Chapter 401

"Old Official Lin, long time no see!"

The moment Ye Xiaotian saw Lin Siyan, he smiled and bowed to him. His etiquette was very thoughtful and his attitude was very cordial, but his actions were a bit casual. It was not like an ordinary subordinate greeting their superior. This was to say, "I'm very close to you."

The two of them were indeed quite close. Putting aside their meeting in Nanjing, the two of them had supported each other in Hulu County. In addition, the last time Ye Xiaotian came to the capital, he had given Assistant Minister Lin a generous gift before leaving. The relationship between the two was even more subtle.

Lin Siyan pointed at Ye Xiaotian and said, "You really know how to cause trouble. In Jinling, you caused a ruckus in the Ministry of Rites and Officials, angering Imperial Uncle Li away. In Hulu County, the change of customs almost caused a big mess! The last time you came to the capital, you were imprisoned because of the puppet case. This time is even better. You've directly entered the capital to await punishment. "

Ye Xiaotian smiled and said, "This lowly official doesn't like to cause trouble. There are always people looking for trouble with this lowly official. This lowly official came to the capital to await punishment. At the very least, I didn't cause trouble in the capital, so it shouldn't be a big deal, right? "

Assistant Minister Lin snorted coldly. "Not caused trouble in the capital? Killing four Chieftains in a row, is this a small matter? "

Ye Xiaotian sat down on a chair beside him and corrected him. "It's three, not four. The other one was Tu She."

Assistant Minister Lin glared at him. "What about the Yang family? Didn't Yang Xianmin die in your hands? "

Ye Xiaotian was a bit surprised. "Sir is in the Ministry of Rites, but you actually know so much about this lowly official. This is really …"

Assistant Minister Lin snorted. "What is it really? Bad news travels a thousand miles. Do you think I'm the only one who knows what you've done in Guizhou? "

Assistant Minister Lin glanced at Ye Xiaotian and said in a serious tone, "It's impossible for you to come out unscathed after causing such a big mess. The court will definitely teach you a lesson. This is for your own good, lest you overestimate yourself and cause even more trouble sooner or later! "

Hearing this, Ye Xiaotian calmed down. In truth, when he came in and heard Assistant Minister Lin scold him, he was half relieved. If Assistant Minister Lin didn't want to get close to him, he wouldn't be bothered to scold him. Since he was scolding him, he was at least half a brother.

Now, Assistant Minister Lin was saying, "The Imperial Court will definitely teach him a lesson, and this is for his own good." Why did these words sound like a father lecturing his son? What serious consequences could there be? Endure a few scolds! Even if he was spanked a few times, he would still endure it. Anyway, there wouldn't be any severe punishment.

While the two of them were laughing and joking, the official business discussion had already ended. Ye Xiaotian had already gotten the result he wanted, and Assistant Minister Lin had successfully given him a reassuring pill.

The servant poured tea for Ye Xiaotian. Assistant Minister Lin glanced at him and said, "I've heard a few things about you in the capital, but I don't know the details. Just what happened? Why did you cause so many murders as soon as you returned to Guizhou?"

Ye Xiaotian immediately became furious. He snorted coldly and said, "Sir, you also understand Little Tian's temper. He's never provoked unless provoked! Why did he cause such a big mess this time? It's all because someone deliberately provoked him! "

The more Ye Xiaotian spoke, the angrier he became. "All lands under the heavens belong to the king! Those who lead the land are all subjects of the king! However, those feudal lords have no respect for the court. They don't take our emperor seriously! This lowly official is an officer of Crouching Bull Ridge appointed by His Majesty, but those chieftains don't acknowledge His Majesty! They provoked this lowly official in every way and even sent a large group of assassins to kill this lowly official. This lowly official had no choice … "

He had to say what he wanted to see. Right now, the person in front of him was a high-ranking official of the court. It was still the same matter, but with a slight embellishment, it had a different effect. It could make this high-ranking official of the court feel a common hatred for a common enemy.

Ye Xiaotian, who used to be a prison guard of the Heavenly Prison, was rather clever in this aspect. Through his introduction, the conflict between him and the various chieftains had actually become a conflict between the central government and the local regions, a conflict between unification and autonomy, and a conflict between the court and the local officials. Even though Assistant Minister Lin knew much more than Ye Xiaotian believed him to, the scales of emotion still involuntarily tilted in Ye Xiaotian's favor when he heard it.

"Some chieftains have no respect for the court and do not know the emperor's benevolence. They are indeed a little domineering …"

Assistant Minister Lin stroked his beard. Originally, he wanted to probe Ye Xiaotian's opinion of the chieftains, but he still swallowed his words when they reached his mouth. No matter what, this Ye Xiaotian was a hereditary local official. If he wanted to pull him into his camp and have him fight to completely eliminate the hereditary local official system, Ye Xiaotian might not necessarily agree.

If Ye Xiaotian had been a scholar, perhaps there was a chance, but he had originally been a prison guard. In his heart, he probably did not believe that only the Emperor's family or the descendants of meritorious officials were the only things that were right and proper.

In any case, it would be very difficult for Ye Xiaotian to integrate into the tribe of chieftains. Objectively speaking, he could help them with their plans, so there was no need for them to reveal the entire plan of the Eagle Faction to him and completely rope him in.

Otherwise, it would be one thing for those Guizhou chieftains to know that the court had always disliked them, but it would be another matter for them to know that a group of officials in the court was scheming to deal with them. That would be too big of an obstacle to their plans.

