Chapter 34: Deliberations in the Study
The tax silver case behind the black hand is the minister Zhou .... Xu Pingzhi smashed the coffee table with a slap, stood up angrily, eyes wide open, opened his mouth to curse, but it was as if there was something stuck in his throat.
Xu New Year looked at his impotent and furious father, his handsome face unusually serious, "Is the information reliable?"
Xu Qi'an nodded, "One of the chief officials in charge of the tax and silver case, Chu Caiwei of the Divisional Superintendent told me."
He relayed Chu Caiwei's words.
Xu New Year lifted his teacup and put it down again, musing, "So it seems that what happened today was not by chance, but rather Zhou's deliberate retaliation."
It can be, worthy of being a scholar who can pass the Lifter's exam, his brain is very good.
Xu Qi'an was somewhat pleased, knowing that this conversation would not be in vain.
If it was just Uncle Xu, he wouldn't have brought up this secret talk, that would have been pointless.
Because when Second Uncle was pushed, he would only say: if you are a brother, follow me to chop people.
It couldn't be helped, after all, he was a crude martial artist, he was good at chopping people, but he was blind when it came to counting people, different areas of specialization.
Xu Qi'an quizzed, "What does Er Lang have to say."
Xu New Year glanced at his cousin and frowned, seemingly dissatisfied with the tone of his examination, and did not have the good sense to say:
"What to do? Of course it's strike first and suffer later."
It can be ah .... Xu Qi'an was taken aback, it was hard to imagine that Xu New Year would say something as murderous and decisive as this.
Hearing this, Uncle Xu Er, who considered himself to be the head of the family and the backbone of the household, felt that he could not remain silent and reprimanded his son:
"Put away your ignorant and arrogant thoughts, not to mention that you are a mere lifer, even if you were to win the Scholarship, you would not be able to mess with the Minister of the Household."
As soon as he finished speaking, he was coldly overruled by his nephew: "I think Erlang's idea is right."
Xu Qi'an continued, "What we have offended is not Zhou Li, but the Minister of the Household, Zhou Xianping. Zhou Li may not dare to retaliate again, but what about the Minister of the Household?"
"Not only did we break his favor, but we also injured his first son, this is a debt that, as long as one is a person with fireworks, there is absolutely no reason to endure. Furthermore, how is the Xu Mansion any different from a mole cricket in Squire Zhou's eyes? There is even less reason for him to spare us."
Xu Pingzhi was unconvinced, "It's not right, we can't fight Servant Zhou. Ning Banquet, you've befriended the White Cloth of the Divine Constabulary, and New Year is a student of the Cloud Deer Academy, by relying on these two relationships, as long as we are peaceful, no one will dare to mess with us."
Is that really the case?
Xu Qi'an reminded, "You may not know, Second Uncle, that the white clothes of the Si Tian Supervisor do not meddle in the political affairs of the court."
Xu Ru Lao continued, "Wasn't I also a student of Yunlu Academy during the tax and silver case? Today, big brother was able to come back because Zhou Li did not take advantage of the situation and his tactics were too lowly, but if it was Servant Zhou who took action, another tax and silver case, and reasonably and legally made the Xu family full of people, would the Sitian Supervisors and Cloud Deer Academy be able to hijack the prison for us? Fight against the Great Feng Law for us?"
Feeling that the majesty of the head of the family suffered a shock, Xu Pingzhi's brows furrowed, "But what are we going to do against the Minister of the Ministry of the Household, the Hall of the Fourth Grade ...."
I don't know, I'm just a simple traveler .... Xu Qi'an turned his gaze to his handsome little old brother:
"What does Erlang think?"
Xu New Year fell silent, and after a long time, when Xu Pingzhi was getting impatient, he slowly said, "I've just been thinking about something."
"The tax silver was robbed, and the Emperor was thunderstruck, obviously taking the silver seriously. It stands to reason that the culprits will be severely punished."
"Didn't those two yakuza commit suicide in fear of punishment." Xu Pingzhi said.
Looking at his old man, Xu New Year ignored him and continued, "What I can think of are two possibilities, one: there are still backers behind the Minister of the Household. Two: the Emperor has concerns, like trying to maintain some sort of delicate balance."
"Big brother said that the Minister of the Household Department impeached Servant General Zhou for embezzling money and grain from the treasury. Why didn't he impeach the other minister and not the Minister of the Household?"
Xu Qi'an's heart stirred, "Squire Zhou's political enemies are dealing with him?"
Xu Xinnian nodded, "Teacher said that from ancient times to the present, the core of imperial techniques is always balance. The fact that the Emperor has not moved Servant Zhou means that this is likely to involve party rivalry."
"What then?" Second Uncle Xu subconsciously asked.
Xu Qi'an stroked his chin, pondering, "Imperial mind tricks might work in normal times, but right now, with the Beijing Inspection on the horizon, as long as we can seize Servant Zhou's handle, there's a great possibility that we can get rid of him, and the Beijing Inspection is an ancestral system, so even the Emperor can't be bent on having his own way. The core of the Confucian art of dragon slaying is the word "etiquette". So Squire Zhou's political enemies won't stop there."
