Ming Dynasty 1566

Chapter 45

Lanterns from the "Weaving Bureau" flashed over their heads.

The accompanying eunuch changed his usual posture of leading the way sideways, and walked parallel to Shen Yishi, occasionally glancing at his reaction.

Shen Yishi was still wearing the sixth-rank palace uniform, walking steadily, although the dust was still on his face, he was still calm, without any anxiety.

When they reached the courtyard door of the bedroom, the accompanying eunuch stopped suddenly.Shen Yishi also stopped beside him.

The accompanying eunuch: "Boss Shen, please wait a moment, I will report first."

Shen Yishi: "It should."

The accompanying eunuch walked slowly to the door of the bedroom, said a few words in a low voice, the door of the bedroom opened from the inside, and the room was filled with red light.

Shen Yishi looked at the open door quietly, and saw a transparent cicada-wing gauze curtain hanging there facing the door. Behind the gauze curtain was sitting Yun Niang, with a guqin in front of her, followed by two sounds of "Ding Dong" .Shen Yishi knew that "Guangling San" was waiting for him inside!

Then the accompanying eunuch came back slowly and looked at him: "I'm waiting, please."

Shen Yishi smiled, and walked into the door of the bedroom facing the music of "Guangling San". Shen Yishi deliberately didn't look in the direction of the piano sound, but looked at Yang Jinshui who was sitting at the round table.

But Yang Jinshui didn't look at him, turned his ears sideways, and tapped the beat on the table with his fingers, as if he was intoxicated by the sound of the piano.

Shen Yishi stood quietly, his eyes only looking in Yang Jinshui's direction.

On the round table were several stacks of delicate side dishes, three pairs of silver cups and chopsticks, and an exquisite crystal bottle, red as if it contained wine brought from the Western Regions.

After the first piece of music was played, Yang Jinshui still didn't look at Shen Yishi, but waved his hand.Shen Yishi walked over slowly.Yang Jinshui still didn't look at him, and pointed to the stool next to him, and Shen Yishi sat down again.

As soon as Shen Yishi sat down, Yang Jinshui picked up a silver chopstick in front of him and tapped it on the silver cup.

The violin stopped abruptly.

Yang Jinshui still didn't look at Shen Yishi, but picked up the crystal bottle, unplugged the crystal bottle on it, and poured wine into the glass in front of Shen Yishi.

Shen Yishi stood up.

Yang Jinshui poured the wine slowly, while reading: "Grape wine luminous cup, if you want to drink the pipa, call immediately. Jun Moxiao, who is drunk on the battlefield, how many people have fought in ancient times?" After pouring the wine, he looked at Shen Yishi.

Shen Yishi also looked at Yang Jinshui: "Eunuch is finally back."

"It's easy for me to come back or not." Yang Jinshui looked at him, "It's really not easy for you to come back this time. With dozens of ships of food, from Hangzhou to Chun'an and then to Jiande, three people came in and three out. , Didn’t lie drunk on the battlefield, what a skill! Come on, drink this cup first.”

Shen Yishi picked up the cup with both hands, but he didn't drink it right away, but looked at Yang Jinshui.

"Don't worry, it's not poisonous." Yang Jinshui also picked up the glass, "You should use luminous glasses for drinking wine. The businessman from the Western Regions gave me four of them last year. The silver cups are for you to rest assured that there is no poison in this wine." After finishing speaking He took a sip of the drink first, took a picture of the bottom of the cup, and looked at Shen Yishi.

Shen Yishi still didn't drink, his eyes were full of sincerity: "Elder-in-law, can I finish talking first before drinking?"

"It's ok." Yang Jinshui looked indifferent, "Anything is fine. Beauty tricks, dragging the knife, drawing salary from the bottom of the pot, cheating the world, any of the 36 tricks is fine."

Shen Yishi: "Eunuch, please ask Yunniang to avoid it for a while."

Yang Jinshui slowly looked at him again, and then shook his head: "There is no need to play with such nonsense. As for me, I was originally a eunuch. You sent me Yun Niang, and it was false from the beginning. There is nothing on anyone's head. You can grow green hair, but we are the only ones who can’t grow green hair on our heads. What you do behind my back can be said in front of her.”

