No matter how stingy Lao Zhu was, he immediately fell silent when he heard Du Ze's words. He knew from the prices in the memorial the prince had just given him that Du Ze was telling the truth.
Nowadays, the monthly rent for renting a dilapidated courtyard in the capital does start at ten thousand dollars.
Even Lao Zhu, who didn't want to spend money, felt it was inappropriate to let a high-ranking minister of the imperial court, a second-rank official, live in a shabby courtyard.
Glancing up, Lao Zhu saw that the prince and officials below were looking at him intensely. He gradually calmed down his anger, but he didn't just agree.
Instead, he shouted angrily, "We will discuss this matter later and withdraw from the court!"
After saying that, Lao Zhu stood up directly, shook his sleeves angrily, turned around and left.
He left the prince and officials in Fengtian Hall.
"Your Majesty, I will send you off to the Emperor~" The officials knelt down again and sent the Emperor off.
After the emperor left, the six ministers headed by Du Ze bowed to Zhu Biao.
"My lord, thank you for your consideration, Your Highness~"
When other officials followed and bowed to Zhu Biao, some were even moved to tears. After suffering for so many years, they finally saw some hope.
Zhu Biao raised his hand towards everyone and sighed: "Everyone, get up. I didn't know it not long ago that the price of goods in the capital has risen to the point where it is difficult for ordinary officials to survive. If I had known about it earlier, I would have told my father the emperor It’s done. It’s been a hard time for you all in the past few years, but now that I know about it, I will definitely persuade my father to increase his salary.”
"Thank you for your consideration, Your Highness~" No matter whether the result is as expected or not, the officials are still grateful that Zhu Biao can stand up and increase their salary.
After thanking him, the officials left Fengtian Hall and left the palace.
Zhu Biao headed towards the inner palace. As soon as he reached the back of Fengtian Hall, he saw the old eunuch standing on the stone steps waiting.
Zhu Biao stepped forward and asked directly: "Where did your father go?"
The old eunuch bowed quickly and replied with a smile: "In reply to Your Highness, Your Majesty specially told me that I will wait for Your Highness in Qianqing Palace."
Zhu Biao nodded and walked straight towards Qianqing Palace.
The old eunuch was one position behind, following Zhu Biao closely.
Zhu Biao walked into the Qianqing Palace unobstructed. After passing through two palace doors, he saw his father sitting behind a long case, and on the case was his memorial.
"Father, son and minister..." Zhu Biao hadn't finished speaking yet.
Lao Zhu directly waved his hand and interrupted him. Pointing to the memorial on the desk, he asked: "Biao'er, tell me the truth, who gave you this memorial?"
Zhu Biao was stunned for a moment. This memorial was written by him. Of course it was his own. How could it be given to him by someone else?
Smiling, Zhu Biao replied: "Father, you see these are all my own handwritings, of course they are my own."
"Handwritten?" Lao Zhu suddenly smiled, "So what if it was written by hand? Didn't someone give you this memorial and then you copied it again?"
Lao Zhu picked up the memorial and shook it several times towards Zhu Biao.
Zhu Biao shook his head and said: "No, I personally sent people to check the prices in the capital. If my father doesn't believe it, I can bring them in for confrontation."
Lao Zhu was slightly startled, but he still didn't believe that Zhu Biao came up with this memorial. He left the memorial on the desk with a snap and asked directly: "Tell me, is there any handwriting by Han Du in it?" Zhu Biao immediately said that of course not, but he suddenly thought of what Han Du said to him that day. If so, I hesitated for a moment.
It was this moment of hesitation that made Lao Zhu misunderstand that Han Du was responsible for this memorial.
Lao Zhu suddenly became angry and shouted directly: "It is said that Han Du will enter the palace!"
"Father, this memorial was written by my son himself, and it really has nothing to do with Han Du!" Zhu Biao quickly explained.
But Lao Zhu just glanced at him coldly, pointed to the memorial and said: "This tabular format mentioned by Han Du is indeed refreshing and can be seen at a glance. But you have never used this method before. But that bastard Han Du likes to use it the most. Now tell me, father, what evidence do you have to prove that it has nothing to do with Han Du? "
Zhu Biao was dumbfounded and wanted to defend again, but was speechless.
...
Under the urging of the eunuchs around him, Han Du rushed to the palace almost non-stop, wondering in his heart what important matter Lao Zhu wanted to see him. He quietly stuffed a roll of treasure money into the eunuch beside him and asked him why the emperor summoned him.
The eunuch quickly put away the treasure, but did not tell Han Du why. He just said softly, "Master Hou, please wish yourself well..."
Seeking happiness for yourself? What do you mean, your sister said half a sentence, what is it that is so serious?
Arriving outside the gate of Qianqing Palace, Han Du stood waiting.
The eunuch went in and announced, "Bring Han Du to~"
"pass!"
Han Du, who was standing outside the palace door, heard Lao Zhu's angry voice coming from inside. He could imagine how loud Lao Zhu's voice was.
As Han Du walked towards the palace, he filtered through what he had done recently. I have never done anything that could make Lao Zhu so furious, only...
