Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 169: The Tang Dynasty Anti-Counterrevolutionary Committee

Li Ming's expression did not change at all. He continued to tap on the desk calmly, as if he was listening to an ordinary report, and asked with his eyes:

and then?
Seeing that there was no clue on his leader's face, Lai Junchen immediately lowered his head.

Di Renjie smoothly took over the conversation and continued to report to Li Ming:

"To be specific, this second major case is related to Brother Ming being framed as a traitor some time ago."

Huh, so it was this matter. I thought Li Shimin was investigating something else... Li Ming breathed a sigh of relief silently and glanced at Lai Junchen calmly.

That guy said something that could be easily misunderstood. Was he being careless on purpose?

"Brother Ming should still remember that when you were in Liaodong, there were rumors that you betrayed the Tang Dynasty and intended to rebel."

Di Renjie explained one by one:

"This rumor once spread like wildfire, misleading the court and deceiving Your Majesty."

Is it a rumor... Oh, yes, yes, it is definitely a rumor. I am the most loyal minister of the Tang Dynasty! ...

Li Ming suppressed his inner drama and nodded coldly:

"That seems to be the case."

"The spies lurking in Li Junxian's house discovered that Li Junxian was ordered to investigate the source of this rumor." Di Renjie did not keep the secret and went straight to the point:
"It was Zhang Liang. It was Zhang Liang who first passed misleading information to Chang'an and interfered with the decision-making of His Majesty and the court."

Isn't Zhang Liang Li Junxian's predecessor, the guy who was in charge of intelligence and spies for the emperor?

Li Ming suddenly realized.

No wonder so many ministers impeached him for rebellion at that time, and even Li Shimin, whom he had just rescued, suspected him.

It turned out that there was a problem with the source of intelligence.

But at the same time, he had new questions.

He had no grudges against Zhang Liang and had never had any contact with him, so why was he being deliberately targeted by the other party?
Are you willing to bear the serious crime of deceiving the emperor and sowing discord among the royal family?

Did he accidentally offend the spy chief?

Or……

"Who is behind Zhang Liang?"

Li Ming asked the key question directly.

In his heart, he already had the answer to this question.

Li Tai, King of Wei Li Tai.

While framing Li Ming, they also framed the crown prince, and the biggest beneficiary was undoubtedly Li Tai.

"Uh..." Di Renjie was stuck and subconsciously looked at Lai Junchen beside him.

Lai Junchen did not hide the mockery on his face and coughed lightly.

But facing Li Ming's stern gaze, he didn't dare to keep it a secret any longer and answered honestly:

“It’s Li You, Master Ming.

"Behind Zhang Liang is Qi Wang Li You, Master Ming's fifth brother."

Li You?

This answer was beyond Li Ming's expectations, and he couldn't help but raise one eyebrow.

He and Li You had no grudges against each other... no, although they had some minor disagreements over the adoption issue.

But Brother Li You wouldn't do such a thing just because of this, right?

Moreover, Li You is just a big fool who has no knowledge or skills, and he was recently kicked to Qi.

How come you suddenly got it?

Not only did he join this chaotic battle for the throne, but he also drew the most useful SSR right away.

The emperor's spy?
Have you also been possessed by a time traveler???

"Why do you think so?" Li Ming asked specifically.

Lai Junchen also answered fluently:
"When Li Junxian was investigating Zhang Liang's case, he discovered that Zhang Liang had close correspondence with Li You in Qi through spies.

"Our spy sneaked a peek at the letters between the two that Li Junxian had intercepted, under the pretext of cleaning the study.

"The order to discredit Master Ming was indeed given to Zhang Liang by Li You."

Hiss...Li Ming couldn't help but take a deep breath.

Could it be true, as the investigation revealed, that the one who did the bad thing was really Li You?

No, not likely.

From the perspective of someone outside the palace, perhaps one cannot see the problem.

But as Li You's younger brother, Li Ming knows Li You very well -

Brave but foolish.

That reckless man might rebel against the emperor out of rage.

However, Brother Li You has neither the intelligence nor the patience to carry out such an elaborately designed and slowly advancing conspiracy.

Besides, what benefit would it bring to Li You himself to plot such a conspiracy against him, Li Ming?

Just to vent your anger about being adopted?

Such a naive person is incapable of planning this conspiracy and colluding with the spy.

