The days when I ransacked the house in Jinyiwei

Chapter 334 Even high-ranking cabinet ministers can be sold

Liu Jin drove away Yang Tinghe, who was a cabinet member. He became even more arrogant and proud.

It was as if he had tattoos on his body. On the left cheek is tattooed "Who can compete with me", on the right cheek is tattooed "Only dance is the best", and on the back is "Invincible in the world".

Changfu study room.

Chang Feng looked at Yang Ting and Di Bao who had been transferred, thoughtfully.

Chang Ponu walked in: "Dad, Mr. Yang was kicked out of Beijing by Eunuch Liu!"

Chang Feng took a sip of tea and said, "I already know."

Chang Ponu complained: "The ministers were transferred to Nanjing, but the emperor turned a blind eye!"

Chang Feng revealed the secret with one word: "This is the emperor's brilliance. If you want to destroy it, you must first condone it."

Chang Ponu was enlightened after hearing these words: "Father, you mean that the Emperor has murderous intentions towards Liu Jin?"

Chang Feng nodded: "If what I predict is correct, Liu Jin will be defeated within one or two years."

Chang Ponu sat on the chair and said, "Dad, you are exaggerating. The emperor is at the peak of his power, how can he be defeated in a year or two?"

Chang Feng said: "Don't you know that when the water is full, it will overflow, and when the moon is full, it will overflow? When things are extreme, they will turn against each other, and when power is strong, it will fail."

"Liu Jin has gone crazy now. Dongchang has just received news that he will do three more sensational things recently."

Chang Ponu asked: "What could be more sensational than driving Yang Tinghe out of Beijing?"

Chang Feng replied: "The first thing is that the inner factory caught some evidence about Wang Yansu, the second son of cabinet member Wang Hao. Liu Jin used Wang Yansu to blackmail Wang Hao and force him to become an official."

"In a few days, Wang Hao will hand over the emperor's instructions for returning home."

Chang Ponu was stunned: "Ah! Yang Tinghe went to Nanjing, and Wang Hao was forced to leave by Eunuch Liu. Then only Li Dongyang and Jiao Fang are left in the cabinet! There are only the first assistant and the second assistant, no cabinet members!"

Chang Feng said: "This is the second thing. Liu Jin is planning to recruit someone from his own party into the cabinet."

"The important matter of selecting cabinet ministers was actually manipulated by Liu Jin into applause. Is this sensational enough? He can be said to have the constitution in his mouth, his actions move the mountains and seas, and his breath turns to frost and dew."

Chang Ponu looked at his father suspiciously: "Dad, these two things should be top secrets. The Dongchang Intelligence Network has just been established, how can we find out about such secrets?"

Chang Feng smiled bitterly: "Oh, Liu Jin didn't hide these two cabinet personnel changes at all. He didn't treat it as a secret! The news has spread throughout the circle of eunuch officials in the capital!"

Chang Ponu said: "Eunuch Liu wants to appoint someone to the cabinet? I guess it will be Zhang Cai. He has always respected Zhang Cai and calls himself 'Mr. Zhang'. When a major issue is undecided, the first person he consults is not his second assistant Jiao Fang." , but Zhang Cai."

Chang Feng denied his son's point of view: "That's wrong. The new cabinet member may be any senior member of the eunuch party or above, but it will never be Zhang Cai!"

"Because Zhang Cai has his own opinion and will not yield to Liu Jin, Liu Jin cannot fully control him."

"Besides, Zhang Cai helped me last time when I was transferred three times a day. Liu Jin knew it well."

Chang Ponu asked: "Who could it be?"

Chang Feng said: "I guess whoever gives Liu Jin the most money will be the one! Liu Jin never looks at talent when hiring people, only money. Once a person falls in the eyes of money, even if the Jade Emperor comes to earth, he won't be able to get him out."

Chang Ponu took a breath: "You mean, Liu Jin wants to sell his position as a cabinet member? Is he crazy?"

Chang Feng nodded: "Liu Jin has been crazy since Liu Jian and Xie Qian left the capital."

