Shi Chanli came out of the bamboo garden hall, hissed, and wiped the sweat from his forehead. The building behind him is being renovated, and there is still some time before it opens. Baoyue Building's expansion to the south of the Yangtze River is going smoothly at the beginning, but there have been some minor problems in the matter of buying girls in Suzhou City in the past two days. Although the digging of girls in the building was extremely smooth relying on the power of the third prince, there were not many red ladies invited.
Whenever he thinks about this matter, Shi Chanli feels a little headache, Jiangnan women are famous for their beauty, why can't they find some decent girls? Are they all hidden? Originally, there were other ways, and he had visited dental clinics before, but the girls that the dentists enthusiastically introduced were all poor girls who had fled from Jiangbei. Shi Chanli was always a bit hesitant to do anything, and was also afraid of Fan Xian's anger.
When it comes to the door teacher, Shi Chanli's head is even bigger. I really don't know what the young master is thinking. After returning from the internal warehouse the day before yesterday, he plunged into the Huayuan that the salt merchant gave up. Here, Jie stayed behind closed doors all day long, and he didn't even seem to have made any preparations for the upcoming opening of the inner warehouse for bidding.
Shi Chanli is wearing a cotton robe today. Although he is a businessman now, he still cannot escape the style of a scholar cultivated by more than ten years of hard study. car.
The guard next to the car looked at him curiously.
Countless pedestrians passed by beside the car, and on the bustling streets of Suzhou City, Shi Chanli suddenly lost his mind. He looked at the peaceful-looking people in the south of the Yangtze River, frowned slightly, and recalled the past of the past year. The choice suddenly felt a little more panic.
After Yang Wanli's talk in Hangzhou, although these people were still headed by Fan Xian and firmly marched towards the unknown future, Shi Chanli was different from those three classmates. Fan Xian took care of some secret affairs and knew some secret news, so he felt that Fan Xian was a bit elusive—people like himself wanted to help the world and support the people, but what did the Master Master think? Woolen cloth
He knew in his heart that the expansion of the Baoyue Building was to facilitate Fan Xian's second way of ascertaining news from the world outside the Overwatch Council, but the more important purpose was to facilitate Fan Xian's money laundering in the future. What you do may be for a good purpose, but in the process of achieving this purpose, you may have to sacrifice a lot, such as the lives of innocent people, such as the righteous way that scholars have always adhered to, such as the... conscience that everyone seems to have
Today, Shi Chanli certainly knows that Fan Xian is already a minister of power, not the minister he expected, but he also understands that if he wants to be a minister who can be famous in history, seizing power is also a must Anything less, and Mingzi will look too silly in the process.
This was a philosophical dilemma, and Shi Chanli fell into it, but couldn't find any answer, so he got into the carriage silently, placing his bet on his trust in the teacher.
The carriage was bound for the Taiping Bank. Recently, Shi Chanli had been transferring money there and used it everywhere. The fifty thousand taels of silver really made him a little panicked. Mr. Fan's money was too much. I just hope that after he gets enough power and money resources in the future, he can still remember what he was thinking at the beginning, and what he can do for the world.
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"I know exactly what I'm doing." Fan Xian looked calmly at Yang Wanli in front of him. After returning to Suzhou from Neiku, he passed Yang Wanli over. Although it is reasonable to say that Yang Wanli cannot leave his post without authorization and Fan Xian is a disorderly order, but he has the status of an imperial envoy, presumably the officials of Fuchun County, including Shangzhou. The adults dare not criticize Yang Wanli more.
Yang Wanli sighed and said: "Teacher, the students are just worried. This officialdom is dangerous, and it is very tempting to lure people with extravagant desire for power..." Although he didn't finish speaking, the meaning was already obvious.
Among the four sons of the Fan family, Fan Xian actually liked Yang Wanli the most, because this boy spoke directly enough, and he always kept in mind the hardships of his childhood. Although Fan Xian is not an honest official, this does not prevent him from admiring them. However, although Shi Chanli has a clear heart, he is only willing to keep the matter in his heart. As for the other two, Cheng Jialin is too moderate and seeks stability. Only Hou Jichang, a talented man who was as famous as He Zongwei in Kyoto back then, has a serious mind and is really a good candidate for work. Unfortunately, he is currently far away in another state. It won't be useful for a while.
