"Meet Master Yan."
After Yan Shifan entered the room, Zhu Ping'an and Chen Yiqin both bowed and greeted Yan Shifan.
After the greeting, Zhu Pingan held the fan in his hand and bowed, saying, "Today we have come specially to pay our respects to Master Yan."
"Oh, you came to visit me specially. I am so honored." Yan Shifan said, then laughed and extended his hand to invite the two to sit down. "Sit down, sit down, don't be polite, just treat it as your own home."
"Thank you, Lord Yan." Zhu Ping'an and Chen Yiqin bowed to express their gratitude and then sat down.
After sitting down, as usual, the three of them exchanged meaningless pleasantries for a while before getting down to business.
"Lord Yan, to be honest, the Prince Yu's Mansion is having a really hard time right now. The finances are tight and the income is not enough to make ends meet. This morning, the official kitchen of the Prince Yu's Mansion couldn't even start cooking." Chen Yiqun took the initiative to confess the financial difficulties of the Prince Yu's Mansion.
"Not really?" Yan Shifan looked surprised.
"This is absolutely true." Chen Yiqin nodded vigorously, his words firm.
Zhu Ping'an also nodded.
"How could Prince Yu do this?" Yan Shifan shook his head, then sighed, "If I hadn't just sold everything I had to pay the 12,000 taels of silver fine for failing to supervise the granary, I would have given Prince Yu 1,800 taels of silver today. Unfortunately, I'm powerless now."
Taicang, Taicang, this is me.
Upon hearing this, Zhu Pingan stood up from his seat, bowed to Yan Shifan, and confessed with a guilty and ashamed look: "It is all because of my incompetence that I failed to clearly investigate the Taicang pests, and implicated many innocent officials like Lord Yan. Pingan is really guilty and ashamed..."
Zhu Ping'an apologized on his face, but in his heart he was criticizing Yan Shifan, saying, "You are the fattest termite in Taicang."
"Zihou, what are you doing? You uncovered the serious theft case in Taicang, and you have made great contributions to the Ming Dynasty. How can you be guilty of this? Moreover, when I checked the warehouse, I was busy with the Ministry of Works and neglected to inspect Taicang. This is the truth. Since I made the mistake of negligence, I should be punished. To be honest, Zihou is the one who was implicated. He was fined even though he made great contributions to the inspection of Taicang."
Yan Shifan was very open-minded and righteous. He reached out to help Zhu Ping'an up, patted him on the shoulder, and spoke up for him.
"Lord Yan is very wise and righteous. Ping'an is ashamed of himself." Zhu Ping'an flattered him at the right time.
"Haha... How can this be considered as being righteous..." Yan Shifan laughed and shook his head, the flesh on his face swaying left and right with his movements. Then he looked at Zhu Ping'an and Chen Yiqin, "Oh, by the way, where was I just now?"
"Lord Yan just said..." Zhu Ping'an simply repeated what Yan Shifan had said before in a low voice.
"Yes, it's a pity that Mr. Yan is powerless now, otherwise he would have informed my father and raised 1,800 taels of silver for Prince Yu."
Yan Shifan slapped his thigh hard, his big fat face full of annoyance and his one eye gleaming with brilliance.
"It is enough that Lord Yan has this intention. I would like to thank Lord Yan on behalf of Prince Yu." Chen Yiqin stood up and bowed.
"You're too polite, Lord Chen." Yan Shifan waved his hand.
"To be honest with you, Lord Yan, in fact, His Royal Highness Prince Yu's life did not have to be so difficult. It's because the Ministry of Revenue has not issued His Royal Highness Prince Yu's annual gift for three consecutive years." Chen Yiqin raised his head, looked directly at Yan Shifan, and spoke slowly.
"Oh, I thought only our regular bonuses were stopped. It turns out that the Ministry of Revenue has not issued His Royal Highness Prince Yu's annual gift either... That's right. In recent years, our Ming Dynasty has been plagued by disasters. In addition to the Japanese pirates in the south, there are also refugees. The north is also in turmoil. In addition, there are constant natural disasters, and there are those thieves in Taicang who embezzle. The national treasury is really tight. A good cook cannot cook without rice, and it is also difficult for the Ministry of Revenue... In order to share the worries of the emperor, my father has not gone to the Ministry of Revenue to withdraw his salary for a year."
