Su Wan was surprised for a moment, then returned to normal, sitting quietly at the edge of the carriage. When Xie Pei came up, she deliberately asked curiously, "Why are you sitting there?"
After finishing speaking, Su Wan and the Grand Secretary of Dongge looked over together.
The eyes mean the same thing.
Why are you sitting?
Why is he, she, here?
After experiencing recent events, Dongge Grand Secretary naturally had no prejudice against Su Wan. On the contrary, he admired her intelligence. She could analyze so many things from simple information, which even his favorite student could not do.
Moreover, Su Wan's past before and after entering the palace also passed through his hands. Although he did not dare to investigate further, otherwise it would be difficult to explain to the prince, but at a rough glance, he found that everyone who had come into contact with Su Wan praised her.
Even if the little palace maid who had a little resentment went to Concubine Jiang, it was because she felt that she was not valued by Su Wan.
These are just the temper of children, so the Grand Secretary of Dongge naturally didn't take them to heart.
Other things also surprised the Grand Secretary of the Dongge.
Can you gain such knowledge and insights just by reading books in the Ministry of Rites?
I always feel that his disciples have read all their books in vain.
So during those days, I treated my disciples like a nobody.
But I didn't expect that I would go to Bi Guang Mountain in the same carriage with Su Wan, and I was able to squeeze out the kindness of an elder just now.
But being kind to Su Wan seemed wrong, after all, she was with the prince?
This was even simpler for Su Wan. She had experienced two winter festivals and naturally knew the Grand Secretary of the Dongge, who had sided with Xie Pei early on.
But they share a carriage?
It's weird no matter how you think about it? After all, they have nothing to do with each other.
Xie Pei asked Su Wan to sit in her usual seat and said, "Su Wan is my friend. We were supposed to go to Bi Guang Mountain in spring, but we were delayed by too many things. We decided to go together in early summer when the weather is not too hot."
Is this reason okay?
But the Grand Secretary of Dongge was shocked, friend?
But think about it, it's normal for two smart boys and girls to be friends.
That's not right!
This is not normal no matter how you think about it!
Su Wan was fine. Since she was already sitting up, what else could she do?
It takes an hour to get to Bi Guang Mountain, and we certainly can’t just remain silent on the way.
Xie Pei naturally mentioned recent events to the Grand Secretary of Dongge, and did not think of avoiding Su Wan.
Since Xie Pei launched an attack on the black market in February, he has uncovered many clues. In fact, he also had a rough idea in mind and knew which direction to look in.
The homes of five officials have been searched, among whom is a distant relative of the royal family, who should be the imperial uncle, but the relationship is so distant that he is not even close to the late emperor.
But because the current emperor has ascended the throne, the Internal Affairs Bureau needs to be supervised by the royal family. Those who were close to the previous emperor look down on the current emperor, so there will naturally be people who try to curry favor with him, and this is related to the Internal Affairs Bureau.
Many people today still remember that hundreds of sable furs were found in the house of this cousin of the emperor. The maids in his family could all wear satin clothes, which were soft, shiny and smooth. One was very good for an ordinary family, not to mention that the satin clothes worn by the maids were embroidered with agarwood-shaped cranes, which would cost at least a hundred taels of silver.
Needless to say, the rest.
Anyway, the Ministry of Revenue was stunned. Although the house had been searched several times and these things were counted each time and put into the national treasury, it was still shocking.
The uprising started in February, the property was confiscated in early April, and now, at the end of April, in just one month, the national treasury has added more than 10 million taels of silver and more than 3 million taels of gold.
This is just cash and gold bars.
Most of the remaining items have not been counted yet, but the amount makes the Ministry of Revenue feel like a poor man who has suddenly become rich.
As the Minister of Revenue, he had naturally seen so much silver and money.
After all, Tianxiang Kingdom earns more than 30 million silver dollars in various taxes each year.
It's just that I spend a lot of money, so it seems tight.
But now that we have raided the homes of five corrupt officials who embezzled money, one-third of the annual income is in silver alone?
How could he not be tempted? When they searched the third corrupt official's house, the Minister of Revenue was urging the Crown Prince to quickly bring out the list. Who would be the next one?
Yes, now everyone in the court knows that His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has a list in his hand.
This list is the result of this investigation, from high-ranking officials to palace thieves, basically all of them are included.
The five people I have picked out now are people with poor character but are experts at making money.