Shen Yishi lowered his head, thought for a while and then raised his head: "I'm sorry for my father-in-law, and I'm also sorry for my father-in-law."

Yang Jinshui: "Look, it's here again, isn't it? What I said just now is not to play tricks. I've been dealing with real money for half my life, so how about some hard work?"

Shen Yishi: "Then I'll start from the beginning."

"That's right." Yang Jinshui stopped looking at him and put on a look of listening attentively.

Shen Yishi: "Eunuch, we were wrong about this matter from the very beginning."

"We?" Yang Jinshui said the word "we" very emphatically, and then looked at Shen Yishi, "Is there me in the 'we' you mentioned?"

Shen Yishi: "Both of them. Changing rice to mulberry was a dead move from the very beginning. My father-in-law didn't see it, and neither did I."

"It's interesting. Let's go on." Yang Jinshui looked at him intently.

Shen Yishi: "Actually, I saw some clues when Hu Butang was unwilling to change rice into mulberry according to the cabinet's intention. But when I think about it, there is a purpose, and it is impossible to take back what the emperor said. So I raised food wholeheartedly and waited to buy land. But when my father-in-law went to Beijing this time, Gao Hanwen, the prefect of Hangzhou, and Hai Rui, the magistrate of Chun’an County, and Wang Yongji, the magistrate of Jiande County came. Get sucked into the vortex."

Yang Jinshui: "It's not us, it's you. You are involved in a vortex, and I want to be involved too."

Every sentence is pushed back. At this time, the resolution is confrontation.Shen Yishi lowered his eyes and remained silent for a while, then raised his head again: "My father-in-law knows that according to the market price, in a good year, rice should be purchased for 30 to [-] shi for an acre of land, and even in disaster counties, it should not be less than [-] shi for rice." One mu of land. But we can’t pay that much. Because more than half of the silk weaved into silk will be used to make up for the deficit of the national treasury, and the rest of the profits will be shared by Mr. Zheng and Mr. He. Therefore, we can only use ten at most. Buying fields for one acre of stone, so that we can neither earn nor lose. We have to do such a thing, but we can’t say it to the outside world. If we can buy fields at ten stones per mu and change them to mulberry, we will work hard and can produce [-] more per year. Ten thousand pieces of silk will be recognized. But after Gao Hanwen, Hai Rui and Wang Yongji came to Zhejiang, they didn't know the inside story, so they insisted on buying the land at the market price. Father-in-law, let's not say whether we can afford to pay or not. It is impossible for me to take out so much cash and buy hundreds more ship rations all of a sudden.”

Yang Jinshui obviously accepted these words, and his attitude softened: "This is the truth. Sit down and talk."

"Thank you, Eunuch." Shen Yishi just sat down, looked at Yunniang behind the gauze curtain, and then at Yang Jinshui.

Yang Jinshui thought for a while, then turned to look at Yun Niang behind the gauze curtain: "Play your piano, one after another."

Yun Niang stood up slowly behind the gauze curtain: "I'll go out."

"No price." Yang Jinshui elongated his tone, "If you play your own tricks, it's as if the two of us didn't exist."

Yun Niang had no choice but to sit down again and bounced up.

Together with the sound of the piano, only Yang Jinshui and Shen Yishi could hear the voice.Only then did Yang Jinshui turn to look at Shen Yishi again, with deep pain in his eyes: "It's been a few years, and you know better than anyone else how I've treated you. I haven't told you less about the imperial court and the officialdom. This time, why did you team up with Zheng Michang and He Maocai to hide from me and use Yunniang as a trick for beauty? How dare you pretend to buy fields and provide food under the brand of the Weaving Bureau? Which of these two things? You, Shen Yishi, shouldn’t have done it. If you did one thing, you’re looking for death. What’s going on? I can’t figure it out. I haven’t slept for several nights, and I’ve been waiting for you to come back today with your head on your back to explain clearly. You said, what is the purpose of doing this?"

Shen Yishi: "For my father-in-law, but also for myself, so that we can get back together."

Yang Jinshui looked at him closely.

