serious man in the red chamber

Chapter 58 Simple Transactions
It was getting dark.

A great eunuch lit the lantern on the royal case.

Emperor Jianwu sat silently in front of the imperial case, lost in thought.

From Shenshi to now, it was just a few hours, but Emperor Jianwu seemed to have passed decades.

The Supreme Emperor had already told him about the betrayal of the Great Zhou Dynasty by someone from the Xungui lineage, and then exposed the case of the Military Weapons Bureau, which weighed heavily on his heart like a huge rock.

Less than two years after ascending the throne, drought, floods, and locust plagues have all caught up. The Nine Sides have been using troops, consuming nearly half of the court revenue every year. It was so messed up that the cabinet and the Ministry of Household Affairs did not dare to urge it, for fear that local officials would redouble their exploitation of the people and cause a civil uprising.

Emperor Jianwu deeply felt that what he was sitting on was not a dragon chair, but a sea of ​​swords and flames. He was worried every day and had trouble sleeping and eating!
In his eyes, Shui Rong has always been a humble, polite, and refined Confucian image. Although he comes from a noble general, he does not have the arrogance, rudeness, and boldness of a noble general.

However, it was this behavior of King Wen that made Emperor Jianwu suspicious, coupled with the constant testing of him by the Supreme Emperor, and his ancient ancestor who is famous through the ages, it is impossible not to doubt it now.

Originally, he planned to directly announce that the Shui clan was a member of the Hong Chengchou clan, but the manor farce of the officials and gentry opened another door, using this to make Shui Rong stand on the opposite side of the gentry, destroying his reputation among the gentry, If he really has a problem, and then tell the world about Hong Chengchou, then he will be a rat crossing the street.

Today's Great Zhou Dynasty has deep-rooted evils, which cannot be eliminated without a dose of strong medicine.

In order to reverse the long-standing evils, Emperor Jianwu took the initiative to provoke a war regardless of the opposition of the cabinet and the six ministries. He took this opportunity to hold military power in his hands, and then used military power to suppress the official and gentry groups, breaking the many internal contradictions and evils in one fell swoop, and creating a ZTE situation.

The southern invasion of the Manchu Manchus disrupted the plan, and the treasury was empty, unable to support the army's northern expedition to Chahar, so he thought of Zhao Zixun's suggestion to recover the money owed to the treasury.

For the nobles, this is grace, but it is also a transaction, and it is also a temptation!
Dai Quan came in holding a memorial box, walked behind Emperor Jianwu, and said softly: "Your Majesty, the secret report from the Zhenfu Division."

Emperor Jianwu turned around, stared at the box and asked, "Have they all been delivered?"

Dai Quan was stunned for a moment, and had no choice but to answer: "After the dinner, Uncle Jia didn't go back to Ningguo Mansion, but went to the house of Lin Yanzheng Qianjin with the girls of Jia Mansion. Can't get in."

Emperor Jianwu listened, and was stunned for a long time, unable to speak out: "Why are the children of Jia's family all of the same virtue, hanging around in the inner curtain all day long?"

Dai Quan: "Your Majesty?"

"En." Emperor Jianwu came back to his senses, lifted the lid of the box, took out a thick stack of secret reports, and carefully looked at each one.

From the beginning of Shenshi, the palace sent people to the residences of the nobles to deliver a message, asking them to pay back the owed money from tomorrow, and made it clear that as long as the owed money was paid off, they could serve as errands in the Northern Expedition Army.The sooner you pay off, the higher the position and the better the errand.

The Ming Dynasty emperor's art of controlling his officials was to spy all over the place and ride around everywhere, always to detect and control the movements of the important officials of the court.

Similarly, the Great Zhou Dynasty also planted spies in the civil and military homes of the Manchu Dynasty, especially those ministers who held important powers. There were even spies all over the palace of the imperial family and nobles. Once there was any abnormal behavior, the emperor would know it.

These secret reports almost recorded in detail the reactions of each family to this transaction. What the family members of each mansion said was clearly recorded, and everyone's expression was not even lost.

Emperor Jianwu attached great importance to this matter, and looked at them one by one. After reading the last one, he looked at Dai Quan: "The errands of the Zhenfu Division are competent, so don't write some unimportant information."