Why do people say that they have bad character? It is because they act without restraint, oppress the people, and are accustomed to bullying men and women. There are also many complaints from victims that are being kept in the Kyoto government office. Because these five families used to be powerful and wealthy, no one dared to provoke them.
Now let’s raid their homes first, which will make people applaud.
From this we can see that the prince acts meticulously, and raiding these people's homes will only make people applaud.
But the Ministry of Revenue tasted the sweetness from this and wished that the prince would take people to search the warehouse every day.
The Ministry of War didn't expect that they actually had the money to repair weapons and make armor!
Now that there is money on hand, at Xie Pei's request, the Ministry of Works must begin preparations for military construction. Although replenishing military funds is a long, detailed, and even bottomless task, it is a good thing to have started.
No one expected that the prince had taken advantage of this incident to seize the Ministry of Revenue, Ministry of War, and Ministry of Works.
Although the remaining Ministry of Rites, Ministry of Personnel, and Ministry of Justice are waiting and watching, they are now standing neutral, which is already a support.
But after raiding five corrupt officials, Xie Pei stopped.
One is to give everyone some time off. Right now the Ministry of Justice is cooperating with the Ministry of Revenue to count money and inventory the warehouse every day. They are very tired. We will talk about it after the accounts of these five families are clear.
The second one is particularly important.
That's how far we need to investigate this matter.
Should we investigate immediately with an iron fist, or should we use a soft knife to take our time, strike a warning to the enemy and leave a way out for those behind?
As the saying goes, if the water is too clear, there will be no fish. If we really conduct a thorough investigation, within half a year, all the people in the court will be replaced.
Even if they are still standing in the court, their nephews and nephews may have been imprisoned, and they are bound to have resentment.
A soft knife is not strong enough, and it will take longer, which may lead to changes, and all the previous efforts will be in vain.
So at the end of April this stopped.
The prince's party also thought about what to do next.
This time, the small gathering at Bi Guangshan was where the prince's party gathered to celebrate the temporary victory and to discuss the future course of action.
Su Wan listened and then realized that she was just there for the occasion!
But that’s okay, I can just go out and have some fun.
Unexpectedly, after they finished speaking, the Grand Secretary of the Dongge looked at Su Wan and said, "Miss Su Wan, what do you think about this matter?"
Su Wan was about to play dumb when she heard Xie Pei say, "You were the one who came up with the plan to open up the palace. Do you have anything else to say now?"
Plans for open source?
The Grand Secretary of Dongge was shocked again, thinking that the planning document with a blank chapter was actually written by Su Wan?
But Su Wan knew very well that what they were doing now was no longer the same as the plan she had come up with in her impulsive mood.
In other words, a lot of improvements have been made on that plan, and one can still adapt to changing circumstances.
In fact, to say that it is hers is to flatter her.
Besides, why should we expose her?
The days of pretending to be stupid are obviously very happy.
But now that she had said this, she thought that there might be more people going to Bi Guang Mountain than she thought, so she simply said, "Give a deadline. The people on the list must donate embankments for the summer and autumn floods, and money and materials for the northwest garrison within the deadline, and then we will consider whether to let them go."
The Grand Secretary of Dongge was shocked. They had only been in the carriage for half an hour, and Su Wan had just heard them talk about these things and had just understood the situation, but she already had an idea?
And it's a good idea.
Because the list is too long, it is unrealistic to catch them all.
It is estimated that the court will be in turmoil. Even if there are replacements for officials, they will not be able to fill so many vacancies.
Besides, because of this incident, everyone is insecure and the court is difficult to manage.
But what if we let them vomit out what they have eaten?
Su Wan continued, "Anyway, they don't know who is on the list, and they don't know the amount on the list. It depends on their sincerity whether they donate more or less."
"You have good sincerity, so just let it go. It may seem like you let it go, but there will always be a chance to slowly settle the score later."
"If you refuse to confess, we will continue to confiscate your property."
"I think most people know which to choose between having their property confiscated by the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Justice and handing over their belongings obediently."
"If you donate, there is still a glimmer of hope. If you don't donate, your whole family will be convicted."
"And if they voluntarily donate, this place won't be known as a cruel official."
Here, we are naturally referring to the prince's lineage.
Now that five families have been raided, some people are already complaining. If we continue to raid more, people may say that they are cruel officials in a nice way, or they may also say that they are ruthless.
In this case, give them the opportunity to donate "voluntarily". The prince has a good reputation and the other party also has dignity.
You have to know that if someone's property is confiscated now, the whole family will be charged with a crime. Exile a thousand miles away is the lightest punishment, and the possibility of execution in the autumn is unknown.
