Clean up the deficit and accumulate arrears, and on the second day, Yinxiang took Zhu Tianbao and Chen Jiayou into the household department. First announced the decree, and then sent the original Shangshu Liang Qingbiao wine off. Because Shi Shilun, the new head of the household department, was still on the way, Yinxiang announced that he would temporarily preside over the affairs of the ministry, and stipulated that the officials should arrive at the official office 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 documents, transcriptions, and articles from other provinces should be submitted to Yinxiang himself for reading immediately, and no overnight stay is allowed. Yinxiang himself also moved to the original Liang Qingbiao's study. 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 eight or nine days, Yinxiang already had a clue about the affairs of the household department, so he played the prince of Ming and invited the prince, Yinzhen and the minister of the study to give lectures.

Yinren and Yinzhen happily came to the household, and ordered that there was no need to pass on the door, and the two of them walked in along the stone road of Yimen one after the other. But 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, seeing the prince and Sibeile stepping in, everyone stood up, knelt down in unison, kowtowed, and said, "The prince is a thousand years old!" Yinxiang also got up to greet the two, and said with a smile: "I'm arranging something for them, so you won't come in." I don't know how to get it on the door! ”

"That's it, let's get up, everybody!" Yinren smiled, waved his hand, and said, "Thirteenth brother, set up a seat next to you for me and the fourth elder brother, you say yours!" Yinxiang gave in, and he was no longer humble. When he was settled, he continued: "All the princes here are scholars. It seems that some of the classes have made an axe. But my thirteenth thought that killing people pays for their lives and paying off debts, which is a common principle for the ages. Some people say that I am overbearing and profit-oriented. Truth be told, it's forced. Since the royal way is not followed, it must be overbearing; Since morality is not good, it is not impossible to have stakes! ”

Yinxiang's eyes were blazing, and he arched his hand when he said this: "My emperor has been suppering day and night, after decades of grass creation, the Qing Dynasty has 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. Let me ask, this towering tree has fallen, where will the princes go to take a dip? There are no eggs under the nest! Every time I think of this, Yinxiang pushes the pillow in the middle of the night and wanders around the room, which is really chilling......"

It can be seen that in order to prepare for this speech, Yinxiang used a lot of brains. Although it was unwritten and eloquent, he spoke eloquently, but every sentence was eloquent, and Yinzhen was very moved when he heard it.

"You have to clear it from our household first!" Yinxiang stood up excitedly and waved his hand, and said loudly, "The household department 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!" But in the past few days, I have found out that except for Wang Hongxu, all of them have borrowed treasury silver—this pool of water has become filthy and smells 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!" ”

Chen Jiayou and Zhu Tianbao, who were standing behind him, were Jinshi in the same year, and the two were recommended to serve the crown prince in Yuqing Palace at the same time. Zhu Tianbao is very different from Chen Jiayou, who has a wide mouth, gentle and elegant, weak and weak, with a slight flush on his fair face, and only the corners of his mouth are slightly upturned, revealing a little rigidity. He silently took the roster, coughed lightly, and read it out loud in a low voice: "Wu Jiamo, squire, owes fourteen thousand and fifty 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 state treasury two ,729,458 taels of silver......"

At first, no one expected Yinxiang to have this hand, they all turned pale and were dumbfounded, but it didn't take long for them to whisper in their ears, and the hall was buzzing, but they couldn't hear a word clearly.

"How?" Yinxiang felt hot, unbuttoned his clothes, and looked at everyone defiantly, "If the amount is wrong, you can put it forward in the court, and the silver must be returned!" Lao Wu, the new household servant Shi has not yet arrived, you are the biggest official, tell me, when will your more than 10,000 silver be paid off? ”

Wu Jiamo is the oldest qualified in the household department, Liang Qingbiao is withdrawn, according to the convention, he should be appointed as Shangshu, he has already been on fire, seeing Yinxiang asking him, he got up and said: "The silver is naturally to be returned!" Please let the thirteenth master let me take care of my family, find a broken nunnery to settle my wife and children, and send out hundreds of family members! ”

"Wu Jiamo, what are you complaining about?" Yin Zhen, who was sitting next to the prince, knew that he couldn't suppress this old bureaucrat, and the household department would be in vain immediately, so he sneered, "The thirteenth master asked you to take the lead, which is to fulfill your dignity!" 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." It's called 'becoming a whole', and I really can't figure it out! ”

Yin Zhen stared at Wu Jiamo coldly, and said: "No debt, no light, the thirteenth elder brother asked you to be an easy person, didn't you 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? ”

"The truth has been explained, the fourth brother doesn't have to talk to him anymore!" Yinxiang had already made up his mind, and he was not angry, he smiled and said to Wu Jiamo, "I don't care if you sell your house and land, now I want you to pay back, this is the first article of the opening sentence - when will you pay it back?" ”

"Back to the Thirteenth Master, I have no money!"

"Good!" Yinxiang's face did not change, and shouted: "Someone! ”

"In!" Several palace guards waiting behind the pillar were selected by Yinzhen to serve Yinxiang, and after hearing this greeting, four immediately flashed out, and they went up to obey the order.

