Today, Zhao Ji no longer has the nobility of the past. He is so skinny and sallow that his original appearance is almost unrecognizable.
Seeing Cao Bin show up, Zhao Ji hurriedly got up with his daughter, bowed to the tunnel and said:
"The only way we could escape from the catastrophe this time was because the Marquis came to the rescue regardless of past grudges."
"Good luck can't be repaid, good luck..."
As he said this, tears flowed down his face and he cried bitterly.
From being a royal relative to being reduced to such a state, where he almost died, he was frightened every day.
Now that he has not only been deprived of his status as a royal relative, but also lost his wealth and honor, he has long regretted it until his intestines turn green.
He has no ambitions. If he had known this outcome, he would never have coveted the big position.
Seeing his appearance, Cao Bin was a little impatient and waved his hand:
"This is nothing more than a simple effort from me. Brother Zhao, you don't have to do this. Please forgive me."
"I don't know what else Brother Zhao has to do. I still have official business to be busy with..."
What he wants to see is the actual thank you gift, not Zhao Jiyi's bitterness and sweetness. If he comes here for nothing, Cao Bin doesn't want to waste time with him.
Hearing this, Zhao Ji hurriedly stopped crying, pulled Zhao Fujin to him, looked at Cao Bin longingly and said:
"I dare not delay the Marquis. I should repay you generously for saving my life, but Zhao Ji has nothing to offer now."
"Only my little girl is still pretty, and I would like to offer her to the Marquis to serve around me in return for my great kindness."
Seeing Zhao Ji's cautious and nervous look, Cao Bin couldn't help but feel a little emotional.
I think back then, Zhao Ji was someone he couldn't afford to mess with. He didn't expect that his life would be ups and downs, and he would be devoting his daughter to him in a blink of an eye. Things are really unpredictable.
Looking at Zhao Fujin who lowered his head and said nothing, Cao Bin shook his head and said with a smile:
"Brother Zhao, what do you mean by this? I am definitely not someone who takes advantage of others' danger."
"What's more, Cao already has a wife, how dare he delay Madam Fujin?"
Zhao Ji quickly said:
"Master Marquis, please don't misunderstand me. Zhao Ji does not dare to ask for status. I only hope that Master Marquis will accept my daughter so that she can repay my great kindness!"
As he said that, he fell to his knees with a pop:
"If the Marquis doesn't accept my daughter, will Zhao Ji feel really uneasy?"
He was afraid that the world was now dominated by the Pan family and his daughter. Without a reliable backing, they might be targeted again one day.
Only by building a relationship with Cao Bin can they have some scruples. This is the same reason why Cao Bin dared to save him from Queen Mother Pan.
Moreover, now that he has lost his family property, the life of his entire family has become a problem, and he cannot rely on his sister's help.
It would have made sense if they were close in the past, but he had conflicts with Princess Zhaoyang in the past and had offended her. As time went by, it was inevitable that there would be resentment.
Now no one except Cao Bin dares to help him.
Zhao Fujin saw that Zhao Jixi did not hesitate to kneel down and bow down to repay the favor. He was excited and admired Cao Bin even more. He also knelt down on the ground:
"Master Hou, please accept me for my aunt's sake..."
Seeing her confused look, Cao Bin was a little speechless. He was sold by his own father, and he was still very moved, so he sighed:
"Sigh... In this case, I have no choice but to avoid the trouble."
"Let me tell you first, this is not a repayment of favors!"
Zhao Ji hurriedly waved his hand and said:
"No, no, Ji would like to thank Mr. Hou for this!"
Zhao Fujin also hurriedly agreed and said on his behalf:
"The Marquis has refused several times, how could he be such a person?"
Seeing the two father and daughter being so polite, Cao Bin felt a little embarrassed, thought for a while and said:
"I plan to fund a painting academy, so I'll ask Brother Zhao to be the director, so that I can make a living."
For Zhao Ji, it would be a pity to kill him directly. No matter how bad this guy is, he is still a top artist and has left many masterpieces that have been handed down for generations.
As long as he doesn't touch the position of power, there will be no harm done.
Zhao Ji couldn't help but be overjoyed when he heard this, nodded quickly and said:
"It makes, makes, the Marquis can rest assured that Zhao Ji will do his best to do things for the Marquis."
At this point, he was very satisfied to be able to make a living. He didn't expect that Cao Bin would take his hobbies into consideration and provide him with a job related to calligraphy and painting. He couldn't help but burst into tears of gratitude.
After Zhao Ji left, Zhao Fujin finally came to his senses and said gratefully:
"Master Hou, thank you for helping my father."
Then he said again:
"Let me rub your shoulders..."
In the palace.
Queen Mother Pan has been sulking these days. She never expected that Cao Bin, as an important minister of the imperial court, would disappear at the drop of a hat, causing her plan of peace talks to fail.
Now that the dust has settled, it's too late to say anything.
What depressed her the most was the Queen Mother. With Sister Yang as her adopted daughter, this old woman had a relationship with Cao Bin and had more influence on the court.
In this case, she didn't dare to go too far like before.
Moreover, Cao Bin also has an extra assistant in the palace, making him even more difficult to offend.
Fortunately, He Jianzhang acted decisively, forcing his son to commit suicide and barely retaining his position, so that she did not gain nothing.