Those who have killed people cannot escape death.
With such a precedent, donating some money is nothing to those on the list. Although this is not a matter of donating some money, it is estimated that it will at least bankrupt everyone.
As for those who are hoping for a lucky break, just wait for our visit at any time.
After all, this "list" has never been announced, so everyone has to guess who is on it and who is not.
Those who behave uprightly have nothing to fear.
Anyone who has some ulterior motives would probably rush to "donate" money.
When the carriage got off at Bi Guang Mountain, the Grand Secretary of Dongge was the first to get off and let out a long sigh.
It's so scary.
Young people today are terrible.
It's not that the plan is perfect, this matter still needs careful planning.
But all aspects have been taken into consideration in such a short time. If Su Wan were to sit down and plan seriously, I'm afraid she would come up with a perfect plan.
Su Wan and Xie Pei looked at each other, wondering how the Grand Secretary of Dongge could run so fast.
Xie Pei smiled and got off the car with Su Wan. Now it was Su Wan who was surprised. The last time they came to Bi Guang Mountain, it was still a rural scene, and there were no so many carriages and so many people.
And judging by the gorgeousness of the carriage, I'm afraid many wealthy families in Kyoto have come.
When Su Wan was looking at them, many people were also looking at Xie Pei, and naturally noticed the little girl next to him. The little girl was beautiful, with lively deer-like eyes, a smart temperament, and really beautiful eyebrows and eyes.
That's not the point, the point is who is she?
Doesn’t the prince have even a maid by his side?
And when getting off the carriage, it was the Grand Secretary of the Dongke who got off first, and then the prince helped the little girl down.
Could she be the designated Crown Princess?
But they all know the wealthy ladies in Beijing, who is this person?
No matter how surprised everyone was, they looked respectful and pretended they saw nothing, and Su Wan was happy with it.
When they entered the Bi Guangshan Manor, Aunt Jun Ling, whom they had met last time, came over with a smile and was obviously very affectionate towards Su Wan.
Those who can be invited here are basically from the prince's lineage, and they are openly supporting him, and their interests have long been closely tied together.
This time when everyone gathered together, basically nothing was hidden from others.
It is estimated that Su Wan was the only one who came here secretly. Although the others did not make a big fanfare, they did not deliberately hide it.
Almost the entire Kyoto knew that they were discussing in Bi Guang Mountain how to deal with the people on the list!
Su Wan dozed off while listening. It was really annoying to have a meeting with too many people. Fortunately, she was familiar with the people in Bi Guangshan Villa, so she found a corner to drink tea and eat some fruit, and no one cared about her.
Fortunately, in front of so many people, Xie Pei did not ask her what she thought, allowing her to be happy and at ease.
Even so, Su Wan knew quite a few people present.
First of all, there is General Xu from the Armament Bureau who is the most familiar to him. However, he is a little dejected, as if he is not on the list of people going to the northwest this time, which made him disappointed for a long time. However, the rising power of the prince's faction makes him feel better. Now he practices martial arts every day, just waiting for the day to go to the battlefield again.
Then the Minister of Revenue, who looked very excited, and several trusted officials from the Ministry of Revenue were also there.
What surprised Su Wan was that the Minister of Personnel was also here, not to mention the Minister of War.
Three of the six ministers came, and two of the six grand secretaries came, the Grand Secretary of Dongge, and the Grand Secretary of Wenyuange, who was the lovable old man who had eaten fake ketchup noodles made by someone else and whose teeth became sour but who still refused to allow the son of the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple to criticize him.
There were a few other people who surprised Su Wan, and that was Commander Qi of Lingtai Sect. However, Commander Qi was also among the troops who were confiscating the property this time, so it was not surprising.
When Commander Qi saw Su Wan, he naturally greeted her.
Commander Qi's Lingtai Gate was near the west kitchen. When Su Wan was there, she often prepared delicious food for them.
Especially the braised food, Commander Qi can't forget it until now. The two guards beside him, Zhou Zhao and Chai Huan, were old friends at that time. They were also involved in the disaster relief work during the snow disaster at the end of the 12th year of Tianze.
When they saw Su Wan, their jaws dropped to the ground and they were stunned.
Just say it directly.
How come you are also the prince's man?
When did it happen?
In addition to them, there are many officials in the court, and many managers in various departments inside and outside the palace.
But the head of the Shangshi Division did not come. The Shangshi Division now belongs to the Ministry of Rites. If she came, it would easily cause unnecessary misunderstandings.
