In the past, every time Yang Ling went on an imperial errand, he would receive a few days of leave to rest at home. But now, it was perfectly justifiable for him to take a break. Although the Emperor allowed him to enter the court to participate in politics, he did not have a permanent position in the court.
If he was in charge of the official examinations, he could not go to the Ministry of Appointments. If he was in charge of suppressing bandits, it would not be good for him to go to the Ministry of War. If the dignified Duke were to sit there, where would the Minister of the First Ministry sit?
So, he was very comfortable with his official errand. If he liked it, he would visit and discuss official matters. If he did not want to go, he would stay at home and no one could do anything to him. Emperor Zhengde took Yang Ling's suggestion seriously. Now, the internal court was very stable. Du Fu did not study much, but he was simple, honest, and very serious in his work. The Emperor gave the edict, so he had the Ministry of Internal Affairs draw up a list of all the daily supplies used in the palace and compare them to see which ones could be cut.
This was incredible. What Yang Ling mentioned was only what he could see when he looked up. People often called gambling houses and brothels a money-squandering den. Now, the palace was the real money-squandering den. The daily consumption of silver was astonishing, and many of the supplies were purely for show.
For example, the Emperor's sleeping quarters, study hall, and so on. Whether the Emperor was there or not, things that needed to be changed were changed every day. Beast incense and red candles burned every day. Although the eunuchs and palace maids in the palace had a fixed monthly allowance and they could not take too much, as long as they were familiar with the people of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it was easy to ask for some things. If the Emperor's palace treasury was used up, he only needed to report to the Emperor and they would have to purchase it. And once they did so, the Ministry of Internal Affairs would be able to make another sum of money. If they could save this sum of money, they would be able to save several hundred thousand taels of silver a year.
Kunning Palace, Anqing Palace, and Zhonghe Palace were being renovated. Following the Emperor's edict, they were temporarily stopped. In addition, a large sum of money had been cut from the budget for the New Year. The Ministry of Revenue finally managed to save some money for the time being. This made the new Minister of Revenue, Liu Zhong, who had been staring at the empty storerooms and the negative accounts all day, extremely happy.
In the past, Huang Qiyin had submitted a memorial to reduce the number of redundant personnel. In the end, he had been demoted to a third-rate county magistrate. Yang Ling's position could not be mentioned in the same breath as his, but Yang Ling did not dare to be careless. Now that the Emperor himself had proposed it and issued an edict to carry it out, it was much easier. Moreover, Liu Jin had already forcefully executed it once in the past. In addition, the court officials were not like those officials who bullied the honest Emperor Hongzhi in the past, so it was much easier than expected.
Yang Tinghe knew that it would be more difficult to start from the capital, so he chose Nanjing to start with. Once he was comfortable there, he would start with Beijing. This was a clever move. Even if the officials of the Six Ministries of Nanjing wanted to use their connections, it would take a lot of effort. When they finally found someone, the imperial edict had come down.
The reduction of redundant personnel was expected to save a large amount of salary money for the court. This matter also had an unexpected effect. Once the news was released, many officials who were just eating and waiting to die felt a sense of crisis. Usually, if they had something to do, they would push it out or use the bureaucratic tone to suppress it. Now, they had nothing to do and worried about it. Their efficiency had increased unprecedentedly.
This kind of efficiency could not be underestimated. At that time, transportation was inconvenient and information was not accurate. If many things were not handled in time, when they remembered, they would not be able to be done. Either the matter was out of date, or the people involved would have grass growing on their graves. Now, the improvement of the efficiency of the administration of officials, although it could not be quantified, had an immeasurable effect on the entire Ming Destiny bureaucracy.
It was not that there was no opposition, but now the people in power had the "Official Examination Law" there. If they did not do their work well, they would be punished. The civil officials of the Imperial Censorate and Hanlin Academy were afraid that they would also become redundant personnel. In order to fulfill their duties, they stared at those in power every day and picked on the problems of those in power. Who dared to be selfish? When the implementation was strong and the efficiency was improved, the redundant personnel who were reduced did not even have the room to object. They could only go home and stand in the yard and curse.
