Police Station

Chapter 95 Police Station

"Don't forget about the covert investigation."

After the eunuch in scarlet robes finished speaking, he took half a step back to the side.

Before all the officials had left the hall, footsteps echoed from behind the high threshold.

Suhe looked down at the official robes and seal in his hand.

[Northern Inspector]

Rank 5.

It's called a temporary grant, but anyone with eyes to see knows that His Majesty giving it directly would break the rules and procedures, hence the temporary grant.

As long as no major mistakes are made, temporary possession will eventually become full ownership.

But the faster the power arrived, the heavier the imperial edict carried by the eunuch became.

Suhe asked, "What else did His Majesty say?"

The eunuch in charge of writing smiled.

"His Majesty said that Lord Su is a wise man."

"I understand."

Suhe bowed to the palace gate, then followed the eunuch to collect the keys to the Patrol Division.

The land for the official residence had actually been approved before he returned, but the process still took quite a while.

By the time Suhe actually stood in front of the new government office, it was already afternoon.

The plaque had just been hung up, and the gilding hadn't dried yet.

The yard had clearly been abandoned for a long time, and then someone rushed to clean it up.

Two clerks sent by the Emperor were already waiting. One was surnamed Qian and the other Gao. When Su He entered, they quickly stood up and said, "Greetings, Your Excellency."

Suhe swept his gaze across the courtyard and then glanced at the four temporarily transferred constables outside the gate.

There weren't many people, and even fewer things.

A seal, an empty courtyard—this was the Northern Border Patrol Division that Li Youchan gave to Su He.

It seemed that everything was kept simple, without the grand fanfare of court proceedings.

Su He breathed a sigh of relief.

If the staff here were already fully staffed and the files were neatly arranged, he would first have to think about whose people these people were.

"Sweep up one room first," Suhe instructed.

The clerk asked, "Does Your Excellency wish to work in the office?"

"Make two rooms."

"What about the other one?"

"Lock it up. Only I can get in."

Su He walked into the backyard, looked around, and then pushed open the innermost door.

The room was filled with discarded wooden crates. The window paper was new, but there were still water stains left on the walls from last year.

Suhe pointed here: "From now on, this room will be used to store confidential documents, and only three keys will be kept."

The clerk hesitated for a moment.

"Whose names were given the keys?"

"I took one, Wu Huaiyi took one, and the remaining one was sealed in a box and sent to the Minister of the Interior."

The clerk, Qian, had never heard of Wu Huaiyi's name before, but dared not ask any further questions and simply bowed his head to write it down.

Suhe added, "The case files of the Northern Shattered Ghost Clan should be placed in the front yard. The files can be copied, but the originals are not allowed to leave the yard. The confessions and physical evidence should also be locked separately."

The clerk said, "Sir, we don't have enough manpower right now."

"Then pick the important ones to do, and record the minor ones in a book. I'll take care of the arrangements."

"Yes."

The two clerks fell silent and immediately led their men to take action.

Departments are also divided into large and small ones. The Patrol Division of Suheling is just a small division, not comparable to a large government office like the Search and Reap Division.

But as the head of a department, he has the authority to mobilize manpower.

Suhe was able to command officials who were two ranks lower than him.

Those below the eighth rank could directly write transfer orders, which would then be approved by the government office in charge of the order. Those above the eighth rank needed to report to the palace and the Ministry of Revenue.

Besides knowing the laws and regulations of Yan Kingdom, Su He is still somewhat confused about the murky waters of the court, and he doesn't know who belongs to which faction.

Therefore, Suhe was not prepared to deal with the Ministry of Revenue for the time being, which naturally put an end to his idea of ​​transferring officials of the eighth rank or above.

Suhe returned to the front hall and wrote the first personnel transfer document since the establishment of the Patrol Division.

[Search for Jin Si, Wu Huaiyi.]

The document was written very slowly.

Whether Zhou Fu is willing to release the people or not is not important. The real decision-maker in Xun Jinsi is not him, but the person standing in the court this morning.

Seeing His Majesty's attitude, the other party's provocations against Suhe these past few days were tantamount to challenging His Majesty's authority. None of those who can stand in the Golden Palace are easy to deal with.

Su He knew that as long as he followed all the rules, getting promoted to a ninth-rank official would be a piece of cake.

