Approaching the Spring Festival, the flavor of the New Year in Beijing is getting heavier and heavier.

The streets around the Drum Tower are very crowded, all kinds of cries and selling are endless, and many people are happily carrying New Year's goods back with a full load.

Now many Confucians call Hongzhi a tyrant, and naturally they will not be crowned with the name of Hongzhi Zhongxing or Hongzhi Prosperity, but many people's grain bags and money bags are slowly bulging a little.

Those profound learning, those so-called ways of governing the country, and those worshiped Confucianism, are indeed too far away for ordinary people.

It's just that the people in the capital clearly feel that life is getting better, like some New Year's goods that they didn't dare to ask for price in previous years, and they didn't even dare to think about it, but now the money bags give them the courage to challenge.

"No matter how much pepper is sold, you can sell it in bulk as long as you give a copper plate!"

"It is said that the emperor likes to add peppercorns when he eats fish, and I need twenty ...... No, thirty copper plates, can this be sold? ”

"Thirty copper plates are enough for your family to eat several meals, and when you grill the fish, add a little powder, and the taste is simply amazing!"

……

After the Shuntian Mansion rectified the business environment, coupled with the Ming Dynasty's emphasis on commerce, now commerce is becoming more and more prosperous. Due to the increasing number of vendors, their service attitude is very enthusiastic, and it is a break from the previous tradition of not selling in bulk.

In the past, pepper was the exclusive product of dignitaries, but with a large number of Ming merchants going to Nanyang to engage in trade, the pepper of Nanyang has been sold to the capital.

Since the news of Emperor Hongzhi eating grilled fish has long been spread, now peppercorns have a very wide civilian market, and even become the most common seasoning for Chinese New Year's Eve rice.

Although Hongji's reputation in Shilin is not satisfactory, the simple people living in this land know which king brought them a good life, so they are eager to pay attention to peppercorns.

In terms of the emperor's ability to bring goods, Zhu Youzhu may seem like the first person in history.

It's just that the sky in Beijing is gloomy, and it seems that a heavy rain is about to fall at any moment, and the goose-feather snowflakes are about to flood the entire Beijing city.

Although the issue of the national debt is very sensational in officialdom, it is too far away from ordinary people.

Subscribing to a treasury bond is indeed a joke for the upper echelons, which Liubu Shangshu would still worry about money? It's just that for the people at the bottom, even if it is only ten taels of silver, it is an unattainable existence.

The blizzard in the capital did not come, but the time had already come to evening.

Hour Yongfang, He Mansion.

He Qiaoxin, the secretary of the Criminal Department, who initiated the initiator, is ushering in the send-off, whether it is an ordinary official in the capital or a feudal official who has entered Beijing to take up a post, they have come to visit.

Once it reaches the level of the six Shangshu, it is an unattainable existence for low-level officials, and it can already be regarded as the ceiling of the career of Ming officials.

Whether it is the popular fried chicken or the unpopular Shangshu, there is actually no shortage of officials who come to hug their thighs.

He Qiaoxin is not favored, this matter cannot be judged at all, after all, the real answer lies in the emperor. For the vast majority of people, it is difficult to meet the emperor all their lives.

"Tea!"

"Tea!"

"Good tea!"

……

Although He Qiaoxin prides himself on being honest, he is essentially an exquisite official, so he can properly handle the intricate relationships of officialdom.

It is precisely because of this that he not only has allied court ministers in the officialdom, but also has many followers, and he has a strong appeal in Shilin.

"He Shangshu, please stay, you really don't have to send it anymore!" Cheng Minzheng came to visit today and dissuaded Cheng Minzheng, who insisted on sending him off.

The officialdom of the Ming Dynasty is interlocking like a spider's web, and some officials who seem to have no intersection may actually have deep roots.

The age difference between the two people has been a circle, neither the same year relationship, nor the relationship between fellow villagers, but the two people are the second generation of officials.

He Qiaoxin's father, He Wenyuan, naturally doesn't need to say much, and Cheng Minzheng's father is Cheng Xin, the former secretary of the Nanjing Military Department, and his father-in-law is Li Xian, the former first assistant.

They are closely connected through the relationship between their fathers, and now they are officials in the same dynasty, and their identities are already extraordinary, so they are now very close.

He Qiaoxin insisted on sending Cheng Minzheng all the way to the front yard, until he sent the person to the official sedan chair, and then he warmly said goodbye: "Brother Cheng, please go slowly!" ”

"Brother He, farewell!" Cheng Minzheng faced this kind of courtesy, and seemed to be secretly moved to return the salute.

The sedan chair was slowly lifted and then left through the open middle door.

He Qiaoxin always had a smile on his face, watching Cheng Minzheng's sedan chair leave.

Thinking of what the two had just discussed, and facing the next good situation, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but rise slightly.

