Yan Maoqing was reviewing his official career when a eunuch walked in.

He and Chen Hong were old acquaintances, and they were originally called brothers, so he squeezed out a smile and said, "Gonggong Chen, Your Majesty asked you to announce me?" ”

Chen Hong didn't pay attention to him, and said with the tray: "I am ordered to ask." ”

Yan Maoqing's heart was cold, and he lamented, Your Majesty didn't see me! But the movement was not slow, and he quickly knelt down.

Chen Hong sent the tray to him and said, "Yan Maoqing, you have read this, do you have anything to say?" ”

Yan Maoqing picked up the papers, looked at them one by one, and the more she looked at them, the whiter her face became, and beads of sweat began to appear on her forehead. To this day, he finally understands that he was raised by the group of bitches in Suzhou!

Although Yan Maoqing has been an official for many years, he has always enjoyed Qingfu in the capital, and he has never been pragmatic all day long. He doesn't know anything about the more complicated tax and accounting matters. When I arrived in Suzhou, I didn't know how to carry out my work.

But it doesn't matter, he was warmly welcomed by the big families in Suzhou, and countless people came to give gifts every day to show their loyalty to him, which made Yan Maoqing deeply intoxicated, and finally understood how cool Zhao Wenhua was at the beginning.

However, after staying in Kyozato for a long time, he also has a strength that others can't have, that is, his understanding of factional struggles is far more comparable than others. He firmly believes that once the son of heaven and a courtier, if he wants to live a smooth life, he has to let the people below obey his orders. The best way is to find out the big ones who were not treated in silence and promote them, and they will naturally be grateful and look only to their own horses.

In this world, there are those who gain, there are those who suffer, there are those who are satisfied with the status quo, and there are those who are dissatisfied with the status quo. He believed that he would definitely be able to find such a person, so he sent someone out to inquire to see which big families were suppressed and excluded during the silent office. Later, I found out that the Lu family and the Wang family, the old big families in Suzhou, under the rule of Shen Mo, one almost disappeared, and the other begged to complete the net grandson.

Come on, that's it! He found the principals of the Wang family and the Lu family, and explained his meaning a little, and sure enough, he immediately won the allegiance of the two families. Especially the Lu family, he could feel the burning anger of revenge, which made Yan Maoqing believe that he could fully trust the family.

So, in the future, he relied on the two families, the Lu family as the main family, and the Wang family as the auxiliary, and delivered everything to himself, and he only took care of the general direction. What made him proud was that with the efforts of the Wang family and the Lu family, the Suzhou boundary quickly returned to calm, and the phenomenon of strikes and market strikes never appeared again.

And the two families did their best for his great cause of corruption, and every month a whole shipload of silver was delivered on time! Yan Maoqing was also worried at the beginning, saying: "Will it be too ruthless?" ”

The two families clapped their chests and said, "Don't worry, this silver has not been recorded at all, and no one knows." ”

"When the time comes, it will be much worse than last year, and it will be difficult for the emperor to explain it." Yan Maoqing was not completely dizzy, and he still knew how powerful the emperor of Yanjing was.

Lu Jiong, who was in charge of the Lu family, smiled and said, "Maybe something will happen next year, but this year will be fine." ”

"How?" Yan Maoqing asked.

"After Wang Zhi was captured by Wang Bengu, those minions of his minions lost their restraint, and there was no order at sea, and under the rampant piracy, the trade was seriously damaged, which is also reasonable." Lu Jiong said with a smile: "At this time, there are pirates who are responsible, and the adults hand them over less, and no one will be held accountable, and there is no way to hold them accountable." ”

The prince in charge of the Wang family also chimed in: "Yes, my lord, this is a golden opportunity, once the king over there is dead, the two sides will be completely broken, and the trade route will be broken; Or Wang Zhi is not dead, he is let out, and as soon as normal order is restored, then what should we do...... At least not so much. ”

Yan Maoqing thought about it, it makes sense! Later, he wrote to tell Jingli that Yan Shifan also thought so, so he indulged the two families to embezzle taxes on a large scale, and he lived a life of poverty and luxury, drunkenness and death until the moment he woke up...... Now it seems that these two people have played themselves like monkeys from the beginning! It's just pushing Lao Tzu into the fire pit! Yan Maoqing couldn't help but hate the root of his teeth, but he really couldn't understand, what were they trying to do this? Why do you want to do such a lack of virtue that harms others and is not beneficial to yourself!

