The destiny of all heavens begins in the Red Chamber

The court officials, on the contrary, wished that such a mess would not happen.

Right now, what's missing is someone willing to break the deadlock!

Now it seems that this person is undoubtedly the second master of the Rong family, the head of household affairs.

It's not that no one sees the benefits; there are plenty of opportunists in the court, and some officials will do anything for promotion, let alone just offend the entire court.

As long as the current government still values ​​this, even a lone minister can remain standing in the court.

Unfortunately, it wasn't that they were less powerful than the Second Master Zheng; their problem was that the amount of silver owed by the national treasury was insufficient, so even if they were the first to repay the debt, it wouldn't cause much of a stir.

Damn it, what good are tens of thousands, or at most hundreds of thousands, of taels of silver?

The kind of frantic fundraising like that of Master Zheng Er, clearly aimed for at least 500,000 taels of silver, and possibly up to a million taels, is what makes it truly impactful.

Some nobles and powerful figures were quite anxious, but knowing that too many people were watching, even the current emperor and the retired emperor were watching silently, they dared not do anything wrong.

Otherwise, several days would have passed, and it wouldn't have been just the two marquises from the Shi family who took the initiative to come to their door.

Because they are relatives of the Jia family, it is perfectly normal for them to visit. If the other nobles and powerful figures go to the Rong Mansion at this time, and if the Second Master Zheng suddenly stops raising money, even a fool would know that it is related to them!

If the current emperor vents all his anger on me, wouldn't that be too unfair?

Chapter 128 A Grand Return of the Silver (Please Subscribe)

Although Jia Huan was unaware that the Second Master of the Rong Mansion was the center of attention at this moment.

However, he always kept a low profile. Even if he had any ideas, he would usually discuss them privately with the Second Master Zheng, without any outsiders around.

The scholars and gentlemen in the study knew that he had gotten involved, but they didn't know what Jia Huan had actually done. They thought that at most he was just giving bad advice and running errands.

Otherwise, why would everyone consider Jia Huan a prodigy rather than a child prodigy?

I suspect outsiders share this view!

At this time, taking advantage of the fact that Wang Xifeng and Jia Lian's wife had returned in the evening, he leisurely went to their door.

With a wink, Wang Xifeng whispered that she had something important to discuss. She immediately sent the other maids away, leaving Ping'er to do her embroidery outside the door while Jia Huan spoke in the main hall.

"I came here on the master's orders to deliver a bribe to Second Brother Lian!"

Jia Huan didn't waste any time or words, and went straight to the point: "I wonder if either of you has any ideas?"

"What's the benefit?"

Wang Xifeng couldn't wait to ask, "Don't try to fool me, you'll regret it later!"

Jia Lian's gaze also fell upon them, clearly very curious about what the benefits were.

"Wasn't the Ministry of Revenue purged before? If Brother Lian handles things properly, becoming a fifth-rank official in the Bureau of Censors shouldn't be a problem!"

"Really?"

Now it was Jia Lian's turn to be happy.

The Ministry of Revenue was a core and important department of the Great Qian Dynasty, and the Director of the Ministry of Personnel could be said to have held a lowly but powerful position.

At least, it's much better than being the current Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Stud, and the future prospects and financial prospects are quite good.

"of course it's true!"

Jia Huan replied without hesitation, "However, there's one condition: you must pay 50,000 taels of silver!"

"Fifty thousand taels? You might as well rob a place!"

Wang Xifeng's expression changed drastically, and she said irritably, "If it costs fifty thousand taels to become a doctor in the Ministry of Revenue, it's much easier to go to my uncle!"

"Hehe, if your uncle had that ability, Brother Lian would have entered the officialdom long ago to gain seniority!"

Jia Huan chuckled and said, "Second Brother Lian, what do you say?"

"Huan-ge'er, how dare you look down on my uncle?"

Wang Xifeng's eyebrows furrowed, her phoenix eyes filled with coldness, and she said icily, "If you don't give me a reason today, see how I deal with you!"

"The paths of literature and martial arts are different!"

Ignoring Wang Xifeng's cold glare, Jia Huan said unhurriedly, "If he dares to interfere in civil affairs, believe me, even the Grand Secretary will come after him!"

At this point, she couldn't help but chuckle and tease, "Second sister-in-law, do you think Uncle Wang can handle it?"

"this!"

Wang Xifeng's expression kept changing, and for a moment she didn't know how to stand up for herself.

Even if she was arrogant, she knew that her uncle was still far inferior to the Grand Secretary, and she couldn't lie about it.

"That's unnecessary, isn't it? Spending fifty thousand taels of silver?"

She changed the subject, accusingly saying, "You brat, don't think I don't understand these things and that you're deliberately trying to extort money from me. Don't think I don't know your master is short of money!"

"Second sister-in-law was right. This fifty thousand taels of silver can just cover the shortfall in my master's first installment of repayment to the national treasury!"

Jia Huan spoke frankly and admitted to it directly, knowing that he couldn't hide it for long anyway.

