That day, Shi Zhongkui came home from the office. Just after dinner, the housekeeper Yu Shun reported that Fang Lizhun wanted to see him.

Shi Zhongkui smiled, it seemed that the matter should be done.

After the guests were seated in the study, Fang Lishun reported, "Sir, after the report on Fan Dao, he actually ordered people to dig out the floor tiles in the tribute courtyard without waiting for a reply.

We even plan to dig a few new culverts in the Gongyuan to facilitate drainage."

Shi Zhongkui smiled and said, "Don't worry about him. When the money from the Ministry of Rites is used up and the project is not completed, someone will naturally find trouble for him."

Fang Lishun immediately breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't need to personally read the Fan Dao to avoid exposing himself.

As for those craftsmen, it is not a problem to give their opinions, but to change the layout of the Gongyuan without the approval of the Ministry of Rites is to take stock.

To talk about the important point, it is not a big deal for Shenfan Dao to damage the feng shui of Gongyuan and affect the cultural atmosphere of Gyeonggi.

Not to mention the delayed construction period, which is equivalent to delaying the preparations for the rural examination.

The Ministry of Rites cannot spare him. Anyone who fails to take the provincial examination next year will hate him to death.

In the following days, as the repair projects responsible for other Jinshis began to be completed, the five hundred taels of silver were suddenly not enough.

After receiving the news, the head of the Rites Department saw the newly dug drainage channel in the Gongyuan, and his head started to buzz.

After the matter was reported back to the Ministry of Rites, Shi Zhongkui didn't need to look for anyone. Instead, some officials started to look for trouble.

These officials, who were also Jinshis, certainly knew that Zi did not talk about strange powers and deranged gods.

But if you replace the destruction of Feng Shui with the destruction of Gongyuan culture, no one will object.

Moreover, there is no need for the Ministry of Rites to shirk responsibility. Fan Dao’s decision on his own was not only witnessed by the craftsmen, but also many of the fellow scholars who worked with him had heard about his plan to improve the drainage system of Gongyuan in the past few days.

But the Ministry of Rites did not give him permission to start the project, which immediately confirmed that he was acting on his own initiative.

Shi Zhongkui didn't need anyone to spread this matter. Some people spontaneously spread it as gossip.

There is still no result in the court, and the scholars who will take part in the Shuntianfu Provincial Examination next year suddenly become excited.

Not to mention those old talents who have been taking exams for many years and don’t have much confidence in themselves. Even those who are promising talents will inevitably feel uneasy.

In fact, there is a huge difference between being a scholar and being a judge, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it can even change your life.

-----

Shi Zhongkui was in his official hall that day, looking at the Hanlin Academy's expenditure list for August, and was having a headache as to how to legitimately make some money.

Yu Tongfu walked in with a smile and a volume of Di newspaper.

Spreading a dozen newspapers on Shi Zhongkui's slip, "Boqian, these are articles posted by various literary agencies in Gyeonggi Province to denounce Fan Dao."

Shi Zhongkui just glanced at it and lost interest.

No matter how the people say that Fan Dao destroyed the feng shui of Gongyuan, the court will only accuse him of changing the renovation plan without authorization and delaying the preparations for the provincial examination.

This crime may not seem serious, but for Fan Dao, who has not yet truly obtained an official status, it is equivalent to taking a step back before he has even started.

And this step back is tantamount to falling into an abyss.

In addition, countless scholars in Gyeonggi Province denounced the Ministry of Rites, let alone Fan Dao.

Even if he is right, he will be pushed out as a scapegoat.

Seeing that he didn't care, Yu Tongfu suddenly asked a little boredly, "Why don't we take the opportunity to step on that Fan Dao?"

Shi Zhongkui raised his head and said angrily, "It won't take a few days for this to happen. Someone will definitely guess that Fan Dao is part of my scheme.

If we join forces again at this time, wouldn't it be equivalent to confirming this speculation?"

When Yu Tongfu thought about it, it seemed that this was really the case.

The person Fan Dao really offended was Shi Zhongkui.

"That guy named Fan is just a little cheap."

Shi Zhongkui shook his head with a smile, "I remember that when Fan Dao was outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony, he wanted to express his filial piety, but Dai Quan, the eunuch, tried to perfunctory him by forcing me to accept the order.

Do you think that if there are rumors that Fan Dao and Dai Quan have a very good relationship, how will Shilin react?"

Yu Tongfu shrank and said with some fear, "Boqian, you are so sinister. You are going to dig up someone's ancestral grave."

Outsiders would not believe that Dai Quan escaped punishment for Fan Dao, it was just a coincidence.

The first reaction of more people must be that Fan Dao might already be Dai Quan's godson.

If a Jinshi carries this reputation, it is basically equivalent to renunciating himself as a scholar, and he will definitely be scolded by scholars all over the world.

There are even down-and-out scholars who write miscellaneous notes about this matter, talk about it, and publicize it.

