Chapter 992: Blood Loss
Seeing everyone grinding their teeth secretly, Bai Xiaowu pretended not to notice and sat down calmly.
"I appreciate the hospitality and thank you all for your generosity. I was born in a poor family. In addition to drinking good tea in front of the officials, I also drink coarse tea in my own house on weekdays. Knowing my situation, the officials specially rewarded me with a lump of dragon and phoenix dumplings. , I have been cherishing it for a long time, but I haven’t had a chance to drink it yet.”
Listening to Xiao Wu's tone, everyone twitched their mouths and felt extremely angry.
Damn it, they are so anxious that they are not here to listen to you show off.
"Ahem~, Bai Hanlin is a close official, so he can naturally taste the good tea in the palace. If we want to drink good tea, we can only come to Jinqiu Tea House."
"Yes, the tea has been brewed. I would like to invite Bai Hanlin to taste it."
Several people exchanged glances, tried hard to hold back their anger, and welcomed him warmly.
There was an undercurrent in the private room, and the atmosphere was a bit strange. Bai Xiaowu picked up the tea cup and took a sip, then nodded.
“Good tea,”
"Refreshment, how can we be less cautious when we have tea? Bai Hanlin will try this nine-layer cake again. The combination of the two will enhance the taste."
Bai Xiaowu followed the other person's recommendation, pierced a piece of nine-layer cake with a bamboo skewer, ate it, and sighed with approval.
"It's indeed good. You adults have good taste, good tea, and a happy life. I can't compare with you. I'm used to being poor. When I encounter something good suddenly, I sometimes feel reluctant to eat it."
"Bai Hanlin is joking. If you like it, go back and ask the store to prepare a few copies to take back and taste slowly. Lord Bai is an official of the imperial court, how can you belittle yourself?"
Why are you pretending to be poor? It didn't matter before, but now that he has become a favorite, he has already been decorated with silk and satin.
"I made all the ministers laugh. I have never seen many pastries before. When I was accompanying the Holy Master in the palace, if I could catch up with the pastries coming out of the pan, I would be able to follow them. I actually remembered the names of many pastries."
Everyone: "..."
The palace cakes are naturally the best in the world.
They can guarantee that this guy deliberately made them angry.
To rub salt into their wounds at such a young age is simply unforgivable.
"Ahem~, Bai Hanlin, stop chatting. I'll be here today. If I have anything to ask, please don't hesitate to give me some advice." Don't beat around the bush with this kind of person, or you'll make yourself angry to death.
"Yes, when things have reached this point, we won't hide them anymore. After all, they are all old things. We have already blamed ourselves for the wrong things we did impulsively. I also hope that Bai Hanlin can give me some guidance. I will be grateful. Not enough.”
"Yeah yeah……"
Seeing everyone's pleading eyes, Bai Xiaowu shrugged his shoulders innocently, "The official has read the list. I was present at the time. What do you want to know?"
"...We know that our behavior is inappropriate, and we would like to ask Bai Hanlin, what can we do to calm the officials?"
As soon as these words came out, everyone looked at Bai Xiaowu with burning eyes, wanting to grab his shoulders and shake him desperately.
"I can understand the mood of the ministers. After all, when the official saw the brochure, he threw it to the ground on the spot. I persuaded you for a while before calming down. I believe that acknowledging mistakes can greatly improve things."
Bai Xiaowu said, taking a sip of tea, his eyes narrowed, the entrance was slightly bitter, and the aftertaste was sweet. These guys really spent their money.
After hearing this, several people looked at each other and their thoughts changed slightly.
"Thank you very much Bai Hanlin for your kind words. I am really worried about making the officials angry because of my personal grudges. I dare to ask Bai Hanlin, how can I make the officials calm down? We also want to make up for it."
"It's hard to say this. To be honest, I feel that the two books on the secret door are really a trap. The accounts are huge... The imperial treasury is empty, and you actually use money to hire people to resolve personal grievances. It is really extravagant. "
Everyone was silent for a moment, and then their eyes widened suddenly. The officials wanted to expropriate their wealth?
How is this possible?
Looking at the expressions of several people, Xiao Wu sighed helplessly,
"It is said that when the country is in trouble, every man is responsible. I heard that the imperial court still owes the border guards a year's military expenses. If anyone can relieve the government's worries, I will definitely be very happy."
Everyone: "..."
Ask them to donate money?
"Although I was born into a poor family, I am now a scholar of the Hanlin Academy. People say that eating the emperor's salary will help relieve the emperor's worries. I saw that the official family was worried about military expenses, so I donated all my abundant money."
All donated?
So refreshing?
However, the officials are really worried about allocating military funds recently. If they can offset the merits, they should be able to make the officials proud, right?
Thinking of this, everyone's hearts suddenly became lively. As for how to donate and how much to donate, they had to calculate it together.
"All of you are from families with profound foundations, and everyone has a heart to be loyal to the country. As long as you are sincere, personal grudges are not worth mentioning in the face of righteousness."
After saying this, Xiao Wu stood up and
"It's getting late. I'll take my leave. There's no need for you to see me off."
Watching Xiao Wu's figure disappear at the door, several people pursed their lips silently and fell into an eerie silence for a while.
It took a while before someone broke the silence and sighed, "So I'm just waiting here. That's fine. Losing money and eliminating disaster is the only way out now."
"How to donate? We have to make a careful calculation and don't fall into someone's trap."
"Alas, the handle is in the hands of the officials, so we have no choice but to admit it."
"That's true. It's better to shed some blood than to be questioned. In the final analysis, it's all the fault of those gangsters at the secret door. They don't have any sense of morality and they actually sided with us. If it weren't for them, why would we have to face such a predicament?"
"Ahem~, the memorial about the suppression of the secret door was submitted by Bai Hanlin, because he was attacked and felt angry, so he complained directly to the government, which led to the situation today."
"Who was the blind man who attacked him, a newly appointed Hanlin scholar..."
Just when he said this, the man suddenly stopped talking, looked at each other, and was very taboo.
As for what the others discussed, Bai Xiaowu ignored them and just waited for them to pay the money.
Sure enough, at the third day of the grand court meeting,
the head of the Sinongqing reported that the border guards had a hard time guarding the border. In addition to dealing with the extremely cold weather, they also had to defend against foreign enemies at any time. How hard they worked and how great their contributions were, etc. In order to let the border guards feel at ease guarding the border, he was willing to donate 100,000 taels of silver in his personal name to show his gratitude.
After Sinongqing finished speaking, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue followed him out.
"Your Majesty, I second the proposal and am willing to donate 80,000 taels."
"I second the proposal, 50,000 taels,"
"100,000 taels,"
"30,000 taels."
"..."
Listening to the people scrambling to donate, the bystanders were shocked and their eyes widened. What is this operation?
Why didn't anyone tell him the truth?
Looking at the ministers who came out, Emperor Chengxuan was very happy. He silently glanced at Hanlin and cleared his throat.
"My dear ministers, I am very pleased with your righteousness. The court has you as the backbone. It is a blessing for the court, a blessing for the people, and a comfort for the border guards." (End of this chapter)