Chang'an, there is never a time when the wind is calm.

There are always some undercurrents surging under the cover of prosperity and tranquility, or waiting for an opportunity to move, or following like a shadow.

Pouring and competing, you come and go, never die.

……

Summer is coming, and the refugee camps outside the city are not enough for the refugees to shelter, and when the weather is hot and there are more people, it is easy to cause heat stroke to the refugees, and it is not necessary to cause the plague at worst.

The imperial court did not dare to be sloppy, and Chang'an ordered Yin Shang to ask for funds to build a refugee shed.

As soon as the new Chang'an Ling Yin Wu Zhongbai's fold was handed over, the right eyelid of the new Hubu Shangshu Du began to twitch.

Since he took office, he has never lived in peace, staring at the huge and complicated accounts in those rooms, and then looking at the ups and downs in the unified account book, whenever someone asks for what kind of appropriation the imperial court has, it is tantamount to taking a sharp knife and slashing at his heart.

In the past few months, Gu Qingxuan and Yin Jiheng have raised a large amount of money for the imperial court for disaster relief, but the silver has been allocated to various disaster areas, and only a small part of the silver is used to resettle the victims under Chang'an City. Even if the household department is continuing to raise money, it is always a drop in the bucket, at most it can solve the urgent need of the moment, plus spring ploughing, sacrificing to the sky, building a cemetery, rewarding soldiers, rewarding meritorious heroes, etc., a sum of expenses is like flowing water, and the household department is really overwhelmed.

What made Du gradually despair was that the emperor approved Wu Zhongbai's request, and asked the Ministry of Household to allocate money to the Ministry of Industry after approval, and build a people's shed as soon as possible.

As soon as the early dynasty dispersed, before Yin Jiheng could go to Gu Qingxuan to accompany him, Gu Qingxuan was dragged by Du Gradually.

He dragged Gu Qingxuan's arm and pulled him aside, shook his finger and pointed and poked at Gu Qingxuan, who was full of confusion, and complained: "Lord Gu, Lord Gu, I didn't offend you in Xia Pingsu, did I? I didn't have any grudges against you, did I?"

Gu Qingxuan shook his head sincerely and said, "No, Lord Du treats people well, how can he have any leisure with his subordinates?"

He slapped Gu Qingxuan's arm and said, "Then why did you recommend me to be the secretary of the household department? Do you know that this can make me miserable!"

"How can it be? Isn't it good to let your lordship be promoted? The emperor asked me to recommend a suitable candidate, and the lower official also racked his brains to think of you, the adult is indeed the most suitable, looking at the court, the lower official really can't think of anyone else who can compare to the adult you, Lord Du, don't be embarrassed to get off the official." He looked even more aggrieved and complained.

"I'm embarrassed for you? Master Gu, it's clear that you're embarrassing me! Is this household department treated by people? It's not! It's so bad that others are still greedy, thinking that there is some kind of oil and water to fish, how can there be! They all say that my surname is not good as an official, and I am busy doing business and collecting money, saying that I have fallen into the eyes of money, how do they know that I have really fallen into the eyes of money when I enter the household department! I have never been so sad about doing business for so many years, and I am under a lot of pressure to pick a penny or two? After a while, the emperor will use the money, a people's shed will be built for a while, and a disaster relief grain will be allocated for a while...... The emperor asked me if I couldn't say that I had no money, and it was better to break my teeth and swallow it in my stomach than this......"

Du Wanwei was planning to catch Gu Qingxuan and complain desperately, all kinds of complaints poured into Gu Qingxuan like a river, and he was dizzy.

Gu Qingxuan patted the back of his hand, signaled him to be calm, and said to him: "Master Du, don't complain, do you think that what you are complaining about is only your hardship in the past month? Do you know that this is also the normal state of Gu Mou's more than ten years in the household department? I have survived, you can hold on for a while." ”

Du Wanwei wrapped his arms around his arm, his eyes widened, and he said with a resolute expression: "I don't care, Master Gu, you have to give me a move, otherwise I can only go bankrupt to make up for the deficit of the treasury, so I will make one last effort for Daqi, and I will resign after I am done!"

