Zhurou

Chapter 218 Settlement of Accounts

Zhao Mingzhi waved his hand gently, signaling him to be silent. He walked to the table and said first, "I made my own decision. You officials don't need to pay attention to it. Just do what you want."

Everyone responded in unison, only being quiet for a moment, and then continued. They were still worried about Zhao Mingzhi's presence at first, so they restrained themselves slightly, but after only talking to each other for a few times, they became excited again, and the quarrel for a long time had no results.

Zhao Mingzhi asked people to remove the screen that had just been moved in front of him, and looked at everyone's words and deeds. He also counted the number of people. Among them, there were no Yushi Zhongcheng Yang Ting, Tongping Zhangshi Sun Chong, deputy privy envoys, or several important officials from the past. , then asked aloud: "Where is Yang Zhongcheng?"

Her voice wasn't loud, but even though everyone was noisy, many of them were still thinking about observing the reaction. When they saw her speaking, they gradually became quiet.

The Huangmen ceremony officer on the side stepped forward and said: "Reporting to Your Highness, Yang Zhongcheng is ill this morning."

Zhao Mingzhi paused after hearing this, and then asked: "Where is Privy Zhang?"

The etiquette officer said again: "It's also a matter of not coming to court because you are sick."

She asked several people in the Political Affairs Hall and the Privy Council one after another, and all of them complained of illness.

That's it for Yang Ting. After all, he followed you northward day and night. He was old and weak, and it was possible that he would fall ill if he couldn't bear it.

But a few others were only in their forties or fifties, and they were considered to be young and powerful, especially Zhang Yi, the deputy envoy to the Privy Council. Shi Yi ran around for more than ten days without seeing anything happen. When he arrived at the back, he could still argue with others at the court meeting until the tiles on the roof fell dust. Why can't one or two of them be able to bear it today?

Unfortunately, only these few were sick, and few of the others who came together did not show up.

Zhao Mingzhi knew there must be a reason, but no matter what the reason was, this was the time to employ people. Although Lu Xianzhang was loyal, his qualifications and prestige were not enough. If there was no high-ranking person to take charge of the overall situation, it would be even more difficult to clean up the situation.

She had no intention of listening to the people in the palace and called out: "Lu Shenzheng."

Lu Xianzhang stepped forward immediately.

Zhao Mingzhi said: "The Kyoto government office is in charge of all matters in the city. Please ask all ministries and departments to make overall arrangements. Please participate in the political affairs to coordinate the grain and baggage, and collect the materials needed from various places. I will report the discount today."

After she finished speaking, she called out the names of several more people. All those who were called showed bitter expressions on their faces, and some even said humanely: "Your Highness, there are few people at the moment, and the calculation has been hasty. I'm afraid there is a big discrepancy in the number..."

As soon as someone complained first, everyone else followed suit, asking for money, people, and grace time. Some people also speculated that after the restructuring in such-and-such year, such-and-such matters were divided into several parts, except for their own departments. Secretary, and also need the coordination and cooperation of other yamen, which cannot be completed at the moment.

Zhao Mingzhi was too lazy to bargain with everyone. He looked to the right and rear first and shouted: "Deng Jijiu."

Deng Qi was standing behind him with his hands down. When he heard his name, it took him a while to react and he quickly stepped out of the queue to respond.

Zhao Mingzhi said: "How many students and professors are there in the Imperial College today?"

Deng Qi quickly reported the number without daring to raise his head, and a bit of uneasiness could be seen on his face.

He was not the only one, many other officials in the palace also showed some uncomfortable expressions.

Zhao Mingzhi has a "criminal record". She only mentioned one sentence today. No need to finish the sentence, everyone can already guess the meaning——

Most likely it's the old method of recruiting students from the Imperial College.

Sure enough, after Deng Qi finished speaking, Zhao Mingzhi nodded and said to the officials who had said that they had "short manpower": "The ministries and departments are short of manpower. There are still many students in the Imperial College staying in the capital. Please invite Deng Qi to offer sacrifices." Liquor counts the number of people and rosters.”

She paused and then said: "The Kyoto Prefectural Government once used students. Even though there were still shortcomings, they were still good enough and did not cause any problems. Since we are anxious this time, we also ask the ministries to report the number of people needed and the items to be done as soon as possible. Then ask Deng to offer wine to each of you."

Hearing that she cited the previous case of the Kyoto government office as an example, everyone wanted to use the excuse of "the student is new and can't use it in a hurry" to refuse, but they couldn't, but they really didn't want to admit it, so they all frowned.

For a moment, the palace became even more silent.

Students have always been the most difficult to deal with. Once they take the imperial examination in the future, they will all be disciples of the emperor. In particular, Taixue has always been known as "there is Fa Toutuo Temple and no official Yushitai". Although he does not have much experience in doing things, he may not even be used by ordinary officials. But neither the pen nor the tongue are unpleasant.

