"So, what are we going to do next?"

When Hu Yingjia's words fell, Ouyang Yijing pondered for a long time before he responded: "Right now, the most important thing is to stabilize the position, in this way, no matter who is behind it, it will not help!" ”

"The other party obviously wants to take advantage of the opportunity of the departmental ranking to let our six subjects attack each other, fall into infighting, and then break them one by one!"

When Hu Yingjia heard Ouyang Yijing's words, a look of hesitation appeared on his face at the right time, and he turned to speak: "But recently, the six departments have been abusing and attacking each other in order to compete for rankings, and some people even played tricks outside the market, took black materials, and went to the Inspectorate......

When Ouyang Yijing heard this, his face immediately turned pale, and then, he slapped the table and said in a deep voice: "This group of short-sighted fools, for the sake of an illusory ranking, actually pulled the Inspectorate in, don't they know that the Inspectorate is worried about performance recently?" ”

Then, as if he had suddenly thought of something, Ouyang Yijing looked in the direction where Hu Yingjia was, and said categorically: "You can't let the situation continue to deteriorate, after you come down later, tell them for me, if anyone dares to stir up trouble again, don't blame me Ouyang Yijing is not polite!" ”

"Also, find a time to gather all the people in the six subjects together to discuss the distribution of the remaining rankings!"

When Hu Yingjia heard Ouyang Yijing's words, he immediately lowered his head and responded respectfully: "Yes, my lord!" ”

……

With the passage of time, all kinds of news flew all over the government and the opposition, making the civil and military people of the Manchu Dynasty panic.

In the evening, the Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace.

At this time, Jiajing was sitting on the dragon chair, holding a note sent by the celebrant in his hand.

After Jiajing finished browsing the letter in his hand, he turned around, looked at Lu Fang on the side, and asked with interest: "By the way, Lu Fang, I heard that the news of the ranking of the relevant departments of the DPRK and China has been flying all over the sky recently, is there such a thing?" ”

When Lu Fang, who was waiting on the side, heard Jiajing's words, he immediately lowered his head and responded respectfully: "Your Majesty, there is indeed something to do!" ”

After carefully considering his tone, Lu Fang continued to add: "In addition, as far as the slave maid knows, behind the whole thing, it is Yan Ge Lao and Xu Ge Lao who are adding fuel to the fire!" ”

After Jiajing learned the news from Lu Fang's mouth, the curiosity on his face was even worse.

Immediately, I saw him raise his eyebrows, and asked, "Oh, what's the matter, how did Yan Song and Xu Jie urinate in a pot?" ”

Although Jiajing's tone was very flat, Lu Fang still heard a different meaning from it.

Afterwards, I saw Lu Fang organize the language in his mind, and said in response: "Your Majesty, it is said that Yan Ge Lao and Xu Ge Lao are taking this opportunity to clean up that group of speech officials, after all, they ...... before this."

Before Lu Fang's words were finished, Jiajing sneered and said to himself: "Hmph, Yan Song and Xu Jie, I asked their cabinet to be responsible for the ranking of various departments, and in a blink of an eye, these things have been rectified for me!" ”

Seeing this, Lu Fang cautiously asked after thinking about it for a long time: "In that case, Your Majesty, do you need a slave ......or maid?"

When Jiajing heard this, he waved his hand, and then ordered: "Forget it, there is no need to meddle in a trivial matter like this, let them make trouble, as long as it is not too excessive!" ”

After this, I saw Jiajing withdraw his gaze from Lu Fang's body, and then ordered: "Let's go, Lu Fang, accompany me to Ganlu Palace!" ”

When Lu Fang heard this, his expression immediately turned grim, and he responded in a deep voice: "Obey, Your Majesty!" ”

Subsequently, I saw Lu Fang follow Jiajing's steps step by step and go to Ganlu Palace.

……

Beijing, Yanfu study.

Just as Yan Song was still intently browsing the books in front of him, he heard a rapid knock outside the door.

Seeing this, Yan Song frowned imperceptibly, and commanded, "Come in!" ”

The voice fell, only to hear a 'squeak', the door of the room was pushed open, and then, I saw Yan Shifan walking in eagerly.

"Father, something is wrong, that Ouyang Yijing seems to have sensed something, and summoned the people in the six branches to the matter, looking at this posture, it seems that he wants to discuss the distribution of the remaining rankings!"

After entering the room, I saw Yan Shifan subconsciously looking in the direction where Yan Song was, and reported in a deep voice.

