Chapter 1562

Chatting as they walked, they arrived at the plaza of the Yuxi Palace.

Chen Hong said: "I heard Minister Wang sent the Old Ancestor and Huang Jin to their final resting place?"

"Exactly." Wang Yan nodded with a smile. "In the fortieth year of Jiajing, after I entered the capital, I received much care from the two of them. For fourteen years, we have served the late Emperor together. Now that they have retired and are guarding the late Emperor's spirit, it is only right that I, their old friend, see them off."

"Eunuch Chen is also a person of deep feeling. You are already in charge of the Ceremonial Secretariat, yet when you mention Eunuch Lü, you still call him 'Old Ancestor'. It is truly a sincere heart. It is a pity Eunuch Lü doesn't know, otherwise he would be quite happy."

"Minister Wang is scolding me." Chen Hong replied, imitating Wang Yan's previous tone, and said, "Although we are people without roots, we are not people without virtue. The Old Ancestor is the foster father I acknowledged, so he is my foster father for life. Without the Old Ancestor's promotion, I would not be where I am today. Even if you, Minister Wang, hadn't sent him off, I would never have let anyone bully the Old Ancestor."

"That is the logic."

"However, Minister Wang, I must say a word to you. Now that the new Emperor has ascended the throne, there are many affairs. You are the Minister of Revenue; at such a critical time, throwing away a pile of things in the capital to send the Old Ancestor to the Chaotian Temple to pick up Yang Jinshui, then sending them to their final resting place, and even staying overnight, delaying two days in coming and going, is truly inappropriate.

People couldn't find you, and upon asking, they said you had left the city to pay respects to the late Emperor; the Master was quite angry..."

Wang Yan chuckled: "Oh my, then I must beg the Emperor for forgiveness; let's hurry, let's hurry."

"Hey, that is not necessary. I have already helped you, Minister, explain to the Master. The Master also knows that you were promoted by the late Emperor's own hand and have been entrusted with heavy responsibilities for so many years, and your feelings for the late Emperor are extraordinary, so paying respects is reasonable. But from now on, you must never disregard the overall situation like this again. Minister Wang, don't you agree?"

"I say thank you, Eunuch Chen, for helping me speak well; from now on, we must be close."

"Isn't that it? Only if you and I are of one heart can we serve the Master, the Emperor, well, suppress those treacherous officials, and make our Great Ming better."

After chatting and laughing a few more times, the two walked across the plaza and entered the Yuxi Palace.

Wang Yan really hadn't been to this great hall for some years. After all, over the past many years, with sufficient funds, the palace complex here in the West Garden, when viewed from the Jingshan Hill behind, already had a very layered, row-upon-row feeling; it was quite spectacular.

Up close, the feeling was a bit worse; after all, for fire prevention, the spacing between the palaces was very large, and it was relatively empty. Only by looking from a distance could one reflect the wealth and magnificence.

Stepping over the threshold, turning through the corridor, they arrived at the second threshold. Wang Yan waited at the threshold, and Chen Hong went inside to announce him.

A moment later, Chen Hong came out and gestured with his hand: "Please, Minister Wang."

Wang Yan followed Chen Hong inside and saw Longqing by the imperial desk in the back.

"Subject, Wang Yan, pays respects to Your Majesty."

After Wang Yan kowtowed once, Longqing waved his hand: "Exempt from ceremony."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Wang Yan stood up and bowed, then stood still with his hands tucked into his sleeves, not looking at Longqing, his eyes falling on the table in front of him. On the table was a large pile of documents, and Wang Yan's abnormal eyesight allowed him to see that these were the Great Ming quarterly, semi-annual, and annual financial reports produced under his direction in recent years, as well as the inner court reports pushed out simultaneously by the Ceremonial Secretariat...

"I heard you went to my father's final resting place?"

"Exactly, to send off Eunuch Lü and Eunuch Huang, and to pay respects to the late Emperor."

"You are a person of heart; it is no wonder my father gave you great power." Longqing said, "When my father was about to leave, he also entrusted me to use you heavily, saying you are loyal to the monarch and the country, and brave in taking on responsibilities. That our Great Ming can have today's prosperity is largely due to your credit."

"It was all the late Emperor's strategic planning; I was merely the executor. How dare I covet the credit of heaven?"

"You don't need to be too humble; everyone knows you exchanged your life for it. You've been assassinated forty times by now, haven't you?"

"Replying to Your Majesty, forty-seven times. The most recent time was when the late Emperor was critically ill; I suppose it was because people did not want Your Majesty to use me heavily."

"I will not only use you, but I will also have you enter the Grand Secretariat." Longqing looked at the humble Wang Yan and couldn't help but think of their first meeting at the Prince's mansion years ago.

At that time, he was still a small prince whose succession was not yet determined, and Wang Yan was still just a small Magistrate of Daxing...

He said, "You are promoted to Minister of Revenue and will be a Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion; what do you think?"