With such a group of people in their ranks, regardless of whether they do more or less, or how well they do it, if they see a lot, even if they cannot know the real details, it is enough to find out one or two inside stories and tell the palace that they know it. It's annoying.

Zhao Mingzhi waited for a while, but no one responded, and then said: "There are many things to do, so I will not waste your time. If there are still not enough students, I will ask Deng Jijiu to take the lead and send an order to all the major academies in the city to recruit."

This was obviously said very politely, but the atmosphere in the palace became even more dull.

After a while, there was a faint response.

After the court meeting, before everyone dispersed, Zhao Hong in front turned his head several times and stopped talking.

Seeing that he was sitting on pins and needles, Zhao Mingzhi couldn't help but ask: "What's wrong? But where is the discomfort?"

Zhao Hong shook his head, but after a while, he couldn't help but whispered: "Sister, there's nothing I can do in the palace alone, and I don't know what's going on right now. Many people are sick at the same time. Do I want to Went to take a look?”

Zhao Mingzhi hesitated for a moment and then said: "Yang Zhongcheng Yan Jingyan is the emperor's teacher. Since you are willing, it is good to go and have a look. But after working hard for many days, there is not much rest. Today, you have to run around again. You are tired." Not tired?"

Zhao Hong shook his head harder and said quickly: "Everyone is working hard. Sister, I can't even sleep much. I am the only one left. To put it nicely, I am the emperor. In fact, I can't do anything. How can I feel at ease? It would be better to go out and see Privy Councilor Yang Zhongcheng and Zhang."

When he said this, his tone became more serious: "I know that my sister has not been idle for a moment in the capital. A few days before the thieves besieged the city, she went out to farm every day so that the people outside could see it with their own eyes. Now I am back. Of course, I have to behave like my sister, so that the people in the capital can see clearly that the emperor has really returned to the capital, and he is not deceiving them, and those officials can also see it clearly. My family will never neglect civil servants and generals..."

Zhao Mingzhi couldn't help but smile, feeling happy and sad at the same time.

She knows that nothing in the world will come true, and many efforts may not always yield results. For example, at this moment, although the younger brother is the emperor, he is young and weak, with little foundation, and the courtiers have their own plans, and it is impossible to say whether the plans are right or wrong. Therefore, even if he takes out his heart at this time, he may not be able to change his mind. No matter how much you get back, you will be equally sincere.

But no matter how prepared he was, before things happened, he couldn't stop eating because of choking, which would damage his brother's heart. As for the so-called emperor's face and the strength of his ministers, at this time, he couldn't care about that much.

Seeing his sister nodding in approval, Zhao Hong suddenly became happy that he had a "serious errand" again. He didn't care about anything else, and hurriedly called for people to find his regular clothes. He was about to leave the palace.

Zhao Mingzhi made the arrangements by himself, neither interfering nor interfering. He waited for others to leave before returning to the side hall. He first asked the bank for the morning news of new arrivals, read it hastily, and then came to an end. After seeing the time clearly engraved on the oval, he first saw Mo Xiang standing a few steps away with his hands down.

"Your Highness!"

Meeting Zhao Mingzhi's gaze, Mo Xiang was overjoyed and hurriedly stepped forward to salute.

"When did you come?" Zhao Mingzhi asked with a smile.

Mo Xiang hesitated for a while, and it was obvious that she had arrived early.

Zhao Mingzhi said with a smile: "I didn't speak confidently in the past. We haven't seen each other for a few days, so why are we so timid now?"

Mo Xiang then stepped forward with a smile and said: "It's easy to see Your Highness, and I feel more at ease. I sent you out again. I can't sleep. I just hope to see you a few more times, but I'm afraid that Your Highness will say that I don't obey the assignment." , My heart is hanging and whistling, I don’t know where to fly, how can I care about the size!”

She spoke in a crackling manner, expressing her feelings, but she put away all her playful smiles and said seriously: "His Highness said earlier that he had assigned important matters to the maid, but the maid was afraid of delaying it, and she was also afraid of falling asleep..."

Zhao Mingzhi straightened up and leaned back on the back of the chair. Without any further delay, he said immediately: "Although Di Bing has retreated, he may not be able to return. Therefore, everyone is in danger. He has no choice but to run away and rarely go here." Although the city has been besieged for a long time, all businesses are depressed, and the roads are not accessible, it is difficult for ordinary people to maintain their food, clothing, housing and transportation. Although the imperial court tries its best to organize and organize, it cannot do everything on its own.

Moreover, food is the most important thing for the people, and everyone knows that grain is the largest, so they all focus on food and drink, uploading and distributing things, from the inside to the outside. I don’t know when it will be solved, but the other things will not be in vain. Wait, you will definitely be in the last place.

But the weather is getting hotter, and there are many injured people in the city. Not to mention the shortage of medicinal materials, even doctors are struggling to make ends meet. There is also a deep shortage of talents for craftsmen and even water transport workers. In addition, the summer flood is just around the corner. There are floods in the capital every year. If we don’t build a house earlier, where will we live? "

Zhao Mingzhi explained the reason clearly, and mentioned countless items about wood, bricks, and grass. Finally, he opened a folder in front of him, took out a few papers contained in it, and handed it to Mo Xiang.