Gu Qingxuan shook his head helplessly and sighed, and said to him: "Lord Du, as for it? Are you still bankrupt? There has always been only corrupt officials who have emptied the treasury, how can they put their own private money into it? If you really post it, the lower officials don't know whether to say that you are the number one loyal minister of Daqi or the number one joke in Daqi officialdom." Okay, don't worry, think about it, there's still a way......"

He hurriedly asked, "What way?"

"Why don't you let the officials think about it......" Gu Qingxuan looked around anxiously, as if he didn't have any idea for a while.

Turning his head and his gaze fell on Du Wanwei again, he suddenly realized, and said happily: "There is! Master Du, you really came up with a way!"

Du gradually wondered: "I came up with a way?"

Gu Qingxuan looked around again, confirmed that no one was paying attention, and then said to him in a deep voice: "Yes, you said that the matter of subsidizing the treasury just inspired me, in fact, think about it, this is okay! I mean, you can let other officials use their own money to fill the treasury, but now the country is poor and the officials are rich, like Lord Du, there are a lot of colleagues like you who are leading the court and doing business outside, right?"

"What does that mean, and how could they be willing?" Du Wanwei wondered.

Gu Qingxuan continued: "What if you exchange your official rank with them? The imperial court openly sells officials, do you say they buy it or not?"

Du gradually felt like a thunderbolt, and then came back to his senses a little, and said, "Gu Qingxuan, are you crazy?"

Gu Qingxuan smiled indifferently: "Do you look like it? Master Du, at this special juncture, you have to be crazy, the method that Gu Mou thought of for you may be able to make you go straight to Zuo Sicheng, do you believe it or not?"

There was a flash of light in Du Wanwei's eyes, obviously tempted by him, "You can talk about it in detail." ”

He paused, thoughtfully, and said, "Well, I thought about it for a while, and there has to be someone to advocate this matter with you, Master Du." How about we go to him and tell him what we're trying to do?"

"Master Gu, who do you mean?"

He replied, "Doctor Yin." ”

Hearing this, Du Wanwei's expression changed slightly, anyway, he couldn't escape Gu Qingxuan's eyes, he patted Du Wanwei's shoulder and said, "Master Du, I know that you are reluctant to share the credit of others, but this matter is really without Doctor Yin, because it will involve Yushitai." ”

How can he be missing? There is no one who should be involved.

Du gradually waved his hand and said: "How can you be reluctant? As long as you can work for Daqi and solve your urgent needs, it doesn't matter who you take this credit for, it really doesn't matter." ”

……

They moved forward, continued to walk out of the palace, caught up with Yin Jiheng's carriage outside the palace gate, and went to the Yushitai with him. In the main hall of the Yushitai, the three of them were alone, and Gu Qingxuan told Yin Jiheng the ins and outs of it, and expounded all his ideas.

Yin Jiheng and Du Jianwei were deeply shocked when they heard it, and immediately drew up an excerpt, and the three of them jointly wrote a book, wrote a good presentation, and sent it to the palace.

In the afternoon, the emperor summoned these three ministers in the imperial study, Yin Jiheng was the first, Du Wanwei was on the side, Gu Qingxuan retreated to the back, but became silent, and let the two of them show their magic in front of the emperor, and impassionedly played specific plans to the emperor, as if every sentence and every word was completely from their mouths for the first time.

The emperor listened to Yin Jiheng and Du Wanwei's performance, and he was constantly amazed, and he was overjoyed at the moment, and immediately allowed them to play it, so that they could make a detailed presentation and prepare to promulgate it tomorrow.

Not only that, but the emperor, who was particularly pleased, praised and rewarded the three of them on the spot, and none of the words of praise mentioned Gu Qingxuan, but when he said the reward, Gu Qingxuan obtained more treasures than the two of them combined.

Gonggong Jin whispered to the emperor next to him, and it seemed that there was something wrong with such a reward.