Zhang Liang would not gamble his career and life for such a childish reason.

therefore……

"Is there anyone else behind Li You?" Li Ming looked straight into Lai Junchen's eyes.

And this capable general did not disappoint his expectations and nodded slowly:
“It should be, but I’m not sure.”

"Who is it?" Li Ming asked.

Is it Li Tai?

"Maybe it's the prince." Lai Junchen said thoughtfully:

"According to Li Junxian's investigation, before Li You set out for Qizhou to become his prince.

"The prince hosted a banquet for Li You and gave him a jade pendant as a present."

It's actually the prince? !

Li Ming's heart skipped a beat.

After going around in circles for so long, it turns out that the mastermind behind this is that crossdresser!

No wonder...

Under the current court situation, several upright officials such as Cen Wenben and Liu Li who were the most enthusiastic in slandering Li Ming have been proven to be members of the King of Wei's faction.

Li Shimin still maintained a distant attitude towards Crown Prince Li Chengqian, and did not change his opinion of him even though the crown prince was framed.

It turned out that it was because the prince had casually touched the emperor’s treasure!
The clique had even reached the point of spying, and Li Shimin was quite restrained by not deposing the crown prince on the spot...

"But..." Lai Junchen looked as if he wanted to say something but stopped.

Li Ming indicated with a cool look:

carry on.

"But I think Li Junxian is just making wild guesses here." Lai Junchen disagreed with his colleagues' judgment:

“As the eldest brother of all the princes, it is normal etiquette for the Crown Prince to hold a farewell banquet and give tokens to his younger brother when he leaves for a distant place.

"It doesn't necessarily mean there was an intention to win over the other, nor does it necessarily mean the two of them colluded with each other and manipulated intelligence."

Li Ming looked at Di Renjie next to him.

Xiao Di also had to admit:

"I agree with Lai Junchen. Li Junxian's evidence is a bit far-fetched."

The case, which was thought to be proven to be true, turned out to be a Rashomon.

Li Chengqian, Li Tai, Li You, who is behind this...

Li Ming rubbed his eyes:
"Then continue to investigate."

"Maybe it's impossible to check." Lai Junchen smiled bitterly:

"For some reason, Li Junxian suddenly stopped investigating this case and shifted his focus to the north."

Li Ming's frown deepened.

It’s Li Shimin.

It is obvious that Li Shimin did not allow Li Junxian to continue the investigation.

why?
Perhaps only he knows the reason.

And my father’s strange behavior does not end there.

Li Shimin did not kill or expel from the court the spy leader Zhang Liang, whose loyalty was questionable.

Instead, he threw it to Hebei Road and continued to keep an eye on Liaodong!

Father, oh father, what are you planning?
In front of outsiders, especially Lai Junchen, Li Ming suppressed all his doubts and asked nonchalantly:
"In the Jiucheng Palace incident, what did Li Junxian discover?"

"Nothing, they found out that there might be an accomplice of Ashina Jieshelu inside Chang'an.

"It is possible that the insider is the mastermind, and the association rate is just the front to do the dirty work."

Lai Junchen shrugged disdainfully.

Li Junxian, my colleague, has such poor business skills that he only realized now that there is a traitor?
"Speaking of this matter, how is our own investigation into the Jiucheng Palace incident going?" Li Ming asked.

Before leaving Chang'an and going to Liaodong, he assigned this task to Lai Junchen and others.

He had long realized that there was a traitor in this incident, because the Jiucheng Palace incident was related to the poisoning case of Li Shimin and Li Xiaogong.

The method of "heating realgar wine" used for poisoning was obviously not something that Ashina Jieshelu or any other Turkic people could master.

There must be a big boss who is proficient in elixirs to help the association leader come up with the idea of ​​poisoning without leaving any trace.

And with the help of that medicine boss, he can follow the clues and identify the real culprit behind the scenes.

"Before going to Liaodong, I remember that you seemed to have found a master of alchemy who knew the properties of realgar wine..."

Li Ming recalled carefully, and suddenly slapped his thigh:
"Sun Simiao!"

Yes, Sun Simiao.

Before going to Liaodong, he originally wanted to visit Sun Simiao and investigate the real culprit of the Jiucheng Palace incident.

Later, bad news came from Pingzhou one after another, sometimes there was invasion from outside, sometimes there was riot by mountain bandits.

This forced him to put the visit on hold temporarily and go to Liaodong ahead of time.