Hearing this, Yan Song took his eyes off the book in front of him, glanced at Yan Shifan, and sighed to himself: "This Ouyang Yijing, it's really not simple, he actually noticed it so quickly!" ”

Seeing this situation, Yan Shifan couldn't help but urge: "Father, what should we do next, it's impossible to watch that Ouyang Yijing ruin our good deeds, you must know ......"

Before Yan Shifan's words were finished, he was interrupted impatiently by Yan Song: "What's the panic, this time the cabinet is responsible for the ranking of various departments, and the final ranking will also be announced by the cabinet!" ”

"Even if he, Ouyang Yijing, is aware of it, all he can do is to stop the situation from continuing to deteriorate."

"This matter can't be done overnight, and after the cabinet announces the rankings, we just need to send someone to fan the flames in secret."

"This is a naked conspiracy. Even if you can't defeat the officials, you can still make them feel disgusted. ”

When Yan Song said this, he picked up the teacup soaked in wolfberry water on the table, took a sip, and said to himself: "At that time, how can a plate of loose speech officials pose a threat to us?" ”

After listening to Yan Song's words, Yan Shifan still felt confused, and immediately, he plucked up his courage and asked, "But father, what should we do to achieve such an effect?" ”

"You must know that Ouyang Yijing is deeply respected by the officials, as long as he speaks, those officials will soon die down."

When Yan Song heard this, he glanced at Yan Shifan, and explained unhurriedly: "Yan Shifan, I don't know if you have heard the phrase "not suffering from widowhood but suffering from unevenness?" ”

"Moreover, as I said before, this time the cabinet will take the lead, and the rankings will be evaluated according to the performance of each department over the past year, as well as the efficiency of their work, and the final results will also be announced by the cabinet."

When Yan Shifan heard this, an expression appeared on his face that he seemed to understand or not, and asked tentatively: "Father, what do you mean is that over there in the six departments, the conscientious department, we deliberately ranked him last, and the department with no achievements and low efficiency, let's rank him in the front!" ”

"In this way, we only need to send someone to stir up one or two to intensify the contradictions among those officials?"

Seeing that Yan Shifan understood what he meant, he saw a little relief on Yan Song's face, nodded, withdrew his gaze, and turned to speak: "Well, that's right!" ”

When Yan Shifan heard Yan Song's words, a happy and sincere expression suddenly appeared on his face.

Then, I saw him look in the direction where Yan Song was, and responded excitedly: "Thank you father for solving the child's doubts, the child understands what to do next!" ”

"Okay, continue to send people to keep an eye on that group of officials, if there is any news, report to me immediately!"

"Yes, father, the child understands!"

……

Since it was Ouyang Yijing who spoke personally, those officials in the six branches did not dare to slack off in the slightest, and soon gathered together to discuss the distribution of the remaining rankings.

Despite this, the scene was still full of gunpowder, and incidents of mutual abuse and attack occurred from time to time.

Since the mask called warmth has long been torn apart, many people have resorted to everything they can to gain the upper hand.

Many things that led to the rotten grain of old sesame seeds have been turned over.

In the room, I saw a tall and unusually burly green-robed official, pointing to the nose of a thin official in front of him and scolding.

"Hmph, I'm sorry, it's really shameless, your household department is in the matter, this year obviously has no achievements, but Tian shamelessly put on a high hat for himself and took credit, when we risked our lives to fight against the cabinet elders, where were you?"

When the thin official heard this, he was not afraid at all, and when he met the man's gaze, he turned to speak: "At that time, there happened to be a large amount of silver on the side of the household department that needed to be counted, and then it was not put into the treasury. ”

When the thin official said this, he changed his words, squinted at the tall official, and continued: "At least we are not like some people, who can't say it, so we play tricks and go to the Inspectorate to complain!" ”

When the tall and unusually burly official heard this, his face suddenly turned blue and purple for a while, and then, he looked at the person with a gaze that was selective and devouring, and said word by word: "It's really bloody, we haven't done this before!" ”

When the thin official heard this, the mockery on his face was even worse, he sneered, and said to himself: "Hmph, dare not admit it!" ”

At this moment, I heard an extremely indifferent voice sound: "What does it mean to dare to do it, I don't dare to admit it, say it again." ”

"Hmph, what, isn't what I'm telling the truth, don't you have long eyes, and you actually excuse them, it's clear that it's ......"

When the thin official heard this, he subconsciously wanted to make a mockery, but when he saw the figure of the person who came clearly, his face turned pale with fright, and he swallowed the words that he had not had time to say back into his stomach.

I saw that not far away, Ouyang Yijing and Hu Yingjia were standing, and the person who spoke just now was Ouyang Yijing.

The thin official, seeing Ouyang Yijing's arrival, hurriedly lowered his head and said respectfully: "Lord Ouyang! ”

When Ouyang Yijing heard this, he just snorted coldly, ignored it, and then walked past him by himself.

