taxes every year. ”

"So they're embezzling nearly half of the business tax?" Li Hong's face was a little gloomy, and he said in a cold tone.

"It's not certain yet. Because it is difficult to determine exactly where the problem of corruption occurs. Li Qiao thought for a while and replied, "But at least it can prove that there is really a problem with the taxation of the eastern and western cities." ”

"Eighty thousand yuan is a lot, but it's still not enough to make the three products think." After Li Hong calmed down, he said in a deep voice, "It seems that there may be a big problem with Datang's taxes!" ”

Zhang Cambodia and Li Qiao nodded slightly, but they did not meet Li Hong. Because the prince can guess like this, but as courtiers, they can't just talk nonsense if they don't have conclusive evidence.

Zhang Cambodia suddenly asked, "Your Highness, how is Wu Er's investigation?" ”

"Takeji is dead!" Li Hong said lightly, "We didn't get any news from him. ”

"This-" Zhang Cambodia's expectant expression suddenly froze on his face, and he didn't know what to say for a long time.

Li Qiao also sighed with a regretful face, "It's a pity! ”

"But fortunately, this king has another plan, and Yan Zhuang can bring us good news by tomorrow morning at the latest." Li Hong said softly again.

Zhang Cambodia and Li Qiao suddenly heard Li Hong say this, and looked at him with a look of resentment, as if they were saying to Li Hong: It's right that you are the prince, but you can't bully people like this!

Li Hong knew that he had inadvertently played Zhang Cambodia and Li Qiao just now, so he smiled, "Why don't we go out to admire the moon and wait while drinking tea?" ”

How could Zhang Cambodia and Li Qiao say "no"? I could only obey Li Hong's meaning. Li Hong immediately instructed Zhao Hongwei and asked her to make arrangements. Zhao Hongskirt accepted the order and left in a hurry. After a while, he returned to the study and returned to Li Hong, saying that he had already set up a tea set in the Tang Garden.

Li Hong came to the pavilion of Tangyuan with Zhang Cambodia and Li Qiao, and he told the two in detail about his plan to use Wu Er as a bait to seduce the people behind Wu Hou, and after listening carefully to Li Hong's plan for two days, he felt that it was feasible, and the three of them drank tea while listening to Zhao Hong's skirt and caressing the qin, while waiting for the news of Yan Zhuang.

After playing the song "High Mountains and Flowing Water", after three cups of tea, Yan Zhuang hurriedly came to Tangyuan.

Li Hong didn't have time for Yan Zhuang Shili to ask eagerly, "Tell me how the situation is?" ”

Yan Zhuang's face was a little gloomy, and he said in a slightly angry tone, "Your Highness, the person who came to Chang'an County to intercede was sent by Mrs. Rongguo, and he said that Wu Er is a nephew of Mrs. Rongguo..."

Wu Er is dead, Li Hong doesn't want to hear what Wu Er's identity is, but continues to ask, "Who else has paid attention to Wu Er?" ”

"It's gone." Yan Zhuang said dejectedly.

Because if it is really determined that the person behind Wu Er is Mrs. Rongguo, then this case can only end here. Because everyone present knew who Mrs. Rongguo was, it was Li Hong's maternal grandmother and Empress Wu's mother Yang.

With the identity of the Yang family and Li Hong, before there is conclusive evidence, does Li Hong dare to investigate and suspect her? Moreover, she is the mother of the Empress Wu, if she really checks the Yang family, Li Hong will be sad about the Empress Wu, not to mention that if you don't check much, what will the Empress Wu think of Li Hong, and what will the people say about the prince.

Zhang Cambodia and Li Qiao were silent when they understood the relationship, and Yan Zhuang also lowered his head on the side.

Li Hong didn't speak, but finished drinking the tea in the cup, poured another cup, poured another empty cup, pushed the cup forward, and said to Yan Zhuang, "I'm tired for a day, drink a cup of tea to relieve my fatigue!" ”

"Your Highness!" Yan Zhuang said gratefully. He stepped forward and lifted the quilt and drank it all. No one said a word after that, the atmosphere in the pavilion seemed very dull, and Zhao Hong's skirt didn't dare to touch the piano anymore, and Tangyuan fell into silence!

After a long time, Zhang Khan Zhicai broke the silence, "Your Highness, it's good to put aside the taxes of the eastern and western cities for the time being, and we are not in a hurry to check it." ”

"That's what Weichen means." Li Qiao echoed.

The two of them are the subordinate officials of the East Palace, and they are also Li Hong's confidants, so they will naturally consider Li Hong's interests from Li Hong's point of view. Therefore, the problem of investigating the taxes of the eastern and western cities has changed because of the appearance of the Yang family, and they know that if they continue to investigate, the prince will be disadvantaged, so they know that they must stop.

At this time, Li Hong's heart was also very confused, he really wanted to investigate the tax problems in the east and west cities to the end, and bring to justice the moths who embezzled the taxes paid by the people. But now he found that he was in trouble, and this trouble also exceeded the reach of his strength, that is, not to touch the deadly strings of the martial queen. This made him very entangled in his heart, whether to continue to investigate despite the anger of the Empress Wu, or to stop in moderation?