At that time, there was no petition office. Who dared to make trouble? Even if there were really people who did not open their eyes, Dongchang, West Factory, Inner Factory, and Imperial Bodyguard were like wolves and tigers. They had not opened for business for a long time. In this way, one by one, with layers of supervision and control, things went smoothly.
Only the relay stations were difficult to clean up. Even though the relay station was a small place, when Yang Ling was in charge of the Chicken Crow Relay Station, the county magistrate of Min Wenjian had said that many people coveted this position, and that it was a lucrative job. Because it was a lucrative position and it was supported by the place, the fatter it was, the thinner the place.
Now that they wanted to clean up the post station, the people in the post station were not willing. Most of the civil and military officials did not agree. This was because their salaries were limited. At that time, transportation was inconvenient. They had to go home or travel with their families. The money spent was too much. In the past, they took advantage of the post station. Now that they were not allowed to use the post station for official business, the officials could not help but complain.
However, it was difficult to change what Emperor Zhengde had set his mind on. At that time, he firmly believed that Liu Jin was a good person. Even someone like Yang Ling, who was close to him, had to rack his brains. In the end, he had to use a scheme to get rid of this treacherous official. All of the above produced good results, so Zhengde did not need to think too much. He firmly believed that Yang Ling's suggestion was correct. Thus, when Jiao Fang, Yang Tinghe, and the others saw that there was a lot of resistance in cleaning up the post station and there were many complaints, they wanted to postpone the implementation. However, when they brought this up to the emperor, they were immediately rejected.
When the scholars saw this, they could only brace themselves and carry out the plan. In order to be effective, they even took the lead. Jiao Huang, Jiao Shu Shi, was captured by Hong Niangzi and stayed at his house for several days. When she left, she did not touch him and only took away all of the food in his residence. As soon as the gongniang left, he hurriedly took a military carriage back to the capital. Now, Jiao Fang took the initiative to pay for her son's transportation and food expenses.
In order to set an example, Liang Chu clearly did not want to go back to her maiden home, but he deliberately arranged for her to go back to her maiden home. He himself found someone to hire a carriage and sent his family members to accompany him. He ostentatiously walked half a circle around the city of Beijing. The officials originally hoped that they would come forward to help them fight for this benefit, but they did not expect that they would take the lead in carrying out the plan. This time, although they were unwilling, no one dared to bring it up again.
In fact, Yang Ling also knew that the official's salary was too low. Of course, they had other sources of income, but it was different for the honest and upright officials. For example, Yang Yiqing was the dignified Minister of Appointments, but he did not take advantage of others. In order to supplement his family's expenses, he often helped some big inns and big restaurants write signboards, or when a rich family held a wedding or a funeral, they would ask him to write an article or something to earn some embellishment. Yang Ling felt miserable just by looking at it.
In the future, the official's salary must be increased, but this matter could not be brought up right now. It would have to wait for a few years until the various new policies produced results. Although there were some complaints now, it was useless to use empty words to appease them, because they were hurting their actual interests. However, after two years, when they reaped the benefits, they would understand that it was right to do what they did in the beginning.
Yang Ling was not idle, he participated in these matters and gave advice, but not all of his suggestions were adopted by the cabinet. In a moment of impulse, Yang Ling proposed to build a bank and issue government bonds to make up for the empty national treasury. He also explained the meaning of these two new terms to the dumbfounded cabinet ministers. He spoke until his mouth was dry, and several ministers, including Jiao Fang, shook their heads like a rattle drum.
The emphasis on business and profit had already touched the bottom line of the entire literati group. To actually let the imperial court open a bank and even borrow money from the common people, this was simply inconceivable. If the person who proposed it was not Yang Ling, they would have already scolded him as a lunatic.
Yang Ling thought about it and agreed. Now the whole country was a small peasant economy, business had not yet been perfected and prosperous, and the common people had no concept or even understanding of it. Once the news of national loans was spread out, it would not be a problem of the imperial court's credibility, but the imperial court's credibility would immediately go bankrupt, and everyone would think that the imperial court could no longer survive.
