Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 56 Testing
In the Governor's Office, Zhu Lang sat in front of the lamp, reviewing the memorials.
The memorials on the table were divided into two piles. The one on the left was the one Zhu Lang had already reviewed, and the one on the right was the one he hadn't finished reading. It was half an arm's height.

The door suddenly opened, Li Guoyong walked into the study, whispered a few words to Zhu Lang above, and then left.

A strange look flashed in Zhu Lang's eyes. He put down the memorial in his hand, quickly put the memorial on the table back to its original place, and put the brush back into the pen holder.
Zhu Lang looked at the neat and tidy desk, thought for a moment, then walked to the side of the study and took down the flintlock hanging on the study.

With a creak, the door opened
Wang Kun walked into the room in a bright red eunuch uniform, but just as he entered the room, his steps suddenly stopped.

Behind the desk, a young man with narrowed eyes was holding a black rifle, with the muzzle pointed at Wang Kun who walked into the room.

Wang Kun's expression froze for a moment, but he quickly reacted. Without changing his expression, he walked down the hall and bowed to the young man above.

"Old minister Wang Kun pays respect to His Highness."

"Don't be so polite, Eunuch Wang, but what's the matter? Why are you here so late?"

The young man above did not look at the middle-aged eunuch below. Instead, he held the musket horizontally in front of him, stroked the black barrel, and said casually:
Wang Kun looked at the young man who was playing with the rifle in the light above him, with a rather obsessed look on his face.

Gui Jianguo's preferences are quite strange. He doesn't like gold, silver, wine, and women, but likes these cold iron lumps.
But what does it matter? What's the difference between liking firearms and liking beautiful women and treasures?

Emperor Tianqi likes carpentry, and Gui Jinguo likes firearms. As long as they have something they like, he will collect all these things in the world and let them indulge in it.

As long as they have no time to take care of the affairs of the court, then the court will be his, Wang Kun's, world.
"Eunuch Wang?"

The young man above seemed to see that Wang Kun had been silent for a long time, so he also moved his eyes away from the musket and looked at Wang Kun below, as if reminding the people below to speak up quickly.
"Yes, I just finished handling court affairs in the Imperial Household Department and saw a few memorials. The matters mentioned in these memorials involve Your Highness. I dare not take the initiative to take charge, so I took them and showed them to Your Highness for review."

Wang Kun glanced at the neatly stacked memorials on the left in front of him, and a gleam of brilliance flashed in his eyes. It seemed that His Highness Gui Jianguo had not even opened the memorials he had sent to the palace in the past two days.

It’s better not to open it. I just don’t want to open it.
"It's so late, and Eunuch Wang is still handling court affairs. He is really loyal and diligent. Thank you for your hard work," the young Regent sighed softly.

"My duty as an old minister is to assist Your Highness in handling state affairs. I don't deserve any hard work," the middle-aged eunuch said modestly.

"Since the memorial is related to me, please bring it to me for a look."

The young man above finally put down his flintlock rifle, and Wang Kun took out several memorials from his sleeve.
The young man took the memorial, but after just a few glances, his face became furious.

"These bastards, they have nothing to do when they are full, and they are still advising me to be considerate of the people and not to waste money."

"My family only has a few hundred taels of silver a month. How can they save money? Do they have to sell all the money in my family to make ends meet? Only then will they think I am frugal and care about the people?"

The young Regent slammed the memorial in his hand on the table, making a soft thud.

Wang Kun, who was standing below, looked at the angry young man with a hint of smile in his eyes.

These memorials were not fabricated by him, but were indeed submitted by the group of imperial censors in the past few days.
As for the censors, they report things on hearsay. Even if there is nothing wrong, they will find something to impeach. If they don't file two or three impeachment memorials every month, what kind of censors are they?

Anyway, they are censors, so they don't have to take responsibility no matter who they impeach. If a big shot in the court who they impeached breaks down and personally argues with them, then the censor who impeached will immediately become famous all over the world.
In this case, then of course we have to make a big splash.
Advising the palace to be frugal, diligent and caring for the people is also an old task for the censors. If there is nothing to criticize, they will submit a memorial to advise the palace to be frugal. Some court affairs are too dangerous, and rashly submitting a memorial may anger the emperor, so they will submit a memorial to advise the palace to be frugal.
Anyway, when you don't know what to criticize, just write a memorial to persuade the palace to be frugal.

The palace would not take this kind of memorial seriously, and the censors who submitted it would not expect any response from the palace. It was just a routine matter to complete the monthly performance. However, Wang Kun picked it out and sent it to Zhu Lang.
"Your Highness, calm down. These censors and officials are used to speaking in a pretentious manner, always talking about their concern for the country and the people. How could they know that Your Highness is kind and frugal?"

"Your Highness only has three dishes and one soup every day in the palace. What about those civil officials? Recently, those restaurants and teahouses in the city have been open all night long. Not a single night is closed. They are all filled with those civil officials who are celebrating their promotions!"

Wang Kun spoke softly, secretly looking at the young man above him. Sure enough, the young man's face became more and more angry.

A smile flashed across Wang Kun's face. How could he not be angry? You are advising me to be frugal, but you are spending money like a spoiled brat over there. Anyone would be angry.

