Chapter 17.1
Chapter 17.1
Jiang Suizhou naturally did not know how Huo Wujiu received that secret letter scolding him. He happily basked in a round of idleness in the Ministry of Rites, then returned to his house and went to his study.
Due to that day’s conversation, Ji You’s attitude towards him became much better. Today, Ji You also lent him two books, saying that they were for him to read.
Of course, it was two books of unofficial history.
Jiang Suizhou was not very fond of unofficial history because of his personal experience, so after thanking Ji You’s kindness, he collected the two books and put them on his desk like nothing.
Who would want to read them? He didn’t want to take the risk of somehow transmigrating again.
What was more, he had other things to do ——
For example, the secret letter that the two ministers sent him.
He was extremely cautious and put the letter away when he received it early in the morning. It was only now when no one was around that he unfolded and read it.
——Similar to his conjecture, the letter did not provide much useful information.
These two courtiers were not high officials, but happened to be in the Ministry of Works. Therefore, when the Ministry of Works took over this project, they figured out the budget amount and the person in charge with some inquiries. They also did some calculations for Jiang Suizhou, and figured out how much spoiles Pang Shao could get here.
The amount was really hefty.
The two courtiers must have felt anxious because of this, and asked him in the letter if they should plant some of their own people in the project.
Jiang Suizhou fell into deep thought.
According to his current understanding of the original owner, he would definitely do something. Even if there would be no return or even loss, he must try it.
But Jiang Suizhou knew that it was all useless.
Pang Shao would never let any official he was not comfortable with handle the money. Thus, even if they slipped their own officials in, they could never touch the money allocated by the court. In this case, all their spies could do was to collect evidence of corruption and report it to the court…
But, how was the relationship between Pang Shao and the Emperor, and how was his relationship with the Emperor?
This was obviously courting destruction.
Moreover, the officials who have been inserted would be pushed to the cusp of the storm, making it easy for Pang Shao to persecute them.
Before transmigrating, he had read history books and found that a lot of Southern Jing officials suffered accidental deaths in certain projects, and those accidents were left unsettled.
Jiang Suizhou did not dare to risk lives.
He pondered for a moment, and read the letter carefully. He wrote down some numbers and names, and then put the letter into a secret compartment on the side of the table.
There were already a lot of letters in there.
All of them were saved by the original owner. Jiang Suizhou took a lot of effort to find this secret compartment.
He also roughly determined the original owner’s sphere of influence based on the letters in it.
Most of the information collected in the letters stored there were fragmentary and of little reference value. But according to the positions of the officials who wrote the letters, it was clear that these people had little real power in their hands, and these fragmentary and pitiful pieces of information were the results of their best efforts.
These officials would painstakingly collect information and give it to the original owner, and the original owner did not disappoint their efforts. There were always traces of circled annotations on the letters in the box, which showed how diligent the original owner’s regard to them was.
Jiang Suizhou stored this letter together with the rest. He carefully locked it up, and then began to write his reply to the two officials.
He did not refuse directly, but only said that they should stay put, and he would act accordingly. If he found a chance to plant them in as spies by then, he would notify them as soonest possible.
Fortunately, there were several letters in the study that the original owner had not yet sent, so Jiang Suizhou barely learned his manner of speaking and finished writing the letter.
After writing, Jiang Suizhou read the letter through and waited for the ink to dry.
He couldn’t help but sigh.
It had been three years since Southern Jing fled across the Yangtze River, and gradually came out of the fear of the country’s destruction. They appeared to have accepted the current division of the river and governing countries on either side. Until a month or so ago, Huo Wujiu led his troops to the south and disrupted the original balance. But then, he was besieged and captured when the reinforcements were cut off during the river crossing.
This time, even General Huo of the Northern Liang was gone, so the Southern Jing courtiers were naturally more at ease.
It was precisely for this reason that Pang Shao comfortably embezzled and sought power, while the emperor was only devoted to worldly pleasures. The original King Jing and the courtiers behind him were trying their best to seize power from Pang Shao’s party, searching for a clear way out of that dark cloud.
However, none of them knew that the dynasty was nearing its fated end, and the edifices were on the verge of collapse.
They were struggling to climb a skyscraper that was about to topple over.
Jiang Suizhou looked out the window.
He gradually accepted the fact that he was brought into this period in history. At the same time, he was also caught in this mighty torrent.
He gradually kind of wanted to help them.
——
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