Even if it was forcefully carried out, forcing the common people to save money and use it to buy government bonds, as long as some people spread some rumors, and the imperial court did not have enough gold and silver reserves, the borrowed money could not be withdrawn, and the panicked common people ran on it but could not be repaid, perhaps even the rich gentry would rise up. Therefore, this radical idea had to be abandoned.
Yang Ling believed that these things would be realized sooner or later, but it was obviously too hasty to do it now. In the Northern Song Dynasty, due to the prosperity of business and the development of commodity trading, paper money had already appeared among the common people, but it did not form a scale and the credibility of the whole people. Ming Destiny also issued banknotes, but they could not be exchanged for gold and silver of the same denomination, and their credibility was too low. Once they were issued, they quickly depreciated, and finally became like waste paper. Yang Ling believed that with the gradual rise of Ming Destiny's business and the gradual development of the economy, the credit currency would dominate the currency market early, and then these financial places would inevitably come into being.
As soon as the news of Yang Ling's visit to the Six Ministries spread, which official was not a smart person? Who could not guess that the emperor's throttling this time was Yang Ling's idea again? Those with foresight knew that it was for the good of the imperial court, and from a long-term perspective, every official would benefit. Those who were short-sighted could not help but criticize behind his back.
But they could only criticize behind his back. At present, no one in the imperial court could be found to oppose Yang Ling, so how could Yang Ling lower his status to find trouble with them? Yang Ling occasionally heard of it, but only dismissed it with a laugh. The Prime Minister was magnanimous, so how could he, as a Duke, not have a little magnanimity?
At the same time, Yang Ling was also paying attention to the situation in the north. The current situation in the grasslands seemed to have become complicated. As the war had penetrated deep into the territory that Boyan Meng could control, it was difficult for the imperial court, the Imperial Bodyguard, and the secret agents of the inner factory to find out information.
Wu Jie was originally the head of the secret agents of the Imperial Bodyguard outside the Great Wall. At that time, he had a good relationship with many tribal chiefs in the grasslands as a fur trader. Later, when he was transferred inside the Great Wall, he used the excuse that his cold legs had flared up and needed to enter the Great Wall for treatment. He had not been outside the Great Wall for a long time, and now that ordinary secret agents could not play a role, Wu Jie personally went out and resumed his old profession, exiting the Great Wall as a fur trader.
Yang Ling also did not find out the outcome of the battle between Huo Sieve, Wala Coalition, Boyan Meng, and Huadang through the channels of the inner factory, and could only wait patiently for news from Wu Jie.
※ ※ ※
These days, he often had Young-niang, Wen Xin and the others visit Princess Yongfu in the Imperial Nunnery in the name of paying respects to Buddha, but he himself did not show his face even once. He only found out from Young-niang and the others that Princess Yongfu was depressed, her beauty thinning. Especially when she wore a black robe without any makeup, she was pure and pretty, and really pitiful.
This day, Lian 'er took Pan' er and Pan 'er's little follower, Young Master Yang, to the Imperial Nunnery again. When they returned to the fu, they had just entered their bedroom to change clothes when Yang Ling, who had heard the news in the study, sneakily followed them.
Under a large tree in the courtyard, two servant girls stood to the side with their arms crossed. Pan 'er led Young Master Yang, each of them holding a wooden stick. They were playing with a fleshy red bug that had fallen from the tree with their buttocks in the air.
Seeing Yang Ling enter the courtyard, the two servant girls hurriedly bowed and said, "Greetings, Master."
Young Master Yang saw that his father had come. He raised his face, sniffed his nose, and then said to Yang Ling with a grin, "Father, come, look at the caterpillar, the big caterpillar."
His address was different from Pan 'er's. It was all because Yang Ling had gotten carried away and taught him how to address him, and this child had gotten used to it. Yang Ling only told others that this was a dialect of a certain place, easy to pronounce, and others naturally had no objections.
Yang Ling rubbed his head and said, "En, caterpillar, play with sister, I'm going to find your aunt."
Yang Ling flashed into the room. Seeing that Lian 'er had just changed into a set of casual clothing, he sat down on a chair. After a moment of thought, he said to her, "Lian' er, how is Her Highness Princess Yongfu?"
