Brother Jiu was quietly drinking tea in the room, with a lot of thoughts, and through the light on the side of the empty partition, Hajilan took the children back to the main house after taking a bath, and suddenly the quiet room seemed to be filled with vitality.

Quietly babbling and playing, and the sleepy Rui Rui yawned as he pounced on Hajlan, muttering, "Mu, Mu......"

Hajlan was stunned for a moment, and then came to his senses, Rui Rui didn't want to enter the Wonderland Garden, right? This, this is due to inertia, right? Who called that during the time of Brother Jiu's business trip, Hajlan would take the children into the fairyland garden almost every night, and in the fairyland garden, Mu Cang played with the children throughout the whole process.

I definitely can't enter the fairyland garden tonight, I hope the children don't cry because of this, Hajlan secretly worships the Bodhisattvas in his heart. It just so happened that Brother Jiu came over, smiling and playing quietly, and in Hajilan's secret worry, the children slept quietly in the middle of the bed and fell asleep sweetly.

Clean up the deficit and accumulate arrears, and on the second day, the fourth elder brother arrived at the household department early in the morning. First announced the decree, because the original household department was dismissed, and the new household servant Shi Shilun was still on the way to Beijing, the fourth elder brother oversaw the household department, and he stipulated that the household officials should go to the yamen every day at the right time, without delay. At noon, all people eat at the ya, and all the people on duty at night wait in the signing room; All official copywriting, substitution and repetition from other provinces should be submitted to the fourth elder brother himself for reading immediately, and no overnight stay is allowed. Whenever there is a major military event, it is not only convenient but also fast. After a few articles of association, the atmosphere of the various departments of the household department, which was accustomed to procrastination, immediately became tense.

After being busy for more than ten days, the fourth elder brother already had a clue in his heart, so he played the prince and asked the prince and the minister of the upper study to give a lecture.

The prince gladly came to the household and instructed that there was no need to pass on the door, and he walked along the stone road of Yimen. I saw that inside and outside the household hall were in order, sitting or standing, and the black crows were crowded with people. At first glance, when they saw the prince stepping in, everyone stood up, knelt down in unison, kowtowed, and said, "The prince is a thousand years old!" ”

The fourth elder brother also hurriedly got up to greet the prince, and said, "I'm arranging something for them, and I'm going to come in before you come in." I don't know how to get it on the door! ”

"That's it, let's get up, everybody!" The prince smiled, waved his hand, and said, "Fourth brother, set up a seat for me next to you, you say yours!" ”

The fourth elder brother gave in, and he was no longer humble, and when he was settled, he continued: "Everyone here is a scholar, and the truths I talked about seem to be a bit of an axe. But the master thinks, killing people to pay for their lives, and paying off debts, this is a common reason through the ages. Some people say that I am overbearing and profit-oriented, but to tell the truth, this is forced. Since the royal way is not followed, it must be overbearing; Since morality is not good, it is not impossible to have stakes! ”

The fourth elder brother's eyes were blazing, and he arched his hand when he said this: "After decades of grass creation in the Qing Dynasty, I have today's prosperous situation, just like a towering tree." Today, there are national beetles and thieves, thinking that the emperor is merciful and can be bullied, so they are unscrupulous, or for the social rats, or for the city fox, they come to dig up my tree roots and eat my tree heart. Just ask, this towering tree has fallen, where do you go to enjoy the shade, there are no eggs under the nest! Every time I think of this, I push my pillow in the middle of the night and wander around the room, which is really chilling......"

It can be seen that the fourth elder brother has used a lot of brains, although these words are unclear and eloquent, but they are eloquent, and the prince is very moved when he listens to them.

"You have to clear it from our household first!" The fourth elder brother stood up and waved his hand, and said loudly, "The household yamen is known as the 'water department', and it is in charge of the world's wealth and grain, so it should be a pool of clear water!" However, I have ascertained that all but Wang Hongxu and Wailang have borrowed treasury silver. This pool of water is already filthy and stinking of copper! He took a sip of tea and instructed Zhu Tianbao, "You read the list of debts and the two taels of money owed to them on the spot!" ”

Zhu Tianbao, who stood behind him, saw the fourth elder brother's order, took out a book from the stack of documents on the case, coughed lightly, and read it aloud: "Wu Jiamo, squire, owe 14,000 taels of silver; Gou Zufan, a foreigner, owes 4,200 taels of silver; You Mingtang, a foreigner, owes eighteen thousand taels of silver; Yin Shuizhong, the principal, owes 8,500 taels of silver...... In total, the household officials owe the treasury two million seven hundred and twenty-nine thousand four hundred and fifty-eight taels of silver......"

At first, no one expected that the fourth elder brother would come to this hand, and they all turned pale and were dumbfounded, but it didn't take long for them to whisper and whisper, and the hall was buzzing, but they couldn't hear a word clearly.