Yinxiang looked at Wu Jiamo with a smile and said, "Old Wu said that his family has no money and can't pay it back." I've always been mean and mean, and I can't trust it. Chen Jiayou will take the four of you, go out and call the people from Shangshuntianfu to check on Wu's house, leave a house for Lao Wu, and submit the rest of the books to the official for sale-no rudeness, no recklessness-can you hear? ”

"Bah, I heard you!"

The five of them said yes but withdrew, and the hall became dead silent, and everyone's faces were as white as paper! Yinxiang plucked the tea leaves with the lid of the bowl, glanced at everyone, and asked calmly: "Who else can't afford it, please say." Everyone looked at Wu Jiamo, who was sitting infatuated, who would dare to touch the moldy head of the second pole emperor again, and was relatively speechless for a while, like a group of dumb people, everything like that. Yinxiang paced a few steps with a fan in a chic manner, and said, "Follow me to do things, you don't have to think about bribery." But I will not make you poor and lose your official body. This is not the original intention of the imperial court - I will not deduct a penny from everyone for the example silver that should be taken. Originally, the Beijing officials were not rich, and the ministers outside sent Bing Jing and Tan Jing, talked about making up the cooking stove, and cleaning and maintaining integrity, all of which should be done. In addition, if he fights for power and profit, the Thirteenth Master will not tolerate him! ”

"The four thousand silver I owe will be repaid this autumn when the grain is on the field." Finally, someone spoke.

Gou Zufan, who was sitting under Wu Jiamo's head, scratched his thinning hair and sighed: "Just pay it back...... Tomorrow, I will ask my family to sell the pawnshop in Tianjin, and it will be paid off in about half a month. Then there was a lot of 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. Yin Xiangyin asked, "Lao You, 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." Yin Xiang Gege smiled and said, "This is strange! What is unfair about me claiming 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 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 is dignified and has good facial features, but the hooked nose is a little broken. I don't care about everyone's attacks - the nine-headed bird in the sky, the Huguang guy in the underground, it's really true, as soon as he opens his mouth, he even ends it sour and spicy, and the tone is pressing, and everyone is dumbfounded.

"Oh-ho?" Yinxiang unexpectedly commended Wang Hongxu for making this result, his body trembled and was about to have a seizure, seeing Yinren and Yinzhen's eyes swept over like electricity, and he was shocked, if he changed the topic and cleared the bribery, today's meeting would be completely smashed, and he said in a changed tone: "Everyone remember one, if you do too much injustice, you will kill yourself!" Whoever takes a bribe, let me cook slowly, naturally I can't escape one. Be careful, Skynet is magnificent and not leaky. Those who are greedy and bribery will never regret one day - I was ordered to come to the ministry to clean up the debts owed by the officials in the world. I only said that Wang did not owe the public bank, and did not say who was guilty of bribery! ”

"The Thirteenth Master is wrong with this!" 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 conspiring, confusing right and wrong, 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 thirteenth master has seen the current 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 machine 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? He said this for more than 20 years, and on that day, someone was indeed the third place in the first class, and the examiner was dethroned in the 30th place because of his "Ming" character. Everyone has heard of this, but they don't know that it is this stubborn You Mingtang! Yinxiang was originally annoyed that You Mingtang was stirring up trouble for no reason, and he was thinking in his heart whether to raid this bad old man's house, but when he heard this, he muttered. The emperor's brother is still losing money on behalf of others, and there must be no doubt about Yinxi. He was only surprised, where did Yinxi get so much money, could he have a cornucopia? Thinking about it, Yinxiang 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, God knows that you know what I know, 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 emperor's elder brother is not allowed to make friends with foreign officials, and foreign officials who welcome elder brother will take their posts and ask questions. 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, the fourth master and the thirteenth master are all here, has my Wang Hongxu gone through your door?" The rest of the brothers borrowed money themselves, where did they 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 from the emperor's brother! 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 the page of his boots, shook it open and presented it to Yinxiang, and said, "Thirteenth master, this is a ticket of 18,000 taels." I didn't spend any money I borrowed, it's all here! Yinzhen originally saw that he was a little nonsense, and kept staring at him with cold eyes, trying to find a gap, but he was also stunned, and was about to speak, the prince Yinren asked: "I don't understand a little, since you can't make money, why did you want to borrow it in the first place?" You Mingtang said with a smile: "Back to the prince's words, borrow for nothing, don't borrow for nothing, don't borrow for nothing, who won't borrow for nothing?" Now that I want to clear it, I have to make it clear, the tenth master himself still borrowed 200,000 treasury silver, and he has to repay the money on behalf of others, this cleaning up the debt, is it true or false? Mingtang is foolish, beg the prince to enlighten me as an unlucky Tanhua! ”

When the officials heard this, there was a commotion, and some people "sighed" and said, "Alas! Who said that we don't have a brother behind us? Others said: "This side forces us to pay back the money, and the elder brother over there borrows money to repay the money on behalf of others, how long will this deficit be paid off before the account can match?" This one said, "I'll pay it back!" Ming'er is looking for the third master to say goodbye to Menzi! The one said, "What does the third master want you to do with this account?" It's better to find the ninth master! "For a while, there was a lot of gossip, and there were all kinds of cool words.

