The prince asked in confusion: "Master Fang, why do you have to run your head into a latrine and die in a latrine in order to repay your kindness to me?"
Fang Zheng was stunned, is that what I just said? How could I say Mao Keng? There is no good place to be killed. Palace gates, jade steps, golden pillars, there are many ideal places to die. Why should I do it?
What about the latrine? This question is really puzzling.
"Well, that's what I mean anyway. I want to express my gratitude to His Highness the Crown Prince for his great kindness. In order to repay His Highness the Crown Prince,... why don't you just have a meal here? I think it's hard for you to come here and not eat.
It’s not appropriate to have such a big meal..." Fang Zheng began to warmly persuade the prince to stay. Isn’t it difficult to repay a great kindness? I can repay this meal. - It’s not difficult to repay.
Seeing Fang Zheng's slippery manner and lack of sincerity in his tone, the prince couldn't help but feel a little angry in his eyes. Is this man playing tricks on me? He is a man who works in a latrine and eats. This man is indeed a market scoundrel, extremely vulgar!
Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, the prince opened his eyes and said with a smile: "Master Fang, you're too polite. I'm just here to visit you. I don't dare to disturb you too much."
Fang Zheng's hospitable enthusiasm did not diminish at all: "His Royal Highness, your words are serious. It's just a simple meal, it's nothing."
The prince smiled faintly and changed the subject: "Gu heard about the grudge between you and Pan Shangshu. Although Pan Shangshu is Gu's mentor, Gu is the crown prince of a country. He has the world in mind and will not favor relatives and neglect the wise. Pan Shangshu
...Alas, Teacher, he did do something wrong, and I hope Lord Fang will not care about it. Speaking of which, Teacher is also a veteran of two dynasties. He was the high-spirited Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, but now he is seventy years old, and he is already the number one minister in the court.
People, after all these years, the teacher has become old. When you get old, you will inevitably be a little paranoid. I can't bear to see the teacher dragging his old body to continue to work on state affairs. I want to persuade the teacher to retire and live in his old age..."
Fang Zheng listened and suddenly felt something was wrong. The meaning of the prince's words seemed to be from a fairly fair standpoint, even from Fang Zheng's standpoint. Moreover, he said
Why persuade Pan Shangshu to sue the old man? What does this mean?
Fang Zheng hesitated and said: "Your Highness, please forgive me for being stupid. I don't quite understand what Your Highness means..."
Seeing Fang Zheng's confused look, the prince smiled with satisfaction: "You don't have to make wild guesses. Although the teacher has been kind to me in educating me, I can't help him. To be fair, the teacher did something wrong in the first place."
, Mr. Fang was imprisoned for no reason, which really made me feel uneasy. I will turn around and advise Pan Shangshu that he should not work too hard when he is old. There are some things that can be left alone."
Fang Zheng finally understood. To put it bluntly, the prince came to win over him today, and he did not hesitate to suppress Pan Shangshu to win over him. How strange, didn't the two of them have a teacher-student relationship? Why did the prince help outsiders to bully his teacher?
?Is this young master really worth winning over? Or is it that the teacher and student have turned against each other? Or maybe the prince wants to achieve a balance in the layout of the court when he ascends the throne?
Huh? When did my young master's political qualities become so mature? I can actually figure out such complicated things. It seems that I have enough ability to be promoted to several more levels of officialdom.
Seeing that Fang Zheng was still frowning and thinking, the prince couldn't help but smile: "Master Fang, you don't need to think too much. Let's just talk about it here. It's useless to say more. I heard that my father ordered you to be the envoy to negotiate with the Turks.
This matter is of great importance, and I hope that Sir Fang will not disappoint the expectations of your father and the imperial court."
Fang Zheng's head started to get heavy. This prince's thinking was even more exciting than this young master. He just mentioned Pan Shangshu, why did he mention the Turks now? What on earth did he want to say?
