But it was said that the Rongguo Mansion finally calmed down after Jia Yuanchun's marriage visit. The masters could also take a rest, and the servants began to herd sheep without much control from the masters.
The happiest one among them is Jia Baoyu. Now everything is going well for him. Firstly, he has made an engagement with Lin Daiyu, and his worries can be put to rest. Secondly, he has his close friend Qin Zhong accompanying him day and night, which can be said to be endless.
Carefree. Now that the family visit is over and everyone is resting, naturally no one will control him anymore. It was Jia Baoyu who took Qin Zhong to meet friends in the capital during this period.
During this time, Qin Zhong followed Jia Baoyu and gained a lot of experience. He saw all the dandies in the capital. The most famous among them was Feng Ziying. Feng Ziying used to be good friends with Jia Baoyu. They had been walking with the King of Beijing.
They are very close, but due to the recent turmoil between Jia Ke and King Beijing, King Beijing has been confined at home, and their relationship with King Beijing has faded.
On this day, Xue Pan told Jia Baoyu and Qin Zhong that he was going to entertain guests at the most famous restaurant in the capital, and asked Qin Zhong and Jia Baoyu to support him first.
Now Qin Zhong and Jia Baoyu are relatively well-known in the capital. One of them is the brother-in-law of Jia Ke, the foreman of the Military Aircraft Department, and the other is the third master of the Rongguo Mansion. They are praised roles wherever they go. If they are
Now, Xue Pan's affairs will be smoother.
The main reason why Xue Pan entertained guests this time was because there was something wrong with the royal supplies they purchased last time, so Xue Pan invited the eunuch in charge of the palace to cover up the matter. He was very gentle with people, so he invited Jia Jia.
Baoyu and Qin Zhong came to take charge.
On that day, Jia Baoyu and Qin Zhong came to the elegant room of the restaurant. At this time, Xue Pan had already held a banquet, and in the middle of the wine table sat a eunuch in brocade robes. This eunuch was not like the one on the stage with a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks.
He has a majestic appearance that makes people feel intimidated.
When Xue Pan saw Jia Baoyu and Qin Zhong coming, he quickly stood up and introduced them to them.
"Two worthy brothers, this one is Eunuch Zhao, the chief eunuch purchasing officer in the palace."
After Xue Pan introduced the eunuch, he turned around and introduced respectfully to Eunuch Zhao, "Eunuch Zhao, I think you don't know these two. One of them is the third master of Rongguo Mansion, and the other is Marquis Wuyang."
My brother-in-law, we will get to know each other from now on, and we hope to take care of each other."
Eunuch Zhao glanced at Jia Baoyu and Qin Zhong, stood up and bowed his hands to them, and continued to sit in the middle without saying anything, silently.
Seeing this scene, Xue Pan was a little confused. You know that something went wrong this time. He had tried to make connections everywhere, but to no avail. Finally, he finally invited the manager, thinking of bringing Jia Baoyu and Qin together.
Zhong Jing came to put some pressure on the general manager and asked him to let the matter go. Unexpectedly, the old eunuch refused to comply.
Jia Baoyu and Qin Zhong, both of whom were ungrateful, did not see the reason. They bowed their hands to Eunuch Zhao and sat down at the table.
When Eunuch Zhao saw the two of them sitting at the table, he asked, "Two young masters, why are you here this time?"
This sentence made the two of them a little stunned. They came this time just to accept Xue Pan's invitation and said that a friend introduced them to them. They didn't expect Eunuch Zhao to ask such a question.
Xue Pan quickly smoothed things over and said: "We are all friends. We know each other this time. We can take care of anything in the future."
Then who is Eunuch Zhao? He could see through Xue Pan's intentions at a glance. But after thinking about it, since these two people are here, they can't lose their face. Besides, Jia Ke is indeed in power now. This little thing,
It's better not to disturb him.
"Since you two are here, we have to give you some face. This matter is over, but we have to tell Uncle Xue that if it happens again, we won't be able to cover it up for you.
"
Xue Pan was overjoyed when he heard this and hurriedly bowed to the eunuch.
Eunuch Zhao stood up, cupped his hands and said to them: "Since the matter has been settled, we still have things to do in the palace, so I won't disturb you anymore and I will leave."
After Eunuch Zhao finished speaking, he turned around and left the restaurant. Xue Pan followed behind him and sent him out of the door before returning.
