King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 15 Little People

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"Sir, doing this...is it too unkind!"

In the dormitory, Zhu Jingyuan asked such a question after dismissing everyone.

Just now it was true that the cough was true, but it was false when he coughed so much that he could not manage. Zhu Jingyuan used this to escape from the hall.

Gao Shuyan sighed lightly: "Your Highness, don't worry, we have no choice!"

Compared with a cruel and ruthless emperor, the ruling and opposition parties look forward to a wise and gentle monarch, and Zhu Jingyuan is undoubtedly the most suitable candidate.

This is also why, even though Prince Rui is aggressive, Zhu Jingyuan still sits as the crown prince.

It's just that this prince's kindness is too much, and it has become a shortcoming that limits him. This is also called gain and loss.

Standing up and walking towards the desk, Zhu Jingyuan said slowly: "Thirteenth brother is wise and decisive, I really underestimated him in the past!"

In my impression, the younger brother who only knows how to dance with guns and clubs is now able to take charge of himself. This sudden change gave Zhu Jingyuan a great shock.

"In the past, the Thirteenth Master hated reading, but he was often taught and punished by the Holy One. I thought he had the courage of a man, but I didn't expect..."

After Gao Shuyan's voice fell, Zhang Xin, the eunuch who was also the prince's confidant, said, "It's not surprising. You can hear that the Thirteenth Lord prepared for today's matter all day yesterday!"

"Oh? How did he prepare?"

"First, I learned about the powers of the officials in detail, and then I checked the conduct of the officials of all parties, and I even rehearsed several times with several guards in advance!"

The two brothers were in the same dormitory, and the straight-line distance between the two brothers was at most 30 meters. Zhu Jinghong only focused on reading the newspaper, but he didn't know that the little brother had done so many things.

"This is really...Mr. Gao, Thirteenth Brother's behavior is really surprising!"

Gao Shuyan nodded, but didn't say anything more.

Zhang Xin recounted to them what happened in the main hall just now, and it seems that Zhu Jinghong's approach is very successful.

Officials leave under pressure and always do something when they go down.

In addition, Zhu Jinghong asked everyone to try their best to balance the accounts, and if they failed to settle the accounts, they had to report the truth after half a month. This was a very bold decision in Gao Shuyan's view.

The objective fact is that the gap in some accounts is too large, and it cannot be settled in the first place. There are current and former officials responsible for it, and it is a muddled account.

Therefore, putting aside these confused accounts, it is undoubtedly more useful for preparing for the war to gather the real situation in various parts of Jinling as soon as possible.

However, the prince Zhu Jingyuan and Gao Shuyan didn't have the courage to let the bad debt go, so they could only pressure the officials to investigate, hoping that these people would find a way to settle the debt.

As for how these people balance their accounts, whether to pay more taxes or borrow money from the gentry, they don't care at all.

There was silence in the hall for a while before Gao Shuyan said: "The Thirteenth Lord has great talents, can do things that others dare not do, and has a deep friendship with His Highness, and will definitely be of great help to His Highness in the future!"

These words are to remind Zhu Jingyuan that in the future, he has to win over this brother so that it will be easier to fight against Prince Rui in the future.

After all, in another year this one will be crowned Prince, already on the same level as Prince Rui.

Zhu Jingyuan didn't notice this, just shook his head and said: "That's all... I only hope that he will not cause trouble for me in the future!"

The stereotype of Zhu Jinghong causing trouble is hard to get rid of in Zhu Jingyuan's mind in a short time. Only outsiders can see the crux of the problem.

The prince couldn't comprehend it, and Gao Shuyan couldn't express it clearly, so he could only hope to guide him in the future.

"Mr. Gao, what do you think will happen after ten days?"

"His Royal Highness, after half a month, everything will be settled, His Royal Highness only needs to distinguish between rewards and punishments!"

Zhu Jingyuan was taken aback for a moment, then nodded with a heavy expression.

