There is a strict process for military procurement. Usually General Zuowei reports to the Ministry of War, which then reports to the three provinces, requesting the court to allocate funds to purchase according to needs. After the officials of the three provinces and six ministries discuss and approve, General Zuowei will be given the approval later, and then General Zuowei will approve the purchase.

The official purchase letter is then sent to lower-level officials for execution.

First of all, the person in charge of purchasing needs to summon merchants to investigate and bid. Secondly, they need to understand the quality of the samples of the purchased materials. After roughly determining the merchants and prices for the purchase, the person in charge will report it step by step, all the way to General Zuowei.

Then approve it step by step from top to bottom.

The procurement process is very cumbersome and complicated. It has to go through the hands of many officials. Officials at each level have the power to reject, and of course they also have the power to agree. By the time the list fell into Gu Qing's hands, the procurement process was almost over.

At the end, if Gu Qingruo agrees, he only needs to submit the list to the left and right generals, the left and right generals, and after discussion with the generals, report it to the general, and the matter will be considered complete.

Of the 100,000 gu in embezzlement money, two thousand guan were secretly given to Gu Qing, which was considered to be in line with the market price. After all, this 100,000 guan was not taken by one person alone, there must have been many officials sharing the stolen money.

According to today's prices in Datang, this is a huge sum of money. The house Gu Qing lives in now is worth more than 200 yuan. Just by signing his name on the list, Gu Qing can earn ten Chang'an houses overnight.

's mansion.

Who once said, "Living in Chang'an is not easy"?

With the power in hand, no matter how difficult it is, no matter how difficult it is, it is a pity that Gu Qing did not dare to accept this deal. Firstly, he was afraid of taking responsibility and being afraid of the incident. Secondly, he did not know who the person behind him was. He was worried that he would be involved in the court inexplicably.

In the Tang faction, under the current situation, it would be unwise for Gu Qing to choose which camp to stand on. Only by being isolated and helpless can he attract Li Longji's attention and be reused by him.

Looking at Li Guangbi's expression at this moment, Gu Qing found that he was also a person who had never been bribed, otherwise he would not be so angry.

"Uncle Li, should this list... be signed and reported?" Gu Qing asked tentatively.

Li Guangbi looked hesitant for a while. In terms of being a person and an official, Li Guangbi was not that upright. He still abided by the basic rules of the game. Otherwise, he would not have been able to become a Zuolang general, equivalent to a deputy commander.

It's just that this time the stakes were too high and the amount was too high. Obviously the rules of the game were broken by others first, and Li Guangbi was hesitant about whether to continue to abide by them.

"Gu Qing, what do you think?" Li Guangbi asked.

Gu Qing shook his head and said: "My nephew thinks that this matter cannot be agreed to."

"Talk about it."

"First of all, the people behind have not come forward. I don't know which god dares to do such a reckless thing. If we agree, we will easily be involved in the factions in the court. Anyone who dares to make such an excessive list must be someone with a good reputation in the court.

The big shots, Dong Gong, Li Xiang, Yang Guozhong, are probably from these factions. No matter which faction this person belongs to, it is not a good thing for us..."

"Secondly, there are no secrets that can be kept hidden forever in the officialdom. As long as something doesn't happen, once something happens, it will be easy to trace this list to us. If something happens to the person who made the list, we will be

He is implicated and has no relationship, so why should we help him take the blame? Even if nothing happens to him, if we sign the bond, it means that we have given others a handle with our own hands. In the future, we can do whatever we want to do with it, and we will be coerced by others for the rest of our lives...

…”

Gu Qing shook his head, pointed at the list and sighed: "Games shouldn't be played like this. You don't even need to talk about the basic rules, how can you teach people how to play with him?"

Li Guangbi looked at him, and there was a smile in his eyes gradually: "I can't tell that you are quite calm and sophisticated at your young age. You can see such long-term things from a list. Gu Qing, you are born to be an official.

Your parents are strong."

Gu Qing glanced at him and said slowly: "My nephew heard that most people who are officials are shameless. Is Uncle Li scolding my nephew for being shameless?"

"I'm praising you. Why can't I hear the flattering words? Aren't I also an official?" Li Guangbi glared at him angrily.

Putting away the list, Li Guangbi said: "Don't worry about this list, I will take care of it."

Gu Qing shook his head: "Uncle Li, I'm afraid it will be difficult for my nephew to deal with this matter alone. The list is in my hands. If I don't sign it, the process will not go forward. The people standing behind Zhu Quan will definitely come to me."

Li Guangbi sneered: "Then you ask him to come to me and say that I didn't let you sign it."

Gu Qing stared at him and said slowly: "Uncle Li, I am also a man. Am I hiding under the wings of my elders all my life? My elders have to help me every time something goes wrong. How can the old friendship between you and my parents last?

How many times do you have to kill it?"

Li Guangbi looked at him in amazement and said solemnly: "Just based on what you said, I can help you for the rest of my life."

Gu Qing smiled: "It is better to ask for others than to ask for yourself. The eagle has the power to fight in the sky, not because of its elders, but because of its own strong wings."

…………

The list was still taken away by Gu Qing, who decided to face this trouble alone.

In the next few days, Gu Qing continued to handle official business as usual, but he put the list on hold, neither signing it nor rejecting it, just pretending that there was no such thing.