After returning, Xue Pan kept thanking Jia Baoyu and Qin Zhong. Now they also understood what happened just now, but they did not take it to heart, but were a little proud.
I thought that because of how noble their status was, such a difficult thing would turn into nothing as soon as they came.
They didn't know that Eunuch Zhao was Wei Kun's main leader in the palace. This time, it was just for Jia Ke's sake that he let Xue Pan go.
So Xue Pan then treated the two of them with good food and drinks, and also called some famous fans to serve them comfortably.
After the banquet, someone rented a sedan to take the two people back to their home. That night, Xue Pan returned home and excitedly showed off in front of Aunt Xue and Xue Baochai.
"How big of a deal do I think it is? This won't be solved immediately. The eunuchs below just want to get some money. Now that Eunuch Zhao has spoken, they don't dare to make any further trouble."
"I was clever enough to invite Baoyu and Qin Zhong. You don't know how awesome Eunuch Zhao is. As soon as he saw Qin Zhong and Baoyu, his expression changed immediately and he agreed to my work."
When Xue Pan said this, he raised his head proudly, waiting for Aunt Xue and Xue Baochai to praise him.
Aunt Xue was so happy that she couldn't stop praising Xue Pan, thinking that he had gotten down to business this time and had made much progress than before.
Although Xue Baochai, who was sitting next to him, was smiling, he actually felt helpless at his brother's incompetence. What was his ability? If Jia Baoyu and Qin Zhong hadn't been present, then the eunuch would have done it for Jia Ke's sake.
, where is it so easy to let go.
Xue Baochai heard that this time the imperial pen used by the emperor was broken. What a big deal it was. Without Jia Ke, how could those eunuchs dare to let Xue Pan go? This means that they couldn't resist no matter how many ways they found some time ago.
For the sake of use.
At the same time, Xue Baochai's heart became more eager for power. Jia Ke's majesty made her yearn for it even more. For such a big matter, Jia Ke didn't need to come forward in person, just his brother and brother-in-law showed up and the matter was solved. She secretly thought in her heart
I have made a determination for the sake of my family. It seems that it is time for me to sacrifice. Otherwise, I will be sorry for the teachings of my father and mother over the years, and I will also be sorry for my appearance and talents.
It is said that others could rest during this period, but Jia Ke could never rest. After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the emperor reopened the seal, and Jia Ke returned to the military aircraft department and began to continue his career as a foreman.
Now Jia Ke is in the Military Aircraft Department. Although he has been squeezed out by several other military aircraft ministers, he still firmly holds the power of the Military Aircraft Department because he is the foreman of the military aircraft. Even the imperial edicts issued by the emperor sometimes need to be read.
His face acts.
Because Jia Ke had repeatedly opposed the emperor, the civil servants in the dynasty regarded Jia Ke as a traitor. However, they believed that Jia Ke had the protection of the Supreme Emperor, and there was nothing they could do to him for the time being. Therefore, everyone was tolerant. But they did not know that Jia Ke was a traitor.
Ke already had a deep rift with the Supreme Emperor.
The first thing Jia Ke did in the new year was to check last year's tax situation. This sight made Jia Ke break into a cold sweat.
Jia Ke didn't care about these things before. It's just that this year, because the Jia family spent a lot of money, he became more sensitive to money.
Jia Ke saw this year's report. The total tax revenue last year was only more than 18 million taels, which was nearly 3 million taels less than the previous year. This is not bad. If this continues, the court will not be able to maintain normal operations.
.
Jia Ke took the winning bid and looked at it carefully, and found that the land tax last year was actually two million taels less, and the total commercial tax including salt tax, tea tax, shipping tax, passage tax, and business tax was only
More than three million taels.
As the foreman of the military aircraft, Jia Ke naturally had no choice but to take care of such a serious matter. He immediately ordered the little eunuch waiting next to him, "You guys go to the Ministry of Revenue and get Liu Wan, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, to find me. Tell me that I have something important to do."
He came to report."
What Jia Ke said was very serious. Under normal circumstances, Jia Ke would invite the senior officials of these parties, but now he directly asked him to report back, which was already very rude.
At that time, when the eunuch saw Jia Ke's unkind expression, he did not dare to delay and ran out of the military aircraft office in a hurry.
At this time, the old Hanlin Meng Ming who was reviewing the memorial noticed Jia Ke's impatience. Although Meng Ming is no longer Jia Ke's ally, the relationship between the two has not worsened because of the breakdown of the alliance. This old Meng Ming is really worthy of his reputation.
