Kou Ji saw that Xiang Yan's smile seemed to be hiding something. After thinking about it carefully, he realized that he had not done anything funny, so he didn't pay attention.
Kou Ji, Xiang Yan and his wife arrived at the main hall hand in hand.
Kou Zhun was one step ahead and sat in the middle of the main hall.
There is a table in front of you with delicious food on it.
His face was gloomy and he didn't say a word.
After Kou Ji stepped into the main hall, he asked: "What Wang Yunsheng has done in recent days, was it you who taught him?"
Wang Yunsheng is the name of the minister of the Ministry of Industry.
This old man was not a Jinshi, but was recommended by the late Wen Zhenggong Li Fang.
Under the protection of Li Fang, he had a smooth journey and got into the position of a capital official.
After Li Fang's death, he was squeezed into the Yamen of the Ministry of Industry and sat on the bench. Then he relied on his qualifications to reach the position of Minister of the Ministry of Industry.
This person did not make any great contributions to the court, but he also had no major faults.
He is considered one of those officials who do nothing.
If Kou Ji hadn't moved to the Ministry of Works and forced him to go out to work, I guess he would have been able to stay in the Ministry of Works until he resigned.
Facing Kou Zhun's cold questioning, Kou Ji raised his eyebrows and said thoughtfully: "I just ordered Wang Yunsheng to go to the Third Division to get back the farmland rights assigned to the Ministry of Works from the inner court, and didn't say anything else?"
Kou Zhun snorted coldly: "He asked Li Shen for five thousand guan for the decoction and medicine. Was it you who taught him?"
Kou Ji looked stunned.
He did tell Wang Yunsheng to ask Li Shen for five thousand guan for the decoction and medicine.
It's just that he was joking, roughly expressing an idea to Wang Yunsheng so that Wang Yunsheng would remember the blackmail.
The cost of ordinary decoction and medicine is a few or dozens of guan.
It was not difficult for Wang Yunsheng to ask Li Zhen for hundreds of guan of decoction and medicine.
But he didn't expect that Wang Yunsheng actually followed his instructions to the letter and insisted on asking Li Shen for thousands of dollars in soup and medicine expenses.
Is Wang Yunsheng out of his mind?
Or was it intentional?
Kou Ji speculated and felt that Wang Yunsheng probably did it on purpose.
He was able to sneak into the position of minister of the Ministry of Industry. Even if he has no talent or ability, his brain must be better than ordinary people.
How could he not hear the profound meaning in Kou Ji's words?
He must have done this on purpose.
Maybe he did this because he was afraid that the naughty act would tarnish his reputation, and wanted to blame the naughty act on Kou Ji.
After figuring out the connection, Kou Ji felt both angry and funny.
Secretly, Wang Yunsheng is very evil-minded.
He was the one who told Wang Yunsheng to ask Li Zhen for the money for the decoction and medicine, but he did not intend to admit it.
Wang Yunsheng cherishes his reputation, doesn't he, Kou Ji, cherish his reputation?
If he didn't cherish his reputation, would it be Wang Yunsheng's turn to play rogue, and Wang Yunsheng's turn to earn the five thousand guan?
Having an idea, Kou Ji handed over to Kou Zhun and said, "Look back to my grandfather, I never instigated Wang Yunsheng to ask Li Shen for money for any decoction or medicine."
Kou Zhun said coldly: "Then when Wang Yunsheng and Li Shen made trouble in Zishi Hall today, under cross-examination by me, why did they say it was you who gave the order?"
Kou Ji pretended to be stunned, then smiled bitterly and said: "How could I give such a stupid order? It seems that Wang Yunsheng was resentful that Li Shen's men insulted him, so he asked Li Shen for a huge amount of money for decoction and medicine, and he was afraid of his grandfather.
You scolded him and deliberately blamed me for this matter."
However, how could Kou Zhun listen to Kou Ji's lies?
If Wang Yunsheng had the courage to talk nonsense in front of him, he wouldn't still be sitting in the position of Minister of the Ministry of Industry.
Kou Zhun glared at Kou Ji and snorted coldly: "Then when we go to court tomorrow, I will personally watch the three of you confront each other."
When Kou Ji heard this, he didn't give up. Instead, he asked tentatively: "Then did Li Shen pay for Wang Yunsheng's decoction?"
Kou Zhun's old face darkened and he hummed: "After all, people fainted in the Third Division. Whether they were angry or knocked down, the Third Division is responsible. As the Third Division envoy, Li Shen failed to control him well.
Subordinates, of course, have to pay for the soup and medicine.
But it's not as outrageous as five thousand strings.
I made the decision and asked Li Zhen to pay Wang Yunsheng a thousand guan of decoction and medicine."
When Kou Ji heard this, he nodded slowly.
Wang Yunsheng touched the porcelain and got money for the decoction and medicine, which was expected by Kou Ji.
