1014 Control the situation and take good care of his family

Minister Cao understood Wang Jinling's words. In fact, he had also considered resigning. Before the Ninth Prince left Beijing, he had reminded him to take the opportunity to return the Ministry of Revenue to the Emperor. The Emperor's tolerance for him had reached its limit, but...

"Since the time of the previous emperor, I have been in charge of the Ministry of Revenue. In the past few years, the court has been engaged in wars year after year, which has been extremely costly. Although Jiangnan is rich, the tax revenue is not high, and floods in Jiangnan have to be dealt with every year. The Ministry of Works and the Ministry of War all need money. Over the years, the treasury has been empty and there is not much silver left. Some time ago, the emperor wanted to fight again. I told him that the Ministry of Revenue did not have the money to support the war, but the emperor thought that I was preventing him from achieving his hegemony."

Minister Cao's eyes were slightly red, and his cloudy eyes were shining with crystal tears: "Everyone says this is a peaceful and prosperous era, but who knows how poor the court is during this prosperous era? I am not attached to the power and wealth of the Minister of Revenue, I just can't let it go."

He couldn't let go of the Ministry of Revenue that he had managed for many years, he couldn't let go of the people of the world, and he couldn't let go of his own responsibilities.

By the end of his speech, Minister Cao could no longer stop the tears in his eyes, which fell one by one.

What a pity...

Wang Jinling shook his head, a hint of regret flashed across his eyes, so fleeting that it was impossible to capture.

The Ninth Prince was the one who started the affairs in the capital, but as he was far away in Shandong, there was no guarantee that things would develop exactly as he had planned.

Wang Jinling knew the Ninth Prince's plan, and seeing that everything was within the Ninth Prince's expectations, he did not intervene. He just watched the show coldly, seeing that His Royal Highness Prince Luo failed to check the accounts and ended up losing face.

Everything was as expected, until Minister Cao insisted on his own opinion and repeatedly offended the emperor. Events went beyond their expectations, and Wang Jinling came out. The result...

Minister Cao doesn't give face to anyone. He doesn't care about power or wealth. He just wants to be an official who works for the benefit of the people.

Wang Jinling knew that it was useless to persuade him any further. After Minister Cao calmed down, Wang Jinling did not talk about business. After chatting with Minister Cao for a while, he said goodbye and left.

As soon as he returned home, Wang Jinling wrote a secret letter to tell his Ninth Uncle about the current situation in the capital and to see what his Ninth Uncle had planned. After all, his Ninth Uncle could see the twists and turns of the imperial city better than he did.

At the same time as Wang Jinling's letter, there was also a letter from Xiling Tianyu. The Ninth Prince had disappeared at sea for some time, and Xiling Tianyu had no way of contacting him. When he heard that the Ninth Prince had arrived in Shandong, he sent someone to secretly deliver the letter.

In his letter, Wang Jinling not only talked about the situation in the capital, but also mentioned the emperor's arrangements for the students taking the imperial examination.

Most of the young masters from aristocratic families like Wang and Xie got a good and lucrative job in the capital, while the poor students who were loyal to the Ninth Prince were all sent to poor counties to serve as ninth-rank officials.

The poor students who are favored by the emperor and the sons of his trusted ministers are arranged in more noble departments, and it is obvious that they will be used in important positions.

The emperor's move is not only to cultivate talents for himself, but also to tell everyone that anyone who is his enemy will not have a good end. Even if the people under the Ninth Prince pass the exam, they will never have the opportunity to realize their ambitions.

Although the emperor's approach seemed a bit petty, it did work. The Ninth Prince's eyes flashed coldly and he sneered in his heart.

He was worried that there were no available people in the local area, and the emperor just gave him an opportunity. So what if it was a poor county? The emperor was far away and it was not difficult for these people to get promoted without the emperor's supervision.

The Ninth Prince returned with a pen and told Wang Jinling not to make any more arrangements and let the Emperor transfer his people away. As for the matter of Minister Cao, the Ninth Prince was a little embarrassed.