"Yes."

"Tomorrow, I will send you the detailed information of each family. The soldiers are fierce and the battle is in danger. A small mistake may lead to the defeat of the army. I have to be cautious!" Emperor Jianwu stood up and walked to the back hall, saying: "Check Check whether the Zhen family has any financial contacts with the Beijing Palace."

The sky is bright.

The side door of Ningguo Mansion opened, and two soldiers came out with swords in their arms, one on each side stood outside the door.

Several servants came out with brooms and swept in front of the door.

Immediately afterwards, the gate of Rongguo Mansion opened with a click.

At this time, the sound of horseshoes and wheels came from the corner of the street, and four servants dressed as servants rode horsebacks to protect the two carriages and gradually approached.

The two soldiers quickly turned their gazes to the lantern on the carriage with the words "Marquis of Bowling" written on it.

In the second carriage sat Shi Xiangyun who was taken back by the Bowling Marquis yesterday, but her expression was a little depressed.

The maid Cuilu sat beside her with her head bowed.

Looking out from the screen window, several young servants from Ningguo Mansion were cleaning the big lawn in front of the gate, and there were servants in charge coming in and out at the corner gate, all of them were well-dressed and rich and powerful.Unlike the Bowling Marquis Mansion, life is hard, not only the servants, but also their masters, who often do needlework until midnight.

The second aunt, Zhang, woke herself up to freshen up before five o'clock, saying that she was sending her to Rongguo Mansion for a few days, but she knew that this was just an excuse, and her real purpose was to come to Jia's house to borrow money to pay back the national treasury. He owed money to seek a military position with real power for his second uncle Shi Nai.

Feeling flustered for a while, Xiangyun quickly put down the curtains.

The backyard of Ning'an Hall.

Jia Hu was practicing his saber technique, his movements were crisp and neat, that is, simple slashing and straight stabbing. Every time he swung the saber, there was a whistling sound of wind, and he tried his best.

Hu Po led a group of maidservants to serve her from a distance.

Zhou Rui's family walked over lightly, and said to Hu Po: "Girl, the cousin and wife of the Bowling Marquis's residence have brought Miss Shi, and the old lady asked the second master to come over."

Amber nodded.

After a while, Jia Hu withdrew his knife.

Hu Po hurried forward with the maids, put on Jia Hu's coat with her own hands, and handed over a towel.

Seeing Jia Hu wipe off the sweat on his face, he said, "Second Master, Zhou Rui's family is here."

Jia Hu: "Let her come over."

Hu Po waved her hand, and Zhou Rui's family bowed and stepped forward, "Second Master, the cousin and wife of the Bowling Marquis Mansion have brought Miss Shi Da, and the old lady asked you to come over."

"It's Xiangyun who is here!"

Jia Hu handed the towel to Hu Po, walked towards the wing, and said, "Go back to the old lady, just say what I say, and leave Miss Shi to stay, and go back and do what you have nothing to do!"

Zhou Rui's family: "Yes. I'll go back now, servant girl. It's just... uncle and wife"

Jia Hu raised his hand: "Go." He said and walked straight to the wing.

As Hu Po walked, she shouted: "Bring the hot water, the second master needs to take a bath and change clothes." After finishing speaking, seeing Zhou Rui's family also followed, she was overjoyed: "Madam Zhou is not allowed to enter here."

Zhou Rui's family stood there in embarrassment, not knowing what to do.

Amber: "Oh, my good aunt, why are you so confused at this time? The second master is the grandnephew of the old lady, but also the patriarch of the Jia family, the chief general of the Yongwei Battalion, and the great general of the imperial court."

Zhou Rui's family is also smart, after a moment of stupefaction, they understood: "Ah, thank you for your guidance, I'll go back to the old lady." After saying that, Zhou Rui's family strode out.

Amber smiled. The fact that Bowlinghou's mansion borrowed money from the household department is not a secret in the Jia family. A maid like her knows that since she has decided to borrow money from the Jia family, it is time for Bowlinghou to come to the house in person and let What's the matter with a housewife coming forward!

It is even more excessive to involve Miss Shi Da in it.

It's no wonder that the second master is angry.

(End of this chapter)