Later, I remember that I was drunk, and even some fragments, I really don't remember what I did later, and when I was conscious, I was already lying on the bed, and my clothes were changed, only to see the moon outside the window, Bai Ge said that I was carried back to the Xiyuan house. I asked Bai Ge, "What kind of trouble can happen?" ”

Seeing Bai Ge shaking his head.

I was relieved that I was not discovered. Then he fell into a deep sleep again, and slept darkly and sweetly.

Back to Jingren Palace, after two days, and at the third watch, the night is thicker, the sky is full of bright stars, like the Milky Way paved with fine quicksand lying on the blue sky, the petals of the flowers are gently blown by the breeze, quietly meandering in the dense shadows of the trees, exuding a trace of fragrance.

Outside the small window, the moonlight is hazy, as if through a layer of cold mist, the cold and pale color of the place makes people's hearts can't help but fill with bursts of desolation, my chaotic thoughts are like the black agarwood lit in the ear cover furnace of the hibiscus stone cockroach, the light smoke is fluttering, silently dissipating in the quiet air with the wind rippling to the clouds.

In the end, he was pulled back to his eyes by a helpless sigh.

I put down the scroll in my hand, got up and poured a Biluochun in front of Zaiyan, and glanced down at the mountains of folds on the table, although I knew that he was used to reviewing the folds at night, just like I liked to write articles in the middle of the night in the old modern times, but I still couldn't help but persuade out loud: "The third watch, the government is busy, and the emperor should also pay attention to his body." ”

"Before I knew it, it was already so late," he put down the pen, rubbed the back of my hand with his palm, raised his eyes to look at me gently, and said, "You should go and rest." ”

I shook my head and stared at him with a smile, "The slave wants to accompany the emperor." ”

He smiled bitterly, "Those officials only know how to hand me a bunch of painless folds, and they have to say a few words about everything, but they haven't done anything at all, which really annoys me a lot." ”

I smiled gracefully, "As a speech official, I have no real power, many things are powerless at all, and most of them can only be like this, the emperor doesn't have to be too harsh on them," and I heard a long sigh before I asked again, "The emperor has been very angry in the past two days, what is he bothering about?" ”

He held the teacup and didn't drink it, frowned and said, "It's not for the sake of raising military expenses for the water division." ”

My expression froze, "Beiyang Sailor?" ”

Zai Yan groaned: "Li Hongzhang has already negotiated with the British consul to purchase a few warships, but unfortunately because of the 60th birthday celebration of Lafayette, the treasury is now empty, and he is unable to do anything. ”

I muttered softly, "Lafayette ......" said, and couldn't help sighing, "But if you don't hold a celebration, people in the world will accuse the emperor of being a person without filial piety, and the emperor's golden mouth is even more difficult to break his word. ”

Zai Yan couldn't help it anymore, he slammed the tea cup in his hand, the tea splashed everywhere, and there were still a few Zhu batches on the desk that had not yet dried up and were soaked in the hot tea, and the red color gradually spread, Zai Yan bit his cheeks tightly, and snorted coldly: "I only hate those Queen Mother Party led by Fortitude, Rong Lu, and Li Hongzhang at this time, and they are just taking care of their own lust all day long, and they have always contributed to the trouble of spending time and drinking, and they like to blindly please Lafayette, and they have no concept of the overall situation in their hearts," he clenched his palms into fists and slammed them on the table, "What if the people of the world accuse me, I have never been afraid of how the future generations will judge in the history books, I just want to be worthy of my heart!" He also said: "If I have the ability to turn the tide, it is best, if not, after a hundred years, I really don't know what face to face my ancestors?!" ”

The auspicious cloud pattern in the corner of the table is inlaid with red gold and jade, the texture is extremely hard, I saw that a large red mark suddenly appeared on the back of the bone of Zaiyan's hand, and I hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed his hand, and said distressedly: "What is the emperor going to do, it's just a matter of being angry with them, why bother always having to get along with his body," while rubbing the wound with his thumb, he said, "In the end, it's not just a matter of raising money, the slave has a way to go, but I'm afraid that the emperor will not want to." ”

He grabbed my arm and asked, "What way?" ”

I lowered my eyes, it was really hard to speak, and after a while, I whispered: "Sell the official mantle." ”