He waved his hand to stop Yang Wanli from worrying too much, and said with a smile: "I am determined, so why should you worry? Don't be afraid that I will slip into the abyss of evil. If you are used to the darkness, you will not see the light."
Yang Wanli was slightly stunned, and then thought about who his master was, how could he be so helpless, his worries might really be overdone.
"Money is just a tool." Fan Xian said: "Anyone who is greedy always needs to exchange money for some kind of physical or psychological pleasure, but for a person who is rich enough, greedy for money... if If it’s not for counting silver, then it must be for some purpose.”
Yang Wanli shook his head and said, "It's hard to fill your desires, there are too many such things in the world." Although Fan Xian often popped up some strange words, Yang Wanli was used to it, anyway, he could understand the general meaning.
"I'm not a eunuch." Fan Xian said with a smile, "I don't have any special hobbies for things like silver."
Yang Wanli smiled wryly, thinking to himself, if you don't love money, then why use Shi Chanli's name to run brothels? Especially this time the action against the Ming family and the inner treasury is obviously to intercept the money, and how much will be handed over to the court by then
Fan Xian ignored the student's slander at all, and said directly, "I called you here this time because I have something to explain to you."
Although Yang Wanli disapproved of some of Fan Xian's ways of doing things and felt somewhat resistant, but regarding the things Fan Xian confessed, he only did not violate the laws and laws, and carried out them with great care and effort.
"My lord, please give me instructions." He looked at Fan Xian's serious face, thought it was a matter of government affairs, so he changed his address, and replied very seriously.
Fan Xian glanced at him, and said after deliberation: "The Beijing Central Committee will come to appoint you soon and transfer you to the Ministry of Industry. I will inform you in advance, so that you don't get confused."
Yang Wanli was shocked when he heard these words, he was really confused. I have done well in Fuchun County, and as usual, I will be able to enter the state next year, not to mention my official career, and this is also the right path. Although he is a loyal person, it's not that he doesn't understand the entanglements in the officialdom. Of course, he knows why the sect master asked himself to wait for three people to go down to the states and counties after the spring, instead of trying to stay in the various departments of the capital. middle.
Because the Fan family's influence in the capital is already strong enough, they need some help from other counties, which is why Yang Wanli was sent to Fuchun County.
So at this time, Yang Wanli was a little confused when he heard that he was going to be transferred to the Ministry of Industry. Therefore, with his rank, he could still help the master with some things outside Beijing. I don't know what is the meaning of this arrangement by Master Sect Master.
Seeing his doubts, Fan Xian explained softly: "If you enter the Ministry of Industry from the local area, you will be raised by half a grade according to the usual practice. Don't think that this is my trick again. As for why you were admitted to the Ministry of Industry, you don't have to add any more details." suspicion."
Yang Wanli nodded suspiciously.
"There are four divisions under the Ministry of Industry." Fan Xian stared into his eyes and said, "During the New Deal in the first year of Qingli, the Department of Water was changed to the Department of Dushui Qingli... This time, the one you want to enter is the Dushui Qingli Division. "
Yang Wanli opened his mouth slightly, thinking that he could guess what the sect master was going to do, his tender face was flushed, and he said: "My lord, although the repair of the river project consumes a lot of money, but this money... can't be moved."
Fan Xian was taken aback for a moment, then laughed and cursed: "What kind of pig-headed are you? The curses in Hangzhou haven't woken you up yet?"
Only then did Yang Wanli come to his senses, thinking that even if the sect master wanted to be greedy for money, he would leave the Jiangnan Ming family and the inner treasury behind, how could he reach out to the river worker? sigh.
Fan Xian glared at him angrily, sighed, and said, "You have to change your reckless temper. It's easy to say in front of me. After entering the Ministry of Industry, you are still like this to those extremely cunning officials. How can I do that?" Don't worry about letting you go?"
Yang Wanli gritted his teeth and said: "Listen to the teacher, the students must be more calm in the future, please explain to the teacher."