Since a large number of Qingliu were abandoned by the current saints, now the whole dynasty is full of villains who tend to be inflammatory, but the hands and feet of these villains are not clean.

Fortunately, the bond provides an opportunity. If the emperor does not give up the treasury bond fundraising, then someone will definitely jump out.

As long as the criminal department in his hands holds the subscription amount of the national debt, he will definitely be able to find a big worm, so that everyone in the world will know what role the current Hongzhi Emperor plays.

"Master, Fei Xiushu has been waiting in the flower hall for a long time, I wonder if I will meet you now?" The butler stepped forward and reported in a low voice.

He Qiaoxin knew that the Fei Xiu that the housekeeper was talking about Fei Hong, the champion of Chenghua for twenty-three years, was indeed a good seedling worth cultivating.

His father, He Wenyuan, is the secretary of the Ministry of Officials, and he himself is now the secretary of the Criminal Department, and now the two elders are not Jiangxi officials, so he naturally became the leader of the Jiangxi Township Party.

In today's officialdom, party leaders usually have a strong calling power, and He Qiaoxin, who cherishes feathers, is the leader of the entire Jiangxi official.

"Student Fei Hong meets Master Si Ko!" When Fei Hong and the housekeeper entered the study, they smelled a faint sandalwood incense, and they saluted respectfully.

Fei Hong was wearing a set of cyan six-grade official uniforms, only twenty-two years old, with a mediocre appearance, a thin figure, a delicate face, thick and dense eyebrows, and a bit of Confucianism.

Although he has been in the Hanlin Academy for four years, he does not have any official authority in his body, and is more like a person who is still trying to participate in the imperial examination.

Of course, the most eye-catching thing on his body is the official uniform on his body, so that everyone can't help but look up, after all, a twenty-two-year-old Liubu Shangshu is simply rare.

He Qiaoxin deliberately chose the study to summon him in order to show his attention, and at this moment he was sitting on the first seat in the front hall of the study with tea, and he raised his hand like a spring breeze: "Zichong, please sit!" ”

Jiangxi as a major province of the imperial examination, the first two champions of the early Ming Dynasty are Jiangxi people, and the young man in front of him is the champion of Chenghua for 23 years, which can be described as a place where talents come out in large numbers.

Now he wants to recruit all outstanding officials from Jiangxi, so as to stabilize his position as the leader of the Jiangxi party.

"Master Xie Sikou!" Fei Hong was not stage frightened in the face of the high-ranking criminal department secretary in front of him, and sat down politely.

He is a person from Guangxin Mansion in Jiangxi, and his distant ancestors can be traced back to the Three Kingdoms period of the famous minister Fei Yi, although the Fei family later declined, but it has always been a scholarly family, and the second uncle Fei Xuan is now serving as a member of the military department.

In the nineteenth year of Chenghua, he was only fifteen years old, and he and his fifth uncle participated in the Jiangxi Township Examination and went to high school together, but the next year the two failed in the Beijing examination.

He was only sixteen years old that year, and he had an immeasurable future.

Since the next exam was three years later, under the operation of his second Bo Feihong, he successfully entered the Guozijian as a Jiangxi juzi.

Similar to Yang Tinghe's experience, because of his extremely high talent for learning and his appearance was quite passable, he was valued by Cheng Pu Weixuan, who was the national eunuch at the time.

It didn't take long for him to marry his current wife Pu Shulan, that is, the Guozijian Cheng Pu Weixuan, and then got a good officialdom resource.

In the twenty-third year of Chenghua, after winning the top prize, he entered the Hanlin Academy as a Hanlin cultivator. Thanks to his identity as the champion and his advantageous officialdom connections, he participated in the revision of the "Records of Ming Xianzong", so he has become a supernova in the Ming officialdom.

It is precisely like this, even in the face of the dignified criminal department Shangshu, he also has the confidence of his own Hanlin official, and he may not be able to enter the cabinet to worship the prime minister in time.

In the evening, the courtyard was shrouded in twilight, and a few snowflakes fell from the sky.

He Qiaoxin looked at the young Hanlin Xiu in front of him seriously, even if he was in a high position, he felt envious, and the starting point was really too high.

Although he is not like the second generation of officials who are rooted in Miaohong, Fei Hong has a good father-in-law, and more importantly, he entered the Hanlin Academy as the champion, but he is still so young.

He Qiaoxin quickly put aside all distractions and asked with concern: "Zichong, I heard that you have recently been sick due to fatigue from reading the test papers, can you have such a thing?" ”

"Sincerely, Lord Si Kou cares, and this is true, but now the body has healed!" Fei Hong was slightly moved in his heart, and he was seriously grateful.

