Chapter 337: Souls Are Hard to Touch, Prosperity Is Not Easy. (Additional Chapter, Please Vote)

Fei Hong's mouth twitched slightly, and he suddenly realized that it might not be a good thing to get too close to the high-ranking Minister of Justice.

The court was doing such a secret operation on the national debt, and specially arranged a senior official to raise the standard for national debt subscription, which was essentially a fraud.

Since it was a fraud, it was not appropriate to bring this matter to the surface. Not to mention the imperial edict and the secret edict, it was not appropriate for the informed party to make the matter public, and the best effect was not to involve the emperor.

What was the result? Now everyone in the world knows that the emperor's favorite is the cabinet chief Wan'an, who is the head of all officials, and it is well known that the emperor wants to raise funds to mine the Luzon gold mine by issuing national bonds.

Unfortunately, the whole incident was arranged clearly by the cabinet chief Wan'an, but He Qiaoxin changed his mind at the last minute, and now he is shamelessly pretending to be confused here.

Fei Hong didn't know whether He Qiaoxin was really stupid or smart but was misled by his cleverness. This move not only completely offended Wan'an, but also likely became a thorn in the emperor's eyes.

"Although this may offend Wan'an, I have never taken a penny from the people in my decades of service. A clean person is clean, so why should I be afraid?" He Qiaoxin took a sip of tea and said indifferently.

If he relied on something, it was that he had never embezzled money, so he was not worried that the Censorate would find out about him.

"Master, the big ginseng has been brought!" The housekeeper took the wild ginseng and came to He Qiaoxin to report.

In the current Ming officialdom rules, although this pair of ginseng is worth a thousand gold, it was given by others, and He Qiaoxin did not have a direct exchange of interests with the other party, so it was not considered a bribe.

In fact, at He Qiaoxin's level, local officials may not pursue investment returns, but only value this relationship.

For some frontier officials, or perhaps officials in lucrative positions such as the governor of the grain transport or the salt transport envoy, as long as they can keep their black gauze hats on their heads, it is the best result.

He Qiaoxin had already been exhausted, so he waved his hand and offered a favor to Fei Hong, saying: "A precious ginseng is paired with a talented person. You can take it to Zi Chong later!"

"Si Kou..."

"Zichong, don't you want to accept my gift?"

"Being respectful is worse than obeying!" Fei Hong wanted to refuse, but he had no suitable reason and it was easy to offend the Minister of Justice, so he had to choose to accept it.

But he was no longer happy in his heart. He thought he had embraced a big thigh, but found that this was actually a very dangerous move.

Unless Emperor Hongzhi died suddenly, how could He Qiaoxin's challenge to the emperor have any good results? How could he rely on his career?

That's why he knew that even if he accepted this pair of wild ginseng now, he had to go back and discuss a solution with his father-in-law.

The winter night came early. There was still a little light outside the yard just now, but it got dark in the blink of an eye, and the whole house was lit up.

Even though Fei Hong has been in the Hanlin Academy for four years, he is only a 22-year-old young man, so he needs to ask his predecessors for advice on some things.

He originally came here to ask He Qiaoxin for advice, such as the emperor now pays more attention to practical officials and ignores Hanlin officials, so what should he do?

But after what happened just now, he was already absent-minded.

After the two chatted about some meaningless things, Fei Hong learned that another important official came to visit, so he left with the expensive wild ginseng.

"By the way, why is there so much noise in your teacher's house recently?" He Qiaoxin suddenly thought of something and pointed to the next door in confusion.

The chief examiner in the 23rd year of Chenghua was Yin Zhi, the cabinet minister, and Fei Hong was the champion of that year, so this was a very close teacher-student relationship.

But Yin Zhi was attacked by the Qingliu officials headed by Xu Pu not long after presiding over that joint examination, and finally wisely chose to retire and return home, leaving the right and wrong place in the capital.

Although he had left the capital, the property he had bought in the capital had not been sold, and the house where Yin Zhi lived was right next to He Shixin.

Fei Hong maintained a good relationship with the Yin family, and immediately revealed: "Teacher has no intention of pursuing a career, and the houses in the capital are falling year by year, so it has just been sold!"

"Sold? How much silver did you sell it for?" He Qiaoxin was quite surprised, so he asked curiously.

Fei Hong shook his head gently: "I don't know the exact amount of silver, but I heard from the second son of the Yin family that this time it was sold at 80% of the market price. It's hard to sell luxury houses now!"