The people in the room, seeing Ouyang Yijing's arrival, were silent, and the previous tense atmosphere disappeared.

Then, I saw Ouyang Yijing sweeping his gaze from the people present one by one, and those people at the scene did not dare to meet Ouyang Yijing's eyes, they lowered their heads one after another, and a look of shame appeared on their faces.

At this moment, the scene was silent, even the movement of dropping a needle could be heard clearly, I don't know how long time had passed, I saw Ouyang Yijing retract his gaze, and his face was distressed.

"Look at the way you look now, regardless of the friendship of your former colleagues, attacking and abusing each other, in order to bring down each other and gain the upper hand, do everything you can, what is the difference between you and Yan Song and Xu Jie?"

When Ouyang Yijing said this, he subconsciously raised his voice: "An ethereal ranking will play you in the palm of your hand, but as everyone knows, at this moment, those people behind you are watching our jokes!" ”

"The more trouble we make here, the more we will give those people a chance to take advantage of, and those people just want to divide us by taking advantage of the departmental ranking!"

"Don't you notice that in the news circulating right now, the rankings of my six subjects are changing almost every day?"

When Ouyang Yijing's words fell, some people at the scene eased up, and a look of hindsight appeared on their faces, and they boldly asked: "My lord, do you mean that someone is deliberately sowing discord behind his back?" ”

Facing the puzzled eyes of everyone at the scene, I saw Ouyang Yijing nodding and speaking confidently: "Yes, that's right, and I already know who is behind the trouble!" ”

When Ouyang Yijing said this, he paused, and continued: "It's Yan Song and Xu Jie, the government and the opposition, only the two of them have the ability and motivation to do this, and not long ago, we offended these two people!" ”

As soon as this news came out, the scene was in an uproar, and everyone thought about it, as if it was indeed reasonable.

Then, I only heard a voice full of righteous indignation: "Yan Song and Xu Jie, these two traitorous ministers, are really hateful, Your Majesty handed over such an important errand to the cabinet, but they used it to exclude dissidents and announce personal vendettas, we have to play a copy of them!" ”

As soon as these words came out, they received an instant response, and everyone stood up one after another to express their attitude.

"Yes, that's right, these two regard national affairs as child's play, and we should expose them to Your Majesty in person, the ugly faces of these two people!"

"Sure enough, behind this are the two villains Yan Song and Xu Jie, who are sowing discord, in this way, it must have been widely circulated before, and the fact that someone went to the Inspectorate to complain is also a pure rumor, intended to instigate the relationship between us!"

"Well, that makes sense, how can we think badly of our own colleagues?"

"We can't just swallow this breath, go to Ben, go to Ben immediately!"

Ouyang Yijing couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when he saw this, he knew that the situation had stabilized for the time being.

Although he didn't have any evidence to prove that it was Yan Song and Xu Jie's backs to sow discord, because the reputation of these two people in Shilin was not very good, therefore, no one would stand up and question the black pot on the two of them.

Besides, it only takes a common enemy to unite them all, what a good deal!

After this, I saw Ouyang Yijing restrain his mind, face everyone, and said in a deep voice: "Everyone was right just now, this breath, we can't just swallow it, and when we wait for it, we will impeach the two of them!" ”

When everyone present heard Ouyang Yijing's words, they all cheered, and their faces were full of anticipation.

Then, I saw Ouyang Yijing pressing his hand down and signaling everyone to be silent.

After the scene gradually quieted down, I saw Ouyang Yijing facing everyone, and continued: "But before that, we have to determine the ranking first, and at the moment, the rumors in the court say that the criminal department is the first in the matter......"

……

It has been a while since Zheng Michang and He Maocai returned to Hangzhou from Jiaxing.

At this moment, Zhejiang, the political envoy of the Yamen.

In the room, Zheng Michang and He Maocai were sitting together chatting, and He Maocai had just returned from the dock at this time.

"Lao Zheng, haven't you seen it, a ship is full of boxes full of silver taels, and the silver taels that were copied from the Yuan family's house are loaded with more than a dozen ships, that scene is really rare!"

After He Maocai finished speaking, he picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, and continued to sigh: "Alas, it's a pity, that's 12.8 million taels, so much silver, but in the end it doesn't have our share!" ”

When Zheng Michang on the side heard this, his face was full of inexplicable looks, only to see him glance at He Maocai, and said unhurriedly: "This is a matter that His Majesty personally followed up, if we dare to do anything on this, the custodian will fall to the ground!" ”

When Zheng Michang's words fell, He Mao couldn't help but shudder.

