Chapter 229: Donating Money, Everyone Has a Share

"Why should I pay?"

Jiang Tu roared sternly. Money always came in and never went out; the Marquis of Pingjiang actually had ideas about him—this was bullying people too much!

The one conveying the message was Qiu Defu's godson, Huang Defa, who looked at the furious Jiang Tu with trepidation, but in reality, he was laughing like crazy inside.

After Jiang Tu finished grumbling, he opened his mouth to speak. "Vice Minister Jiang, you are the most loyal subject in front of His Majesty; you must share His Majesty's worries!"

Jiang Tu glared. He gave Qiu Defu face, but he wouldn't give Huang Defa face. "What do you mean?"

"His Majesty is also clear about this matter." Huang Defa bowed slightly. "I ask Vice Minister Jiang not to delay His Majesty's important affairs."

Jiang Tu frowned immediately. "Eunuch Huang, please speak clearly. What exactly does that cripple, the Marquis of Pingjiang, want to do?"

"The Marquis's meaning is that if Vice Minister Jiang pays the money, he will come forward and willingly take on this task for His Majesty. And he has guaranteed that it will be no less than five hundred thousand taels."

"Five hundred thousand taels? Does he have the ability to raise so much money?"

"Therefore, we need Vice Minister Jiang to lend a helping hand; this is also His Majesty's meaning."

"That still doesn't mean I have to pay one hundred thousand taels; why doesn't the cripple go rob someone?" Jiang Tu was furious; he had reason to suspect that the Marquis of Pingjiang was taking the opportunity to blackmail him.

Huang Defa lowered his eyes and head, saying nothing, just drinking tea. He had conveyed the words; whether Jiang Tu did it or not, he couldn't control. Anyway, if His Majesty's important affairs were delayed, the crime wouldn't fall on him. He was only responsible for conveying the message, not for paying the silver.

"The cripple is bullying people too much! How can His Majesty indulge the cripple like this? No, this official must enter the palace to see the Emperor."

Upon hearing this, Huang Defa rose immediately. "In that case, this servant will return to the palace to report." After saying this, he took the little eunuchs and left the Jiang Mansion.

Once people left, Jiang Tu calmed down instead.

A mere one hundred thousand taels didn't count for much to him. He just wasn't reconciled to being played by the cripple. He didn't look for the cripple's trouble, but the cripple attacked him instead—truly unreasonable; it was clearly bullying him for not daring to fight on two fronts. At a time when he was fighting the civil officials to the death, if he provoked the nobles again and let the nobles all enter the battlefield, he couldn't even imagine that scene.

Jiang Tu had a straight face; having been smooth sailing for many years, neither civil officials nor military generals could kill him, which made him extremely arrogant inside. Should he take this opportunity to weigh the weight of the nobles?

After thinking left and right, reason still prevailed.

"A gentleman's revenge is not too late in ten years; sooner or later I will clean up the cripple."

He shared His Majesty's worries and took out one hundred thousand taels; then he must show his face in front of His Majesty and praise his own merits again and again. Paying one hundred thousand taels meant he had to reap double the benefits.

Having figured out this point, Jiang Tu was extremely proud, having already thought about how to ask for rewards after seeing the old Emperor.

In the Heavenly Prison, the prison guards all wore thick padded jackets and hid in the rooms to roast by the fire. In such cold weather, no one was willing to go down to the Heavenly Prison to serve. It was freezing inside the prison, enough to freeze people to death.

Just roasting by the fire, a piece of bad news came.

Because of the snow disaster, a large number of civilian houses collapsed, and many people died. The imperial court decided on disaster relief. But suffering from the court not being able to take out enough silver, they organized officials, nobles, and wealthy families to raise funds. Even the prison guards of the Heavenly Prison were not spared and also had to donate money.

"Why!"

"We only earn a few pennies, and they still want us to donate money. This job can't be done anymore."

"Public rice, public rice; this rice is clearly half-cooked."

"Exactly how much money to donate; is there any talk about it?"

"The imperial court is too much. They are even eyeing the silver in our hands. I don't believe the imperial court is poor to this extent. Even if the court is really this poor, it shouldn't be eyeing us. Those high officials and nobles, those imperial clansmen—which one isn't wealthy? If the palace repairs a few less palaces, there would be money for everything."