The original plan to build the outer city of Beijing was stopped, and the court's finances have not been rich in recent years, so the price of houses in the capital has risen, and houses in prime locations have become scarce resources.

It's just that this year the court suddenly levied a luxury tax, especially a 30% luxury tax on luxury houses in Beijing, so that the price of luxury houses in Beijing has been falling this year.

The Yin family probably saw that Beijing's real estate continued to depreciate, and Yin Zhi's hope of making a comeback was not great, so they wisely took advantage of the high price to sell this luxury house.

"I see, why do you seem to be moving recently!" He Qiaoxin sent Fei Hong to the Chuihua Gate and nodded in a daze.

Fei Hong vaguely sensed that He Qiaoxin was in a bad mood, but he didn't understand why the Minister of Justice had this reaction. He guessed that it might be because He Qiaoxin was disappointed to lose the Yin family as a close neighbor.

In fact, in terms of origin, He Qiaoxin and his teacher are of the same year and from the same hometown, but unfortunately they stand on different sides, so the relationship between the two sides is somewhat alienated.

He Qiaoxin sent Fei Hong away, but the fake smile on his face disappeared the next moment. Turning around and seeing the huge courtyard in front of him, he felt his heart bleeding.

He originally had no property in the capital, but after taking over Du Ming's position, his official career ushered in the most glorious moment, so he bought this mansion at a high price when he returned to Beijing to take up his post.

Although he spent most of his life savings, he was very satisfied with this "capital residence", which was rare in both location and land area.

However, after purchasing this mansion, it happened that the court levied a luxury tax, which not only caused the price of houses in the capital to fall all the way, but also required him to pay 30% of the luxury tax.

His mansion is worth the same as Yin Zhi's house next door, but Yin Zhi's house has to be discounted by 80% before it can be sold. The value of his mansion now can be imagined.

Even if the 30% luxury tax is removed, this mansion has depreciated by more than half. It can be said that this is the stupidest decision he has made in his life.

He Qiaoxin felt like there was a thorn in his heart when he thought about the crazy depreciation of his mansion.

If it weren't for the current emperor's outrageous behavior and the obviously unfair luxury tax, he wouldn't have caused such a huge economic loss!

What a shitty emperor?

He is clearly a tyrant!

He really deserves to go to the eighteenth level of hell!

...

As night fell, the night wind in the capital was accompanied by sobbing sounds in the streets and alleys. Perhaps some seeds of hatred had already been planted inadvertently.

Hongzhi did not fit the image of a saintly monarch that literati admired.

Throughout the ages, social wealth has been in the hands of a few people. If you want to divide a part of the wealth of a few people equally, it will undoubtedly touch the soul of the vested interest group, even if it is the emperor who does this.

There is no moon tonight, and the night sky of the capital is extremely dark.

But Beijing is not short of light, especially the officials and gentry who control social wealth have the ability to spend money lavishly, and under the bright lights, some people are reveling.

Personal interests and national interests often cannot be reconciled, and now the court has mined a large amount of gold from overseas to solve the court's financial problems, but in fact it dilutes the wealth in their hands in disguise.

If the monetary problem of society is 100 million taels of gold, but the court brings back 1 billion taels of gold from overseas, then the gold they have accumulated will be greatly impacted.

In particular, their most important means of making money has been rectified by the court, and it is difficult to continue to seize social wealth through usury, so it is better to maintain the current size.

As for the 10% interest given by the court, it is actually not in their eyes at all, and it also cannot satisfy their appetite.

That's why the court can only sigh in despair in the face of the gold mountain, which is the situation they are happy to see. Some people have even formed an alliance in private to prevent the court from mining gold.

At this most important juncture, He Qiaoxin's move can be said to be a divine assist.

"The Minister of the Ministry of Justice subscribed for ten taels, which is really a role model for us!"

"We are honest officials, and it is difficult to subscribe to a national bond!"

"My situation is better. I have been frugal these years. Haha... I can subscribe to two bonds!"

...

After seeing that the Minister of the Ministry of Justice, who took the lead, only subscribed to one national bond, the minds of those unsuccessful officials suddenly became active, and some of them were determined to be "honest officials".

That's why, as the first benchmark figure for subscription, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice He Qiaoxin chose a national bond, and with the help of the forces behind him, more and more officials planned to follow He Qiaoxin.

Tonight is destined to be a carnival for the powerful, who realize that they seem to have the capital to check and balance the emperor.

Wan Mansion, a very ordinary house.

Since the fire, this former mansion has lost its former glory. Since Wan'an wants to keep a low profile, although it has been renovated, it also adopts the simplest decoration style.

