strictlysupreme Chapter 216 Great Qi Dynasty 17
Chapter 216 Great Qi Dynasty 17
After night fell that day, everything was silent and the whole world seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep.
A dark figure, like a ghost, quietly moved through the darkness. It was Sirong. She nimbly avoided any obstacles that might make noise or draw attention, quietly approaching the mysterious Taoist temple.
With the help of the intelligent computer's precise guidance, Sirong finally successfully arrived at the main hall of the Taoist temple. Here was another entrance to the secret room.
In the center of the hall, a tall, majestic statue of the ancestor god was enshrined. Before the statue stood an exquisite altar, laden with offerings and incense sticks. Sirong tiptoed to the altar and carefully lifted the curtain covering it.
All that came into view was a smooth and flat floor tile, without any sign of anything unusual.
The intelligent computer had clearly told her that this was the key to the secret tunnel. Sirong looked up along the image provided by the intelligent computer and saw that the vase on the altar was indeed connected to the mechanism below.
She gently reached out, grasped the neck of the vase, and slowly turned it.
As the vase turned, there was a slight sound of a mechanism starting up, and then the seemingly ordinary floor tiles began to automatically separate to the sides, gradually revealing a pitch-black hole.
Sirong carefully took out a fire starter from her bosom, blew it gently to light it, and then placed it at the entrance of the cave for a moment.
The weak flame flickered slightly, as if telling her some secret. This subtle change made Sirong happy, because it meant that there was air circulation in the cave, and people would not feel suffocated or oppressed.
After confirming that it was safe, Sirong dared to take a step forward and slowly walked towards the depths of the cave.
The powerful intelligent brain constantly monitored the surrounding environment. According to the information fed back by the intelligent brain, there was no sign of any biological activity in the secret room at the moment, which allowed Sirong to explore inside with peace of mind.
As she went deeper into the secret room, Sirong discovered that the space here was extremely vast, like an underground palace.
Using the light from the tinder, she quickly found the torches mounted on the wall. Sirong expertly lit the torches, and in an instant, the entire chamber was illuminated by a blazing fire. In the bright light, Sirong was surprised to see that it was densely packed with all kinds of boxes.
Sirong walked over to one of the boxes and gently opened the lid. Suddenly, a flash of cold light caught her eye—the box was filled with neatly arranged sharp knives newly manufactured by the Ministry of War this year!
These knives gleam with a cold light, and you can tell at a glance that they are of high quality.
However, Sirong knew that the current smelting technology of the Great Qi Dynasty still needed to be improved. The blades of the bladed knives used by the soldiers today would often become warped or even broken after a few fierce battles.
Therefore, the imperial court had to rush to produce new weapons every year to supply the soldiers on the front line.
Even worn or damaged old swords were not completely useless. According to regulations, soldiers were required to hand in their old swords, which were then collected by the imperial court for smelting and recasting to create new blades.
However, looking at the boxes full of brand new knives in front of him, it was obvious that the soldiers' old knives had not been replaced.
Due to the relatively backward smelting technology of the Daqi Dynasty, coupled with factors such as insufficient productivity, the number of qualified cutting tools that can be produced each year is very limited.
Not all old swords are replaced every year. In the border troops, the number of soldiers' old swords that cannot be used is counted every year.
Sirong thought about it and realized that the knives of their Zhenbei Army did not seem to be delivered to the border this year.
Looking at the number of knives in the secret room, it is estimated that 10% of the knives were taken from each of the teams stationed on the border.
In addition to the gleaming, extremely sharp knives neatly placed aside, there were also several boxes of heavy gold ingots placed in the corner. However, compared with the imagined mountains of gold and silver, the number of gold ingots in these boxes was really not that much.
Sirong continued to search and found another thick stack of letters.
These letters are of great significance. Not only do they contain evidence of Prime Minister Yu's bribery of officials at all levels, but they also contain detailed records of him and the Fourth Prince colluding with the princes of the enemy country to conduct illegal transactions!
Each letter is like a bombshell, which will surely shock the government and the public once it is made public.
Sirong followed the secret passage and found Prime Minister Yu's lounge in the Ministry of Revenue, but there was really nothing inside.
Most people would conventionally think that if they wanted to build a secret place like a secret room, they would definitely choose a hidden corner in their own house.
After all, it was a personal territory, relatively safe and less likely to be discovered by others. But who would have thought that this seemingly cunning and treacherous Prime Minister Yu would go against common sense and do the opposite, cleverly hiding the secret room under an inconspicuous Taoist temple.
What’s even more amazing is that the entrance to the secret room is neither in his home nor the place where he usually handles government affairs, but is located in a small lounge in the Ministry of Revenue.
In this way, whenever he needed to enter the secret room, he could take the opportunity to go to the Ministry of Revenue to handle official business during the day and enter and exit freely through the secret passage of the lounge without anyone noticing.
This meticulous design has achieved an excellent concealing effect, making it impossible for others to easily detect the existence of this secret room and the various illegal activities he is engaged in.
Moreover, the Taoist temple above the secret room and the Taoist priests living there are probably not ordinary people. From Sirong's observation, these Taoist priests are definitely not ordinary people.
Just from the way they walked, one could sense the profound martial arts foundation within them. Each step was steady and powerful, clearly those of trained martial artists.
Sirong naturally didn't dare to act rashly on such a big matter. She asked Xiao 5 to contact Muchen and tell him everything she had discovered.
Ask his opinion whether to take these things and letters away now or leave as they are.
Muchen thought for a long time and asked Sirong to take pictures of Prime Minister Yu's letters. Then, he told Sirong to leave without touching anything else. He would find a chance to tell the Crown Prince about this matter.
We’ll see how he and his elder brother want to deal with it then.
He did not reveal this to the prince and the others, as this was information that Sirong had found out personally.
As for the fact that Sirong can return to the capital at will, it would be better if only the two of them knew about it.
As for Si Mu, he didn't need to consider her at all. Si Mu understood what this meant better than the two of them and would definitely not leak it out.