In the evening, the Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace.
At this moment, Jiajing was sitting on the dragon chair, carefully studying the formation secret book in his hand, while Lu Fang was waiting beside Jiajing as usual.
At this moment, there was a sound of footsteps coming from outside Qianqing Palace, and the guiding eunuch was seen walking in.
Behind him, there were several subordinate officials with memorials in their arms, guiding the eunuchs to bend down immediately after entering the Qianqing Palace and report respectfully.
"Your Majesty, here is the memorial sent from the Supervisor of Ceremonies!"
When Jiajing heard this, he didn't even raise his head. He just pointed to the desk beside him and gave instructions.
"Okay, I understand. Let's leave it there for now. I'll look at it later!"
"As you command, Your Majesty!"
After receiving Jiajing's instructions, the guiding eunuch immediately directed the subordinates to put the memorials in their arms on the desk.
After doing this, the guiding eunuch did not stay at all in Qianqing Palace, but left with the few subordinates in silent steps.
Time passed by slowly. I don’t know how long it had passed. I saw Jiajing put aside the formation secret book in his hand and walked to the bookcase.
Immediately, Jiajing pulled out a letter from the bottom of the pile of memorials as high as a person on the desk.
Seeing this situation, Lu Fang on the side couldn't help but her eyelids jumped, and her face was full of surprise that could not be concealed.
Immediately, Jiajing took the memorial and sat back on the dragon chair.
After Jiajing opened the memorial and saw the content recorded above, he said to himself.
"Hey, this is a report submitted to me by Yan Song and Xu Jie jointly from the Ministry of Industry on the money spent on building and strengthening dams!"
"I remember, last time the Ministry of Revenue allocated 9.65 million taels of silver to them, but in the blink of an eye, 4.5 million taels were used?"
"One million eight hundred and twenty thousand taels were spent on strengthening the dams near the Yellow River, as well as the Mudanjiang River and Songhe River..."
Jiajing quickly finished browsing the contents of the memorial. After that, Jiajing put down the memorial in his hand, and immediately looked at Lu Fang aside, changing the subject, and asked.
"By the way, Lu Fang, there haven't been any strange rumors in the palace recently, right?"
When Lu Fang heard this, he couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. He originally thought that Jiajing would ask him about the money spent on building and strengthening the dam by the Ministry of Works, but unexpectedly, Jiajing asked him about the current situation in the palace. Case.
After that, Lu Fang showed gratitude on her face, bowed to Jiajing and said, "Your Majesty, since the Jin Yiwei took action, there have been no more strange rumors in the palace!"
After receiving Lu Fang's answer, Jiajing nodded and said with emotion.
"Well, after all, I am also responsible for this matter. If I don't let you rest for a few days, the palace will not..."
When Lu Fang heard what Jiajing said, a look of fear and uneasiness suddenly appeared on her face, and she was determined.
"Your Majesty, this is all my slave's fault. If I could pay more attention to my health, Your Majesty would not have asked the imperial doctor to diagnose and treat my slave, let alone the troubles that would follow. Besides, Your Majesty is also concerned about my slave's health. This talent……"
"Um."
When Jiajing heard Lu Fang's words, he responded slightly, barely agreeing with Lu Fang's words.
When Lu Fang saw this situation, she couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief.
After that, Lu Fang showed hesitation on his face. After thinking about it for a long time, he spoke carefully.
"By the way, Your Majesty, I suddenly remembered that news was sent from the Imperial Hospital not long ago, saying that the empress and the child in her belly are in good condition. If nothing goes wrong, she will give birth in September!"
After Lu Fang finished speaking, he respectfully stepped aside, lowered his head, and waited for Jiajing's response.
When Jiajing heard this, he looked at Lu Fang with a half-smile, and said unhurriedly: "Oh, is this the news from the Taiyuan Hospital?"
After Lu Fang noticed Jiajing looking at her, she began to feel uneasy, because the news was not sent from the Taiyuan Hospital, but the imperial concubine Shen personally entrusted him to bring it to His Majesty. !
Fortunately, Lu Fang didn't wait too long. Jiajing responded immediately after pondering for a moment.
"Well, I understand. Later, you can ask the Ministry of Internal Affairs to send someone over to ask if the imperial concubine needs anything else..."
