Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 217 Start investigation

Amid Hei Mingzhong's horror, Hei Yunlong nodded heavily.

Seeing this scene, Hei Mingzhong’s eyes suddenly went dark, his whole body shook and he almost fainted.

"Dad...this...this is so good..." With tears in his eyes, Hei Mingzhong was completely panicked. Only then did he understand why his father sent someone to tell him to come back just a few days after he arrived in Dushi City, and why it turned out to be such a big deal after all this fuss.

"Why are you panicking!" Seeing Hei Mingzhong lose his composure, Hei Yunlong couldn't help but frown. Although his fifth son was younger and more talented in military affairs than his brothers, he didn't expect his mental quality to be so poor. He panicked like this after just a few words.

As the son of a general, you should have the bearing to remain calm even when facing the collapse of Mount Tai. If you are not mentally firm and panic when encountering problems, how can you win the battle once you lead the troops to the battlefield independently?

After being glared at by Hei Yunlong, Hei Mingzhong finally calmed down. Although his face was still full of fear, at least he was not as panicked as before.

"I know I was wrong. I just... "

Waving his hand to stop Hei Mingzhong from continuing, Hei Yunlong said, "The messenger brought a message when he came, mentioning what happened between my father and me in Mongolia. I was also very surprised after hearing it. But the messenger didn't say anything else, he just left a letter and left, saying that someone would come to look for me in a few days."

Hearing this, Hei Mingzhong was puzzled. What kind of operation was this? It was strange.

Hei Yunlong continued, "After they left, I thought about it carefully and felt that although it was a bit strange, it was not a bad thing."

"Dad, what do you mean...?"

Hei Yunlong sighed inwardly, his words were so clear, but his son hadn't come to his senses yet. It seemed that he still lacked experience.

Hei Yunlong explained to Hei Mingzhong that if the imperial court wanted to use this incident against him and his son, it would not be so simple. They would not send the Imperial Guards to deliver the letter, let alone say those words in front of him. Now that the Imperial Guards sent such a letter and pointed out what happened to him and his son in Mongolia, their intention was definitely not to cause trouble for them, but to tell Hei Yunlong that the Imperial Guards knew the handles of him and his son, and let him do whatever he wanted. As for what to do, it was all written in the letter.

This explanation is the most likely and reasonable one. Moreover, the real person behind this matter is probably not just the Jinyiwei. Considering that Hei Yunlong was not demoted after returning from Mongolia, he was promoted from a Zhangjiakou garrison commander to a guerrilla general, and was also in charge of the Dushicheng Lieutenant General, this is not reasonable at all.

The eunuch who announced the decree told Hei Yunlong, intentionally or unintentionally, that the reason why he had no faults and was promoted was entirely because of Wei Zhongxian, the eunuch. But Hei Yunlong couldn't figure it out. Wei Zhongxian had such a high status in the capital and such great power, how could he look down on a small military officer like him? And he interfered in his affairs?

Thinking about the Jinyiwei's delivery of the letter and advice this time, Hei Yunlong suddenly remembered that Wei Zhongxian not only controlled the Silijian, but was also the supervisor of the Dongchang.

Hei Yunlong knew very well what kind of government office Dongchang was. In name, Dongchang was on a par with Jinyiwei, but in fact, Dongchang was an organization used to supervise Jinyiwei and was directly controlled by the eunuch. Who was behind the eunuch? The answer was very clear.

The only people who could command the Jinyiwei were those who were more powerful than the Jinyiwei. There were only a few of them, but the Dongchang was one of them. So Hei Yunlong sorted out the whole story and finally came to the conclusion that everything that the father and son had experienced in Mongolia was already known to Wei Zhongxian, the eunuch in the capital. Maybe the Mongolian nobleman who released the father and son was Wei Zhongxian's man, otherwise he would not have recognized the father and son's identities at first sight and released them back to the Ming Dynasty without any request.

When they returned to the Ming Dynasty, Eunuch Wei Zhongxian suppressed the punishment of Hei Yunlong and his son, and found a reason to make Hei Yunlong appear to have made contributions instead of being at fault, thus getting promoted.

Now, pointing out the past events through the mouths of the Jinyiwei is to make Hei Yunlong understand these things, to make him realize that the wealth and even the lives and property of Hei Yunlong and his son are in the hands of Eunuch Wei Zhongxian. In the future, if someone asks them to do something, they must fully cooperate. If they pretend to obey but disobey, don't blame Eunuch Wei for being rude.

Is this really the truth? The events that Hei Yunlong imagined seemed very reasonable, but in fact, they were just his own imagination.

It was Zhu Shencui who recognized the identities of Hei Yunlong and his son in Mongolia, and it was also Zhu Shencui who let them return to Ming Dynasty. It was also Zhu Shencui who waited for them to return to Ming Dynasty, operated in the capital, and helped Hei Yunlong solve their troubles and promoted him.

Now, it was Zhu Shenzui who sent the letter to Hei Yunlong through the Jinyiwei and asked the Jinyiwei to bring a message to him.