Not far from the west side of the palace, in the courtyard behind the chief secretary's office, there were also people with heavy hearts.

After changing his official robe, Zheng Xianlin put on a blue moiré robe and sat in the hall drinking tea.

In front of him, the inspector He Gujin walked back and forth, stopping to sigh from time to time.

Distraught by him, Zheng Xianlin put down his teacup heavily, and then said: "I said...you don't leave, it makes my head hurt!"

After walking back and forth for two more times, He Gujin stopped: "Old Zheng, is it true that Master Thirteen really asked the people below to report the situation in detail?"

The two of them had a rough idea of ​​how many of the bad accounts went into private pockets, how many were sent to the court, and how many were conscripted by the palace.

It is precisely because they have counted that they know that this thing cannot be brought to the public, otherwise everyone in Jinling's officialdom will suffer.

Corruption and bribery, exploitation of the people, treasury deficit...

In a prosperous place like Jinling, most prefectures and counties are so short-lived, the two of them don't care about the fate of the people below, but they have to care about their own fate.

"What else can I do? Let them borrow as much as they can, let's deal with this time first!" Zheng Xianlin said impatiently.

This is also a common trick of the government, borrowing things to fool the inspection, and then returning the original things to each family.

Even if the borrowed money and grain are requisitioned, as long as they pass the inspection, they can be deducted from taxes in the coming year.

It will take half a month to close such a big gap, I'm afraid it won't be that easy.

"In the past few days, they have been preparing, and half a month must be enough!"

"Enough? Old Zheng... Are you really ignorant or pretending to be confused? Such a big gap can be filled in half a month?"

"So what? Can the two of us make money?" Zheng Xianlin asked back.

After staring at Zheng Xianlin for a few seconds, He Gujin sat down on a chair beside him, picked up the teacup and took two sips.

"If things get serious, you and I will suffer, we have to plan early!"

Turning to look at He Gujin, Zheng Xianlin asked, "How do you plan?"

"Send a letter to those people in the court, let them try to stir up the court situation and put pressure on the prince!"

"Instigating the court to impeach the crown prince, you are quite courageous!" Zheng Xianlin said leisurely.

"When things get serious, we have no way out!" He Gujin said with a serious expression.

"It doesn't necessarily mean that if things get serious, the net will be broken, but if we go to Xinduzhong, then we will really get burned!"

"Don't even think about it, what is the current situation in the court?"

Standing up, Zheng Xianlin walked towards the hall with his hands behind his back: "The prince and Prince Rui are fighting with knives, if we send a letter to the capital, don't we stick our heads under their knives?"

"You and I are considered high-ranking officials in Jinling, but in the capital, we are small people in the court, no different from the group of people who were beheaded before!"

"Between swords and swords, no matter what the outcome is, we will die without a place to die!"

After saying so much in one breath, Zheng Xianlin sighed slightly, and then turned around: "Instead, I don't do anything, and try my best to clean up the situation in Jinling. Even if the incident happens, I won't be dismissed from office, and if I'm unlucky, I'll just be sent to prison and exiled!"

"At least, you and I can still save our lives!"

He Gujin's eyes widened upon hearing these words.

He always felt that Zheng Xianlin didn't understand how serious the matter was, but now it seemed that he was being careless.

He still wanted to get through this calamity safely, and the old Zheng was ready to be dismissed from office and sent to prison.

"Is it really this far?"

Glancing at He Gujin, Zheng Xianlin said slowly, "I don't need to explain to you the truth about the disaster of pond fish, do I?"

He Gu Jin knew this truth before he was ten years old, and he couldn't help sighing again when he heard this.

"Is there really no way to escape?" He Gujin slapped the table, breaking the silence in the room.

No one is willing to lose glory and wealth, and it is normal for He Gujin to be unwilling.

He asked the question unintentionally, but unexpectedly Zheng Xianlin said: "There is... a way!"

(End of this chapter)