Hengwang Mansion.
The First Prince Zhao Zheng paced around the hall a little irritably, with a slightly gloomy expression.
An old man walked in from outside the hall. Zhao Zheng raised his head, looked at him and asked, "Zhao Yi's people are visiting our people frequently these days?"
The old man nodded and said: "It's the New Year's Eve, in order to cut off the arrogance and extravagance of the capital, it is common for the censors to move around more frequently."
"Usually?" Zhao Zheng snorted coldly, and said, "If they are walking around normally, why do they only stare at my king's people?"
The old man was startled, and asked: "Your Highness means..."
Zhao Zheng looked at him and asked, "I heard that Zhao Yi's God of Wealth bought a few more gardens in the capital in the past few days?"
The conflict between the third prince and the first prince has long been intensified and cannot be adjusted. They will naturally pay more attention to some important people around him.
The old man nodded and said: "The Qian family already has several properties in the capital. It is a bit abrupt to buy these properties for no reason. The old minister has sent someone to secretly ask the former owners of those houses. According to them, Qian The God of Wealth took a fancy to the value of these houses and decided that they would improve in the short term. The few of them were eager to spend the money, and they couldn't wait for many days, so they sold it early... "
"Improved?" Zhao Zheng raised his voice and said, "I think it's a deception!"
"Your Highness means..." The old man was startled, then shook his head, and said: "Your Highness should trust those adults, they are loyal to His Highness, and will never be fooled by money and betray His Highness..."
"Of course I know." Zhao Zheng waved his hand and said, "I'm afraid this is another trap set by Zhao Yi. He has many schemes. If this king has doubts about the adults, wouldn't it be just as he wants?"
"This king is not so stupid!" He sneered, and said, "Prepare a few generous gifts and send them to the residences of those adults..."
"Your Highness is wise!"
The old man arched his hands, and then slowly stepped back.
Zhao Zheng walked in the hall on his own for a while, then walked to the table and sat down again, with a look of doubt on his face again...
…
"I thought about it later. It's better not to hang plaques in those houses. We can't do it deliberately. We have to let the prince guess..."
Qian Mansion, Qian Duoduo looked at the few people below, and talked with eloquence: "The third prince is broad-minded, this method is useless to the third prince, but the first prince is narrow-minded. After this incident, even if he appears to be indifferent , Even trying to cover up the favors of those few families, a seed of doubt will definitely be planted in his heart. As long as we persevere, water frequently, and loosen the soil, the seed of doubt in his heart will grow into a towering tree …”
"When the eldest prince no longer trusts them, it's time to test everyone. How to win those people under the command of the third prince, don't I need to teach you?"
…
Qian Duoduo's small class ended here today, and when everyone left, they handed over to the God of Wealth.
"Mr. Qian's high opinion!"
"Brother Fortuna has a successor!"
"If this plan succeeds, the balance between the crown prince and the third highness will be completely broken in the court. At that time, the crown prince's status advantage will disappear..."
"Congratulations to the Third Highness first!"
…
After everyone left, the God of Wealth looked at Zheng holding the teapot and pouring Qian Duoduo fiercely, and said, "Why are you so sure that the eldest prince will not trust them?"
Qian Duoduo smiled mysteriously: "Shanren has his own tricks..."
God of Wealth squinted his eyes, and silently took off his shoes.
"Mountain man?"
"A trick?"
"I will let you be a mountain man, and let you have a clever plan!"
"I'll let you play tricks in front of Lao Tzu!"
After pumping and feeling better, Qian Caishen put on his shoes, looked at him, and said, "If there is any bad water in your stomach, let's pour it out together."
Qian Duoduo huddled in the corner, covered his head, and whispered: "Father, this is not bad water, this is a scheme, a scheme..."
The God of Wealth took off his shoes silently.
After a while, God of Wealth touched the short beard on his chin and fell into deep thought.
Qian Duoduo looked smug and said, "Father, what do you think of my method?"
He was really proud of himself. Although Brother Li taught him these methods, what Brother Li taught him were all strategies used in shopping malls. After his inferences and multiple associations, he could also use them in the imperial court to seize power. In fact, at least half of his effort was involved in this.
The God of Wealth looked at him, turned around and walked out the door, and ordered to the left and right: "Please invite more monks and priests!"
…
The Ministry of Households, one of the six departments of the imperial court, is in charge of money and food.