"Your Highness, why don't we wait for two more days?" Yan Zhuang asked a little unwillingly.

Li Hong sighed and said, "It's okay! Then wait two more days! ”

When Zhang Cambodia and Li Qiao heard what the prince said, they didn't say anything anymore, so they bowed down and said goodbye to Li Hong and left. When the two left, Li Hong drank tea silently alone.

Time passed minute by minute, the silver moon had risen in mid-air, and Li Hong was still silent. Yan Zhuang knew that today's plan had failed, and there had just been such a change, and the prince was in a very bad mood, so he didn't dare to persuade him, so he could only accompany him carefully.

I don't know how long it took before Li Hong spoke, "Yan Zhuang, how many years have you been in charge of the East Palace's intelligence system and secret guards?" ”

Yan Zhuang was stunned, why did His Royal Highness the Crown Prince suddenly ask this question tonight? He replied cautiously, "It's been six years." ”

"Six years!" Li Hong sighed, "In the past six years, have you ever felt that you are not suitable to lead them?" ”

"Your Highness—" Yan Zhuang heard Li Hong ask, and he realized why His Royal Highness the Crown Prince asked so much, and he couldn't help but be shocked, so he hurriedly got up and pleaded guilty, "It's the minister's poor leadership that caused this plan to fail, and I ask His Highness to punish him!" ”

"Not only this time, but also what Gu told you, let them closely monitor Helan Minzhi, they are not good enough!" Li Hong said in a deep voice, "How many days have they been spying on Helan Minzhi?" Have you ever found out that Wu Er and Helan Minzhi have an intersection? ”

When Yan Zhuang heard this, he suddenly felt that there was a thunderbolt from the sky, how could Wu Er intersect with Helan Minzhi? Besides, how did the prince know? looked at Li Hong a little blankly and didn't know what to say.

When Li Hong saw Yan Zhuang like this, he became even more angry, and suddenly flipped over the table and got up and strode away.

"Wow-" The precious tea set on the table fell to the ground and shattered, startling Zhao Hong's skirt in the pavilion, thinking that there was a problem with his playing, so he hurriedly got up and knelt to the side and bowed his head and didn't dare to make a sound.

After waiting for a long time, seeing that the pavilion was immersed again, Zhao Hongskirt looked up and found that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had been gone for a long time, so she glanced at Yan Zhuang, who was also bowing her head and pleading guilty, then got up and walked up to him and said, "Yan Jialing, His Royal Highness has left, you should also get up and go to rest!" ”

Yan Zhuang glanced at Zhao Hong's skirt gratefully, nodded slightly, and then got up and staggered away.

Today, it was the first time for Yan Zhuang to see His Royal Highness the Crown Prince under such a big fire. Therefore, Yan Zhuang had a hunch that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince must have known some earth-shattering secret, or that the secret guard in his hand had delayed His Royal Highness the Prince's big plan.

It's just that no matter which of these two things went wrong, Yan Zhuang knew that it was all caused by a problem with the intelligence system he was in charge of, so he knew very well that he would have to hand over this part of his strength in the future.

Li Hong returned to the dormitory of the Cheng'en Hall and sat alone on the couch and was silent.

On the one hand, he was angry at the incompetence of the secret guards in charge of Yan Zhuang, and on the other hand, he suddenly thought of a big secret that no one knew when he was drinking tea, and it was also related to Helan Mizhi.

It's about Helan Minzhi and Yang's adultery!

He remembered that in history, Helan Minzhi was young and handsome and had an affair with his maternal grandmother Yang, so he was also proud of his relationship with Yang, and he was frivolous, which made Empress Wu very unhappy many times.

Since there is an adulterous affair between Helan Minzhi and the Yang family, what Wu Er did was obviously instructed by Helan Minzhi, that is to say, at least Helan Minzhi is among the people who embezzle the taxes of the East and West Cities.

If the secret guard had already found out that Wu Er had a connection with He Lan Minzhi, he could have thought about the plan more carefully and found a way to get Wu Er to get in touch with He Lan Minzhi, so that he would have enough reason to interrogate He Lan Minzhi after he captured Wu Er. But now that the Yang family has admitted that Wu Er is a person in her house, and has completely cleared up the relationship between Wu Er and He Lan Minzhi, he has broken the connection between He Lan Minzhi and the tax issue of the East and West Cities, he just knows that He Lan Minzhi has embezzled the taxes of the East and West Cities, but what can he do? With the nail of Yang's, how else can he check?

Thinking of this, Li Hong's heart became even more irritable.

At this time, he was sure that Helan Minzhi was so spoiled and coquettish, not only because Empress Wu vigorously cultivated him, but also because of the relationship with the Yang family.

No wonder he doesn't even pay much attention to a prince like him on weekdays!

Thinking that Helan Minzhi, who didn't have much real power, made himself so tired, and then thought that the secret guards of the East Palace, whom he had high hopes for, were so incompetent, Li Hong decided to rebuild the intelligence system and reorganize the secret guard force.

As for the issue of Helan Minzhi's embezzlement of taxes in the East and West Cities, judging from the current situation, he can only let it go first, and only wait until he catches Helan Minzhi's handle in the future to liquidate it together, who called the [back] platform so big?