Optimus One Pillar of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 187 Chapter 180

Facing the piles of gold cakes and large and small gold ingots, the old Jiajing thief tried hard to hold them with the "majesty" of his emperor.But Wang Daoqiu looked at his facial muscles and knew that he was enduring it very hard now.

So Wang Daoqiu, pretending to be impatient, approached Emperor Jiajing and said, "Your Majesty, the quantity and weight of these gold cakes and gold ingots are all stated on the list. You'd better ask your chamberlain to count them first! Over there in Tongzhou The reward your Majesty gave me, Mr. Lu, and Eunuch Lu is now being transported to the city. Please finish your work quickly, so that I can take Mr. Lu and Eunuch Lu to share our share. "

"Why are you so anxious? You kid is really getting more and more presumptuous now. In your eyes, my affairs here are not as important as your sharing of money. Believe it or not, I will issue an order for you to go to the Meridian Gate right now. Enjoy fried meat on a big wooden board?"

"How can it be, how can it be! Your Majesty, your heart hurts me."

"roll"

Emperor Jiajing used his power to scare Wang Daoqiu, and Wang Daoqiu took advantage of his young age to act cute and stupid in front of Emperor Jiajing.This made Emperor Jiajing very angry and funny.

After scolding Wang Daoqiu, Emperor Jiajing was not low-level enough to count the specific number. Instead, he took out a Yanling knife from the waist of the emperor's soldier next to him, pointed at the piece of gold cake and gold ingot, and asked the servant to get it.Then he raised his knife to these gold cakes and chopped the gold ingots, including the big gold ingot worth 1000 taels.

After picking and chopping a dozen of them, and confirming that they were all pure gold, Emperor Jiajing smiled with satisfaction at the one million taels of gold.

After laughing, Emperor Jiajing said to Lu Fang: "Lu Fang, with these golds, you can give me three statues of the Three Pure Ones that are the same size as Baiyun Temple. With the remaining gold, replace all the carved towers in the Forbidden City with gold." tiles, just like Fengtian Temple."

"Here"

Jiajing was a bad student. He didn't learn anything well. He imitated those good people's cadres. As soon as there was money in the public account, he wanted to do some face-saving projects!Wang Daoqiu complained in his heart that Emperor Jiajing did not learn well and looked down upon him.

After Emperor Jiajing ordered the use of gold, he then instructed Lu Fang: "The calligraphy and paintings of famous artists, the official kilns of the Song Dynasty, keep half in the palace, and I will reward my ministers later. The other half you and Lu Bing and Wang Dao will share the autumn." !”

Damn it, this old Jiajing thief is really generous!You must know that this time Wang Daoqiu gave Emperor Jiajing a total of 20 calligraphy and paintings by famous artists and [-] pieces from official kilns of the Song Dynasty.According to the current market price of each of these things in the Ming Dynasty, it is at least several thousand taels per piece, and the most expensive ones are even more than ten to [-] taels per piece.

And Emperor Jiajing's reward was half of it, which was five hundred paintings and calligraphy by famous artists and six hundred official kilns of the Song Dynasty!According to the current market price of these things, they cost nearly ten million taels of silver!Nearly ten million taels of silver are rewarded at the drop of a hat. A boss like this is worth following!

Thinking of this, Wang Daoqiu couldn't help but feel much more pleasing to the eye when he looked at Emperor Jiajing.However, Wang Daoqiu was happy, but at this time he thought of another problem.

So he said to Emperor Jiajing: "Your Majesty, can I ask you one more thing?"

"You kid is so embarrassed, aren't you? I've rewarded you so much, but you still dare to beg. You really want the Imperial Guard to spend all their energy and beat you with the royal stick in front of the Meridian Gate today, right?"

Upon hearing Wang Daoqiu say that he wanted to ask for one more thing, Emperor Jiajing misunderstood that Wang Daoqiu wanted to steal his gold.So as soon as Wang Daoqiu finished speaking, Emperor Jiajing scolded Wang Daoqiu angrily.

When Wang Daoqiu saw that Emperor Jiajing had misunderstood, he hurriedly explained: "Your Majesty, you have misunderstood. What I want to ask from Your Majesty is not something, but a decree. Go to my home and tell my father that these things are Your Majesty rewarded you, not what I was greedy for. Your Majesty, you also know that my father is really upright and has a grudge against money! So the money I got from Shandong this time can be sent to the Money Minting Bureau of the Ministry of Household Affairs to make money. The money is converted into silver coins and then deposited in the Royal Bank of the Ming Dynasty to earn interest. But there is no reason why I dare to send these porcelain calligraphy and paintings home. My father must kill my relatives out of righteousness. So, Your Majesty, if you don’t want to pay the pension to me tomorrow, then these things, you I have to help you tell this lie to Yuan Shang."