But before he had a chance to ask questions, he had to answer the emperor's questions first, and to stabilize his mind, Yan Maoqing took out the words of Yan Shifan's instructions and said: "Back to Your Majesty, the minister is confused, and the minister is being fooled; The minister is ignorant, and the minister mistakenly believes in the villain; The minister wishes, and the minister is framed. Then he leaned down and bowed, and said no more.

Chen Hong had no choice but to turn back and relay Yan Maoqing's words to Jiajing, Emperor Jiajing was silent for a while when he heard this, and finally waved his hand and said, "Let him come to see me." ”

After a while, Yan Maoqing followed Chen Hong in, but he didn't see the emperor, only a layer of white veil.

And he bowed three times to the curtain, and when he had finished shouting long live, he began to weep aloud...... He was not arrested and entered Beijing, so he was still a third-grade officer in a scarlet robe, so naturally he did not have the consciousness of a prisoner.

Jiajing raised his hand, Li Fang supported his back with one hand, and put a pillow on the back of the chair with the other, allowing the emperor to sit on it, so that he could see Yan Maoqing outside.

For the silent crying, Jiajing was unmoved, and said in a very peaceful tone: "I have been cultivating for decades, and my heart has long been like iron and stone, and you can't even cry down the Great Wall." ”

Yan Maoqing's crying stopped abruptly, and he sobbed: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Weichen's wishes!" Wechen is here to avenge his grievances! ”

"Are you wronged?" Jiajing snorted coldly and said: "I handed over a good city to you, and in less than half a year, the income was cut off, Yan Zhongcheng, the appetite of you and your master is awesome!" ”

"Wronged! Emperor! Where did Yan Maoqing dare to admit it, and defended in a loud voice: "Since the arrival of the lower officials, he has worked hard and exhausted, and in order to complete His Majesty's entrustment, he has tried his best and broken his heart, but unfortunately he still failed to complete it in the end...... But it's not because of greed for ink or anything, but because Wechen has been in office for less than half a year, and he still hasn't figured out the way of the Yamen and the City Division, so he let the people below take advantage of the loopholes, and do illegal things under the banner of Wechen, collude inside and outside, and evade taxes! He kowtowed heavily and said: "It turns out that Weichen is not a talent in the feudal territory, so that the country's tax money has been lost in vain, the minister is guilty, and the minister is willing to give all his family property to make up for the loss!" ”

"What a clever remark!" Jiajing's tone became stern: "Clever words, fresh and benevolent!" "These are the words of Confucius, saying, 'Eloquent talkers, every good thing!'

Yan Maoqing lay there and said, "Weichen doesn't dare to have any other thoughts!" ”

Jiajing snorted coldly: "It's useless for you to say anything, no matter what else you do, the city has made such a big deficit, it's enough to cut your head eight times!" ”

Listening to the emperor's assertion, Yan Maoqing couldn't help but tremble secretly, but he knew that this was not the time to be honest, if he didn't fight, he might not be able to turn it over in this life!

"Your Majesty!" He said loudly: "Suzhou officialdom is not a single day of corruption and dereliction of duty, and the ministers are deeply affected by it, and they can't issue government orders at all, and they can't understand the situation. In the past six months, Weichen's energy has been focused on how to rectify the officialdom, and he really lacks skills," he said with a reluctant face: "I wanted to catch the government in the first half of the year, and then grasp the market in the second half of the year, and get the tax up!" Who knew that the villain was making trouble, and he actually attacked Wechen at this juncture, so that Wechen was speechless!! "This is the usual back-and-down rake used by officialdom hooligans, and Yan Maoqing has already used it perfectly.

Jiajing was a little dizzy when he said it, rubbed his swollen head and said, "If you really have so many grievances, why don't you play to me?!" ”

Yan Maoqing was silent.