At this time, as soon as He Jianzhang reported Bao Zheng's attitude, Pan Renmei angrily cursed Cao Bin.
After hearing this, Queen Mother Pan said with some resentment:
"Dad, please stop complaining. Isn't it because you came up with random ideas and wanted to suppress Cao Bin that made him unite with others to target us?"
"I have long said that compared to Wang Yanling and others, he still prefers me."
Hearing this, Pan Renmei suddenly stopped and blinked in astonishment.
Although he was the first to propose the previous plan, it was also approved by Queen Mother Pan. Unexpectedly, she was now complaining about herself and felt quite depressed.
But who said this was his daughter? He had no choice but to admit it.
He Jianzhang on the side nodded and said:
"The Queen Mother is right, now is indeed not the time to provoke Cao Bin."
"Those who want to achieve great things must bear the humiliation, accumulate momentum, and make careful plans to achieve what they want."
At this time, his face was calm and unremarkable, not looking like he had just forced his own son to death.
Upon hearing this, Queen Mother Pan glanced sideways at He Jianzhang, frowned and was about to speak, when she saw the eunuch Chengzhi from the Political Affairs Hall hurried in to report:
"The Empress Dowager, Mr. Han Jiang, the Salt and Iron Envoy, has delivered an urgent memorial. Prime Minister Wang ordered me to hand it over to the Empress Dowager for review."
With that said, he hurriedly presented a memorial to Queen Mother Pan.
Since the civil uprising in the salt field in Huainan, the imperial court sent Han Jiang, the salt and iron envoy, to preside over the reconstruction of the salt field.
Several months had passed by now, but Han Jiang either resigned from the court or asked for money, but the progress was extremely slow. If it were not for the support of Xixia Qingyan, several routes in the southeast would have been cut off from the supply of salt.
Queen Mother Pan opened the memorial. The more she looked at it, the worse her face became. Finally, she threw the memorial onto the imperial desk and said angrily:
"Han Jiang asked the court for money again, and threatened the court that he would resign. Without him, the court can't do anything?"
As she said that, she suddenly raised her head, looked at He Jianzhang and said:
"Didn't you say you wanted to build momentum?"
"Since Han Jiang insists on begging for resignation, I will promise him that you will be in charge of the Huainan Salt Farm."
"If you can accomplish this, you will be able to gain a firm foothold in the court and increase my prestige! Are you willing?"
He Jianzhang was shocked when he heard this. He could no longer maintain his calm expression. He pondered for a long time before saying depressedly:
"I am... incompetent. The salt administration is very involved. I have no plans in my mind and I really dare not take over."
The interests involved in the salt farm were too great, involving not only many gentry salt merchants, but also a large number of officials. Several political reforms by the court failed to achieve results, and instead the reforms became more and more abusive.
If the salt field could still be maintained, it would still be considered a fat man, but now it is completely rotten and it is a fire pit. He does not want to jump into it.
Didn't I see that Han Jiang would rather resign than continue working?
Hearing this, Queen Mother Pan felt a little disgusted. This old guy was full of confidence when he was admonishing, but when he was really in trouble, he became a coward, just as unreliable as Pan Renmei.
Seeing this, Pan Renmei had no choice but to say:
"There's no need to be angry, Madam. The salt farm is inherently troublesome. Although Han Jiang was a little slow, he was finally able to make some progress with the local salt merchants and tycoons."
"Even if he causes trouble, you can push him out and be a scapegoat...just give him some money."
Queen Mother Pan said speechlessly:
"But he wants another million dollars. Where will he get the money?"
The year before last, the court suffered a loss of hundreds of millions in food due to the war. Last year, it was only through continuous tax increases that it could barely sustain itself. This year, the court's life is even more difficult.
And the summer tax will not be collected until the end of July. Now is the time when there is no tax. There is no money left in the treasury. Is it possible that there is still money to be raided?
Pan Renmei shook her head and said:
"We have to ask Cao Bin's third division, otherwise we can only reduce the palace's expenses to save the day."
When Queen Mother Pan heard this, she looked at Pan Renmei angrily. The treasury was in such a huge deficit, how could there be any money left over? This is obviously his own idea.
Is this still his father? They actually want to reduce palace expenses. Usually this is the idea of Wang Yanling and others.
Moreover, since last year, I have taken the initiative to reduce the palace's expenses. If I reduce it further, will the palace still be unable to survive?
Especially this summer, the weather is extremely hot, and the ice storage in the palace is not enough. We are planning to raise some money from Huangzhuang to buy it outside.
Pan Renmei even planned this. Was she trying to kill herself?
So he endured his anger and called the eunuch in charge of the palace and said:
"Tell the Grand Master how much money I have left!"
The eunuch said hurriedly:
"I was about to report to the empress. Lord Cao heard that the palace was short of ice and money. Yesterday he ordered the Third Division to send 500,000 copper coins, 3,000 baskets of ice bricks, as well as cloth, silk, pearls, gold and silver and other items."
"The servants were doing the inventory, but I didn't have time to report..."
"Master Cao said, no matter how hard it is, we can't hurt the palace, and we can't hurt the empress..."
Hearing this, Queen Mother Pan couldn't help but feel happy and said with surprise:
"How could Sansi still have money at this time? Where did Marquis Zhongjing get it?"
