I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 231: The weather is calm, what should we do?
In the study room of Wang Lin’s mansion.

Wang Lin, Li You, and Zhao Zhongyi sat in a circle, discussing things in secret.

"Gao Da Hu Zi is a coward. For the sake of fame and wealth, he has thrown away the principles of justice. How annoying!"

Zhao Zhongyi said angrily, "In the Lianghuai Salt Administration case, many famous scholars and great Confucian scholars in Yangzhou and other places were implicated. The great Confucian scholar Nan Tugong from Gaoyou, who was over seventy years old, was involved in the case. A petty official broke into his home and locked up the whole family and took them to prison. From the elderly to the children, they were all ruthlessly driven like pigs and dogs!

Nan Tugong was a famous scholar, the master of Huaidong, and a famous scholar of his generation, but he suffered such a great humiliation. How could this not make the scholars of the world feel heartbroken?

Gao Da Huzi is also a disciple of the Holy Church, and he has received guidance from Nan Tugong on his writing. However, he turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to it, and did not lend a helping hand. This is really chilling. "

Seeing Zhao Zhongyi's anger almost bursting out from the top of his rosacea, Wang Lin and Li You looked at each other and each had their own plans in mind.

Both of them knew what kind of person Chen Shiliang from Gaoyou was, the Nantu Gong mentioned by Zhao Zhongyi.

Relying on his status as a Jinshi, he served as the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing for more than ten years. He had many students and former officials in Nanzhili, and he continued to work hard after retirement.

They obtained salt permits through various connections, rushed to get the salt first, cooperated with salt merchants, smuggled and evaded taxes, and made huge profits.

The rest of the acts of plundering, occupying fertile land, and bullying men and women are too numerous to list.

He was over seventy years old, but he still wanted to marry a 16-year-old girl as his 26th concubine, and he also boasted about his romantic life. He wrote poems about this romantic thing and spread it among his relatives and friends!

Haha, the pear blossoms overshadow the crabapple tree! How shameless!

If such a person falls into Hai Rui's hands, he will be skinned alive if not killed. How could he possibly escape!
Zhao Zhongyi, however, was here to stand up for him, simply because he had once received many benefits from Chen Shiliang.

But you are just shouting here. Do you dare to go out and speak up for the Chen family openly?
Absolutely impossible!

Zhao Zhongyi was just angry that one of his gods of wealth was taken away by someone, and he would have one less source of money, so he was furious.

Li You waited until Zhao Zhongyi had finished scolding him, then stroked his beard and said slowly, "Gao Da Huzi has recovered his strength and has become a great figure. Xu Yangzheng was transferred to the position of Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and is his right-hand man.

The Minister of Works, Ge Shouli, followed his lead. The Minister of Rites, Gao Yi, was on good terms with him. His students and former officials were gradually placed in the various supervisory offices and the six departments of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

The wings have grown, but the momentum of bravery and advancement has been lost! What a pity! "

Zhao Zhongyi became even more annoyed after hearing this.

At the beginning, Gao Gong was hiding in his hometown of Xinzheng, Henan. In order to help him recover, he followed everyone and waved the flag and shouted, sparing no effort. For him, he wore out two pairs of shoes and wore out three pens.

He submitted dozens of petitions to the court, asking them to reinstate Gao Gong; he sent hundreds of letters, asking his classmates to work together. After spending countless favors and selling countless faces, he was finally reinstated, but he himself got nothing in return!

Is there anyone who does things this way?

Is there a free lunch in this world?

We all spared no effort to help you get back on track, just to get your support. But you got back on track, got a high position, made some achievements, and were about to enter the cabinet, but you left us here!

Not authentic! Tall and bearded!
You have turned out to be an ungrateful and ungrateful person!
Wang Lin and Li You saw through Zhao Zhongyi's thoughts, but neither of them said anything to point it out.

The two men also had resentment towards Gao Gong in their hearts, but they kept it hidden and did not show it.

Li You pretended to be kind and reminded him, "Brother Liangde, let's just talk about this in private. Gao Xinzheng is very powerful now, don't go out and talk nonsense, or he will catch you and use you as a chicken to scare the monkey."

Zhao Zhongyi said angrily: "I know! But I just can't swallow the anger in my heart!"

Wang Lin stroked his beard and said, "We have to swallow it even if we can't. We must make long-term plans. Gao Suqing is trying his best to get into the cabinet, and he will put aside everything else. Brother Liangde, please be patient for a while.

