King Xiang of the Red Chamber

Chapter 76

Besides, when Zheng Xianlin and his party left the Yong'an Gate, they relaxed their mentality.

During the silence, He Gujin, who had the most violent temper, said: "Everyone, now we... are grasshoppers on the same rope, and we will work together to help the crown prince to suppress the Japanese, so don't let anyone get you in the way!"

Someone tripped me up?Who dares to be a stumbling block in this matter?Don't you even want your life?

He Gujin's words immediately aroused everyone's displeasure, but they didn't explode considering his identity.

It cannot be said that He Gujin is stupid, but that he plays the role of a bad guy, and this statement is very in line with his personality.

When the atmosphere was delicate, Zheng Xianlin said with a smile: "Old He, don't talk nonsense, which one of you colleagues is not looking forward to driving the Japanese pirates out of Jinling as soon as possible!"

"You and I are governed by the emperor's order. We have the responsibility to protect the land and keep the people safe. Even if there is no strict order from the emperor, we will work together to kill the Japanese pirates!"

After saying this, Zheng Xianlin glanced around: "Everyone, I am right!"

"Master Zheng is right, we all have received the grace of the Holy Master Jianba, how dare we not think of serving our father!"

"That's right. Today, Japanese pirates are infesting people, disturbing the local people and suffering. We are already guilty. The Holy One is magnanimous and has not punished the crime. How can we not work together to heal the local people!"

Everyone expressed their opinions one by one, and their words sounded good, but in practice it was not the case.

The province of Jinling is very large, and there are many factions of officials, with different interests involved. It is too difficult to work together.

Even with the authority of the emperor, as long as a few people have selfish intentions, the result will be very different.

This especially tests the coordination ability of the person in charge, including the emperor's expectations for Zhu Jingyuan.

"My lords, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has summoned you, please come to the Chengming Palace to discuss matters!"

The person who came was Zhang Xin, someone close to Zhu Jingyuan.

I planned to see Zhu Jinghong, but under Gao Shuyan's severe persuasion, Zhu Jingyuan could only call for a meeting immediately.

After a while, all the officials gathered in Chengming Palace, Zhu Jingyuan didn't say much, and the rest of the time was occupied by Gao Shuyan.

He was talking about reasoning, raising goals, and talking about consequences. In the end, Gao Shuyan's voice was full of smoke.

However, everyone was drowsy. Whoever asked Gao Shuyan to say it was nonsense, and they didn't understand it deeply.

Of course, everyone present echoed in due course, and the atmosphere was relatively harmonious.

After a delay of more than half an hour, the discussion was considered over, and the officials left.

Everyone returned to the yamen, summoned their subordinates to discuss the plan in detail, and assigned tasks for the past few days before they all relaxed.

The chief secretary is mainly responsible for the allocation of food and grass. The province's money and food must be transported to the destination on time and as needed. How to allocate it is definitely a complicated project.

In addition to distribution, it is also very troublesome to mobilize manpower. Of course, this can be called to the local government.

According to the task of the inspectors is relatively simple, they have to maintain law and order along the way and protect the military supplies from being looted and stolen.

Therefore, they had to formulate a detailed escort plan according to the arrangement of the chief secretary, and hand it over to the local government office for implementation.

Of course, they had to communicate with Jinling Dusi to let the latter dispatch troops to escort them if necessary.

The Japanese pirates are rampant in Jinling, and they have their accomplices in many places, and there are also rebels from the White Lotus Sect making trouble secretly. He Gujin's task is simple but heavy.

The ones that are really relaxed are the censors who patrol the yamen. They only need to strictly supervise and clean up corruption and favoritism.

Besides, Chief Minister Zheng Xianlin, when he was still reviewing the plans submitted by his subordinates, someone personally came to report that He Gujin was already waiting at the residence.

"What is he doing again?"

Even though he asked this question, Zheng Xianlin didn't delay, he finished the urgent matter at hand as soon as possible, and hurried back home from the Yamen.

