Since Ouyang Yijing before, in front of many officials on the scene, he broke the ulterior thoughts behind Yan Song Xu Jie.

Only then did everyone realize that they had been deceived, and they were instigated.

Soon, the revenge against Yan Songxu Jie was carried out in an orderly manner, and the impeachment of Yan Song Xu Jie was like a snowflake, floating towards the Inspectorate.

Not only that, but many students of Guozijian were instigated and began to publicly criticize Yan Song and Xu Jie.

Yan Song and Xu Jie, because of their previous clear support for the emperor and vigorously promoted the policy of integrated grain payment by the officials and gentry, their prestige among the Shilin has long fallen to the bottom.

Although there was some rebound in the back, it was still better than nothing, and no one in Shilin stood up at all to speak for the two of them.

Gradually, public opinion became more and more turbulent, almost to the point of almost overwhelming people.

There were even rumors circulating in the DPRK that Yan Songxu was deliberately retaliating, excluding dissidents, and announcing personal vendetta by ranking various departments.

For this kind of rumor, Yan Song Xu Jie, naturally, denied it at the first time, but few people were willing to believe it.

……

Night falls, the capital, Yanfu.

At this moment, Yan Song was sitting behind the bookcase, and a copy of "Spring and Autumn" was placed in front of him.

At this time, Yan Song was browsing the books in front of him intently, as if nothing had happened.

At this moment, I heard a slight knock on the door.

Seeing this, Yan Song took his attention away from the book in front of him and commanded, "Come in!" ”

The voice fell, only to hear a 'squeak', the door of the room was pushed open, and then, I saw the butler walk in with silent steps.

After the housekeeper entered the study, he leaned down, looked in the direction where Yan Song was, and said respectfully: "Master, just now Hu Ge sent someone to bring a message, saying that it was those rumors in the capital recently......

Before the housekeeper's words were finished, he was interrupted by Yan Song's words: "Okay, there is no need to say it, tell Hu Ruzhen for me, just say this little thing, don't worry about him!" ”

When the housekeeper heard Yan Song's words, his expression immediately turned grim, and he replied in a deep voice: "Yes, master!" ”

After the housekeeper left, I saw Yan Song refocus his attention on the book in front of him.

Yan Song is not worried about the increasingly turbulent public opinion in the capital at the moment, because in the final analysis, those officials have no substantive evidence to prove their statement.

The ups and downs of the sea for decades have made Yan Song develop the ability not to be alarmed, and he knows that after a while, these seemingly turbulent public opinions will gradually calm down.

"Your Majesty still needs me Yan Song for the time being, the Ming Dynasty has two capitals and thirteen provinces, and you still need my old bones to support you, just rely on your group of officials who don't know the height of the sky, and you also want to bring me down, it's really wishful thinking!"

After that, I saw that Yan Song's face was full of mockery, and he picked up the teacup soaked in wolfberry water on the table and took a sip.

Then, I only heard a rush of footsteps outside the door, and after a while, I saw Yan Shifan walking in.

At this time, Yan Shifan looked quite excited, and as soon as he entered the door, he couldn't wait to look in the direction where Yan Song was, and said in a deep voice: "Father, the ranking of the six departments has been decided!" ”

When Yan Song heard this, a little curiosity appeared on his face, he raised his eyebrows, and asked, "Oh, have you discussed the result?" ”

Facing Yan Song's gaze, I saw Yan Shifan organize the language in his mind, and then spoke: "Father, it's settled, according to the agreed results, the Ministry of Officials is in the first place, and the rest are the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Industry, and the Ministry of Crime!" ”

After listening to the rankings reported by Yan Shifan, I saw Yan Song nodding and said slowly: "Well, after discussing the rankings for so long, it's good that they can be decided, the results of the six departments have been obtained, and the other departments should be soon!" ”

Yan Shifan looked at Yan Song's slightly rickety figure, and couldn't help but recall the increasingly turbulent public opinion in the capital recently.

