Red Mansion, Ningfu Scholarly Family

Chapter 141 Domination of the World
……

Royal study room.

The emperor was eating and drinking tea, his mind full of thoughts.

Jiangnan is a prosperous place, and its salt merchants are as wealthy as a country.

He had no idea how much wealth he had.

Although Jia Jing and Lin Ruhai were both his most trusted ministers, he could not completely trust them.

After all, they are not entirely our own people!
I thought about it for a long time.

The emperor said, "Dai Quan!"

Dai Quan, who was serving beside him, was cheered up: "The servant is here."

He was well aware of the emperor's concerns.

And very excited.

If the emperor completely trusts the external ministers, what is the need for him as the internal minister?
As expected, the Emperor said leisurely, "The matter in Jiangnan is of great importance. I am a little worried about Lord Jia and Lord Lin going there. You should go with them."

"Make sure you keep a close eye on me!"

Dai Quan hurriedly assured: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will watch it carefully and won't make any mistakes."

The emperor nodded in satisfaction.

"I know your loyalty!"

"Go down quickly and get ready!"

"By the way, how much silver was confiscated from Wen Ribin's house?"

Dai Quan hurriedly handed over the book respectfully and said with a smile: "The book just came up from below. I took a rough look and found that there are about 200,000 taels of silver, 30,000 taels of gold, and antiques, calligraphy and paintings, porcelain, houses and shops. The total amount is more than 300,000 taels of silver!"

"The entire family property is equivalent to about 800,000 taels of silver!"

The retired emperor threw the imperial tea bowl in his hand away fiercely!
"Clap!"

The exquisite official kiln imperial tea bowl was shattered into pieces!

"Okay, very good!"

"He is just a minister of the Ministry of Revenue and a former inspector of salt. He is richer than me!"

"They are all pure and clear!"

"You complain to me about your poverty on weekdays!"

"If anything goes wrong, just keep an eye on my treasury!"

The emperor became angrier and angrier as he spoke, and seeing that there was no tea bowl to throw on the table, he simply pushed it forward, and all the inkstone, memorials, writing brushes and ink on the table were pushed down!
"Crash!"

"They all deserve to die!"

The new emperor, who had just walked into the hall to pay his respects, was so frightened that he trembled all over and quickly knelt on the ground.

"My son, I am guilty."

"What is your crime? Get up."

"Now you are also the emperor, you don't have to kneel all the time."

"Come and take a look too."

The emperor pointed at the book and said, "This is the Qingliu! This is what is called the Qingliu!"

"The previous one who embezzled disaster relief grain doesn't count, this one is even more ruthless!"

The new emperor looked at it and gasped.

"Wen Ribin actually...embezzled so much?"

The emperor said coldly: "Humph! I have never thought about it!"

"I think we should restart the Royal Guards!"

The retired emperor had always been benevolent and good at governing the country. Soon after he ascended the throne, he listened to the advice of the civil servants and deprived and banned the Jinyiwei of all its powers. Most of the Jinyiwei offices across the country were also withdrawn.

The Jinyi Yamen in Kyoto is just a decoration.

This also made him like a deaf and blind person, unable to hear or see any sounds from the outside world.

All we know and gain comes from the ministers’ mouths.

Some time ago, Lin Ruhai went to Beijing, and all kinds of prohibited items such as muskets, bows and crossbows appeared one after another, the only thing missing was cannons.

The parties involved all knew the truth, and while they secretly cursed each other for being despicable and shameless, they also kept it a secret and hid it from the retired emperor and his son.

……

Wen Ribin's death was so miserable.

Among all the civil and military officials in the court, there was not even one person who investigated the cause of his death or spoke up for him.

Some people even secretly said: It’s good to die.

If you die, more people won't be implicated.

At this time, at Wen Ting's mansion.

Several bigwigs in the court gathered around the stove.

"Brother Ribin, what a pity."

"It's also Brother Ribin's fault that he was too careless and was caught by someone."

"Ah, can we just watch them go to Lianghuai and do whatever they want, disrupting the Lianghuai salt administration?"

Wen Ting smiled faintly.

"That's impossible!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone became alert and looked towards Wen Ting.

"Master Wen, do you have any backup plan?"

Wen Ting took a sip of tea and smiled, "What do you think was the purpose of the emperor's attack on the Lianghuai salt merchants?"

What is it?
Of course everyone knows it very well.

It is nothing more than confiscating property and collecting money to enrich their own treasury so that they can become more extravagant, absurd, ambitious, and indulge in pleasure...

"What does Mr. Ge mean?"

