"What, Commander Imperial Guard?"
When the little guard leader heard about these high-ranking officials, his expression suddenly changed. He didn't dare to be careless in the slightest, and he quickly bowed and saluted.
"For your humble position, please see Commander Lord Su. For your humble position, please go in and report."
After saying that, he turned around and ran quickly into the Mint Bureau gate to report.
Su Fei reined in his horse and stood at the door, his eyes calmly swept over the high wall of the Mint Bureau, and the power of the soul spread quietly.
I could vaguely sense that there were many guards in the courtyard, and there were several areas that exuded the hot smell of metal smelting. They were obviously the core workshops of coin minting.
Not long after, the door of the Mint Bureau was pushed open with a creak, and a middle-aged man wearing a blue official robe and a goldfish bag tied around his waist walked out quickly.
This man is about forty years old, with a square face and shrewd eyes. He is Hu Qiuyu, the fourth-grade mint supervisor of the Mint under the Ministry of Industry.
As soon as Hu Qiuyu went out, he saw Su Fei standing at the door. He quickly stepped forward and bowed deeply to Su Fei with a respectful tone.
"Your Majesty, Hu Qiuyu, has met Lord Commander Su. I wonder if your lord is here at the Mint Bureau today. Do you have any advice?"
Su Fei turned over and dismounted, he nodded slightly and said in a calm tone.
"Lord Hu There is no need to be polite. I am here today on official business and to investigate the case. Please Lord Hu lead the way and we will talk after we go in."
"Yes yes yes, please come inside Lord Su."
Hu Qiuyu did not dare to show any signs of neglect and quickly turned sideways to lead the way with a smile on his face.
"Oh, by the way, Lord Lei is also welcome."
Lei Chongxiao followed Su Fei and walked side by side into the door of the Mint Bureau with Hu Qiuyu.
The courtyard is paved with flat bluestone slabs, and neat pines and cypresses are planted on both sides. The air is filled with a faint smell of copper rust and the hot smell of charcoal fire.
Passing through the corridor in the front yard, Hu Qiuyu led the two of them into a spacious hall.
This is the meeting hall of the Mint Bureau. There are several pear wood tables and chairs in the hall, and diagrams depicting the minting process are engraved on the walls.
"Lord Su, Lord Lei, please sit down."
Hu Qiuyu first invited the two of them to sit down, and then shouted instructions to the door.
"Come here, serve some tea."
Soon, two servants came in with hot tea, placed them in front of Su Fei and Lei Chongxiao respectively, and then bowed and left.
Su Fei picked up the teacup, took a sip, then put down the teacup and got straight to the point without any detours.
"Lord Hu, I believe you also know that counterfeit copper coins have been rampant in the Imperial City recently, and the people are panicking. This case has been handed over to Imperial Guard for investigation."
Hu Qiuyu was moved in his heart, but his face remained respectful.
"Reply to Lord Su, I have heard about this matter, and I am worried about the people of the imperial city."
"I came here today because I suspect that this counterfeit copper coin case is related to you Mint Bureau."
Su Fei spoke calmly.
"The workmanship of this fake copper coin is extremely exquisite. The size, texture, and calligraphy are all almost the same as the real coin. It is definitely not something that ordinary folk craftsmen can cast. Therefore, I would like to summon the relevant personnel of your Mint Bureau to inquire about some information."
Hu Qiuyu heard this, his face changed slightly, he quickly stood up and held his hands in his hands, his tone was urgent but also a little sure.
"Lord Su Mingjian, I have heard about and know about the proliferation of counterfeit coins in the Imperial City, but this matter can never be related to me, Mint Bureau."
He paused and defended decisively.
"I, Mint Bureau, am in charge of the coinage of the dynasty. I have a heavy responsibility. My subordinates have always been strict in my management. The coinsmiths in the government are all old craftsmen passed down from generation to generation. They have a clean financial background. The molds used to make coins are guarded by dedicated personnel and locked at every level. All entries and exits are registered in detail. There are guards patrolling day and night. It is absolutely impossible for the molds to be leaked and the craftsmen to secretly forge counterfeit coins."
"Mint Bureau's personnel are all trustworthy people, and there is no way there will be any mistakes."
Su Fei heard this and did not comment, he just said lightly.
"Lord Hu does not need to rush to defend. I am just asking as a routine question whether it is related to the Mint Bureau. I will let you know after asking. I also ask Lord Hu to call the main officials and craftsmen responsible for the coinage process."
Seeing Su Fei's resolute attitude, Hu Qiuyu knew that there was no way to evade the matter, so he had no choice but to answer the question.
"Yes, since the commander Lord Su has the order, I will go and summon people now."
After that, he turned around and shouted instructions to the door.
"Pass me an order to have the four Sixth Rank officials responsible for the specific affairs of the coinage workshop immediately bring all the coinsmiths under their command to the meeting hall."
The attendant outside the door responded and left.
Hu Qiuyu then sat down again. Although there was still a smile on his face, his eyes were a little more nervous.
Although he was confident that Mint Bureau was not wrong, it would be troublesome for Commander Imperial Guard to personally come to investigate the case. If any clues were really found.
He, the casting supervisor, also has to take responsibility.
Not long after Hu Qiuyu's instructions were passed down, there was a sound of footsteps outside the meeting hall.
Four officials in blue official robes walked in first.
They are all in their thirties to fifty years old and look respectful.
Behind them were dozens of coin craftsmen wearing coarse cloth work clothes, their hands still stained with unwashed patina.
They had obviously just arrived in a hurry from the mint.
"Please refer to Lord Hu."
The four Sixth Rank officials all bowed to Hu Qiuyu. When their eyes glanced at Su Fei and Lei Chongxiao who were wearing Flying Fish Robe, their expressions became more respectful and they quickly added.
"See you two adults."
Dozens of craftsmen also bowed and saluted and shouted in unison.
"See my lord."
Su Fei sat in the main seat, glanced at these people calmly, and raised his hand to signal.
"Everyone is free of charge."
"Thank you, sir."
Everyone responded in unison, straightened up one after another, and stood on both sides of the hall with their hands down, not daring to express their anger.
Hu Qiuyu said in a deep voice from the side.
"This is Imperial Guard Lord Commander Su. I'm here today to investigate the recent case of counterfeit copper coins in the Imperial City. You must answer truthfully and don't hide anything."
"Yes."
Four Ministry of Works officials and craftsmen responded again.
Su Fei asked slowly.
"I would like to ask you today, the four of you are responsible for the specific affairs of the mint. Do you collude with outsiders to secretly leak minting-related skills and mold information, or secretly participate in the private minting of copper coins?"
The first question went straight to the core of the copper coin case. The expressions of the four Sixth Rank officials all changed, and they quickly bowed and denied it.
"Reply to Commander Su, this is absolutely not the case."
An official spoke quickly and said in an urgent tone.
"Xiaoguan and others are deeply trusted by the imperial court and are in charge of the minting affairs of the Ministry of Industry. How dare they do such things as collaborating with the enemy and treason and harming the interests of the dynasty. Even if they interact with outsiders, they are always measured and have never mentioned any private matters related to minting."
The other three officials also agreed.
"Your Majesty, please be aware that we have never colluded with outsiders to secretly mint copper coins. Mint Bureau has strict rules. We abide by this place day and night and dare not go beyond the rules in the slightest."