Happy Little Scholar

Prince Heng's Mansion.

The eldest prince Zhao Zheng paced in the palace in a somewhat irritable manner, his face slightly gloomy.

An old man walked in from outside the palace, Zhao Zheng raised his head, looked at him and asked: "Zhao Yi's people have been visiting our people frequently these days?"

The old man nodded and said: "It happens to be the New Year's Day. In order to cut off the extravagant and licentious style of the capital, it is also common for the censors to move around frequently."

"Common?" Zhao Zheng snorted coldly and said: "If it is normal to move around, why do they only stare at my people?"

The old man was stunned and asked: "Your Highness means..."

Zhao Zheng looked at him and asked: "I heard that the money god under Zhao Yi bought a few more gardens in the capital these days?"

The conflict between the third prince and the eldest prince has long been intensified and cannot be adjusted. Naturally, they will pay more attention to some important people around him.

The old man nodded and said, "The Qian family already has several properties in the capital. It is a bit abrupt to buy these houses for no reason. I have sent people to secretly ask the previous owners of those houses. According to them, the God of Wealth saw the value of these houses and determined that they would increase in the short term. They were eager to use the money and could not wait for many days, so they sold them early..."

"Improved?" Zhao Zheng raised his voice and said, "I think it's a cover-up!"

"Your Highness means..." The old man was stunned, then shook his head. He nodded and said, "Your Highness should trust those gentlemen. They are loyal to Your Highness and will never be deceived by money and betray Your Highness..."

"Of course I know." Zhao Zheng waved his hand and said, "This is probably another trap set by Zhao Yi. He is very cunning. If I have doubts about the gentlemen, wouldn't it be just what he wants?"

"I am not that stupid!" He sneered and said, "Prepare some generous gifts and send them to the houses of those gentlemen..."

"Your Highness is wise!"

The old man bowed and then slowly withdrew.

Zhao Zheng walked around the hall for a while, then sat down at the table again, with a trace of doubt on his face again...

...

"I thought about it later, it's better not to hang plaques on those houses. We can't do it deliberately, let the prince guess it himself..."

In the Qian Mansion, Qian Duoduo looked at the people below and talked freely: "The third prince has a broad mind, this method is useless to the third prince, but the eldest prince is narrow-minded. After this incident, even if he appears to be indifferent on the surface, or even shows his favor to those families, he will definitely plant a seed of doubt in his heart. As long as we persevere, water them frequently, and loosen the soil more, the seed of doubt in his heart will grow into a towering tree..."

"When the eldest prince no longer trusts them, it's time to test you. How to win those people over to the third prince's command, I don't need to teach you?"

...

Qian Duoduo's small class ended here today. When everyone left, they bowed to the God of Wealth.

"Mr. Qian, you have a great idea!"

"Brother Caishen has a successor!"

"If this plan succeeds, the balance between the crown prince and the third prince in the court will be completely broken. At that time, the crown prince's status advantage will be gone..."

"Congratulations to the third prince first!"

...

After everyone left, Qian Caishen looked at Qian Duoduo, who was holding the teapot and drinking it, and said, "How can you be so sure that the eldest prince will not trust them?"

Qian Duoduo smiled mysteriously: "The hermit has a good plan..."

Qian Caishen narrowed his eyes and took off his shoes silently.

"Hermit?"

"Good plan?"

"I'll let you be a hermit, let you have a good plan!"

"Let you keep me in suspense!"

After a few beatings, Qian Caishen felt better, and then he put on his shoes, looked at him, and said, "What bad water is there in your stomach, pour it out together."

Qian Duoduo shrank in the corner, covering his head, and whispered, "Dad, this is not bad water, this is a plan, a plan..."

Qian Caishen took off his shoes silently again.

After a while, Qian Caishen touched the short beard on his chin and fell into deep thought.

Qian Duoduo looked very proud and said, "Dad, what do you think of my method?"

He was indeed very proud. Although these methods were taught to him by Brother Li, they were all strategies used in the business world. After he drew inferences from one example and made multiple associations, he could also use them in the court to fight for power. At least half of his efforts were put into this.

Qian Caishen looked at him, turned around and walked out of the door, and ordered his left and right: "Invite more monks and Taoists!"

…

The Ministry of Revenue, one of the six ministries of the court, is in charge of money and grain.