Then, I saw Yan Shifan pluck up his courage, looked in the direction where Yan Song was, and said in a deep voice: "Father, recently, not only those Yanguan, but even some students of Guozijian have been instigated by Yanguan to publicly slander your innocence!" ”

"Father, do you want the child to say hello to the Criminal Department, teach those students who don't know what to do, and simply give them a charge of arguing about the government......

Yan Shifan seemed to be quite indignant about this, and when he said this, he subconsciously clenched his fists.

When Yan Song heard this, he just looked Yan Shifan up and down with cloudy eyes, and said slowly: "No need, doing so will be true!" ”

"What if they scold a few words, and there won't be any substantial loss."

Then, I saw Yan Song turn his words, retract his gaze from Yan Shifan's body, and then ordered: "You have to keep an eye on the ranking of relevant departments next, and try not to make any mistakes, understand?" ”

When Yan Shifan heard Yan Song's words, he immediately lowered his head and responded respectfully: "Yes, father, the child knows!" ”

"Alright, it's not too early, you go down first!"

"Yes, father, the child will retire, and you will rest early!"

After responding, Yan Shifan did not stay for too long, and after bowing to Yan Song, he left the study with steps.

……

The capital, Yuwang's Mansion.

In the room, I saw Zhu Zaikun sitting in the main seat, and Xu Jie, Gao Gong, and Zhang Juzheng were sitting on the side.

At this time, Zhu Zaikun looked complacent, after all, it had been a while since King Jing Zhu Zaizhen left the capital and returned to the fiefdom.

During this time, Zhu Zaikun seized the opportunity and began to vigorously expand his forces.

Today's Zhu Zaikun can be called a different place.

For Zhu Zaikun, the fourth brother Zhu Zaizhen left the capital and returned to the fiefdom, which means that in a short period of time, no one can threaten his status.

He can free up his hands and concentrate on dealing with the threat from Zhu Zaiyuan.

And it just so happened that not long ago, Jinyiwei and Dongchang made a brazen move to clean up those who wanted to stand in line with Zhu Zaiyuan in advance.

After this incident, many officials in the DPRK and China switched to Zhu Zaikun's command.

In the eyes of those people, the current situation is already very clear.

This position of the emperor will definitely fall on Zhu Zaikun in the future, or Zhu Zaiyuan who is still in infancy.

And with the lessons of the past, those people in the government and the opposition did not dare to make any more ideas about Zhu Zaiyuan.

After all, before Zhu Zaiyuan grew up, everything was empty talk!

With such an idea, many people bet their chips on Zhu Zaikun, who looks more secure, after all, the current King Yu is His Majesty's eldest son.

Afterwards, I saw Zhu Zaikun gather his mind, look at the direction where Xu Jie was with a worried face, and asked: "Elder Xu Ge, the wind direction of the recent court ...... the middle."

Xu Jie took in the expression on Zhu Zaikun's face, shook his head, and said unhurriedly: "His Royal Highness King Yu doesn't have to worry, there is a way that he is not afraid of shadows, and after a while, these rumors in the court will dissipate by themselves." ”

After that, I saw Xu Jie looking in the direction where Zhu Zaikun was with a worried face, and reminded him: "His Royal Highness King Yu, although many people in the court have made their attitude clear to you recently, you must be cautious!" ”

"Some of them have impure motives, not only can they not succeed, but they will also drag us back!"

After listening to Xu Jie's persuasion, I saw Zhu Zaikun put on a false look, nodded, and said kindly: "Thank you Xu Ge for reminding me, Lone will carefully screen these people!" ”

Xu Jie saw that Zhu Zaikun listened to his advice in a good manner, and the worry on his face also subsided a lot.

……

After this topic was over, Zhu Zaikun seemed to suddenly remember something, looked in the direction where Xu Jie, and asked: "By the way, Elder Xu Ge, didn't my father ask the cabinet to evaluate the ranking according to the performance and efficiency of various departments of my Ming Dynasty recently?" ”

"Is there a result of the ranking?"