When Lu Fang heard Jiajing's words, she felt as if she had received an amnesty, and the stone that had been hanging in her heart finally fell to the ground.
Immediately, a trace of joy flashed across Lu Fang's face: "Huh, luckily Your Majesty didn't get too hung up on the source of the news, otherwise..."
Just when Lu Fang felt extremely happy for this, Jiajing's voice sounded in his ears again: "Lü Fang, I have changed my mind. Speaking of which, I haven't visited the Shen family in Ganlu Palace for a while. Let's go now Just go over there!”
Hearing this, Lu Fang reacted after being stunned for a moment, and responded excitedly.
"As you command, Your Majesty!"
After answering, Lu Fang followed Jiajing step by step, and the master and servant went to Ganlu Palace together.
…
On the other side, in the Forbidden City, in Feng Bao's room.
At this moment, in addition to Feng Bao, there were several eunuchs kneeling on the ground in the room, and these eunuchs were all Feng Bao's confidants.
As soon as Feng Bao saw these trembling confidants kneeling on the ground, he became furious.
At this moment, Feng Bao's face was filled with a ferocious look, and his eyes were bloodshot.
Finally, after pondering for a long time, Feng Bao spoke.
"You are a bunch of losers who fail to achieve anything but fail. You can't even do small things well. If I hadn't discovered it in time, I'm afraid you would have all been arrested by the Jin Yiwei!"
When the eunuchs who were kneeling on the ground heard Feng Bao's words, they all lowered their heads in shame, because what Feng Bao said was indeed the truth.
After receiving Feng Bao's order, they began to spread rumors about Lu Fang's fall from grace in the Forbidden City.
Later, when they were still racking their brains to think about how to spread the rumors to a wider range, Jin Yiwei took action!
If Feng Bao hadn't come to the rescue in time, they would all have been imprisoned by Jin Yiwei for spreading rumors and interrogated severely!
The few Feng Bao's confidants, who were kneeling on the ground and trembling in fear, saw that Feng Bao had almost vented the anger in his heart, so they stood up and asked cautiously.
"Feng...Eunuch Feng, what should we do next?"
After Feng Bao heard this, he pondered for a moment before giving a response.
"For the next period of time, you all keep a low profile. If anything happens, I will send someone to inform you. Do you understand?"
When Feng Bao said this, he swept his warning eyes over the several confidants kneeling on the ground one by one.
Those eunuchs didn't dare to look at Feng Bao. They all kowtowed and kept responding.
"Yes, yes, Eunuch Feng, we know it soon!"
"Well, you can leave now!"
Seeing this situation, Feng Baozai frowned slightly and immediately gave instructions.
"Yes, Eunuch Feng, let's leave now!"
When Feng Bao's confidants heard what Feng Bao said, they didn't dare to stay at all and left the room as if they were running away.
Feng Bao looked at their figures leaving in embarrassment, sneered, his face full of contempt, and said silently to himself.
"Humph, these losers!"
After that, Feng Bao sat back on the chair again, looking sad and muttering to himself silently.
"Godfather, do you really want to stay in your position as the palm eunuch?"
…
Capital City, Yan Mansion.
At this moment, Yan Song was lying on the hollow bed, looking through the "Spring and Autumn" in his hand without any image, while Yan Shifan was waiting aside tremblingly, not daring to make any move.
The reason for the matter is very simple. Not long ago, Yan Song and Xu Jie requested Jiajing to allocate funds in advance to strengthen the dams that had not been repaired for a long time, in order to prevent the coming summer flood season.
This task naturally fell on Yan Shifan, the Minister of Industry. After the money from the Ministry of Revenue was allocated, Yan Shifan quickly sent officials to reinforce and repair the planned dams.
Because Yan Shifan followed Yan Song's instructions this time, the officials he selected were all smart and capable people. Therefore, when those officials went to various places to conduct inspections, they quickly discovered problems.
The materials used in the dams near the Yellow River are very inferior and cannot withstand the impact of floods at all!
After Yan Shifan learned the news, he was so frightened that he immediately asked Yan Song to use 2 million taels of silver from the 9.65 million taels allocated by Zhongjiajing to strengthen and build the dams near the Yellow River. superior.
Yan Shifan looked at Yan Song who was concentrating on reading at the moment. After thinking about it for a long time, he spoke cautiously.
