"Ahem." The emperor coughed twice.

Immediately there was silence underneath.

"Don't you want to know what game I'm playing?"

Yuan Yang, the waiter of the Sanpin Military Department, was interested: "The games in the palace must be more fun than those outside, please ask the emperor to make us clear." ”

"Let's play the auction game today."

Guys, look at me, I'll look at you.

I have heard of auctions outside, for example, there was a big corrupt official in the first emperor's dynasty, and the first emperor confiscated his mansion, and felt that the three-entry house was too wasteful, so it was auctioned within the scope of Chen State, and the highest price was won. This was the beginning of the auction.

I understand the reason, but what is the auction of?

Gao Rang opened the box, and inside the box was a paperweight, black, made of ceramic, with blue flowers, birds, insects and fish carved on it.

This paperweight is not precious, the appearance is average, the material is not jade, and the carved flowers and birds are also ordinary patterns.

"This paperweight is something from the inner library. Did any Aiqing come up with money to buy it? The emperor looked at everyone and motioned for Gao Rang to hold the paperweight high.

Several ministers are people, not straw bales.

This paperweight is worth a few dollars, and everyone knows it.

Ceramic paperweight, even if it comes out of the inner library, it is still a paperweight. It's not worth the price.

"Why did the emperor take this worthless thing and let us buy it? Our money doesn't come from the wind. Now I'm in a tight purse. Yuan Yang, the waiter of the Sanpin Military Department, frowned.

Liu Hexiao, the waiter of the Sanpin Officials' Department, smiled: "Lord Yuan's family is rich, his father-in-law's family has power, and there is only one wife, and the family's money and materials can't be spent no matter what, how can he say such stingy words." ”

"If you want me to say, this paperweight is not worth ten taels of silver."

"Oh, it's over, the emperor has come to me, what should I do? If you don't buy it, the emperor may be angry, but if you buy it, no one wants to be the big boss. ”

Because no one is the main culprit, the atmosphere is a bit weird. There was a situation where the emperor could not sell the goods.

Get off the wrong foot.

The emperor wants to be cold.

Du Zhiyan hurriedly stabbed her father.

Du Zhong also felt that it was an idiot to buy this paperweight. He wanted to see who the idiot was who bought the paperweight.

Du Zhiyan twisted Du Zhong.

"Five hundred taels, the minister bought it." Du Zhong slapped the silver ticket on the table.

Everyone looked at the wronged head.

A paperweight that is not worth ten taels of silver, Du Zhong He spent five hundred taels of silver to buy?

Isn't this price gouging?

Du Zhong, a five-grade official, is pitiful, who gave him the confidence to spend five hundred taels to buy a paperweight?

The emperor secretly sighed that his father-in-law knew the general situation, and he was afraid of the cold scene, so he specially gave five hundred taels of silver to support himself. What a noble sentiment.

Du Zhong held the paperweight, and his heart was dripping blood.

I thought I was going to a New Year's banquet, but I didn't expect to spend 500 taels of silver to buy this useless paperweight, I knew I wouldn't come, a loser.

Other officials also complained about him: "Lord Du, you are only a few years old, and you have to do what you can." ”

"What if you put the price so high and make me wait? Doesn't it plunge us into misery? ”

But the emperor said: "Now that there is a shortage of silver in the border area, all Aiqing know that the border is related to the safety of our Chen country's territory, and in order to open up the territory and protect the territory, His Royal Highness the King of Yue cannot rush back to the banquet." Therefore, Du Aiqing bought the paperweight of 500 silver, which will be written down, and then allocated for military expenses, which can be regarded as Zhongaiqing's efforts for the country. ”

The emperor's meaning is obvious, the military budget is not enough, let's find a way.

"Your Majesty, doing your best for the country is the duty of the minister, but the minister was born poor, and he really can't get any silver, so the boots on his feet are also mended and mended." Liu He, the waiter of the Sanpin Ministry of Officials, began to cry poorly.

The emperor glanced at Yuan Yang, Yuan Yang quickly lowered his head and pretended not to see it, and scolded Liu He in his heart, what kind of poor background, can I, who is not from a poor background, get silver?

For a while, even family members looked around.

There are many people who watch, but few people who echo it.

The emperor snorted secretly, now that you have all gathered, don't even think about running away.

The emperor took out a list, and Gao Rang took out a pair of Nanzhu earrings.

The Nanzhu earrings are yellow and round, and they are usually only worn by the queen.

The light shone on the earrings, and the sparkling light stunned the family.

"These earrings are good, they are worth five hundred taels of silver."

"Of course your Liu Mansion is not short of these five or two hundred, these Nanzhu earrings are a rare good thing."

The officials remained unmoved, silent.