But let Su Wan say that, in fact, the Shangshisi stayed indoors when the incident happened outside, and many people have guessed what the Shangshisi was thinking.
It's just to save the Ministry of Rites' face.
But seeing that the Ministry of Rites is acting as usual, I guess they don't care too much.
Anyway, Su Wan watched and felt that at least one-third of the forces in the court had come. One-third was an understatement, almost half.
You have to know that it has been less than half a year since he became the crown prince in November last year.
Xie Pei already holds great power.
With so many people coming here for a meeting, it is actually just for everyone to get to know each other, and it is also considered open within the court.
Tell others that we are indeed princelings, so what?
The specific matters will still be discussed in a small private meeting, but in the opinion of the Grand Secretary of Dongke, there is no need to discuss it now, just improve it according to the method suggested by Su Wan.
When they return this time, the scene will be different.
Su Wan felt drowsy after listening to the music, but when it was time for dinner at night, she became more energetic. She probably dozed off for too long during the day.
Although Xie Pei had been busy all day, he still asked, "We're going on a boat trip later, do you want to go?"
"There are quite a few lights on the lake, it looks pretty good."
In fact, most people have already returned to Kyoto, and only the most trusted ones are left, waiting for a small meeting tomorrow.
Su Wan also wanted to go back, but she didn't expect that when she woke up, it was already dark.
But she was a little moved by what Xie Pei said.
The lotus leaves are green now and the weather is cool at night. It will definitely be interesting to go boating on the lake at this time.
Seeing that Su Wan agreed, Xie Pei changed his clothes and came.
Aunt Jun Ling looked at them and smiled. They were still on good terms as always. She also prepared a lot of snacks for them to enjoy on the cruise ship.
Bi Guangshan Manor is much quieter at night. Unlike the chaos during the day, it seems particularly peaceful.
Su Wan was waiting for Xie Pei to come over on the shore. As the night wind blew, she had a lot of things on her mind.
For example, what exactly did she come here for? Was it just to attend a meeting?
But she didn't open it either.
She does know a lot of people in the prince's party, and it seems that she knows more about how many people the prince has than many ministers.
When Xie Pei came over, he was holding a basket of washed cherries.
"Cherries sent from Jinling." Xie Pei said, looked at Su Wan who was in a daze, and said, "Is it boring today?"
"Also okay?"
Su Wan must be feeling bored since she said that.
Xie Pei said apologetically: "I didn't expect everyone to be so excited. I thought it would be over in the afternoon."
As he spoke, Xie Pei removed the cherry stems and handed a small plate to Su Wan.
"I met the prince's lineage today. No matter who you ask to do something, they will listen to you."
Su Wan was now completely awake. This was actually the case!
Yes, they are all the prince’s men.
Everything you do will be smooth sailing from now on.
Xie Pei said seriously: "Even if I'm not in Kyoto in the future, you can just look for them if you encounter any problems."
They didn't even need any proof; just based on Su Wan's identity, they knew they should help.
Although some things are still early.
But it is definitely right to know who will be the one to make decisions in the future earlier.
Some things will not seem abrupt when I talk about them in the future.
Xie Pei was very grateful that there was still a lot of time, a very long time, to complete the things that others did not believe.
While Su Wan was eating the sweet cherries, she was already praising Xie Pei in her heart for being so good to his subordinates.
Yes, if she were a little palace maid, it would be difficult for her to find someone to help her, but it is not difficult now.
Many people know her. Is it good to be a princeling?
The moonlight was as bright as water, the cruise ship was floating lightly in the lake full of lotus leaves, the lights on the boat were dim, and the tea brewed by Xie Pei was as fresh as wind and rain.
I feel sleepy even if I’m not sleepy now.
Bi Guang Mountain is indeed quite fun.
Bi Guang Mountain is fun for them.
But for those in Kyoto who feel they are on the "list", it is a torture.
Everyone knows that the prince's group is going to Bi Guang Mountain.
Everyone also knew that we went to Bi Guang Mountain to discuss how to deal with them.
Is it a house search or just a token of respect?
The more leisurely Su Wan and the others are, the more anxious Kyoto becomes.
How should we deal with them? Give me some advice! Let's see what they should do so that they won't be as miserable as those five families.
I heard that every family dug deep into the ground and brought in dogs specially raised by detectives to search for where the stolen money was buried. Such ruthless means make people afraid just thinking of the prince!
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Yesterday's Overlord extra update! Love you guys! Updates will be made in the evening as usual.
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