He still respected this old minister who had served two dynasties. Although Shangshu Cao was on his side, he was always very strict in official matters.

Shangshu Cao is a capable man who has managed the Dongling Treasury very well over the years. If it weren't for him, the Dongling Treasury would be even more empty. He knew that the emperor was dissatisfied with Shangshu Cao, so he took this opportunity to let Shangshu Cao disrupt the six ministries and retire by the way.

The Ninth Prince and Minister Cao had prepared for this move for ten years, but they did not expect that Minister Cao would be so stubborn after the incident broke out. According to their plan, as long as the Ninth Prince arrived in Shandong safely, Minister Cao would retire and return the Ministry of Revenue to the Emperor.

But when things got to this point, Minister Cao couldn't let it go. He was afraid that after he left, the Dongling treasury would be even emptier, and the officials of the Ministry of Revenue would use the silver to support the emperor's war, regardless of the lives of the people. If that was the case...

"Then let him fulfill his heart of serving the people and take good care of his family." The Ninth Prince replied to Wang Jinling.

In fact, after hearing what Minister Cao said, Wang Jinling predicted Minister Cao's fate. It was not that the Ninth Prince did not protect him, but that he himself was seeking death.

Although the Ninth Prince was thousands of miles away in Shandong, thanks to the presence of Wang Jinling and Prince Su, although all the affairs of the imperial city could not be under his control, there would not be any deviation in major events. However, the events in Xiling far exceeded the Ninth Prince's expectations.

Somehow, Xiling Tianlei had regained the favor of the Emperor of Xiling, and he also gained the support of the royal family. Now he was acting in opposition to the eldest princess.

The eldest princess would not have originally targeted Xiling Tianlei like this, but after knowing that her unborn son had the potential to become emperor, Xiling Tianlei became the eldest princess's biggest enemy and the biggest stumbling block. What the eldest princess wants to do most now is to remove this roadblock, Xiling Tianlei.

The eldest princess had the merit of saving the emperor, and with the secret support of the military, she was always superior to Xiling Tianlei. But this advantage soon disappeared. The civil officials, led by the left prime minister, suddenly sided with Xiling Tianlei and became enemies with the eldest princess.

The Left Prime Minister is the eldest princess' old lover. The two of them originally had a relationship that was half cooperative and half romantic. The Left Prime Minister had always secretly supported the eldest princess in the court.

But now the princess is pregnant with another man's child, and this child may possibly become emperor. How could the left prime minister still support the princess? It's good that he doesn't side with Xiling Tianlei.

Therefore, the Left Prime Minister maintained neutrality and remained a powerful and lonely minister. However, Xiling Tianyu did not intend to let the Left Prime Minister stay out of trouble and insisted on dragging the Left Prime Minister into the water.

Xiling Tianyu used a group of chess pieces buried around the eldest princess to kill the legitimate son that the left prime minister had nurtured with all his heart, and successfully put the blame on the eldest princess, so...

The Left Prime Minister and the eldest princess, who had been lovers for more than 20 years, had a complete falling out. After experiencing the pain of losing his son, the Left Prime Minister quickly turned to Xiling Tianlei and targeted the eldest princess everywhere.

The people who know you best include your enemies and your old lover. With the left prime minister taking action, the eldest princess was suppressed and had no power to fight back for a while.

The Left Prime Minister was familiar with the Princess, and the Princess also understood the Left Prime Minister. The Princess of Xiling was never a gentle lady. She was a resourceful, capable, and cold-blooded female politician. After some planning, the Princess successfully forced the Left Prime Minister to resign.

The Left Prime Minister had been active in the Xiling officialdom for more than ten years, and had climbed up the ranks from a small student to the position of prime minister, the highest among all officials. However, he was ultimately defeated by the eldest princess and was forced to leave the scene in disgrace. It was truly sad, and even sadder things were yet to come.

The person who succeeded the position of Prime Minister of the Left was actually the eldest princess' nominal husband, Mr. Yinli.

So the new and old loves, husbands and lovers all gathered together. To paraphrase Feng Qingchen, the officialdom of Xiling is the eldest princess's bloody drama...