Chapter 186 Subduing the Enemy Without Fighting
Jiang Yu listened with lowered eyes to Prince Rui's conversation with the Emperor. She hadn't expected Prince Rui to say these things to the Emperor for her sake, and even to arouse some suspicion from the Emperor because of it. After all, their relationship wasn't deep, and they had no intertwined interests.
Then the emperor said, "I've never seen you pay attention to anything else before."
The emperor was suspicious, and Jiang Yu didn't know if he said that intentionally or casually. Then she heard Prince Rui chuckle and say, "The Duke of Chu has insightful views. I would like to communicate with her in the future. If she is wronged, who will I communicate with then?"
The emperor glanced at him and then looked at Jiang Yu, saying, "Tell me."
Jiang Yu stood up respectfully and said, "My adoptive parents came to the capital with me. They are used to hard work and can't stand being idle, so they wanted to open another general store. My adoptive parents used to run a general store to make a living. Later, when I grew up, I became interested in business and opened a few more stores."
I have all the goods for my adoptive parents' general store in the capital transferred from their original warehouse to save them the trouble of purchasing. Dong Shuang, who was arrested by the Ministry of Justice, was my maid before. She has some business acumen, and she has been managing my old store since I came to the capital.
This time, she was also transporting goods to the capital, and somehow, privately minted official silver appeared on the ship. And…”
Jiang Yu hesitated, but the emperor, seeing this, said, "Speak your mind directly."
“Yes.” Jiang Yu continued, “Two days ago, when I was discussing the tax embezzlement case with Prince An at a teahouse, I ran into Xie Ning’an.”
“Oh, my brother was there that day too.” Prince Rui said at this moment, “That day, my brother was at Jingwei’s residence. He said he wanted to see the Duke of Chu, so my brother went with him.”
The emperor looked at him with a slightly darker gaze, "How did you get involved?"
Prince Rui scratched his ear, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "After researching gunpowder, I had many ideas that I wanted to share with others. Just then, Jingwei wanted to see the Duke of Chu, so I... went along with him."
After discussing the case with Jing Wei, the Duke of Chu left. A short while later, Xie Ning'an and Ya Lin arrived at our tea room. Xie Ning'an also mentioned that he had met with the Duke of Chu.
After hearing his words, the emperor remained silent. After a while, he asked Prince Rui, "Why did he mention seeing Jiang Yu to you? Was it a test?"
Prince Rui shook his head, "Your Majesty, I didn't know. I was drawing at the time and didn't notice. It was Jingwei who told me about it afterward."
The emperor snorted heavily, "Everyone says that Xie Ning'an of the Xie family is resourceful, but I don't think he uses his brain for anything worthwhile."
Jiang Yu and Prince Rui both remained silent on this matter, as sometimes saying too much is not a good thing.
The emperor then looked at Jiang Yu and asked, "What do you think of using gunpowder on the battlefield, my dear minister?"
Jiang Yu: "I think this is a good idea. Firecrackers and fireworks made of gunpowder often cause injuries. I believe that as long as the right methods are found, gunpowder will surely exert tremendous power on the battlefield."
I also believe that a strong army and powerful weaponry are the foundation upon which a nation stands tall in the face of other countries, and can also deter other nations from acting recklessly, thus subduing them without a fight.
"To subdue the enemy without fighting." The emperor pondered these words, his excitement growing stronger. He added, "Good, Minister Jiang is right."
He looked at Prince Rui and said, "He'an, tell me what you need."
"Yes," Prince Rui replied.
"I have an idea," Jiang Yu said at this moment.
The emperor was in a good mood and said with a smile, "Go ahead."
Jiang Yu: "I believe we can establish a department to recruit talented individuals who enjoy research to assist His Highness Prince Rui."
"Yes, that's how it should be, otherwise He'an will be too overworked." The emperor looked at Prince Rui, who quickly said, "I have no objection to establishing a department, but don't entrust the matter of setting up the department to me."
He cut off what the emperor was about to say, and the emperor was not angry. Then the emperor looked at Jiang Yu and said, "I have someone set up this department, but you, Minister Jiang, will oversee the personnel."
“Yes,” Jiang Yu replied.
Although she was busy, this was the first step in realizing her dream, and she was determined to take it on no matter how busy she was.
The emperor looked at her with even greater satisfaction, and his previous suspicions about the Duke of Chu's mansion almost completely disappeared at this moment.
At this moment, Zhao Fuquan came over, carrying a jar in his hand. "Your Majesty, the stone-ground powder has been brought."
The emperor waved his hand, and Zhao Fuquan handed the stone-ground powder to Prince Rui. Prince Rui took the jar, opened it, took out some graphite powder, and sprinkled it on the jade cup he had just held.
Then, from the brush holder on the emperor's desk, he took out an unused brush and gently brushed the powder off the jade cup. Soon, several fingerprints appeared on the jade cup.
“Brother, look.” Prince Rui held the jade cup up to the emperor’s face, pointing to the fingerprints on it and saying, “These are my fingerprints, and they are yours, brother.”
The emperor leaned closer to look, then compared it with Prince Rui's hand, and pointed to a fingerprint, saying, "This is your thumb."
"Your Majesty is truly remarkable," Prince Rui praised, his tone tinged with mischief. The Emperor glared at him, but didn't seem angry.
"You want to use this method to see whose fingerprints are on those privately minted official silver coins?" the emperor asked.
Prince Rui shook his head. "It would be too difficult to make a comparison like that, but we can take the fingerprints of the two people who were arrested and compare them to see if their fingerprints are on the box and the silver."
The emperor nodded after hearing this. At this moment, Jiang Yu said, "We can also take the fingerprints of everyone on the ship for comparison. This project may be quite large, but it might be able to catch the person who framed us."
The emperor nodded again, just then a eunuch announced from outside, "Your Majesty, Prince An has arrived."
"Let him in."
As soon as the emperor finished speaking, Prince An strode in. He bowed to the emperor and then said, "Your subject has entered the Ministry of Justice prison, where they are interrogating two people who have been arrested."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Yu's face showed worry. Then Prince An added, "They haven't found out anything. I've ordered everyone on the ship to be placed under surveillance."
“Good,” the emperor said, “your royal uncle has found a way to distinguish them. Let him tell you.”
Prince Rui explained the method for making fingerprints visible to Prince An. After listening, Prince An said, "That makes things simple. First, compare the fingerprints of the two people who were arrested, and then compare them with the fingerprints of the other people on the ship."
"Alright, you handle this matter. Find out the truth as soon as possible." The emperor then looked at Jiang Yu: "The tax embezzlement case cannot be stopped. Continue the investigation."
“Yes,” Jiang Yu replied.
The emperor snorted, "I'd like to see what other tricks they can pull."
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