When he came to the living room, he saw He Gujin sitting high, holding a book and reading.

Hearing the sound of footsteps outside, He Gujin put down his book and said, "Old Zheng, you are such a good friend, just let me wait for half an hour!"

Zheng Xianlin sat next to He Gujin, and took off the official hat from his head: "The yamen is busy with business, I can't ignore it!"

"Tell me, why did you come to see me?"

He Gujin was not busy talking, and waited for the tea maid to leave before he spoke: "Old Zheng... The Thirteenth Master was punished today, it's shocking!"

"Indeed!" After taking a sip of tea, Zheng Xianlin was calm.

"You said... is Lord Thirteen reliable?"

"What do you mean by that?"

He Gujin sighed, and said: "Before that kid, Jiayan, together with other juniors, hosted a banquet for the Thirteenth Master. At the banquet, the Thirteenth Master promised to keep us safe afterwards!"

"But today, Lord Thirteen has been severely punished. It seems that he doesn't have much face in front of the Holy One!"

After all, it's about wealth and life, so it's normal for He Gu to have doubts.

Lian's own son was beaten as soon as he said, and he was even beaten to death. If the emperor pursued him in the future, wouldn't it be even worse for these officials.

Unexpectedly, Zheng Xianlin was already calm, and said: "I think it's good news that Lord Thirteen was punished!"

"Holding the board high and placing it lightly shows that the Holy Majesty still approves of that one!"

"That one?"

Zheng Xianlin replied: "Isn't the imperial decree already stated? As long as the suppression of the Japanese is successful, nothing will be pursued!"

"There is this sentence? Why didn't I hear it?"

Putting down the teacup, Zheng Xianlin said impatiently: "I said Lao He, don't pretend to be stupid, the Holy Majesty has already beaten the Thirteenth Master, and the matter is settled!"

Regarding the exemption from deficit, the very cryptic mention in the imperial decree actually showed the emperor's attitude.

Everyone is smart, Zheng Xianlin doesn't believe that the old fox He Gujin can't see it.

Of course He Gujin could see it, but he always felt uneasy if he didn't discuss with Zheng Xianlin about such an important matter.

Actually, today, he didn't mainly come to ask this question.

"We have passed the level of the Holy Spirit, but the Sixth Master..."

The so-called sixth master is Zhu Jingyuan, Prince Rui. The two of them made false claims before, but they offended this master.

This is indeed a problem, Zheng Xianlin also frowned.

"Is the Thirteenth Master reliable?" He Gujin asked this question again, but the meaning was completely different.

"What do you say?"

"Not sure!" He Gujin shook his head.

As for the prince Zhu Jingyuan, they didn't count on it at all.

After being silent for a while, Zheng Xianlin said: "Thirteen Lord has a straightforward temperament, such a person is loyal..."

Zhu Jinghong's words before being sentenced gave Zheng Xianlin the confidence to make this judgment.

"We do things according to his wishes, and he also said that he will protect us well, and we can't just ignore things!"

Nodding his head, He Gujin didn't answer, he still felt uneasy.

"Jiayan made friends with the Thirteenth Master, and now the Thirteenth Master is injured, let him go to the palace to visit again, and ask about the tone by the way!"

He Gujin couldn't hold back when he heard this: "Old Zheng, why doesn't your third child go? This is not just my business!"

The most important thing is that He Gujin also felt heartbroken when dealing with Zhu Jinghong these few times.

Let’s just say that Erhouhu rented out the venue in front of him, and that was a few thousand taels of silver, which was still the friendship price he paid according to the envoy.

"My third son devotes himself to studying, but he is not good at..."

"Okay, okay, it's fine if you don't show up, you have to get some money, right?" Waving his hand, He Gujin didn't want to hear those nonsense.

"Are we still talking about money?"

He Gujin said angrily: "Nonsense, my family's money didn't fall from the sky!"

(End of this chapter)