After half a day of raising funds, the internal transport warehouse finally collected 5,000 taels of silver and prepared to deliver it to Chen Xi.

Zhu Houzhao was worried, so he asked someone to carry the silver to the Ganqing Palace first, count it in person, and after confirming that it was correct, his face finally looked a little better.

He was satisfied, and the eunuchs and officials in charge of the inner treasury seemed to be constipated, and everyone had indescribable pain on their faces.

Zhu Houzhao said: "After all you can do is do things. Why don't you send them to Mr. Chen quickly?"

Zhang Yuan walked forward: "Your Majesty, is this matter delaying? The money... is better to use it in the leopard room."

Zhu Houzhao said angrily: "What is this? You want me to break my word in front of the ministers, right? Don't delay any further. I will send the silver to Mr. Chen immediately, and there must be no delay!"

"Yes, your Majesty!"

Li Xing, the eunuch in the Inner Carrier's seal, asked someone to carry the silver box away. Zhang Yuan looked at the box away and felt extremely distressed. The five thousand taels of silver almost made the inner warehouse sell. It is true that there is still some money on the books of the leopard house, but once the supply from the inner warehouse is exhausted, the huge leopard house can only be stopped.

Zhang Yuan watched the person carrying the box walk away when he suddenly heard Zhu Houzhao ask: "Zhang Yuan, do you think I have done a bit too much in this matter?"

"ah?"

Zhang Yuan didn't expect that Zhu Houzhao would start to self-examination in the blink of an eye. He quickly turned around and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, you did nothing wrong. You are rich all over the world. Rewarding Lord Shen is just a matter of one word."

Zhu Houzhao asked with a squinted eyes: "Do you really think so?"

Zhang Yuan felt very wronged, but now he could only follow Zhu Houzhao's words: "How dare I deceive Your Majesty?"

Zhu Houzhao asked again: "Then tell me why the inner treasury was deficit so quickly after Liu Jin left? Could it be that these officials were corrupt and abused their power and fed their own pockets? Or was there any other reason?"

Faced with the questions raised by the emperor, Zhang Yuan found that he was clumsy and wanted to say something, but he was afraid of his head and tail and did not dare to say it clearly.

Zhu Houzhao shouted sternly: "I asked you, didn't you hear me?"

Zhang Yuan gritted his teeth and said, "Your Majesty, Eunuch Liu is in court. If you don't corruption and abuse the law, you may not have so much money for Your Majesty to call."

"What did you say?"

Zhu Houzhao glared at Zhang Yuan, as if she wanted to choose someone to eat him.

Zhang Yuan immediately knelt on the ground, kowtowed constantly, and didn't even dare to say anything.

Zhu Houzhao sat back behind his desk, panting there for a long time, and when his breath was a little calmer, he said: "No wonder Mr. Chen came to me to talk about Liu Jin's affairs. Not only did Liu Jin hide anything from the border war report, but he also had corruption and abuse of power in daily life?"

Zhang Yuan heard that Zhu Houzhao's tone was not certain at all, but was questioned. Obviously, Zhu Houzhao didn't even believe Chen Xi's words.

He murmured in his heart: "Not that? Liu Jin, who came back from greedy money, didn't all his money be filled with his personal pockets. Most of them were sent to the inner treasury, and even to the leopard room, just to buy the emperor's heart. Now he can see the effect of his preparations... If it were someone else, who would have invested so much money?"

Zhu Houzhao asked Zhang Yuan again: "Zhang Yuan, have you given Liu Jin money usually?"

Zhang Yuan thought about it. Although Liu Jin did whatever he wanted in the court and even accepted bribes in the palace, he had never spent any money because he was standing opposite Liu Jin and sending money to curry favor with Liu Jin was really taking off his pants and farting.

Zhang Yuan replied: "Your Majesty, I have never given money to Eunuch Liu, but in the palace... there are many people who give gifts to Eunuch Liu."

Zhu Houzhao seemed very impatient: "Do you have conclusive evidence for these things?"

Zhang Yuan was speechless when asked. If there was evidence, he did, but there was no physical evidence. He needed to confront those who bribed him. How could those who were willing to come?

"Oh, it seems that Your Majesty would rather believe that Liu Jin manages the government with real skills and fills the internal treasury, rather than relying on evil things... If I continue to attack Liu Jin, wouldn't it add fuel to the fire? Don't burn myself in the end!"

Zhang Yuan shook his head: "There is no evidence."

"Then you are so sure? It's really unreasonable!" Zhu Houzhao asked angrily.

Just at this moment, a eunuch came in and reported: "Your Majesty, Xie Qian, the chief assistant of the cabinet, asked for a visit."