"I na, some time ago, I watched a play in Nanfu, saying that there was a person in Xihai State, who had an average career, married a powerful wife, and relied on his wife's family background, rising steadily, until he reached the official residence, in the eyes of outsiders, he was loyal to his wife, obedient to his words, and like Liu Xia Hui, he was not chaotic, but in fact, he slept in the willows, secretly raised two outer rooms in the South Lane, and even gave birth to children. The paper can't contain the fire, and his wife will ...... when he knows about it."

"Your Majesty—" Yuan Yang knelt down: "Those wolf-hearted people are really despised." ”

"Well, Aiqing Gaojian."

"Your Majesty, those pair of Nanzhu earrings are very good-looking, I want to come and match the minister's wife Wei very well, and the minister wants to take a picture of it and give it to her."

"Aiqing is so good to Madame. It's just that these Nanzhu earrings are very valuable......"

"I'm not afraid of being expensive, I think the Wei family is worth it."

"Ten thousand taels." The emperor was ruthless.

"I bought it." Yuan Yang took Nanzhu's earrings with trembling hands and respectfully brought them to Wei's face.

Everyone praised Wei's blessings, such a young and promising Lang Jun who really loved her was really enviable.

Wei Shi was wearing Nanzhu earrings, and the brilliance of the earrings reflected her delicate skin: "Yuan Lang, although you are a third-grade, you still need to work harder, you must not learn to be like in the play, you don't know the checkpoints, can you understand?" ”

"I understand, since my wife married me, I have made a rule, and Yuan will not take a concubine in his life."

Wei sat down satisfied, Yuan Yang wiped the sweat from his forehead, and quietly sat back.

Liu He poked his arm and whispered: "Brother Yuan, you are really rich when you say that your family is rich, you are really rich, you can take 10,000 taels of silver, just now we also said that Lord Du is a loser, you are especially bad." Do you know that although these Nanzhu earrings are good-looking, they are not without them on the black market, and in such a good condition, six hundred taels of silver is already the end, and you actually paid 10,000 taels. ”

Yuan Yang's face turned crimson, and he secretly glanced in the direction of the Wei family, but he didn't dare to say more.

Another box was opened, and it was a silver knife for peeling apples.

"I think of the old years, I heard such a bizarre story, about a person with strong martial arts, called Guan Yi, who began to practice since he was a child, and at the age of ten, he could hold a tripod with one hand, and he felt that this was a talent that could be created, but during the competition, because he had no money to take care of the examiner, the weapon distributed to him was folded on the spot, causing him to be confused and depressed, Lord Liu, our Chen Guo's arsenal, this won't happen, right?"

Liu He only felt a string of sparks with lightning above his head, which blew up his mind blank, and when he heard the emperor call his name, he trembled and said: "Naturally not, the emperor is wise, under the rule of the emperor, how can such a thing happen." ”

"What do you think of this silver knife?"

"Very good, very good, silver shining, well-made, from the inner library, it must be a good thing."

"How much do you think this silver knife is worth?"

"The minister thinks that it is worth fifteen thousand taels to say less."

Yuan Yang almost squirted out a sip of tea.

Okay, you Lord Liu, just now you still look like a ghost and say that I don't know how to buy Nanzhu earrings for 10,000 taels, such a small silver knife, at best, it is not worth ten taels of silver, and you actually bid 15,000 taels? Who said that he was born poor, and a pair of boots were mended and mended, Lord Liu, you are changing very quickly.

"So which Aiqing is willing to buy this silver knife? Of course, you don't have to be reluctant, you have to be satisfied. “

"Minister—willing to buy this silver knife." Liu He knelt out.

"I know that you have a bad background, and you have been up and down in officialdom for many years before you sit in your current position, your money is not easy to come by, don't force it." The emperor also pretended to persuade.

"Your Majesty, the minister really likes this silver knife."

"Okay then." The emperor sighed, since Lord Liu is so insistent, it is not good not to sell it to him.

Gao Rang happily gave the silver knife to Liu He.

"Lord Liu is really hidden." Yuan Yang teased him: "I remember that Lord Liu was born in cloth, and the fifteen thousand taels must have been taken out of all the silver accumulated by the ancestors." ”

Liu He put the silver knife into his sleeve, but he didn't even dare to raise his head.

Yuan Yang paid 10,000 taels, Liu He paid 15,000 taels, and in just a cup of tea, the emperor received more than 20,000 taels.

The ministers felt that something was wrong.

But they all came, and they couldn't leave, so they could only watch Gao Rang come out with something in his hands.

For the things that Gao Rang brought out, everyone was very curious at first, and they wanted to take a look at the excitement.

Looking at it, I feel like a turtle in an urn, something is wrong.

is usually as powerful as Yuan Yang, and as slamming the door as Liu He, they all obediently took out the silver and came out, and the others probably didn't run.

