The eldest prince, Zhao Zheng, was pacing in the palace a little irritably, his face slightly gloomy.
An old man walked in from outside the palace. Zhao Zheng raised his head, looked at him and asked, "Have Zhao Yi's people been visiting us frequently these days?"
The old man nodded and said: "It is the New Year, and in order to cut off the arrogance and extravagance of the capital, it is normal for the censors to move around more frequently."
"A normal thing?" Zhao Zheng snorted coldly and said, "If they are walking around normally, why do they only stare at my people?"
The old man was startled and asked: "What does your highness mean..."
Zhao Zheng looked at him and asked, "I heard that the God of Money under Zhao Yi has bought several gardens in the capital in the past few days?"
The conflict between the third prince and the eldest prince has long been intensified and cannot be adjusted. They will naturally pay more attention to some important people around him.
The old man nodded and said: "The Qian family already has several properties in the capital. It is a bit unexpected to purchase these houses for no reason. The old minister has already sent people to secretly ask the former owners of those houses. According to them, Qian
The God of Wealth took a fancy to the value of these houses and concluded that they would increase in the short term. They were eager to spend money and could not wait many days, so they sold them early..."
"Is it improved?" Zhao Zheng's voice rose and he said, "I think it's just to deceive others!"
"What your Highness means is..." The old man was startled, then shook his head and said: "Your Highness should trust those adults. They are loyal to His Highness and will never be deceived by money and betray His Highness..."
"Of course I know." Zhao Zheng waved his hand and said, "I'm afraid this is another trap set by Zhao Yi. He has many tricks. If I have doubts about several adults, wouldn't it be just as he wanted?"
"I am not that stupid!" He sneered and said, "Prepare some generous gifts and send them to those adults..."
"Your Highness is wise!"
The old man cupped his hands and then slowly stepped back.
Zhao Zheng walked around the hall minding his own business for a while, then walked back to the table and sat down, with a trace of doubt appearing on his face again...
…
"I thought about it later. It would be better not to hang plaques on those houses. We can't do it deliberately and let the prince guess by himself..."
In the Qian Mansion, Qian Duoduo looked at the people below and talked eloquently: "The third prince is broad-minded. This method is useless for the third prince, but the eldest prince is narrow-minded. After this incident, even if he doesn't care on the surface,
, even if we try to cover up the favor to those families, we will definitely plant a seed of doubt in our heart. As long as we persist, water frequently, and loosen the soil more, the seed of doubt in his heart will grow into a towering tree.
…”
"When the eldest prince no longer trusts them, it's time to test you all. You don't need me to teach you how to win those people under the third prince's command, right?"
…
Qian Duoduo's small class ended here today. When everyone left, they all handed over to the God of Money.
"Master Qian has a great talk!"
"Brother the God of Wealth has a successor!"
"If this plan succeeds, the balance between the Crown Prince and His Highness the Third Highness in the court will be completely broken. By then, the Crown Prince's identity advantage will be gone..."
"First of all, congratulations to His Highness the Third Prince!"
…
After everyone left, the God of Money looked at Zheng holding the teapot and pouring a lot of money, and said: "How can you be so sure that the eldest prince will not trust them?"
Qian Duoduo smiled mysteriously: "The mountain man has his own clever plan..."
The God of Money narrowed his eyes and silently took off his shoes.
"Mountain Man?"
"A clever idea?"
"I'll let you be a mountain person and give you a clever plan!"
"Let you show off in front of me!"
After taking a beating and feeling better, the God of Money put on his shoes, looked at him, and said, "If there is any bad water in your stomach, pour it out together."
Qian Duoduo huddled in the corner, covered his head, and whispered: "Dad, this is not bad water, this is a strategy, a strategy..."
The God of Money silently took off his shoes again.
After a while, Qian Caishen touched the short beard on his chin and fell into deep thought.
Qian Duoduo looked proud and said, "Dad, what do you think of my method?"
He was indeed proud of himself. Although these methods were taught to him by Brother Li, what he taught him were all strategies used in shopping malls. After his inferences and multiple associations, he could also use them to fight for power in the court.
Yes, at least half of his hard work was involved in this.
The God of Money looked at him, turned around and walked out of the door, and ordered to the left and right: "Invite more monks and Taoists!"
…
The Household Department, one of the six departments of the imperial court, is in charge of money and food.