After all, this kind of thing is difficult to explain clearly.
Li Zhen was on the wrong side, so it was inevitable that he should pay for the soup and medicine.
Kou Zhun felt unhappy, shook his head, and said to himself: "It's unbecoming of an important official in the court..."
Kou Zhun really couldn't find any words to describe Wang Yunsheng's porcelain.
Obviously, Kou Zhun felt that Wang Yunsheng's behavior was beneath his dignity.
It would be nicer if Wang Yunsheng asked Li Shen for an explanation.
But Wang Yunsheng directly asked Li Shen for money, which seemed a bit inferior.
After all, asking for money and framing someone are two different concepts.
The former is shameless, while the latter is to take advantage of the opportunity to achieve a certain purpose.
The former is unpleasant to listen to, but the latter is a manifestation of wisdom.
"Bang..."
Just when Kou Ji was secretly planning how to get Wang Yunsheng to admit the matter alone.
Kou Zhun slapped the table and said angrily: "This trend must not rise. If all the old people in Bianjing City follow suit in the future, it will be chaos. I will issue an edict tomorrow to clarify this matter."
Kou Ji asked: "How does grandfather plan to explain this matter?"
Kou Zhun glared at Kou Ji and said: "Of course, I posted a notice to tell the people that the reason why Wang Yunsheng fainted was because he was pushed by the officials of the third division. It was not... not..."
I can't go on talking at this point.
Kou Ji quickly added: "I'm not being naughty."
Hearing this, Kou Zhun nodded and said loudly: "I'm not trying to be a naughty person, taking the opportunity to extort money."
Wang Yunsheng wanted fame, and the court also wanted fame.
If word got out about an important official in the court who was acting rogue and taking advantage of the opportunity to extort money, wouldn't the common people regard the civil and military officials of the court as thieves?
So I can only find an excuse to make the matter more reasonable.
I didn't know that the Yamen servant of the Third Division was unlucky and had to make sacrifices for the sake of the court's face.
After hearing what Kou Zhun said, Kou Ji already had a way to deal with Wang Yunsheng.
I am not afraid of confronting Wang Yunsheng and Li Shen in the court tomorrow.
He led Xiang Yan to sit down.
The family of three began to eat.
Kou Zhun picked up a piece of pickled vegetables and stuffed it into his mouth. While chewing, he sighed, "I am used to eating delicacies from the mountains and seas, and green vegetables in the palace. Now when I taste this pickled vegetable, it has a different flavor."
Xiang Yan smiled and said: "Grandpa likes it, so eat more. My granddaughter-in-law asked the kitchen at home to pickle a lot..."
When the ancients spent the winter, they did not have green vegetables to enjoy.
So during the winter, most people eat pickles.
Some are pickled in summer, and some are pickled in autumn.
The only place where you can eat green vegetables in winter is probably the palace.
Because there is a huge greenhouse in the palace, where various vegetables are grown, specially for Zhao Zhen, Liu E and others to enjoy.
Occasionally, some of the money will be distributed to some important officials in the court.
But not too much.
In winter, it is a symbol of favor to be rewarded with green vegetables from the palace.
It is said that when Taizong was in the court, there were two officials with equal positions. During the winter, Taizong gave green vegetables to one of them, but not to the other.
Another official noticed Taizong's dissatisfaction with him and decisively submitted a letter to resign, thereby escaping the danger of death.
According to Taizong's thoughts at the time, he originally planned to accuse him of some crimes and then exile him to Salmon Island or kill him.
It was because he was smart enough to detect something wrong in the joints of the green vegetables, so he escaped and escaped unscathed.
Of course, this is just a rumor.
Because those who can get along well enough to eat green vegetables from the palace are all important officials in the court.
But Kou Ji still doesn't know the life of the official who escaped from Taizong.
Kou Ji secretly guessed that it was probably someone who made up the story to exaggerate the special meaning of the green vegetables rewarded in the palace.
Kou Zhun tasted the pickles delicious, but Kou Ji tasted them like chewing wax.
Outside the city, he accompanied the refugees to eat rice bran and vegetables for more than ten days.
Now that he is back at home, he cannot eat delicacies from the mountains and seas, but has to eat pickled vegetables. Of course he is not satisfied.
That is, there is a plate of fried meat and a plate of stew on the table, which can barely satisfy his appetite.
Otherwise, he would definitely go back to the garden to have another meal after eating with Kou Zhun.
At the same time, Kou Ji felt that he needed to write a letter to Zhao Zhen and ask Zhao Zhen to send him some green vegetables to try.
After dinner, Kou Ji was about to go back and write a letter to Zhao Zhen, but Kou Zhun stayed behind.
Kou Zhun seemed to have something to say to him.
Xiang Yan apologized knowingly and left the main hall.