Zhu Houzhao was surprised at first, and then asked, "Xie Shaofu? What are he doing? Is there any important court affairs? Have you asked what happened?"

The eunuch said, "I have never asked about it."

"Then I'll ask clearly first. I'm in a bad mood today and don't want to meet the ministers... Hey, it's so strange. Young Master Xie doesn't come to see me normally. Today I just returned to Qianqing Palace, so he came... Oh, forget it, go to see Master Xie, tell him that I'm tired and need to rest and rest, and I'll announce his visit to you next day!"

Zhu Houzhao initially thought there was some emergency military situation, so she wanted to ask clearly before confirming whether to see Xie Qian.

But then he thought about it, the Ministry of War would report the emergency military information, not the cabinet. In this way, no matter what happened to Xie Qian, he would not want to receive him.

The eunuch went out to inform Xie Qian, while Zhu Houzhao sat behind the desk, thinking about the expenses of the internal warehouse.

After a while, Zhu Houzhao asked, "Zhang Yuan, do you think anyone except Liu Jin can manage the internal warehouse so that my warehouse can be filled with it so that I will not be embarrassed today?"

Zhang Yuan originally wanted to recommend himself, but after thinking about it carefully, he could not make money as crazy as Liu Jin, and it was easy to recommend himself. If he couldn't do his job, he would cause trouble for himself.

But he was even more unwilling to accept that Liu Jin might return to the court because of this.

"Why don't you answer me?" Zhu Houzhao said sternly.

Zhang Yuan replied with a bitter face: "Reply to Your Majesty, if Your Majesty trusts you... you can let me give it a try!"

Zhu Houzhao looked at Zhang Yuan in surprise, and after a while, he said, "That's right. If you don't try it, how can you know if others are good? If I transfer Liu Jin back immediately, there will inevitably be many objections in the court. So why don't you try it? Don't you want to join the Silijian? I give you this opportunity. If you can manage the internal treasury and make my money more abundant, I will join the Silijian, and even let you serve as the Silijian in charge of the seal!"

Zhang Yuan was very excited after hearing this.

Zhu Houzhao gave him an excellent opportunity to rise to power. As long as he could manage the inner treasury and get enough money for the emperor to spend, he would get the status he had always dreamed of.

"I must do my best..." Zhang Yuan wanted to say something more certain, but when he thought of the difficulties, he could only say that.

Zhu Houzhao personally corrected him: "It's not that I will do my best, but that I will devote myself to my life until I die. Do you think I will give you a chance? If you can't do it, it's better to come and see you... Humph, I don't want to keep idle people. For you, success or failure is a matter of success or failure!"

"Here!"

In the end, Zhang Yuan could only agree with a bitter face.

...

...

Zhu Houzhao is in a hurry to re-activate Liu Jin because of the inventories.

Xie Xing entered the palace and was very worried. He was very worried. It was not until the afternoon that he received news from the internal surveillance that Zhu Houzhao ordered Zhang Yuan to temporarily take charge of the internal treasury and raise silver for the royal family.

At this time, Xie Qian was meeting with Tu Xun at the Ministry of Justice. He wanted to go to the palace with Tu Xun to meet Empress Dowager Zhang. After receiving the news, Xie Qian finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Tu Xun smiled and said, "Yu Qiao, everyone said you don't have to be too nervous. Liu Jin is still in Xuanfu now. Before he gets military achievements, His Majesty will not be able to transfer him back to the palace, otherwise wouldn't he go back on his word?"

Xie Qian's face was cold: "Since His Majesty ascended the throne, have you done less to go back on your word?"

Tu Xun looked a little embarrassed and said, "But at least this time, it is quite reliable for Your Majesty to ask Zhang Yuan to take the errands in the inner court. Zhang Yuan has something to do with his relatives after all. It shouldn't be difficult to help Your Majesty raise some silver, right?"

"If you were to do this job, would you be confident?" Xie Qian looked at Tu Xun and asked.

Tu Xun couldn't answer this question at all. He shook his head and said, "Isn't Yu Qiao a difficult person? I am the Minister of Justice and I am responsible for the verdict of the prison. How could I take care of the escort responsibilities in the treasury? Alas! Speaking of which, this matter has a lot to do with the Ministry of Revenue, but the Ministry of Revenue..."

Tu Xun's words were only half said, implying that the Ministry of Revenue is still under control by the eunuch party.

Xie Qian slowed down and said, "Even if Liu Jin is missing, the power of the eunuch party should not be underestimated. If Liu Jin, the eunuch party leader, returns to the court, the impact will still be huge. You and I will be worried day and night again at that time..."

Tu Xun laughed: "With Yu Qiao, what am I afraid of? Since this matter has been successfully resolved, Yu Qiao, you can go back with peace of mind. Now that the Sili Supervisor is not in charge of affairs and the cabinet is busy, you should take on the responsibility of the chief minister of the cabinet, and don't let the world down."