Among the six departments, although the Ministry of Rites is headed, the Ministry of Rites has a name but no power. The Department of Personnel, which is in charge of officials all over the world, and the Department of Husbandry, which is in charge of money and food, are the two departments with the most real power among the six departments.
Cui Jiang, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, has been quite worried recently. It is not because something went wrong in the Hubu Yamen's errands, nor is it because the eldest prince was at a disadvantage in the power struggle with the third prince.
What worried him was that it was the Chinese New Year, and several censors from the Yushitai came to his house for tea from time to time, almost treating Cui Mansion as their second yamen.
Although the Hu Bu is the most lucrative yamen in the entire imperial court, everything must be supported by evidence. Just because he is in charge of the Hu Bu, we cannot guard him like a thief. We have to add a few less dishes to our meals these days.
Afraid of being seen by the imperial censors, they accused Cui Jiang of enjoying luxury and embezzling money from the treasury for personal use...
You can't reason with these censors. Don't let them in. Wouldn't it be a guilty conscience? It's very likely that they will bring the imperial army with them next time...
Let them come in. Who doesn't know that he, Cui Jiang, belongs to the eldest prince, and that Yushitai is almost the third prince's back garden? This person is formidable. People who don't know, think that he, Cui Jiang, betrayed the eldest prince, and
These people are mixed together...
Fortunately, the eldest prince was very discerning and not only did he not question him, but also sent him a generous gift, which finally put his worries at ease.
On this day, Cui Jiang was drinking tea in his mansion. A housekeeper came in, looked at him and said, "Sir, those censors are here again..."
Before Cui Jiang finished taking a sip of tea, all the tea came out.
There is no end, there is no end!
Cui Jiang stood up angrily, with a scowl on his face, and strode out of the room. When he stepped out, the anger on his face melted away like ice and snow. He cupped his hands to the people in front of him and said, "Sir, have you had breakfast?"
Are you ready? Do you want to eat something together?"
One person bowed his hand to him and said, "Master Cui, you are so polite. I came here this time to discuss important matters with Master Cui..."
Cui Jiang smiled and said: "Several adults, please come into the room to discuss in detail."
Several people walked into the hall. A censor looked outside and said, "Bring it in."
Several servants immediately brought in two large boxes and placed them on the ground, making a heavy sound.
They wiped the sweat from their foreheads, breathed a sigh of relief, and then bowed to say goodbye.
Cui Jiang looked suspicious and asked: "This is..."
The censor looked at him and said: "Master Cui is a smart man, I won't beat around the bush. As long as Master Cui is willing to be loyal to the third prince, Master Cui will accept these two boxes of silver today."
Cui Jiang's expression changed, and his voice immediately turned cold, "What do you mean?"
The man smiled slightly: "Master Cui is a smart man and understands what I mean."
Cui Jiang sneered, "My allegiance is to your Majesty, and also to His Highness the Crown Prince. When you guys go back, please tell this to the third prince. If the third prince becomes the prince, I will be loyal to him without having to do this!"
The censor's face darkened, "Master Cui, do you really refuse to accept it?"
Cui Jiang's attitude was firm: "I won't accept it!"
…
The censor looked at him, a smile suddenly appeared on his face, waved his hand and said, "Open it."
The two people behind him opened the box, and Cui Jiang glanced at it with a stunned expression.
Where is the gold in the box? They are clearly two huge rocks!
The censor smiled, cupped his hands and said, "Master Cui is in a high position and is not fooled by profit. He is really a role model for our generation. I admire you, I admire you!"
Cui Jiang looked confused: "You guys, what do you mean?"
"When you are in the court, you have no choice but to do your own thing. Everyone is their own master. That's how it is. We just received an anonymous report. Some people said that Mr. Cui likes to accept bribes on weekdays and uses it for personal gain..." The censor looked at him and then looked at him again.
Looking at the people behind him, he smiled and said: "Look, you are unmoved by such a heavy profit, which is enough to prove that Mr. Cui is an honest official. In the future, you must not listen to rumors and slander Zhongliang!"
The person behind him immediately bowed and said: "I'm here to be taught!"
"I'm sorry to bother you, but I hope Mr. Cui won't take offense." When Cui Jiang was still confused, the censor looked at him and said with a smile: "It's inconvenient to move these stones around, so just leave them here.
, Mr. Cui, please let someone deal with it..."
Several people actually left directly. Cui Jiang stood in the hall, looked at the two boxes containing stones, waved his hands, and said impatiently: "It's inexplicable..."