Yan Shifan said "oh", then nodded, and began to talk about his concern for the country and the people, and cited the example of his old father.
Yan Shifan's remarks separated him from Yan Song and also created an image of Gao Weiye.
but
No matter what Yan Shifan said, Chen Yiqin and Zhu Ping'an would never believe it.
Chen Yiqin, in particular, thought Yan Shifan was talking nonsense. It was you, Yan Shifan, who ordered the Ministry of Revenue to withhold the annual gift from His Royal Highness Prince Yu. How could he be blamed for it? The Ministry of Revenue was in a tight spot. It was all an excuse. If it was tight, why did the annual gift from His Royal Highness Prince Jing be paid as usual, but the annual gift from His Royal Highness Prince Yu was withheld
It’s all your fault, Yan Shifan!
"Lord Yan, I hope you will..." Chen Yiqin was very excited when he saw that Yan Shifan had picked all the items cleanly and looked as if it had nothing to do with him.
Please show some mercy?!
Seeing that Chen Yiqin was about to ask Chu Gao to show mercy, Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but take the initiative and interrupted Chen Yiqin.
But we cannot say that he is showing mercy. If we say that, wouldn't it be equivalent to saying that all this was done by Yan Shifan
Although, this was his doing, but he had to know it in his heart and could not say it out loud, otherwise Yan Shifan would surely be furious, and then His Royal Highness Prince Yu would really be unable to fulfill his annual gift.
"Sir Yan, I hope you can hold the Qin mirror high and handle special matters specially. Now the financial crisis of Prince Yu's Mansion is imminent. The pot has been lifted and it is difficult to continue. Hundreds of people in the palace are waiting for emergency money and food. Although the treasury is tight and the Ministry of Revenue is also in trouble, I hope Sir Yan can give a call to the Ministry of Revenue on our behalf for the sake of the hundreds of people in Prince Yu's Mansion. I hope the Ministry of Revenue can handle special matters specially and reissue the annual gift of His Royal Highness Prince Yu. His Royal Highness Prince Yu, my subordinates, and the hundreds of people in the palace will be grateful."
Zhu Ping'an interrupted Chen Yiqin's words in time, changed "Please show mercy" to "Hang up the Qin mirror", and took the opportunity to explain his purpose.
After hearing what Zhu Ping'an said, Chen Yiqin realized that he almost said the wrong thing just now. Fortunately, Zihou was quick-witted. Chen Yiqin gasped in fear, and his clothes were already soaked with sweat.
"This..." Yan Shifan pondered for a moment.
"Sir Yan, the Prince Yu's Mansion is in a very difficult situation right now and is in urgent need of emergency relief. Sir Yan, please speak up for justice. His Royal Highness Prince Yu has heard that Sir Yan is the most public-spirited and righteous person, so he specially ordered me and Zihou to come here to ask for help. If it weren't for the urgent official duties that His Royal Highness could not get away, His Royal Highness would have come here in person."
After being reminded by Zhu Ping'an, Chen Yiqin now knew what to do. He stood up and left the table, bowing to Yan Shifan with a moved face.
"Sir Yan, please speak up for us." Zhu Ping'an stood up and bowed.
Just like diplomatic envoys representing the country abroad, Zhu Ping'an and Chen Yiqun represent the Prince Yu's Palace.
Zhu Ping'an and Chen Yiqin bowed and kowtowed in front of him, which was equivalent to Prince Yu bowing and kowtowed in front of him.
Not only that, the two of them spoke sincerely and had a sincere attitude... Oh, by the way, there is also the 1,500 taels of silver.
Ha ha... ...
When Yan Shifan saw this, he felt extremely satisfied and a sense of pleasure of having conquered the imperial power arose spontaneously.
"Well, this puts me in a difficult position. I'm in the Ministry of Works, not the Ministry of Revenue, so I can only give it a try. I'll ask someone to give the Ministry of Revenue a heads up later. No matter how tight the national treasury is, we can't shortchange His Royal Highness Prince Yu in his annual gift. But whether the Ministry of Revenue listens to my advice or not, I really can't do anything about it..." Yan Shifan said pretentiously.
"We understand. Thank you, Lord Yan, for speaking out for justice..." Zhu Ping'an and Chen Yiqin were overjoyed to hear this and thanked him profusely.