No matter how stingy Lao Zhu was, he immediately fell silent when he heard Du Ze's words. He knew from the prices in the memorial the prince had just given him that Du Ze was telling the truth.
Nowadays, the monthly rent for renting a dilapidated small courtyard in Beijing starts at ten thousand dollars.
Even Lao Zhu, who didn't want to spend money, felt it was inappropriate to let a high-ranking minister of the imperial court, a second-rank official, live in a shabby courtyard.
Glancing up, Lao Zhu saw that the prince and officials below were all looking at him intensely. He gradually calmed down his anger, but he did not agree to it.
Instead, he shouted angrily, "We will discuss this matter later and withdraw from the court!"
After saying that, Lao Zhu stood up directly, shook his sleeves angrily, turned around and left.
The prince and officials were all left in Fengtian Hall.
"Your Majesty, I will send you off to the Emperor~" All the officials knelt down again and sent the Emperor off.
After the emperor left, the six ministers headed by Du Ze bowed to Zhu Biao.
"My lord, thank you for your consideration, Your Highness~"
When other officials followed and bowed to Zhu Biao, some were even moved to tears. After suffering for so many years, they finally saw a little hope.
Zhu Biao raised his hand towards the crowd and sighed: "Everyone, get up. I just found out not long ago that the price of goods in the capital has risen to the point where it is difficult for ordinary officials to survive. If I had known about it earlier, I would have told my father the emperor."
It’s done. It’s been a hard time for you all in the past few years, but now that I know about it, I will definitely persuade my father to increase his salary.”
"Thank you for your consideration, Your Highness~" No matter whether the result is as expected or not, the officials are still grateful to Zhu Biao for stepping forward to increase their salary.
After paying their respects, the officials left Fengtian Hall and left the palace.
Zhu Biao headed towards the inner palace. As soon as he reached the back of Fengtian Hall, he saw the old eunuch standing on the stone steps waiting.
Zhu Biao stepped forward and asked directly: "Where did your father go?"
The old eunuch hurriedly bowed and replied with a smile: "In reply to Your Highness, Your Majesty specially told me that I will wait for Your Highness in Qianqing Palace."
Zhu Biao nodded and walked straight towards Qianqing Palace.
The old eunuch was one position behind, following closely behind Zhu Biao.
Zhu Biao walked into the Qianqing Palace unobstructed. After passing through two palace gates, he saw his father sitting behind a long desk, and on the desk was his memorial.
"Father, son, son," Zhu Biao has not finished speaking.
Lao Zhu waved his hand directly, interrupting him. Pointing to the memorial on the desk, he asked: "Biao'er, tell me the truth, who gave you this memorial?"
Zhu Biao was stunned for a moment. This memorial was written by him himself. Of course it was
How could what was his own be given to him by someone else?
Smiling, Zhu Biao replied: "Father, you see these are all my own handwritings, of course they are my own."
"Handwritten?" Lao Zhu suddenly smiled, "So what if it was written by hand? Didn't someone give you this memorial and then you copied it again?"
Lao Zhu picked up the memorial and shook it several times towards Zhu Biao.
Zhu Biao shook his head and said: "No, I personally sent people to check the prices in the capital. If my father doesn't believe it, I can bring them in for confrontation."
Lao Zhu was slightly stunned, but he still didn't believe that Zhu Biao came up with this memorial. He threw the memorial on the desk with a snap and asked directly: "Then tell me, is there any handwriting by Han Du in it?"
Zhu Biao immediately said, of course not, but he suddenly thought of what Han Du said to him that day and hesitated.
It was this moment of hesitation that made Lao Zhu misunderstand that Han Du was responsible for this memorial.
Lao Zhu suddenly became angry and shouted directly: "It is said that Han Du will enter the palace!"
"Father, this memorial was written by my son himself, and it really has nothing to do with Han Du!" Zhu Biao quickly explained.
But Lao Zhu just looked at him coldly, pointed to the memorial and said: "This tabular format mentioned by Han Du is indeed refreshing and can be seen clearly in comparison. But you have never used this method before.
But that bastard Han Du likes to use it the most. Now tell me, father, what evidence do you have to prove that it has nothing to do with Han Du?"
Zhu Biao was dumbfounded and wanted to defend again, but was speechless.
Under the urging of the eunuch beside him, Han Du rushed to the palace almost non-stop. He was wondering what urgent matter Lao Zhu wanted to see him. He quietly stuffed a roll of treasure money into the eunuch beside him and asked him why the emperor summoned him.
The eunuch quickly put away the treasure, but did not tell Han Du why. He just said softly, "Master Hou, please wish yourself well."
Asking for more blessings? What do you mean, your sister just said half a sentence, what is it that is so serious?
Arriving outside the gate of Qianqing Palace, Han Du stood waiting.
The eunuch went in and announced, "Bring Han Du to~"
"pass!"
Han Du, who was standing outside the palace door, heard Lao Zhu's angry voice coming from inside. He could imagine how loud Lao Zhu's voice was.
Han Du looked towards
Walking in the hall, he filtered through what he had done recently. He had never done anything that could make Lao Zhu so furious.