Xu New Year was taken aback, he didn't expect the words "Dragon Slaying Technique" to pop out of his rough cousin's mouth, is this still the same fast-handed cousin?
.... I just watch a lot of costume dramas! Xu Qi Min said.
Of course, it was also partly due to studying more history.
History books are the essence of human culture, and by studying history intensively, you will learn a lot from it.
History books were also the most useless things, because the only lesson humans learned from history was that humans couldn't learn anything from history.
Xu Qi'an, who loved to read history, originally scoffed at this statement, but later realized that there was some truth to it.
The reason was that when he was studying, his parents and teachers always said bitterly: you have to study hard and study hard, or you will regret it in the future.
No one took it seriously.
It was not until he experienced setbacks and was severely beaten by society that he came to his senses.
Xu Qi'an's cousin is a non-student, failed to go to sea business, he once blurted out: you have to study hard, or you will regret it in the future.
After saying that he suddenly froze.
Xu New Year's chin raised, with the tone of the examination, "Then what does big brother think should be done."
You really refuse to give in .... If as the main female character, this arrogant character is not very pleasing .... I prefer the 36D pampered and cute imperial sister .... Xu Qi'an mentally spat out a sentence and said with a self-conscious expression:
"Why did Servant Zhou create the tax and silver case? It's surely not corruption, because corruption is always possible, so why bother to top the winds and waves of the Beijing inspection?"
"Unless he was in dire need of a sum of silver and needed the money to fill the hole, and the reason for filling the hole was precisely to deal with the Beijing Inspection." Xu Qi'an gave full play to his logical reasoning ability.
"So?" The corner of Xu New Year's mouth quirked.
So we need to find out the real reason why Servant Zhou embezzled tax silver, and we need to solve the case so that Servant Zhou has nothing to hide and confesses to the crime .... Xu Qi'an was about to say this, when he suddenly saw Erlang Xu's smiling eyes, so he didn't say anything.
"I see!" Uncle Xu Erlang slapped his thighs and sputtered with excitement, "That's why we're going to expose this matter, so that Surname Zhou has nothing to hide."
He was so excited that he felt like his brain was finally working for once.
I'm not stupid either .... Uncle Xu thought triumphantly.
Xu New Year let out a "heh", "Father is thinking that with your identity as a Hundred Households of the Imperial Sword Guards, you can investigate the Minister of the Ministry of the Interior in a dignified manner, and have access to the Ministry of the Interior's dossier?"
Xu Pingzhi's face instantly stiffened.
Xu Dalang let out a "Heh", "Of course it's impossible."
Many thanks to Second Uncle for making a trip through the mines.
Xu New Year, who had failed to intellectually suppress his cousin, was somewhat dissatisfied and pressed, "Then what does elder brother think should be done?"
Xu Qi'an's fingertips lightly clasped the desktop, "Drive away the tiger and swallow the wolf, the main force against Servant Zhou isn't us, what we need to do is the last straw that crushes the camel."
As for how to do it, he hadn't thought about it yet.
Not bad ..... Xu New Year nodded approvingly and interjected, "Taking another step back, we don't have to deal with Servant Zhou, the Hall's fourth ranked officer, with all his heart and wrists, it's not the current us that can deal with it, but people have weaknesses."
Xu Qi'an's eyes lit up, excitedly high-fiving, "Zhou Li!"
"Yes, compared to Squire Zhou, that dude Zhou Li is better to deal with, the impeachment charge is not sufficient, then we will create the charge. Pass the knife to Zhou Xianping's political opponents and have them help us decapitate Zhou Xianping." Xu New Year's brilliant star-like eyes flashed with a sinister color:
"The Beijing Inspection is around the corner, if Squire Zhou's son does anything that would cause heavenly fury, as a father, Zhou Xianping can hardly absolve himself of the blame. The Emperor is willing to bail out once, but may not be willing to bail out a second time."
Speaking here, Xu New Year frowned, "Although this entry point is good, it's just that people aren't fools, and the means of planting evidence may not work."
Uncle Xu Er listened to his son and nephew, one after the other, suddenly realizing that he, the head of the family, had been sidelined to the fringes of this close conversation, unable to interject at all.
But as his son dissected the layers, Uncle Xu's thoughts became clearer and clearer, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt it was possible. He couldn't help but tap the table in excitement:
"My son's resignation has the qualifications of a chief minister."
Could it be that your nephew I don't have the qualifications of a prime minister? Xu Qi'an slanted a glance at his second uncle, taking the opportunity to diss Erlang Xu:
"Erlang ah, that's why it's said that a scholar's empty talk is wrong for the country, and it's hard for you to escape the norm."
The corners of Xu Erlang's mouth twitched as he said sarcastically, "Please ask elder brother for advice."
Xu Qi'an wasn't flustered at all, "I can't give a ready solution, but I can provide a line of thought."
Second Uncle Xu said anxiously, "Speak quickly."