Sure enough, the emperor left a "I heard a play the day before yesterday, in which it was said that there was a seven-grade petty official who dared to be powerful in the city, and let his dog bite others and blame others for ramming his dog, and he also arrested and beat people...... "right one" I had a dream, dreaming that an official kidnapped a people's girl, and did not dare to take it home, so he secretly hid in a brothel, and waited for the limelight to pass and go to the brothel to make it bad. ”

After a while, the gold collar was sold for five thousand taels, the silver bracelet for three thousand taels, and the white hosta for two thousand taels.

At the beginning, the emperor still took these things and compared them on his body, with some explanations by the way, such as "This gold collar was given by the first emperor, and there are twelve ruby gems inlaid on it. Do you want to take a closer look? ”

Later, he simply didn't explain it, because it was too sought-after, and as soon as Gao Rang opened the box, these officials grabbed it.

"Your Majesty, this white hosta is very suitable for my mother, please ask the emperor to sell it to Weichen."

"Your Majesty, this silver bracelet is of excellent craftsmanship and sparkling, three thousand taels, sell it to me."

To be evenly stained with rain and dew, you can't favor one over the other, the emperor gave Gao Rang a look, and Gao Rang quickly hugged a few things over, after all, everyone has a share, so that everyone can return with a full load.

By the time every official had bought something, it was not too early.

The officials either rode horses or sat in sedan chairs to say goodbye at the palace gate.

Wei fiddled with a pair of Nanzhu earrings on his ears, sat in the carriage and said arrogantly: "My Lord Yuan, aren't you happy?" Is it a hypocrisy to buy me these earrings? ”

"Of course not, I really bought it for you, and 10,000 taels of silver is nothing."

Liu He sat in the sedan chair and was also in a trance, his heart felt like he had been stabbed, he couldn't cry out in pain, he could only sigh all the way, his wife Zhao whispered: "You are from a difficult background, you value silver the most, the silver guy in the treasury, you don't say dozens of times a month, how can you spend this ten thousand taels You are so generous, it's just a silver knife, how much can it be worth?" Why did you become the wronged leader? Is it to show off in front of everyone? ”

"What do you know as a woman?" Liu He was angry and didn't fight anywhere.

Other people who bought hairpins or collars were also depressed, such as mourning.

The abacus of Taihe Palace crackled, the charcoal furnace was sparkling, and the emperor sat behind the desk with a brush.

What is recorded on the rice paper is the harvest of the New Year's banquet.

Thirteen things were sold, and ninety-one thousand five hundred taels of silver were recovered.

Du Zhiyan was grinding for the emperor on the side, and when he saw the five hundred taels of silver she earned from doing business, his eyes were straight.

The emperor returned the five hundred taels of silver tickets to her: "No wonder you insisted on letting your father attend the New Year's banquet, it turned out that he was asked to be the bait, and with him to support him, the rest of the matter will be easier to do." ”

"The emperor was wise and grasped the shortcomings of those people, so he let them obediently take out the silver." Du Zhiyan just didn't understand why the emperor was able to grasp the shortcomings of so many courtiers in a short period of time, even if he was to collect them, it was not so fast.

Of course, the emperor has a way, in the secret grid of Taihe Palace, there is a box all the year round, and the box records the recitals of some courtiers who were participated.

For example, Yuan Yang, carrying his fierce wife on his back, took another little wife in Huaihua Street outside, and the little wife gave birth to a son for him, who is now two or three years old.

For example, Liu He, because Guan Yi and others did not bribe him, he took advantage of his position to cause Guan Yi and others to lose the election.

For example, Lord Xu, who is more than sixty years old, has gray hair, and the emperor has already promised him to return to his hometown, and he still trembling to come to the early dynasty, saying that he is a loyal minister of the first emperor's dynasty, and he is really not worried that the emperor will be in charge of the government alone at a young age, and he must burn out his last ray of light like a candle to serve Chen Guo, and behind his back, he secretly robbed the people's daughter, afraid that he would stay in the house and have a bad reputation, so he secretly raised it in a brothel, thinking of finding a time for a pear flower to press the begonia.

After receiving these folds, the emperor pressed them down.

As the saying goes, when the water is clear, there are no fish.

The court is like water, and the courtiers are like fish. As long as there is a court, there need to have courtiers, the emperor controls the courtiers, is to use loyal ministers, far from treachery, but no one is perfect, jade is flawed, perfect does not exist, as long as it is not a big mistake, can be spurred, there are mistakes can be changed, it can be used, if there is no change, wait until the right time to take away their official positions, those who are greedy for ink, confiscated family property.

Now that the court is short of silver, the emperor has only used a little means, and some courtiers have stopped recruiting themselves, and in order to avoid the emperor's anger, they voluntarily spend money to eliminate disasters.