Jiajing's temples jumped suddenly, and it seemed that the sky was spinning a little, and he had to use all his strength to spew out two words: "Talk back!" ”

Under the roar of Emperor Jiajing, Yan Maoqing's heart was broken, and he forced his trembling body and said: "Su Song's officialdom is already shocking, the collusion between officials and businessmen, and the collusion of officials and gentry, are intertwined!" Lingchen didn't dare to deal with it carefully! The minister doesn't want to and doesn't dare to be that sinner who misled the country! ”

After a while, Jiajing's headache got better, and he let out a long breath and said, "You are not in the cabinet, let alone the first assistant, and it is not your head to mislead the country." ”

This is an allusion to Yan Ge's old age! Yan Maoqing was taken aback and didn't dare to say anything more.

Jiajing said coldly: "A city in Suzhou can be greedy for a million taels in half a year, two capitals and thirteen provinces in the country, salt, tea, copper, iron, gold, silver, cotton yarn, how much do you add up?" Yan Song's head is really worthwhile, you follow Yan Song, it is indeed better than following me! ”

Yan Maoqing was completely shocked, he couldn't believe his ears, could it be that this day, is it really going to change?

No, absolutely not! There are no eggs under the nest, and Yan Ge Lao must not fall! Yan Maoqing secretly gritted his teeth, mustered up his courage, raised his head, and replied passionately: "Your Majesty, the ministers have the sincerity of their hearts to drain their blood!" ”

"Speak!" Jiajing leaned his back back on the recliner again, and the seizure had exhausted all his strength.

"My Ming Dynasty has a territory of thousands of miles and a hundred trillion people, and it is really difficult for Yan Ge Lao to look at the people of this country for the emperor!" Yan Maoqing said impassionedly: "I don't say anything about it, I don't say it if it's too much, let's just say that in the first half of this year, in the first month, I answered that I crossed the glacier from Hexi to Shanxi, and millions of soldiers and civilians in Shuntianfu were short of food; In February, there was a famine in Henan; In March, there was a famine in Shaanxi; In April, there was another famine in Shanxi; In May, there was civil strife in Dongchuan Tusi; In June, the Jiangxi refugees rebelled and attacked the Tai River, and the Sichuan Miao people rebelled and invaded the Huguang boundary. In the same month, there were earthquakes in Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Ningxia, killing and injuring soldiers and civilians. ”

Listening to Yan Maoqing's chanting, a string of mourning sounds broke out, and Emperor Jiajing began to have a headache again, leaning on the recliner and barely continuing to listen.

I only heard Yan Maoqing continue to speak generously: "What's more, the southeast anti-Japanese war has reached the decisive moment again!" The state affairs are so difficult, and they all rely on the support of Yan Gelao. His old man tried to tell me that 'governing a big country is like cooking a small fresh', if there is no such old way, I am afraid that the world will be chaotic immediately! At this time in the country, it is not possible to say that there is no strict age! Emperor! ”

After a pause, he said again: "Now the emperor suspects that Yan Ge is greedy for ink, and the ministers dare not tell lies in front of the living, so they can only tell the truth - in today's world, none of the officials in the world are clean, and if everyone is drunk and I am sober, and everyone is turbid and I am clear, then he will immediately be regarded as an outlier and be excluded from the inner circle." It's not to slander the ancestors, it's just that the world has changed over time, and the price has risen several times compared with the beginning of the country, and the salary set by the ancestors has been too low and too low in this era, and the salary is too small. ”

"Weichen, the governor of Su Song, others dare not say it, but I also have to say that the family is Xu Ge Lao of Songjiang, Xu Ge Lao is known for his reputation, and his reputation in the government and the opposition is very good, but His Majesty may not know that in fact, his family is the leading landlord. In his father's generation, it was just a small master bookkeeper, and the family had dozens of acres of paddy fields. The Xu family's huge family business was all earned by Xu Gelao! "According to Yan Shifan's arrangement, Yan Maoqing began to pull people into the water, if you dare to deal with our strict elder, then you have to go with Xu Gelao! Yan Maoqing sighed and said: "The minister said this, not to exonerate Yan Gelao, let alone to exonerate himself. I just want to ask Your Majesty to think twice, whether it is important to investigate and deal with the embezzlement of ink, or to get through the current crisis first, and then conduct a thorough investigation at the appropriate time, even if it is the crime of the elder of the strict pavilion and the micro-ministers, we have no regrets! ”