"Liu Jin is like a dog who can't keep two ounces of oil in his belly. When he gets his way, he goes wild."

Chang Ponu asked: "Dad, do you regret helping Liu Jin drive away Liu Jian and Xie Qian?"

Chang Feng shook his head slightly: "I don't regret it. I helped the emperor drive away Liu Jian and Xie Qian, not Liu Jin. Just like I don't regret being an enemy of Liu Jin now."

Chang Feng took another sip of tea: "I only said two sensational things. There is also a third one."

Chang Ponu asked: "Ah? There is more?"

Chang Feng nodded: "After some time, Liu Jin will issue an edict in the name of the emperor. In the four major provinces of Shandong, Zhejiang, Henan, and Huguang, guard eunuchs will be implemented to replace governors!"

"In other words, he took the most important step in replacing civilian officials with eunuchs to rule the world!"

Chang Ponu was dumbfounded: "If he does this, he will be the enemy of all civil servants in the world!"

Chang Feng said: "The words "overestimating one's capabilities" are particularly appropriate to use on him. He may be able to bring down a group of powerful civil servants, but he cannot bring down the literati group that has lasted for two thousand years."

"The eunuchs who rule the capital have already made the capital a mess. If they rule the place again, there will be no peace in the place!"

At night, Liu Jin's mansion.

Liu Yu, Minister of the Ministry of War, came to Liu Jin's study, holding a vase in his hand. The workmanship of this vase is really average, not even from an official kiln.

Liu Jin knew full well that Liu Yu was here to give him an "elegant bribe".

Liu Yu put the vase on the table: "Eunuch Liu, this vase was bought by Xianguan from a porcelain master in Jingdezhen. It is extremely rare and is specially presented to Eunuch Liu."

Liu Jin picked it up and played with it: "Oh, it is indeed a priceless good."

After saying this, Liu Jin placed the vase on the table.

Liu Yu said with a smile: "As soon as Eunuch Liu passed the hand, this vase is now yours. But the official likes it very much. Now I regret it and want to buy it back from you."

Liu Jin said calmly: "Oh? I don't want to win people's love, so I will sell it to you again."

Liu Yu took out a stack of banknotes from his sleeve and placed them on the table.

Liu Jin picked up the banknotes and looked through them roughly, and was shocked: Each one was in denomination of 100,000 taels?

He counted carefully and found that there were fifteen cards in total, and the total amount reached 1.5 million taels!

You should know that taxes in the Ming Dynasty are divided into two types: physical taxes and monetary taxes. Physical taxes account for the majority and monetary taxes account for the small portion. Last year, the imperial court's currency tax revenue was only three million taels of silver.

This return gift from Liu Yu is equivalent to half a year's cash income of Taicang's treasury?

This is the heaviest gift Liu Jin has received since becoming powerful!

Liu Jin asked: "What are you doing?"

Liu Yu replied: "I heard that Wang Hao will take office soon. The cabinet only has the first assistant and the second assistant, and no cabinet members. This is not in line with the cabinet regulations set by Emperor Taizong."

"I am not a talented person, but I am willing to share my worries for Eunuch Liu! Be bold and ask Eunuch Liu for this job."

Liu Jin understood that Liu Yu planned to use 1.5 million taels of silver to buy a cabinet minister.

When it comes to generous purchases of officials, Liu Yu was ranked first in the Hongzhi and Zhengde dynasties!

Liu Yu's qualifications are very old. In the eighth year of Chenghua, he became a Jinshi. At first, he served as county magistrate for two terms and six years, which was quite satisfactory. It’s neither too honest nor too greedy.

Later, he was transferred to the capital to serve as the censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, where he served for ten years without any promotion.

Wang Shouren attained enlightenment in Longchang. Liu Yu became enlightened while serving as Qingshui Guan'er of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. He has been unable to get promoted for a long time, and he realized it! Instead of waiting for the high officials in the imperial court to discern and promote me, it is better to take the initiative!

buy! buy! buy!