Shen Yishi: "Elder-in-law was not in Hangzhou at the time, and the situation changed. Gao Hanwen came, he was from the old school of Xiaoge, Hai Rui came, and Wang Yongji was recommended by King Yu to the Ministry of Officials. It is obvious that King Yu, Mr. Ge, and Mr. Xiaoge are competing with each other on the matter of changing rice to mulberry. If Gao Hanwen came and pressed Hai Rui and Wang Yongji to follow the original strategy, it would be them. The higher-ups are arguing with themselves, and our weaving bureau just wants to buy silk from the land. Unexpectedly, when the governor’s office was discussing matters, Gao Hanwen would not agree to buy the land at the price of ten shi. This is clear, King Yu and the others do not want to lose public opinion. I want to use this incident to bring down Yan. Both Mr. Yan Ge and Mr. Xiao Ge also saw this, and they didn’t want to bear the notoriety, so they sent Gao Hanwen, who was engaged in Neo Confucianism, to make up for the deficit of the national treasury. The people from King Yu’s side caught the braids, so they planned to put the bad reputation on our weaving bureau. Considering that the palace and the emperor were involved, no one in the court and the public would dare to say no.”

Yang Jinshui nodded: "That's the reason. What about Zheng Michang and He Maocai? They have been involved from the beginning, so they don't have to bear any burden?"

Shen Yishi: "Not to mention these two people, they are just two bitches in the officialdom! At first, they wanted to please the imperial court, and they could take advantage of it, so they dared to do anything, such as stepping on green crops, destroying dikes and flooding fields. Wait until Finding that the situation was complicated, he panicked again. He put all his heart into pushing the people sent by Mr. Xiaoge and King Yu to the front, but also wanted to push our Weaving Bureau to the front, and they hid behind. Looking at which one Even if the sky falls, it won’t be able to hit them.”

Yang Jinshui: "So I asked you to recruit Yunniang to use her as a trick to force Gao Hanwen to go to the front?"

Shen Yishi: "Yes."

Yang Jinshui: "Since Gao Hanwen has been dealt with by you, why can't you change rice to mulberry?"

Shen Yishi: "Because King Yu and the others are more powerful."

Yang Jinshui: "How do you say?"

Shen Yishi: "I don't know where they found this Hai Rui. He put his life on the line when he came, and suddenly helped Gao Hanwen in the lobby, and even found out about the flooded fields. Seeing blood, Zheng Michang, He Maocai was forced to do nothing."

Yang Jinshui: "Are they just trying to force that Hai Rui to go ahead?"

Shen Yishi: "Yes."

Yang Jinshui: "Then tell you to buy fields with the lantern of the Weaving Bureau, and push the Weaving Bureau to the front to do it?"

Shen Yishi: "Yes."

Yang Jinshui: "You just followed them and did it without telling me?"

Shen Yishi thought for a while, but still replied: "Yes."

Yang Jinshui was startled, and looked at Shen Yishi directly.

Shen Yishi: "What I'm doing is to let the court know in the future that all their affairs are done without telling the truth."

Yang Jinshui seemed to understand something: "Go ahead."

Shen Yishi: "My father-in-law think about it carefully. In order to change rice into mulberry, first the dikes were destroyed and the fields were flooded, and then a big case of corruption was carried out. It has reached such a point that Mr. Yan Ge, Mr. Xiao Ge and Yu Wang, Xu, Gao Zhang, Zhang, and the others will have to fight to the death in the court sooner or later. At that time, whoever understands more will be inseparable from the relationship. The more who is being concealed, the more irrelevant will be."

Yang Jinshui rolled his eyes up, thinking sharply there.After a while, he looked at Shen Yishi again: "You mean that you used the lantern of the Weaving Bureau to pretend to buy fields at the beginning, and you deliberately kept me from knowing. Let me play a book to the imperial court, and then borrow the grain. The imperial court Would you even believe that I didn't know about this from beginning to end?"

Shen Yishi: "If you do this, you will cause some troubles for the father-in-law, but at worst you will be reprimanded. But in the end, the ancestors and the emperor understand in their hearts that all this has nothing to do with the father-in-law."

Yang Jinshui understood everything in his heart at this moment, and he looked at Shen Yishi with mixed feelings.Then, he looked at Yun Niang who was still playing the piano: "Stop playing. You go out first."

The sound of the piano stopped, Yun Niang stood up slowly, without looking at the two of them, and walked out slowly.