Yan Maoqing's remarks fully proved that although he was not good at government affairs, he was a first-class expert at intrigue and sophistry, and it was no wonder that he was able to become a backbone member of the Yan Party -- his seemingly reasonable remarks used at least two sophistry techniques: one was 'alarmist,' which exaggerated the crisis, exaggerated the role of Yan Gelao, and exaggerated the officials' greed for ink, so that the listeners had the illusion that 'the crisis is overwhelming, Yan Song is extremely important, and the greed for ink is nothing'; Confusing concepts' makes people listen to the illusion that 'sparing Yan Song is sparing Yan Maoqing, and punishing Yan Maoqing is punishing Yan Song'.

Over there, Emperor Jiajing was so troubled by his long and complicated statements that his brain was in a state of confusion that he had completely forgotten his original plan, and he didn't even know what to say.

Li Fang saw that something was wrong with the emperor, and hurriedly said softly: "Your Majesty, it's time to practice." "It's all like this, what's the point? Li Fang said this, but it was just a decent statement for the emperor.

When Jiajing touched his forehead, he was already covered with sweat, and knew that he couldn't hold it anymore, so he had to nod slowly. As soon as his mood relaxed, he closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

Li Fang saw that Yan Maoqing was still kneeling outside, and hurriedly whispered: "Your Majesty, what should Yan Maoqing do?" ”

"Put it back first, he can run......" Jiajing said the last sentence, his physical strength had been used to the limit, and he suddenly felt that everything in front of him was blurred, and he fainted in front of him.

Li Fang and the eunuchs who were waiting were shocked, but fortunately, he was old and serious, and he could control the scene, forcibly suppressed the panic, and said to the outside in a calm tone: "Yan Zhongcheng, Your Majesty is beginning to settle down, you kneel down." ”

Yan Maoqing was overjoyed, and said in his heart that Xiao Ge Lao was really amazing, and he even guessed what I said and how the emperor would react. He breathed a long sigh of relief and said secretly: 'Finally passed this pass', and went out happily.

In the Yuxi Palace, the imperial doctor who came in a hurry was busy for a while, and finally dared to say to Li Fang: "Father-in-law, don't worry, Your Majesty is fine, it's just that your body is too weak, and you will faint when you are tired, just sleep for a while." ”

"Thank goodness!" Li Fang thanked the heavenly gods, glanced at the sleeping emperor, and motioned for the imperial doctor to go out to talk to him.

When he arrived at a place where there was no one, Li Fang said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, what's wrong?" Why is the body not getting better? ”

Two imperial doctors, look at me, I look at you, none of them dared to tell the truth, and finally had to whisper: "Spring is sleepy and autumn is lacking, Your Majesty is old anyway, just pay attention to health preservation." ”

Li Fang was not satisfied with the vague answer, but now was not the time to interrogate this, so he asked the two of them to go back first, and he also entered the Yuxi Palace to protect the emperor.

Before entering the Yuxi Palace, he called a little eunuch and said, "Go to the room and bring Xu Ge Lao." After the little eunuch left, he also sighed and walked to the palace...... Regarding the confrontation between Xu Dang and Yan Dang, standing in Li Fang's position, he saw it clearly, but he was not as interested as a bystander, because he witnessed Yan Maoqing's resurrection, and also understood that Yan Dang's position in the emperor's heart was still unshakable, and he couldn't help but secretly sweat for Xu Jie.

Bringing Xu Jie this time is already the limit of what he can do, if Xu Ge Lao can't seize the opportunity to make the emperor firm up his original opinion, then he can only watch Xu Dang unlucky sadly. Because after decades of dealings, he knew that Yan Shifan's surname was retribution and intensified, and if that guy eased up, then Xu Ge's bitter words would come......

(To be continued)