"How?" The fourth elder brother looked at everyone coldly, "If the number is wrong, you can put it forward in the court, and the silver must be returned!" Wu Shilang, the new household servant Shi Shilun has not yet arrived, you are the biggest official, let's talk about it, when will your more than 10,000 silver be paid off? ”

Wu Jiamo is the oldest qualified in the household department, the original household department is still the book, according to the convention, he should be the book, he has already nested a belly of fire, seeing the fourth elder brother ask him, he got up and said: "The silver is naturally to be returned!" Please let the fourth master let me take care of my family, find a broken nunnery to settle my wife and children, and send hundreds of family members! ”

"Wu Jiamo, what are you complaining about?" The fourth elder brother knew that if he couldn't suppress this, he would immediately lose the soup when the household department was cleaned up, so he sneered, "The master asked you to take the lead, it is to fulfill your decency!" Why did you go bankrupt? Only one house in your red orchard, can you sell it for 20,000 silver? ”

Wu Jiamo arched his hand upwards and said: "Fourth master, this kind of forced debt, students study for two and a half cars, I haven't seen the previous dynasty, this is still called 'becoming a whole face', I really can't solve it!" ”

The fourth elder brother stared at Wu Jiamo coldly and said, "No debt, no body, my lord asked you to be an easy person, didn't he fulfill you?" The upper beam is not correct and the lower beam is crooked, and the household is not clear, how to clean the head? I don't care if you sell your house or land, and now I want you to pay it back, this is the first article of the opening case, when will you pay it back? ”

"Back to the fourth master, I don't have any money!"

"Good!" The fourth elder brother's face did not change, and he shouted: "Someone! ”

"In!" A few guards waiting behind the pillar heard this greeting, and immediately flashed four, and stepped forward to obey the order.

The fourth elder brother looked at Wu Jiamo and said, "Wu Shilang said that his family has no money and can't pay it back." This person has always been cunning and mean, and he can't believe it. Zhu Tianbao will take the four of you, go out and call the people from the Shuntian Mansion to check on Wu's house, leave a house for Wu Shilang, and submit the rest of the books to the official for sale, no rudeness, no recklessness! Can you hear me? ”

"Zha! Hear me! ”

The five of them agreed to quit, and the hall became dead silent, and everyone's faces were white! The fourth elder brother plucked the tea leaves with the lid of the bowl, glanced at everyone, and asked, "Who else can't afford it, please say." ”

Everyone looked at Wu Jiamo, who was sitting in a daze, who would dare to touch the moldy head of the fourth elder brother again, and was relatively speechless for a while, like a group of dumb people, everything is there.

The fourth elder brother glanced at everyone and said, "Follow the master, there is no need to think about bribery." But the master will not make you poor and lose your official body, which is not the original intention of the imperial court. The example silver that should be taken, I don't deduct everyone, the Beijing officials are not rich, and the ministers outside send ice and charcoal, talk about making up for the cooking stove, cleaning and maintaining integrity, all of which should be. In addition, if he fights for power and profit, he can't tolerate him! ”

"The four thousand silver I owe will be repaid this year." Finally, someone spoke.

Gou Zufan, who was sitting under Wu Jiamo's head, scratched his sparse hair, sighed and said, "Just pay it back, tomorrow I will ask my family to take the pawnshop in Tianjin, and it will be paid off in about half a month." ”

Then there was gossip below, some said that they would go back to the garden, and some said that they sold the house, although they were bitter and squeezed pus, after all, they all gritted their teeth and wanted to repay their debts. Only You Mingtang bowed his head and was silent, looking at the cracks in the bricks with a blue face, the fourth elder brother asked, "You Mingtang, what about you?" ”

"If you want to grit your teeth and live, who can't afford it? If you don't borrow it at the beginning, you won't die poor! You Mingtang said viciously, "As long as things are done fairly, I don't have anything to say." ”

The fourth elder brother said: "This is strange! What is unfair about the government by virtue of the national debt? Since you didn't borrow it at the beginning, why don't you learn from Wang Hongxu? ”

Everyone turned their eyes to Wang Hongxu, who was sitting at the bottom of You Mingtang and had been silent. You Mingtang snorted with disdain and said, "What do I compare with Brother Heming?" Wang Heming once studied poorly, and the protégé's tribute was tens of thousands? It's so strange to me, it's okay to be corrupt and take bribes, sitting on the sidelines and watching the fire, and taking advantage of us who borrowed money! ”

"Yes!" In the distance, someone shouted, "I'm going to go on a business trip, and I won't borrow money!" ”

Wang Hongxu leaned back and said with a sneer: "I accept stolen goods and bribes, whoever has evidence, take it out!" There is no evidence, blood is spurting people, do you think I, Wang Hongxu, am a bully? Do you want me to point out all the bribes in our household department? I want to be a good person, but everyone doesn't call me, what's the way? This person didn't care about everyone's attacks, and as soon as he opened his mouth, he was sour and spicy, and his tone was pressing, and everyone was dumbfounded.