When Xu Jie heard this, he didn't mean to hide it, and after recalling for a while, he turned to speak: "Right now, the rankings of the six departments, the five temples, and the twelve prisons have all been decided, and the rest of them, in a few days, can all be decided!" ”

After Zhu Zaikun learned the news from Xu Jie's mouth, a look of hesitation appeared on his face, and he continued to ask: "...... the six departments here?"

Facing Zhu Zaikun's gaze, I saw Xu Jie speak without thinking: "On the side of the six departments, the officials are in the first place, followed by the household department, the ritual department, the military department, the engineering department, and the criminal department!" ”

"It is understandable that Hu Zongxian's ministry is in the first place, but why is it not Yan Shifan's ministry that ranks last?"

After listening to the specific rankings, Zhu Zaikun looked puzzled, faced everyone, and asked.

When Zhu Zaikun's words fell, I saw Gao Gong on the side stand up, his face was full of disdain, and he said mockingly: "Hmph, it's not because this Yan Shifan has a father who is the first assistant of the cabinet!" ”

Gao Gong seemed to be quite indignant about this, and after a pause, he continued: "If it weren't for his father, with the achievements of the Ministry of Industry this year, he would have to be ranked at the bottom!" ”

Seeing this, Xu Jie, who was on the side, looked in the direction where Gao Gong was, and said comfortingly: "Okay, it's just a ranking, don't take it too seriously, in the final analysis, it still depends on Your Majesty's approval!" ”

When Xu Jie's words fell, Zhang Juzheng on the side also followed and comforted: "Yes, Gao Ge Lao, Xu Ge Lao is right, in the final analysis, it still depends on His Majesty's approval!" ”

After this, Gao Gong's emotions gradually calmed down.

Then, I saw Xu Jie look around, look at everyone, and then said: "It looks like it's about to be the end of the year, so let's find a time to calculate the accounts of each department this year, and draw up the votes by the way!" ”

"This Imperial Council can't be as noisy as last time!"

Although Xu Jie said so, he knew very well in his heart that the next imperial meeting would be the most relaxed in so many years.

Because this year, the imperial court not only completely quelled the Japanese invaders, but also defeated the Tatars, and even put down the rebellion of the Yang clan in Banzhou.

The imperial court was not only victorious in military affairs, but also quite successful in domestic affairs.

Not only did it get rid of the empty treasury in one fell swoop, but also eliminated many corrupt and mediocre officials through the triennial plan of the imperial court.

Thanks to the abundance of the treasury, the bills of various departments of the imperial court this year can all be passed without even looking at it!

The imperial court used troops more frequently this year, and the three major wars of Pingwaikou, Imperial Tatars, and Annihilation of Banzhou cost a lot of money and food, but the money and food spent can always be replenished from other places.

Nothing else is said for the time being, just for the battle of Banzhou, from beginning to end, the imperial court spent nearly five million taels of silver.

But after the imperial court took Banzhou, and the Yang family, which had been operating for hundreds of years in Banzhou, as well as the seven local small toasts with different surnames, all of them were wiped out, and the imperial court confiscated nearly 30 million taels of silver!

In addition to the previous consumption, the imperial court also had an additional surplus of more than 20 million silver!

It is no exaggeration to say that the current Daming is really thriving!

Xu Jie, as the head of the household, naturally knows very well that the silver in the treasury has reached as much as 300 million!

Most of them came from the smuggling families on the southeast coast, as well as those big salt merchants, in addition, the Four Sages and Three Sages families in Shandong also contributed a lot.

After all, when the imperial court treated the above-mentioned people, it really did it knock out the bones and suck the marrow, not only killed people cleanly, but also did not leave them a penny.

The confiscated silver is a windfall for the imperial court, and naturally it cannot last long.