Assistant Minister Lin said to Ye Xiaotian, "The memorial regarding you will be sent to the Emperor in two or three days. If His Majesty summons you, just say what you said just now. I believe that His Majesty will understand your difficulties and punish you according to the circumstances. "

This was once again telling him that there wouldn't be any serious consequences. Ye Xiaotian hurriedly bowed and said, "Many thanks for Your Excellency's advice."

Assistant Minister Lin nodded and said, "You are still awaiting punishment and shouldn't be walking around. Return to the inn and wait. Don't see too many people until the court has made a decision."

As Assistant Minister Lin spoke, he moved the file over and picked up his brush. Assistant Minister Lin read the first two lines, but before he could hear Ye Xiaotian say, "This lowly official will take his leave." He couldn't help but raise his head in surprise. He saw Ye Xiaotian standing in front of the desk, looking like he wanted to say something but was hesitant to do so.

Assistant Minister Lin frowned slightly and asked, "Is there something else?"

"Uh … this …"

Ye Xiaotian chuckled and said somewhat bashfully, "This lowly official still has something else to trouble Assistant Minister with. Uh … a small matter, just a small matter …"

Assistant Minister Lin put down his brush and asked, "What is it?"

Ye Xiaotian said, "This … this lowly official would like to inquire about the residence of the Mongolian Kedun Third Lady. May I know where the court has arranged for her to stay?"

Assistant Minister Lin immediately became nervous when he heard this. This Ye Xiaotian was a troublemaker. Why would he want to inquire about the Third Lady's residence? If he had a conflict with the Third Lady, he wouldn't need to kill anyone. He only needed to stir up a huge mess, and the court would have no choice but to "shed tears and behead the horse".

Assistant Minister Lin said warily, "Why are you asking about the Third Lady's residence? Could it be that you have some conflict with the Third Lady? "

Ye Xiaotian hurriedly said, "Your Excellency has misunderstood! It was like this: the wife of Chieftain Xia of Guiyang's Red Maple Lake was conferred the title of nobility and came to the capital to express her gratitude. The daughter of the Xia family, Lady Yingying, and this lowly official … this lowly official is in love with each other and has already made a marriage agreement.

This lowly official's visit to the capital this time was to visit Lady Xia and Lady Yingying, but I just heard that the mother and daughter have been invited to the Third Lady's residence. However, this lowly official does not know where the Third Lady lives, so … "

Assistant Minister Lin let out a sigh of relief. Since this was the case, there shouldn't be any trouble. Assistant Minister Lin said, "The Third Lady lives in the inn. Don't you also live there?"

Only now did Ye Xiaotian realize that Yingying had actually gone to his residence. He was overjoyed and said, "Many thanks, Your Excellency!"

As Ye Xiaotian said this, he smoothly took out a brocade box from his bosom. Without waiting for Assistant Minister Lin to refuse, he placed it on the table and cupped his hands, saying, "This is a plaything from a friend. With this lowly official's temperament, how can I have the calmness to play with these things? Please give it to Your Excellency. It isn't worth much, just a small token of my appreciation."

As Ye Xiaotian said this, he had already taken two steps back and said, "This lowly official will take his leave!" He then turned around and left. Last time, Ye Xiaotian had given Assistant Minister Lin a pair of red jade walnuts, which was priceless. What did he give this time?

Assistant Minister Lin felt deeply uneasy. He also liked good things, but last time, it was before Ye Xiaotian's crime had been removed and he was about to return to Guizhou. This time, he was awaiting punishment for a crime that hadn't been dealt with yet. Accepting his generous gift was suspicious.

However, Ye Xiaotian had given the gift quickly and left just as quickly. Assistant Minister Lin didn't have time to stop him, and it wasn't appropriate for him to shout or pull. Just as he was about to stop him, Ye Xiaotian had already left the detention room.

Assistant Minister Lin hesitated for a moment, but he could only open the box. He wanted to see what it was first. If it was too valuable, then he definitely couldn't accept it. As an official of Assistant Minister Lin's level, he had a lot of control over his material desires. He also understood what he could take and what he couldn't, and under what circumstances he could and couldn't take what he could take.

He opened the sandalwood box, which had a red velvet cushion at the bottom. Inside was an eel yellow copper cauldron. It was round and small, emitting a bright luster. Assistant Minister Lin's eyes immediately lit up, and he blurted out, "Xuande Cauldron!"

Among the literary objects favored by the gentry of the Ming Dynasty, what ranked first? It was the copper cauldron! Playing with copper cauldrons was somewhat unimaginable to the people of today, but at that time, it was a popular trend. Among the copper cauldrons, the batch of Xuande Cauldrons produced during the Xuande Era was the best.

In the third year of Xuande Era, an envoy from Siam brought tens of thousands of kilograms of wind-ground copper to the Ming Dynasty, which was short of copper. At that time, the copper mines in Yunnan had yet to be mined, and the shiny brass made Zhu Zhanji extremely happy. He ordered people to melt the tens of thousands of kilograms of wind-ground copper into copper liquid, and cast it into more than eighteen thousand ceremonial vessels, including three thousand incense cauldrons. These three thousand incense cauldrons were the Xuande Cauldrons that collectors of later generations yearned for.

Before the Ming Dynasty, the bronzeware was made of bronze, which was easy to rust. The Xuande Furnace was made of brass, which was mixed with gold and silver and other precious metals during smelting. Therefore, the weight, color, and texture of the furnace were very different from the previous ones.

To the people of the Wanli Dynasty, this object was indeed something that people liked, but it was not priceless. In Ye Xiaotian's current situation, this was the best gift he could give without being rejected by the sensitive officials.

Assistant Minister Lin smiled, stroked his beard, and said, "What a clever man!"