Through rough calculations, Ma Jixiang probably learned that the river yamen had embezzled a total of 1.5 million silver yuan of public funds for river control, and it might even be more.

He felt that as the eunuch of Xijing Town and the supervisor of the Shaanxi River, he would take one million

Therefore, Ma Jixiang lowered his face and said coldly: "If you don't give it, then our family can only do business and report to the Son of Heaven to thoroughly investigate the Weihe breach last year, and at that time, if Your Majesty learns the truth, maybe there will be another group of people who will fall to the ground!" ”

Bi Yuntao's face twitched, and he had already imagined Emperor Tianwu's angry expression, and then all the officials of the River Yamen, including himself, were dressed in white prison uniforms and wore big shackles on their heads, and they were pressed to the guillotine and cut off their heads.......

He shuddered coldly,

I knew you were going to be scared!

Ma Jixiang's face was calm, but he had a bottom in his heart.

He added another fire and said patiently: "Last year's Weihe break, or our family helped you cover it up, these days, I haven't seen you grateful and filial, and I don't know how to lift it!" ”

Bi Yuntao cried and said: "Ma Gong, the lower officials are willing to be filial, but you can't break the rules of officialdom!" ”

Corrupt officials also have the rules of corrupt officials, and it is a set of mature unspoken rules, before paying bribes, you must first say black words, such as "Qin Guan", that is, to send one hundred and twenty taels of silver, because there is an allusion that says: "Hangu Pass is one hundred and twenty zhang high".

"Mengjin Yidu" is to send 800 taels of silver, taken from the meaning of 800 princes crossing Mengjin to war.

In addition to black words, there are also fixed standards for the specific amount of bribes, what rank of official, what position, what matter, and how much money should be collected, all of which have hard-core standards.

Like Ma Jixiang's blatant solicitation of bribes and the use of powerful lions to open their mouths, they have already undermined the rules of bribery and harmed the interests of a large number of people.

After Ma Jixiang heard this, he smiled, and he said: "Our family is not an ordinary official, and I don't accept your set!" ”

His words are very straightforward, as a eunuch in Xijing, our family holds great power, just to give you subordinates a dismount and set up your own price!

At this point, Bi Yuntao had no choice but to bargain with the old eunuch again with a handful of snot and tears.

first cut in half, saw that the old eunuch's face was gloomy, and he was ready to attack, and then turned to 100,000 and 100,000 and cut down.

The hard work paid off, and finally, Ma Gonggong was willing to give in to 660,000 taels.

If nothing else, just for this number auspicious!

The door opened, and when Bi Yuntao came out of Ma Jixiang's room, his official uniform was already soaked.

Rao was like this, he didn't dare to delay, and immediately called the officials of the river yamen, and everyone worked together to find a way to crowdfund.

After listening to Master Bi's story, several confidant officials present jumped up one by one to varying degrees, shouting that the old eunuch was too dark!

Other officials looked at them with suspicion, they wondered if Master Bi was playing tricks and collecting extra money in the name of bribing the eunuchs to guard the town?

After all, for this kind of thing, the petty officials can't ask the old eunuch in person how much money he wants, and he will be unlucky to ask.

It can be seen that Master Bi is usually not an authentic master.

Bi Yuntao is more sensitive, and he deeply felt the suspicious gaze of his subordinates, because this is not the first time he has encountered this situation......

"Don't think about it, what Ma Gonggong wants is 660,000 silver yuan, which is still earned by the official who worked hard to win it, and he asked for 1 million silver yuan at the beginning!"

The room was silent, and several close officials still looked at him suspiciously.

Master Bi was anxious, and swore on the spot: "If my old Bi deceives you, I will be told to fall to the ground and the whole family will be raided!" ”

As soon as he said this, an official stepped forward to hold his arm and said, "Master Bi, what are you doing, why do you swear, we believe you!" ”

"Yes, Master Bi, why bother, we have worked together for so many years, can we still not believe you?"