After Liu Yu realized the truth, he sold his property and collected three thousand taels of silver, which he gave to the censor of Youqiandu. Received the privilege of patrolling Shandong.

Although the rank of the patrol minister is not high, he represents the imperial court when he visits places. Local officials competed to curry favor and offered bribes.

During a trip to Shandong, Liu Yu not only earned back the 3,000 taels he spent to buy an official position, but also had an extra 7,000 taels in surplus!

Liu Yu tasted the sweetness. I want to buy a bigger official position and be greedy for more money. Buying a bigger official and greedy for more money.

His promotion to chief was paid with money. The principal's promotion to doctor was bought with money. Doctors and magistrates were paid with money. The prefect's promotion to the imperial envoy was bought with money.

The inspector was promoted to governor of Datong; the governor of Datong was promoted to governor of Xuan. Governor Xuanda was promoted to Minister of War. Everything was bought with money!

During the first sixteen years of his official career, he was not promoted. In the next twenty years, he was promoted to the sixth and twelfth level! There are promotions almost every three years.

Naturally, during these twenty years, he took bribes and bribes, and never accepted any money. Every time you buy an official position, the benefits outweigh the costs.

Today, he actually wants to spend a huge sum of 1.5 million taels to buy a high position as a cabinet minister!

In fact, only 600,000 taels of this money belonged to him.

Liu Yu created a blue ocean in the industry - crowdfunding to buy an official!

The other more than 900,000 taels of silver were collected by his old disciples in the capital and local areas.

Liu Yu made a wish to his disciples and old friends. As long as you pay, I will become a cabinet member. From now on I will reward you with a nice fat and oily job!

You only make profits and nothing to lose!

Students and old friends actively raised funds. Liu Yu finally collected the amount of 1.5 million taels that even surprised the emperor.

Liu Jin stared at Liu Yu: "You are such a courageous person!"

Liu Yu said: "Be filial to Eunuch Liu, and I won't hesitate to be demoted even if I sell my property and bankrupt my family."

"If a subordinate is lucky enough to be favored by Eunuch Liu and be appointed as a cabinet member, Eunuch Liu will be the only one who follows his lead."

"Eunuch Liu asked me to go east, but I will never go west. I am willing to be the lackey of Eunuch Liu!"

"Being able to be a dog for Eunuch Liu is the result of being a good person for ten lifetimes as a low-ranking official!"

Liu Yu's shameless words made Liu Jin laugh.

Liu Jin thought to himself: I promoted Liu Yu to the position of Minister of the Ministry of War. Very obedient to me. Now he has sent a generous gift of 1.5 million taels. It's better to just go with the flow and let him join the cabinet as a Xia official.

Thinking of this, Liu Jin smiled and said: "I have wanted you to be a cabinet member for a long time! Why do you need to give me this hard work?"

After speaking, Liu Jin raised a wad of silver notes in his hand.

Liu Yu flattered and said with a smile: "It's just that the official is too fond of this priceless vase."

Liu Jin almost forgot the steps of "elegant bribery".

He picked up the vase and handed it to Liu Yu: "Since this is your favorite, how can I take away people's love? I'll sell it to you."

Liu Yu took the bottle. The bribery steps are completed and the cabinet member business is concluded!

Liu Jin said: "I will talk to the emperor tomorrow. The emperor will definitely agree. In the past three years, the emperor has not rejected any of the suggestions on personnel appointments and dismissals I have put forward."

"Even if the emperor refuses, I can still join forces with Gu Dayong, Jiao Fang and others to kneel down and remonstrate."

Liu Jin is indeed seeking death to the end! He seems to have forgotten that when Liu Jian and Xie Qian were in office, the way to force the emperor was to kneel down and remonstrate! Emperor Zhengde is most annoying when he kneels down to remonstrate!

Liu Yu was overjoyed: "Then the future of the official depends entirely on Eunuch Liu! Thank you very much!"

Liu Jin smiled and said: "My brother, why do you need to say thank you? If you join the cabinet, let's work together to share the court's money! Haha, our court is very rich!"