Wen Ting smiled and said, "What do you think the emperor will do if they fail to confiscate the silver this time?"

Everyone's eyes lit up.

"Wonderful!"

"Master Wen, this plan is ingenious!"

"Then the Emperor will be furious! We can take the opportunity to impeach him and achieve great things!"

"Ha ha……"

Wen Ting smiled and said seriously: "Send reliable people south immediately and ask them to bring all the gold and silver... and hide them!" Everyone's breathing became rapid.

The six major salt merchants have accumulated wealth over nearly a hundred years, which is enough to build several mountains of gold and silver. Who wouldn't be jealous?
It’s a pity that they haven’t received the imperial edict and cannot leave Beijing.

If they can't get it, Jia Jinglin and Ruhai can't get it either! Not to mention the emperor, who was encouraged to live a life of extravagance and debauchery.

……

Ningguo Mansion.

This time, Lin Ruhai could finally visit with a legitimate reason.

Lin Ruhai came to Ningguo Mansion with two kilograms of tea.

The business card had naturally been handed over long ago, and the doorman who received the order led Lin Ruhai directly to the study.

Jia Jing had been at the door for a long time.

"Respect, brother!"

"Like the sea!"

The two looked at each other.

Three years.

One of them was in a high position in the government, while the other was far away in the world. They worked together and not only solved the problem of salt merchants, but Jia Jing also entered the central cabinet.

After completely dealing with the six major salt merchants, Lin Ruhai will definitely be promoted.

perhaps.

One day in the future, Lin Ruhai will follow Jia Jing's footsteps, and the two will meet in the cabinet, jointly take charge of the center and rule the world...

but now!
Lin Ruhai just felt a little upset.

His daughter!

So worried.

It's even more worrying than his open and secret fights with the salt merchants.

Jia Jing, however, could not understand Lin Ruhai's state of mind at the moment, so he led him into the house and sat him down. After the servants served him tea, he asked with a smile, "What are you worried about, Ruhai?"

"Hey!"

Lin Ruhai thought about it, but still found it difficult to speak.

My daughter has fallen in love with my eldest nephew?

This is totally impossible to say.

I can only find an opportunity to test it later.

"Nothing, I'm just wondering when we should leave for the south. After all, the longer the night, the more trouble we have. If something unexpected happens over there, it will be hard to explain to the emperor."

Jia Jing nodded.

"I have the same worries as the sea."

"It seems that we can't spend the New Year in Beijing!"

"Pack up tonight and set off south tomorrow."

“Haha.” Lin Ruhai smiled: “Brother Jing will finally go back to his hometown to celebrate the New Year.”

Jia Jing nodded and smiled: "Ru Hai is right. I haven't been back to my hometown in Jinling for the New Year for many years. It's not bad to be there this year."

"By the way, the Emperor just issued an oral order that the Minister of Internal Affairs Dai Quan should go south with us. What does Ru Hai think?"

Lin Ruhai smiled faintly.

"Isn't this expected?"

Jia Jing also smiled.

"good."

"In fact, with the internal minister here, some things are easier to handle."

At this time, Jia Rong came.

He went to see Jia Jing to ask when Xue Ke would set off.

I didn’t expect Lin Ruhai to be there too.

Jia Rong didn't think much about it.

Mr. Lin, the Prime Minister, is a tolerant man. He shouldn't care about such a small matter, right?
He didn't know that although Lin Ruhai appeared calm on the surface, he had already started to have wild thoughts in his mind.

Jia Rong's appearance, character, talent and family background are all excellent.

Except for the most fatal generation.

The rest is impeccable.

"Uncle Lin."

"Master."

Jia Rong bowed.

Jia Jing nodded.

Lin Ruhai also nodded.

"Rong'er, I heard from Yu'er that she has been learning to write articles with you recently. Has it interfered with your studies?" Lin Ruhai took a sip of tea and asked tentatively.

Delay studying!

The key is these four words.

Isn’t reading novels just a distraction from studying?
Jia Rong immediately understood that he should go to war to punish the culprit.

If the grandfather knew about this, he might not necessarily beat him, but he would definitely be scolded.

Therefore, Jia Rong lowered his attitude and said, "Aunt Lin is very talented and intelligent, and I have benefited a lot from her. We can learn from each other."

Learning from each other!

The wise Lin Ruhai immediately understood.

"That way, I feel relieved."

At this time, Jia Jing smiled and said, "Ruhai, don't worry about it. They know what's going on."

"I discovered last time that Lin girl writes very well, and they don't even know who is teaching whom."

Lin Ruhai was a little surprised.

"Brother Jing, did you find out too?"

……

(End of this chapter)