Planning to marry the third master

In the court today, Lord Meng dragged his old body to wait at the palace gate for a while, and then went to court.

The current fight for the throne is like an undercurrent. If you are not careful, you will be swept into it. However, the Meng family is already at the center of the storm.

Some words reached the ears of Lord Meng, and Lord Meng had to speak out, so, after a long absence, Lord Meng had to go to the court due to the situation.

Yu Huai personally supported Meng Ge Lao while he spoke. Although Meng Ge Lao trembled when he walked, he still spoke with some strength. He reported to the emperor in the court: "Your Majesty, I heard that some ministers said that my Meng family is rich enough to rival a country." He said with a smile, and then said: "I have to report this to Your Majesty. We are not rich enough to rival a country, but I can guarantee that we are rich enough to rival a Lin'an County. The late emperor also saw my third son before. He is about the same age as the emperor. He is not good at studying, but he is good at business. There is no future in the family. Now only the eldest son is an official. The rest are not ambitious and have gone out to make a living. If someone takes the lead, the people below will follow suit."

"I heard that some people said that I abused my power. This old minister admitted that I had taught several promising students before, and I used my power to recommend them to the late emperor. I am guilty, and I should let my children enter the officialdom, which is better than letting them travel outside, so that this crime is well deserved."

These words were a subtle satire on the dark chaos in the court, and at this moment, those who impeached yesterday were terrified.

Meng Ge Lao's students stood up and supported him. These students were all diligent and hardworking old ministers.

The emperor knew that Lord Meng was angry, so he walked down the steps and said respectfully, "How could you listen to such nonsense? I know that Lord Meng is a wise man, and it is those ignorant officials who are making trouble. Please don't take it to heart."

After these words were spoken, those people became even more frightened.

Meng Ge Lao waved his hand and said, "It's true that the Meng family is rich." He held the emperor's hand and said, "The Meng family is not able to do anything for the country on weekdays. Today, I am not here to complain about my family." He took out the banknotes in his hand and said, "Here are 200,000 taels. The Meng family has nowhere to spend it. Why don't we use the court to do what the Meng family should do for the people."

Two hundred thousand taels is not a small amount of money, and the emperor doesn't know whether to accept this operation or not. He is tempted by how much two hundred thousand taels can help the people and how much can be done.

Elder Meng patted the emperor's hand and said, "My Meng family is dedicated to the country, and there will always be other officials who are dedicated to the country. The higher the position, the greater the ability. My Meng family works hard, and officials can't be useless. For example, Prince Hui and Prince Yu have to work harder, and there are also first-rank officials, second-rank officials, and several major families outside. They all have to work for the people. It's been a long time since our dynasty repaired water and built dams to benefit the people."

The emperor already understood what Lord Meng meant and said, "Come here, fetch a stool for Lord Meng to sit on."

Meng Ge Lao handed the banknote to Yu Huai and said, "You should be more sensible. I need to see how much money these ministers have given for the people."

Lord Meng’s move was ruthless, forcing several ministers to take out money.

A stool was quickly brought, and Lord Meng sat down facing the civil and military officials, helping the emperor to ask for money.

The emperor didn't say anything, so Meng Ge Lao asked, "Prince Hui, how much silver are you offering?"

Prince Hui said, "Lord, I am not good at business, and my only son is not very capable. I can't take much. If I say much, I still need the princess's dowry to supplement it."

Meng Ge Lao immediately said, "That won't do. It doesn't make sense for you to take my granddaughter's dowry. I'll give you a share."

Prince Hui smiled and said, "I also want to do my part and give you 30,000 taels. I don't care if the emperor gives me a reward or not."

Elder Meng nodded and said, "Thirty thousand is all we can do."

Elder Meng called out the name, jumped away from Prince Yu, and said to Gu Xingyan, "Where is Prince Yan?"

Gu Xingyan said: "The salary I get is all from my father. I don't have much money, so I asked my father to pay it to me."

The emperor couldn't help but say, "Look at what you have accomplished." Then he called Prince Yu by name and asked, "How much money did Prince Yu give?"

Prince Yu spoke, feeling sorry for the money, and said, "Your son and Prince Hui have the same money, thirty thousand taels."

The emperor nodded and asked, "How much will Prime Minister Cao pay?"

Lord Cao said, "I have a second son at home who can make a living, so I'll give him 20,000 taels."

Some things in Bian Jing are transparent. For example, if the Cao family has any business, they cannot escape, and they cannot go beyond Prince Yu. This number is the best.

Meng Ge Lao glanced at Xie Yunxiao and asked, "How much did General Qilin take?"

Xie Yunxiao said directly: "I don't have money."

Meng Ge was stunned and said with a smile: "If you don't have money, who has money?"

Xie Yunxiao knew that Meng Ge Lao was not confused, so he said, "My general's mansion is tightening its belt to make ends meet, and we rely on the money of my wife who married into the mansion. The elder knows that I have money, so I think he knows that my wife is powerful. I have money, but I have no face."

Meng Ge Lao said: "You are not afraid of the emperor getting angry if you serve as an official like this."

"I am just like this. I am poor, so I am poor. There is no reason to pretend to be rich."

It was reasonable. It was well known that the Baili family was poor. Besides, apart from the official title, General Qilin distributed all other rewards to his subordinates. There was no one in the court who did not speak well of him.

Her wife had understood this before. It was reasonable for someone to make some money from his business, and it was even more reasonable for him not to use his wife's money to enrich himself.

The emperor did not blame him, but called out the names of the officials behind him one by one until they all gave the number.

Seeing that things were not bad, Meng Ge Lao was in a good mood and stood up and said, "Your Majesty, my family is ashamed of you. There is no good candidate for an official position in my family. However, I will keep an eye on my old bones for you. If anyone is perfunctory to the court, I will report it immediately."

The emperor couldn't help but say: "It is a blessing for the court that the minister cares so much about it."

"Minister of Rites."

"The minister is here."

"Build a temple for Meng Ge Lao's hometown and give it the title of a first-class meritorious official's hometown, and spread the Ge Lao's deeds widely."

"Yes."

This is what it means to be worthy of being enshrined in the Taimiao. The achievements of Lord Meng should be emulated by future generations.

Today, the court has unprecedentedly asked officials to pay. Of course, this is not the end. The big families outside also have money. The name of repairing the water and building the dam is a good way to ask for money.

It was an honor for Meng Ge to leave the palace in the royal carriage.

However, Xie Yunxiao is always the troublemaker. The imperial court has money, but it still asks the Xie family for money. The money must be returned. What name should be used? Naturally, it is the name of raising troops. Officials cannot always do business at a loss.