Gao Suqing is a man who values ​​friendship and remembers his friends. But he is in a difficult situation right now, so you must not blame him. "

Zhao Zhongyi thought about it and realized that his future was tied to Gao Gong, and he had to rely on this big tree to rise. So he suppressed his resentment and pretended to be calm.

"I know Gao Suqing's difficulties. If you need my help later, just let me know. We are all united and need to work together."

Wang Lin and Li You praised him endlessly: "He is a man of great virtue and a wise man!" After talking for a while, Li You and Zhao Zhongyi said goodbye together.

After a while, Li You brought someone back to the study in the palace.

"I met Brother Houxi on the road, and knowing that we had something important to discuss, I came here together." Li You said shamelessly.

Ding Shimei, also known as Houxi, was the top scholar in the 38th year of Jiajing's reign and a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy. He had close contacts with Wang Lin, Zhang Siwei, Gao Gong and others.

Wang Lin and Ding Shimei looked at each other and felt that it didn't matter.

After taking a look at Zhang Siwei, Wang Lin spoke first: "Houxi, Gao Suqing seems to be retreating now."

Ding Shimei replied: "This is normal. Last year, the Duke of Xinzheng sent people to investigate the Lianghuai salt administration, but was embarrassed. Then he was caught in a big mess because of the issue of distributing salaries to officials.

Later, Xiyuan and Xu Shaohu joined forces to investigate the Lianghuai salt administration, and found 10 million taels of silver, which were added to the national treasury. With money in hand, the Duke of Xinzheng dared to do things. He submitted more than 20 memorials in a row, requesting the dredging of the Grand Canal, the regulation of the waterways in the capital, and the Yellow River and Huai River.

Pan Ziliang (Pan Jixun) had just returned not long ago, but he was sent out again. It seems that he wants to do a big job and accumulate political achievements so that he can enter the cabinet as expected.

When Li You heard the words "ten million taels of silver", greed flashed across his eyes involuntarily.

After Ding Shimei finished speaking, Li You said, "It's just that Gao Suqing is doing practical things and accumulating political achievements, why doesn't he use us? Although we have been in Tsinghua Hanlin for a long time, we adhere to the principle of being impartial and honest. We can fully inspect the practical policies of various places as censors.

Check for omissions, correct mistakes, and guard against corruption and fraud."

Seeing Li You's righteous expression, Wang Lin and Ding Shimei sneered in their hearts.

Everyone knows who you are.

He is not good at doing practical things, but he is good at making money.

As an imperial censor, he inspected the actual government affairs of various places, found faults in every little detail, and then extorted money secretly. He left the capital with nothing, and returned with nothing.

But everyone sees it but doesn't say it out loud.

Wang Lin advised: "Zhizheng, don't worry. Gao Suqing is now in charge of river engineering and other complicated matters. He is busy and has heavy responsibilities. Gao Suqing doesn't want to trouble his old friends."

Li You felt disdainful.

Do you really think I know nothing!
Only river workers can make money!
To repair the river channel of hundreds of miles, tens of millions of taels of silver will be spent. By squeezing a little here and a little here, two or three hundred thousand taels of silver can be easily obtained, which is better than anything else.

Wang Lin didn't bother to care about his little calculations. He turned to look at Ding Shimei and went straight to the point: "Brother Houxi, the court is calm and peaceful. There is no place for us to use our skills!"

Yes, what we are best at is verbal battles, finding faults, pulling out faults, and submitting impeachment petitions.

Now, the conflicts between Gao Gong, Xu Jie and Xiyuan have ceased and everything is calm. There is no place for us to use our abilities!
How can we make a name for ourselves and move forward without impeaching a few people?
If the political situation is not in chaos, how can we fish in troubled waters and have the best of both worlds!

No, there must be a way.

Wang Lin knew that Ding Shimei was a top scholar and very resourceful, so he said this.

Sure enough, Ding Shimei understood what Wang Lin meant. He stroked his beard and said confidently, "Mr. Ji Jin, I have a plan. Please consider it with Zhizheng."

Wang Lin and Li You's eyes lit up, they looked at each other, leaned forward involuntarily, and asked, "Hou Xi, please speak."

The three of them put their heads together and talked in whispers for a while.

Wang Lin and Li You said sincerely: "Hou Xi is indeed a great talent for the country, and he has made every possible effort!"

Ding Shimei smiled faintly.

The light from the window shone right on his face, making him look dazzling and exceptionally bright.

(End of this chapter)