"Your Highness has taken the throne and is acting as regent, but he has not even built his own palace, and instead uses the house of the Governor-General's Office of Guangdong and Guangxi. How kind and loving you are! However, those officials still do not understand your Highness's wishes and are still making noises. How hateful!" "I have calculated the expenses of the court, and I plan to allocate another 2,000 taels of silver to the palace every month to repair the house of the Governor-General's Office. I wonder what your Highness thinks," Wang Kun said respectfully, lowering his head.

"it is good"

The young man above immediately shouted "good" upon hearing this, a hint of joy flashed across his face, but then a hint of hesitation flashed across his face.

"Even now, the censors of the previous dynasty have already advised against it. If we increase the expenses now, the ministers in the court will complain again," the young man said hesitantly.

"Your Highness is now the Regent, and your status and position are naturally different from before. According to the rules, the court is going to build a palace for Your Highness. Your Highness is sympathetic to the people's strength and is unwilling to build a palace. This is a great kindness. Do you really want Your Highness to live in the old house of the Governor's Office?"

"If Your Highness agrees, I will leave this matter to this old minister. I will never let those censors in the court spread any rumors," Wang Kun said respectfully.

"Okay, I knew that only old officials like Eunuch Wang can be trusted."

"Then let Eunuch Wang handle this matter."

The young Regent said with satisfaction on his face
"Yes, I will coordinate with the Ministry of Revenue in a few days and send the money to the mansion. It will not affect the renovation of the house in the mansion," Wang Kun said respectfully.

Zhu Lang looked at Wang Kun who was respectful below him, with an admiring look on his face, but a strange color flashed in his eyes.

He was a little confused about what Wang Kun was up to today. He didn't sleep in the middle of the night and came to the mansion to say that he wanted to give him money. If Wang Kun had no other plans, Zhu Lang would dare to write the word Zhu upside down.
But Zhu Lang couldn't figure out what Wang Kun was going to do for a while, so he kept silent. After praising him for a few words, he picked up his teacup and looked at Wang Kun who was talking about this and that below.

Zhu Lang's eyes flashed with a gleam of brilliance. If there is something to say, then tell it quickly. If there is nothing to say, then leave quickly.
As for the silver that was delivered to his door, he would naturally eat it. Could it be that he would also give silver to Ding Kuichu's Ministry of Revenue?

Wang Kun saw the young prince put down his gun and served tea to the guests. He cursed in his heart, "I just gave you two thousand taels of silver, and you want to turn your face against me after taking the silver."

But at this time he had no choice but to speak
"In addition to this matter, I have another matter that needs your decision."

"Please speak, Eunuch Wang."

The Regent's face remained expressionless, but a gleam of brilliance flashed in his eyes. He knew that what he was going to say next was probably the real purpose of Wang Kun's entry into the mansion late at night.
"Grand Secretary Li Yongmao has submitted the list of candidates for the imperial lecture to the palace. This is the list of candidates for the imperial lecture. Your Highness, please review it."

Wang Kun took out another memorial from his sleeve and presented it to the young man above with both hands.

Zhu Lang's expression remained unchanged. He took the list and glanced at it, but he found that he didn't recognize any of the people on the list, and he didn't have any memory of them. So he pretended to look at it for a while, then put down the letter paper in his hand.

"The people that Lord Li has promoted must be talented people of the country and great scholars of the world. Is there any problem with this list?"

Wang Kun glanced at the young man with a puzzled look, knowing that the Regent in front of him probably didn't know any of the people mentioned above, otherwise he would have picked out someone he knew and praised him instead of mentioning Li Yongmao again.
It's better that you don't know him. That's what I want. If His Highness the Regent really knows the people inside, it would be troublesome.
Wang Kun was thinking about this, but his expression didn't change at all. He continued speaking.
"Most of the people here are fine, but a few of them are from the Imperial Censorate, and they are constantly criticizing each other all day long. They are all people who seek fame and buy their integrity. Once these people are in the imperial lecture, I am afraid they will cause trouble again," Wang Kun said softly.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Lang's face flashed a barely perceptible smile. He said, how could Wang Kun suddenly be so kind as to send him money in the middle of the night? It seemed that what he wanted to do was this matter at hand.

Zhu Lang glanced at the memorial in front of him, and his eyes swept over the names of several censors on the memorial resume.
He had no impression of these people, so he didn't know who Wang Kun wanted to deal with.

Zhu Lang's eyes flashed with a gleam of brilliance. Wang Kun was so eager to enter the palace late at night, he must have a deep grudge against the person he wanted to get rid of. Since Wang Kun wanted something from him, it was time for him to ask for a price.
Wang Kun really underestimated his appetite. He wanted to ask the great Gui Regent to help, but two thousand taels of silver was far from enough.
Zhu Lang was certain in his heart, the smile in his eyes disappeared, and then he said
"Another censor? These people rely on their ability to hear rumors and make trouble all day long. They are really annoying," the young regent said softly.

Wang Kun looked at the dissatisfied young man above him, with a gleam of brilliance in his eyes. At this moment, His Highness the Regent was already fed up with these imperial censors. As long as His Highness the Regent asked who the imperial censors were next, he could take the opportunity to mention Liu Xiangke's name.
Then he only needs to fabricate some stories about this person being arrogant and seeking fame, and impeaching others everywhere, which will surely make Gui Jianguo disgusted with this person.

In order to avoid being bothered in the future, Gui Jianguo would naturally remove Liu Xiangke from the list of imperial lectures.

This matter was decided by His Royal Highness Gui Jianguo from the beginning to the end. Wang Kun not only achieved his goal, but also got rid of it cleanly without leaving any handle.

(End of this chapter)