In the study room of Prince Ning's Mansion, Lu Zuo and Liu Xingyuan looked at Prince Ning Liu Xun anxiously. After some melancholy, Liu Xun said angrily: "Didn't the Holy One say that he wanted to recover the treasury silver this morning? I thought some of my subordinates had some excuses." Silver is normal. It is common to borrow hundreds of taels, thousands taels, or even tens of thousands taels. Unexpectedly, Cui Hao borrowed three hundred thousand taels by himself. He actually hanged himself for these 300,000 taels and died. Oh...it's really annoying..."
Lu Zuodao: "Is Cui Shangshu okay now?"
"It's okay!" Liu Xun snorted coldly, "He's not dead yet. Fortunately, the servants found him early and rescued him."
Lu Zuo asked puzzledly: "Lu has also been in contact with Cui Shangshu. He is a person who can't get rid of the sand in his eyes. With his personality, how could he borrow so much money?"
Liu Xingyuan explained: "Mr. Lu may not know something. Mr. Cui has an old mother in his family who has some rare disease. Many famous doctors in the capital have no cure. Later, in the past two years, a quack doctor treated his old mother. I spent a lot of money on this disease! But it still has some use, so I might borrow money to continue treatment. I used to wonder how an honest person like him could get so much money for medical treatment. He always smiled every time , just said it was money from the sale of the property left by our ancestors."
Liu Xun said: "That's not all, there is something even more annoying!"
"What? What else happened?"
"It's that boy Yang Youxian..." Liu Xun said while knocking on the table angrily, "He got angry as he spoke. Yang Youxian borrowed more than anyone else and owed the government nearly 700,000 taels of silver."
"Seven hundred thousand taels?" Lu Zuo was a little surprised. This number was something he couldn't even imagine. "This is not a small amount! How could Mr. Yang borrow so much money?"
"Who says it's not the case!" Liu Xun frowned and said, "Yang Youxian is really thick-skinned, and he has the nerve to come and ask me for a loan. I think he might as well hang himself."
"Your Majesty, calm down!" Lu Zuo said, "What we need to think about now is how to solve it!"
Liu Xun looked at Lu Zuo impatiently and asked, "What about your idea, Mr. Yilu?"
Lu Zuo's face was as dark as water, and he said: "You should not be the only one facing this problem now, the prince must be..."
"That's not necessarily the case!" Liu Xun continued, "Don't forget that Xia Jingying belongs to Liu Yan!"
"But the emperor is determined to clean up the deficit this time. Even if Xia Jingying is the prince's man, he would not dare to make false accounts in front of the emperor."
Liu Xingyuan said: "So the prince will help his subordinates make up for the shortfall?"
Liu Xun glanced at his son, "It's not your turn to speak here, so hurry up and get down."
When Lu Zuo was about to help Liu Xingyuan speak, he bowed to Lu Zuo and his father sensibly, then turned around and went out with an expressionless face. Lu Zuo stared at the study door opening and closing blankly, nodding secretly in his heart. It wasn't until Liu Xun called twice that Lu Zuo came back to his senses.
Liu Xun continued to ask: "Mr. Lu, does Liu Yan really want to use his own money to help fill the deficit? This is not a small amount of money! As far as I know, the civil and military officials of this Manchu Dynasty have more or less After borrowing money from the treasury, if Liu Yan really wants to help make up for the shortfall, he will have to spend tens of millions of taels of silver at least! If Liu Yan really thinks so, there is still a possibility of selling the iron out of the pot! "
Lu Zuo shook his head, "There's no need to sell iron at the expense of others. He just needs to find a way to sell a few officials and titles."
"Selling an official position?" Liu Xun frowned in confusion.
"My lord, have you forgotten the way of Master Quan, the Minister of Civil Affairs?"
"Yes, yes!" Liu Xun suddenly realized, "Quan Shidao is also a member of the prince. If the two of them join forces, they probably won't be afraid of losing money. But... aren't they afraid of the emperor knowing about this?"
Lu Zuo chuckled, "Your Majesty is also a man who has lived in the temple for a long time. This mouse can't outrun the cat, so why don't you just steal it?"
Liu Xun lowered his head thoughtfully, took the tea cup by the table, took a sip gently, and put the tea cup down while saying: "Mr. Lu, do you think this clearing of the household deficit is the emperor's intention or is it the intention of the emperor?" Xia Jingying, a new official, took office. Did he and Liu Yan deliberately tell the emperor about this? Otherwise, they would come up with such a ruthless move. They just placed their own people in several positions in the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Personnel a while ago. Now, You are preparing to break my limbs again with this move, it is really too cruel."
Lu Zuo sighed, "Yes! This move is really cruel. Not only can we get rid of our people at a loss, but we can also take the opportunity to make a fortune."
When Liu Xun saw Lu Zuo sighing, he panicked for a moment and said anxiously: "Is there no way to solve it?"
Lu Zuo's face was as dark as water, and he kept playing with the tea cup in his hand, "If I guess correctly, the emperor's reorganization of the household department this time is just a drunkard's intention and not the wine."
"Oh?" Liu Xun asked in surprise, "The drunkard's intention is not to drink? Is this what you say?"
"My lord, don't you feel strange lately?"
"What's so strange?" Liu Xun looked confused, "Mr. Lu, please clarify!"
"As we all know, a shortfall in the treasury is a chronic disease. Now the emperor suddenly turns over old accounts. Why do you think it's the reason?"
Liu Xun paused and said, "Isn't it because the treasury ran out of money after the Western Expedition?"
"Then the Emperor could have rectified the deficit long ago. If the treasury is full and the money and food are abundant, the Western Expedition will naturally be smoother. Why wait until now?"
Liu Xun was startled, "Mr. Lu, what do you mean..."
Lu Zuo stared blankly at the tea cup in his hand, "In the past few years of the emperor's reign, there have been successive killings, and it is conceivable that the national treasury is in short supply. I see below that the emperor wants the next successor to sit securely in his position! "
The tea cup in Liu Xun's hand fell on the table with a bang, and he didn't notice the tea liquid in the cup being poured on the table. He just asked in surprise: "Are you saying that the emperor has really decided to let that boy Liu Yan Be the emperor?"
Lu Zuo was also full of confusion at this time, but his expression remained calm as usual, and he slowly put down the tea cup in his hand, "Otherwise, there is no reason for the emperor to give the two important positions of the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Personnel to the prince, and completely ignore your face. !”
"But didn't you say that the emperor's appointment of Xia Jingying was not based on true trust?"
"But now that the emperor has entrusted him with such an important matter as inspecting the household department, it shows that there must be deep meaning. The emperor asked for your opinion because he wanted to appease you, or to find out your attitude towards the prince. So now we must do the most important thing. Bad intentions.”
"Liu Yan...Liu Yan!" Liu Xun muttered angrily, "I didn't expect the old guy to be willing to trust a young boy in his early twenties."
After hearing this, Lu Zuo was startled for a moment, and then said: "My lord, it's up to others to make plans!"
