The destiny of all heavens begins in the Red Chamber

The old lady almost fainted from anger. She had summoned Master Zheng to advise him not to cause trouble for himself and the entire household, not to help him solve his problems.

She had never approved of the national treasury being in debt from the beginning, so naturally she wouldn't offer any help now.

"There's no room for discussion on this!"

Still angry, the old lady said decisively, "Second son, you should go back to your official duties!"

The Second Master Zheng was quite embarrassed, but he obediently left Rongqing Hall.

"This second son won't know how treacherous officialdom is until he suffers enough!"

At Rongqing Hall, the old lady looked rather unwell, and it took her a long time to recover.

"Grandma, please don't be angry. Master is probably under too much pressure lately, which is why he lost his temper!"

Madam Wang hadn't spoken until now, and seeing that the atmosphere had eased, she chuckled and said, "Once we get past this hurdle, there shouldn't be any problems!"

"Being impeached every day, and being pointed at and berated in small court assemblies, this is no easy life!"

The old lady spoke calmly, she hadn't expected those guys in the court to be so impolite to the Second Master Zheng.

But there was no use in being angry. Those court officials were not to be trifled with. One wrong move and she might stir up a hornet's nest. She was too old to get involved in these things.

"With the help of the historian's Lord Baoling, we should be able to get through soon, right?"

Madam Wang said somewhat uncertainly, "It's a pity my elder brother from the Wang family isn't here, otherwise the situation wouldn't be so bad!"

The old lady pursed her lips, thinking to herself, "So what if Wang Ziteng comes?"

But she didn't say those words out loud; she wanted to see how long her second son could hold out.

After all, the old lady had lived through the most glorious period of the Rong family, so she was still familiar with some of the basic rules of the court.

The Marquis of Baoling in the Shi family was only a temporary helper, after all, he was busy with military affairs and could not stay in the capital for a long time.

Without the help of Lord Baoling, with Lord Zheng's eloquence, he might really be verbally abused to the point of wishing he were dead.

that's the truth!

Marquis Baoling only stayed in the capital for about seven days before he had to return to the camp outside the city to take charge of military affairs.

The Second Master immediately sensed the deep malice from his colleagues in the court.

Unfortunately, he hasn't yet developed the thick skin to back it up.

Every time I get criticized so harshly that I turn red in the face and lose face, if it weren't for the current bias, I'd probably explode with anger within a few days.

"This is outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!"

When Master Zheng returned to his residence, he vented his frustrations in his study, but there was nothing he could do.

He also sensed something was wrong. Some colleagues with impure motives were clearly trying to completely tie his mind down through court discussions and impeachment, so that he would have no time or energy to collect the debt!

As time goes on, people will definitely get impatient, and that will be no joke!

Master Zheng felt as if he were stuck in a quagmire and couldn't pull himself out!

But he was unwilling to give up, because the price he paid to get to this point was quite staggering.

In the following six months, he also had to raise 400,000 taels of silver to pay off the national treasury's debts!

On the Ning family's side, the amount of silver owed to the national treasury was as high as 600,000 taels!

The Rong family alone would have to repay a staggering 800,000 taels of silver, and they weren't even high-ranking officials of the third rank. It just doesn't seem worth it.

He was really bad at verbal battles at the small court assembly, but he had no choice but to deal with them!

"Master, it's time to call for help!"

Jia Huan pointed out incisively, "Whether it's the verbal sparring at the small court assembly or the collection of debts owed to the national treasury, the master needs capable assistants to help him out!"

"Oh, what you said makes some sense!"

The second master's eyes lit up, and he nodded in approval.

"My lord, you should now consider finding officials who can be of assistance and are trustworthy, and find a way to submit a memorial to the emperor to transfer them to your side!"

Jia Huan hadn't expected that things would develop to this point, making it perfectly natural for him to bring up his idea.

At least, Master Zheng Er wouldn't have the slightest suspicion.

It all sounds like they're offering him advice and solutions to his problems!

However, what Jia Huan found amusing was that Master Zheng had pondered for a long time but still couldn't find a suitable candidate.

That's right, there isn't a single suitable partner!

It must be said that quite a few officials were arranged to serve in various places through the Rong family's connections.

The fact that the Rong family was able to arrange Jia Yucun's whereabouts so easily back then shows that their influence was not to be underestimated, and it was also because they were already familiar with the situation.

These officials naturally belonged to the Rong family faction, and could even be considered disciples of the Second Master Zheng.

The problem is that Master Zheng Er is indeed not cut out to be an official, especially not a high-ranking one.