"Right now, there are at least 300 million silver in the treasury, plus the tax revenue from opening the sea, as well as the trade agreement that I negotiated with the Rakshasa Mission not long ago, this trade agreement will bring at least 13 million taels of income to the Ming Dynasty every year!"

When Xu Jie thought of this, his breathing couldn't help but become short.

Because he was busy with other things on weekdays, Xu Jie didn't have time to think about it, and when he calmed down and thought about it, he found that before he knew it, Da Ming had gotten rid of the empty treasury.

"Could it be that this is what His Majesty mentioned in front of us at the beginning, but this is a little too exaggerated!"

……

The night passed in the blink of an eye, and in the early morning, after breakfast, Yan Song and his son took a sedan chair and went to the Forbidden City.

After the sedan chair stopped, I saw Yan Shifan get off the sedan chair first, and carefully helped Yan Song down from the sedan chair.

Under Yan Shifan's support, I saw Yan Song trembling and marching in the direction of the cabinet.

"By the way, father, the child got the news, and that group of speakers seem to be planning some big moves recently?"

"Don't worry too much, there is no substantive evidence in the hands of those officials, all they can do is to incite public opinion and increase the intensity of impeachment!"

Yan Song didn't seem to care about this, just glanced at Yan Shifan and said in response.

After that, I saw Yan Song pause for a moment, and then continued: "When the cabinet comes and announces the evaluation results of various departments, that group of speech officials will die down!" ”

"By the way, I didn't ask you to check the situation over there in the Sixth Branch before, how did you find out?"

When Yan Shifan heard this, he didn't hide it in the slightest, and immediately stopped and reported respectfully to Yan Song.

"Father, the child has been investigated clearly, among the six departments, except for Ouyang Yijing's criminal department, it belongs to Hu Yingjia's official department, which has the highest efficiency and the best political performance!"

"Among them, in the past year, there has been almost no achievement in the corpse vegetarian meal!"

After listening to Yan Shifan's report, Yan Song thought for a moment before he responded: "Don't provoke Ouyang Yijing for the time being, just take this Hu Yingjia as a knife, and rank him last in the affairs of the official department where he is located, and second in the household department!" ”

When Yan Shifan heard this, his expression immediately turned grim, and he replied in a deep voice: "Yes, father, the child knows what to do!" ”

After that, Yan Song, with the support of Yan Shifan, continued to march in the direction where the cabinet was located.

Who knew that before he walked out a few steps, he only heard Xu Jie's voice sounding behind him: "Yan Ge Lao!" ”

When Yan Song heard this, he paused, followed the prestige, and saw Xu Jie coming down from the sedan chair, and then caught up with Yan Song's father and son in three steps and two steps.

After coming to the front of Yan Song's father and son, I saw Xu Jie arching his hand to Yan Song, and said respectfully: "I've seen Yan Ge Lao!" ”

When Yan Song heard this, he looked Xu Jie up and down with cloudy eyes, and then said slowly: "Oh, it's Xu Ge Lao!" ”

After that, I saw Yan Song and Xu Jie walking together, and Yan Shifan consciously followed the two of them about four or five steps behind.

After a few words of greeting, I saw Xu Jie withdraw his gaze from a distance, and took the lead in provoking the topic: "Elder Yan Ge, now the rankings of the six departments, the five temples, and the twelve prisons have been decided, and in a few days, this errand handed over to our cabinet by His Majesty will be successfully completed!" ”

When Yan Song heard Xu Jie's words, he was also quite emotional, and then, he saw his straight body, looked in the direction where Xu Jie, and said bluntly: "The ranking of the six subjects has also been decided!" ”

When Xu Jie heard this, a trace of curiosity flashed on his face, and he asked, "Oh, I want to hear about it!" ”

Facing Xu Jie's gaze, I saw Yan Song organize the language in his mind, and then spoke: "Ouyang Yijing's criminal department is ranked first, and the second place is in the household department, and the rest are the engineering, etiquette, military, and official departments are ranked last!" ”

After this, Yan Song seemed to be asking Xu Jie for advice, and asked, "Elder Xu Ge, what do you think of this ranking?" ”

When Xu Jie heard this, after thinking about it for a while, he expressed his attitude: "Well, I have no opinion, since Elder Yan Ge has already decided, then let's follow this ranking!" ”

In Xu Jie's opinion, Yan Song's ranking can be described as full of malice.

