Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 313 But Mom, Life Shouldn’t Be Like This

Zhang Zhongchun was deprived of everything on a winter day when he was sixteen years old. Ten years later, on another winter day, he finally returned to the officialdom that should have belonged to him.

If Xia Lin has a reckless temperament, the kind of bull that would dive into the officialdom and stir up trouble, then Zhang Zhongchun is a giant worm covered in armor, he can move freely, is wise but appears foolish, and has a cunningness that makes people helpless.

Yes, it's cunning.

Emperor Hong Bao had only met him once, but he was deeply impressed by him. Coincidentally, the next day Gao Shilian and Zeng Ming came to find Emperor Hong Bao to report on the work plan for next year. After finishing the boring plan, Emperor Hong Bao talked to them about Zhang Zhongchun.

"I seem to have some impression of this person. He is said to be a natural painter. Why did Your Majesty suddenly mention this person?"

"Oh, it's quite interesting." Emperor Hongbao said with a smile: "Lord Gao, why don't we give him a try?"

Gao Xiang raised his eyebrows and asked, "Your Majesty, how do you think we should try it?"

"You can arrange this matter." Hong Baodi's eyes were full of cunning: "I want to see how he handles it, and then see which department he can be assigned to."

"Then I will give him a try."

That afternoon, Lao Zhang received an order, saying that he would be given 100,000 taels of silver and asked to plan a suitable academy in Beijing within three months.

This was actually Lao Zhang's job, which was actually very simple and even sufficient. However, the real pilot project was not to build a college, but that His Majesty approved a note for 100,000 taels of silver for him, but when it reached his hands, he only received 50,000 taels of silver.

And if a series of coordinated arrangements are to be completed, it would cost between 60,000 and 70,000 taels of silver. But even if the academy is built, it would be extremely difficult to settle the bill.

Old Zhang sat in his study all night, looking at the money and orders at hand.

First of all, there are only two possibilities for this deficit. One is that the amount of silver allocated by Your Majesty is limited. The other is that during the allocation process, it was taken away by higher-level yamen to settle their accounts.

He couldn't guess or doubt about this, and he couldn't even ask. If he was foolish enough to ask, he wouldn't know how Xia Daosheng would laugh at him when he was dismissed from office and returned home next year.

You also cannot use your own money to fill the deficit. This is a taboo in officialdom. Using public resources for personal purposes may be a sign of personal morality, but using private resources for public purposes means you have something to hide. If you are not greedy, why would you fill the hole?

And facing this situation now, Old Zhang almost became a white-collar worker.

However, he left the house at dawn the next morning. Wu Ning thought he was going to jump into the river.

"If you can't, ask Xia Daosheng to borrow some. You don't have to commit suicide." Wu Ning dragged his arm: "What will I do if you die..."

"Are you sick?" Lao Zhang pulled her up from the ground: "I'm going to break the situation, is it okay to seek death?"

"You're not looking for death?"

"nonsense!"

Wu Ning said "oh" and got up and walked into the house: "Then I'll go to sleep for a while."

"Oh fuck."

Old Zhang looked at the back of this evil disciple and cursed him softly, then put his hands in his sleeves, bought some cakes and rice cakes from an early morning shop, and went straight to the residence of the Imperial Censor Zeng Ming.

After he reported, he did not go in but stood at the door waiting. He waited until it was bright outside, when Zeng Ming came out and prepared to go to work at the yamen. Then he followed the sedan chair silently.

Zeng Ming didn't say a word the whole time, just let him follow him, but he didn't stop him, and he didn't even tell him not to go in when he entered the yamen.

When Lord Zeng sat down at his desk to start his day's work, Lao Zhang bowed at the door and said, "Lord Zeng, I am here to surrender myself."

Zeng Ming raised his eyelids slightly: "Surrender? Why?"

"I coveted the fifty thousand taels of silver given by His Majesty."

Zeng Ming, who had just taken a sip of tea, spat it all out with a "Puff". He quickly wiped the table with the handkerchief beside him and looked at Lao Zhang in disbelief: "Fifty thousand taels? Do you know that fifty thousand taels is enough to confiscate your property and exile you?"

"Yes, they confiscated their property and exiled them, traced their three clans back, and liquidated the government offices."

Zeng Ming narrowed his eyes and looked at Lao Zhang: "Are you really going to surrender?"

"Yes, I have a deficit of 50,000 taels of silver in my account, which is not enough to fill this hole."

Zeng Ming laughed secretly in his heart, thinking: "Why are you pretending, kid? You are still in deficit. You only have 50,000 taels in your hand, and I approved the bill."

"Then what did you do with the fifty thousand taels of silver?"