Fan Xian was silent for a while, then slowly raised his head, stared at Yang Wanli's eyes, and kept staring at Yang Wanli's eyes until his heart became a little hairy, and then he said calmly: "Dushuiqing Officials... is in charge of reviewing and distributing the government's allocation of funds for river control along the river. The amount of silver is very huge, especially last year when the river broke its embankment and caused countless deaths and injuries. This year, as long as the state treasury situation improves a little bit, His Majesty will definitely allocate enough silver. And I, I asked you to go to the Dushui Qingli Department, just to ask you... Look at the silver."
Yang Wanli froze on the chair, he didn't come back to his senses for a long time... He Gong? embankment? flood? A flood of silver? Everyone knows that river transportation is the most expensive item in the national economy and the people's livelihood. Especially in the past ten years in Qing Dynasty, the river has been built every year, and the embankment has been broken every year. Money is poured into it like a flood, but no one has heard of it. Half a ring.
On the one hand, the Lord of Heaven did not give face, and on the other hand, it was naturally a man-made disaster. Officials at all levels from the Ministry of Industry in Kyoto to the Governor's Mansion in Heyun did not know how much benefit they had made from this huge amount of money. The disaster of rot is worse than the flood.
Your Majesty is of course aware of this. Four years ago, the river broke its embankment. After a detailed investigation by the Overwatch Council, the current governor of the river transport was killed. It is said that the family of the river transport governor has accumulated a lot of wealth, and the backer behind it is the Queen Mother. . It's just that Emperor Qing's brutal killing still couldn't stop the corruption in Hegong's way, and the position of Governor of Heyun has been vacant for four years, and no one has taken over.
In addition, in recent years, the income of the internal treasury has been declining year by year, the two fronts have been fought, the national treasury is empty, and the water conservancy facilities on both sides of the river have been in disrepair for a long time. This has caused the terrible consequences of the decision to raise the river last year.
Things that even His Majesty the Emperor can't completely solve... Let yourself do it
This fact cannot help that Yang Wanli is not stupid. He has self-knowledge and may have the ability to govern a county and a state by himself, but to govern the river involves the lives and deaths of all people in the world, so he dare not speak such big words.
So he bowed in front of Fan Xian in fear, and asked to resign repeatedly.
Fan Xian looked at him, shook his head and said, "Why are you panicking? I just asked you to look at the money, not to go to the river to fill up the soil."
"In order to protect the safety of the great river, what is there to be afraid of going up the river to fill up the soil?" Yang Wanli replied with a wry smile: "Since the teacher is thinking about the river construction, he knows that this matter is very important. If there is a slight mistake, it will be a tragedy for all the people to be flooded. The students really dare not deal with the matter.”
Fan Xian sneered and said, "Don't you want to be an upright official with a long history? I just want you to go to the darkest den of corrupt officials in our Daqing Dynasty, but you dare not go?"
Yang Wan's face turned red, and he lowered his head slowly.
Fan Xian also stopped talking, just looked at him indifferently.
After a long time, Yang Wanli finally raised his head bravely, gritted his teeth and said, "Your Excellency." He thought in his heart that even if he died in the Heyun Yamen, he would always be able to do something. Seeking profit for the world, why should we spare ourselves
A look of admiration flashed in Fan Xian's eyes, and he said in a harmonious voice, "I'm willing to cut myself into pieces, but dare to take... ahem, the governor off the horse."
Yang Wanli was taken aback, thinking that this sentence was a little strange.
Fan Xian concealed his smile and said, "What's more, the position of governor of Heyun has been vacant all the time. I, the Fan family and the Overwatch Council are watching over you. Although the Heyun yamen is as deep as a dragon pool, if those corrupt officials want to deal with you in private ... It's up to me to answer or not."
Yang Wanli thought about it, yes, he has such a big backer as a master, so he is afraid of what those people will do? He also changed his mood quickly, and an eager look appeared on his face immediately. It seemed that he was going to rush back to the capital to report at this time, and then rushed to the bank of the river to see if the court's money was spent.
Seeing his expression, Fan Xian couldn't help laughing, and immediately said seriously: "But there is one sentence, you have to remember it clearly."