After finishing writing, Su He changed the official seal.

The red ink is clearly visible on the paper, with distinct edges.

Wu Huaiyi arrived a day later.

When he entered, he first looked around to the left and right, then looked up at the new plaque, but his face didn't show much joy.

"Lord Su has been promoted quite quickly."

"If you wish to offer your congratulations, you can leave after saying so outside the door."

"Then forget it."

Wu Huaiyi put the bundle on the table. "Zhou Fu said that I was only temporarily transferred and that I would have to go back after the case was finished."

Suhe said, "If he really wanted you to go back, he wouldn't have just said that one sentence."

"7

Wu Huaiyi twitched the corner of his mouth but didn't reply.

Having worked together for many years, they knew there was no need to spell things out.

Wu Huaiyi walked to the table, flipped through the files Su He had listed, and looked up helplessly after seeing an old file: "You transferred me here so you'd help me investigate Yan Zu?"

"no."

"Then what should I do?"

"They point out my mistakes and then do things that don't cross the line."

Suhe pushed another list over, which contained cases related to the Northern Shattered Ghost Clan.

"You're here to investigate the Ghost Clan."

"And you?"

"I'll check Yanzu."

Suhe did not hide anything.

Wu Huaiyi chuckled: "Alright, pretend I didn't hear that. I only came here because we've worked together before and have some good rapport. I'll take care of the Ghost Clan case."

Su He nodded: "I'm sorry, you're the only one I can trust in the entire Chengtian Prefecture."

This time, Wu Huaiyi didn't laugh.

He looked at Su He for a moment, then suddenly asked, "How's the progress?"

"I saw him."

"???"

When Wu Huaiyi asked the question, he thought that Suhehui would do the same thing as before, talking about old documents and unofficial history.

The result was the words "I saw him/her" that reached my ears.

Wu Huaiyi's mouth gaped open, and he stammered, "You...you really saw...it?"

Su He chuckled: "Just kidding. It's not certain yet, I only saw a person's back view."

Wu Huaiyi punched Su He in the shoulder, cursing as he took the list away: "You've been promoted, and you're even more cunning than before."

Suhe said, "No one has ever bothered to lie to me before."

Wu Huaiyi took the files to the front yard.

Suhe went into the secret room in the backyard alone.

The Minister of the Interior came yesterday, bringing a batch of supplementary registers that couldn't even be found in the archives of the Xun Jin Division.

It contains information that cannot be disseminated to the general public, all of which concerns Yanzu.

For example, there are records of what time Emperor Yanzu liked to eat, what time he liked to go to bed, and which concubine he preferred to choose.

In addition, Suhe also obtained an entire cabinet of old files.

During his five years at Xun Jin Si, he had already perused many catalogs, but in the past, his rank was not high enough. He knew there were things behind the cabinet, but he couldn't get the key.

Now that door has finally opened.

Suhe was engrossed in flipping through the old files, the top volume of which was titled "Southern Border Furnace Records".

In the seventh year of the founding of the nation, a county in Dingzhou Prefecture suffered a locust plague.

When the government reopened the wasteland, what they lacked was not seeds, but farming tools.

Of the four ironworks in the area, only one is still operational. The old craftsman died in the war a few years ago, leaving behind only a sixteen-year-old apprentice.

The official records from the Ministry of Works are very simple.

[When the emperor passed through Dingzhou, he bestowed upon the emperor 100 catties of iron, ensuring that the farming season was not disrupted.]

There are only twelve characters.

Suhe turned to the local miscellaneous notes, but the same thing had been covered by half a page.

Yanzu did indeed give iron, and he also gave coal.

They even ordered the government granary to buy the hoes made by that shop at market price. This matter even alarmed the prefect, who immediately mobilized craftsmen from his residence to rush to the county.

The young apprentice was in a hurry. On the first day, he burned four pieces of iron, and on the second day, he cracked the hoe blade.

The prefect was worried about delaying the spring planting, so he tried several times to ask craftsmen to take over, but he was stopped each time.

Yan Zu sat in the backyard of the blacksmith shop for two days.

He didn't strike the young apprentice with the hammer, but only tapped the table when the apprentice had finished burning the fire.

On the third day, the shop produced its first usable hoe.