Yang Jinshui picked up the glass of wine in front of Shen Yishi with both hands, and handed it over: "We have lost our homes since we were young. To become such a person, we only talk about two words. We must be loyal to our superiors, and we must be loyal to friends. The old man Shen, I didn't miss you as a friend. Drink it, let's talk."

Shen Yishi took the wine glass with both hands, drank it slowly, and when he put down the glass, his eyes were a little wet.

Yang Jinshui also looked a little sad, and sighed: "It's not easy for you to follow me these few years. The business in the palace is big, and you don't need to pay taxes. Everyone outside is looking at how much money you make. But you pay it It’s a lot more than what you earn. In order to save face, I gave Yunniang to me. How much care you have lost and how many responsibilities you have taken, I understand it all today. I will reward you with something, and you are not lacking. In this way Come on, take Yunniang back today."

"Eunuch." Shen Yishi's voice suddenly rose, "I will never take Yunniang back. Every day Eunuch is in Hangzhou, she will serve Eunuch all day. When Eunuch returns to the palace, if he wants to take her away, he will take her away. If I don't want to take her away, I will prepare a dowry and let her choose someone to marry."

Yang Jinshui stared at him: "What? Do you think she has lost value after being with me for a few years?"

Shen Yishi immediately stood up: "My father-in-law said so, and I, Shen Yishi, feel even more ashamed."

Yang Jinshui: "What's the fate between you and me? If you say it higher, you will recognize me as a godfather; if you say it lower, I will recognize you as a brother. Let me tell you, as soon as I come back this time, I will let Yunniang move out to live in the house." Yes. She has also been appointed as my goddaughter. With this glass of wine we have also appointed her, so you can be my godson-in-law."

Shen Yishi's already wet eyes were filled with tears at this moment: "Elder-in-law really doesn't dislike it, I will worship my godfather right away." He lifted up his gown, knelt down, and kowtowed.

Yang Jinshui looked at him: "You despise her?"

Shen Yishi wiped away his tears and stood up: "Godfather got it wrong, she detested me."

Yang Jinshui: "No way?"

Shen Yishi: "I understand better than my father-in-law what she thinks. She has taken a fancy to that Gao Hanwen."

"How could it be?" Yang Jinshui was stunned, "You have been friends for several years, and you are still raising her family. Just this time she just met Gao Hanwen and fell in love with someone else?"

Shen Yishi: "Yunniang is a high-minded person, following me, she felt aggrieved."

Yang Jinshui: "What's so high-minded? The Qinhuai River is full of such bitches! If she dares to live in Nanjing and think about Beijing, I won't be the first to spare her."

Shen Yishi: "Father-in-law! It's not easy for her to serve her father-in-law for me these past few years. Considering this, you should really treat her as your daughter."

Yang Jinshui looked at him and sighed: "You are at a disadvantage. You have a scheming face and a soft heart."

Shen Yishi picked up the crystal bottle and poured wine for Yang Jinshui, handed it to Yang Jinshui with both hands, poured wine into his own glass, and took it up: "After so many years, I've been short-sighted. Say something to make my godfather feel weird." If so, one day if it is possible, I am willing to cut off my descendants and go to the palace with my father-in-law to serve as an errand."

Yang Jinshui was stunned: "How can you think like this! The Jiangnan Weaving Bureau has to rely on you for the imperial court. Listen to your godfather, let's pass this hurdle, and I will tell my ancestors, I will ask you to earn a decent reputation. It’s a salt factory copper mine, work hard, and honor your ancestors.”

Shen Yishi: "I hope there will be that day."

Yang Jinshui: "Why didn't there be that day? I will write a book for my ancestors today, explaining the matter clearly from the beginning to the end. Who has merit and who has done it, the ancestors know in their hearts, and the emperor also knows in their hearts. Let's give food relief It's all to save face for Long Live Lord. But changing rice to mulberry still has to be done. No matter what, let them tear up this mess. Let me show you that the people from Jinyiwei have already arrived, and things will happen one by one If the change of rice to mulberry is disturbed by them, the two beasts Zheng Michang and He Maocai, as well as Gao Hanwen, Hai Rui and Wang Yongji, none of them can escape!"

Shen Yishi just listened silently.

(End of this chapter)