Chapter 194 193 Love Money Like Life, Do Things for Money

Hearing the footsteps behind him getting louder, Wei Guangde naturally couldn't ignore it. Standing at the porch of the Ministry of Revenue, he turned around and bowed to Yin Shizhen who was walking towards him angrily, saying: "Young student Wei Guangde greets Lord Yin."

Although Yin Shizhen was in a state of rage at this time, his good upbringing still allowed him to suppress his anger at the moment and smiled to Wei Guangde: "Oh, it's Guangde, you come to the Ministry of Revenue"

Speaking of this, Li Shuli and four yamen runners saluted him one after another. Yin Shizhen naturally knew why they came to the Ministry of Revenue, so he asked casually: "Is the matter done?"

"It's done, I'm just about to go to the courtyard."

Wei Guangde replied respectfully.

"It's good that it's done."

Although Yin Shizhen is only in his thirties now, his tone of voice makes Wei Guangde feel a little old-fashioned. Thinking about the current situation of Prince Yu's Mansion in the capital, Wei Guangde feels a little bit understood.

After looking at the sky, it was almost noon. Wei Guangde turned back and said to Li Shuli: "You should go back to the government office first." Then he turned to Yin Shizhen and said: "Sir Yin, it's getting late. Let's have lunch outside first." "Forget it. I still have to go back to Prince Yu's Mansion." Yin Shizhen evaded. Although he did not achieve his goal in the Ministry of Revenue, he still felt that he should pass the news back first. "Sir Yin, look at the sky. There is no need to rush. Guangde has just entered the Hanlin Academy and does not understand many things. It is a coincidence that I met Sir Yin here today. I hope you can help Guangde solve his doubts." Wei Guangde continued to invite him very attentively. Although he did not know what Yin Shizhen's status was in Prince Yu's Mansion, Wei Guangde knew that there were only three Hanlin Academy members in Prince Yu's Mansion, and Yin Shizhen was one of them. It has been quite a while, so he should have some status in front of Prince Yu. Yes, Wei Guangde wanted to get close to Prince Yu, which was decided when he was in Jiujiang Prefecture.

Unless Prince Yu died, Wei Guangde would not consider joining Prince Jing, so even if Prince Jing's mansion sent gifts to invite him to the mansion, he would find excuses to shirk. Although he did not break up, he was indeed perfunctory.

"Okay."

Yin Shizhen nodded. Wei Guangde invited him repeatedly, and if he did not agree, it would be a bit of a loss of face. After all, he was a member of the Hanlin Academy.

After arguing with the officials of the Ministry of Revenue for a long time, he still could not achieve his goal. He could only receive Prince Yu's monthly salary next month. Thinking about the current poor financial situation of Prince Yu's mansion, Yin Shizhen felt a headache.

The two of them walked out of the gate of the Ministry of Revenue and walked out along the long street.

There are government offices all around, so there is naturally no commercial atmosphere. They are all buildings with green tiles and red walls. Only by walking through this street can you see the shops and restaurants on the street.

Wei Guangde asked Yin Shizeng about some things in the Hanlin Academy. In fact, he had already inquired about most of these, especially about the book editing. But now he could only make small talk. They couldn't just walk forward stupidly without saying anything.

"Are you following Wu Qing to edit books?"

When Yin Shizeng heard Wei Guangde say that Yin Tai arranged for him to follow Wu Qing to edit books, he suddenly laughed.

Wei Guangde didn't understand what he meant and asked curiously, "Why is Lord Yin laughing?"

"Wu Qing and Wu Qing."

Yin Shizeng saw Wei Guangde's confused face and laughed, "Speaking of Senior Wu, he was also the third place winner in the same subject before me, and he is much more glorious than me."

"What about Wu Qing?"

Wei Guangde continued to ask.

"You have just entered the Hanlin Academy, so you may not know your teacher's past, haha." Yin Shizeng said, "He passed the examination for a scholar at the age of 19 and a juren at the age of 27. He failed the examination three times, but he worked hard and finally passed it in the 23rd year of Jiajing. During the palace examination, his papers were ranked first, and he should have been the champion." Yin Shizeng said this, looked at Wei Guangde who looked surprised, and continued, "Senior Wu's original name was Wu Ruwei, and he changed his name to Wuqing because he failed the examination three times.

He said he wanted to be auspicious, hoping that God would open his eyes and be more friendly to him.

His fate really changed after changing his name. He passed the imperial examination easily and ranked first in the palace examination.

Unfortunately, it was said that after the sealed envelope was opened, His Majesty did not like his name and said that "there should not be a ruthless champion in the world", and then he became the third place. "

The two talked about things in the Hanlin Academy, and soon walked out of the official street and came to Chang'an Street. There were shops on both sides of the street, and it was a busy scene.

The two found a restaurant and went up, chose a seat by the window, and after asking Yin Shizhan, Wei Guangde ordered wine and food. Soon the wine and food were served, and the two began to chat while eating.