"I don't know." Lao Zhang shook his head: "Anyway, it's a deficit. If you don't believe me, go check it out."

Zeng Ming had no idea what he was up to, but he had to satisfy His Majesty's request, so he said in a pretentious tone, "If that's the case, you should be imprisoned in the Dali Temple first, and we'll make a decision after I investigate the matter."

Just like that, the whole court knew that Zhang Zhongchun, the new Minister of Rites, had embezzled 50,000 taels of silver in just a few days. Cao Dahua, the tiger of the Ministry of Rites, was scolded harshly by Emperor Hongbao in the court.

"Dali Temple, Ministry of Justice. You two ministries should work together to thoroughly investigate this matter. You must not encourage this trend! Investigate and punish severely!"

Everything up to this point is normal case handling procedures. If something happens, it must be investigated thoroughly, and the two departments will naturally follow orders.

And then something very terrifying happened. The morning court had not yet ended when the Ministry of Rites and the Department of Finance hurried over.

The visitor was the Duzhishi of the Ministry of Rites. He hurriedly came to the hall with the materials in his hand, knelt down in front of Emperor Hongbao with a grunt, and held the things above his head with both hands: "Your Majesty, this is probably a misunderstanding."

"Oh?" Emperor Hongbao glanced at him and said, "What do you mean by misunderstanding?"

"Alas... Mr. Zhang is young and careless. After the approval of the silver yesterday, I told him to enter the silver into the account before paying it out, otherwise the account would not match at the end of the year. At noon that day, Mr. Zhang was anxious to get it, so I gave him the 50,000 taels of silver that had been entered into the account. Who knew that he had forgotten all about it after waking up from a nap. He couldn't figure it out no matter how he calculated it, and people were confused in the winter, so he did such a stupid thing. Now the accounts are all in this book, please take a look, Your Majesty."

Emperor Hongbao was surprised, Gao Shilian beside him had a sudden change of expression, and Zeng Ming stretched his head and looked at the scene in disbelief.

But what can they say now? They can only hand the accounts to Emperor Hongbao first, and then check... Damn, the accounts are right. The lost 50,000 taels are back. Damn...

Emperor Hong Bao was so angry that his lungs were about to explode, but he couldn't show it on his face. He nodded repeatedly and laughed in anger: "Okay, okay."

After hearing three "good"s in a row, Gao Shilian next to him was terrified while the officials from the Ministry of Rites below were overjoyed.

"Since it was a misunderstanding, the young man needs to be polished. In my opinion, he is not worthy of this position. Let him rest and choose a way out in the future. I will deduct one year's salary."

Emperor Hongbao stood up and walked away after saying this. All the ministers thought that he was angry with Zhang Zhongchun and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. The Ministry of Rites felt even more relieved.

After Tian En announced the adjournment of the court, everyone from the Ministry of Rites returned to the yamen and cursed Old Zhang's ancestors for eighteen generations.

A rookie is a rookie. This kind of useless piece of shit should be sent back to his hometown to be a clerk. Isn't it harming people if a piece of shit goes to the capital?
Emperor Hongbao was sitting in the imperial garden, in front of him were Gao Shilian with a sullen face and Zeng Ming who was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. He drank cup of tea, while his two ministers sat there in silence.

"He really made a desperate move and gave me this 50,000 taels of silver as a subsidy."

Emperor Hongbao suddenly laughed as he was talking: "Hey...you two, where do you think it would be best for him to go?"

Gao Shilian lowered his head and said nothing, while Zeng Ming looked around.

"He's a tough guy." Emperor Hongbao spoke for them: "You guys are afraid that if he gets into your hands, you will mess up everything. In my opinion, he and Xia Lin are natural monsters. If Xia Lin were here, what do you think he would do?"

"Him?" Gao Shilian said unhappily, "He will point his finger at me in the hall and say I robbed him of his money. He might even disrespect my elders and call me an old bastard. He and Guo Da are cut from the same cloth."

Emperor Hongbao laughed loudly: "Yes, yes, that's what he can do. But I didn't expect Zhang Zhongchun to be so active and actually turned himself in quietly."

Zeng Ming then continued, "It seems that the deficit of the Ministry of Rites is definitely more than 50,000 taels. Since they were able to fill the deficit of 50,000 taels so quickly, it must be to cover up a bigger hole."

"Ha." Emperor Hongbao sneered, "I investigated five of the six ministries, but left the Ministry of Rites alone. I thought this clean government office wouldn't do anything evil. It seems that I underestimated the heroes of the world. My dear ministers Gao and Zeng."

"His Majesty."