Xie Qian did not feel very honored when he was wearing a high hat.

Xie Qian pondered for a while, and then reminded him before leaving: "Liu Jin had not reached his hand to the Ministry of Justice before. The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of War have basically formed a trend of echoing. If I have been in trouble these days, if you want to work together with Zhihou, you can't let the eunuch party succeed!"

Tu Xun frowned: "Yu Qiao, your tone is always the same as your life after you are. It's really hard to understand. With you here, why bother to worry about our ministries? And so strong... He is young and energetic. If he continues to fight with the eunuch party, he will suffer the consequences!"

Xie Qian sneered: "Attendance? Don't take advantage of this kid! Look at who is the most glorious person in Liu Jinli's court now. If you want him to retreat, I'm afraid it won't be that easy!"

Tu Xun said: "Why should Yu Qiao have such a big prejudice against a young man?"

"You are not familiar with him."

Xie Qian said earnestly, "This kid has many tricks and extraordinary strategies. However, I can't be in the throne for ten or twenty years. Otherwise, I will definitely look at him and don't let him do anything out of order! I had to deal with Liu Jin before, and he proposed a national policy of military and military force to win the hearts of His Majesty. If the eunuch party forces are eliminated, the national policy matters will be abolished, and this matter must be put on the agenda!"

...

...

Xie Qian was already thinking about how to limit Shen Xi's power.

Shen Xi was very clear about his situation. He had good luck and had great power before, because Xie Qian wanted to use him to fight with the eunuch party. Even if Xie Qian did not agree to the national policy of pacifying the grassland for two years, he still gritted his teeth and agreed, and even helped him suppress the criticism of the court and the country.

As soon as Liu Jin falls, Xie Qian, as the chief minister of the cabinet, will first stand up and question the reforms implemented by Chen Xi.

Chen Xi knew that Zhang Yuan was in charge of the escort responsibilities and found that he was in trouble. Fortunately, Zhang Yuan first thought of the person seeking help, not his nephew, but the Marquis of Shouning and Marquis of Jianchang.

Even before meeting these two relatives, Zhang Yuan was called by Empress Dowager Zhang to question.

Empress Dowager Zhang has been in charge of court affairs for a long time. Because of marrying the queen for her son, the mother and son had conflicts. Zhu Houzhao even deliberately avoided her for a long time, and her daily routine greetings were cancelled. Empress Dowager Zhang seemed bored in the harem alone. She went to meet the Empress Dowager today, and went to meet the daughter-in-law who was no one loved tomorrow, or teased her little daughter in Ciqing Palace. Life went day by day.

In order to dismiss Wei Bin, Empress Dowager Zhang was worried a lot.

She was afraid that her relationship with her son would deteriorate further, and even afraid that her son would call Wei Bin again. This was equivalent to publicly slapping her in the face, and even making the conflict between mother and son public.

But in the end, Zhu Houzhao did not talk about Wei Bin anymore, and the control of the Sanqian Camp also fell into Zhang Yuan's hands. Zhu Houzhao said before that he would deprive Zhang Yuan of the East Factory and Jinyiwei of the Jinyiwei, but it was not implemented in the end. Now that Zhang Yuan controls the inner treasury again, Empress Dowager Zhang finally felt completely relieved.

After calling Zhang Yuan, Empress Dowager Zhang asked through the screen.

Zhang Yuan was outside the screen and could only see people inside, as if not only Empress Dowager Zhang was alone. According to Zhang Yuan’s guess, it was probably Empress Xia inside. The nominal Lord of the Six Palaces had never enjoyed the treatment he deserved after entering the palace.

Zhang Yuan thought to himself: "Is it because the Queen Mother wants to cultivate her daughter-in-law and listen to how she disciplines her servants?"

The voice of Empress Dowager Zhang came from behind the screen: "...Zhang Yuan, you are considered an old member of Kunning Palace. The Ai family promoted you from a servant eunuch because you were a family member of the Ai family. Later, you asked you to go to the Ganqing Palace and then go to the Xiefang Palace to serve the prince. I never thought that you could have such ability today and become a celebrity in front of the emperor..."

When Zhang Yuan heard this compliment, he quickly said respectfully: "It's all up to the Queen Mother's cultivation. I just do my best to do something."

Empress Dowager Zhang smiled and said, "As long as it is cultivated by the Ai family, everyone knows how to do things. The Ai family is very pleased with this. There are so many eunuchs in this palace, and no one in the Ai family will promote you. Isn't it because you have the intention of doing things, and I specially recommend it to you in front of the late emperor?"

“Yes, yes!”
To be continued...