Lian 'er was the most intelligent of the girls, her wit not below Cheng Qiyun's. She did not suspect that Yang Ling was concerned about Yongfu because she already knew that Yongfu had chosen a sick fuma and had become a monk in anger. This matter had been arranged by her husband. With his personality, it would be strange if he did not take this responsibility on himself.
But when she went to the Huang Nunnery a few times, she found that while Princess Yongfu's beauty had decreased and she appeared slightly haggard, her speech and mannerisms were not like that of a monk, but more like a young girl suffering from unrequited love. Among the girls of the Yang Family, which one of them had a deeper understanding of the feeling of longing for one's lover? She naturally could feel it.
Especially when she was walking and chatting with Princess Yongfu, Princess Yongfu would intentionally or unintentionally lead the topic to Yang Ling. When she heard about his interesting stories, she would be happy, and even her eyes would start to light up. If someone said that Yang Ling had nothing to do with her, Lian 'er really didn't believe it.
Her eyes turned and she walked to the table to pour a cup of tea for Yang Ling. She handed it to him and said, "Her Highness is fine. It must be because she has just stayed in the nunnery alone and is not used to this kind of life, so she is not in a good mood. Yongchun and Princess Xiang 'er have often come to the Huang Nunnery to keep her company these two days. With us around, she is not very lonely.
Ah! But who can accompany her like this all the time? The high and mighty princess is not someone we can compare to, but compared to this young princess, we are much more fortunate. "
When Yang Ling heard this, his expression darkened. He sighed heavily. He raised the tea to his mouth and then shook his head and put it back on the table. He said sadly, "It's all my fault. A beautiful young girl ended up like this. Other girls of sixteen or seventeen would have already married and had children, but I harmed Her Highness the Princess. Hubby feels guilty."
Ma Lian 'er saw his restless state and smiled. She said, "The Huang Nunnery is grand, it is not just a cold Huang Nunnery. Here, there is more freedom than in the palace. It is not as pitiful as a nunnery. As for marriage and having children, the Princess is not very old, she cannot compare to us.
It is not easy for poor families to raise their daughters. Some of them marry at eleven or twelve. Southern commoners with slightly better family circumstances would marry off their daughters at the age of thirteen. The age of thirteen was, in fact, still a bit too early, so some bored people called it flower testing. Fourteen-Year-Old girls had already reached the age of maturity, and were still able to endure the love between men and women, so they called it flower playing. Only at the age of fifteen would they be considered fully grown, so they called it flower blossoming. But the princesses of the Imperial Family mostly marry at seventeen. Princess Yongfu at sixteen is considered early. Even though it has been a year, as long as we can persuade her to change her mind, it is not too late. "
Yang Ling's eyes lit up. He said, "Yes, that is what I mean. Otherwise, why would I want you to go?"
Lian 'er's eyes narrowed. She thought, "How do we know what you want us to do? It can't be that you want us women to help you abduct the Princess to your home? "
Yang Ling saw her gaze and thought that she didn't understand his meaning. He grimaced and said, "You are usually very smart, why are you so muddle-headed now? If you keep her company, why don't you talk about some interesting things, the love between men and women, and cause the Princess to yearn for the mortal world. Then wouldn't she not insist on becoming a monk? "
Lian 'er bit her lip and suppressed a smile. She said, "In my opinion, why don't you find a young and handsome youth? Maybe the Princess will fall in love at first sight and immediately descend to the mortal world, and never mention going to the Buddha again."
Yang Ling's expression changed. He said urgently, "Absolutely not!"
"En?"
Seeing Lian 'er's questioning gaze, Yang Ling glared at her and said resentfully, "What a terrible idea! This kind of method … … this kind of method … … "
Ma Lian 'er found it interesting. However, her husband already had many wives and concubines. She also didn't know Zhengde's personality and didn't dare to be sure that her plan was correct. She wasn't willing to pull this matter onto her husband. If it wasn't done well, she would be beheaded. So she stretched her waist and lazily showed off her beautiful figure in front of her husband. She said, "Alright, alright, I know. Even if she doesn't want me to be a matchmaker, I have ways to persuade her. However, this matter cannot be rushed. I often go to the nunnery, and I can find a chance … …"
Just as she said this, Yun 'er excitedly rushed in with an invitation. She called from outside the door, "Laoye, there is an important invitation."
