With a direction, the investigation will naturally not be like a headless fly bumping around.
Sun Jian bluntly stated, "I suspect that the three Wei brothers have been involved in both of these matters for a long time."
Forming cliques for personal gain? Privately maintaining an army?
Has this been a long-standing suspicion?
What exactly are these people trying to do?
Gu Hu looked at Liu Shiyun. After all, Liu Shiyun had been a lieutenant general in the Tiger Army for many years, and he should know more or less about the two points Sun Jian mentioned. Otherwise, Governor Yao would not have asked Liu Shiyun to assist him.
Unexpectedly, Liu Shiyun was even more bewildered than Gu Hu, looking completely blank.
"You don't need to ask General Liu. If he knew that the three Wei brothers had done such things, would he still be alive today?"
"Both of these crimes involve the extermination of an entire family, so the three Wei brothers will naturally do it flawlessly."
“If it weren’t for what you said today, General, I would never have known that the Wei brothers would do such things. I have been in the Tiger Legion for many years and never noticed. I am ashamed.”
Seeing Liu Shiyun kneeling on one knee with remorse, Sun Jian raised his hand and said, "General Liu, please get up."
"You are a meticulous and incredibly intelligent person. To say you never noticed anything would be an exaggeration. Perhaps you did discover some clues, but just didn't know the truth?"
"The general is right. I did notice some clues, but now it seems that they are all insignificant."
Sun Jian smiled and said, "Tell me."
Liu Shiyun directly pointed out several suspicious things he had noticed. Every ten days or so, Wei Zhong'e would send one of Wei Zhonghu or Wei Zhongbao out of the camp, each time with several carts full of supplies, but they would return to the camp empty. No one knew what was in the carts.
Furthermore, military equipment, weapons, armor, and horses would often disappear without reason, but the amount lost each time was not large. Therefore, the clerk would report the losses as such when making accounts.
Then there's the matter of military pay. Other armies pay their soldiers on time every month, but the Tiger Army always delays it by a month. Although the soldiers' pay and rations are not reduced, no one knows why it is delayed.
After Liu Shiyun finished speaking, he sighed softly: "This humble general is ashamed to say that apart from the three points mentioned above, I know very little about other matters."
Sun Jian nodded, keeping Liu Shiyun's earlier words in mind. After thinking for a while, he said, "General Liu, there's no need to feel ashamed. You were promoted by Lord Yao, and the Wei brothers naturally know this. They will definitely be wary of you in every way. Besides, you have never received any orders to investigate them, so it's understandable that you didn't notice anything."
"Besides, the three points you just mentioned are very valuable!"
Hearing these words of comfort, Liu Shiyun clasped his hands in a fist and bow again, saying, "Thank you, General!"
"Payment has been delayed by the month, military equipment, armor, and horses have been reduced, and there are strange departures from the camp every ten days..."
After pondering for a moment, Gu Hu spoke up from the side, "General, where should we begin with the details?"
Sun Jian's gaze sharpened. "Tomorrow is the day this month's military pay will be distributed. Let's start by checking the accounts!"
"Here you go!"
...
Inside the Xuanhe Hall of the Imperial City of Kyoto.
Emperor Ganwu lay languidly on his couch, flipping through the pages of a book by the bright candlelight.
Yao Tianzheng, Imperial Censor Yi Youwei, Minister of Works Xing Kang, and Minister of Revenue Mi Zhu stood by, waiting for the emperor to speak.
"How's everything going?"
Emperor Ganwu continued turning the pages of his book, asking questions without looking up.
The four officials exchanged glances, and Yao Tianzheng answered the question: "Your Majesty, the matter has been basically settled. Regarding the locust plague relief, this old minister and several ministers from the Imperial Study have added some remedial and emergency clauses, all of which have been arranged."
"Furthermore... Recently, this old minister visited many doctors in the countryside and read a lot of books, and has once again confirmed that locusts can be eaten and used as medicine."
"Yes, it's good to review and confirm more."
Emperor Ganwu remained as languid as ever, not even lifting his eyelids.
Wang De took meticulous care of the emperor, even peeling fresh oranges for him and removing all the white pith before placing them on the jade plate in front of him.
After Yao Tianzheng finished answering, Yi Youwei also spoke up from the side: "Your Majesty, the Minister of Rites has also made arrangements for the Temple of Heaven sacrificial ceremony."
Emperor Ganwu did not speak this time, but nodded slightly, and then continued to look through the book in his hands.
After watching for a while, Emperor Ganwu yawned, stretched, and sat up from his dragon bed.
Wang De was very perceptive and quickly brought out a pillow embroidered with a yellow dragon and placed it under the emperor's waist.
"Is there any news from Reader Sun?"
Although Sun Jian was appointed by the emperor as the deputy commander of the Tiger Army, the emperor still preferred to address Sun Jian as "Reader Sun" in front of his close ministers.
One is a military title, and the other is an official rank; you can call them either way.
Just like Yao Tianzheng, who was both governor-general and prefectural governor, he could be called Lord Yao or Governor-General Yao.
Yi Youwei, Mi Zhu, Xing Kang, and Yao Tianzheng were not only ministers in the Imperial Study, but also the emperor's confidants.
Wei Xian, Li Kui, Lin Xuanfu, and other ministers were not present. All four of them knew the truth about Sun Jian's affairs and could speak frankly without needing to be cautious.
"Your Majesty, Mr. Sun became famous and won the hearts of the people on his first day in the Tiger Legion. The soldiers of all units of the Tiger Legion also admire him greatly."
Yao Tianzheng bowed respectfully to the old emperor.
"oh?"
Emperor Ganwu raised an eyebrow, his eyes gleaming, seemingly very interested in Sun Jian's affairs.
The other three ministers were no exception, all showing expressions of surprise.
They also wanted to hear how this extraordinary man known throughout the capital, "Sun Jian," could gain such support on his very first day joining the Tiger Legion.
Yao Tianzheng calmly replied, "Your Majesty, the day Mr. Sun joined the Tiger Legion coincided with the Tiger Legion's internal drill day, which is the Tiger Legion's monthly troop deployment competition."
"When Mr. Sun entered the Tiger Warriors' camp, the Wei brothers did not greet him. It was only after Mr. Sun sent someone to inform him that he was allowed to enter the camp. After entering the camp, he participated in this competition."
"According to the report, there are four teams in the exercise and competition, each with a thousand people, and they are successively led by Lieutenant General Liu Shiyun, Lieutenant General Wei Zhongbao, and Lieutenant General Wei Zhonghu."
“The Wei brothers deliberately made things difficult for Mr. Sun. They used a provocation tactic to get Mr. Sun to participate first, and then had Mr. Sun’s thousand new recruits compete against the other three lieutenant generals.”
"These three lieutenant generals basically command the elite troops of their respective units, and Wei Zhongbao's thousand men are among the most elite soldiers in my Tiger Legion."
"The goal was to make Mr. Sun lose face and support as soon as he arrived at the military camp, and to make him a puppet ridiculed by the officers."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Ganwu's lips unconsciously curled up: "Hehe... How interesting."
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