Zhu Ying naturally didn't know what was happening in the capital.

However, Zhu Ying knew that her old man would easily worry about her if she was away from home like this.

So every four or five days, I would write a letter to talk about what I had heard recently, as well as my thoughts and opinions on certain things.

Then let the Jinyiwei take him back.

The most recent letter was written two days ago, and it should arrive in two days.

As the saying goes, the people do not fight against the officials.

In Zhu Ying's current situation, it is completely a dimensionality reduction attack.

"Why do I suddenly feel like a villain?"

Zhu Ying laughed at himself. Aren't these unreasonable methods just like the villains who controlled power in some movies and TV shows in his previous life?

Well, it is possible to not be too particular about the details.

After Mr. Li was arrested, the merchants in Suzhou City suddenly felt like they had lost their backbone and became extremely worried.

Even Mr. Li, who had the title of scholar, would be arrested, let alone these low-status businessmen.

"Mr. Li is a scholar in the fourth year of Hongwu. With such an honor, how dare the police from the Public Security Bureau be so bold and not give him any respect at all?"

"I heard that someone has already gone to the prefect. The prefect will definitely not sit idly by and watch this matter."

"Let's wait and see what happens. I have a feeling this time they are here with bad intentions."

The merchants gathered many times to exchange information. They were very anxious. Some of them even went to the prefectural government to wait there.

I just want to know how this will be arranged later.

The old steward of the Li Mansion came in a hurry and stumbled into the prefectural gate.

Although the prefect no longer has the power to rule the yamen runners and try cases.

However, the yamen runners on duty still had some reservations.

The yamen runner at the door saw that it was the old steward of the Li Mansion, and did not stop him.

Mr. Li is not only the leader of the local Chamber of Commerce, but also a scholar with a good reputation and the patriarch of the local clan.

Almost everyone in the prefectural government had received benefits from Mr. Li to some extent.

After the old butler entered the gate, he went to the hall of Tongzhi Song Xin in the back very familiarly.

There was a servant on duty at the door, and the old butler bowed quickly: "I wonder if Lord Song is in the hall. I have an urgent matter here and would like to ask Lord Song for help."

The servant saw him and said with a smile, "Butler Li is here. Lord Song will meet him. Please wait a moment. There is no one in the hall at the moment. Lord Song is reading inside. I will go and report first."

Butler Li bowed to express his gratitude, and then the servant opened the door and went in to report.

The housekeeper certainly had no idea what was going on in the Public Security Department, but these days, what good could one gain from being in jail? The master wasn't in good health, so there was no way he could suffer in jail.

If it had been a little later, I might have lost half my life.

In the hall, upon hearing the report, Tongzhi Song Xin did not think much about it and let the housekeeper in.

When the old housekeeper came in, he bowed to Song Xin and said, "Sir Song, please save my master."

Song Xin was startled and quickly stood up and said, "Hurry up, something happened to Brother Shuming."

The old housekeeper cried, "I don't know what happened, but the police from the Public Security Bureau suddenly came to our house and took the master away."

When Song Xin heard about the Public Security Department, he frowned and asked, "Do you know what crime the bailiff took Brother Shuming away with?"

The old housekeeper said, "I don't know, and neither does the master. At the time, we were in the mansion, and the yamen runners came to arrest people. The master questioned them and asked what crime they had committed, but the yamen runners didn't tell him and just wanted to arrest him."

"They didn't even have the approval document, they just said it was instructions from above."

Hearing this, Song Xin fell into deep thought.

As for Li Shuming, the relationship has been relatively friendly in recent years, and many things in the house were purchased with his help.

He never accepted any money or property openly, but whenever he took something from his wife, it was basically in the form of a gift.

When he was down and out, it was Li Shuming who helped him collect money for his journey, which led to the Song Xin he is today.

So when it comes to helping, Song Xin naturally feels obliged to do so.

But since it involves the Public Security Department, this matter is more difficult to handle.

After thinking for a while, Song Xin asked, "Have you had any movement recently, or participated in any discussion? Do you know?"

The old housekeeper said, "It's always like this, nothing special."

After he finished speaking, he recalled: "If there is anything that has happened recently, it is the shipyard. The master has been thinking about it recently."