Among the six ministries, although the Ministry of Rites is the head, the Ministry of Rites is in name only and has no power. The Ministry of Personnel, which is in charge of officials all over the world, and the Ministry of Revenue, which is in charge of money and grain, are the two most powerful departments among the six ministries.

Cui Jiang, the Minister of Revenue, has been quite worried recently, not because the work of the Ministry of Revenue went wrong, nor because the eldest prince lost in the power struggle with the third prince.

What worries him is that during the New Year, several censors from the Censorate come to his house every now and then to drink tea, and they treat Cui's house as their second government office. Although the Ministry of Revenue is the most lucrative government office in the entire court, everything must be based on evidence. We cannot treat him like a thief just because he is in charge of the Ministry of Revenue. In the past few days, we have to add fewer dishes to our meals at home, for fear that those censors will see it and say that Cui Jiang is enjoying luxury and embezzling money from the national treasury for personal use...

You can't reason with these censors. Don't let them in. Wouldn't it be a guilty conscience? It's very likely that they will bring the imperial army with them next time...

Let them come in. Who doesn't know that he, Cui Jiang, belongs to the eldest prince, and that Yushitai is almost the third prince's back garden? This person is formidable. People who don't know, think that he, Cui Jiang, betrayed the eldest prince, and These people are mixed together...

Fortunately, the eldest prince was very discerning. Not only did he not question him, but he also gave him a generous gift, which finally put his worries at ease.

On this day, Cui Jiang was drinking tea in his mansion. A housekeeper came in, looked at him and said, "Sir, those censors are here again..."

Before Cui Jiang finished drinking the tea, all the tea came out.

There is no end, there is no end!

Cui Jiang stood up angrily, with a scowl on his face, and strode out of the room. When he walked out, the anger on his face melted away like ice and snow. He cupped his hands to the people in front of him and said, "Sir, have you had breakfast?" Are you ready? Do you want to eat something together?”

One person bowed his hand to him and said, "Master Cui, you are so polite. I came here this time to discuss important matters with Master Cui..."

Cui Jiang smiled and said: "Several adults, please come into the room to discuss in detail."

Several people walked into the hall. A censor looked outside and said, "Bring it in."

Several servants immediately carried two large boxes in and placed them on the ground with a heavy sound.

They wiped the sweat from their foreheads, breathed a sigh of relief, and then bowed to say goodbye.

Cui Jiang looked suspicious and asked, "This is..."

The censor looked at him and said: "Master Cui is a smart man, I won't beat around the bush. As long as Master Cui is willing to be loyal to the third prince, Master Cui will accept these two boxes of silver today."

Cui Jiang's expression changed, and his voice immediately turned cold, "What do you mean?"

The man smiled slightly: "Master Cui is a smart man and understands what I mean."

Cui Jiang sneered, "My allegiance is to Your Majesty, and also to His Highness the Crown Prince. When you guys go back, please tell this to the Third Prince. If the Third Prince becomes the Crown Prince, I will be loyal to him without having to do this!"

The censor's face darkened, "Master Cui, do you really refuse to accept it?"

Cui Jiang's attitude was firm: "I won't accept it!"

…

The censor looked at him, a smile suddenly appeared on his face, waved his hand and said, "Open it."

The two people behind him opened the box, and Cui Jiang glanced at it with a stunned expression.

Where is the gold in the box? They are clearly two huge rocks!

The censor smiled, cupped his hands and said, "Master Cui is in a high position and is not fooled by profit. He is really a role model for our generation. I admire you, I admire you!"

Cui Jiang looked confused: "You guys, what do you mean?"

"When you are in the court, you can't help yourself, and everyone is their own master. There is nothing wrong with it. We just received an anonymous report. Some people said that Mr. Cui likes to accept bribes on weekdays, and he pretends to be public for personal gain..." The censor looked at him, and then He looked at the people behind him and said with a smile: "Look, you are unmoved by such a heavy profit, which is enough to prove that Mr. Cui is an honest official. Don't listen to rumors and slander Zhongliang in the future!"

The person behind him immediately bowed and said, "I'm here to teach you!"

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I hope Mr. Cui won't take offense." When Cui Jiang was still confused, the censor looked at him and said with a smile: "It's inconvenient to move these stones around, so just leave them here. , Mr. Cui, please let someone deal with it..."

A few people left just like that. Cui Jiang stood in the hall, looked at the two boxes containing stones, waved his hands, and said impatiently: "It's inexplicable..."