Wang Yan took a step back and kowtowed decisively.

"Subject thanks Your Majesty for the heavy use; I will surely serve with my life. Long live, long live, long live the Emperor."

"Get up."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Longqing said: "I have looked at the accounts. In the years you have been in charge of the Ministry of Revenue, our Great Ming's annual revenue has increased more and more. You also allocate over four million taels of silver to the inner treasury every year..."

Wang Yan interrupted Longqing: "It is almost the end of the year. The Ministry of Revenue and the Royal Bank are both auditing accounts, and all departments and offices are also auditing accounts to make expenditure budgets for next year. Currently, it is not advisable to lightly move the national treasury. If I remember correctly, in the first half of the year, I allocated three million taels of silver to the inner treasury, plus the inner court's own income, there should be over five million taels of silver by now.

After the late Emperor's health gradually weakened, he stopped engaging in any major projects. This year's inner court expenditures are at most three million taels of silver; at this time, there should still be three million taels of silver. It is enough for Your Majesty to spend until next year. Your Majesty should first make do with this money; when the accounts are audited and plans are made, the Ministry of Revenue will allocate more silver next year. If the inner treasury does not have three million taels of cash, then Your Majesty should manage the inner court..."

Chen Hong said: "Master, rest assured, this servant is currently rectifying the servants below, teaching them the rules, and letting them know who the Master is. Knowing what can be taken and what cannot. These matters need not trouble Grand Secretary Wang."

"Oh my, Eunuch Chen is cursing again; isn't this not yet officially entering the Grand Secretariat?"

"The Master has already spoken; isn't that just a matter of time, Grand Secretary Wang."

Wang Yan chuckled and bowed to Longqing: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your great grace; I will surely serve with my life."

"I still trust you. My father said you are the person who thinks most for Great Ming, even more dedicated than he, the Emperor."

"Subject is also working for the late Emperor and for Your Majesty. The late Emperor and Your Majesty are Great Ming, so naturally, I am working for Great Ming."

Longqing smiled, nodded with satisfaction, and then changed the subject: "Hu Zongxian has been Governor of Jiliao for over three years. What are your thoughts on his arrangement?"

"How could I have any thoughts? We are all Your Majesty's subjects; how to arrange it is entirely up to Your Majesty's heart. However, I must say one thing: Hu Zongxian is no longer young; he is already sixty-three. It is not appropriate for him to be stationed outside anymore."

"If you have thoughts, say them; be more direct. Everyone says you are the most direct in speaking; why are you so long-winded now?" Longqing seemed a bit annoyed. He said, "Let him come back to take charge of the Ministry of War. Both of you know how to govern the army and can win battles. The Jiliao border army is managed very well and is now a strong army of our Great Ming. Zhang Juzheng and the others intend to reform the army; you two should discuss it first."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Seeing Longqing nod and start drinking tea, Wang Yan sensibly bowed and walked away...

Once Prince Yu became Longqing, he changed.

After dealing with some cognitive problems, he actually came directly to Wang Yan to ask for money. Obviously, he also wanted to have some major actions. Similarly, it was also because he saw how easily his own father got money from Wang Yan, and he also wanted to get more money from Wang Yan. Perhaps how to spend money was something he had considered and planned for a long time.

The Longqing Emperor in history was like this; the change before and after ascending the throne was very large. It might be that the pressure brought to him by the Jiajing Emperor was too great. The so-called "two dragons do not meet" meant he had no father-son affection for Jiajing, only fear of the great terror. This made him repressed.

At the same time, his desire for power made him pretend to be a good person and hide his true self. And because of such repression, his thinking became more distorted.

Now that Jiajing had cooled down and he had ascended the throne, the transition of power had passed smoothly, and his sense of insecurity had faded. There was no one above him to suppress him, no more great terror, and the many desires he had hidden began to emerge...

So much so that he dared to directly ask Wang Yan for silver to spend.

The smooth transition of power did not mean he truly mastered power. The source of power was not his name as "Emperor".

Jiajing could take money from the national treasury to spend, and the Grand Secretariat would not easily fart; did Longqing think he could do it too?

Of course, Wang Yan was of the Emperor's faction, and he did not refuse Longqing's request; he was still willing to give money.

The new treasure notes had been issued for ten years and had been promoted throughout the entire Great Ming, and the surrounding four barbarians also accepted the treasure notes very well; they circulated widely and were quite strong.

And in the past three years, Great Ming had completed tax law reform, completed nationwide land clearing, population checking, and commercial tax collection, exempted corvée labor, etc., fully alleviating the pressure on the common people and releasing potential. With the positive development of the economy and the development of the Great Voyages, the entire Great Ming would be in a long-term economic growth period.

Then, under such circumstances, as long as a healthy recycling mechanism was guaranteed, treasure notes could really be printed at will. How much could the Emperor spend? If he wanted to spend ten million, Wang Yan dared to print it for him.