The emperor seemed to recall what he had just said, and said, "Oh, it's a little wrong...... But you don't joke, since I've said everything, can I still take it back? No, it's not right, it's rewarded. ”

The three people in the hall knelt down and saluted together, and Gu Qingxuan's expression was the same as before: "Weichen thank my emperor for his grace! Loyal to my emperor, God bless Daqi!"

It seems that it is never difficult to understand which is more important and which is more important, which is stupid and which is clear.

……

The next morning, the emperor issued a "retribution order", announcing that the imperial court had officially begun to "sell officials".

Soon, Du gradually was promoted to Zuo Sicheng.

……

This selling official is not another selling official.

The "Reward Order" promulgated by the Great Qi Imperial Court clearly marked the price of each vacant position and openly sold it.

However, the sale was limited to the official registered officials of the imperial court, including foreign officials at all levels in various places.

The so-called "retribution" is naturally to repay the court with silver.

The specific rules are as follows: the "Decree of Validity" is promulgated on the same day, and it can also be banned by the emperor's decree at any time. All registered officials of the imperial court were able to participate in the transaction. In fact, this is most conducive to those officials who have been demoted and removed because they have made small mistakes before, such as those who are innocent but are implicated by others and demoted, those who are demoted because of their ministers' advice, and those who are demoted because they offend the royal family, etc. These officials can all declare to the Imperial Observatory and exchange the corresponding value of silver for promotion, and get the official position they want.

Not all officials who buy officials with money can get their wishes, and each of them must first pass the review of the Imperial Historical Observatory and the Ministry of Officials, and then be personally approved by the emperor before they can be sold.

If more than one official bids for the same official position, the Imperial Historical Observatory will review the official's performance and select the best one.

During the implementation of the "Reporting Order", the special inspection department of the Imperial Observatory was responsible for examining the officials who bought officials, with Yin Jiheng, the imperial historian, as the general coordinator, Qin Yongnian, the chief inspector of the imperial history, and the three supervising imperial historians, including Gu Qingxuan, as the assistant inspectors.

After all, this is a special method used at a special time, and there are all the drawbacks and potential negative effects of the "retribution order"; among the hundreds of officials, even if a few people are aware of it, they will not say it, because they all know that this will hurt the interests of many colleagues and offend Yin Jiheng.

Yin Jiheng naturally knows the pros and cons, so he, like Gu Qingxuan, is not fully responsible for this matter, and pushes all the main affairs to Qin Yongnian, on the surface, because of his deep qualifications, and the implementation of the "service order" must be presided over by him, but in fact, he is to blame, Gu Qingxuan pushed it to him, and he pushed it to Qin Yongnian, and he took the credit for his good reputation, but Qin Yongnian was under negative pressure.

Most of the things in the court are like this. As an official in the court, weigh the pros and cons, protect oneself wisely, and advance and retreat freely, in order to be exquisite and stand tall.

But there is one person who will not do that.

In the evening, Qiao Huai'an entered the palace to face the saint and traveled with the emperor in the imperial garden.

The emperor listened to the cicadas quietly, walked on Hua Mo, and asked Qiao Huai'an: "Mr. has been watching the Yushitai for a few days today, what do you think of the effect of this "service order"?"

Qiao Huai'an followed him, turned his eyes and looked at the thick recital book on the stone table in the Lan Pavilion behind him, and also knew that the emperor had been working hard recently, and it was really rare to have such a little time to enjoy the cool at night.

But he is even more happy about this, since the fall of Lu Yuanzhi, there is no such powerful courtier above the court, and the important affairs of the state are finally decided by one person, even if this situation is not reliable for a while, and the emperor has successfully taken the first step as a real emperor - pro-government, his intentions can be seen.

Qiao Huai'an replied: "The excerpt of the household department should have been sent to Your Majesty, Your Majesty naturally knows what the results are, why bother with it?"