"Shh, don't you want your life? Stop talking nonsense."

"Whoever dares to stop His Majesty from repairing palaces, look, those imprisoned officials in the prison are the outcome."

"Stop talking. Lord Niu gave the order: at least two hundred wen of copper coins per person, to be handed in within three days."

"Robbery!"

"That's too much."

"Just sell me off."

"This job can't be done."

The Heavenly Prison was in a mess, with everyone complaining bitterly.

Jiang Jiang Yucheng Niu couldn't stand the noise outside and ordered his confidant, Little Xu, "Tell the prison guards to shut up. Making such a racket, what kind of decorum is this?"

Little Xu was promoted by him from the county government and had followed him for more than ten years; he was absolutely trustworthy. After transferring Little Xu over, after some maneuvering, he got him the position of prison clerk, but he didn't go down to the Heavenly Prison, only responsible for helping him handle official business. Such a way of doing things made the managing prison clerks of the three major prisons of Jia, Yi, and Bing breathe a sigh of relief. As long as Jiang Jiang Yucheng Niu didn't have the idea of replacing them, he was a good official.

Little Xu was a person with a mind. He had just arrived, and his prestige was insufficient. At this moment, the prison guards were making a huge fuss and might not necessarily listen to him.

After thinking left and right, he gave orders to the three managing prison clerks of Jia, Yi, and Bing, telling them to manage their own people well. As long as the prison guards of the three major prisons could be restrained, the other scattered prison guards would not be a problem.

Xu Fugui and the prison clerk Zhang of the Yi-type prison agreed very readily and acted very efficiently.

For the Jia-type prison, Master Master Xiao Fan Da Ren didn't care about matters, so only Chen Guanlou could come forward.

As soon as Chen Guanlou appeared, he glared and only said one sentence: "Does everyone have nothing to do?"

As the words fell, the prison guards scattered like birds and beasts.

This majesty, this deterrent power, made Xu Fugui and the others stare straight.

"Little Chen, you're quite something! The prison guards of the Jia-type prison all obey your management. How about you talk to Jiang Jiang Yucheng Niu and just let you be the prison clerk?" Xu Fugui said with a grin.

Chen Guanlou's face fell immediately. "Xu Shu, how can you harm me! There is no grudge between us..."

"How did I harm you? Look at you, without the status of a prison clerk, yet doing the work of a prison clerk. Let Jiang Jiang Yucheng Niu promote you; I am doing this for your own good!"

"Xu Shu, if you are really doing this for my own good, then don't say any more. Master Master Xiao Fan Da Ren is busy today, so I am just sharing his worries. As a result, when the matter gets to you, it becomes snatching power; what kind of person do you take me for?"

Deep in his heart, Chen Guanlou didn't like Xu Fugui; his mouth was particularly foul, he couldn't stand seeing others do well, and he intentionally stirred up conflicts in the Jia-type prison. He didn't do human things! He had to find an opportunity to teach him a lesson.

"Look at how anxious you are. Fine, I won't say anything." Xu Fugui laughed; he indeed harbored the intention of fanning the flames and watching a good show.

A former tiny prison guard, climbing up in just two or three years, earning no less money, and even having the ability to hollow out Prison Clerk Fan. Hmph, if he didn't give him some color to see, the young man wouldn't know the height of the sky and the depth of the earth.

Letting him calmly accept that a former tiny prison guard had climbed to a position equal to his was something he couldn't do. No matter what, he had to suppress him.

Prison Clerk Zhang watched the show the whole time. He was a smart person and wouldn't easily take sides.

He understood Xu Fugui's intentions.

But he didn't think Xu Fugui had the ability to win against Chen Guanlou.

Chen Guanlou was not an ordinary prison guard, but a prison guard backed by the Marquis's Mansion and not short of money. Jiang Jiang Yucheng Niu was a native of the capital; from the fact that the other chose to value Chen Guanlou, one could see that Jiang Jiang Yucheng Niu understood the bottom-level ecology of the capital very well. ===== CHAPTER 230 =====