When he heard the word shipyard, Song Xin frowned even deeper.

The shipyard involves the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce, and the commander of the Security Bureau, Lantian, is also a direct descendant of the Crown Prince. The support of the Security Bureau for the Chamber of Commerce is obvious to all in the prefectural government.

"I know about this matter. Brother Shuming has treated me well. I will not sit idly by and do nothing about it."

"But since it involves the Public Security Department and even the Heroes Chamber of Commerce, this matter is not easy to handle."

"You go back first. I'll go to the prefect to see if there's any news. Then I'll talk to the Public Security Bureau. If the other party arrests someone without reason, Song will not allow it."

After thinking for a while, Song Xin said to Butler Li.

Butler Li kowtowed quickly: "Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir."

Song Xin was decisive in his actions. He stood up and went straight to the hall of the prefect Yang Youwen.

When Butler Li saw this, he remained anxious, but at least he had a hope.

Yang Youwen was sorting some documents in his own hall at the moment.

The responsibilities of the current prefectural government, after the removal of yamen runners and the power to arrest and maintain stability, have become clearer.

Grasping survival and protecting people's livelihood, including the various developments in Suzhou City, has now become the main direction of the prefectural government.

And political achievements are reflected in taxation.

It seemed that as a result, Yang Youwen felt that he was much busier than before.

According to the latest instructions issued by the imperial court, local officials at the county, prefecture, and county levels must have a record of going to the countryside once a month.

This forces all officials to not just stay in their own offices to do their work, but to actually go to the local areas.

In the current years of the Ming Dynasty, although the cities are prosperous, the majority of the population is still concentrated in the countryside.

If government officials want to really get things done, they absolutely need to be familiar with the countryside.

"Sir, Master Song Xin is outside. He said he has something important to discuss with you."

Upon hearing this, Yang Youwen said, "Please come in, Master Song."

As soon as Song Xin entered the room, Yang Youwen asked with a smile, "What is it that makes Lord Song so anxious?"

Song Xin bowed and said with a wry smile, "To be honest with you, Lord Yang, my good friend Li Shuming was suddenly taken away by the Public Security Bureau today."

"That's why I came here so suddenly. I wanted to ask you for advice, but I know that there was some trouble here, and the Public Security Bureau suddenly arrested someone."

The two have been colleagues for many years, so there is no need to beat around the bush about some things.

Yang Youwen also knew Li Shuming.

In many matters, even the government needs the help of some big businessmen below to successfully complete some tasks.

Especially when collecting taxes.

The reason why Song Xin came to Yang Youwen to inquire about this matter was that according to the rules, if the Public Security Bureau arrested an ordinary person, there was naturally no need to report to the prefectural government.

But if it involves scholars, it is different, not to mention that they have the title of scholar.

On this point, the Public Security Bureau will come and inform the prefectural government first. Even if they want to arrest someone by force, they will not arrest them arbitrarily.

The Public Security Department itself also needs to be supervised by the government.

If there are any violations of regulations, the prefectural government can also report to the court and request punishment.

Yang Youwen shook his head and said, "The Public Security Bureau did not tell me about this, but the Public Security Bureau must know Li Xiucai."

"As for the recent past, I haven't heard of him offending Commander Lan."

"Besides, Mr. Liu is a calm person. Logically speaking, even if something happened, he wouldn't be thrown into jail."

At this point, Yang Youwen hesitated for a moment and said, "I also know that you and Li Xiucai were from the same hometown back then, so I think you must be a little anxious."

"It's just that I can't come forward for this matter for the time being. How about this, you take the carriage of the yamen and go to the Public Security Bureau first to see what explanation they give."

"If it's just a misunderstanding, then it's no big deal. If there's something else, let's see how to deal with it."

Upon hearing this, Song Xin bowed quickly to express his gratitude.

Then he went out and took a carriage, heading straight to the Public Security Bureau office.

…

Public Security Department Office.

Zhu Ying sat in Lantian's office hall, looking at the information sent back from Japan.

Zhang Bo said, "Boss, the King of Yan is very powerful right now. General Wei said he has sent someone to contact Master Daoyan."

