How can I bow my head and serve the powerful officials?

Chapter 284 Hu Lai has a little secret, Xie Chengze is black on the outside but red on the inside

After Shen Yuan and Xie Jinyu left, Xie Chengze never asked about the affairs of the capital.

It was not until more than half a month later that Hu Lai rushed back to Zhuolu County and brought news from the capital, "Your Highness, the results of the palace examination have been announced. Lord Jing won the first place, Ouyang Jiu won the third place, Bian Yangchun ranked sixth, and Ji Songhua ranked fourteenth..."

"Gu Ying was the top military scholar. I heard that the prince wanted to recruit him to join the army. If he was willing to join the army, he would be awarded the rank of general. But Gu Ying refused, so he was only given the military officer title of Cheng Xin Lang."

"And guess what~" Hu Lai said mysteriously, "I heard that Ouyang Jiu is the grandson of the former Grand Protector and the son of the current Jingzhao Yin! The Grand Protector and the Grand Tutor followed Taizu to the war. The Grand Protector admired Taizu's courage to rebel, so he used his skills in studying military tactics to assist Taizu in suppressing the rebels. Later, when Taizu passed away, he retired and returned to his hometown."

Xie Chengze was a little surprised. "You said he was the son of Jingzhao Yin? Then why did he say he came from Jinzhou when he went to Yizhou?"

Zhu Xiaobiao, who was pouring hot water at the side, couldn't help but turn his head in surprise when he heard this.

At the Peach Blossom Banquet, Brother Ouyang said that he was a powerful official, and he thought he was bluffing, but he didn't expect it to be true?

But he came from Jinzhou, isn't he just an ordinary scholar? !

"Oh, that's because when Lord Ouyang was young, he was thin and sickly, and was often teased and bullied by the children of the noble families in the capital. Lord Jingzhao Yin sent him to the Jinzhou Taibao, hoping that a Taibao who was good at martial arts could teach him martial arts."

Hu Lai stroked his beard and explained, "You didn't expect it! Lord Ouyang is actually good at martial arts! He will probably inherit his father's skills as the third place winner of the imperial examination this time!"

Zhu Xiaobiao blinked.

It turns out that Brother Ouyang also knows martial arts. No wonder I dared to take him into the temple alone to wander around.

However, although I knew that Brother Ouyang was very talented, I didn't expect that he could actually pass the imperial examination and become the third place. If he becomes the Jingzhao Yin in the future, I guess his relationship with Jingze will become even better...

They are all scholars, talented writers. With Jingze's ability, he will definitely hold a high position in the court in the future. By then, his status and Jingze's will be very different. Only someone as outstanding as Brother Ouyang will be qualified to stand beside Jingze.

Zhu Xiaobiao sighed slightly in his heart, ignoring the subtle strange emotion in his heart.

It was quite good for him to work for His Highness, he was paid well and did little work, he didn't have to worry about losing his head, and he had two days off every seven days. His Highness also said that he had saved money for his retirement, and when he could no longer work, he would buy him a yard in the capital, so that he could live a wonderful retirement life listening to music and basking in the sun every day.

This is what many ordinary people dream of.

He is very contented.

Moreover, by following His Highness, one can learn a lot of unique knowledge. Zhu Xiaobiao feels that the teaching plans written by His Highness are much more useful than those flowery ancient books.

After talking about the students in Beijing, Hu Lai then talked about the final result of this "business trip".

"Your Highness, this time when I went out, I stole this amount of gold." Hu Lai stretched out eight fingers stealthily.

"Eight thousand taels of gold?" Xie Chengze's eyes lit up.

Hu Lai looked at Xie Chengze in dismay, "Your Highness! Why are you so stingy? It's eighty thousand taels!"

Xie Chengze spat out a mouthful of hot water, "How much? 80,000 taels of gold? Doesn't that mean 700,000 taels of silver?"

He used Jian'an's measurement system to count with his fingers, and then he was shocked, "2.5 tons of gold? How did you get it all by yourself?"

Sheng Shihuai's hideout wasn't just in one place. Hu Lai had only been gone for more than half a month. How did he manage to get so much money so quickly?

"Of course I rely on my connections! I didn't travel all over the country for nothing. I know many bank owners. They are all trustworthy friends. I moved the gold to their banks and stored it there. No matter where I go to withdraw money in the future, I just need to let them know."

Although other mechanisms in Jian'an were not well developed, the paper currency exchange ran extremely smoothly. Even silver bills from other places could be exchanged for local silver bills in another place. The silver that Xie Chengze had robbed was exchanged for silver bills in various places, and could still be used in Yizhou.

Xie Chengze couldn't help but narrow his eyes and looked at Hu Lai with great distrust.

Thinking of the particularly prosperous circulation of paper money in Jian'an, thinking of Hu Lai's twenty-eight concubines, thinking of Hu Lai's greed for money and the fact that he had to save money every month, he felt that there must be a secret here.

However, Xie Chengze did not intend to expose it.

Hu Lai was also very considerate and took out a stack of banknotes from his chest, winking and saying, "Your Highness, if you want, you can open a bank in the capital with these banknotes. If you are short of money in the future, you can always go to the bank to withdraw money."

Hu Lai said earnestly, "Money, it's safer to hold it in your own hands! You can not resume your status, attend court, or receive salary, but you must be independent in gold and silver! You must have savings!"

Xie Chengze: Ok, fine, you can shut up now.

Xie Chengze took out a few banknotes as his own money, and returned the rest to Hu Lai. "You can do what I told you to do before, but it's inconvenient for me to do it now, so you can just go and collect information first."

After saying that, he added cautiously, "Don't write the intelligence as a storybook! Write down the key points!"

Hu Lai nodded. This kind of information concerning "rich family gossip" would be very interesting even if it was not written into a storybook. It would be a waste of time to write it into a storybook.

However... Hu Lai glanced at the prince's guards who were staring at him from a distance, "Your Highness the Crown Prince and Lord Shen, didn't they tell you not to worry about it?"

Xie Chengze glared at him slightly, "You are my retainer."

Hu Lai: “Okay, okay.”

Xie Chengze patiently explained, "I think that if the court forcibly relocates the people, the effect will not be very good."

How many people would be willing to give up everything and leave their homes for such a large-scale migration? By then, the people would surely complain, thinking that the court was making a fuss, just trying to take away their land and houses, and then refuse to leave.

Officials cannot expect the people to be too smart, nor do they want the people to be too smart. After all, the ignorance of the people will allow those in power to better control the stability of the dynasty.

Therefore, if one wanted to persuade the people in ancient feudal society to migrate, it would be more effective to use some feudal superstitious practices.

Of course, I have to clarify that Xie Chengze himself does not advocate feudal superstition and crooked ways! He is a person who believes in democracy and science! He is the legitimate successor of socialism!

He was just taking advantage of the feudal era!

He himself is so red that he looks dark red!

The righteousness will bring out the evil!

……

After Hu Lai left, he arrived in Pingcheng within a few days and successfully connected with Zhu Xiaobiao's concubines. He sorted out the information that the concubines had collected from various places during this period, and then used the silver bills in his hand to start managing the maids and servants of various wealthy families.