Author: Zero Romance

Chapter 3191

The statement made by Shi Diwen at this time is worth pondering.

At first glance, it seems that this is just to provide Dai Chengrong with the support he wants, but if you think about it carefully, as long as the Yangzhou salt merchants start the shipping business that goes deep into the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty, any accidents in the future may become the reason for Haihan to send troops.

Reason.

The other high-ranking Haihan officials present were all well-informed old foxes. How could they not hear the truth behind Shi Diwen's words?

But Shi Diwen's move was a conspiracy, and there was no way for anyone to oppose it.

The Yangzhou salt merchants spared no effort to fund the capital relocation plan, and now they want a permit to enter the inland waterway shipping industry. If the executive committee refuses such a "simple" request, it will inevitably chill other civilians who are determined to serve the country.

The use of the military to provide safe haven for private businessmen engaged in transnational business is one of Haihan's traditions, and Shi Diwen's statement is unquestionable.

Given Shi Diwen's current status and influence, his words basically represent the attitude of the executive committee.

Dai Yingda is such a shrewd person. As soon as Shi Diwen finished speaking, he immediately stood up and thanked him. Even if others had other opinions, it was not easy to mention them at this time.

After the fireworks display, the senior officials returned to their base, where Gong Shiqi and Ji Yuanqing had been waiting for a long time.

There have been some new developments in the investigation of the Zhu Zhongyun case, and the situation needs to be reported to the Executive Committee.

"It has been verified that the prisoner Zhu Zhongyun was originally from Fusi Baihu, Jinyiwei North Town, and his accomplices were all selected by him personally from the Ming army. They were only temporarily granted the status of Jinyiwei Tiqi before the operation."

"The confessions obtained from the interrogation of many prisoners confirmed that Zhu Zhongyun was appointed by the Ming Dynasty Cabinet and the Jinyiwei Yamen to sneak into Hangzhou with a crowd with the intention of assassinating the Executive Committee."

"Zhu Zhongyun and his gang have all been arrested and brought to justice. Seven of them have died due to their injuries."

"The weapons used by Zhu Zhongyun and others are currently being traced to their source by the Military Intelligence Bureau."

The report was basically given by Ji Yuanqing, while Gong Shiqi stood aside silently.

The information Ji Yuanqing narrated was indeed the truth obtained after investigation, but Gong Shiqi knew that the other party actually focused on it when reporting, deliberately emphasizing some information, while downplaying other information and passing it over.

As expected, after listening to Ji Yuanqing's report, most of the senior officials' attention was focused on the person behind the scenes, but there was not much interest in delving into the criminal process of Zhu Zhongyun and others, the source of their weapons and other information.

"Gong Shiqi, do you have anything to add?"

When Gong Shiqi heard Shi Diwen ask him, he quickly bowed and responded: "What Master Ji just said is very detailed. I don't have anything to add."

At this time, Ji Yuanqing spoke up and said, "Sir, Criminal Zhu had made strict arrangements in advance. If Lord Gong had not arrived in Hangzhou in time to preside over the investigation, it would have been difficult to prevent Criminal Zhu from committing murder in the city."

"In this case, I was able to find out the facts of the case so quickly, arrest the criminals, and crush the opponent's conspiracy. I think Lord Gong should be the first to do so."

Of course Gong Shiqi understood why Ji Yuanqing went out of his way to praise himself. During the investigation of this case, Ji Yuanqing expressed more than once that he would let Gong Shiqi and the Ministry of Security take the lead.

As for the exchange condition, naturally Gong Shiqi was asked to keep silent about the role played by the military in this case.

Of course, Gong Shiqi could not agree to this condition and report the truth to the Executive Committee, but the problem is that he does not have any evidence to prove that the military is actually one of the participants in this case.

Gong Shiqi was not afraid of fighting with the military, but the problem was that the military spent a lot of time to lure Zhu Zhongyun into the trap and carefully staged the assassination. The purpose did not seem to be to claim credit or reward.

Even if you win the fight, you will not get any actual benefits. Instead, you may send your own people to a military court or even kill them.

At least with this opportunity, the dangerous hidden danger of Zhu Zhongyun was eliminated, and no one on the executive committee was affected, so the result was relatively satisfactory.

So Gong Shiqi finally compromised and let Ji Yuanqing be responsible for reporting on the progress of the investigation, and his silence could be regarded as an insistence on his professional ethics.

But Ji Yuanqing stood up to ask for credit for himself at this time. Gong Shiqi still felt that something was wrong, and quickly responded: "The investigation of the case has not been completed yet. Sir Ji does not need to rush to ask for credit for me. Besides, there are many yamen co-organizing the case, Gong

How can one person take over the results of handling the case?"

Shi Diwen nodded and said: "You don't have to push around. This time we were able to stop the enemy's assassination at the critical moment and arrest all the prisoners. Afterwards, we will definitely reward them based on their merits. But right now.

, I think Daming’s offensive behavior has seriously crossed the line, and a certain amount of revenge is still needed!”

Regarding this assassination incident, the Executive Committee has actually had several discussions in the past two days as to how Ming Dynasty should respond.

Shi Diwen naturally advocated escalation and revenge against the Ming Dynasty at all costs. However, the Executive Committee has not yet unified its opinions on the consequences of the war that may result from this.

The difference of opinion is not about whether the Ming Dynasty can be fought or annexed to replace the Ming Dynasty. It is the consensus of the Executive Committee on the future development direction. The truce at this stage is just for each of them to accumulate strength. When the time is right, there will naturally be a day when the war will restart.

But before coming to Hangzhou, the opinion of the executive committee was still more inclined to prioritize overseas expansion, and then digest the traditional territory of the East Asian continent.

At that time, the military's opinions were mostly in favor of overseas expansion and seizing territory around the world. However, if Haihan went to war with the Ming Dynasty again, a large amount of resources would have to be invested, which would inevitably affect the overseas expansion plan.

Gong Shiqi stood nearby and listened for a while, then realized that Shi Diwen was deliberately trying to push Haihan to declare war on the Ming Dynasty. And the case of Zhu Zhongyun was obviously the most suitable reason.

He had been busy investigating the case for the past two days and was less likely to be around the executive committee. Otherwise, he would have realized that the shipping business proposed by the Yangzhou salt merchant was basically a backup plan for the Zhu Zhongyun case.

If the Executive Committee does not agree to implement military retaliation against the Ming Dynasty because of the Zhu Zhongyun case, then there is a high probability that the cargo fleet of the Yangzhou salt merchants will have an accident in the Ming Dynasty soon, and the Haihan Army will also have to send troops.

No matter what the Ming Dynasty's attitude is towards the Zhu Zhongyun case, it probably can't escape the big net thrown by Shi Diwen. If you have a good attitude towards admitting your mistake and agree to the various conditions Haihan will propose, you may be able to survive with a big piece of flesh cut off.

This time is difficult.

If the Ming Dynasty takes a tough stance and refuses to admit that it instigated the assassination, then it is almost certain that the two countries will go to war again.
Chapter completed!