Kou Zhun ordered Kou Zhong to clear away the leftovers on the table. After the maid served him fragrant tea, Kou Zhun slowly said, "You did a good job in resettling the refugees this time..."
Kou Ji said frankly with a smile: "Actually, I also wanted to use the power of the refugees to make money and make profits, so I took the initiative to take this job."
Kou Zhun was stunned when he heard this, sighed, and asked: "Isn't my salary enough for you?"
Before Kou Ji could speak, Kou Zhun said again: "You are an official, a fourth-rank official, and you are already considered an important minister in the court. If you are sent to other places, you can be responsible for a territory.
What you should do is to benefit the court and the people.
Instead of planning the money all day long.
It's not the way to run those merchants.
Speaking of spending money, I have never seen you spend money. Not only did you not spend the family's money, but after arriving in Bianjing City, you also used the methods of merchants to make huge wealth for the family.
He also built a coin-casting workshop in Jiangling Food Town.
It can be said that even if you do nothing in the future, your money will continue to roll in.
As long as the money-making workshop exists, your children and grandchildren will have a steady stream of money to spend.
Since you have no worries about money and no shortage of money, why do you want to focus on making money?"
After Kou Zhun finished speaking, Kou Ji was about to speak, but saw Kou Zhun's face solemn.
Unprecedented solemnity.
He realized that Kou Zhun might have something to say, so he kept silent.
Kou Zhun stared at him solemnly and asked something shocking.
"Tell me, you collect so much money and don't spend it. Do you simply like money, or do you want to use that money to...rebel?"
Kou Ji's eyes widened in astonishment and he said with disbelief: "Grandpa, why do you have such thoughts?"
Kou Zhun stared at Kou Ji and said in a deep voice: "Everything you do is moving in this direction. It is difficult for me not to have such thoughts."
Kou Ji frowned slightly.
Did Kou Zhun know the role of Jiaozipu?
Chen Lin told him?
It shouldn't be possible.
If Chen Lin told Kou Zhun the role of Jiaozipu, Kou Zhun would not be able to let Jiaozipu be in his hands.
Why did Kou Zhun have such thoughts?
Kou Ji stared at Kou Zhun, his eyes full of questioning.
Kou Zhun sighed and said: "Li Di told me that the soldiers and civilians who came from Baozhou will obey your words."
Kou Ji frowned and said, "I am kind to the soldiers and civilians of Baozhou. I saved their lives when they were in need of clothing and food. All food, cloth, and land were allocated by the imperial court.
Everyone in the court knew about this.
If I need the soldiers and civilians of Baozhou to do something, they will naturally do it for me."
Kou Zhun took a deep look at Kou Ji and said solemnly: "But in their eyes, you are more important than the imperial court, and more important than the country and the country of the official family."
When Kou Ji heard this, his brows furrowed into the character "Chuan".
Kou Ji clearly understood the meaning behind Kou Zhun's words.
The soldiers and civilians of Baozhou obeyed Kou Ji's words and even only cared about Kou Ji and not the court.
If Kou Ji wanted to do something, all he had to do was raise his arms.
In an instant, countless dead soldiers rushed in front of him, charging for him and sacrificing their lives for him.
Kou Ji stared at Kou Zhun and asked, "That's it? Just because of the soldiers and civilians in Baozhou, does my grandfather suspect that I have second thoughts?"
Kou Zhun shook his head and said: "Of course it's not just these... there are also the money in the house, the money casting workshop in Jiangling, and the three major merchants in Shu. The money registered in the house's account book has exceeded 10 million yuan, far more
Exceeding the reserves of the national treasury.
It can equip two to three hundred thousand warriors.
The coin-making workshop in Jiangling is constantly casting money, in large quantities, and the copper stored in it is enough to purchase 40 to 50% of the grain in Jiangling.
For this disaster relief, the three major merchants in Sichuan will be able to deliver what you need to you on time and in sufficient quantity within three days.
Aren’t these enough?”
After a pause, Kou Zhun added, "There are also 10,000 well-equipped Tiger Army troops in Baozhou and 30,000 newly selected Baosai Army..."
Kou Ji looked at Kou Zhun solemnly.
Kou Ji carefully connected Kou Zhun's words and found that it would be really easy for him to raise an army.
There are 200,000 to 300,000 warriors in Baozhou for him to command, and the money in the palace allows him to equip these 200,000 to 300,000 warriors.
The coin-making workshop in Jiangling can provide him with enough food and grass at any time.
The three of them, Mu Chong, can transport the supplies he needs to where he needs them at any time, very quickly.
In other words, as long as there is enough financial resources to support it.
He could lead 200,000 to 300,000 warriors and defeat the Song Dynasty without having to worry about food, grass or baggage.
Of course, this is just an idealized situation.
If it was really easy to overthrow the Song Dynasty, Liao and Xixia would have overthrown the Song Dynasty long ago.