Liu Jin's face was full of red light, and he still felt a hint of joy in his heart.

The greed for Zhu Houzhao's 100,000 taels of silver was gone, and even local civil chaos was made into an ironclad case, and his desires expanded again. Now he charged Chen Xi with the crime of "ineffective bandit suppression". He took advantage of the local victory and prepared to impeach Chen Xi in front of Zhu Houzhao.

Just at this moment, the eunuch who was passing the message came out.

The eunuch did not invite Liu Jin in directly, but instead came to Liu Jin's ear and said something.

Liu Jin's face changed.

"really?"

Liu Jin looked at the eunuch.

The eunuch who reported to the news nodded repeatedly: "Eunuch Liu is in front, how dare the villain deceive me? Your Majesty and Eunuch Guo are indeed saying so."

Liu Jin frowned and thought to himself: "Is the person in front of His Majesty who has always been unfavorable to our family is just a little knit? This dog is useless to trust our family in him!"

Zhu Houzhao didn't know that there were countless Liu Jin's eyeliners around him. Perhaps these people were not Liu Jin's people at all before, but Liu Jin was rich and arrogant, and with the rapid expansion of power at hand, it was easy to win people's hearts.

When Liu Jin entered, his face added a bit of fierceness.

Fortunately, Zhu Houzhao didn't say too much in front of the eunuch. Liu Jin didn't know the specific content of Zhu Houzhao's conversation with Xiao Tiaozi, but it just aroused his suspicion. When he appeared in front of Zhu Houzhao, Liu Jin immediately changed his expression, as if nothing had happened before.

"Your Majesty, please be happy."

After Liu Jin knelt down to pay his respects, he stood up and said with a smile, "News have just been heard from Xuanfu Town that the local people's chaos has been quelled, and the traitors' leaders have put the law on the spot!"

Before Liu Jin said this, he had already asked Zhang Cai and Sun Cong to deduce it in detail, so that there would be no omissions in the report. Especially for the people involved in the chaos, they would report to be killed on the spot. Otherwise, if Zhu Houzhao asked about it, the lies would be easily exposed.

Liu Jin knew that Zhu Houzhao was not without doubts about him, and he was determined to ensure that he could not miss it.

When Zhu Houzhao heard this, she was not as happy as Liu Jin imagined. She just asked quietly: "Has it calmed down? It's quite fast."

Because Zhu Houzhao's reaction was not right, Liu Jin felt that something must be strange, so he turned his head and glanced at Xiao Tiaozi, and concluded that it was this guy who was secretly making trouble. Then, Liu Jin said: "Your Majesty, this time, the local people's chaos is quelled, Xuanfu Town can be said to have made great contributions, especially Shangshu Chen, Governor Yang and others..."

As a last resort, Liu Jin could only change his words, afraid that continuing to attack Chen Xi would arouse Zhu Houzhao's suspicion. With his scheming and thoughtfulness, he quickly figured out this layer and decided to do the opposite. He said good things about Chen Xi in front of Zhu Houzhao to reduce his suspicion.

Zhu Houzhao sighed: "Oh, I have expected this result...Shangshu Chen is using troops like a god. He can handle it with ease whether it is the pirates along the southeast coast, the Tartars on the grassland, or the chaotic people in the southwest. What kind of climate can a few chaotic people in the local area become?"

Liu Jin shook his head and smiled bitterly. He used to respect Zhu Houzhao very much, but now he is full of disdain.

Why can you eat delicious food, drink spicy food, enjoy it freely, and I will be busy and busy to support you? Be a slave and a servant for you?

After the desire rapidly expanded, Liu Jin's mentality changed, and his attitude towards Zhu Houzhao also changed a little unconsciously. This is also the reason why Zhu Houzhao gradually became distant from him.

Because of Chen Xi's relationship, Zhu Houzhao always felt that Liu Jin was untrustworthy and was afraid of threatening his throne. If it weren't for this, Zhu Houzhao wouldn't have sent Xiao Taozi and Zhang Yong to investigate secretly.

Liu Jin was very angry and thought to himself: "You guy eat mine and use mine, but you always trust the boy named Chen. If I hadn't just changed my mind and attacked the boy named Chen according to the original plan, wouldn't you be suspicious again? You emperor is simply stubborn!"

Although Liu Jin complained deeply, his face looked very respectful and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, I have specially organized the meritorious ministers who have quelled the local people's chaos this time. Please read it..."

As he said that, Liu Jin submitted a memorial, but he suddenly remembered a question. He had just praised Chen Xi's merits, but he did not mention it in the merit book. However, it was too late to make up for it, so he could only submit the merit book. He was uneasy and began to think about countermeasures.