According to the information he obtained, Hu Yingjia's official department was extremely efficient and had outstanding political achievements.

But right now, it is ranked last, and it is in the second place in the household science that has no achievements.

In this way, even if there is Ouyang Yijing in the middle of the mediation, the various departments of the six departments will inevitably have disagreements, and the conflicts between them will only intensify.

After all, if you don't suffer from widowhood but suffer from unevenness, why can you be in the second place without any achievements in your household department?

At that time, with just a little means, you can turn the officials into a plate of loose sand and avenge the original revenge!

"This Yan Song, he is really skilled in framing things, it seems that I will have to be careful in the future!"

……

Then, I saw Xu Jie gather his mind, raise his head, look in the direction where Yan Song was, and propose: "Elder Yan Ge, it looks like it's coming to the end of the year, I think it's better to find a time to calculate the accounts of various departments, and draw up the votes by the way, what do you think?" ”

After listening to Xu Jie's proposal, a look of surprise flashed on Yan Song's face, and he followed Ying He and said, "Oh, is it so early this year?" ”

Because of the conversation between the two, Yan Shifan did not shy away from it, so Yan Shifan also heard the proposal that Xu Jie wanted to vote in advance.

At this time, Yan Shifan's face was not good-looking, and the previous scene couldn't help but appear in his mind.

At the last imperial meeting, he was slammed by Xu Jie, Gao Gong in front of the emperor.

Xu Jie's bill from Zhang Juzheng's military department was signed by Xu Jie without looking at it, but the bill from the Ministry of Officials and the Ministry of Industry on his side was rejected by Xu Jie on the grounds that the overexpenditure was too big and the household department did not dare to sign.

Not only that, but Gao Gong actually used the reason that being present does not mean agreeing to prevaricate himself.

If it weren't for the fact that I was in a hurry, I would have used the loss of shipping, as well as labor costs, plus a few ships that capsized in the middle of the storm, as a reason, I am afraid that the head would have fallen to the ground long ago.

Thinking of this, Yan Shifan unconsciously clenched his fists, and then began to listen more intently to the conversation between Yan Song and Xu Jie.

Seeing that Yan Song was still thinking about it, Xu Jie, after considering his tone, withdrew his gaze from Yan Song's body, and said: "Elder Yan Ge, look, this is about to end the year, this year's matter, this year's end, why delay it until next year!" ”

"If you settle the accounts of various departments as soon as possible and draw up the tickets, everyone can have a good year with peace of mind, right?"

Hearing this, Yan Song nodded after pondering for a while, and said in response: "Since this is the case, then as Elder Xu Ge said, let all departments report this year's expenses, and then the cabinet will vote on it!" ”

Yan Song paused when he said this, and then continued to add: "But we have to wait until the cabinet has almost done the things at hand, and then we can start calculating the accounts of various departments!" ”

Seeing that Yan Song agreed to his proposal, Xu Jie's face couldn't help but flash a trace of excitement, only to see him lower his head and respond in a deep voice: "Yes, Yan Ge Lao!" ”

Yan Shifan, who was following behind the two, saw that the two sides had reached an agreement on the matter of voting in advance, and a trace of entanglement flashed on his face, and he didn't know whether he should come forward to dissuade him on this matter.

In his opinion, this Xu Jie, who must have bad intentions and is secretly planning something.

Perhaps, like last time, he will turn against himself and pit himself fiercely.

After a long time of fighting between heaven and man, Yan Shifan finally decided to mention this matter to Yan Song in private. (End of chapter)