"Last time we were drinking in the courtyard, I heard that the adults are now spending most of their time at Prince Yu's Mansion. Did you go to the Ministry of Revenue today to discuss the salary of the Prince Yu's Mansion?"

In fact, the news that the Ministry of Revenue has been in arrears of salary and annual gifts for more than two years has spread in the official circles of the capital, so it is not surprising that Wei Guangde knows about this.

"Guangde also knows about it, haha, hey"

Yin Shizhen is open-minded. He just smiled after hearing Wei Guangde's words, and then he thought about the money and couldn't help but sigh again.

"The Ministry of Revenue still shirks the responsibility by saying that there is no silver?"

Wei Guangde asked.

"How can there be no silver? There may be no silver to send out of the capital, but the expenses in the capital have been prepared long ago. It's just a lie."

Yin Shizhen shook his head and said.

"The Ministry of Revenue does this, won't His Royal Highness Prince Yu report him?"

Wei Guangde never figured out why Prince Yu did not file a complaint. This was bullying the emperor's son. If he didn't give him face, wouldn't it be a slap in the emperor's face?

Yin Shizhen just shook his head this time, but didn't say anything.

Wei Guangde then guessed that maybe he had privately contacted the emperor, so he didn't file a memorial, but the result was probably ineffective.

In fact, this was also Wei Guangde's wrong guess. Prince Yu did contact the palace, but he didn't directly talk to Emperor Jiajing about these things, because he couldn't see Emperor Jiajing at all.

Emperor Jiajing believed in the motto "Two dragons don't meet each other" at this time. Although the outside court heard about it, most of them laughed it off.

However, what Wei Guangde didn't know was that the reason why most of the ministers in the court thought that Emperor Jiajing favored the fourth prince Jing more, and even had the idea of ​​letting His Royal Highness Jing inherit the throne, was because Prince Yu could not see the emperor, but Prince Jing could occasionally enter the palace to meet Emperor Jiajing.

As a result, the officials began to spread the rumor that Emperor Jiajing liked Prince Jing but not Prince Yu, and the rumor spread.

However, Wei Guangde had not been in the officialdom for long, so he naturally had not heard of these things.

It was also because Prince Yu had talked to people in the palace about this matter, but the result was still the same, which made him unable to find a way out, and was even more influenced by rumors from the outside world, thinking that his father really disliked him and did it on purpose.

Prince Yu lived in fear and trepidation in the palace, and Yin Shizhan and other officials in the palace naturally had a similar mood.

And at this time, Wei Guangde was thinking that from Yin Shizhan's reaction, Prince Yu should have talked to the emperor, but there was no change.

It seems that this is really a play arranged by the emperor, perhaps to test Prince Yu's ability to respond, and he is not going to care about this matter.

"Just hold on for a few more years, and when you go out to be a vassal, you won't be bothered by these birds."

Whether it was intentional or unintentional, Yin Shizhan said this to Wei Guangde, which seemed to mean that Prince Yu gave up that position.

Hearing him say this, Wei Guangde frowned, but all the changes in his expression fell into Yin Shizeng's eyes.

"According to the ancestral system, the one who should go out to serve as a vassal should be King Jing, how could it be His Royal Highness Prince Yu."

Wei Guangde shook his head and said.

At this time, he didn't realize that Yin Shizeng was also testing him.

The chance meeting in the Ministry of Revenue today can be said to be an accident. Wei Guangde invited him warmly. As a new scholar in the Hanlin Academy, it is still reasonable, but Yin Shizeng couldn't help but be more careful when asking about Prince Yu's Mansion, not to mention that Wei Guangde is from Jiangxi.

"I heard from my classmates who were observing politics in the Ministry of Revenue that the Ministry of Revenue only pays salaries to the Prince's Mansion every few months. If this continues, it will be difficult for the Prince's Mansion to spend money."

Wei Guangde sighed. At this moment, he was still considering whether to take this opportunity to throw out the solution he thought of and tell Yin Shizeng. As for whether to do it or not, it has nothing to do with him, Wei Guangde.

"Yes, but the Ministry of Revenue said it had no money, and used the famine in Shanxi and Shaanxi as an excuse, saying that they had prepared money but had used it for disaster relief."

Yin Shizhen curled his lips in disdain, obviously fed up with the people in the Ministry of Revenue, and also wanted to provoke Wei Guangde, after all, Wei Guangde had contributed to the last time the court allocated disaster relief money and grain.

"Master Yin, and Master Gao, have you ever thought of a good way to solve this matter?"

Wei Guangde asked curiously, he wanted to know more about the situation, so as not to propose an idea that others have already tried, and then it would be embarrassing to say it out.

After all, that method is really embarrassing, and it may not be effective.

"What else can we do? The Ministry of Revenue has no money to shirk, and we can only keep running to the Ministry of Revenue to ask for money."

Yin Shizhen swallowed the wine in the glass in one gulp and said to Wei Guangde with a wry smile.