"Please tell me the teacher."
"You...you can only take care of money. You can't take care of river workers." Fan Xian looked at him very seriously.
Yang Wanli was slightly taken aback, thinking that building the river would benefit the country and the people, why couldn't he do it himself
Fan Xian stared into his eyes, and said very seriously: "Repairing the river, of course there are professional workers from the Ministry of Industry to do it. As long as you ensure that the money is used in the right way, the River Worker must not take care of it... In this world, the most feared thing is A layman and an expert, do you think that building a river is as simple as filling up the embankment?"
Yang Wanli had a natural look on his face.
Fan Xian sighed inwardly, and said, "I asked you to go to the Ministry of Industry, just because you are sober and sincere, you can't tolerate sand in your eyes, but I don't want to rely on your ability to control rivers, which you don't even have half-handedly."
Seeing that although Yang Wanli agreed, he still didn't seem to be listening, so he sneered and said, "Don't think I'm joking...Yang Wanli, you heard me clearly!"
Yang Wanli subconsciously stood up.
Fan Xian stared at him and said word by word: "If you let me know, you dare to dictate the specific matters of the river repair, dare to use my reputation to make random ideas... I will immediately send someone to cut you into thirty-six sections. "
Yang Wanli was forced by Fan Xian's cold gaze, and his body trembled. Knowing that the sect master was very serious in his confession, he quickly corrected his attitude and responded sincerely.
The two of them explained the specific details after taking office, and the things that can be trusted in the governor's yamen of Heyun. Only then did Fan Xian truly believe that Yang Wanli was not as foolish as he had imagined in the past. It should be able to solve it smoothly, so I started to talk about the main points of today's conversation.
"I asked you to go to the Department of Civil Affairs in Dushui. Actually, I don't expect you to eliminate the long-standing corruption of Hegong." Fan Xian said thoughtfully: "The Overwatch Council also has a lot of thorns there. , but there are too many officials, and the entanglement with the court is too deep, and it is always difficult to deal with the whole body."
Although Yang Wanli was a little surprised, he finally learned to be smart at this time, instead of asking questions, he listened quietly.
"That's why, the money allocated by the imperial court...in the end, it will always be insufficient." Fan Xian said sarcastically, "Believe it or not, but in the end, this situation will come about, even if His Majesty allocates two hundred Ten thousand taels of silver, the Ministry of Industry will still call it not enough.”
"Originally, if you take it slowly, it is not impossible to reverse this situation."
Fan Xian narrowed his eyes and said, "It's just that there is too little time... Last year, the river broke its embankment and washed away many embankments, making the dikes and water conservancy facilities on both sides of the bank that have been in disrepair for many years. It’s a great time to build the river, but at that time there was not much money in the treasury... so what should we do this year?”
"If there is no flood this year, it will be the good luck of our Daqing Dynasty." He sneered and said, "If there is another flood, it will be unstoppable, and the river work depends on those officials, so it is not necessary It is not suitable for the Overwatch Council to take any big actions."
Only at this time did Yang Wanli faintly realize that Master Master is in Suzhou, but his heart is above the people of the world. He felt warm and said tentatively: "The treasury is not enough to transfer money, and it is already spring. Silver is needed."
"This is the real reason why I asked you to go to the Ministry of Industry." Fan Xian said calmly: "I will raise a large sum of money, most of which will be transferred to the national treasury through the Ministry of Households, and then transferred to the Heyun Yamen. But as I said earlier , along the way, I don’t know how much will be left, the most important thing is, I am afraid that there will be too little time, so I will transfer the other part of the money directly to the Heyun Yamen, and you will take over."
Yang Wanli was shocked. The large amount of money that Fan Xian said must be extremely terrifying. It must have been obtained from the internal treasury, but the money should be included in the internal treasury according to His Majesty's will. Transferring to the national treasury, as Fan Xian said, directly transferring money... This is a private embezzlement of state funds at a small scale, but at a large scale, it is no different from treason.
"Time is too tight." Fan Xian said helplessly, "In previous years, it would take more than half a year to transfer money. By that time...damn, the river has already burst its embankment, and bureaucracy kills people."
