This extraordinarily long night for many people in Tokyo has finally passed, and it is dawn!

How many people stayed up all night, waiting for further news to come, but until dawn, the final news was until Sun Tu led the Hu Ben army to surround the Gu family's mansion and merge into the inner Dasuo, and then there was no more news coming out, and no one knew what was going on inside and what they had found.

And not long after the officials went to the yamen on business with apprehension, the latest news finally came, but it was so surprising and inexplicable - Sun Tu went straight to the palace to ask to see the Son of Heaven!

This time is too unexpected for everyone, who would have thought that Sun Tu would act completely out of accordance with the rules of officialdom, and actually bypassed the top boss and the former boss of the palace, and went directly to the Son of Heaven, without giving anyone a chance to see the move. You must know that this is a big taboo in the officialdom, he has completely broken the rules, and he is bound to make countless enemies and bring endless troubles to himself.

But as long as you think about what Sun Tu has done in the past, they can accept it a little, because this is a guy who treats the rules as nothing and is the best at breaking the rules. He was like this in Jiangnan, and even killed a party like Zhu Mian in the next crime, and when he arrived in Tokyo, he didn't have the slightest intention of restraint, so he turned the table before and made public the matter of the ban on the army's food and salary being embezzled in the Kaifeng Mansion Court, so it is reasonable not to discuss with any colleagues after finding such a big case today, and to enter the palace directly.

Moreover, Sun Tu's identity is really not low, not only has the title of Marquis Yue, but also wears a goldfish bag, so he can completely unimpeded the monarch, so that this case can not be covered up completely, and it also makes all the countermeasures that many people originally thought of be shattered, now it depends on what the attitude of the current official family is.

Fortunately, with the ministers' understanding of the official family, he is by no means a tyrannical king who likes to rise up in prison because of a little thing, not to mention that Sun Tu is not a courtier who has won the favor of the saints, no matter how much he says, I am afraid that it will not really affect the emperor to make any big decisions.

At least the vast majority of officials think so, but only those who already know him well and are jealous, such as Gao Yu Cai Jing, etc., will have another layer of consideration. Therefore, the former is called sick and avoids suspicion, and as for the latter, they are ready, just waiting for the wind and waves together, it is time to reap the benefits by themselves.

As early as when Jiangnan was in turmoil and Sun Tu was named the Marquis of Yue, he had been given a goldfish bag by Qin. This goldfish bag, which symbolizes status and glory, doesn't look too eye-catching, it's just a fish-shaped sac embroidered with golden silk thread hanging from the waist. However, this goldfish bag still has a special use, that is, it can enter the palace at any time and meet the Son of Heaven.

It's just that this privilege may not be used by ordinary officials. Because the main officials such as the Privy Council of the Political Affairs Hall were naturally given goldfish bags a long time ago, but they could easily enter the palace without using this thing as a basis. And how could those who did not have much authority in their possession, but who had to wear a goldfish bag, have any legitimate reason to go to the emperor? After all, you can't use a goldfish bag to enter the palace because you want to see the emperor, or want to chat with him, and pretend to be compared with others.

But this time, the goldfish bag played an extremely key role in Sun Tu's hands, allowing him to enter the palace smoothly, and saw Zhao Ji who was lying on the desk in a side hall that was not too large. However, what was placed on the imperial case in front of him was not a text, but an extremely long scroll of pictures, and the emperor was watching it with relish at this time, and nodded again and again from time to time, even Sun Tu arrived, and he didn't even care.

In the Wenyou Political Affairs Hall, after the Wuyou Privy Council helped the emperor properly handle the important military and political affairs in the country, the Great Song Emperor was indeed far more relaxed than the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties who later removed the post of prime minister. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, even if the emperor was slacking off in government, he actually had to deal with many things in a day, it can be said that most people were busy from morning to night, and even those who were diligent in government were even more busy until late at night - and only the emperor who was completely uninterested in government affairs and was not afraid of losing power would not care about anything, such as the famous carpenter emperor Tianqi Zhu Youxiao.

In addition to the reasons for the political system of the Great Song Dynasty, Zhao Ji really doesn't like to be entangled in government affairs, so he has greatly delegated power, and has more hobbies, such as calligraphy and painting, and then Qingxuan cultivation, especially the former, which was played by him to the extreme.

Sun Tu stood in His Royal Highness, but with his eyesight, he could still clearly see that the picture scroll that was being carefully viewed by Zhao Ji was the famous "Qingming Riverside Picture" in later generations. It's just that as far as he knows, this picture has been drawn for many years, why did the emperor take it out at this time and look at it carefully.

It wasn't until half an hour later that Zhao Ji's gaze moved away from the scroll, and he smiled at Sun Tu without the slightest apology: "Zhang Zeduan's painting is indeed very exquisite, and it is very detailed. ”

If there is anything good about Zhao Ji, it is that he is really close enough to his subordinates, even Sun Tu, who is not too familiar with him, can actually explain a little. If Cai Jing was here, he would inevitably put aside the business first, and first appreciate and evaluate the wonders of "The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival" with him, and then talk about other things after making the emperor happy and satisfied.