"you……"

"Let me finish speaking before you get angry and lose your temper!"

Before Wang Xifeng could erupt in anger, Jia Huan continued, "Once the silver is in hand, my master will join forces with the Ning Mansion, my two cousins ​​from the Shi family, and the Wang family to repay the national treasury's debt!"

"As a role model, he will certainly be generous with his rewards. Lian Erge's position as the Minister of Revenue will be awarded to him!"

"Otherwise, even with the manor's resources and influence, it wouldn't be so easy to push Brother Lian to the top, mainly because there are no reliable allies supporting him within the civil service system!"

To put it bluntly, if you don't have the connections, even if you have money, you won't know how to spend it!

We can't just bribe Dai Quan, the Grand Chancellor of the Ming Palace, can we?

Once labeled a lackey of powerful eunuchs, it's no joke; life in the government office will be extremely difficult.

"The Shi and Wang families were involved too? Why didn't you say so earlier?"

Wang Xifeng was stunned. Matters of the heart were not as simple as she had imagined. She softened her tone and asked, "How come such a big matter has not been mentioned at all?"

Towards the end, some suspicion began to show on his face.

Before Jia Huan could speak, Jia Lian, who was standing next to him, said irritably, "Such an important matter cannot be easily spread. Who knows if someone will secretly try to sabotage it?"

Turning back to Jia Huan, he said, "Brother Huan, isn't fifty thousand taels of silver a bit too much?"

"Not negotiable!"

Jia Huan said directly, "If Second Brother Lian wants to get involved and receive the current rewards and promotion, how could he possibly do it without paying a price?"

At this point, he went on to share his thoughts, his ideas for Jia Lian's future official position, and possible arrangements, before finally saying, "If everything goes smoothly, what is a mere fifty thousand taels of silver?"

"If I weren't so young, how could Second Brother Lian have gotten such a benefit?"

Jia Lian was now completely smitten. Ignoring Jia Huan's teasing, he turned to Wang Xifeng and tentatively said, "Second Madam, look, this is a truly rare opportunity!"

"My second master, that's fifty thousand taels of silver!"

Wang Xifeng said irritably, "If I were to take it out, most of my dowry would be gone!"

Jia Lian was immediately embarrassed and didn't know how to reply.

As for his own father, Master She, he didn't mention him at all, knowing that seeking help from Master She was even less reliable.

"Couldn't we borrow it from the Xue family?"

Jia Huan slapped the table and said with a smile, "Explain things to Aunt Xue and the others. Once Second Brother Lian is successfully promoted to the Ministry of Revenue, it will be a huge benefit for the Xue family!"

"Putting aside everything else, protecting the Xue family's status as imperial merchants can play a significant role!"

He stood up abruptly, waving his hand and saying, "Give me an answer by tomorrow evening. If not, then that idiot Xue Pan will have to take advantage of it. Who knows, he might even get a low-level rank!"

As they reached the entrance of the main hall, he turned back and smiled, "It's only because I knew you two didn't have much money that I could have gotten you a cavalry captain's honorary title!"

After saying that, he waved his hand and strode away, leaving Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng looking at each other in bewilderment.

That night, the young couple barely slept, repeatedly pondering the matter.

As dawn broke, he finally decided to agree to Jia Huan's conditions and directly contribute 50,000 taels of silver to participate in the matter of repaying the national treasury's debts.

There was nothing they could do. Jia Huan's attitude yesterday evening was very frank. He didn't seem to be asking for anything at all. He was just giving them a chance to get a hand out of them, and the young couple actually fell for it.

In the evening, Jia Lian and Wang Xifeng, a married couple, personally delivered the 50,000 taels of silver notes that they had urgently borrowed from the Xue family to Master Zheng in the main study.

Although Jia Huan had already given his assurances, when he actually received the silver notes, Master Zheng still felt it was somewhat unreal. This silver came too easily, didn't it?

You should know that yesterday at noon, he and his wife, Madam Wang, went to the Wang family together.

As a result, Lady Wang Teng, who remained at the Wang family home, and Wang Ren, Wang Xifeng's elder brother, both politely declined the offer from Master Zheng Er to jointly repay the national treasury's debts. This left him feeling rather displeased.

In particular, Madam Wang, who was traveling with them, made no comment, as if that wasn't her family home.

To put it bluntly, isn't it just that he thinks he's likely to lose this gamble?

He finally raised 400,000 taels of silver. He sent Jia Huan to invite Jia Rong, the head of the Ning Mansion, and his wife Qin Keqing. They quickly discussed the matter of going to the Ministry of Revenue to repay the silver the next morning.

After seeing off the Ning family's master, who was in a complicated mood, Master Zheng thought for a moment and finally went to Rongqing Hall to explain the arrangements for tomorrow.

"Second son, you can make your own decisions. You don't need to tell this to my old woman!"

The old lady remained indifferent, and her words were quite impolite: "It wasn't easy for this old woman to save up some money for her funeral, so don't even think about taking any of it in the future!"