"Mr. Cai, thank you for the one hundred taels." Ye Yongjia smiled and took out another banknote from his arms and handed it to him. "Fortunately, he doesn't have a big appetite. If he wants more, I will It’s really not enough.”
"Tinglong is really disappointed." Cai Xianqing took back the bank note, "I have been acting for half my life, and I don't know how much money I have saved in the box. Is this one hundred taels missing? Anyway, there is no written receipt. I’ll give you a write-off and forget it.”
Ye Yongjia thanked him deeply, and then said: "Although Lu Zhixian was bribed easily, according to this strategy, only those Jinshi who had just entered the official career were recruited. I do not deny their talents, but their experience." If you are shallow, you will not be steady in your actions. How can you do great things?"
Cai Xianqing walked on the sidewalk: "Now is the time to strengthen our power, so these things should wait until later. Besides... there are many talented and enlightened people in the world, maybe they can figure it out with just a few clicks."
"Then we can only count on Minghui's bright eyes to recognize talents..." Ye Yongjia sighed, "I hope he doesn't have any prejudices in his heart."
Lu Zhixian happily accepted the money. He was willing to put aside those sectarian opinions at this time. It was not because he was "rebellious" because of profit, but because this matter was extremely easy to handle. Not only was there no risk, but he could not break his relationship with Chen Dang. , it can be said that it kills two birds with one stone, how can there be any reason to refuse? In the evening, he went to the palace to report to the emperor. After explaining today's situation, he followed Ye Yongjia's words and tried to postpone the date of his appointment. The emperor didn't care much about this and agreed clearly. Lu Shangshu was relieved, and after leaving the forbidden area, he reported the news to the Ministry of War.
By the time Ye Yongjia receives the news, it will be early morning tomorrow. Along with this news came Lu Tingci, whom Ming Huiguang highly recommended to him. He and the No. 2 candidate didn't even exchange a few words before he felt the other person's solemnity and integrity, and was deeply moved by these extraordinary qualities. He originally wanted to have a long talk with him, but the ministry's official duties were heavy, so he had to say some polite words and asked the other party to stand down. He quickly asked Cai Xianqing how he was. Cai Xianqing had no expression on his face and replied slowly: "I think he is better than Ming Huiguang. Although this Lu Enyan also comes from a good family, he does not feel proud of himself. He talks steadily, is polite, and is not rigid. Being unyielding is what will earn you a place in the court." Ye Yongjia deeply agreed.
Of course, just one person is far from enough. Ming Huiguang continued to recruit talents in the Hanlin Academy by using both kindness and power, which was very effective. In a few days, three scholars with real talents and knowledge were gathered. The first one is named Dong Sheng, whose courtesy name is Cong Ming. He comes from a poor family, is capable in his actions, and is very good at understanding people's opinions; the second one is named Gu Zheng, who is good at proposing national policies and making enlightened discussions; the third one is named Wan Yuzhi, who is also known as Wan Yuzhi. Born into an ordinary family, he is well versed in military science, is fond of making lofty remarks, and has a tendency to criticize others. These three people all have different temperaments, but their ambitions are not low at all. They are also young and strong. They were quickly appreciated by Ye Yongjia and recommended them one by one to the military and criminal departments to arrange small errands. Only Lu Tingci entered the censorship and became the censor. He planned to be promoted to the censor in the future and be in charge of public opinion.
Seeing Ye Yongjia's great power, all the officials in the capital joined his account one after another, and the number of flatterers increased day by day. Those who had joined Chen's party early were in awe of Ye Yongjia and did not dare to provoke him.
Just as Ye Dang was making a fuss, Cui Yi became anxious at home. Every day he stretched out his fingers to count, and he counted, and it was already the day of seven, seven, and forty-nine. This was the day when his sister Cui was going to enter the Ye Mansion, but there was no news from Mr. Ye, which made him upset. He had no choice but to hold his temper and stay for a few more days, but he still didn't hear Captain Zhou coming to report the news. He couldn't bear it this time. He immediately resigned from his sister, took off his white hat, quietly walked to Brother Zhou's house, and asked for details.
"I'm not telling you, Master Cui is too impatient," Zhou Chaoyi looked at him straightly and said seriously, "The word filial piety is the most important. Three years of filial piety is an old rule set by all dynasties. Are you here? During this period, if you don’t remember your parents’ spirits in heaven, how can you get away if someone notices you? After three years, everything is justified, wouldn’t it be uncomfortable?”
Cui Yi waved his hand and sighed: "Hey, the rules are the rules, but my Cui family still needs to live! If we don't rely on Master Ye's big tree as soon as possible, how can we have a foundation in the capital? What if... Don’t get me wrong, I’m talking about what if! If Ye Bingbu abandons my sister, then I won’t be able to achieve success and fame in my life, let alone my father’s spirit in heaven.”
Zhou Chaoyi scratched his beard and said, "That's right. But if you want to be an official in the future, you will inevitably face criticism in this regard."
"What criticism am I afraid of?" Cui Yi sneered, "When Brother Zhou took me to the Yamen of the Ministry of War, the clerks and clerks looked at me like a monster and blamed me for everything; I was in the city When I teach children outside, I have to listen to what others say and receive cold looks from them. To be honest, without these people, my ears are quiet, but my heart is still not used to it."
Captain Zhou was puzzled and asked, "Isn't it that you are an official just to stand out and have them bow their heads and flatter you? If it's the same as before, why would you be an official like this... What's the point?"
"Brother Zhou, I am an official for two things only," Cui Yi raised two fingers at him, "First, to live up to my father's former reputation, which shows that my son is not bad, and is even better than ordinary people; second, he is worthy of his father's reputation. It is to establish a career for oneself, to leave a name in the history of the world, and for the public, it is also to let the people live a peaceful life for a few days. Brother Zhou, you know, although I am an official, I have been unwilling to get close to the scholar-bureaucrats since I was a child. , I like to hang out in the market, so I got a little bit of hooliganism, and I also learned a lot about the sufferings of the people. I made many friends who my father called traffickers and pawns. They ran around everywhere and had a wider vision than me. , but I am used to seeing corpses lying next to each other on the road, and I am used to seeing the people who farm being displaced and starving to death in the fields one after another. Therefore, I take life and death lightly, and I am even less afraid of it than you and me."
"But now that you are rich, why don't you support those friends?" Zhou Chaoyi was very interested and asked.
"To tell you the truth, I haven't met them for three or four years. One of them is helping people smuggle salt. I heard news recently..." At this point, Cui Yi suddenly shut up and stopped talking.
"Tell me," Officer Zhou became confused, "Why, it's hard to tell?"
Cui Yi paused for a moment, then slowly said: "The smuggler of salt was caught. He was implicated and asked the government to put him in jail. He hadn't eaten for three days at that time... Let's hit the board a few times. If you hit... you'll die."