"Hahahaha, Wang Zhaowen is a really good minister, I like it! You really need to have such a father to take care of you. All right, don't bother me with your crap, let Lu Fang help you."

Emperor Jiajing knew Wang Zhaowen's character and stubbornness.So now when he heard that Wang Daoqiu did not dare to take things home because he was afraid that Wang Zhaowen would annihilate his relatives, Emperor Jiajing was also amused and ordered Lu Fang to help Wang Daoqiu deceive Wang Zhaowen.

After instructing Lu Fang, Emperor Jiajing seemed to have thought of something else, so he continued to say to Lu Fang: "For rewards in the imperial edict, just write rewards, don't write specific things. Good guy, you can reward so many at once. If it is spread, how will I reward ministers, concubines, and princes in the future?"

"Here"

The reward for Wang Daoqiu's so many things at one time was worth several million taels of silver. If word spread, Emperor Jiajing would really be unable to reward ministers and his concubines and princes in the future.After all, rewards will be based on Wang Daoqiu's standards in the future. Even if Emperor Jiajing is wealthy now, and can reward millions of taels at a time, if he rewards him several times, he should return to the front of the emperor.

And if the reward of dozens or hundreds of taels at a time is still the same as before, what will those who are rewarded think?Well, you reward Wang Daoqiu with millions of taels at a time, but you reward me with dozens or hundreds of taels at a time. What do you mean, Emperor?
Don't worry about scarcity, but worry about inequality. This has been the case since ancient times.So now when Emperor Jiajing thought of this, he quickly told Lu Fang that he could not write specific rewards in the imperial edict.In Xiyuan, Wang Daoqiu accompanied Emperor Jiajing again and gossiped with him about the specific details of the campaign against the Confucian tyrants. This made Emperor Jiajing happy. Emperor Jiajing used his adult beauty to let Wang Daoqiu, Lu Bing and Lu Fang go. Share their share.

Arriving at the place where Lu Bing and Lu Fang had discussed in advance, these "wealthy" people from Shandong were temporarily released, Jinyiwei ordered them to be imprisoned.Wang Daoqiu looked at the eerie and heavily guarded imperial prison, and said to Lu Bing: "Brother Donghu chose a good place? This imperial prison is indeed exempt from entry by mortals, right?"

"Hey, dear brother Liangzhen, there is nothing we can do about this. The capital is an important place and there are many eyes and ears from all sides, so we have to be on guard!"

As he spoke, Lu Bing stretched out his hand to greet Wang Daoqiu and Lu Fang to come in.The three of them came to the imperial martial arts arena where these Shandong "riches" were temporarily stored. Li Qianshi and Dongchang Feng Bao had been waiting here for a long time.

When Li Qianshi and Feng Bao saw Wang Daoqiu, Lu Bing, and Lu Fang coming over, they hurriedly stepped forward to salute, and presented the so-called real list to their respective bosses, Lu Bing and Lu Fang.

After both Lu Bing and Lu Fang had read the list, Lu Bing first expressed to Lu Fang how many things there were and praised Wang Daoqiu's ability.Then he suggested dividing the things into three parts and sharing them equally among the three families.

Seeing that Lu Bing wanted the three families to divide the things equally, Wang Daoqiu said hurriedly: "Brother Donghu, you can't divide these things like this. Brother Donghu, look, after you and Eunuch Lu divide the things, you will definitely have to go to the Supervisor of Ceremonies and Jinyiwei to divide them again. Once again. This means that most of these things will not be yours in the end. As for me, I am only one person. Whatever I share, it all belongs to me, so it is not appropriate for the three families to share it equally. Brother Donghu, Eunuch Lu, I Look at it like this, I will not divide the 930 million taels of silver, but I will give it all to Jinyiwei and Si Li. Of the 50 taels of gold and other things, I will get [-]% of it."

"One percent! This is too little, Brother Liangzhen, we can't do this. Let me see it this way, Brother Liangzhen, I will take over your feelings for Jin Yiwei, and you will share [-]% of everything here."