Han Du's whole body suddenly trembled, his eyes widened, and he thought in horror, "It couldn't be that fatal thing, and Lao Zhu knew about it, right? If it's really because of Yao Yue, what should I do?"
When Han Du's face turned pale, he followed the eunuch to Lao Zhu.
"I pay my respects to the emperor, long live my emperor~" Han Du quickly knelt down and worshiped.
Lao Zhu snorted coldly, raised his hand and waved it twice.
When the old eunuch saw it, he immediately signaled the eunuch and maid serving beside him to go out.
When only Lao Zhu, Zhu Biao, Han Du and the old eunuch were left in the palace, Lao Zhu pointed at Han Du and cursed: "You bastard, you dare to incite the prince to perform a memorial. What crime do you deserve?"
"I know..." Han Du originally thought that Lao Zhu knew about his affair with Yao Yue. He was feeling uneasy. In his desperation, he didn't think of any good solution. He just wanted to admit his mistake first and put everything aside. The fault is all yourselves. In this case, Mr. Zhu couldn't kill Yao Yue, right?
But before the words came out, Han Du immediately realized that this didn't seem to be talking about himself and Yao Yue?
"Your Majesty, who did I provoke? His Highness the Crown Prince? What did I provoke?" Han Du was confused and looked at Lao Zhu in confusion, then glanced sideways at Zhu Biao.
Seeing this, Zhu Biao had no choice but to explain: "Father, I have already said that this memorial really has nothing to do with Han Du."
It seems to be talking about a memorial? Han Du's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he felt relieved. As long as Yao Yue's affairs are not known to Lao Zhu, it will be considered as passing another level for the time being. As for the memorial, what memorial? I haven't been to any memorials recently.
"You don't need to tell me." Lao Zhu glared at Zhu Biao and blocked his words.
Then he looked at Han Du, picked up the memorial, and asked: "Han Du, tell the truth, did you write this memorial to the prince and ask him to copy it?"
"No." Han Du took a look and shook his head, "I have been taking care of my family recently and haven't written any memorials."
Lao Zhu suddenly threw the memorial at Han Du with all his strength and said sternly: "Then tell me, how come this memorial uses all forms?"
The memorial hit Han Du's shoulder with a loud bang, causing pain.
Han Du no longer cared about his painful shoulder, and quickly picked up the memorial that fell on the ground, opened it and looked at it. He immediately shook his head and explained: "Your Majesty, this form is not only used by ministers. Now, almost everyone in the entire academy likes to use this obvious thing. If the emperor doesn't believe it, you can send someone to the academy to check it now. Academy The teachers and students here like to use this recording method most when doing experiments, and you can tell by just checking it."
Zhu Biao spoke quickly and explained again: "Yes, my father, my son and I have used this method to record more than once. If my father doesn't believe it, you can send someone to the East Palace now to check what my son and I have recorded in the past. .”
"It's really not you?" Lao Zhu looked straight at Han Du and asked with some disbelief: "Is it really the memorial written by the prince himself?"
Han Du quickly raised his hands and shook his head, "It's really not me. I was wronged."
Lao Zhu had long been accustomed to Han Du's occasional weird behavior. He turned a blind eye and sighed, the anger in his heart gradually disappeared, and said: "It doesn't matter whether you are or not, now this matter has become a big deal."
Seeing that he had passed the test again, Han Du asked curiously: "Dare you ask your Majesty, what's the matter?"
When Lao Zhu heard this, he immediately narrowed his eyes at Han Du and smiled.
Han Du was suddenly shocked and couldn't help but secretly thought: No, Lao Zhu has plotted against him. I'm such a mean-mouthed person, why ask at this time? Isn't this asking for trouble? Han Du wished he could slap himself in the face so that he would remember it for a long time.
"I know that you have always been loyal and will definitely share my worries." Lao Zhu said with a smile.
He then looked at Zhu Biao and signaled, "Tell him."
Zhu Biao had no choice but to smile bitterly and said to Han Du: "Today in the morning, I will submit a petition to my father to increase the salary of all officials."
It turned out that this was the case. Although Han Du had known that Zhu Biao planned to increase his salary, he did not expect that he would act so quickly.
Han Du pondered for a moment, raised his head and asked Lao Zhu tentatively: "May I ask, Your Majesty, do you not want to increase the salary for all officials?"
"Of course." Lao Zhu said without hesitation.
In Lao Zhu's eyes, the inner treasury is his own, and the warehouse is also his Lao Zhu's. If you want to increase the salaries of officials, you need to spend more money from the warehouse. And it's not a small amount, it's easily hundreds of thousands of dollars a month. Of course Lao Zhu doesn't want it.
Han Du looked at Lao Zhu, who was resolute, and then looked sideways at Zhu Biao. Seeing his face pleading to him, Han Du made up his mind.
"I believe that the salaries of hundreds of officials should be appropriately increased."
As Han Du finished speaking, Zhu Biao breathed a sigh of relief. With Han Du on his side, he suddenly had the courage. If he was really allowed to face his father alone, he really wouldn't have the courage to face his father directly.