He Qiaoxin intended to cultivate and win over this young junior with infinite potential, and immediately said gently: "A few days ago, the old man sent a pair of nearly 1,000-year-old ginseng, which has a miraculous effect, but the old man should not take strong ginseng today, so I will give it to you today!" I hope you will take care of your body as soon as possible and work together to clear the miasma of smoke in the court! ”

"Such a generous gift, how dare students teach it, never let it!" Fei Hong knew that the value of the ginseng in the past few hundred years was too much, and he immediately shirked it in the imperial court.

He Qiaoxin's face was straight, and he said unhappily: "The old man is cherishing talents for Jiangxi, this ginseng is no longer beneficial to the old man, and now ginseng can help you recover your body!" If you don't give this ginseng, you look down on the old man! ”

"In that case, the student has no choice but to be respectful and obey!" Fei Hong saw that He Qiaoxin had already said this, so he had no choice but to accept it.

The housekeeper next to him saw this scene in his eyes, but he didn't understand why He Qiaoxin wanted to force such a treasure into others, it was a treasure that could be met but not sought.

It's just that now it's a good thing, the pair of ginseng worth 10,000 gold was discarded, and the treasure was given to a young man.

The housekeeper saw He Qiaoxin's eyes, although he couldn't help but feel a pain in his heart, but he didn't dare to delay for half a minute, and immediately sent someone to the warehouse to get ginseng.

He Qiaoxin was very satisfied with Fei Hong's acceptance of his heavy gift, and knew that it would be much easier for him or his descendants to find Fei Hong to do things in the future, so he seemed to be in a good mood and asked: "Zichong, have you heard about the issuance of treasury bonds by the imperial court?" ”

Fei Hong has always been concerned about the government and politics, and immediately smiled bitterly.

How could you not know about this matter, it has been spread throughout the officialdom, but this novel financial product has aroused their interest.

Fei Hong thought of the recent strange things, and replied honestly: "Don't dare to deceive Lord Shangshu, this matter was originally intended to require all the officials of our Hanlin Academy to also participate in the subscription, but I don't know why it was suddenly stopped today!" ”

Originally, he had planned to get a part of the silver to participate in the subscription, but he chose to believe in the character of the current saint, but things suddenly changed.

"The imperial court arranged for the yamen of the criminal department to start subscribing first, but the old man is as honest as water, and the old man naturally has to do what he can, so he subscribes for one this time!" He Qiaoxin took a sip of tea and looked very disdainful.

The corners of Fei Hong's mouth twitched slightly, and he humbly asked: "Lord Si Kou is not greedy has long been known to the world, and it is reasonable to subscribe for one today. It's just that the students are still puzzled, why did the imperial court stop it? ”

"Wan An is just an old man in the clay sculpture pavilion, he only knows how to whitewash the peace to the emperor, and this time he wants to deceive. In order to smoothly issue treasury bonds, he privately approached the old man earlier and asked the old man to take out tens of thousands of taels to subscribe for the treasury bonds. Although the old man clearly agreed, but how could he be in the same stream with him, now the old man only recognizes one and shows that the world is honest, Wan'an's plan has gone bankrupt, and why would he suddenly stop subscribing! He Qiaoxin took a sip of tea with a teacup and explained proudly.

This......

Fei Hong learned the ins and outs of the matter, and looked up at He Qiaoxin in front of him in surprise.

Although they could not participate in state affairs, they had already made plans for the national debt, and they knew that the emperor had gone to Luzon to look for gold mines because of the dream of Taizu.

Now the mission to Luzon has returned without incident, confirming that the gold mine has been confirmed to be genuine.

It's just that this year is a year of many disasters, and now the treasury is empty, so the imperial court is trying to solve the funding gap in the early stage of gold mining.

Who would have thought that this Shangshu of the Criminal Department would make a move to drag his feet without making a plan, and now he would dare to be proud here.

Fei Hong swallowed his spit secretly, and reminded cautiously: "Lord Sikou, I'm afraid that the matter of letting you subscribe for a huge amount of treasury bonds is the emperor's intention, I'm afraid it's not good for you to do this, right?" ”

The butler had already instructed his subordinates to go to the treasure house to get ginseng, and when he heard this, he also looked at his master worriedly.

Although there is no shortage of fighting in officialdom, and Wan An is already an old man who has run out of oil, his own master's approach not only does not sell Wan An's face, but also stands on the opposite side of Zhu Youji.

Judging from all indications, the person behind the real national debt is the emperor, not Wan An, who is said to have been unable to get out of bed recently.

"What does the Emperor mean? If it was really the emperor who wanted the old man to do this, then the emperor should have issued a secret decree or a holy decree, instead of finding an old immortal to pass the word! He Qiaoxin pinched the lid of the tea and splashed the tea lightly, mocking with fearlessness.

(End of chapter)