Among the six ministries, although the Ministry of Rites is the head, the Ministry of Rites is famous but has no power. The Ministry of Officials, which is in charge of officials in the world, and the Ministry of Households, which is in charge of money and food, are the two most powerful departments among the six ministries.
Cui Jiang, Minister of the Household Department, has been quite worried recently, not because of a mistake in the errands of the Household Department's yamen, nor because the eldest prince has lost the wind in the power struggle with the third prince.
What worries him is that, during the New Year's Eve, several censors from Yushitai come to drink tea at his mansion every now and then, almost treating Cui's mansion as their second yamen.
Although the household department is the most lucrative yamen in the entire imperial court, there must be evidence for everything. You can't treat him like a thief just because he is in charge of the household department. I was afraid that those censors would see him and say that Cui Jiang enjoyed extravagance and embezzled money from the treasury for his own use...
There's no way to reason with these censors, don't let them in, wouldn't it be a guilty conscience, it's very likely that they will come with the imperial army next time...
Let them in, who doesn't know that Cui Jiang belongs to the first prince, and Yushitai is almost the back garden of the third prince. This person is terrifying. People who don't know think that Cui Jiang betrayed the first prince, and These guys got mixed up...
Fortunately, the eldest prince's eyes were as bright as a torch, not only did he not question him, but he even sent him a generous gift, which made his hanging heart finally let go.
On this day, Cui Jiang was drinking tea in the mansion when a housekeeper came in, looked at him, and said, "My lord, those censors are here again..."
Cui Jiang spit out all the tea before he finished a sip of tea.
There is no end, there is no end!
Cui Jiang stood up angrily, with an angry face, and strode out of the room. When he stepped out, the anger on his face melted like ice and snow, and he cupped his hands to the people in front of him, and said, "My lords, have you had breakfast?" Are you ready, do you want to eat something together?"
One cupped his hands at him and said, "Master Cui, you are polite. I am here this time to discuss something important with Master Cui..."
Cui Jiang smiled and said, "My lords, please enter the room and discuss in detail."
Several people walked into the hall, a censor looked outside and said, "Bring it in."
Several servants immediately brought in two large boxes and put them on the ground, making heavy noises.
They wiped the sweat from their brows, breathed a sigh of relief, and bowed to leave.
Cui Jiang showed suspicion on his face, and asked: "This is..."
The censor looked at him and said: "Master Cui is a smart man, so I won't beat around the bush. As long as Mr. Cui is willing to be loyal to the third prince, Mr. Cui will laughably accept these two boxes of gold today."
Cui Jiang's complexion changed, and his voice immediately turned cold, "What do you mean!"
The man smiled slightly: "Lord Cui is a smart man, he understands what I mean."
Cui Jiang sneered, "I am loyal to His Majesty, and I am also loyal to His Highness the Crown Prince. When you go back, please pass this sentence on to the Third Prince. If the Third Prince becomes the Crown Prince, I will also be loyal to him without these things!"
The censor's face darkened, "Master Cui really won't accept it?"
Cui Jiang was firm: "No!"
…
The censor looked at him, a smile suddenly appeared on his face, he waved his hand and said, "Open it."
The two people behind him opened the box, Cui Jiang glanced at it, his expression froze.
Where is the gold in the box, it is clearly two huge stones!
The imperial censor smiled, cupped his hands and said: "Master Cui is in a high position, and he is not fooled by high profits. He is indeed a role model for my generation. I admire, admire!"
Cui Jiang looked confused: "You guys, what do you mean?"
"Being in the court, you can't help yourself, everyone is in charge, there is nothing wrong with it. We just received an anonymous report. Some people say that Master Cui likes to accept bribes on weekdays, pretending to be public for personal gain..." The censor looked at him, then looked at him again. Looking at the few people behind him, he said with a smile: "Look, you are not moved by such a high interest, which is enough to show that Mr. Cui is a clean and honest official. In the future, don't listen to rumors and slander Zhongliang!"
The person behind him immediately bowed and said, "Your servant is taught!"
"For the trouble, I hope Lord Cui will not take offense." When Cui Jiang was still in doubt, the censor looked at him and said with a smile: "It's inconvenient to move these stones around, so just leave them here , Mr. Cui let someone deal with it..."
A few people left just like that, Cui Jiang stood in the hall, looked at the two stone boxes, waved his hands, and said impatiently: "I don't know why..."