Chapter 295 Finance
"I heard that you were scared by me last time?"
After taking off the twelve-chapter royal crown and changing into his daily cotton clothes, Zhao Jiu, who was tired after a day's work, rested for a while. He got up in the evening and had a small meal in the permanent military camp. But when the meal was served, he only had a bowl of porridge, and then he took it down according to his duty. Then he looked at a notebook he had written by himself, and suddenly spoke while reading it, and it was unknown who he was talking to.
"Absolutely not." Yang Yizhong, who was standing inside the door, immediately turned around and bowed, but he did not pretend to be confused and say that he didn't know what it was.
"If this is not the case, then why did you secretly send away the maids?" Zhao Jiu continued to flip through his notebook without looking up. "And he didn't dare to send away too many at once. He sent away three people in more than half a month, and paid five strings of cash to each person..."
"minister……"
"I don't mean to blame you. You didn't know it that day, but don't you know it these days? What I said I must do has nothing to do with you... I just asked casually, you misunderstood."
"I know."
"You know shit?" Zhao Jiu didn't even raise his head. "If you really know, you should know. There are some things I can only tell you... Apart from you, who else would know that I am actually afraid of personally taking charge of government affairs? Apart from you, who else would know that I have actually been avoiding those royal relatives?"
“…”
"Why don't you speak?"
"The emperor is still the emperor after all. For example, on the battlefield at Yaoshan, the emperor bent his bow and shot an arrow but missed, but it did not prevent the emperor from raising his hand to shoot down the eagle. The so-called fear and avoidance are only temporary. If you really take a step forward, you will definitely achieve great success."
"Then what?"
"Then, I am only a lucky minister after all. I was blessed to be in the central government, in charge of intelligence and the imperial guards. This is a prominent position that I would never dare to dream of in my lifetime... I should have been more careful and restrained."
"It's a bit like Hu Quan, the editor, who would not even be replaced by a minister?"
"Almost, but..."
"But Hu Quan is much more comfortable than you. You mean to say that serving the emperor is like serving a tiger, right?"
“…”
"Do you want to be transferred to a post outside the capital?" Zhao Jiu finally looked up. "If you are transferred to a post outside the capital, you can be a deputy governor under Han Shizhong or Zhang Jun, or even a prefecture governor and then a civilian position..."
“…”
"How could I possibly allow you to be exiled?" Zhao Jiu continued to sneer. "If you were to be exiled, I wouldn't even be able to find the 'Ninwang Defending the Country Sutra'."
Yang Yizhong remained silent in the end.
"Almost done." Zhao Jiu reviewed his notes and finally stood up. "Tell them all to come to the central army tent to see me!"
Yang Yizhong bowed his head and obeyed the order, but hesitated before leaving: "Sir, do you want to change into the twelve-chapter imperial crown?"
"What do you want to change?" Zhao Jiu, who had already stood up, shook his head repeatedly. "If it weren't for this one piece of old clothes of the Supreme Taoist Emperor, I wouldn't want to wear it at all..."
As he spoke, seeing the other party leaving, Zhao Jiu hesitated for a moment, then took the notebook in his hand again, and then walked out openly.
When he went out of the house, it was already evening. The autumn cicadas were chirping non-stop and the sunset had not yet set. Zhao Jiu saw countless civil and military nobles, Buddhist and Taoist tycoons entering the central army tent with their own thoughts... It was called a tent, but in fact it had already been made permanent. It was just a rough and practical brick and wood structure hall... He waited for a while with his hands behind his back, until Yang Yizhong returned, and then he came here under the escort of the imperial guards.
At this moment, although they were only gathered together for a moment, all the bureaucrats, nobles, monks, Taoists, merchants and laymen in the room had already felt uncomfortable.
Now, how can these people feel comfortable with each other?
The serious bureaucrats who arrived today were all members of the Secret Cabinet. These people were the real superiors of the empire. They looked at the rest of the people as if they were chickens and ducks. They stood solemnly and looked around, and were extremely arrogant. The noble monks and Taoists were divided into different levels. The higher ones, such as the two fathers-in-law of the emperor and several idle scholars who had been serious officials, were naturally at ease. The lower ones, such as the monks and Taoists who had just arrived, were nervous, so they kept talking and trying to get some information. As for the few wealthy merchants who no one expected to appear here, their performance was the most unified... These people didn't need anyone to remind them. They honestly went to the corners, and they were all stunned and didn't dare to make a sound.
However, the military officers in the camp were all beaming with joy at this moment, talking to the monks and Taoists about the five Vajra Bodhisattvas, five thousand great gods, the twenty-eight constellations descending to the earth, and the three hundred and sixty-five star gods following them. It was as if they knew what the monks had said in the afternoon and the counterattacks from the Taoist temples next door, and a battle was set up there at this moment.
Of course, everything became quiet as Emperor Zhao, who had been in the limelight today, entered the central army hall. Everyone became solemn, and many monks, Taoists and wealthy businessmen who were meeting the emperor for the first time didn't know where to put their hands. Some even fell to their knees with a thud... but no one laughed at them.
However, Emperor Zhao paid no attention to the chaos, but just sat behind the military desk in front of him with a bound notebook. At the same time, nearly a hundred armored imperial guards, led by Yang Yizhong and Liu Yan, poured in from both sides, took control of the hall and lit countless braziers and lights on both sides of the hall.
The sudden bright lights made everyone feel dignified.
After Emperor Zhao looked around at the densely packed heads, he sneered: "Speaking of which, when I started from Huaishang, I only lit one candle in my bedroom, and was laughed at by the Queen Mother... People also said that I openly talked about utilitarianism, but in fact I was posing as a moral person. Today I suddenly became so extravagant, but I wonder if someone will say that even my morality is fake."
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