Although Wan'an's current status remains unchanged, it is well known that he has caught a cold, so no one is tactful enough to disturb him.

Of course, although the person has not arrived, the gifts must be prepared in full, so gifts with both heart and value are sent to Wan's house one after another.

Ahem...

Wan'an looks older and older. He has been lying in bed all day and now his whole body is sore. Although his throat is coughing, he still insists on getting up.

It is rare for a person to live to seventy, and now he is seventy-two, and he has long passed the age of knowing his destiny. This illness came very suddenly, so he was not mentally prepared.

It's just that after the last conversation with the emperor, he wanted to live well and write a story of monarch and minister with the rare wise ruler Hongzhi that will be passed down through the ages.

"Grandpa, take the medicine first!" Wan Hongbi came over with an ink-colored soup bowl and advised with great concern.

In his heart, grandpa is not only his safe haven, but also his mentor in life. Now seeing his grandfather getting thinner and thinner, he felt very uncomfortable.

If possible, he would be willing to give his grandfather ten years of his life, hoping that his grandfather could live another ten or twenty years.

Wan An frowned slightly, not liking the taste of this medicine. Suddenly, he saw his son's sad face from the corner of his eye: "What happened?"

"Dad, it's okay!" Wan Ji hurriedly shook his head to deny it.

No one knows a son better than his father. Wan An's face suddenly darkened and said, "If there is nothing serious, you won't have this expression!"

"Dad, it's really okay, you should drink the medicine quickly?" Wan Ji still shook his head, and then urged seriously.

Wan An put down the medicine bowl in his hand heavily, and took up his father's airs and said, "Hurry up and tell me!"

"Dad... really not!" Wan Ji still wanted to shake his head and deny it, hiding it from his father first.

Wan An was naturally not easy to fool, so he looked up at Wan Ji and guessed, "Is there a loophole in the national debt?"

Wan Hongbi had been watching from the side and found that his grandfather was really right in his guess. He couldn't help but turn his head to see how his father would deal with it.

Wan An looked at his son's embarrassment and said thoughtfully, "Did He Qiaoxin not take action?"

"Dad, He Qiaoxin has subscribed, don't guess anymore, the medicine is cold, drink the medicine quickly!" Wan Yi still wanted to fool the matter, and immediately said evasively.

In fact, what he said was indeed correct. He Qiaoxin had already subscribed.

Wan An immediately felt relieved. He reached out and picked up the medicine bowl and asked, "How many tens of thousands of taels?"

This...

Wan Hongbi swallowed his saliva secretly. He didn't expect his grandfather to have such high expectations for He Qiaoxin.

"Dad, this number!" Wan Yi still wanted to fool him. After hesitating for a while, he stretched out a finger.

Wan An was about to put the medicine into his mouth, and suddenly looked disappointed and said, "Only 10,000 taels? What's wrong with this He Qiaoxin? If he doesn't have enough money, he can say it on the spot!"

Wan Hongbi continued to swallow his saliva, and couldn't help turning his head to look at his father, wondering if his father was lying to his grandfather or telling the truth directly.

"Dad, no... not 10,000 taels, He Qiaoxin only... only subscribed for one ticket!" Wan Yi knew his father's character, so he told the truth honestly.

Wan An seemed to not believe his ears, holding the bowl of soup and staring hard: "Asshole, he... he actually plotted against me, this idiot!"

After returning from Xiyuan that day, he followed the emperor's wishes and went to the Minister of Justice He Qiaoxin to do ideological work, and let this Minister of Justice act as a benchmark for subscription.

When He Qiaoxin was invited over, although he didn't say much at the time, he also agreed to the plan on the spot and promised to use all his silver in the capital to buy national bonds.

But who would have thought that He Qiaoxin would change his mind at the last minute. This subscription of a national bond was simply a stab in his back, and it also affected the issuance of this significant national bond.

"Dad, the national bond issue was not favored by everyone. It's not your fault that it can't be issued. You don't have to be angry with a villain like He Qiaoxin!" Wan Ji saw his father's big reaction and comforted him immediately.

Poof!

Wan An knocked the medicine bowl in his hand to the ground, and a surge of anger surged into his heart, and then a mouthful of old blood spurted out, and the bright red blood fell on the table in front of him like a plum blossom.

He hated that he had trusted He Qiaoxin, a villain, and he also hated that he had failed the emperor's trust. He could have solved the initial funding gap of the Luzon Gold Mine by issuing national bonds, but he ended up messing it up.