Volume 3: The Richest Man in the World Chapter 69 Everyone says you are a traitor, but who knows you are actually a loyal and good person
In the city of Sijiu, many people guessed that Zhu Gui was about to gain power.
But Zhu Gui still lived in a small alley, in the house left by his father, a quadrangle with two entrances, which was not very suitable for his status as an imperial teacher. Emperor Jiaqing wanted to arrange a better place for his teacher, but he had no money and his power was still very empty.
Zhu Gui was a very good person. Before the emperor could finish his words, he rejected Jiaqing's empty words and good intentions with the words "A gentleman is always poor - with only a bowl of rice and a jug of water, living in a humble alley. People may not be able to bear the worry, but he will not change his happiness when he returns home." Jiaqing commended him greatly and personally wrote the four words "The wise man returns to the humble alley" and hung them in the main hall of the courtyard.
Cai Qinghua lived in the west wing. When Wu Chengjian came in, the place was heavily guarded, and there were people in yellow jackets working outside the courtyard gate. After lifting the curtain and entering the door, he saw Cai Qinghua and Zhou Yijin sitting face to face on the kang. Wu Chengjian smiled and raised his hand: "Master Cai, long time no see."
Cai Qinghua looked at Wu Chengjian for a long time before asking, "Where are the things?"
Wu Chengjian smiled and said, "I just walked in, and Master Cai didn't even offer me a cup of tea before asking me for something. That's really too much for a guest."
Cai Qinghua said angrily, "I treated you as a friend, so I didn't treat you politely. You are such a scoundrel, I really don't know how Yi Jin has tolerated you all these years."
Although he returned in defeat in Guangdong, Wu Chengjian came to see him off when he was on his way north, and the two sides had a good start and a good end in Guangdong, so Cai Qinghua said, "I regard you as a friend."
"Just get used to it, just get used to it." Wu Chengjian smiled and took out a brocade bag from his bosom. The brocade bag was wrapped with a layer of oil paper, and the oil paper was wrapped with a layer of very fine and dense gold thread. The cover was opened to reveal another layer of very thin soft silk, and inside the soft silk was the paper. Under these layers of protection, it can be seen that Wu Chengjian values this piece of paper.
This piece of paper has been cut into pieces and is three points thinner than a cicada's wing, but the handwriting and seals on the paper are completely intact, which is obviously something that only an expert can do.
Cai Qinghua carefully took the paper and examined it for a moment. The more he looked at it, the more frightened he became. He whispered, "This... is indeed the seal of Sui Anshi!"
He sighed and said, "Hao Guan, I misjudged you. Everyone misjudged you!" He got down from the kang and said, "Wait a minute. I'll go see the elder now."
After Zhu Gui was transferred back to Beijing, he was promoted to Grand Secretary and entered the Southern Study, so Cai Qinghua called him the Grand Secretary.
Wu Chengjian was not in a hurry and found a chair nearby to sit down. Zhou Yijin asked, "What did Sixth Master say?"
Seeing that there was no one around, Wu Chengjian told the whole conversation.
Zhou Yijin nodded and said, "Very good, everything is going well. It depends on how Elder Zhu arranges it."
The door curtain was lifted, and it was Zhu Gui's long-time attendant Zhu Qing who came to invite them in person. Wu Chengjian then walked to the main hall with Zhou Yijin. Zhu Gui was sitting on the Luohan bed in the middle. He waved his hand, and everyone except Cai Qinghua left.
Wu Chengjian and Zhou Yijin bowed to Zhu Gui and greeted him. Zhu Gui waved his hand and said, "You are up. No need to be polite."
Yin stroked the thin paper on his palm with his fingers and sighed, "If this is true, not only me, but also... the people above the ninth level, owe you a big favor!"
This piece of paper was a list of stolen goods hidden in the palace. The seal of Sui'anshi on it was the private seal of Emperor Qianlong. Most people did not know the origin of this seal, but Zhu Gui, an imperial teacher, was familiar with the history of the royal family and knew what it was when he saw it.
If this list is included in the "stolen goods", then these "stolen goods" are not stolen goods, but the things in the palace that Qianlong tacitly allowed the Ministry of Internal Affairs to sell. It's just that this matter is not glorious, so it can be done but not said. If the Thirteenth Floor had not been burned down, Zhu Gui really escorted the "stolen goods" together with Wu Chengjian to Beijing and opened them in public for inspection. Once the seal of Anshi was issued, where would Qianlong put his old face? All the people involved would be embarrassed.
To put it mildly, Zhu Gui sent both the person and the "stolen goods", so he must be in big trouble. To put it more seriously, Zhu Gui was the teacher of the new emperor. At that time, Qianlong had just abdicated and Jiaqing had just ascended the throne. You, the new emperor, did this to the old emperor. Was it to undermine the prestige of your father? Or was it that you couldn't wait to seize power?
Given Qianlong's suspicion in his later years, it would have been a light punishment for Jiaqing to be punished on the pretext of something. If Heshen had taken further action, it is possible that the emperor emeritus would have even started the matter of deposing and enthroning the emperor.
That is why Zhu Gui said that both he and "Above the Nine Heavens" owed Wu Chengjian a great favor.
When Cai Qinghua wanted to search the Thirteen Hongs, Wu Chengjian and Zhou Yijin obstructed them in every possible way, which caused Zhu Gui to have a very bad impression of Wu and Zhou. But now, thinking about it again, all the obstructions by Wu Chengjian at that time were turned into his hard work, forbearance and loyalty to the emperor, and all the difficulties and traps that Heshen set for Wu Chengjian later also made sense.