Looking at the prince helplessly, Fang Zheng said respectfully: "I will do my best to not let the emperor and his highness down."
The prince nodded, and suddenly said something meaningful: "If someone is secretly behind this matter, Master Fang can come and let me know about it, and I am willing to help you."
Fang Zheng's eyes lit up, "Damn! We finally got to the point. Someone is scheming behind the scenes. Who dares to do something like this when negotiating such an important matter? Could it be the prince himself shouting "Catch the thief"?
"Weichen, thank you, His Highness the Crown Prince, for reminding me. Weichen will definitely handle things carefully and make sure nothing goes wrong."
The prince nodded and stood up: "It's getting late, so I won't disturb Mr. Fang anymore. I will leave now. By the way, I have prepared a small gift to calm Mr. Fang out of prison. I hope Mr. Fang will not refuse."
Hey! What you need is what you get. The prince's gift is definitely not too thin. I am very poor, so don't give it in vain. Only then did Fang Zheng sincerely smile: "Thank you, Your Highness, for being so polite."
, I can’t thank you enough, so I have no choice but to accept it.”
Seeing Fang Zheng's happy smile, the prince also smiled. He smiled even happier than Fang Zheng.
Fang Zheng respectfully escorted the prince to the gate. The prince patted Fang Zheng on the shoulder before getting into the car and said with deep meaning: "Master Fang, I sincerely want to make friends with you. I hope Mr. Fang will not let me down.
Mr. Fang has been in a high position since he was young. With such great achievements, there is no doubt that he will become a king and become a widow in the future. What do you think?"
Wow! What a hint! The crown prince of a country is giving naked hints to this young master!
Fang Zheng Zhuangruo lowered his head excitedly and said, "I would like to thank His Highness the Crown Prince for the compliment."
The prince smiled, lifted his feet and got into the car. The imperial guard marched forward and left the Fang Mansion.
Fang Zheng reluctantly waved his handkerchief and shouted affectionately towards the driver of the prince's car: "Have a good trip, Your Highness! Just give me a banknote next time. It's troublesome to move big and small boxes -
—”
When the prince's chariot finally disappeared, Fang Zheng threw away the handkerchief and gestured with his middle finger in the direction of the chariot.
It's a high-ranking official, and it's a gift of money. Do you really think I'm so easy to bribe? Not to mention that Fang Zheng didn't have a good impression of the prince from the beginning, not to mention that the fat man and the prince didn't get along well, and Fang Zheng was a helper but not a helper.
A sweet-tempered person, can a few boxes of gold and silver buy his friendship with the fat man? Hum! Dreaming! However, although the person giving the gift is not interested in him, the money is innocent. - I don’t know how many boxes of gold the prince gave.
Silver?
He hurried back excitedly. The gift from the prince was still quietly placed in the corner of the front hall. More than a dozen boxes of various sizes were piled together, which looked quite visually shocking. Fang Zheng couldn't wait to order someone to open the box.
, the room was suddenly filled with golden light and silver. The bright light from the thick gold and silver ingots made Fang Zheng's eyes hurt.
Fang Zheng hurriedly ordered someone to close the box, and Fang Zheng took a deep breath. Such a large amount of gold and silver jewelry, if converted into silver, would not be less than one million taels. The gifts given by the prince are becoming more valuable every time. It seems that
Fang Zheng's worth in his heart is getting higher and higher. He originally thought that the prince's gift this time was only a dozen or two hundred thousand taels, so Fang Zheng accepted it without any scruples. He didn't expect that the prince's gift was so big, it was over a million taels.
! There is not so much money in the imperial treasury? Should I accept this gift or not? Fang Zheng, who has always been very assertive, began to hesitate for the first time.
Mr. Fang walked out of the back hall at some point. When he saw the pile of boxes, he couldn't help but frowned and said in a deep voice: "The prince gave it to you?"