After future generations see this, they will conclude that Fan Dao recognized the thief as his father. This is no different from digging up Fan Dao's ancestral grave.

When Yu Tongfu hurried out to spread rumors and cause trouble, Shi Zhongkui thought about it and called Yu Shun and asked him to invite Jia Lian and Jia Rong's uncle and nephew to come to drink.

When Jia Rong's daughter-in-law Qin Keqing died of illness, Jia Zhen spent 1,200 taels of silver to donate a fifth-grade dragon guard to her son Jia Rong for some ulterior motives.

Only then could Qin Keqing be buried with great honor as a fifth-grade imperial concubine.

The person who handled the matter of donating officials was Dai Quan.

Dai Quan was quite happy when he heard someone say that Fan Dao was his godson at first. He even thought about giving Fan Dao a hand, so that he would have a real person of his own from now on.

But he is actually not stupid. Taking this kind of rat that everyone yells at as his disciple is simply causing trouble for himself.

But when asked to stand up and clarify the rumors, he was unwilling.

Because Dai Quan knows very well that sometimes the more he denies it, the more others believe it, and then the scolding becomes more severe.

It even gets darker and darker.

Jia Lian and Jia Rong went to Shi Zhongkui's house. The next day they brought 1,000 taels of silver notes and invited Dai Quan to drink.

Jia Lian relayed what Shi Zhongkui said, "My father-in-law is not worried that if the scholars criticize him for too long, he will make the Supreme Emperor unhappy." Dai Quan immediately hesitated.

Then when he saw the banknote Jia Rong took out from his sleeve, he immediately understood that this was Shi Zhongkui's secret plan.

Putting away the banknote, Dai Quan said with a smile, "Mr. Liu Yuan really holds a grudge."

Jia Lian laughed and said, "It is not a gentleman to not retaliate against someone. Besides, don't you want me to buy a few acres of newly opened fertile land for my retirement?"

After hearing this, Dai Quan immediately became excited.

"I'm just afraid that Mr. Liu Yuan will have some misunderstanding about our family."

"Don't worry, father-in-law," Jia Rong walked to Dai Quan and whispered, "My second uncle is so smart, how can he not understand the principle of carrying people in a sedan chair?"

Dai Quan stared at Jia Rong with a smile, "You monkey, you didn't lie to me."

When Dai Quan and Jia Zhen were discussing buying an official position, he said in front of Jia Zhen that Jia Rong was his child.

I saw that the relationship between the old eunuch and the Jia family was indeed very good.

"How dare you, my child?" Jia Rong said sternly, "Besides, my second uncle is Liu Yuan Gong. If a person of this status speaks out, it will be thrown away. How could he use such a thing to deceive you?"

"That's good," Dai Quan laughed, "our family is waiting for your filial piety."

Afterwards, after having dinner and wine, one returned to Longshou Palace, and the other two of course went to Shi Zhongkui's house.

Within a few days, Fan Dao was charged with slandering the inner court.

This was equivalent to throwing Fan Dao into the abyss, and he was directly arrested by Dali Temple and thrown into prison.

Even if he was not deprived of his honors in the end, it still delayed his work in observing politics, and no one in the six departments was willing to accept him.

If nothing unexpected happens in three years' time, he will definitely be given a higher grade and allowed to stay in the capital to wait for a job.

Some people have waited for more than ten years, but they still haven't found a real job. No matter how rich Fan Dao's wealth is, it will be exhausted.

-----

After Jia Lian, Jia Rong and Dai Quan separated, they went straight to Shi Zhongkui's house.

The two of them had only reached halfway when the golden-haired rat who followed them started to report first.

Shi Zhongkui felt relieved when he heard that no one was following Jia Lian and the others.

Not long after waiting, I saw Jia Lian and Jia Rong in the main hall of the middle courtyard.

He casually gave Jia Rong a jar of ten kilograms of Babao wine. Jia Rong was so happy that he knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

"Good-for-nothing," Shi Zhongkui scolded with a smile, but stood up and helped Jia Rong up himself.

Even though Babao Liquor has been sold for a pound of one hundred taels of silver, it is a consumable.

People who have beautiful wives and concubines at home cannot bear to drink.

Therefore, Shi Zhongkui is not worried at all that the price of the wine sent out will be affected.

But for Jia Rong, ten kilograms of eight-treasure wine is equal to one thousand taels of silver. This is the first time in his life that he has acquired so much money, so how can he not be excited.

Jia Lian didn't care about the ten kilograms of Babao wine, after all, he and Xue Pan were always responsible for the wine.

Although he and Xue Pan could only get thirty taels of silver per catty, if one thousand catties were sold, it would be 15,000 taels of silver.

And you don’t have to worry about the money being confiscated by your family, you can use it however you want.

So much so that in recent times, both myself and Xue Pan, the top brand in the capital's fenghua land, have tried it.
To be continued...