"Although there hasn't been much discussion, I feel in my heart that there must be some hidden connection between them."

"Although the situation on the side of King Jin is good, it is still a little worse than that of King Yan."

"Should we increase our support for the King of Jin, or should we ask Goryeo to strengthen its exchanges with the King of Jin?"

As Zhu Ying's confidant for many years, Zhang Bo would also express his own opinions when discussing certain issues.

After reading the intelligence in his hand, Zhu Ying shook his head and said, "The key now is not the dispute between the King of Jin and the King of Yan."

"If we take action, it is inevitable that King Yan will have some ideas in his mind."

"The primary goal now is to conquer Japan first. The rest are just side issues."

Although Zhu Ying would still suppress Prince Yan and support Prince Jin in some aspects.

But for Japan, there is no need to stir up these personal grudges.

No matter what Yao Guangxiao thinks or what he does, Zhu Ying doesn't care. What he cares about is how to conquer Japan better and faster.

In fact, even if Yao Guangxiao joined forces with Prince Yan to gain credit, there would be no problem in Zhu Ying's view.

If Zhu Di and Yao Guangxiao had joined forces, it would have really played a big role.

There will be no problem in getting them together again.

"I understand," Zhang Bo replied.

Since the boss has made the decision, the Chamber of Commerce will naturally execute it.

"Boss, it seems that there are some problems with our Chamber of Commerce in Japan."

"Many Japanese merchants seem to have betrayed the Chamber of Commerce. Since the Ming Dynasty began its campaign against Japan, the settlement of goods over there has been stopped."

Of course, the Qunying Chamber of Commerce has some roots in Japan.

The model is similar to that of other regions, and the Japanese branch is also mainly composed of Japanese people.

Snowflake salt is a very popular commodity in Japan, and it involves many transfers of interests.

Through this connection, the status of the Qunying Chamber of Commerce in Japan is not low.

Unlike the situation in the Ming Dynasty, in Japan, the status of merchants was quite high, and most of the merchants who were able to go out to sea to trade were Japanese aristocrats themselves.

Even some big businessmen had very good personal relations with the Japanese emperor.

Because of its special geographical environment, Japan has a huge demand for maritime trade and is completely unable to be self-sufficient in many goods.

Often, Japanese merchants are accompanied by a large number of samurai.

For example, the Japanese pirates were, in many cases, played by Japanese merchants.

"My identity is no longer a secret outside. Anyone who is interested will know it."

"Now that we are conquering Japan, even if those merchants want to gain some benefits from it, they will not have anything to do with us. This is harmless."

"The key at the moment is to try to get in touch with the previous secret line and not let our imperial army suffer too many losses."

At this point, Zhu Ying paused for a moment and then said, "Write a letter to Wei Guang. If you can get in touch with a secret source, don't try to hide it from the King of Yan."

"If there is an opportunity, we should focus on cooperation when it is time to cooperate. After all, we are all Han Chinese. When dealing with foreign countries, we should not do some small actions."

After hearing his boss' instructions, Zhang Bo also knew what actions should be taken towards Japan.

At the same time, I have great respect for my boss.

From Peking to the capital, Zhang Bo can be said to have always been a follower.

At the beginning, the Prince of Yan forced the Dong family to come to the capital, which objectively contributed to the Dong family's success in becoming the crown prince.

But in fact, in many ways, the King of Yan completely took advantage of his employer.

Now it seems very clear what the King of Yan once wanted to achieve.

The fact that the boss was able to truly let go of this matter was, for Zhang Bo personally, a sign of vision.

At this time, there was a noise outside.

It’s Lantian coming over.

"Your Highness, someone from the prefectural government has come. It's the deputy prefect Song Xin. He probably wants to ask about Li Shuming."

After entering the door, Lantian clasped his fists and bowed, then reported.

Now that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has arrived, the Public Security Bureau will naturally be headed by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

Zhu Ying heard this and said, "It seems that Li Shuming has a good relationship with the prefectural government. It has only been less than an hour, and he has even been able to invite the deputy prefect."

"Go ahead and do it. Don't let him know that I'm here. If he asks you about the crime, you can say that you were in cahoots with many businessmen. Just conduct a case trial and see what he says."