"How many people did Zhen Guogong bring?" After being stunned, Hu Dahai asked the guard who came to report a little nervously, in his opinion, Li Yuntian suddenly rushed to the Gyeonggi Governor's Mansion for the sake of Liu Hai, who was arrested, and wanted to ask the teacher for the crime.

"Hou Ye, five accompanying guards." The guard replied in a deep voice.

"Five...... Five? A look of surprise flashed on Hu Dahai's face, and he couldn't help but look at Chen Tai, Li Yuntian's move surprised him.

"Zhen Guogong deserves to be a young talent!" Chen Tai's eyes were also full of surprise, he didn't expect Li Yuntian to break into the Gyeonggi Governor's Mansion single-handedly, and then said to Hu Dahai with a smile, "Since that's the case, let's go to meet the town of Guogong." ”

Saying that, Chen Tai walked out of the door, after all, Li Yuntian is also a national prince, and he is at the same level as Chen Tai, according to the order between the officials of the imperial court to welcome the send, Chen Tai must go out to greet Li Yuntian.

Hu Dahai quickly followed behind Chen Tai, secretly guessing Li Yuntian's intentions along the way, and he didn't know whether Li Yuntian came to demonstrate or show goodwill?

"The prince of Zhenguo is here, and the prince is far away." At the gate of the Gyeonggi Governor's Mansion, Chen Tai walked from the courtyard gate with a smile and said to Li Yuntian who was waiting outside the door, and Hu Dahai, who was following behind, also bowed his hand to Li Yuntian.

"Ren Guogong and Cheng Yonghou, I am really sorry that my father's abrupt visit this time disturbed the official affairs of the two of them." Li Yuntian smiled slightly when he heard this, and returned the salute to Chen Tai and Hu Dahai.

"It's windy outside, please do it in a kilometer." Chen Tai turned to the side and made a gesture of invitation to Li Yuntian, he naturally knew that Li Yuntian was here for the five hundred arquebuses, but he didn't expect Li Yuntian to come uninvited.

According to the relevant process, even if Chen Tai wants Li Yuntian to assist in the investigation of the case, then Emperor Xuande needs to issue an edict, otherwise how can the dignified court officials be interrogated lightly?

"Two adults, please." Li Yuntian also made a gesture of please when he heard this, and after giving in to Chen Taiqian, he entered the courtyard side by side, while Hu Dahai lagged behind, and the difference between the duke and the earl seemed to be only one level, but there was an insurmountable gap in the officialdom.

"What's the matter with Zhenguo Gongji?" When they arrived at the reception hall of the Gyeonggi Governor's Mansion, the two sides exchanged pleasantries for a while after the guests were seated, chatting about some inconsequential household matters, and then Chen Taiyufeng turned around, and while slowly sipping the steaming tea, he asked Li Yuntian quietly.

"Gong Renguo, I heard that the Gyeonggi Governor's Office found a lot of arquebuses from the Bafang Warehouse last night, and I came to investigate because the arquebuses are the things that my husband is responsible for, I don't know if this is true?" Li Yuntian smiled slightly when he heard this, and asked in an orderly voice.

Because of the severity of the situation this time, Li Yuntian and Chen Tai both adopted a cautious attitude, if it were left in normal times, Chen Tai would definitely call Li Yuntian "virtuous nephew" in the reception hall when no outsiders were present, and Li Yuntian would also call him "Uncle Chen", so that the two sides would be much closer.

However, because Chen Tai's investigation involved Li Yuntian this time, he could only put on a business-like posture and call Li Yuntian "Zhenguo Gong", Li Yuntian also knew that he was not optimistic about the situation now, so he also called him Chen Tai's title, which shows the tension of the situation......

"It's true, last night the Gyeonggi Governor's Office received a report that someone had hidden a batch of weapons in the Bafang Warehouse, so my father sent someone to investigate, and a large number of arquebuses were found in a warehouse." Chen Tai did not mean to hide it from Li Yuntian, he affirmed Li Yuntian's statement in a deep voice, he knew that Li Yuntian must have received the relevant news, so there was no need to hide the matter.

"It's unbelievable that someone can steal a huge number of arquebuses under the strict supervision of the martial arts hall, which is shocking and shocking, and it seems that the security measures in the martial arts hall have completely become decorations!" Li Yuntian's face deliberately showed a look of surprise, and he sighed helplessly.

"Don't be impatient, this father will definitely find out this case and give an explanation to Zhen Guogong." When Chen Tai heard this, he opened his mouth to comfort him, in fact, both he and Li Yuntian knew that the five hundred arquebuses were aimed at Li Yuntian, which would make Li Yuntian deeply involved in this case and it would be difficult to get out.