"Take it in." Yang Ling finally took a sip of tea. When Yun 'er entered the room, she first bowed to Lian' er before handing the invitation to Yang Ling with both hands.
Yang Ling took the invitation. He first smelled a faint fragrance. Looking at the grand craftsmanship of the invitation and the large gold characters, he guessed that it was a duke inviting him to drink. He casually flipped it open to take a look and was stunned.
Lian 'er saw it and went over to take a look. She also stilled. A moment later, Yang Ling said in shock, "Where is the messenger? Is he still there? "
Yun 'er obediently replied, "It is a gonggong called Little Ding. Eldest Furen rewarded him and he left."
Yang Ling lightly patted the invitation and struggled to swallow. He asked Lian 'er in bewilderment, "Her Highness Princess Yongchun and Her Highness Princess Xiang' er invited me to the autumn hunt? Why did they invite me? "
Lian 'er flirtatiously rolled her eyes. "How would I know? If it wasn't for the fact that the two ladies are princesses, I would have thought that you had some romantic relationship."
Yang Ling said with a bitter expression, "Don't joke, I wouldn't dare."
Lian 'er smiled and said, "I know you wouldn't dare. But do you dare to refuse the invitation of the two Highnesses? It is just a hunt in the Imperial Forest, you can go socialize. The two princesses aren't tigers, they won't eat you. "
"I don't fear tigers, I can just kill them with one shot. What I fear are women, especially princesses. The Emperor is not going, and they are inviting me to hunt? Uh … … how can my archery skills be good? Why don't you come with me? Your horsemanship and archery skills will definitely stun everyone. "
Lian 'er twisted her mouth and said with slight jealousy, "They specifically invited Duke Wei to the Imperial Garden for the autumn hunt, but they didn't say to bring the womenfolk. Wouldn't it be impolite for me to go? You aren't even afraid of an army. The two Highnesses might be princesses of the Imperial Family, but they are still females. What is there to be afraid of? I think that you have been in officialdom for too long and are afraid of conspiracies. "
Yang Ling laughed dryly and said, "There is no harm in being careful. I have to go, I'm leaving! "
Lian 'er saw him hurriedly get up and asked in shock, "Where are you going? Isn't it tomorrow? "
Yang Ling waved his hand and said, "I'm going to get people to prepare robes, horses, bows and arrows. The other two Little Princesses are cunning. They won't scheme against me, but they might want to play a trick on me. I have to quickly go to the Leopard Garden and leak the news to the Emperor. It's better to be prepared. "
Looking at Yang Ling's hurriedly leaving figure, Lian 'er's brows furrowed. "What autumn hunt, the two Princesses have come to the Imperial Nunnery today. I think they will most likely bring Princess Yongfu. Husband doesn't allow me to be a matchmaker, but the two Little Princesses seem to want to be a matchmaker. But Her Highness, do you really want to marry into the House of Duke?
In the Tang and Song Dynasties, the fuma were allowed to take concubines. But in this dynasty, the person who wants to be the fuma isn't even allowed to take concubines, much less when Husband already has a proper wife. Marry over to be a secondary wife? What if she is a jealous wife? Even though I've talked with Princess Yongfu a few times and she is refined and courteous, who knows if she will become a jealous wife after she marries? "
At home, Lian 'er started to worry about the future of the Yang Family. And Yang Ling couldn't guess the intentions of the two Princesses and felt uneasy. He really hadn't thought that Princess Yongfu would also go to the Imperial Garden. It wasn't that he hadn't thought of it, but the word "hunt" had limited his thinking. Even though Yongfu hadn't officially become a monk, she could be considered half a monk. Could monks kill?
How could Yang Ling think that with Emperor Zhengde, this romantic Son of Heaven, standing there, how could his imperial sister lack romance? Hunting, who knew if she was hunting a beast or a human?
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