"Father, before this, I never thought that the people below would be so bold, even daring to steal materials for building dams!"
"If we hadn't discovered it early this time, when the flood season comes, the strength of the existing dams would not be able to withstand the impact of the flood!"
"Once the dam collapses, hundreds of thousands of people around the Yellow River will suffer. His Majesty will be angered by that time, and I don't know how many people will die!"
After Yan Shifan finished speaking, his face was full of joy.
Yan Song on the side sighed helplessly after listening to Yan Shifan's report. He immediately looked away from the "Spring and Autumn" in front of him and asked immediately.
"Who was responsible for building the dams near the Yellow River?"
When Yan Shifan heard Yan Song's words, he couldn't help but have a look of embarrassment on his face. After hesitating for a long time, he said timidly.
"Returning to my father, the original dams near the Yellow River were built by Yan Maoqing, Zhao Wenhua, and river supervisor Li Xuan. In addition, the local governor also..."
Before Yan Shifan finished speaking, he was interrupted impatiently by Yan Song: "Okay, no need to say any more, these damn insects!"
At this moment, Yan Song's face was full of anger, he slammed the table and said in a deep voice.
"Humph, this bastard Zhao Wenhua was always making a lot of money in the name of your father and me. Fortunately, His Majesty personally ordered his execution!"
"And Yan Maoqing, this is not a good thing either. In recent years, if I hadn't protected him, Yan Maoqing's head would have been hung on the wall of the capital for public display by His Majesty!"
The reason why Yan Song was so angry was because according to original estimates, even if all the dams in the Ming Dynasty that needed to be repaired and reinforced were re-reinforced with good materials, the amount of silver needed would only be about five to six million taels. !
By then, there will be at least three to four million taels of silver left, and Yan Song and Xu Jie made an agreement early in the morning to share the remaining silver equally.
But now, because of the problems left over from the past, the amount of money Yan Song can get has been greatly reduced. I wonder, how can this not make him feel angry?
Yan Shifan on the side saw Yan Song being so angry. After thinking about it for a moment, he spoke cautiously.
"Father, please calm down. Zhao Wenhua and Li Xuan are both dead. There is no need for you to vent your anger on the dead!"
When Yan Song heard this, he couldn't help but snorted coldly, and immediately spoke.
"Hmph, this Zhao Wenhua almost killed your father and me, and now, I have to take care of his family!"
When Yan Shifan heard this, he couldn't help but laugh twice, and immediately warned him: "Father...Father, no matter what Zhao Wenhua said at the beginning, he kept his mouth shut and shouldered all the charges alone. You..."
Hearing this, Yan Song glanced at Yan Shifan coldly and then spoke.
"Huh, Yan Shifan, you don't need to remind me about this kind of thing!"
Yan Shifan knew that he had exceeded the rules, so he quickly lowered his head and responded respectfully.
"Yes, that's what father said!"
After that, Yan Shifan changed the subject, looked at Yan Song aside, and asked.
"Then...Father, what should we do next?"
"Hey, what else can we do? We can't just leave the dams near the Yellow River alone. Let's continue to repair them!"
Upon hearing this, Yan Song sighed helplessly and immediately responded.
Yan Shifan was just about to respond, but he heard Yan Song's voice without a trace of emotion, ringing in his ears again: "Yan Shifan, keep a close eye this time. If anyone dares to do something here, kill him directly!"
I don't know if it was Yan Shifan's illusion, but Yan Song's face looked extremely cold at this moment. After being stunned for a long time, Yan Shifan came back to his senses and responded in a deep voice.
"Yes, father, the child knows!"
"Well, it's getting late, you should go back and rest quickly!"
Seeing that the matter was almost discussed, Yan Song waved his hand quite casually and gave the order.
"Yes, father, please leave now!"
Yan Shifan bowed to Yan Song and left immediately.
However, before Yan Shifan took a few steps, he was stopped by Yan Song.
"etc!"
When Yan Shifan heard Yan Song's words, his face was filled with confusion. He suddenly stopped, turned around, and asked.
"Father, is there anything else you need to explain?"
At this moment, the expression on Yan Song's face was extremely serious. He slowly stood up from the bed, looked directly into Yan Shifan's eyes, and said in a deep voice.
"Be more careful and don't let the news leak out!"
"Yes, father!"
(End of chapter)