Wei Guangde hurriedly filled the wine glass in front of Yin Shizeng again, his face slightly showing a hesitant expression, he was still considering whether he should talk about this matter.

To be honest, Wei Guangde really didn't want to mention that method, it was really a bad idea.

But as a newcomer to the officialdom, the only method he could think of was that one.

The slightly struggling expression on Wei Guangde's face naturally caught Yin Shizeng's eyes, and Yin Shizeng's heart was also slightly moved.

The Prince Yu's Mansion naturally paid attention to the Jinshi of this subject, and Wei Guangde's name had been noticed by the Prince Yu's Mansion before he participated in the joint examination.

But that's all. Having some knowledge and having the ability to do things are two different things. The Ming Dynasty was not without people like Zhao Kuo on paper, who was comprehensive in words but full of loopholes in doing things, which is what the people call "high-minded but low-skilled".

The Prince Yu's Mansion paid attention to Zhu Dashou, Tao Dalin and Jin Da, who were ranked first in the first class. Wei Guangde also paid attention to them, but he didn't pay much attention to them, especially after he found out that someone from the Prince Jing's Mansion had visited Wei Guangde. After all, his place of origin determined many things.

In the Ming Dynasty, the local party was actually very common, and many high-ranking officials in the early Ming Dynasty were from Jiangxi. Therefore, in the eyes of most people, the people from Jiangxi were very strong in group, providing mutual assistance and jointly suppressing people from other provinces.

For this reason, in the late Ming Dynasty, most of the Jinshi from Jiangxi had unsuccessful careers and were excluded. This cannot but be attributed to the great role played by Yan Song and Zhang Juzheng.

Needless to say, Yan Song was close to Zhang Juzheng, and it was not only the officials from Huguang who were close to him, but also most of the officials from Jiangxi were involved. Therefore, the main forces formed in the court at the end of the Ming Dynasty were the Qi Party in Shandong, the Chu Party in Huguang and the Zhejiang Party in Zhejiang, which were relatively powerful, and most of the officials from Jiangxi faded out of people's sight.

However, through this conversation, Yin Shizhen also realized that Wei Guangde seemed to be of the same kind as Jin Da. At least they were not of the same kind as Yan Song. They were still serious scholars who knew propriety, righteousness, and shame. They knew that among the current sons of Emperor Jiajing, Prince Yu was the most qualified to ascend the throne.

Thinking of Wei Guangde's previous question, Yin Shizhen realized that Wei Guangde seemed to have thought of a way to break the deadlock.

The current Prince Yu's Mansion was really driven to the point of desperation by the issue of silver.

For example, the Prince Yu's Mansion did not want to make friends with the outstanding Jinshi in this subject, but it was really short of money and could not buy gifts.

In these days, there is no reason to come empty-handed.

The Prince Yu's Mansion is a big family, but the things rewarded by the emperor cannot be touched. They can be used but never sold. Only gold and silver can be used. The expenses of the Prince Yu's Mansion are all based on the salary of Prince Yu and the gold and silver rewarded during the festival.

Since the Ministry of Revenue suddenly blocked the salary and annual gold and silver of the Prince's Palace more than two years ago, the life of the Prince's Palace has been getting worse and worse, and now it has reached the point where it can only barely make a living.

He and Gao Gong and others also went to the Ministry of Revenue one after another, and asked their friends to plead for them, but to no avail.

As for how this matter developed, it is still unclear. Prince Yu suspected that it was the emperor's instruction. Although these ministers thought it was not the case, it was difficult for them to believe that Yan Song and Prince Jing dared to do such a thing.

"Guangde, if you have a good idea, you might as well tell me. I will be grateful."

Yin Shizan is an official of Prince Yu's Palace, but he cannot represent Prince Yu's Palace. Although most of the time in the eyes of others, he can actually represent it, but the words he says cannot have this meaning.

Wei Guangde looked at Yin Shizan, and thought about Zhang Qing's opinion that he had heard in Jiujiang Prefecture before. He quickly went through it in his mind and felt that no matter from the legal or logical point of view, as long as Prince Yu did not die young, he should be the emperor.

In fact, Prince Yu is already 20 years old, so it's not his turn to say that he died young, as he already has a son.

Taking a deep breath, Wei Guangde looked around and saw that no one was paying attention to him, and then whispered to Yin Shizeng: "Guangde came to the capital in December last year, and it has been half a year now. During this half year, the most common sentence I heard was, 'The young cabinet minister loves money like his life, and he does things for money.'

As long as he dares to take money, he will definitely get things done for you. As for how he did it, there is no need to worry about the process."

When Yin Shizeng heard Wei Guangde's words, his eyes widened and he stared at Wei Guangde.

"Master Yin, drink."

Wei Guangde ignored his unfriendly look, raised the wine glass in front of him and saluted slightly in the direction of Yin Shizeng, and then drank it in one gulp.