Zhu Gui had already thought about protecting this boy, but he said, "Although I have this thing, it's a pity... after all, it's just your one-sided statement. If I really bring it up in front of the emperor, the palace may not believe it completely."
Wu Chengjian said: "I have a witness."
Now even Zhu Gui and Cai Qinghua were a little surprised: "Witness?"
Wu Chengjian said, "The witness is waiting outside. If the Lord allows, we can call him in for questioning."
Zhu Gui glanced at Cai Qinghua, and Cai Qinghua said, "I'll go and check it out." Then he went with Zhou Yijin.
At this time, Wu Chengjian was still kneeling on the ground. Zhu Gui said, "Find a place to sit." In his heart, he actually already believed Wu Chengjian.
Cai Qinghua was waiting in the yard. Zhou Yijin went out and soon came back with Tietou Junba. The man's face was covered with scars from burns, his features were distorted, and his face was very scary. When Cai Qinghua saw it was him, he frowned secretly, fearing that this ugly monster would offend the elder.
But then I heard the ugly monster kneeling down and saying, "Master Cai, you have to save me. I don't want to live in such a dark life. Please ask the elder for mercy on my behalf and let me have a chance to live."
Cai Qinghua found his voice familiar: "Who are you?"
"Master Cai," the ugly monster said, "I am Hutabu, Hutabu of the Guangdong Customs Supervisory Office. We have met many times in Guangzhou. My appearance has changed, so you can't recognize my voice either?"
Hutabu was the house servant of the Guangdong Customs Supervisor, and Cai Qinghua was the chief advisor of the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi. The two offices were involved in official business, so they had seen each other many times. Cai Qinghua recognized Hutabu after he mentioned him: "You are Hutabu?! How did you become like this? Ah, no! Aren't you dead?"
He also knew that Hutabu had died on the road, and he had been secretly frightened at the time.
Hutabu shed tears and said, "It's all because I have long ears and heard some things I shouldn't have heard. It's a pity that Liu Quan couldn't bear my life, and my family master didn't care about me. If it weren't for Hao Guan's secret help, I... I would be a cold corpse on the mountain road now."
Cai Qinghua was such a smart man that when he saw this man and heard these words, he guessed what was going on and said, "Wait a minute." He went inside and reported to Zhu Gui. After listening, Zhu Gui said, "Let the man come in. I want to interrogate him personally. Officer Hao, please wait in the west wing."
Wu Chengjian knew that Zhu Gui wanted to separate them to verify their confessions, so without saying much, he and Zhou Yijin went to the west wing to wait. After about two incense sticks of time, Zhu Qing came and asked them to go to the main hall.
Hutabu was no longer around, and Wu Chengjian didn't dare ask any more questions.
After Zhu Gui interrogated Hutabu and combined the "physical evidence", he not only found out that what Wu Chengjian said was true, but also found out many secrets about Heshen and Jishan. When he looked at Wu Chengjian again, he couldn't help but sighed: "When Zhou Gong was afraid of rumors and Wang Mang was humble before he usurped the throne - the ancients were not deceiving me. Everyone said you were a traitor, but who knew you were a loyal and good man!"
Wu Chengjian was suddenly excited after hearing the latter part of the sentence. Since he came to Beijing, he had been acting in front of people everywhere. Only this time was he really emotional and couldn't control himself! Because he knew that he still had the property and lives of the entire Wu family, and most of them were saved.
Although Zhu Gui was a gentleman, he was the emperor's teacher and minister after all. He had the ability to judge people from their subtleties. He could see Wu Chengjian's mood from the involuntary movement of his eyebrows, and said with a smile: "When Heshen was in power, if you had opposed him, you would have died on the spot. If you didn't, you would have been disloyal and unfilial. Although you are not a loyal minister, you can deal with the emperor and father in this dilemma and protect your family from danger. You can be considered loyal."
Zhou Yijin pulled Wu Chengjian , and Wu Chengjian came to his senses, knelt down, and said, "With this compliment from the elder, all the suffering I've gone through in the past few years is worth it!"
Zhu Gui raised his hand and motioned him to stand up: "No need to do that. The emperor is a wise ruler. Since you are loyal and righteous, you will be rewarded if you turn back. I will advise His Majesty on your behalf. As for how His Majesty decides, it depends on your luck. But don't worry, even if there is any change, I will ensure that your family's lives are safe."
Wu Chengjian was overjoyed and said, "How dare I hope for good fortune? As long as there is no disaster or misfortune, we in the Wu family will be willing to eat salted fish and white porridge."
Zhu Gui said happily: "Not bad, not bad, Qinghua is right, you really have read a few days of books. This is exactly the reason why a gentleman is determined to be poor."
After leaving Zhu's house and returning to the Guangdong Guild Hall, Zhou Yijin couldn't help but sneer, " It is the principle that a gentleman should be content with poverty. Hao Guan, can you be content with poverty?"
Wu Chengjian smiled and said, "As for a gentleman, the Master said: Be happy when you are poor and be polite when you are rich! I have always been polite."
Zhou Yijin smiled and said, "So in the end, you still want money."
"I didn't say that!"
"So do you want to be poor and happy, or rich and polite?"
Wu Chengjian said with a smile: "In troubled times, a gentleman must be forced to be poor and happy. We, the people of prosperous times, must be rich and polite."
"Prosperous times..." Zhou Yijin chuckled twice: "Prosperous times..."