After Zhu Hou took care of the credit card, he found this problem and frowned and asked, "Why didn't you see Shangshu Tichen?"

Liu Jin said carefully: "Shangshu Chen's contribution is of course the greatest... As for the specific details, your Majesty, you must decide. I dare not make the decision..."

"Um."

Zhu Houzhao closed his eyes and pondered for a long time, and finally nodded, "It seems that Shangshu Chen has made great contributions in this battle, so it is better to offset his previous mistakes... Well, it means that he will repay his merits and demerits, so that he will return to the court to continue to serve as the Minister of War!"

When Liu Jin heard this, his body was shocked.

"How can this make? The boy named Chen has caused me countless troubles in Xuanfu. If he returns to the court, wouldn't I have to return to the previous situation of living with caution? No, no, I must not let that boy return to the court."

Thinking of this, Liu Jin immediately started yelling: "Your Majesty, no, absolutely not."

“Why?”

Zhu Houzhao's face was not very good-looking and shouted, "I want to praise Shangshu Chen. It was your request. Is it not the best choice to let him return to Beijing? Without Shangshu Chen in the court, let's see what the Ministry of War is in chaos!"

Liu Jin was speechless and thought to himself that the Ministry of War was very chaotic? Even if it was chaotic, how did you know? It was not something you imagined out of thin air! However, although he thought so in his heart, he said:

"Your Majesty, the Minister of Shangshu Chen has only been in Xuanfu for only three or four months. If he was recruited back to the court in such a short time, wouldn't it be a pity that the orders of the court will be changed every day? At that time, the ministers would question Your Majesty's majesty. It would be better to reward him in another way, so that he could not let His Majesty lose face, and he would not lose his morality."

Zhu Houzhao didn't want to believe Liu Jin, and he didn't want to worry about it. In the end, Liu Jin had to help him take care of the affairs in the court. Zhu Houzhao hesitated for a while and was still unable to make up his mind.

"Then... let's do what you said... But you have to say it, how to reward Shangshu Chen is the best way?" Zhu Houzhao asked.

While Liu Jin breathed a sigh of relief, he began to think quickly in his heart. After all, this was different from the preparations he had when he was performing his merits. At that time, he was devoted to tidying up the charges for Chen Xi, but now he had to come up with a reward method.

Liu Jin asked tentatively: "Why... give more silver to the Shen House?"

"Silver, why do you always mention silver? Do you think I have a lot of money and money, and I can't spend it? Tell you, I'm very tight recently... I'm angry when I talk about it. Are you Liu Jin very good at managing finances? Why haven't you seen you give me some money recently?"

Zhu Houzhao was immediately annoyed and even questioned, raising the question of the sharp drop in the amount of tribute silver Liu Jin had recently.

Liu Jin was frightened: "What should I do? I can't convert the money out of thin air... It seems that I can't completely obey Shang Zhi's words and stop accepting bribes... That's the big part of money. Since the interruption, our family feels too short of money! If we can't make more money, relying solely on ink will not satisfy this young master's appetite."

"Your Majesty, if you think it is inappropriate to give money, then give Shangshu Chen the title, such as... Earl." Liu Jin made a suggestion.

Zhu Houzhao thought for a while and said, "No, no, but if he would be rewarded with the title of Shangshu Chen now and when he leads troops to help me pacify the grassland in the future, wouldn't he want to be the king?"

Liu Jin didn't care about the title of Chen Xi, and even wanted to use the excuse of civil servants as "breaking the rules" to launch censors from the court and the public to attack, so that Chen Xi could stand on the opposite side of the scholars.

But now Zhu Houzhao seems to feel sorry for the title, which surprised Liu Jin very much. Isn’t it just a title? What’s wrong with so many nobles in the court? And as long as you open your mouth, someone will complete the imperial seal. There is nothing simpler than this, and this is not suitable?

Liu Jin was in a dilemma now, and he did not receive the approval of the silver or title of Zhu Houzhao. It seemed that the situation was not very good.

Zhu Houzhao shouted sternly: "Why don't you say that there is a way to have the best of both worlds?"

"Well……"

Liu Jin looked hesitant. He really didn't know how to answer Zhu Houzhao's aggressive questioning. However, Liu Jin was worthy of being able to be rampant for a while, and it was so urgent. As Zhu Houzhao pressed step by step, he had a flash of inspiration. He thought that he could accept the rewards of silver or titles. Now he was obviously trying to make things difficult.

Thinking of this, Liu Jin knew that he had aroused Zhu Houzhao's dissatisfaction.