"Don't talk about it!" Yinxiang was upset when he heard this, and his fingers knocked on the table and shouted, "My thirteenth master doesn't do anything!" Brother Huang's debts and household officials are cleaned up together! ”

Wang Hongxu was originally a debtless and light person, and he thought that Qin Cha would be guaranteed and be a squire steadily, but he didn't expect to be bitten by You Mingtang, who was a thorn in the head, and even the tenth elder brother who advanced money was bitten on the head and bled out, and his belly was uncomfortable, he raised his pale face and got up, and asked Yinren: "The minister wants to advise the prince with a copy, I don't know if it's good here?" Or is it better to come down and say it behind the scenes? ”

"Say it!" When Yinren heard that it was the tenth elder brother Yinren who paid the arrears on his behalf, he suddenly became vigilant in his heart, and said with a smile: "I don't have anything to say behind people's backs." "That's good!" Wang Hongxu bowed again, and said with a smile: "When will the 420,000 silver you borrowed be returned, Prince?" ”

The people who were making a fuss and gossip were silent. It was as if the rushing river was suddenly blocked by a floodgate, and the water upstream rose silently higher and higher, suffocating everyone. Yinren moved uneasily in front of everyone's eyes, and muttered, "I borrowed treasury silver? When did you borrow it...... Chen Jiayou, is there such a thing? ”

"This is not Lord Chen's business." Wang Hongxu smiled wickedly, pressed up step by step, and said, "He Zhu'er came to borrow it with Yuqing Palace's edict, the prince thinks about it, have you ever bought a manor, a mansion, a garden or something?" ”

One sentence reminded Yinren that it didn't cost 420,000 silver to buy Tongzhou Zhou Garden! But after three years of operation, and 50,000 or 60,000 silver, it has been repaired like a palace, how can I give it up? Yinren never expected to go around and around, and the first shot hit his head, and he couldn't help but be furious. But he was self-contained, blushing, and actually stood up and said, "Okay...... Okay! I...... I'll start by paying back the 420,000 first! Fourth, thirteenth, you continue to discuss. I have to go into the garden and say hello to Amma!" With that, he brushed his sleeves away.

Watching the crown prince leave, the officials looked at each other, stunned and at a loss, but Wang Hongxu sat down as if nothing happened, and blew away the cigarette ash from the adjacent You Mingtang with a "poof". Yinxiang looked at Yinzhen, who was silent, and said with flashing eyes: "Fourth brother, let's discuss it here today, right?" Let's go back and do some work. The emperor's holy edict made it clear that the treasury and silver were not clear for a day, and Ben Qin had no reason to stop! Whether it is the prince, the elder brother, or all of you, you should all be mindful of the heart of heaven! ”

"Fourth brother!" The people went out, and only this pair of brothers in distress were left in the empty hall, and Yinxiang's slightly childish face looked worried: "You have seen it, this uncle is easy to deal with?" Now even the prince has bitten in, I really ......"

Yinzhen nodded, got up and stroked Yinxiang, who was sweaty and heavy, and said slowly: "Don't think about these things first, you're hot, don't have heat stroke, eat this cup of tea, let's go out for a walk......"

The two brothers each ate a cup of herbal tea, moved out of the door of the household, and when they looked at the sky, it was close to the time of Shen. Because of the hot weather, there are few pedestrians on the street, and the locust trees in two rows of one street hug the thick, thick green and dripping, knowing the long song, giving people a quiet and far-reaching feeling. The two of them ate two melons at the street melon stall and walked to the west riverside, but when they saw the sparkling sun and the cool water, a gust of wind rushed over, and both of them were in good spirits.

"I'll tell you there, prince." Yin Zhen pondered, and said again after a while: "It's difficult to do one thing, you shouldn't be discouraged." In the past, the Yongle Emperor raised troops and attacked Nanjing, and the ship was windless, and he was afraid of difficulties. Zhou Dianzi said, 'Just go, just care about the wind, if you don't go, there will be no wind in your life!' This is a philosophical saying! If Yongle hadn't listened to this, he was afraid that the history of the Ming Dynasty would have to be rewritten from beginning to end! Yinxiang raised his head, looked at Yinzhen silently, and said after a while: "You are at the helm, I will play the oar!" This is a decent thing to earn for the prince, I think he just needs to think about it, and he will take out 420,000 yuan! Yin Zhen didn't speak, only nodded meaningfully.

A painting building on the other bank accompanied by the sound of a kite, and a lyric came:

Say a word in your heart: just throw a man into a fire pit, let him strike five thunderbolts in the sky, and pull my tendons and peel my skin. As long as the bosom friend is still in Caoxi, Yunling, his heart is not lonely......

Yinxiang suddenly remembered Alain, and there has been no news at all. He exhaled, snorted, licked his lips, but said nothing.