The fourth elder brother glanced at Wang Hongxu and said, "Everyone remember one thing, if you do too much injustice, you will kill yourself!" Whoever takes bribes, Rong Ye cooks slowly, and naturally he can't escape one. Be careful, Skynet is magnificent and not leaky. Those who are corrupt will one day reap the consequences. This time it is to clean up the arrears of the world's officials to the treasury, and this matter is done, and then talk about anything else! The master only said that Wang Hongxu did not owe public money, and did not say who was guilty of bribery! ”

"The fourth master's words are wrong!" Wang Hongxu is a person who has pointed to Hanlin, and he always speaks with a bit of civility, but he is unceremoniously, he raised his hand and said, "You Mingtang provoked the incident on the spot, accused me of being a bandit, and trapped me in a Jedi, how can you ignore it?" Even before the Son of Heaven drives, I have to make it clear. In the case of Xuecha, Guo Xiu was a pearl in the past, wantonly colluding, confusing right and wrong, and reversing black and white, and he wanted to put me to death and then quickly, the case has been clarified. I, Wang Hongxu, have not been bribed by anyone in Jiangnan! As for the protégé to pay homage to the master of the house and offer celery, that is the gift of the teacher and the student, Confucius wrote, do not take it seriously, the total is only more than 100 taels, what is the meaning of corruption and bribery? I have been in the household department for three years, in charge of transporting tax silver, trickling down, poor and guarded, clean and self-conscious, and the fourth master has already seen the accounts. Excuse me, can he You Mingtang be like this? I have also borrowed treasury silver, and the court decree has been repaid on the same day, but I am afraid that they are confused, otherwise there will be no evil intentions, so there are such bastard words! ”

You Mingtang listened, pulled the wooden pestle away from Wang Hongxu, gritted his teeth and smiled: "Stay away from you, I'm afraid I will smell a little less stink!" If I also have a royal brother to support me, I'm afraid that I will be tougher than you! Your idea is academic, you should go to the east toilet and put it - don't think you're from Hanlin, I also ordered Tanhua! If I hadn't committed Mingzhu's mistake, which eye would I have to use to look at you, the fourth place in the second class? ”

You Mingtang has been talking about this for more than 20 years, and there are indeed people who are the third in the first class that day, and the examiner is guilty of Mingzhu because of his "Ming" character, and he is suddenly dethroned in the thirty places, everyone has heard of this, but they don't know that it is this stubborn You Mingtang! The fourth elder brother was originally annoyed that You Mingtang was stirring up trouble for no reason, and he was thinking in his heart whether to raid this person's home, but when he heard this tone, he muttered. The emperor's elder brother is still losing money on behalf of others, and there is no doubt that it must be the eighth elder brother. He was only surprised, where did the eighth elder brother get so much money, could he have a cornucopia? Thinking about it, the fourth elder brother sneered and said, "You Mingtang, I am also an imperial elder brother, and I haven't heard of any grandfather who advanced money!" Everyone has their own accounts, what do they do to climb others? I know in my heart how much the emperor has every year, only the short ones, how can there be any surplus? Tell me, which brother paid off the debt on behalf of Wang Hongxu? ”

You Mingtang smiled at Wang Hongxu and said, "Brother Heming, is this matter known to God and earth to you and me, do you say it yourself, or will I do it for you?" ”

"I don't say, I don't know, I didn't ask someone to cushion it!" Wang Hongxu was bitten by You Mingtang and couldn't do it, and finally became angry. According to the laws of the imperial court, the elder brother is not allowed to make friends with foreign officials, and the foreign officials have to take over their posts and ask them if they welcome the elder brother. Wang Hongxu has always despised his colleagues as a Taoist scholar, and provoked You Mingtang to come out on such an occasion, which is really like stripping his pants in public. Then he blushed, smacked "bah", and said viciously: "The prince and the fourth master are here, have I Wang Hongxu gone through your door?" Besides, my brother borrowed money himself, where did he get the money to pay for me? You Mingtang said it! ”

You Mingtang smiled, lit a cigarette on his knees and spit it out thickly, and said, "Shao'an, don't be impatient!" There are also people who haven't borrowed money! It seems that in this world, if you borrow money, you won't be hard-hearted. So, I'll pay it back now, how about it? ”

As he spoke, he took out a silver ticket from his boots, shook it open and presented it to the fourth elder brother, and said, "Fourth master, this is a ticket of 18,000 taels." I didn't spend any money I borrowed, it's all here! ”

The fourth elder brother originally saw that he was a little messy, and kept staring at him with cold eyes, trying to find a gap, but he was also stunned at this point, and was about to speak, when the prince asked: "I don't understand, since you can't make money, why did you want to borrow it in the first place?" (To be continued.) )