Wang Dehua's move scared Li Guorui almost out of his soul. Wang Dehua was the eunuch of the Dongchang Admiral, and this position was the nine-thousand-year-old Li Jinzhong's back then. Back then, Li Jinzhong stomped his feet at home, and the entire Jingshi should not be trembling in the whole world. Officials in the world, even if they are cabinet ministers, are so frightened that they can't sleep when they hear Li Jinzhong's name. Today's Wang Dehua, although he no longer has the prestige of Li Jinzhong back then, but as the eunuch of the master of ceremonies and the eunuch of the commander of Dongchang, it is not easy to find his fault. It's just that he really wants to lend 400,000 taels of silver to the imperial court as Wang Dehua said......

"Even if you wipe your neck, you can't do it!" After calming down, Li Guorui said to himself that he had made up his mind to keep his money no matter what, even if he died.

However, Li Guorui will not be killed, even if he is a fish, he is stuck in a harpoon, and he has to struggle hard, let alone a relative of the emperor?

It's just that Li Guorui couldn't think of how to resist for a while. At this time, I heard a voice say: "If the husband is troubled, why don't you go to Zhou Guozhang to discuss?" Come to think of it, this donation is not our family's business, discuss it with Zhou Guozhang, maybe there is a way. ”

Li Guorui looked back, but it was his wife Han Ruoshui. But he heard Han Ruoshui say: "Husband, if the emperor takes 400,000 from our family, how much do other nobles have to come up with?" Therefore, they will definitely help us for their own sake. ”

"I don't know about others, but Zhou Kui ...... It is difficult for him to take out even a thousand taels...... I want to see what the Son of Heaven can do to his father-in-law. Ruoshui, you are really a female Zhuge in the middle! Li Guorui first praised his concubine, and then shouted: "Come on, prepare a sedan chair for me, I want to go to Jiading Bofu." ”

……

It's just that on this day, Li Guorui didn't immediately see Zhou Kui, the Bo of Jiading, and Zhou Kui went to Zhuangzi outside the city. If it was normal, Li Guorui would most likely leave a message and agree to come back when he came. But today is different, Li Guorui knows that he has no time to delay. Immediately asked the people of Jiading Bofu where Zhou Kui was, borrowed a carriage from Zhou Kui, and hurried out of the city.

It wasn't until the sun was setting west that Li Guorui rushed to Zhou Kui's Zhuangzi in the west of the city. When he arrived at the door, he said to the porter that the Marquis of Wu Qingqing was visiting, and after a while, he saw the door of Zhuangzi open, and Jiading Bo Zhou Kui personally came to the door to greet him.

Jiading Bo Zhoukui is a middle-aged man in his forties, a slightly chubby middle-aged man, a face is quite white, if he doesn't have a beard, at first glance it looks like a young man in his twenties who is taking the exam. When Zhou Kui saw that Li Guorui actually ran out of the city to find him, he knew that something big must have happened. Then he said: "Marquis Wuqing, what happened, why did you come here at this time?" ”

"Guozhang, if it's okay, why did I come so far to find you? Something is wrong, you must help me! Li Guorui hurriedly said.

"Don't talk about it here just yet." Zhou Kui said, "Marquis Wuqing, let's go in and talk." ”

The two entered Zhuangzi, sat down in the hall, and served fragrant tea, Zhou Kui waved his hand and let the subordinate retreat, and then asked: "Marquis Wuqing, what happened?" ”

Li Guorui saw that there was no one next to him, so he knelt down and cried: "Guozhang, you want to save me!" ”

Zhou Kui hurriedly helped Li Guorui up, and asked again, "What's wrong?" Who else dares to bully my brother? ”

Li Guorui told Zhou Kui about the matter one by one, and said: "Guozhang knows, where do I have 400,000!" When the prince came to my house, I took out my treasured tea leaves and drank them with him, but he said, "My tea is more expensive than the forbidden ones." I said that I had no money, and the prince was also angry, and now, what should I do! ”

Zhou Kui didn't speak, just hugged his beard vigorously, and after a while, he spoke: "Since the saint has opened his mouth, it is not okay to take out any money." Don't embarrass the saint too much. But...... This borrowing money is still up to your ability. Originally, the family didn't have so much money, but they insisted on giving so much, but where did it come from? Could it be that Hou Ye had to go outside to borrow money from Yinzi by himself? But if you want to talk about Master Hou, you yourself are also at fault. It's not that my brother said you, you fly eagles every day, and people who don't know see it, and they don't know how rich you are. So now, even if you donate the entire family, there are still people who think that you have less money. So you have to let everyone know that you're really poor, and then we can talk to you, right? ”

"However, I have already told the prince ......," Li Guorui said.