On the evening of the fourth day, Gu Qing had just returned home from Zuowei after getting off work. Butler Xu came to greet him and told him hesitantly that a guest had been waiting for him all afternoon and had been sitting in the front hall waiting for his return.

Gu Qing was quite surprised. He walked straight into the front hall and saw three people sitting in the front hall. Two of them were Hao Donglai and Shi Daxing. The two shopkeepers were accompanying the guests. They were chatting happily while the guests were very unfamiliar.

, Gu Qing has never seen it.

He was about forty years old, with a sallow complexion, sinister brows, and two whiskers on his lips, giving him a cunning look.

This was the first time for Gu Qing to see someone with the word "bad guy" clearly written on his face. He couldn't help but be amazed. At the same time, it was also the first time that he felt that his unhappy look was simply too much compared to him.

He is a handsome guy who is everywhere.

Seeing Gu Qing come in, Hao Donglai and Shi Daxing excused themselves after seeing the courtesy, leaving only the guest and Gu Qing in the front hall.

This person was sitting in the front hall, wearing regular clothes. Gu Qing didn't know the details, but he still politely came forward to greet him.

The guest's attitude was also very polite, he smiled, stood up, saluted, and introduced himself.

"My surname is Ji, my given name is Wen, I am a doctor in the household department. I am here to meet Gu Changshi."

Gu Qing's expression remained unchanged, but alarm bells were ringing in his heart.

Ji Wen, a famous cruel official during the Tianbao period, was ruthless, cruel and murderous by nature. In short, he can be summed up in four words, that is, "definitely not a kind person."

This person's official position is not important, but his resume is worthy of vigilance. He was just a small county magistrate at first, and later he attached himself to Li Linfu, the right prime minister, and was promoted to a scholar in Jingzhao Prefecture. He became Li Linfu's pawn.

Under his direction, he participated in many plots to frame court officials and eliminate dissidents.

Li Linfu's political opponents fell into his hands and were often worse off than dead. Together with another cruel official named "Luo Xishi" at that time, the two were collectively called "Luo Xishi" by the government and the public, which meant that Luo Xishi took

The queen pinched him like a crab's pincers, while Ji Wen was like a big net. Any enemy targeted by him was like a fish caught in the net, unable to escape even if he wanted to.

When such a cruel and ruthless person came to visit, Gu Qing couldn't help but brace himself to deal with it.

"It turns out to be Ji Langzhong, whom I have admired for a long time." Gu Qing saluted and smiled.

Ji Wen smiled and said, "Gu Changshi has heard of me?"

Gu Qing shook his head and then nodded: "I have never seen Jing, but I have certainly heard of it."

Ji Wen smiled and said: "I'm afraid what Gu Changshi heard is not a good reputation, right?"

Gu Qing frowned, this man spoke with such a sharp edge.

Ji Wenhun smiled nonchalantly and said: "People in the world have too many misunderstandings about me. There are always people in the court who scold me as a cruel official, saying that I am evil-minded and unscrupulous. I have become accustomed to it over the years, and I don't bother to defend myself. Those who are clean will be clean themselves, so why bother?"

Do you care about idle gossip?"

Gu Qing's smile did not change. He heard the meaning of these words, which meant that I am a ruthless person, very cruel, so I asked you if you are afraid of me.

Show it with authority first, and then it will be smoother to explain it with reason.

Coincidentally, Gu Qing has lived two lifetimes and is also a vicious person. Everyone's attributes are basically the same, so Gu Qing is never afraid of how cruel and vicious others are.

He took out the long-standing list from his pocket and placed it gently on the table. Gu Qing stretched out two fingers to hold it and slowly pushed it forward.

"Let's get straight to the point. It must be for this reason that Mr. Ji is here today."

Gu Qing had heard of Ji Wen's reputation. He was evil-minded towards others, but he still took extra care of himself.

This man was very greedy, very greedy. His fate in history was ultimately due to corruption.

Ji Wen was quite surprised by Gu Qing's uprightness. Officials tend to be reserved when speaking. It was rare for Gu Qing to put things on the table so straightforwardly. Ji Wen didn't even look at the list. He already knew Gu Qing's attitude.

"Gu Changshi is a happy person, so I won't beat around the bush. Gu Changshi probably didn't sign this list, right?"

"Not signed."

Ji Wen stared into his eyes and said, "Why? Do you think the income is too little? Gu Changshi can tell you a few things. I have nothing to say. I will offer it with both hands."

Gu Qing's smile was a little cold: "No, I'm just afraid of death."

Ji Wen's eyes turned cold: "Gu Changshi is afraid that something will happen? I can guarantee that nothing will happen. This list... was not made by me."

This sentence is still very subtle, but the meaning is very straightforward. Ji Wen is not the one in charge. There are big people behind him. You can imagine how powerful he is. Nothing will happen to a small purchase.

Gu Qing knew who was behind Ji Wen.

When Ji Wen was just a county magistrate, he made his fortune by clinging to Li Linfu, so naturally the biggest beneficiary of this list was Li Linfu.

Secretly smiling bitterly, Gu Qing really wanted to resign and go home.

Why is it that every time something happens, Li Linfu is always involved? Could it be that I am not in tune with his natural horoscope?
Chapter completed!