Han Du's whole body suddenly trembled, his eyes widened, and he thought in horror, "It couldn't be that fatal thing, and Lao Zhu knew about it, right? If it's really because of Yao Yue, what should I do?"
When Han Du's face turned pale, he followed the eunuch to Lao Zhu.
"I pay my respects to the emperor, long live my emperor~" Han Du quickly knelt down and worshiped.
Lao Zhu snorted coldly, raised his hand and waved it twice. ??
When the old eunuch saw it, he immediately signaled the eunuch and maid serving beside him to go out.
When only Lao Zhu, Zhu Biao, Han Du and the old eunuch were left in the palace, Lao Zhu pointed at Han Du and cursed: "You bastard, you dare to incite the prince to present a memorial. What crime do you deserve?"
"I know." Han Du originally thought that Lao Zhu knew about his affair with Yao Yue. He was feeling uneasy. In his desperation, he didn't think of any good solution. He just wanted to admit his mistake first and take all the blame on himself.
.In this case, Mr. Zhu wouldn’t be able to kill Yao Yue, right?
But before the words came out, Han Du immediately realized that this didn't seem to be talking about himself and Yao Yue?
"Your Majesty, who did I provoke? Your Highness the Crown Prince? What did I provoke?" Han Du was confused and looked at Lao Zhu in confusion, then glanced sideways at Zhu Biao.
Seeing this, Zhu Biao had no choice but to explain: "Father, I have already said that this memorial really has nothing to do with Han Du."
It seemed like they were talking about a memorial? Han Du's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he felt relieved. As long as Yao Yue's matter was not known to Lao Zhu, it would be fine for the time being.
As for memorials, what kind of memorials? I haven't been to any memorials recently.
"You don't need to tell me." Lao Zhu glared at Zhu Biao and blocked his words.
Then he looked at Han Du, picked up the memorial, and asked: "Han Du, tell the truth, did you write this memorial to the prince and ask him to copy it?"
"No." Han Du took a look and shook his head, "I have been staying at home recently and haven't written any memorials."
Lao Zhu suddenly slammed the memorial at Han Du and said sternly: "Then tell me, how come this memorial uses all forms?"
The memorial hit Han Du's shoulder with a loud bang, causing pain.
Han Du no longer cared about his painful shoulder, and quickly picked up the memorial that fell on the ground, opened it and looked at it. He immediately shook his head and explained: "Your Majesty, this form is not only used by ministers. Now
Almost everyone in the entire academy likes to use this obvious thing. If the emperor doesn't believe it, he can send someone to the academy to check it now. The gentlemen and students in the academy like to use this recording method most when doing experiments. You can tell after a quick check.
.”
Zhu Biao spoke quickly and explained again: "Yes, my father and my son have used this method to record more than once. If my father doesn't believe it, you can send someone to the East Palace now to check what my son and I have recorded in the past.
.”
"Is it really not you?" Lao Zhu looked straight at Han Du and asked with some disbelief: "Is it really the memorial written by the prince himself?"
Han Du quickly raised his hands and shook his head, "It's really not me. I was wronged."
Lao Zhu had long been accustomed to Han Du's occasional weird behavior. He turned a blind eye and sighed, the anger in his heart gradually disappeared, and said: "It doesn't matter whether you are or not, now this matter has become a big deal."
Seeing that he had passed the test again, Han Du asked curiously: "Dare you ask your Majesty, what's the matter?"
When Lao Zhu heard this, he immediately narrowed his eyes at Han Du and smiled.
Han Du was suddenly startled and couldn't help but secretly thought: No, Lao Zhu has plotted against me. I'm such a mean-mouthed person. Why ask at this time? Isn't this asking for trouble? Han Du wanted to slap himself in the face, okay?
Long memory.
"I know that you have always been loyal and will definitely share my worries." Lao Zhu said with a smile.
He then looked at Zhu Biao and signaled, "Tell him."
Zhu Biao had no choice but to smile bitterly and said to Han Du: "Today in the morning, I will submit a petition to my father to increase the salary of all officials."
It turned out that this was the case. Although Han Du had known for a long time that Zhu Biao planned to submit a petition to increase his salary, he did not expect that he would act so quickly.
Han Du pondered for a moment, raised his head and asked Lao Zhu tentatively: "May I ask, Your Majesty, do you not want to increase the salary for all officials?"
"Of course." Lao Zhu said without hesitation.
In Lao Zhu's eyes, the inner treasury is his own, and the Taicang warehouse is also his Lao Zhu's. To increase the salaries of officials, that is to ask the Taichang to come up with more money. And it is not a small amount, but every month
Of course Lao Zhu was not willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Han Du looked at Lao Zhu who was resolute, and then looked sideways at Zhu Biao. Seeing his face pleading to him, Han Du made up his mind.
"I believe that the salaries of all officials should be appropriately increased."
As Han Du's words fell, Zhu Biao breathed a sigh of relief. With Han Du on his side, he immediately gained courage. If he was really asked to face his father alone, he really didn't have the courage.