Seeing Li Guorui so sluggish, Zhou Kui couldn't help frowning, he thought about it and felt that he had to say it more clearly, otherwise, if he didn't understand, wouldn't he teach him these things in vain?

"Master Hou, you live so happily, but how can the prince believe that you have no money? If you want me to say, if you go back immediately, you will sell the real estate in the market, and take out some flashy things in the house—not too good, but half-used and old—and sell them, as well as sedan chairs, carriages, etc., and say that this is to make up enough money, anyway, how to look poor and how to do it, understand? That's how we can talk! ”

"Got it, got it." Li Guorui hurriedly replied.

"Okay, have a meal with me, and when you go back tomorrow morning, you can do as I say." Zhou Kuidao.

……

"You Crucidian bishops can preside over the sacrifice to God?" Emperor Chongde's face was a little gloomy.

"Yes, my majesty. And between man and God, only the Church is the real and only bridge, and only through the Church can man's desires be taken care of by God. The painter Taixi, whose name was Huang Yuanli, lowered his head, and did not see that the emperor's face was wrong, so he replied.

This answer made Emperor Chongde not very happy. Because in the Jokhang Dynasty, sacrificing the Emperor of Heaven is a power monopolized by the emperor. This rule was determined by the Holy King Chengtang during the Yin Shang period. Later generations called it "Jedi Tiantong", and from then on, the emperor of China (called Wang at that time) became the only spokesman of God Haotian in the world, and it is because of this that the emperor (the king of the three generations of times) became the Son of Heaven. No one has the right to worship the Emperor except the Emperor, or with the Emperor's authorization. Even if it is the crown prince, he sacrifices to God privately, he is plotting rebellion. Therefore, among the people, all gods and goddesses have temples and incense offerings, but there are very few temples that are directly dedicated to the god of Haotian, and all of them are under official control. For example, in the Daomen, if the Jiao ceremony to be held includes the sacrifice to the God of Haotian, it must be authorized by the Son of Heaven in advance, and when the sacrifice to the God of Haotian is made, the Son of Heaven must preside over the sacrifice. In the eyes of Emperor Chongde, this is an usurpation of the power of the Son of Heaven, a denial of the sanctity of the Son of Heaven, and in fact a denial of the legitimacy of the power of the Son of Heaven. Hearing this, Emperor Chongde lost interest in holding a cross prayer ceremony.

However, Emperor Chongde did not immediately refuse, because in addition to praying for blessings and other things, he also planned to recruit a group of mercenaries who were skilled in the use of cannons through the Crucifixion. Because before that, some ministers who had a lot of dealings with the Tessie had mentioned Tessie's cannons to him more than once, and pointed out that in order to use these cannons effectively, it was necessary to have well-trained artillerymen. Several years ago, Sun Chuyang, the governor of Denglai, recruited a group of Taixi gunners through the Cross Church to guide and train artillery,、。 It's a pity that later, there was a rebellion in the garrison of Denglai, and those newly trained artillery and newly built artillery were swept away, and they all went out of the customs and threw themselves into the Tartars. As a result, the artillery of the Tartars is actually more elite and more effective than the Dazhao official army.

Emperor Chongde had always wanted to re-establish such an artillery unit, but financial constraints prevented him from realizing this wish. However, the method proposed by Xue Bingting the day before yesterday made Emperor Chongde suddenly have a way to make money. According to Xue Bingting's calculations, Li Guorui can come up with 400,000 yuan, and the other nobles naturally can't be too few, so that the nobles can get two or three million here; Then the officials should also be able to have two or three million, so that the sum will suddenly be an extra salary.

With this money, Emperor Chongde felt that he would definitely be able to suppress the Liukou, and even after the suppression, there might be some surplus of this money. In addition, after the civil strife subsides, the country's financial resources will definitely get better and better, and by that time, it will not be impossible to build new artillery. Even, it is not an extravagant hope to recover Liaodong in the future. In addition, Emperor Chongde is still a little sick and rushing to the doctor, although he is not very satisfied with some of the rules of the Cross Sect, but it seems that there is nothing to believe in a little, anyway, for the time being, the Cross Sect does not need money.

"Huang Aiqing, this means that when the ceremony is held, can I not attend it in person?" Emperor Chongde asked.

"Yes, Your Majesty, you may not participate." Huang Yuanli replied. Although it was disappointing that the emperor did not intend to attend in person, the emperor allowed them to hold a religious event related to the imperial family in the capital, even if it was behind closed doors, which had not been done in China for so many years. He couldn't help but silently pray to God in his heart, "Thank you, my God. Nothing can stop your light, O Lord, you will pull out the teeth of the dragon, and you will proudly trample the lion under your feet. ”

"Then you can perform such a ceremony in your own dwelling." Emperor Chongde said, "I've been very busy lately, and I don't have time to participate in such a thing, but I'll send an attendant to watch the ceremony." ”