Hearing this, Zai Yan's expression immediately became extremely serious, and he vetoed: "No! ”

I pursed my lips and whispered, "Is there a faster and better way for the emperor to raise money now?" ”

Zai Yan shook his head and said: "This is a selling official, do you know what it means to sell an official?" Do you know how harmful the trend of selling official beards will be to the Qing Dynasty once it flourishes? The more he spoke, the more heavy his tone became, "I must not set this precedent!" ”

I frowned lightly and said, "The slave knows." ”

Zai Yan said sharply: "You know that you dare to tell this way!" He paused, his whole face turned purple with anger, and his tone was very cold, "The fundamental reason why the Tai students in the late Eastern Han Dynasty always fought against the eunuchs and made trouble with the student movement was that their way out of studying hard was blocked by the traitors. The Ming Dynasty fell, and Zhu Yousong, the blessed king of the 'Southern Ming Dynasty', said that one of the emperors in Nanjing was to cancel the admission system for student examinations and change the ranking to the amount of silver, which directly led to the unbearable situation of 'Chinese books are available everywhere, and all governors are all over the streets'. Those who are officials want the death of the people. If the upper beam is not correct and the lower beam is crooked, if even I start to sell my official position, then my subordinates will take me as an example and get out of control! ”

I lamented: "How can the slave not know how much harm the trade of 'three years of Qing Governor's Mansion, 100,000 snowflakes of silver' will bring, but this precedent of no profit has already been set, otherwise no one will find a way to find the slave here." ”

Zai Yan was stunned, raised his eyebrows and said, "What? ”

I was silent for a moment, and then said calmly: "I'm afraid that Lafayette has already been involved in the betrayal of officials, and I don't know how far the situation has developed, but the top priority is to prepare for the construction of the navy, isn't it?" ”

Seeing that Zai Yan didn't speak, I said again: "Extraordinary times need extraordinary measures, since a precedent has been set, and it can't be stopped for a while, the matter of the Beiyang Navy is imminent, it is better to get a sum of income to raise money to solve the urgent need, and then deal with corrupt officials and corrupt officials, which is more important, the emperor weighs and weighs." ”

There was a momentary silence, a frantic wind rushed, and the dense bamboo branches and bamboo leaves outside the window were swept away in an uproar, and Zai Yan immediately calmed down, and the coldness under his eyes gradually eased, "Who found your way here?" ”

A slight smile appeared on the corner of my mouth, and I raised my pen to write the name of "Lu Boyang" on the curtain paper and handed it to Zaiyan, he glanced at it and asked, "When did this person look for you, why haven't you mentioned it to me?" ”

In the dimly lit candlelight shadow, his eyes were as deep as a bottomless abyss, and I let out a sigh of light and said: "Nie Yigui will be promoted to Jiangsu Zhensi, and his original position is about to become vacant in Jianghaiguan, and a few days ago, this person named Lu Boyang wrote that this matter was transferred to Jingren Palace to find a slave to buy this vacancy. The slave was also shocked when he first saw it, and he would not know the emperor's heart for many years, and such a thing was naturally determined not to agree to do it, so he thought that the matter would not be resolved first, and then he would find an opportunity to plan with the emperor after the sixty years of longevity to plan the follow-up disposal of the matter of selling the official mantle, but the emperor has been frowning in recent days, and the slave is not easy to mention, today the emperor talked about the troubles of preparing for the construction of the navy, and the slave suddenly felt that this way could be walked, although it was a good strategy, but the emperor was so anxious, This is the only way to get the fastest and best money. ”

Zai Yan secretly calculated, "Nie Yigui ......" thought for a while, nodded, "This person is Zeng Guofan's son-in-law, and there is indeed such a promotion," and then sneered, "This person paid to buy the shortage, but he knew that the trustee was in the harem, but there was no news about the previous dynasty, and it was impermeable, and this operation was also very familiar, it can be seen that there have already been predecessors who have walked through the muddy road, and the avenue has been completed, and now the descendants are doing things all the way unimpeded." ”

I said "um" and said lightly: "The slave has privately checked and found that Ningshou Palace has been spending a lot, not recently, the expenses of the rest of the concubines in the harem are not even beating, and there is really nothing else to find in such a large account except for this way." ”