Liu Jin's pattern is only so big. Even if he reaches a position where one person is less than ten thousand people, he only thinks about making money, making money, and making money.

People like Wang Zhen and his ilk at least wanted to establish military exploits and be famous in history. Although it was unable to realize it, it still brought the Ming Dynasty into the ditch of Tumubao. But he at least had that idea.

Wang Zhi's pattern is even bigger. What people want is to pacify the frontier and consolidate the country. And he has this ability. He planned Chenghua Liting and Beiqi Grassland.

Not to mention that Liu Jin is incomparable to Wang Zhi, he can't even catch up with Wang Zhen.

It can be said that Liu Yu and he have the same chemistry: "Yes, yes. From now on, I will definitely assist Eunuch Liu with all my heart and share the money of the imperial court!"

Liu Jin was delighted: "Okay, okay, okay! Let's make a fortune together."

Five days later, Dongchang.

Zhang Yong walked in angrily: "It's over, the court is over!"

Chang Feng asked: "What's wrong?"

Zhang Yongdao: "Today Wang Hao handed over the handbook of appointment. The emperor has it right! Liu Jin also persuaded the emperor, Liu Yu from the Military Reward Department, to join the cabinet to make up for the vacancies."

"What kind of thing is Liu Yu? I can see him to the end with just one glance!"

"Although he has served as a minister, his status as a minister was bought with money. He did not rise through military service!"

"I guess Liu Yu must have given Liu Jin a heavy gift! The imperial court is really about to end now! Cabinet members hold important positions in the country and can be bought and sold!"

Chang Feng took a sip of tea: "It's as expected. Eunuch Zhang, calm down. As long as Li Dongyang is still the chief minister of the cabinet, we will have a chance to strike back and destroy Jin in one fell swoop!"

Zhang Yongdao: "The emperor seems to be obsessed with Liu Jin. What does Liu Jin say?"

Chang Feng suddenly stopped smiling: "Eunuch Zhang, please don't complain to the emperor. Don't worry, the emperor is a sensible person. Liu Jin is poking holes in the Ming Dynasty, and the emperor is like a mirror in his heart."

When he said this, Chang Feng suddenly had a thought in his mind: On the surface, it seems that I am fighting Liu Jin. But whose substitute is Liu Jin? It’s nothing more than the Emperor’s. In other words, secretly I am fighting with the emperor!

This fleeting thought made Chang Feng's hair stand on end.

Half a month has passed. In the half month after Liu Yu took office, he made extensive appointments with private individuals and installed cronies. Those who helped him "crowdfund" to buy an official position began to make money by showing off their skills in lucrative jobs.

The government officials became more corrupt.

Today is Chang Tian’s thirtieth birthday.

The adoptive father Liu Jin made great arrangements and held a grand birthday banquet for his goddaughter in Liu's mansion.

In the capital, everyone from the chief minister of the cabinet to the seventh-rank petty officials came to the Liu Mansion to wish Princess Wanping a birthday.

Of course, you can’t celebrate your birthday empty-handed. There were a lot of longevity silver on the gift list, totaling more than 500,000 taels.

Chang Feng disdained to go to Liu Jin's mansion. He actually missed his sister's 30th birthday party.

At the Liu Mansion's birthday banquet, all the officials in the court rushed to flatter Chang Tian. It was known throughout Beijing that Liu Jin doted on Princess Wanping as if she were his own daughter. To please Princess Wanping is to please the emperor.

That scene was like stars overcoming the moon.

In the afternoon, Liu Jin brought Chang Tian to the study.

Liu Jin opened a brocade box: "The accountant has done the math. The birthday silver received today totals more than 520,000 taels. Just take it. With this money, you will be protected for the rest of your life."

Chang Tian was stunned: "Fifty-two thousand taels?"

Liu Jin nodded slightly: "When you got married, I had not yet made a fortune. I could not prepare a generous dowry for you. This money will be used as my supplement to your dowry."

(End of this chapter)