It's just that the clues that Chen Tai has in his hands have not yet involved Li Yuntian, so Chen Tai can't find out about this matter, so he can only say some polite words to Li Yuntian.

"Ren Guogong, I don't know if my father can take a look at those arquebuses." Li Yuntian bowed his head slightly when he heard this, and now his conversation with Chen Tai was just a false and aggrieved snake, and then asked quietly.

"Someone, carry a box of arquebuses." Chen Tai hesitated for a moment, put down the teacup in his hand and shouted at the guards standing at the door, Li Yuntian's request he had no way to refuse.

Hu Dahai, who was sitting on the side, had a suspicious look in his eyes, and he didn't know what Li Yuntian meant by this move, could it be that he suspected that the arquebuses were fake?

Soon, several guards brought a long wooden box for storing arquebuses, and Li Yuntian stepped forward and fumbled through the haystack for a while before pulling out a brand-new arquebus.

To Chen Tai and Hu Dahai's surprise, Li Yuntian did not mean to check the arquebus, but put the gun back after glancing at the end of the arquebus, and then checked the remaining five arquebuses in the same way, which surprised the two of them very much.

There were three layers of arquebuses in the long wooden box, two in each layer, and when he finished checking the beak end of the last arquebus, Li Yuntian sighed, and a wry smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"Zhen Guogong, what did you find?" Seeing this, Chen Tai felt puzzled in his heart, and couldn't help asking.

"Ren Guogong, every arquebus must be engraved with a number on the handle before leaving the workshop, and this duke just checked it, and these arquebuses are not numbered." Hearing this, Li Yuntian walked over and handed the arquebus in his hand to Chen Tai.

Chen Tai fixed his eyes and saw that the end of the arquebus was blank and there was no number, and then he looked at Li Yuntian puzzledly, not knowing what Li Yuntian meant by pointing out that the arquebus was not numbered.

"Ren Guogong, Jiangwutang's control over arquebuses is very strict, and the monthly production is quantitative, and it is impossible to increase production without the permission of this father."

Li Yuntian saw Chen Tai looking at him suspiciously, so he muttered for a while and said, "Before my father came, I checked the records of the martial arts hall, the production of arquebuses has been carried out according to the plan, and the arquebuses manufactured have all been distributed to the troops. ”

"Ren Guogong and Cheng Yonghou, the two of them don't know that the production of arquebuses involves multiple workshops, and both the supply of raw materials and the final assembly are carried out according to customization."

As he spoke, Li Yuntian paused, and the expression on his face became stern, "Those military craftsmen in the workshop know what the crime of producing arquebuses without authorization is, so this prince believes that they will not expand production for no reason, so they must produce according to orders." ”

"As ordered?" Chen Tai was taken aback when he heard this, and couldn't help but look at Li Yuntian in astonishment, he finally understood what Li Yuntian meant, it turned out that he wanted to exonerate the military households of those workshops.

"Ren Guogong, the officials in the workshop will only expand production after receiving the order of Bengong, if Bengong guesses correctly, someone must have secretly forged Bengong's warrant, and then caused the workshop to expand the production of arquebuses."

Sure enough, the next moment, Li Yuntian nodded to Chen Tai, and said solemnly, "Ren Guogong, the root cause of this matter is the dereliction of duty of this father, and he didn't realize that someone was secretly carrying out this matter, so he can't escape the blame, and he is willing to take all the responsibility for it!" ”

"What?" Chen Tai was stunned for a moment, and looked at Li Yuntian with a look of disbelief, could it be that Li Yuntian is crazy, smuggling weapons into the capital is a big crime of rebellion, and it is too late for others to clear up the relationship, but Li Yuntian took the initiative to take the charge on himself, which is simply shocking.

Hu Dahai also looked at Li Yuntian with a shocked expression, this is completely inconsistent with Li Yuntian's character, you must know that Li Yuntian is not the kind of person who is obedient, and he will definitely not retreat in the face of danger.

"Zhen Guogong, now is not the time to be held responsible, since someone secretly made this batch of arquebuses, then it must be thinking that it is not good for the emperor, Zhen Guogong is the holy hand of my Ming Dynasty, and the top priority should be to investigate this case and wipe out those wicked people behind the scenes."

After the initial shock, Chen Tai hesitated for a moment, and said meaningfully to Li Yuntian, "The emperor's dragon body is not safe, and the justice of the town and the country must seize the time to investigate this case and calm the sacred heart!" ”

Li Yuntian suddenly showed a smile on the corner of his mouth when he heard this, he heard the meaning of Chen Tai's words, Emperor Xuande is now seriously ill and his days are numbered, as long as he drags this case down, then as long as Emperor Xuande dies, he will be able to turn things around and turn the danger into a disaster.