She said: "I asked someone to copy this. Just take a look. If you change into ordinary people's clothes, you only need to go to various merchants first. You don't have to limit yourself to three or five merchants, and you don't have to go to the head of the business. There are eight out of ten merchants. time, or even more doesn’t hurt.

There is no need to ask about the situation in detail. First explore the price, and then push for the delivery time. No matter what the quotation is, the price will be increased before purchasing. If you can arrive early and the goods arrive one day early, you will be given an extra 10% of the payment. "

Mo Xiang took the paper and was startled by the dense writing on it, from horse bridles and saddles to needlework, sunflowers, fans and brooms, almost everything was included.

After waiting for her to digest, she heard Zhao Mingzhi's explanation and swallowed several times. When she replied, her voice was still a little hoarse, and she said as if she was not sure: "Are we really going to increase the price? How much should we increase the price, and how much should we buy?" quantity?"

"Add half the price, as for the purchase quantity." Zhao Mingzhi thought for a while and said, "First ask how much inventory there is. If there are 10,000 stones, then buy 100,000 stones. If there are 100,000 stones, buy 1 million stones. The same Purchase ten times.”

"As for the money..." Zhao Mingzhi pointed to a pile of things at the corner of the table, "You can take the banknotes here first. There is also a box of gold in the Tsinghua Palace. I have asked someone to carry it to the palace gate. Then you can count the hands and see. See how to use it."

Although Mo Xiang followed Zhao Mingzhi from Prince Jia's Mansion to the capital, she felt that she had seen a lot of things in the world. When she took out the thick silver note and looked through the numbers on it one by one, she was still speechless for a long time and felt that her eyes were dazzled. generally.

She opened her mouth wide this time, and it took her a while to find her voice again. After a moment of hesitation, she asked, "Your Highness, do you want me to spend all of this money?"

Then he whispered: "As far as identity is concerned, this is not something that a servant can ask - is this money all over the sky from our house or from the imperial court?"

"I'm borrowing it from someone temporarily," Zhao Mingzhi said. "It's not imperial money, and there's no loan period, and there's no limit. You just spend it as best you can."

Hearing that it was Zhao Mingzhi borrowing money, Mo Xiang murmured even more in her heart, and said in a low voice: "Your Highness is too kind. He always has to bargain down when buying things. How about anyone who wants to increase the price himself? How to add up like this? , I could buy one thousand silver coins, but I’m afraid I can only buy six or seven hundred in the end. Isn’t that a big loss?”

He reluctantly said: "Those merchants have already made so much money on weekdays. Now in this situation, they should understand some truth and talk about family, country and world, benevolence and morality! Your Highness is worried about the people's livelihood and civil affairs in the city, and is willing to subsidize it himself. On the contrary, it makes them make a lot of money, which is too..."

Zhao Mingzhi didn't feel dissatisfied, and said with a smile: "You don't do business, so of course you have different thoughts, but for one thing - when I was still in the house, people in the house only had two days off in ten days a month. It was easy for you to get a rest. I was planning to go out for a stroll, but suddenly someone said that he wanted to eat the sugar-coated haws of sugar-coated haws in Liuye Town, which costs 4 cents per skewer. He asked you to bring 20 skewers back. Originally, it only cost 80 cents, but he was willing to give you 88 cents so that you can go back and forth. The trip will take at least five or six hours, but you can earn eight more coppers. Do you want to go?"

"Of course I won't go!" Mo Xiang couldn't help but yelled, "Let's send the beggars away!"

"If I ask you to bring two hundred skewers back, I will give you six cents per skewer. If you can come back before the next day and arrive an hour earlier, I will give you an extra sixty cents. Will you go?"

Mo Xiang was stunned for a moment and couldn't help but calculate the score in her mind.

A string of six coins, the cost is only four coins, two hundred strings make a net profit of four hundred coins, one hour earlier is sixty coins, ten hours is six hundred coins, add up, subtract, subtract, it is always more!

In the past, a monthly fee was only a few hundred dollars! After going back and forth like this for a day, her home was not far from Liuye Town, and she picked up a lot of money along the road...

She calculated the account in her mind in just a moment, and blurted out: "Then I will switch shifts with Yu Shuang. We will set out at noon the day before yesterday, buy things, and come back at night. We don't have to stay overnight at home. At least I can earn an extra 60 cents per hour from him!"

Zhao Mingzhi smiled and said: "This person not only needs to bring candied haws, but also maltose and fruit clay figurines. With all the conditions, you can't finish it..."

"What are you afraid of? If the price you pay is high, I will hire more carriages! If you want more, I will pay the man who makes candied haws and clay figurines back..."

As soon as the words came out, she understood. Seeing Zhao Mingzhi couldn't help laughing, her face immediately turned red.