"I believe that I believed in the ...... of Master Bi from the beginning"

A group of officials comforted me word by word, although they did not believe it, but there was no doubt on their faces.

Next, it's time to get down to business, discuss how to pool the money, and what proportion to make it up, which is the most important thing.

At this time, the most greedy for ink must be Bi Yuntao, the same acquaintance of the river, and everyone is waiting for him to take the lead.

However, Master Bi is a complete fan of money, although his family's property has 500,000 silver yuan, and he has saved 300,000 silver yuan, he doesn't even want to take out 200,000 yuan, but he just cries poorly, saying that he can give up to 50,000 silver yuan.

As soon as he cried poor, the people below also cried poor, and after some discussion, he only made up 200,000 silver yuan, which was less than one-third of the amount set by Ma Gonggong.

Master Bi saw that this ironclad would not work, and he had no choice but to squeeze out another 50,000 silver yuan, and then the officials below also reluctantly added some each, making a total of 600,000 taels.

In the end, Master Bi talked about the mobilization, and said all the good things, but no one was willing to come up with a copper plate anymore, and the crowdfunding reached an impasse.

Bi Yuntao knew the reason, and continued to persuade with emotion: "Colleagues, there are only 60,000 taels left, everyone work hard, and when you get through the current hurdle, the official will still take you to be greedy in the coming year, and get back today's losses with interest!" ”

After saying words of encouragement, Master Bi also adopted a strategy, suggesting to his subordinates that if anyone performs well today and is powerful, the dividend ratio will be increased in the coming year!

The opportunity for promotion and salary increase is just around the corner, and the official is still good at weighing the pros and cons, and someone immediately stood up and expressed his willingness to "donate" another 20,000 taels!

Master Bi spoke highly of his actions and asked, "Which other colleague is willing to sponsor?" ”

"Master Bi, the lower officials are willing, it's just ......"

One of the officials said that he likes to collect, and the money that is usually greedy for ink has long been invested in antiques, and there are a lot of antique calligraphy and paintings at home, can you pick a few and use them as collateral......

"Yes, of course!"

Bi Yuntao said that it is completely feasible, and he knows very well that a big man like Ma Gonggong, who has seen a big scene, should prefer high-end playthings such as antique calligraphy and painting to money!

The next day, on the desk in Ma Jixiang's room, there were two long brocade boxes.

Inside one of them was a stacked dragon dollar bill, and inside the other was a heavy painting.

Ma Jixiang opened the brocade box containing calligraphy and paintings, and found that the painting was several meters long, and the inscription was written Huang Gongwang and "Fuchun Mountain Residence Map".

He sighed slightly: "This painting is so long, no wonder it is so thick!" ”

A little eunuch holding up a painting said, "Godfather, this stinky and long thing is worth a few silver yuan!" ”

"You know!"

Ma Jixiang scolded with a smile, stroked the "Fuchun Mountain Residence Map" and said: "This is a good thing, it looks like it is from the hands of a famous artist!" ”

Ma Jixiang has not studied much calligraphy and painting, but he can also see that this painting is not bad, at least it has a history of hundreds of years, and there are several famous stamps on it.

Zhu Cihong is not like Qianlong, he did not stamp this painting when he got it, and he gave it to Empress Xu at that time.

After the wedding, Empress Xu collected the painting in the royal treasury in the palace as a souvenir.

Looking at this long scroll, the more Ma Jixiang looked at it, the more he felt good, he decided to keep it, and when he returned to Beijing to report on his work, he dedicated it to Emperor Tianwu, who likes calligraphy and painting, in order to gain the favor of the saint.

If the emperor dislikes it, then he will give it to Wu Zhong, the governor of the Ouchi......

In this way, Ma Gonggong, who had received the money, finally returned home satisfied, and the huge honor guard slowly walked out of the river yamen.

The officials of the river yamen once again said goodbye, still according to the same process as when they greeted them, but the firecrackers were delayed.

When Ma Jixiang's guard of honor walked out of a few miles, the eight groups of firecrackers in front of the river yamen crackled and exploded, sending off the tiger and the horse!