He is a benevolent gentleman. Even now, he treats Jia Ke's affairs based on the facts. As long as Jia Ke does the right thing, regardless of whether it is in line with the emperor's wishes, he will give his full support.
Because of Meng Ming's temper, Jia Ke respected this old gentleman very much.
"What's wrong with Mr. Jia? Are you so angry?" Old Mengming said calmly.
As soon as Jia Ke heard Old Meng Ming's question, he put the memorial on the table and said distressedly to Old Meng Ming: "Old sir, I just looked at our annual tax last year, and it turned out to be nearly three million taels less than the year before.
, what does this household do for food? If this continues, our imperial court will not be able to survive."
When Lao Mengming heard what he said, he began to become serious. If it was really like what Jia Ke said, this would be a serious matter. The imperial court's annual income was only about 20 million taels of silver. If there were less than 3 million taels of silver,
Although we can barely maintain it, if there is a war or famine somewhere, there will be no emergency silver taels.
Meng Ming quickly stood up and came to Jia Ke's desk. He picked up the memorial that Jia Ke was reading and looked at it carefully. He didn't quite understand it at first. After all, he didn't specialize in this, but this old gentleman had something.
He was not ashamed to ask questions, but if he didn't understand something, he asked Jia Ke next to him. Later, he gradually understood, but the hands of the old gentleman holding the memorial began to shake.
Several military and aircraft ministers nearby saw the two of them whispering there, so they winked at each other. Finally, the military and aircraft minister Liu Yu, the official minister, came over and saluted Jia Ke, "I have seen the foreman, Mr. Jia. I don't know."
What are you two adults discussing here? Could you please let me listen to it?"
Jia Ke frowned as soon as he saw his appearance. This man was obviously here to get information. But there was nothing he couldn't tell others about this matter, and I'm afraid he had to let them know in the end.
So Jia Ke said to Liu Yu with a serious face: "Master Liu, you three really need to know about this matter. Otherwise, I'm afraid we won't be able to explain it to the Emperor and the Emperor."
"In this case, I am all ears."
"Our tax revenue this year has been reduced by nearly three million, do you know?" Jia Ke asked directly without talking nonsense to him. After all, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and them are all the emperor's people, so they should have heard of these things.
Liu Yu, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was shocked when he heard this. Although he and Liu Wan, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, were from the emperor, he had never heard anything about this matter. Moreover, he was missing three hundred yuan.
Ten thousand, this is not a small amount, and the court may be in turmoil.
Liu Yu quickly said: "There is such a thing, I don't know anything about it."
Jia Ke saw the astonished expression on Liu Yu's face, as if he didn't know anything at all. Jia Ke had to say to him: "On a whim, I checked last year's tax revenue and found that there was nearly three million taels of silver less than in previous years.
"
When Jia Ke finished saying these words, Lei Ying, the Minister of War, and Tian Ye, the imperial censor of Zuodu, also came over. They gathered behind Lao Meng Ming and watched the memorial together.
These two people are both capable officials. Before they finished reading, their faces had already turned red. In any case, it is impossible for the tax revenue to drop by three million at once, not to mention that last year the weather was good, even the Tatars
It is also blocked from the nine borders, and the tax revenue has not increased. How can it be so much less?
While they were discussing there, the young eunuch took Liu Wan, the Minister of Household Affairs, to the military aircraft office.
Liu Wan had already arrived at the military aircraft and bowed his hands to several military aircraft and saluted, "My lords, are you here? Do you have anything to ask?"
Before Brother Jia could say anything, Lao Mengming couldn't help it anymore. With agility that was disproportionate to his age, he rushed to Liu Wan, pointed at Liu Wan's nose and cursed: "You bastard,
Now that you're still asking us why we asked you to come, don't you have any idea?"
Then he slammed the memorial in his hand in front of him, then stared at him and said: "If you don't give us an explanation today, we military and aircraft ministers will give you an explanation." The old gentleman has now.
He was so angry that he was a little incoherent.
Liu Wan did not panic, he squatted down slowly, picked up the memorial, opened it and looked at it. This memorial was delivered by him personally years ago, but it was almost the Chinese New Year, so he did not specifically ask for this memorial.
It was important, so it was suppressed until later in the year before Jia Ke discovered it.