But Sun Tu has no attainments in this area, in addition to knowing that this painting is indeed a national treasure in later generations, as if he had shown it in a real book in which year, he doesn't know more, and he doesn't even know why the name of this painting is called Qingming Shanghe, only as a tomb map of Qingming Dynasty, so it is impossible to say anything insightful.

However, listening to the emperor's words, he still understood what the painting was, so he said along with the meaning: "My Great Song Dynasty has His Majesty's Holy Ming and has such a prosperous and prosperous world, and all industries are thriving in the city of Tokyo, so it is really a blessing for our subjects to have this painting." Speaking of this, he glanced at the emperor slightly, and then changed his words abruptly: "However, the minister is still worried that such a good life will be broken at some point." ”

Sure enough, hearing him say this, Zhao Ji's face suddenly sank: "Yuehou, what do you mean by this?" ”

"Please also ask Your Majesty to forgive the minister, it is really a big matter, and the minister has to risk his life to admonish!" If ordinary courtiers saw that the emperor was angry, they would always feel a little uneasy in their hearts, and their words would not be as smooth as before, but Sun Tu was still the same, and he immediately made a clear statement of his discoveries in the past few days.

He started with Yan Ziliang's deduction of the money and food of the Tiger Army, and all the way said that he found the head of the Gu family's commercial house along the vine, and then said that he found a large number of bow and crossbow wounds from the Gu family's convoy leaving Beijing, and Zhao Ji's face changed several times, and finally he couldn't help but slam the royal case: "How can this be true, they are so bold that they dare to communicate with foreign enemies and do such a thing that greatly damages my Great Song Dynasty, it is really dampening!" ”

Sun Tu didn't say anything to ask the emperor to calm his anger, but added fuel to the fire: "After that, the minister led people to surround the Gu family's mansion, and found several letters in foreign languages from it, the minister is short-sighted, so I don't know what is written on it, but the minister believes that this matter must be extraordinary, in order to prevent being blinded, I specially brought it directly into the palace, and please Your Majesty Shengjian!" As he spoke, he lifted the letters he had found last night above his head.

At Zhao Ji's suggestion, his own chamberlain stepped forward to take the letter and delivered it to him. It's just that although Zhao Ji is a great calligrapher, he doesn't know anything about this foreign script, so he just looked through it a few times and said: "Go to the Hanlin Academy to find someone who is familiar with Liaoxia and other Chinese languages to translate these letters for me." ”

When the chamberlain received the order to go out to make arrangements, Sun Tu continued: "Your Majesty, the minister thinks that this matter is too important, so he has to say something. ”

"You say."

"Your Majesty, as far as the minister knows, now that my Great Song Dynasty has begun to prepare for the use of troops against the Liao State in the north, right? If, at this time, the Liao people bought off some people in our Tokyo city, or even bribed important officials in the DPRK and China through them, what would happen to the war ahead? I am afraid that hundreds of thousands of troops will be defeated by the hands of the Liao, not to mention the recovery of the sixteen states of Youyun at that time, it will be extremely difficult to hold the area around Yanmen Pass, then my Great Song Dynasty is in danger, Tokyo is in danger, and the prosperity of my Great Song Dynasty, which Your Majesty has painstakingly created for many years, will really be destroyed. What the minister said is by no means alarmist, and I hope that His Majesty will be clear. ”

Zhao Ji is not a stupid person, although he doesn't know much about military affairs, but he also knows that if there is really a steady stream of food from the Great Song Dynasty to the north by the Song Dynasty, and if there is really a bow and crossbow that the Great Song Dynasty relies on as the country's important weapon is obtained by the enemy and imitated, then the next Northern Expedition plan may really be ruined!

This time, the emperor was really furious, and once again he took the case and shouted: "I will definitely investigate this matter to the end, no matter who is involved, I will not tolerate it!" ”

Sun Tu seized the opportunity and said again: "Your Majesty, as far as the minister knows, the Gu family has already formed a deep friendship with many officials in the DPRK and China with hundreds of thousands of industries in the family, so this matter must really be investigated, and it will inevitably implicate countless people, and the officials of the DPRK and China dare not say that the officials protect each other, but they have some concerns, but I am afraid that it is not easy to investigate this matter thoroughly, and ordinary officials do not have such courage to do it." The minister is not talented, I think that only I, a newcomer to the court, who has not had much to do with the ministers, can not be afraid of criticism, regardless of relatives or relatives, and investigate this case to the ground! ”

This is the real purpose of his Sun Tu not hesitating to offend the officials of the Manchu Dynasty and directly explain the benefits of the case with a goldfish bag noodles!