The two ministers on the left and right stood up and bowed at the same time. Emperor Hongbao put the cup down and said, "I think it's time to replace the Minister of Rites. You two find a reason to deal with him. As for Zhang Zhongchun, send him to the Ministry of Personnel. Let him be the Left Counselor."

After saying that, Emperor Hongbao shook his head and laughed: "You solved my problem in one day, and it made me so angry. Are young men nowadays so capable?"

"I have heard a saying among the people." Gao Shilian smiled and said, "It is said that geniuses appear once every century, and two of them appeared in one room. They are Xia Daosheng and Zhang Zhongchun. Even Xia Daosheng was taught by Zhang Zhongchun."

"Ah? There is such a thing?" Emperor Hong Bao's eyes widened: "Oh... no wonder."

"They were good friends at first but somehow became enemies. Xia Daosheng presided over the Ehu Academy in Fuliang, and Zhang Zhongchun presided over the Yuzhang Academy in Hongdu Prefecture. These two academies are extremely powerful. This year, there are a total of 63 Jinshi candidates on the list, 49 of whom are from these two academies."

After hearing this, Emperor Hongbao's hair stood on end: "Did you guys reveal the question?"

"Your Majesty... you set the questions yourself." Prime Minister Gao could not stand being wronged or wronged: "We didn't even see the questions. I guess they got it right."

“Can this be pressed?”

Emperor Hongbao muttered in disbelief, then shook his head: "He is truly a strange man."

Speaking of others like Ma Zhou and Xu Jingzong, Xia Lin gave them all kinds of resources when they came to Beijing, but he only gave some money to Lao Zhang when he came. The main reason was that he believed in Lao Zhang's ability. Except for his nonsense, his other mental schemes and scheming were no worse than anyone else.

Old Zhang doesn't know yet that he has been seduced into the Menxia Province, which is a central department. Although it is now managed by Gao Shilian, there is actually no real chief officer.

Otherwise, how can we say that the Ministry of Rites is a springboard for advancement? What's more, this time Lao Zhang also sacrificed the Minister of Rites. If he doesn't have boundless magical powers, it would be a shame for the Tiger of Rites to sacrifice his life for a country.

Of course, after this time, Lao Zhang will definitely become a plague in the court, and all resources will be cut off, but this is exactly the result he wants.

The old emperor is dying and has to choose sides. As an official with no background who was promoted out of turn, the probability of him becoming a sacrifice will greatly increase no matter whose side he chooses.

At this moment, Old Zhang was sitting in the prison cell of the Dali Temple, and Wu Ning was squatting beside him and passing food to him.

Half of the people who can enter the Dali Temple are not in bad condition, so the accommodation environment is much better than that of the Ministry of Justice. Lao Zhang squatted there in prison clothes, eating roast chicken and drinking wine. The prisoners next to him all sighed silently when they saw his appearance. After all, it was rare for people to have their last meal executed at a young age during the reign of Emperor Hongbao. He must have done something unforgivable.

After all, even treason was punishable by poisoned wine, but beheading was a very heinous crime.

"Master, why on earth? Why did they fill this hole for you?"

Wu Ning racked his brains to figure it out. Fifty thousand taels of silver was a huge sum of money, enough to get him beheaded. But who would have thought that the Ministry of Rites would actually make up the fifty thousand taels.

"Could it be that they found out that your affair had been exposed, so they returned the money they had withheld to you?"

At this time, Lao Zhang hooked his finger at Wu Ning. She leaned close to Lao Zhang and whispered, "Your Majesty has approved 50,000 taels for me."

"Ah?" Wu Ning was shocked: "Isn't that a clear way to trick you?"

"How to speak?"

Lao Zhang sighed, "If it was someone else, giving me 50,000 and asking me to do a job worth 100,000, that would be a trap. If it was your Majesty, it would be a test for me. I've been thinking about this for a whole day, and I guess I'm going to get a promotion."

"Another rise?"

"Yes, but I don't think I will go to any of the six ministries. I will either go to a temple or a cabinet."

"Enter the cabinet!?" Wu Ning exclaimed, "Your promotion is too fast. Others are like that for their entire lives, but you've only been there for a few days?"

"This is momentum." Lao Zhang leaned against the door of the cell and crossed his legs. "Daosheng always told me that if you stand on the cusp of the storm, even a pig can fly to the sky. I didn't believe it at first, but now I have become a pig on the cusp of the storm. Fate plays tricks on people, fate plays tricks on people."

As Lao Zhang spoke, he suddenly sighed, "Wealth and honor are sought in danger, but they are also lost in danger. One out of ten times you will succeed in seeking them, but nine out of ten times you will lose them. The world is uncertain now, and life and death are truly unpredictable."

(End of this chapter)