Of course, Yang Wanli knew at this time that Fan Xian's risky and unprofitable risk-taking actions were definitely not for his own benefit, but because he really wanted to get the river repair project on the right track as soon as possible. Although I was moved in my heart, I was more worried about the sect master, and anxiously persuaded: "My lord, you must be careful about this matter, in case someone finds out... what should I do?"
Fan Xian smiled and said, "What are you afraid of? Could it be that His Majesty is willing to kill me?"
When Yang Wanli thought about it, it was indeed the case. Although the source of this silver tael cannot be explained, as long as it is used for river engineering and not used for private storage of dead soldiers, how could His Majesty the Emperor have trouble with his son
"The source of that money?" He asked cautiously. In fact, he also knew that the source of the money must be obscure, but he always felt a little uncomfortable if he didn't ask clearly.
"Cheating and stealing, I am a person who likes to eat rich people." Fan Xian said with a smile: "The internal treasury will start bidding immediately. You don't have to worry about the money. The key is to manage the money well. The Overwatch Council will help you deal with the details. There are also people in the Ministry of Industry who will cover up your affairs, so you don't have to worry too much."
As soon as Yang Wanli heard this, he understood that such a large sum of money must be poured into the Hegong incident through unconventional channels. Of course, the high-level officials of the court must turn a blind eye. Maybe the master plan afterwards is the sect master His father, the Hubu Shangshu who seemed a little silent all the time.
"My money will increase more and more." Fan Xian sighed and said, "It will increase every year, so now I am not worried about how to earn money, but how to spend it, how to spend it happily."
These words were a bit arrogant, but the money from the Ming family hadn't been cheated yet, yet he had already started thinking about how to spend the money in advance, which was a bit absurd.
"The Governor of the River Transport has been vacant for four years." Fan Xian smiled at his worst protégé and said, "I hope that in the near future, you will be the Governor of the River Transport in my Daqing Dynasty, and you will be the first... first non-greedy Governor of the River Transport in history." .”
Yang Wanli stood proudly, with a red sun in his chest, full of pride.
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The reason why Suzhou's Yinzi was transferred to the river project was to seize the time and make minimum repairs to the dilapidated embankment before the autumn flood. Naturally, Yang Wanli refused to stay any longer and left in a hurry. Chunxian confessed that he had to go to Beijing to report, and he had to go back to the Heyun Yamen. It was really hard work for ten thousand miles.
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Fan Xian sat comfortably on the chair, waiting for the person who was about to arrive.
Not long after, Haitang opened the door and walked in, looked at Fan Xian like a god, and said softly after a while, "The question is, where did you get so much money?"
"The internal treasury will open the bid tomorrow." Fan Xian said with a smile, "If Xia Qifei is not an idiot, he will definitely be able to raise the price to an appropriate level. Forty percent of the fixed silver is not a small amount. Since the Ming family is so honest and offers it with both hands The money is in the transfer department, and I have to spend it to be worthy of the Ming family."
Haitang shook her head and said, "Beijing Central has already come to supervise the censor, and Jiangnan Governor's Mansion will also send people to sit in on it. You can't move much of this money at all."
She went on to say: "Even if Xia Qifei can take over Cui's line, it will take at least seven months for the goods to turn into cash."
Fan Xian looked at the girl's house with a smile, and said, "Anyway, the goods are going to the north, and your emperor wants to pay the money anyway, and I have enough money in the yamen of the transshipment office. Transfer some silver and use it first, I think you won't have too many opinions."
Haitang was slightly taken aback, then smiled wryly and said: "That's not bad. It's only seven months, you can always pay back... But His Majesty doesn't know your arrangement, and... use the hard-earned savings of my Great Qi Inner Court So many years of money... come to build river channels for you in Nanqing... how can this not be justified?"
This matter is more than unreasonable, if the clever little emperor of Northern Qi knows Fan Xian's way of playing, he will probably vomit blood in anger.
Fan Xian spread his hands, looked at Haitang and said with compassion: "Duo Duo, you once said that all the people in the world are the grace of God, we must treat them equally, if the river breaks its embankment, it will be me from Nanqing who will drown. Are you not a human being? You have the heart to watch this happen? The money from the inner court of the Northern Qi Dynasty, the money from the Ming family, the money from the court... Isn’t it all money from the people of the world? I just took a huge risk and used it for the people of the world. What's wrong with you?"