Fang Zheng nodded. He was very torn right now. He wanted to accept it, but the gift was too hot. He wanted to return it, but he couldn't bear to part with it. It was very embarrassing.
Mr. Fang glanced at him and said: "Zheng'er, I don't understand the important affairs of the court, so I can't say anything. But I know that no reward will be given for no merit. The prince's intention in sending such a heavy gift is not trivial. You yourself
You have to know it well."
Fang Zheng smiled and said: "Don't worry, dad, my kid's advantage is that he wipes his mouth after eating and doesn't admit it. I will take care of this matter."
Mr. Fang scolded angrily: "You bastard! Is that your advantage? Fortunately, you are an official of the imperial court, and you have no sense of shame! If the emperor and the officials in the court find out about this, you will be in trouble!"
Fang Zheng quickly lowered his eyebrows and sighed in his heart. Even if I become a prince, I am still his son in front of my father. There is nothing I can do about it.
Master Fang's scolding reminded Fang Zheng that if I take the initiative to let the emperor know about this, wouldn't this gift be bleached? At worst, I can give the emperor some...
It just so happens that the emperor still needs to be informed about the negotiation with the Turks, so why not go to the palace now and handle the matter of this gift?
Fang Zheng made up his mind and immediately ordered his servants to prepare the carriage. After comforting his father for a few words, he hurriedly got into the carriage and rushed to the Forbidden Palace.
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Inside the royal study.
"The humble minister Fang Zheng pays homage to the emperor, long live my emperor! Long live the emperor -" Fang Zheng knelt down and shouted as soon as he entered the door.
As soon as the emperor saw Fang Zheng, he turned his nose up and snorted heavily, lowered his head to review the memorial, and ignored him...
When Fang Zheng saw that the emperor did not respond, he stood up without waiting for his instructions. Now Fang Zheng can be regarded as the emperor's prospective son-in-law. Young Master Fang has never been outside his family.
Quietly walking up to the emperor, Fang Zheng amplified his voice and shouted in the emperor's ear: "Your Majesty, the minister is here!"
The emperor slammed the brush in his hand and said angrily: "It's coming as soon as it comes. Why are you shouting?"
Fang Zheng smiled, scratched his head and said, "Hey, I thought you were old and deaf..."
The emperor sneered and said: "Although I am already seventy years old, my eyes are clear and my ears are clear. There is nothing in the world that I want to see or hear. I can't get through it!"
Fang Zheng only said yes and smiled secretly in his heart. At least you must not know about the gift the prince gave me just now.
The emperor glanced at Fang Zheng and said: "Every time I see you, I want to cut you into pieces. What advantage do you want to take advantage of when you come here this time?"
Fang Zheng smiled flatteringly and said: "Your Majesty, what you say hurts Wei Chen's heart too much. Does Wei Chen look like the kind of person who takes advantage? Isn't it just that he made a small business with you, and everyone is willing to do so?
Besides, I only got 10%, so it stands to reason that you should have taken advantage of me..."
The emperor said angrily: "So I feel sorry for you?"
Fang Zheng said quickly: "No, no, the emperor has misunderstood. We are all one family. Don't talk about two families. Don't hurt the harmony of your family because of those three melons and two dates. Wei Chen is here to give you an advantage.
of."
The emperor laughed angrily: "You actually have an advantage for me to take advantage of. This is an anecdote through the ages. What advantage?"
Fang Zheng said with emotion: "Weichen knows that the national treasury is in dire straits and the court's expenses are very tight. Weichen sees this and is anxious in his heart, so Weichen is willing to donate part of his family property to fill the national treasury."
As he spoke, Fang Zheng bared his teeth and smiled at the emperor: "Moved?"
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There is only one update per day this week. I'm really sorry. In fact, I said it a long time ago. Don't be offended. I will start to recommend it next week. There will be at least two updates per day. Don't despise me. My coding speed is really not fast. Please forgive me.