Liu Jin was very cunning. After roughly thinking it through, he knew what to say: "Your Majesty, why not give the silver. Since the local rebellion has subsided, the silver that the wealthy businessmen and gentry around the capital can be used as His Majesty's daily expenses, and he can take out part of the reward to the Minister of Chen... Furthermore, the old slave will also raise money for His Majesty, so that His Majesty will be more generous."

Hearing this, Zhu Houzhao's face finally improved.

The portion of the silver that Liu Jin had embezzled before was about 100,000 taels. Besides, Liu Jin said that he could raise money, so Zhu Houzhao suddenly felt that his pockets were bulging.

"Um."

Zhu Houzhao nodded with satisfaction and said, "Since there is money, then give me a reward. This time I will give the Shen family one thousand taels, just treat it as my wish!"

...

...

In the past, Zhu Houzhao gave the Shen family rewards of five thousand taels, ten thousand taels or even twenty thousand taels.

At that time, Liu Jin was very distressed. This time, Zhu Houzhao only gave 1,000 taels. Liu Jin felt much more comfortable, but when he thought that the money he had finally intercepted was finally given to Zhu Houzhao for squandering, he was a little unhappy.

Why should you spend the money you have earned with your own hard work for others?

Liu Jin felt extremely distressed, so no matter what the court rules were, he began to think about how to make some investments from other places.

If he gives the emperor ten thousand taels, he will have to be greedy for 100 thousand taels, so that he can be more balanced. As for Zhang Cai's previous remarks, he would not accept bribes, and he left it behind.

Liu Jin took his leave, feeling unwilling to accept it. When he returned to the mansion, Zhang Cai and Sun Cong, who had come to discuss matters before, had not left yet and were waiting for his good news.

"Father-in-law, don't know the chaos in the local people in Xuanfu..."

Zhang Cai was a little nervous, after all, there were different voices in the court now.

Paper can never contain the fire. As more news about Xuanfu came, especially those merchants who were asked about peace and stability, the capital was already rumored that there was no civil unrest in the Xuanfu.

The person who received the most criticism was of course Liu Jin. Many people thought that this might be a way for Liu Jin to deal with Chen Xi.

Liu Jin's tone was not kind: "Your Majesty has no doubts, but our family found that there was an annoying nail in front of Your Majesty. Be sure to pull it out quickly!"

Sun Cong and Zhang Cai looked at each other, both puzzled.

Zhang Cai asked, "I don't know who it is?"

"It's probably a little knit, that is, the one who knits you say... He is an eunuch. Our family cannot accompany His Majesty. But this kid is with His Majesty day and night. He has been rewarded by His Majesty many times before. If he talks bad things about our family in front of His Majesty, over time, His Majesty will inevitably not have doubts about our family!" Liu Jin said.

Zhang Cai frowned: "A eunuch who has no specific duties dare not criticize his father-in-law in front of His Majesty, right? Unless it is..."

Speaking of this, Zhang Cai wanted to speak but stopped.

Liu Jin asked with a stern face: "Unless what?"

"Unless someone instructed me to do so behind my father-in-law," Zhang Cai said.

Liu Jin was shocked: "It must be so... Xiao Taozi has been serving His Majesty. Before, our family suspected that someone had reported the money that our family had deducted the silver donations of wealthy businessmen and gentry in the capital to His Majesty. After thinking about how to forget this kid? If he joined forces with Xie Yuqiao and others, wouldn't he be able to send the courtiers' memorial to His Majesty easily?"

Zhang Cai asked: "What is the father-in-law going to do with it?"

"hiss……"

Liu Jin took a breath of air conditioning and said, "You can't be too hasty. This kid is deeply trusted by His Majesty. It's too difficult to solve him silently. Things have to be discussed for a long time."

Zhang Cai nodded: "Now that the chaos in the Xuanfu has been finalized by His Majesty, so the matter will be much easier. I wonder how His Majesty deals with Shen Zhihou..."

Liu Jin slapped the table and said annoyedly: "It's so annoying that we were told. When we arrived at the Leopard Room, we realized that Your Majesty whispered to Xiao Tiaozi and said many things that ordinary people don't understand. Our family had no choice but to settle for the second best to show their merits for the surname Chen, so as not to doubt our family."

"This... is good." Zhang Cai was a little embarrassed, "Your Majesty will not propose that you want Shen Zhihou to return to the capital to continue to be the Minister of War?"

"How could you not mention it? Your Majesty has changed his orders every day, and he is so confused..."

Perhaps he felt that it was inappropriate to say bad things about the emperor in front of the ministers, Liu Jin stopped and said, "However, with our efforts, Your Majesty finally decided to reward silver. It doesn't take too much, one thousand taels of silver... But he had to send his Majesty at least 100,000 taels of silver, and it is estimated that it will still cost tens of thousands taels of silver in the future..."
To be continued...