Daqian Night Emperor

Chapter 81 Prepared for a Good Show

After seeing off Eunuch Li, Zhao Qi'an stood in the yard and pondered quietly for a long time.

The emperor was heartless and ungrateful. Except for a few princes, the rest of the royal family had only noble titles but no power at all.

Most of the time, it's a bunch of worthless people.

But sometimes, these seemingly worthless people can be of unexpected use.

Zhao Qi'an's mind flashed with the "Spiritual Lord Statue" of the Salvation Church that was now in his hands, and he thought of the Second Prince's wife who was pregnant with a "strange" thing...

It was a bomb that had been unleashed. Once it exploded, the entire city of Kyoto would be shaken.

This is a trump card, and now it is in Zhao Qi'an's hands.

But how to use this trump card well is the key. If it is not used well, the trump card will become a joker and hurt itself.

Zhao Qi'an originally wanted to make some arrangements with the help of the eldest prince who was about to return to Beijing, but he did not have many interactions with the eldest prince. If he used the eldest prince's power, there would be too many variables.

But now that he had obtained the position of the chief minister of Zongzheng Temple, his original idea was instantly overturned and started over again.

A new idea gradually became clear in his mind.

"Speaking of which, the Gao family that Guan Xiang wants to investigate is the maternal family of the Third Prince's imperial concubine..."

"It seems that what I gained from Zongzheng Temple may be more than I thought."

Zhao Qi'an muttered to himself.

He collected his thoughts, turned sideways and said to the servant behind him: "Ask Butler Gou to come to my study."

……

The next morning, in front of the main gate of the princess's mansion.

Zhao Qi'an, dressed in an official robe, stood at the gate of the courtyard with his hands behind his back, watching the servants in front of him carrying large wooden boxes out of the mansion and loading them onto the carriage outside the mansion.

Beside him, Gou Xiangxi seemed uneasy today. He hesitated for a long time before finally bowing to Zhao Qi'an and asking:
"Lord, do you really want to use me?"

Last night, he and Zhao Qi'an had a long talk all night long.

After waiting for so many years, the benefactor finally "moved".

What he didn't expect was that when his benefactor did something, it was so horrifying.

If this were to happen, I'm afraid there would be a hole in the sky of Kyoto City.

Gou Xiangxi was very excited, and he was even more excited about the fact that Zhao Qi'an kept him by his side and appointed him to a position.

But after the excitement, there was hesitation.

Zhao Qi'an smiled slightly and said, "Is Deacon Gou afraid too?"

"I'm afraid that I'll ruin my benefactor's business." Gou Xiangxi said with a wry smile, "After all, I've offended Prime Minister Wu, and there are countless people in the court who hold a grudge against me. I'm only worried that if my benefactor uses me, it will cause some inconvenience."

Zhao Qi'an shook his head: "It's okay."

The Zongzheng Temple has a special status, and all of its officials are royal relatives, and most of them are even royal clan members.

Even though Wu Yong was the left prime minister, he could not influence the internal affairs of the Zongzheng Temple.

Since Zhao Qi'an dared to use Gou Xiangxi, he must have made the decision after weighing the pros and cons.

Gou Xiangxi is a talented person. If used well, he can be like a fast and fierce knife.

A few disadvantages are not worth worrying about.

Gou Xiangxi finally felt relieved and felt very proud.

He turned his head to look at the carriage that was filled with people and asked, "Isn't this a bit too much? I'm afraid those poor officials in the Zongzheng Temple can't stand such an excitement."

Zhao Qi'an glanced at him and snorted, "If the scene isn't big, wouldn't it ruin your reputation as a 'hyena official'?"

This name sounded full of insults, but Gou Xiangxi did not refute it and just laughed. Although Zhao Qi'an took office today.

But if this play is to be performed well, it depends on this "hyena official"!
When the carriage was loaded, the ugly slave brought another fine horse.

Zhao Qian climbed onto the horse, pulled the reins, looked at the loaded carriage, raised his head to look at the sky, and shouted:
"Let's go, it's time to take office!"