Now that he is in Chang'an, he can bring up the old matter again.

When Old Sun was mentioned, Lai Junchen's expression fell.

Di Renjie sighed:
"Dr. Sun travels around the world, and his whereabouts are erratic. We can't find him anywhere, let alone ask him questions."

Lai Junchen smiled bitterly:
"We did find some traces today. The owner of the herbal medicine shop said that Old Sun will probably return to Chang'an in the next two days."

Li Ming patted the two people who had lost their temper after being led astray:
"It doesn't matter, as long as we can find the person." "Lai Junchen, you go ahead and do your work. Di Renjie and I have something to discuss."

Lai Junchen frowned when he was sent away so bluntly, but he said nothing and just left.

Li Ming crossed his arms and asked:
"Is there anything you want to tell me?"

Di Renjie smiled bitterly:

"I still can't hide it from Brother Ming. I think... there is something wrong with Lai Junchen and his men."

"What's the problem?" Li Ming was not surprised by Di Renjie's report.

He felt the same way.

"I can't say it specifically. But..." Di Renjie was still the same, not very confident in his words, and hesitant:

“I discovered that Lai Junchen and his men were spending money more and more lavishly.

"They all came from poor backgrounds, and the allowance they received from the newspaper did not suddenly increase.

"It always feels like... they made a windfall, but there's no evidence."

Li Ming looked at the younger brother with amusement, and asked more like a test than a question:
"Have you checked the newspaper's account books? Have you found any discrepancies in the amounts or any embezzlement of public funds?"

Di Renjie nodded, then shook his head and said:

“I checked it right away, but didn’t find anything unusual.

"The income of a newspaper is the price of selling newspapers, and the expenses are nothing more than employee salaries and the like. The account books can all be matched one by one."

Knowing that the accounts should be checked at the first opportunity, he is indeed a potential prime minister.

But it's still a seedling... Li Ming nodded approvingly, picked up a newspaper and spread it in front of Di Renjie.

"Did you find the problem?"

"Uh... I've checked the ink and paper, and there's no evidence of cutting corners, and they didn't embezzle the money."

"It's not the ink and paper, but the content."

"content?"

Di Renjie was stunned.

Can the content of newspapers be manipulated? Can you make money by manipulating it?
“These are the notices posted by the victims of these scams.”

Li Ming pointed to the newly added page.

Above are all rewards posted by wealthy people for clues leading to scammers.

"Why are there so many new contents in Chang'an Express? Who asked to write them in?" Li Ming asked.

"Because these are closely related to the daily lives of Chang'an residents, they are included in the publication. It was Lai Junchen who suggested it..."

Di Renjie was very smart, and after being reminded of this, he also realized the trick:

"Brother Ming, are you saying that Lai Junchen asked for benefits from those who posted the notice in the newspaper?"

Yuchi Xunyu's face turned even darker:

"Damn it, you deserve a beating!"

If loyalty is not absolute, then it is absolutely disloyal. That guy actually used his privilege to make a profit!

He betrayed His Highness Li Ming, fuck him.

Li Ming shook his head slightly:

"Confront him first."

…………

Lai Junchen smiled awkwardly:
"Indeed."

He admitted it quite readily.

"It also takes money to win over spies and smooth over connections. What Brother Ming left at the beginning is not enough. Then I can only find a way to save it myself."

"As for the ones that can't be used... Hehe, brothers have suffered a lifetime, can't we enjoy ourselves?"

"You keep quibbling!" Yuchi Xunyu clenched his fists and shouted angrily.

"I didn't take a penny from you, and the rules and regulations don't prohibit it. What's wrong with me?" Lai Junchen said with a grin.

"You..." Yuchi Xunyu was choked.

Di Renjie remained silent.

Because he knew that what Lai Junchen said made sense.

Intelligence is a very expensive job.

Li Ming knocked on the table and felt a slight pain in his head.

His subordinates are not innocent, and there are several corrupt officials among them.

Apart from anything else, Brother Hou Junji is the most corrupt official in the Tang Dynasty.

Brother Li Daozon is no better. He was also imprisoned for corruption four years ago.

How come he wasn't surprised at all by the addition of Lai Junchen...

He stopped his finger and smiled lightly:
"It was indeed my oversight to add one more rule to the rules:
"If anyone uses newspapers and other public printed materials for personal gain, the stolen money will be returned, the person will be fired, and the case will be handed over to the authorities."