The emperor looked back at him with a smile: "I am indeed very pleased with the presentation of the Hubu excerpt, but what about the Yushitai? Bystander, I think Mr. is here to remind me of something, right? ”

He said: "There is no reminder, listening to Your Majesty's words, Weichen also knows that Your Majesty is clear in his heart, so he will have no worries." In the past few days, although the Imperial Historical Observatory has been busy, but the actions are efficient, everything is in order, and the inspection matters are very thoughtful, Lord Qin is worthy of being the old man of the Imperial Historical Observatory, with a keen judgment and thoughtful thinking, with him presiding over this matter, Your Majesty can rest assured. ”

The emperor looked down at the deep flowing river in the imperial river under the bridge, and said, "I don't worry, it's also because Mr. is in the imperial history platform." As for Qin Yongnian...... Bitter him, bitter him......"

Qiao Huai'an knew what he meant, and glanced at him, having a tacit understanding, Qiao Huai'an said: "It's just that all my colleagues in the Yushitai have been busy these few nights." ”

"Busy with what?"

He replied: "I'm busy entertaining, I don't know how many times have everyone in the special inspectorate eaten at this time and received a few car gifts......?

The emperor smiled: "Well, I also expected this, but I thought, Gu Qingxuan can also think of it." ”

Qiao Huai'an thought for a moment and nodded: "He can naturally think of it, maybe he originally wanted it." ”

The emperor said: "At this time, Lord Gu should also be very busy......

Qiao Huai'an replied: "Yes, as Your Majesty thought, Lord Gu should be seeing someone at this time. ”

"Who?"

He paused, looked at the emperor's face, and replied: "Today, Li Yongcheng and Li Guozhang went to the Yushitai to find Dr. Yin, and Dr. Yin happened to be absent, so he went to see Lord Qin, and then handed over invitations to the three inspectors of the special prosecutor's department, inviting them to eat and drink. ”

"Li Guifei's father, Li Yongcheng, what does he want to do? He also wants to buy an official?"

Qiao Huaian said: "He's a lot older, and he's definitely not asking for himself." I'm afraid that some officials' political achievements are really not good, or they have violated the law too much before, and they want to take this opportunity to spend money on promotion, so they can only hope that the review on the side of the Imperial Historical Observatory will be relaxed a little, Li Guozhang is the brother-in-law of Doctor Yin, such a close relationship, coupled with the face of the Imperial Emperor, it is very useful to ask him to open up the joints of the Imperial Historical Observatory. ”

"Hmph. He couldn't help but snort coldly and flicked his sleeves: "Even if I had guessed that they would aim at the Imperial Tower, I still didn't expect them to move so fast." That's it, that's it, let them play, I want to see how Master Gu will deal with this kind of thing?"

……

The next morning, the emperor listened to Qin Yongnian's affairs, flipped through the details and list of officials submitted by the special prosecutor, and paid special attention to Gu Qingxuan's measures and attitude, but saw that he did not have anything abnormal.

The other two Overseers were struggling to recommend those officials to him, and even made a few special requests for him to approve those promotions or exemptions.

After the emperor asked Yin Jiheng's attitude, he approved it, and a large amount of silver was filled into the treasury, which solved the urgent need of the household department. Du gradually was overjoyed, and personally promoted Zhang Lin to the former household lang, and he himself sat in the position of Zuo Sicheng.

……

A few days later, Gu Qingxuan took several boxes of treasures and entered the palace to meet him, and wrote to the emperor in the imperial study to report Li Yongcheng for bribing the imperial history platform to supervise the imperial history, colluding with others to sell officials, and making huge profits from it.

Li Yongcheng was summoned to the palace, and when he saw that the things he used to bribe before suddenly became evidence against him, he didn't expect Gu Qingxuan to rebel and become angry, thinking that there was Li Guifei in the harem, and the emperor would not be too strict with him, so he was a little arrogant, and denounced Gu Qingxuan for slander in front of the emperor.

Gu Qingxuan explained his crimes one by one, pointed at him and reprimanded him impassionedly, "Li Guozhang! You relied on His Majesty's grace to take advantage of opportunism, corrupt my imperial officials, and poison the officialdom! You are the real heinous! What do you regard as a court official? Are you a prostitute? If you have money, you can get on the job?"