……

The inner city of Kyoto is divided into two parts, east and west, with the Imperial City as the boundary.

The west side is mostly mansions and official residences, where the real powerful people in Kyoto live. Zhao Qi'an's princess mansion is here.

The east side is mostly government offices, where the "five ministries, six departments and nine temples" are located.

This also includes Zongzheng Temple.

Although the Zongzheng Temple was not an important department in the imperial court, due to its special nature, its location was even closer to the imperial city than the other six ministries.

It is only across the street from the imperial city. When you walk out of the gate of the Zongzheng Temple, you can see the majestic Meridian Gate of the Imperial Palace.

Just as Zhao Qi'an led his team towards the Zongzheng Temple on horseback, the temple was already noisy.

"Why can a person with an outsider take up a position in the Zongzheng Temple?"

A young man in a sixth-rank official robe suddenly stood up and said angrily, "When will it be the turn of an outsider to manage our clan of the Ji family?"

Inside the Zongzheng Temple, other officials were also discussing the matter.

"Since the founding of the country, there have always been only two people in the position of temple secretary. How can we add one more person at short notice? This goes against the laws of our ancestors!"

"Your Majesty's actions are indeed inappropriate. We should submit a petition..."

In the ministry hall, an old man hunched over a cup of hot tea with only a few leaves in it, and did not join in the argument among the people below.

His eyebrows were very long, almost covering his eyes. If he sat there motionless, he would easily be mistaken for being asleep.

Until the young man who got angry at the beginning walked up to him quickly and said angrily: "Duke, please say something too."

This old man was none other than the Minister of Zongzheng Temple, Duke Yingguo Ji Liyuan.

Although the position of Temple Minister was not high, being only of the third grade, Ji Liyuan was the son of the elder brother of the late Emperor Shengde, and was a cousin of the current Emperor Tianwu.

Of the people of Emperor Tianwu's generation, only Duke Ying is left.

Duke Yingguo is two years older than Emperor Tianwu and is now eighty-two years old.

Among the entire Ji clan, there is no one more respected and virtuous than him. Naturally, his status is extraordinary, and it is only natural for him to become the Minister of Zongzheng Temple.

Elder Ji Li was old, but his mind was not muddled. He glanced at the young man standing in front of him and said, "What did you say? Are you going against His Majesty's order and driving Zhao Qi'an out?"

He slammed the teacup in his hand onto the table and snorted heavily, "In my opinion, all of you are more foolish than me. His Majesty has issued a personal order, and you want to disobey it? First feel your neck and see how many heads you can lose."

As soon as he spoke, everyone in the hall was silent.

Ji Liyuan's eyes swept across the faces of everyone in the hall, and a hint of helplessness suddenly appeared in his eyes.

After all, it all comes down to one word: “profit”.

It sounds good to call them royal relatives, but there are at least 8,000 royal relatives in Kyoto City. These people do not work and are supported by the Zongzheng Temple.

The money of Zongzheng Temple was not allocated by the Ministry of Revenue from the national treasury, but came from the royal treasury. However, the current emperor, Tianwu, was arrogant and extravagant, so how could he have so much spare money to support these royal relatives who only knew how to beg for food?
In the end, they only demarcated some imperial land and distributed it to some households, and the profits were distributed every year by the Zongzheng Temple.

This amount of money is not enough to support all the royal family members, so how to divide it is a huge issue.

There are also blood relatives among the royal family. Could it be that the Ji clan relatives who are not even remotely related to the current Majesty can get as much as your Majesty's cousin?
Everyone wants to get more, and everyone wants more.

In the end, it all comes down to who holds the power to distribute benefits.

At such a critical moment, Your Majesty inserted Zhao Qi'an, a foreigner, into the group. The already established distribution of benefits was disrupted. It is no wonder that the officials of the Zongzheng Temple were so enraged.
The Zongzheng Temple is different from other government offices. Except for the lowest-level clerks, all those working here are of royal blood. Most of them are relatives. When they take off their official uniforms, they are either brothers of this family or uncles of that family.

A outsider wants to work here?
difficult!
(End of this chapter)