Haitang smiled slightly, nodded and said: "It's not bad to use the money of the people of the world for the people of the world, but if there is any disaster in my Daqi territory in the future, I hope Master Fan will not hesitate to help."
Fan Xian didn't even think about it, and said with a smile, "It's only natural."
Haitang didn't seem to expect him to answer so quickly, so she couldn't help but froze, wondering if the other party really thought so, or just joking around, after all, there are really too few people in this world who don't have the concept of nationality.
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…
Haitang shook her head and said: "Let's not talk about the money, but you really surprised me today. I have seen many officials and officials who are greedy for money, but I really didn't expect that you would use the money for these things."
Fan Xian raised his head slowly, and said with a half-smile, "It's hard to understand? In fact, it's easy to understand... As I said to Wan Li earlier, money is just a tool, a means to obtain physical and psychological pleasure. Earning money is difficult, spending money is difficult." It’s even more difficult, how can I spend comfortably? Some people like to buy horses, some like to buy Maggie, some like to buy a manor as a landlord, and some like to buy an official position.”
"And these are too simple things for me." Fan Xian continued: "Since I want to spend money on fun, I have to spend the most money to buy the biggest fun in the world."
"Let's be happy alone, let's be happy together, which one is the most happy?" Fan Xian began to educate Haitang with Old Master Meng.
Haitang smiled and sat down, and said: "In the final analysis, you still just want to make your life happier, just like what you mentioned in your letter before, you hope that this world will be more beautiful, and you live in it. , will be more comfortable."
"That's right." Fan Xian said with a smile, "Even if you are well-clothed, well-fed, rich and powerful, how can you enjoy yourself once the country is destroyed? How can you be happy when you are surrounded by hungry and carrion corpses, and black crows pecking at them? Raising a dog to bite people and laughing, this is a very unqualified dandy life, but I can’t enjoy it.”
He finally came to a conclusion: "One person is good, ten thousand people are not good, this is not good... everyone is good, that is really good."
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…
Haitang stared into his eyes, and suddenly shook her head helplessly: "I really don't know which of your words is true and which is false. What kind of person are you?"
After thinking about it for a while, Fan Xian said sincerely, "Why has no one believed it? In fact... I am a good person."
Haitang lowered her head, concealed her eyes that were as clear as lake water, and said softly: "Good man... The internal treasury will open for bidding tomorrow. Are you going to continue to be a good man?"
Fan Xian's face calmed down, and he said, "At some point, I'm not only not a good person, but also a wicked person, a butcher, but the two don't conflict."
Haitang didn't continue this topic, and asked casually, "You started to practice again in the morning of the past two days. Has your zhenqi condition improved?"
In fact, starting from the West Lake in Hangzhou, Fan Xian's daily morning and evening meditation routines began to resume, but for some reason, he subconsciously hid from Haitang, as if he was hiding something from her.
At this time, Haitang asked her face to face, but Fan Xian didn't answer, just shook his head with a smile.
Haitang smiled slightly, and asked again: "The theory of spending money you mentioned earlier is indeed fresh, but there are many injustices in the world, and there are many people who are poor and needy. Why did you choose the river worker as the first item?"
"Charitable halls in various places will gradually open up. The court will find a way to resettle the refugees in the Jiangbei area. I have discussed with His Majesty." Fan Xian said calmly: "I must hold at least part of the money in the internal treasury in my own hands. , and then use it to do something appropriate."
"Is this the last wish of a senior?" Haitang asked curiously.
Fan Xian smiled and said nothing.
"You haven't answered me yet, why did you choose the river worker as the first item?"
Fan Xian still didn't answer, but a picture appeared in his mind out of thin air. The beautiful woman in the yellow shirt was standing on the rock by the river, looking at the ferocious flood dragon in the river with a worried face. The laborers on the embankment on the opposite bank.
"Let's rest first." He said softly, "The internal treasury will open tomorrow, and there is still a battle to be fought."