Leaving aside his own abilities, as long as he remains the head of the Rong family, his ability to be an official is not the key point; what matters is that he can unite his disciples.

Unfortunately, the Second Master Zheng did a terrible job in this regard!

As for how bad he was, there's no need to elaborate. The best proof is that most of the students he initially helped later switched allegiance to other schools.

There was very little communication between them, so how could Master Zheng possibly understand the specific circumstances and abilities of his students, let alone entrust them with important tasks?

The only person Jia Huan was familiar with was Fu Shi, who had a beautiful younger sister named Fu Qiufang. Fu Qiufang was currently working in the Shuntian Prefecture government office. She didn't hold a high-ranking position or have much ability, but she was very ambitious.

He had a good relationship with the second master, and Jia Huan could see him in the outer courtyard study during festivals.

Of course, I've only seen them from afar, and it's practically impossible for us to have any real interaction.

Given Jia Huan's age, Master Zheng had no intention of actively promoting him at that time.

I knew that Master Zheng was a bit useless, but I didn't expect him to be this useless.

The next day, when Jia Huan asked Master Zheng in the study if he had thought of a candidate, the head of the Rong family shook his head blankly and dejectedly.

Jia Huan couldn't bear it any longer; otherwise, when the Second Master of the Court was thinking of his ideal candidate, something unexpected might happen if it went on for too long.

"Master, I think that Uncle Lin, who is currently in Yangzhou, is a very good candidate!"

He directly suggested, "Uncle Lin's relationship with the Rong family goes without saying; there certainly won't be any problems!"

"Moreover, he himself comes from the Censorate and was a third-place scholar in the imperial examinations, so he still has a certain influence among civil officials and can help the master withstand most of the attacks!"

Upon hearing this, Master Zheng's eyes lit up and he nodded repeatedly. However, after thinking of something, he shook his head and said, "Your Uncle Lin is currently burdened with heavy responsibilities, and I'm afraid he may not be willing to do so!"

"Being able to serve as an official in the capital is definitely a good thing!"

Jia Huan disagreed, saying, "Besides, does Master really think Uncle Lin's life is easy?"

"What do you mean?"

The Second Master Zheng frowned slightly and said impatiently, "Explain yourself clearly!"

"How old is Cousin Daiyu? Uncle Lin couldn't wait to send her to the capital!"

Jia Huan said directly, "In my opinion, there are strong signs that they are trying to avoid trouble!"

"impossible!"

The Second Master Zheng flatly rejected the idea, saying with displeasure, "Why are you thinking so much at such a young age?"

Jia Huan was speechless, thinking to himself that if he hadn't shown off his abilities as a strategist, would a child not even eight years old have been able to freely enter and leave the outer courtyard's main study, or even have a place there?

He didn't argue, but glared at her and said domineeringly, "I don't care about any of this nonsense!"

"My lord, in my opinion, Uncle Lin is your best helper. Let's transfer him to the capital first before we talk about anything else, otherwise your situation in the court will become increasingly difficult!"

The second master of the government was tempted, but then hesitated and said, "But your uncle Lin is a third-rank official. It's not easy to transfer him, especially to the capital's imperial court!"

"As long as Uncle Lin can help the current emperor obtain silver, and a continuous stream of large sums of silver!"

Jia Huan scoffed, "Let alone a lateral transfer to the capital, even a direct promotion to the cabinet wouldn't be a problem. Both the current emperor and the court are short of money!"

"This one……"

The second master of the government was still somewhat hesitant, mainly because he lacked experience in transferring high-ranking officials.

"How about the master tries writing a memorial to the emperor, requesting that Uncle Lin be transferred to the imperial court!"

Jia Huan suggested, "This implies that with Uncle Lin's help, Master's efforts to collect debts will soon be on track and yield results!"

"You unfilial son, do you think you can just make such a promise so easily?"

The Second Master Zheng was furious and said irritably, "If the Emperor is serious, this is no joke!"

Jia Huan replied with a smile, "Master is too cautious. With the example of Prince Zhongshun, do you think those other imperial relatives who have borrowed a lot of money would dare to cause trouble?"

At this point, he sneered, "The most important thing right now is for you to extricate yourself from the vortex of court intrigue and focus your energy on collecting the debts owed to the national treasury!"

"Adding the debts that the manor and the Ning family have agreed to repay, I've casually calculated that it wouldn't be difficult to raise another one or two million taels of debt!"

"If that's not enough, sir, just keep pressing for more. It's no big deal!"

Chapter 139 Xue Pan is 'Dead' (Please Subscribe)

Any story about the Dream of the Red Chamber inevitably involves Lin Daiyu!