Obviously, after the crown prince ascends the throne, the situation in the court will change dramatically, and the government will be controlled by those important ministers, so naturally he does not want the arquebus case to be pursued further, after all, this involves the battle between Emperor Xuande's military power and Li Yuntian's courtesy, and they will naturally protect Li Yuntian, and they will definitely turn big things into small things, and small things will be turned into small things, and Li Yuntian will naturally be safe at that time.

Although Emperor Xuande wanted to use Chen Tai to preside over the arquebus case to divide the nobles of the Ming Dynasty, he forgot one thing, the so-called cold lips and teeth, the arquebus case was essentially a struggle between the monarch and the vassals, not a struggle for power between various factions in the court, and Chen Tai, who was a noble of the Ming Dynasty, naturally hoped that Li Yuntian could survive this catastrophe, if even Li Yuntian was easily destroyed, then wouldn't everyone else be in danger?

It is precisely because of this that Emperor Hongwu asked Jinyiwei to deal with the case of Hu Weiyong and Lanyu when he handled it, and did not let the officials of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies and the Sixth Department intervene.

Therefore, Chen Tai reminded Li Yuntian that as long as Li Yuntian could delay the time, it would not be easy for Emperor Xuande to kill Li Yuntian, and he was sure that the courtiers would oppose the killing of Li Yuntian on the grounds of insufficient evidence.

Hu Dahai was deeply impressed by Chen Tai's words, and looked at Li Yuntian with a stern expression, he was very strange in his heart, and he didn't understand why Li Yuntian took the initiative to confess, so he would undoubtedly fall into passivity.

Facing Chen Tai and Hu Dahai's puzzled looks, Li Yuntian smiled slightly, and said lightly, "The emperor's dragon body is not safe, so he shouldn't disturb the holy car anymore." ”

"Two adults, the martial arts hall has condensed the hard work of my father for more than ten years, and my father doesn't want it to be implicated in this case, I hope that the two adults will be successful." As he spoke, Li Yuntian solemnly bowed his hand to Chen Tai and Hu Dahai and said in a deep voice.

"Alas!" Chen Tai was stunned when he heard this, his eyes were full of shock, and then he sighed helplessly, he finally understood what Li Yuntian meant, he wanted to use his death to save the martial arts hall, and at the same time to make Emperor Xuande feel at ease.

Obviously, if Li Yuntian does not admit his guilt, then the arquebus manufacturing workshop in the lecture hall and even the entire subordinate institutions of the lecture hall will be involved, and then Jin Yiwei will definitely cause a bloody storm because of the search for Li Yuntian's incriminating evidence, I don't know how many people will be beaten into tricks, and I don't know how many people will die.

What is particularly important is that once Jiangwutang is suspected of "rebellion", then Emperor Xuande may not issue an edict to dismiss him, which is definitely not what Li Yuntian wants to see.

In addition, Li Yuntian is also loyal to Emperor Xuande, and he does not want to resist because Emperor Xuande wants to put him to death, and at the same time, he is also maintaining the stability of the imperial court, as long as Li Yuntian dies, the arquebus case will naturally be calm.

Hu Dahai's eyes were full of admiration when he looked at Li Yuntian, he originally thought that Li Yuntian would rise up to fight, but he didn't expect Li Yuntian to give up resistance for the sake of the overall situation in the court, and put his fate in the hands of Emperor Xuande, this kind of mind and courage is really rare, after all, there are only a few courtiers who can really be loyal to the monarch and serve the country, otherwise there would not be so many Beijing officials who chose to take refuge in Emperor Yongle in the Battle of Jingjing.

Gyeonggi Governor's Palace, dungeon, torture chamber.

The two tall brocade-clothed guards were taking turns whipping a man with a Chinese character face whose hands and feet were shackled, and the man with the national character face was already covered in bruises at this time, not only with bamboo sticks inserted into the ten fingers of his hands, but also with two bloody and blurred marks on his chest.

Due to the severity of the injury, the man with the national character face no longer had the strength to shout, and only let out a slight moan from his mouth every time he was hit by the leather whip.

A lean middle-aged man wearing a three-grade flying fish suit sat on a chair, looking at the tortured man with a blank face, his brows furrowed tightly, he never thought that the man with a national character face could withstand the torture of Jinyiwei before.

This lean middle-aged man was Wei Xin, the commander of Jinyiwei and Yichengbo, and the person who was tortured was Liu Hai, the owner of the Bafang Warehouse and the deacon of the Kyushu Chamber of Commerce.

Since Liu Hai was arrested and entered the Gyeonggi Governor's Mansion, he was already waiting in the dungeon by the Jinyi Guard, who had already been waiting in the dungeon, and had passed out many times during the period.