...

Zhao Wujiang stepped into the banquet hall under the leadership of Liu Feng, and then Liu Feng retreated.

As soon as he entered the hall, Zhao Wujiang's arrival attracted the attention of many officials.

He is so different. His extraordinary handsomeness alone can overwhelm many officials. Except for a few people such as Dugu Yihe and Liu Zhe who can compare, the rest of the ministers couldn't help but sigh in their hearts.

And Zhao Wujiang is very young. Although there are young officials, they are a little less calm than him. Zhao Wujiang is both young and elegant and gives people an extraordinarily calm feeling, and the integration of this feeling is extremely harmonious. There is no

No sense of inconsistency at all.

Many courtiers paid tribute to Zhao Wujiang one after another, and many even made no secret of their sneer at Zhao Wujiang. No matter how handsome he was, he was still an incomplete and scornful person.

Dugu Yihe nodded to Zhao Wujiang and motioned for Zhao Wujiang to sit next to him.

Zhao Wujiang walked towards Dugu Yihe gently, and sat down next to Dugu Yihe without being humble or arrogant.

The courtiers who were watching all around were filled with envy. Although there was no clear distinction between seniority and inferiority at the banquet, the courtiers knew it in their minds. Different levels of power meant different positions. Now, although Zhao Wujiang was sitting in a very high position, no courtiers stood up.

question.

After all, the head of the Dugu family personally invited him, who among the people here would say anything disobedient?

Next to Zhao Wujiang was Li Chenxu, the minister of Honglu Temple. When Li Chenxu saw Zhao Wujiang, he also treated him as a peer.

...

At a quarter past noon, all the courtiers attending the banquet arrived, accounting for nearly 60% of the officials in the court. In other words, except for some minor officials who needed to be on duty and operate, the officials attending the banquet were basically all the officials in the court.

The lowest rank among the officials here is the eighth rank, and they are officials officially appointed by the imperial court. Although they can only sit at the end of the banquet hall, they all feel honored to be invited by Liu Zhe.

This was almost impossible in the past.

Who is Liu Zhe?

The elder of the three dynasties, the most powerful minister in the court, ranked in the Zhongshu Ling of the Zhongshu Province, and was a third-rank official. Although he was of the same rank as the six ministers, his actual power was more than half a rank higher than the six ministers, so he was called a second-rank official.

It is not an exaggeration to say that he is a truly powerful minister.

In the past, it would have been impossible for Liu Zhe to entertain these low-ranking officials of the sixth or seventh grade. Today, however, the banquet was very large. How could he not make the low-ranking officials feel honored?

Liu Zhe took the main seat and invited everyone to have a drink. Everyone complimented him respectfully, and the banquet was in a happy atmosphere.

After drinking for a while, the banquet atmosphere became joyful. Liu Zhe, Dugu Yihe and Zhao Wujiang looked at each other and had a small exchange of eyes.

Liu Zhe gently stroked his long snow-white beard, raised his glass to signal to everyone, and said with a chuckle:

"My colleagues, today's banquet is hosted by Mr. Zhao Wujiang, a member of the Ministry of Household Affairs."

The ministers were stunned and couldn't help but scream. Liu Zhe was entrusted by Zhao Wujiang to specially entertain the ministers. Why?

Zhao Wujiang filled the glass with wine, stood up, held the glass in both hands, and saluted the courtiers from all directions:

"My lords, I would like to propose a toast to you."

He drank it all in one gulp.

The ministers were silent, and many people became commotion, smelling something suspiciously unusual.

Zhao Wujiang drank the wine from the glass and said loudly:

"The former Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Zhang Tui, was corrupt and misappropriated the state treasury to enrich himself. Recently, Liu Wanshan, the minister of the Ministry of Revenue, found out that the treasury is empty and needs to be filled urgently.

Today, I asked Mr. Liu to entertain all my colleagues for a banquet. I want to ask for your colleagues’ help to fill the national treasury and stabilize Daxia’s desire!”

The ministers were silent. They had different thoughts and looked at Zhao Wujiang with twinkling eyes.

Some people ridiculed Zhao Wujiang in their hearts. Zhao Wujiang asked the ministers to pay out of their own pockets. This is simply an extremely naive idea. Who among you here would take the initiative to pay out of your own pockets?

If you pay too little, you will look stingy and lose face. If you pay too much, you will feel distressed and have no benefit. Who will do it?

The emperor also discussed with them about filling the treasury, and they tacitly shied away from it. They took this into consideration, and if they paid too much, they would feel distressed and it would be of no benefit. Once the emperor found out where so much money came from, it would be even more troublesome.

, they will not be stupid enough to get themselves burned.

There were also many people who looked at Zhao Wujiang with a hint of admiration in their eyes, admiring Zhao Wujiang's boldness, but they couldn't help but sigh at Zhao Wujiang's naivety. Nowadays, the great summer is in turmoil and the officialdom is in deep trouble. Most people just want to save themselves.

After Zhao Wujiang finished speaking, no one answered for a long time. The situation was a bit awkward for a while. The courtiers were eating wine and vegetables by themselves, and from time to time someone sneered and ridiculed.

Everyone is silent, how can you, Zhao Wujiang, force everyone to donate?

There are so many ministers in the court who are not worried about this matter, so you, a small official, insist on drowning in muddy water, claiming to be a saint and thinking too highly of yourself?

What's the use of being young and energetic, but having no idea of ​​how to mend things and help the world?

Do you need to be so noble to be an official? How long can you be an official if you do this? Humph, you are young...
Chapter completed!