The requirement was also very simple: as long as this money was really spent, whether it was used for procurement or hiring labor, or even if it was embezzled by people below, they would always have to spend it. As long as it was spent, it could become the wealth of the common people and could settle down to become the accumulation of Great Ming.

Of course, he certainly wouldn't give that much; there should be restrictions where there should be. Jiajing had a number when he wanted money, and had a limit when spending money; what more did Longqing have? He would never have the ability of Jiajing.

As for Longqing wanting to start courting death through extravagance and debauchery, then let him court death. Even if he were sent away by the civil official group, Wang Yan would not stop him.

It was still that sentence: he had already stabilized his position during the Jiajing period and had found his positioning. At that time, he was already indispensable and irreplaceable. Then Jiajing's utility value was already gone, and it was the same when changed to the current Longqing.

Wang Yan no longer cared who was Emperor; it was the same whoever it was. With him here, the power of imperial authority could no longer extend; now he already had the ability to hollow out imperial authority.

The civil officials, military generals, nobles, and imperial relatives who defected to him were truly too numerous, not to mention the emerging capitalist class group he had cultivated, as well as the Jiliao border army and the Southeast Navy, all listening to his orders.

Even though Xu Jie and others had been constantly making personnel transfers in these places to clear his influence, they had never been able to do so.

The reason was simple: following Wang Yan could make one rich...

Now, Wang Yan had become a disaster threatening imperial authority.

It was just that many people, including Zhang Juzheng and others, had not noticed that Wang Yan had already unknowingly possessed such great influence.

They had been blinded by the long-standing maintenance of Jiajing, Wang Yan acting on Jiajing's will, and Wang Yan being a lone official who made enemies on all sides—these stereotypes. Inertial thinking controlled their thoughts.

They had not yet truly realized the severity of the problem.

But it didn't matter; who told Wang Yan to be a loyal official...

Leaving the Yuxi Palace, Wang Yan went directly to the Grand Secretariat to report.

At this time, the personnel in the Grand Secretariat had changed. Xu Jie had already gone down, Gao Gong was the Chief Grand Secretary, and in addition, there were Zhang Juzheng and Chen Yiqin. Counting Wang Yan, these were all the personnel of the new Grand Secretariat. Among them, Chen Yiqin was the second assistant, Zhang Juzheng was next, and Wang Yan was the last.

But arriving at this place, it was hard to say who was the master and who was the secondary. The real place of competition was not in the Grand Secretariat, but outside the Grand Secretariat. In the Six Ministries and Nine Ministers, in the local Administration Commissions, in the army... it lay in how much power each faction had. The greater the power, the greater the voice, and the more things one could do in the Grand Secretariat...

Worth mentioning was Gao Gong.

In the original history, Gao Gong had long been driven back to his hometown, and then recalled to the court, only to be kicked down by Zhang Juzheng after a few years of work. He died within two years.

But now it was different. Because of Wang Yan, Great Ming was developing well, and because of Wang Yan, political factions were extremely clear. After Yan Song, Jiajing basically did not make any adjustments to the Grand Secretariat, and everyone was doing quite well.

Of course, the main reason was that with Wang Yan there, Jiajing never had to worry about money, and he didn't have to think of ways in the Grand Secretariat...

Because the country was developing well, the Grand Secretariat's tasks were heavier. As the saying goes, power is the best aphrodisiac for men. Gao Gong ate well, drank well, and was in high spirits; he had no depression of not being successful, so his lifespan was naturally long. At the moment, he was still clear-headed.

"Have you seen the Emperor?"

Seeing Wang Yan step in, Zhang Juzheng spoke up.

"I have. He let me enter the Grand Secretariat; from now on, we can be considered to be stirring the ladle in the same pot."

"Vulgar." Gao Gong said, "You are a civil official after all; don't be so vulgar."

"Old thing, I'm not scolding you, am I? I am also a Grand Secretary now; are you lecturing me?"

"Wang Yan!" Chen Yiqin walked over and patted Wang Yan's arm, telling Wang Yan not to scold him.

Zhang Juzheng, on the other hand, pacified Gao Gong, very elegantly saying that Wang Yan had a dog's face and not to get angry with Wang Yan, it wasn't worth it, and so on.

"Good, saying I have a dog's face; Old Zhang, you are truly vulgar. Old Gao, you teach him."

"Stop being sharp-tongued." Chen Yiqin said, "We are all officials in the same court, all for Great Ming; if we fight internally, how can Great Ming be good?"

"What you say makes sense; let's discuss serious matters."

Wang Yan said with a straight face, "I have just entered the Grand Secretariat after all, so I must produce some results. That old thing Xu Jie has left; I miss him very much. I heard that the land clearing and population checking in Songjiang Prefecture were not thorough enough, and Xu Jie's family was not investigated clearly; it would be better to investigate this matter."

"Wang Yan!"

Zhang Juzheng shouted loudly...

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