If Xia Qing could think of a way, he would have proposed it long ago. Can he wait until today?
However, he suddenly had an idea. Isn't this a good time to dig a hole?
"Your Majesty! There is no good way for a humble minister, but there are definitely some officials in the court who can think of a way."
He is ready to kick the pot out again. He is a civil servant. As long as he comes up with ideas, others will do it.
The emperor couldn't help but get annoyed at Xia Qing's pushback. If there were officials in the court who could come up with a solution, why would he be so agitated?
Xia Qing himself was incapable of this, but he was quite capable of diverting misfortune to the east.
"I asked you to think of something, but you want to blame this matter on others?" the emperor said angrily towards Xia Qing.
Huh! Min Feng is still kneeling outside, but Xia Qing still wants to shirk the matter. Why doesn't this make him angry?
Now he is worried about the border salary issue, and the cabinet does not want to solve it. It will only deal with those trivial matters to try to stop him.
He didn't know that he had so many idle people. They were all officials who just stretched out their hands to get their salaries but ignored everything.
"I see that you are very idle every day. I wonder what the officials in the cabinet are doing. Do you think I am raising you just for free?"
Xia Qing trembled when he heard this. He had forgotten his current situation and just pushed away troublesome things out of habit.
He lowered his body to the ground, not daring to look up at the emperor's furious expression.
"Your Majesty, please calm down! Weichen is also trying to find a solution. As the saying goes, three cobblers are worth one Zhuge Liang. With more people, there are more solutions. Please allow Weichen to go back and think about it carefully, and I will give you a reply after I go to court tomorrow.
.”
Xia Qing planned to go back and think about it carefully. After all, there were still a few staff members in the government to discuss it. One person could calculate the shortcomings and the other two should calculate the faults. It would be better than being forced to give an answer now!
The emperor tried his best to suppress the anger rising in his heart. In fact, he also knew that if the whole government and the public could not solve the problem, how could it be solved by one person?
He nodded and said, "Then I'll give you one day to give me an answer after the court tomorrow."
Xia Qing couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the emperor opening his mouth.
The emperor didn't say how much money he would need, so it all depends on Xia Qing's ability.
It’s not that the treasury cannot be touched. As long as you think of a way, you still have to worry about whether the money that goes out of the treasury will not be returned?
"Your Majesty, what about Min Feng?" Xia Qing said this and glanced at the Emperor carefully.
The emperor smiled coldly, "What? You do love this apprentice very much, but if he deceives me, I will always punish him. Otherwise, how can you block everyone in the court? Just let him kneel like this!
Tomorrow I will rest at home for a few days and find someone else to take over my errands at the Hanlin Academy."
After the emperor finished speaking, he shouted outside. De'an heard the shout and quickly entered the imperial study.
"Your Majesty! Do you have something to tell me?" De'an glanced at Xia Qing, who was kneeling in front of the imperial cabinet, and thought to himself, the master and the disciple are both in trouble!
They're all still kneeling! It's been an hour since the first assistant came in. Could it be that they've been kneeling until now?
The emperor told De'an about what he had done to Min Feng just now, and asked him to inform Zhang Hai.
Even though Xia Qing was unwilling to do so, there was nothing he could do. When Min Feng would come to the Hanlin Academy to take charge, it would depend on when he would resolve the issue of border wages.
If it weren't for Xia Qing, the emperor would definitely give Min Feng a lesson, and it would be very possible that he would be demoted one level. But the emperor wanted Xia Qing to work for him, so he would naturally let Min Feng go.
"Who is that person you are talking about?" After a long pause, the emperor's voice suddenly sounded.
Xia Qing was stunned. He thought the emperor would not ask.
He was hesitating. What he just said has made the emperor very dissatisfied. If he told that person, would the emperor think that he was waiting for an opportunity to retaliate? The estrangement against him would deepen even further, so what should he do?
To say that he has no selfish motives, it is certainly not possible. However, he has also heard rumors that Gu Chengyu's methods of amassing money are very clever.
The Gu family was originally just a farmer, but Gu Chengyu led them to become rich, which shows that they are quite capable.
"I'm asking you! Who is that person? Who in the court can think of a good idea?"
The Emperor had a vague suspicion in his mind that Xia Qing could probably tell that person. The two had known each other for decades, and they knew each other quite well in terms of temperament and temperament.
Xia Qing was determined to retaliate, and he wanted to take revenge on Gu Chengyu even if he couldn't help it. He planned to reprimand Xia Qing severely when he told Gu Chengyu.
But then, he thought about the last time the second brother mentioned that Gu Chengyu could make money.
The emperor thought about it for a while, and then Gu Chengyu might be able to find a way to solve the problem of border wages. What's more, he might even be able to solve the problem of the emptiness of the treasury.
When the emperor thought about it, he felt that it was very feasible.
"Your Majesty! In fact, the person Wei Chen wants to recommend is Gu Chengyu. The Emperor is also aware of his abilities, or maybe he has a good idea? Besides, I heard that his family also has a soap recipe, which makes a lot of profits every year.
"
Xia Qing had already heard that the soap recipe in Gu Chengyu's hand was very profitable, so he was naturally jealous.
.It's a pity that he also has a backer behind him, and that is Gu Chengyu's senior brother Yin Kun.
Yin Kun belongs to the Inspectorate. Although he is a third-rank official, the Inspectorate has special powers. The officials in the court are most afraid of the Inspectorate, and the most fearful thing is the Dali Temple.
The duties of the Supervisory Yuan are exclusive inspections, with hundreds of officials, and they are the yamen for the emperor’s ears, eyes, and conduct.
Those censors spent the whole day looking for faults in the civil and military officials, catching a few of them, and biting them like mad dogs.
Court officials generally won't offend them, otherwise they can dig out all the trivial matters in the inner courtyard of your house and read them for you.
Therefore, Xia Qing inquired about it early, and although his eyes were hot, he still did not dare to move.
If Gu Chengyu knew about this, he would be glad that he came to the capital and gave 10% of the profits from the soap to his senior brother, otherwise those officials would have taken action on the soap recipe.
When the emperor heard this, he sneered. Xia Qing did not forget to step on Gu Chengyu until now. It was a pity that as an emperor, how could he seize the livelihood of his ministers' families? Wouldn't this make the world laugh?
Besides, soap is not a necessity of life. Only those family members with extra money will buy it.
It takes a long time to buy one piece, and the money earned is just a drop in the bucket for the treasury. He looked at Xia Qing, maybe he had his own thoughts?
Of course the emperor knows about soap. The Ministry of Internal Affairs once purchased it. It is indeed very useful.
It's just that the Gu family is a farming and educated family and it's impossible to become an imperial merchant, so he didn't put any thought into it.
"I'm afraid you are interested in the profits from Gu's Soap, right? As the king of a country, if I take away the family wealth of my officials, wouldn't I make the world laugh at me?"
The emperor had long known that Xia Qing loved money, which was a major weakness of Xia Qing. As long as it wasn't too much, he would naturally turn a blind eye.
He does not dare to use ministers who have no weak points. Those people usually have more goals.