At the end of the notes, there is a line of small characters, the ink color of which is different from the main text. It should be that the copyist added it from elsewhere later.

The Prefect asked, "Why doesn't Your Majesty send military craftsmen to help with the fighting here?"

The Emperor replied.

"It's helpful for a while, but what about tomorrow?"

Suhe flipped through the pages quickly, and after finishing, he pulled out the Dingzhou Local History from the shelf.

In less than half an hour, he found the later records of that blacksmith shop in the local chronicle.

The shop was not named.

I only remember that after the spring plowing that year, Dingzhou added three blacksmiths and the official granary received more than a thousand farm tools. The following year, it no longer needed to transfer them from neighboring prefectures.

After comparing the two files and confirming that the dates matched, Su He quickly bent down and made notes on the paper.

The character of Yan Zu in the early days of establishing the nation gradually took shape.

At the same time.

Only two candles were lit in the imperial study.

Li Youchan was still in a relatively good mood after reading the first batch of transfer orders from the Patrol Division.

"He first transferred Wu Huaiyi, then transferred old files from the Ministry of Works; he wasn't in a hurry to extend his influence too far."

Feng Ruan stood beside the table and said, "This Su He is a smart man; he knows his own foundation is weak."

"It's good that you know. If you get promoted and then rush to use your power to investigate more deeply, I'll have to reconsider."

Li Youchan put down the transfer order. "Any news from Yang Qinghe's side?"

"no."

After Feng Ruan finished speaking, he observed Li Youchan's expression before continuing, "But... Yang Qinghe retreated too quickly that day. This servant feels that this is not like his style."

"The evidence is laid out in the hall. Su He has rendered meritorious service. What else can he do but retreat?"

"With Yang Qinghe's abilities, he can delay, suppress the rank of the official titles, and even place the Patrol Division under the Six Ministries."

Feng Ruan stopped there; saying too much about some things is not a good thing.

Saying too much will only make me look smarter and Your Majesty look stupid.

The smile on Li Youchan's face faded slightly.

"Do you think he has other plans?"

"This servant dares not make a judgment."

Li Youchan remained silent for a moment, then turned to ask about the spies he had previously sent out.

Feng Ruan shook her head.

"A total of seventeen people were involved, and what they found were still old rumors. Some people said that the person in gray had been to the north, while others said that they had seen him in the south. There were very few that could be corroborated."

"waste."

Li Youchan's criticism was direct: "So much money was spent, yet it's not even as good as Su He alone."

He stood up and took a couple of steps, then suddenly said, "Recall the twelve worst-performing units. Hand over their rosters, funds, and local liaisons to the Patrol Division."

Feng Ruan asked, "What about the remaining five routes?"

"Keep it."

After Li Youchan finished speaking, the imperial study fell silent.

After a moment, he asked again, "Do you think Suhe is suitable to be a loyal minister?"

Feng Ruan thought for a moment.

"Without family background or allies, Xun Jinsi can't go back anyway, so this is suitable."

"Anything else?"

"Yan Zu is too important to him."

Li Youchan's gaze darkened.

This is indeed Suhe's greatest use, but also his greatest trouble.

A loyal minister should rely solely on the emperor.

But Suhe's deepest trust was clearly not in the throne.

Li Youchan walked back to the desk and closed the roster of the Patrol Division.

"Then let him have no other way out but me."

The night was deep and the rain was heavy.

Amidst the torrential rain, the Grand Secretary's carriage slowly came to a stop in front of the gate.

Yang Qinghe got out of the car, and the person beside him followed into the study, holding today's morning newspaper and a dispatch order from the Patrol Division.

"My lord, Su He has transferred Wu Huaiyi and also accessed old files from the Ministry of Works. Should we have someone keep a close eye on him?"

Yang Qinghe took off his outer robe and handed it to his attendant.

"No need."

"What if the palace gets there before us..."

The trusted confidant inquired cautiously.

Yang Qinghe waved his hand: "Our Emperor only wants to use that person's information to crush my old bones. He has no intention of actually finding the person."

"You mean, we should ignore the police force for now?"

"in spite of."

Yang Qinghe sat down at the desk and pressed his brow: "Go to the death row and make a copy of the characters that Su He carved in prison."