Even if we let Junchen go this time.

Lai Junchen rubbed his hands and laughed:

"I have no objection. Just pay attention next time."

"Regarding posting notices, this is also a way to make money. We can't cut it off like this."

Li Ming continued to arrange:
"It's just limited to a few wealthy people who have been defrauded, and the way to make money is a bit narrow."

The people present looked at each other, not quite understanding Li Ming's intention.

“From now on, anyone can publish whatever they want on a designated page in a newspaper as long as they pay enough.

“Especially businessmen can promote their products.

“I call this kind of article an advertisement.”

Lai Junchen clapped his hands suddenly:

"Yes! Merchants will definitely offer higher prices in order to promote their products and make money!"

When it comes to finding ways to make money, I am no match for Master Ming...

Li Ming smiled and nodded:
"Yes, I'll leave this matter to--

"Di Renjie will take care of it. You organize the 'trustworthy' people to contact the merchants in Chang'an."

Lai Junchen's expression suddenly fell.

This is a piece of fat...

"Okay, Ming."

Di Renjie readily agreed and glanced at Lai Junchen, who had lost the big picture for the small one, with a half-smile.

“Part of the money earned from advertising is used to provide benefits to employees, and part is used to fund spies.

“It’s just that everything has to be laid out on the table and can’t be handed over privately.

"Is this arrangement okay, Lai Junchen?"

Li Ming looked directly at Lai Junchen.

"Whatever you say is what it is." Lai Junchen smiled bitterly helplessly.

Li Ming thought for a moment, and finally said solemnly:
"I also have some ideas about the reorganization of the Chang'an headquarters and the Liaodong branch."

Everyone immediately became serious.

The structure of the intelligence community, this is a big deal.

Yuchi Xunyu came all the way from Liaodong and spent the whole day in the newspaper office just for this matter.

The current situation is that Li Ming has an intelligence department in Liaodong and Chang'an.

Because of their different geographical locations, their tasks naturally have different focuses.

The one in the north is mainly engaged in infiltration, counter-infiltration and subversion and sabotage work against enemy countries.

The one in the south is concentrated in the Tang Dynasty and focuses on intelligence gathering.

A situation of division between the South Factory and the North Factory was formed.

Originally, Li Ming wanted to integrate the two organizations to avoid regional divisions.

But after field investigation, especially after Lai Junchen's corruption, he had new ideas.

It is better to separate the north and south factories.

One is that each of them is good at different things.

Secondly, and more importantly, it is to allow these two institutions to check and balance each other.

Checking and balancing the various forces under one's command is the entry-level mentality for a ruler and is something that must be mastered.

Especially the intelligence agencies.

Li Ming must fully learn the lesson from the incident in which Li Shimin was deceived by Zhang Liang and must not allow any party to monopolize his intelligence channels.

"The intelligence committee in Liaodong will remain unchanged. I want to set up a new committee in Chang'an." Li Ming said word by word.

Yuchi Xunyu touched his head in confusion.

From what Brother Ming said, Chang'an has nothing to do with him in Liaodong?

Are both parties independent organizations?

“There are two departments within the committee.

“The main work of the Disciplinary Review Department is to review the corruption and sabotage of officials of Datang and personnel within our committee.

"The Intelligence Department is responsible for monitoring officials, scholars, businessmen, etc. at all levels in the Tang Dynasty and gathering intelligence."

Li Ming looked around at the people present and said slowly:
“The committee is headed by Di Renjie, who is also in charge of the Disciplinary Review Department.

"Lai Junchen is the deputy, in charge of the Intelligence Department."

After this arrangement, Di Renjie finally got rid of the gloom that had been suppressing him for months, and a glow appeared on his face.

With this imperial sword to punish corruption, he has a handle to fight Lai Junchen.

Lai Junchen's face darkened a little, but he didn't say much.

This arrangement was indeed reasonable and he had no reason to blame it no matter how dissatisfied he was.

Moreover, the functions of the two departments overlap, which plays a role of mutual cooperation and mutual restraint.

Yuchi Xunyu asked a question:
"Now that we have two departments, what should we call this committee?"

"Yes. The work of this new committee covers the entire Tang Dynasty, and its main focus is on eradicating corruption and sabotage."

Li Ming said casually:

"Let's call it the Tang Dynasty Anti-Corruption and Slowdown Committee."

(End of this chapter)