After this, He Maocai saw that there was no one around, stepped forward, and said in a low voice: "Lao Zheng, I always feel that Wang Yongxian, the prefect of Jiaxing, is calling Huazi." ”

"You know, in recent years, that Wang Yongxian has wiped his butt for those wealthy gentry, and the filial piety he received alone is an astronomical amount, and even he directly entered the dry shares and participated in the business of those wealthy gentry, but in the end, he only gave us 30,000 taels of silver!"

Zheng Michang saw that He Maocai used the name Huazi to describe himself, and his face was suddenly full of black lines, and then, he saw him supporting his chin with one hand, looking thoughtful.

"Well, indeed, although this Wang Yongxian was quite sensible at the beginning, he took the initiative to give the silver ticket without waiting for us to speak, but according to what you said, it seems that this is indeed the case, Wang Yongxian has such a rich net worth, and he wants to buy his life for 30,000 taels of silver, which is too cheap!"

"You must know that the things he has committed in recent years, if you really want to investigate it, it is not too much to kill your head!"

Seeing this situation, He Mao looked in the direction where Zheng Michang was after thinking for a while, and proposed: "Old Zheng, do you want me to go back and look through his files from previous years, and then knock on one more stroke?" ”

When Zheng Michang heard He Maocai's words, he glanced at him, and said without thinking: "Why are you making such trouble, let's just find a way to kill him, and when the time comes, all his family property will be ours!" ”

"Let's go up to Yan Ge and them, take care of them, won't there be nothing?"

When He Maocai heard this, he looked like he suddenly realized, and then, he slapped his thigh violently, and said excitedly: "Lao Zheng, you still think about it thoroughly, let's make some small moves here, no one will care!" ”

Just as Zheng Michang was about to say something, he heard a knock on the door.

Seeing this, Zheng Michang withdrew his gaze from He Maocai's body, and commanded: "Come in!" ”

When the words fell, I heard a 'squeak', the door of the room was pushed open, and I saw a servant walking in, bowing his head, and respectfully reporting.

"My lord, the Governor's Mansion sent someone here, saying that there is something important to report!"

"Well, the official knows, let him in!"

When Zheng Michang heard this, he waved his hand quite casually and commanded.

"Yes, my lord!"

After receiving Zheng Michang's specific instructions, the official did not hesitate at all, and immediately left the room.

……

After a short time, under the guidance of the previous official, I saw an official from the governor's palace enter the room.

After the official of the Governor's Mansion entered the room, he saw that He Maocai was also present, and he couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and then he lowered his head, arched his hand to the two, and said respectfully: "Your Majesty has seen the political envoy, according to the envoy!" ”

When Zheng Michang heard this, he glanced over the official of the Governor's Palace, and asked, "Say, what is the matter with the Governor sending you over?" ”

When the official of the Governor's Mansion heard Zheng Michang's words, he had no intention of concealing it, and even explained the purpose of his trip.

"Your Excellency, the lower official is on the order of the Governor, and he has specially invited you two to the Governor's Palace!"

"Well, the official knows, and I'm bothered to bring a message to the governor, and I'll go over right away!"

Hearing this, Zheng Michang bowed his head slightly, looked at the official of the Governor's Palace, and commanded.

"Yes, Lord Bu Political Envoy, the lower official must bring the words!"

When the official of the Governor's Mansion heard this, his face was full of fear, and he lowered his head and replied in a deep voice.

After the official of the Governor's Mansion left, I saw Zheng Michang get up from the chair, and after moving his limbs, he looked at He Maocai not far away, and then said: "Old He, what are you still doing in a daze, it's time to go, and I don't know what the Governor is looking for us for......

He Maocai on the side heard this, and after thinking for a while, he responded: "No matter what, it's not a bad thing anyway, you know, we have made a lot of contributions this time!" ”

Zheng Michang also agreed with He Maocai's words, and instead said: "Well, that's right, we have made a lot of contributions this time, in other words, we can be regarded as accepting the vote!" ”

"Vote, Lao Zheng, what do you mean?"

He Maocai was confused by this, and saw him look in the direction where Zheng Michang was with a puzzled expression, and asked.

Facing He Maocai's slightly puzzled gaze, I saw Zheng Michang shake his head, and after considering the sentence in his mind, he said slowly.

"Lao He, you might as well think about it, if the inside story of this matter is leaked, what will happen to the two of us?"

"You know, we are now helping Your Majesty to investigate the land annexation in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and when the time comes, can those rich gentry whose interests have been damaged spare us?"

"We are not Zhang Xuan, Zhang Ge Lao, we can rise and fall three times in the position of the first assistant of the cabinet!" (End of chapter)