The only thing that had a connection with Wei Zhongxian was that Zhang Xijun got Wei Zhongxian's way through Wei Liangqing, which was just a trivial matter of guarding Zhangjiakou. This kind of trivial matter was nothing in Wei Zhongxian's eyes. Since his nephew had spoken for Hei Yunlong, it was just a matter of convenience for Wei Zhongxian to help. Maybe Wei Zhongxian had even forgotten Hei Yunlong's name. After all, he had only mentioned this matter to his subordinates. No matter how big or small the matter entrusted by Eunuch Wei was, his subordinates would naturally do it properly. Hei Yunlong told He Mingzhong what he thought in detail. After hearing what his father said, He Mingzhong's eyes lit up instantly.

"Yes, yes! Dad, I think you are right, it is like this, it must be like this!" The panic just now disappeared in an instant, and Hei Mingzhong became excited in an instant.

He rubbed his hands together and said, "Dad, since it was Eunuch Wei's instruction, then it must be correct. Eunuch Wei can remember us father and son, so we must help Eunuch Wei get this done."

"You kid, you finally have some brains." Hei Yunlong laughed. His son finally had a normal IQ. Alas, he was still too young and needed more experience.

"But Dad, based on what's written in the letter, do you think Eunuch Wei is going to take action against these businessmen? Or should we..." Hei Mingzhong rolled his eyes and spoke with a sneer on his face.

"Don't act rashly!" Hei Yunlong rejected it outright: "Since Eunuch Wei asked us to investigate these merchants, but didn't tell us to take action against them, he may have other plans. We should know the importance of doing things and do what the superiors tell us to do. Don't take it for granted. What if Eunuch Wei doesn't think so? If you do this, it will ruin Eunuch Wei's plan. Do you understand?"

"Yes, yes, yes, Dad, you are right, I understand, I understand!" Hei Mingzhong slapped his forehead and suddenly realized something. He cursed himself in his heart for being so confused. How could he suddenly say what he just said? How could he guess what the big shots above were thinking? Just like what his father said, he should do whatever the above told him to do, never cross the line, and don't try to guess the above intentions. Just do the job well according to the requirements.

The older you get, the wiser you become. It's no wonder that my father has fought in so many wars and served as an official for so many years. He understands much more than I do. I must learn from him in the future.

Just as Hei Mingzhong was thinking about this, Hei Yunlong spoke again: "Your second and third brothers are both in Dushi, and the eldest and fourth brothers also have military duties, and it is not convenient for them to know about this. I plan to let you handle this matter, Zhong'er, you have to do it carefully and remember to do it with all your heart. This involves the major event of my Hei family, do you know?"

Hei Mingzhong nodded repeatedly. He certainly understood what his father meant. This matter seemed insignificant, but it was no small matter, especially when it came to the truth of how they, father and son, came back from Mongolia.

Therefore, since my brothers didn't know the truth, I couldn't intervene, and I couldn't let them know. The only ones who could do it were me and my father Hei Yunlong. But Hei Yunlong's status was there, and he was busy with official duties, so he couldn't do it himself. Moreover, if Hei Yunlong showed up directly, it would have too much impact. He was the commander of Zhangjiakou and Dushicheng, and it would be bad if he alerted the enemy.

The content of the letter was very clear. It just asked Hei Yunlong to investigate these businesses and the owners behind them, and find out their power situation at the border, including the sellers after they leave the border through Zhangjiakou and Dushicheng, etc.

In addition to these, the letter also mentioned that the investigation must be conducted secretly and the news must not be leaked. Although they did not understand the purpose of doing so, Hei Yunlong and his son did not need to understand it. They just had to do the job well.

He handed over the specific tasks to Hei Mingzhong and carefully explained some precautions to Hei Mingzhong. The father and son closed the door and talked for a long time before they finalized all the specific arrangements.

Then, Hei Mingzhong didn’t even have time to eat lunch properly. After discussing with his father, he took a few bites of food and hurriedly got up and left.

After leaving the general's mansion, Hei Mingzhong and a few servants mounted their horses and turned their horses towards the city gate.

Such things happened not only in Zhangjiakou and Dushicheng, but also in Xinpinbao, Wajiaokoubao, Yanghekou, Jumenbao, Baoanbao... and other border places.

Jinyiwei already had personnel in these places, who were responsible for gathering information and monitoring border commanders. The reason why Zhangjiakou was more active and directly approached Hei Yunlong was mainly because Zhangjiakou was the area with the most frequent border trade, and Zhu Shenzhui had the leverage over Hei Yunlong and his son, so it was more efficient to let Hei Yunlong and his son do this than the local Jinyiwei.

Zhou Anmin acted quickly. After receiving Zhu Shenzhu's letter, he immediately took action and sent people to investigate the matter.

In addition to finding out the situation of other merchants in the foreign smuggling trade and searching for businesses or people that may be related to this matter, Zhou Anmin also expressed a similar view to Kang Youfu, and felt that an investigation should also be carried out in Ma Shizhou's caravan, which was a coincidence.

Two days before departure, the people sent by Zhou Anmin went to Pingyang City and secretly found Zhu Shencui. As departure was imminent, Zhu Shencui handed the person over to Kang Youfu and asked Kang Youfu to cooperate with the investigation privately while keeping it secret from Ma Shizhou.

Under Kang Youfu's arrangement, the two Jinyiwei veterans successfully entered the company and began to investigate. As for what they would find out in the end and whether there was really someone inside the company colluding with outsiders, it all depended on the results.

(End of this chapter)