"It's very true, everything is your hard work, Master Taifu. You don't want the money, and other things are only divided into [-]%. This is too little, and it cannot be justified in any case. From the Zajia's perspective, it is better to follow Governor Lu's wishes, and everything Mr. Dongxi Taifu, please take [-]%!"

Seeing that Wang Daoqiu was so bright and cheerful, Lu Bing and Lu Fang were embarrassed to say that the 930 million taels of silver were divided into [-] tael, and other things were only divided into [-]%.So they hurriedly asked Wang Daoqiu to take [-]% of everything.

If you are willing to give up, you will gain something.Wang Daoqiu knew that if he wanted to live well in the Jiajing Dynasty and lay a solid foundation for his future great achievements, the support of the Supervisor of Ceremonies and the Jin Yiwei would definitely be indispensable.

After all, the Ming Dynasty's ceremonial supervisors and Jin Yiwei were not only the Ming Emperor's eyes and ears, but also the sharpest knives in the Ming Emperor's hands.As long as the Chief of Ceremonies and the Jinyi Guards are on his side, Emperor Jiajing will be nothing more than a deaf and blind man locked up in a deep palace.

And as long as the Supervisor of Rituals and Jin Yiwei stand on his side, then those political enemies who are inconvenient for him to deal with, if the Supervisor of Rites and Jin Yiwei take action, it will be useless.

Thinking of the benefits of bringing over the Li Supervisor and the Jin Yiwei, Wang Daoqiu refused to take [-]%.I still insist on not giving up one tael of silver, and only take [-]% of other things.

Wang Daoqiu was firm, but Lu Bing and Lu Fang couldn't resist. In the end, Lu Bing and Lu Fang had to compromise and gave Wang Daoqiu all the calligraphy, paintings and porcelain that Emperor Jiajing had just rewarded.

Lu Bing and Lu Fang were also sincere, and Wang Daoqiu couldn't refuse, so the three of them decided on this plan.After everything was divided, Wang Daoqiu rewarded all the divided things to Jin Yiwei and Dongchang in his own name, except for the famous calligraphy and paintings and the Buddha statues that he planned to give to his mother.

Wang Daoqiu was rewarded to the subordinates of Dongchang and Jinyiwei, not to Lu Bing and Lu Fang. It was difficult for Lu Bing and Lu Fang to refuse, so they had to smile awkwardly and thank Wang Daoqiu for their subordinates.

When the things were finally divided, Wang Daoqiu thought about his great cause of upgrading the Ming Dynasty currency to the silver standard.So he pulled Lu Bing and Lu Fang aside and said in a low voice: "Brother Donghu and Eunuch Lu must be aware of the new silver coins issued by the imperial court. There is a doorway there. The silver coins with a denomination of one tael actually only contain less than six and a half cents." So if Eunuch Lu and Brother Donghu are willing, if you are willing to receive the 930 million taels of silver this time, I will make the decision and let the Money Minting Bureau of the Ministry of Revenue exchange it for you 200 million taels of silver dollars."

"Really! That's a good thing. To be honest, brother Liangzhen, since your silver coins were launched, I can't bear to spend the money. It's such a loss. Brother Liangzhen, I still have some snowflake silver in my hand. Brother, I will give you all the silver. You can exchange the four taels of silver for me five silver dollars. From now on, my Jin Yiwei’s salary and expenses will all be paid in silver dollars."

"It's very true, Master Taifu, not only the Jin Yiwei, but also the money of our ceremonial supervisor is reluctant to spend it! A genuine tael of snowflake silver is only worth six cents and a half. And our ceremonial supervisor is a year old Just the eunuchs and maids’ salaries cost 10,000+ taels per year. This is a huge loss. Master Taifu, I will give you all the money from the ceremonial supervisor. The miscellaneous family won’t ask for much. It’s the same as Mr. Lu’s, which is [-] taels. Snowflake silver is exchanged for five silver dollars. From now on, all expenses in the palace will be given out in silver dollars, and no more cash will be given."

Lu Bing and Lu Fang were excited when they heard Wang Daoqiu say that they could exchange the cash in their hands for silver coins with the Minting Bureau of the Ministry of Household Affairs.After all, their one tael of silver was equivalent to someone else's six cents and five cents, which made them really heartbroken.

Seeing that Lu Bing and Lu Fang were willing to help him promote silver coins, Wang Daoqiu was also happy and agreed to the matter on the spot.

(End of this chapter)