“How did you manage to get this gentleman to come out?”
A moment later, Zong Ying returned to Han Bo's side. He looked at Han Mo's appearance with curiosity, like a curious baby.
“Heaven’s secrets cannot be revealed. But speaking of which, you need to tell the Prince later that I hired this master at a great cost. If he starts spending money in the future, I can’t be the only one bearing the burden!”
“Are you kidding me? The descendant of Duke Fan Wenzheng, can he be bought with money?”
Although the Fan family was gradually declining, their prestige in the scholarly circles was still unshakeable.
“To be concerned about the world before others, and to be happy after others. To be far from the rivers and lakes, but to worry about the ruler; to be high in the imperial court, but to worry about the people.”
If the descendant of such a great man could truly be bought with money, Prince Yun would have already rushed forward with handfuls of copper coins.
“Believe it or not. By the way, shouldn’t many people be coming to offer money recently?”
When it came to money, Han Mo suddenly smiled mysteriously.
“You’re right, I was actually planning to discuss this with you. There’s still no clue about the military pay. However, people have been coming to offer money these days, but I’ve politely declined them for now!”
Although Zong Ying was not skilled in these matters of conspiracy and schemes, he was quite adept at handling such things. If it were someone else, they might have already accepted the money.
“The Prince is holding the opportunity to select advisors this time, so naturally, everyone wants to get a piece of the pie. You did well not to accept the money. Money should be accepted, but we still need to find a sensible person to handle this matter!”
Even though there was no one else in the courtyard, Han Mo deliberately lowered his voice when he spoke.
“There are only so many positions, and we still need to reserve some for those who can truly get things done. Therefore, the Prince is also troubled by this matter and wants you to come up with a plan!”
“This kind of thing is very simple. As long as you find a balance point, you can make a list. I’ve already thought of who will receive the money. Remember, this is not bribery accepted by the Prince, but their financial assistance to the Ministry of Revenue!”
This was a one-time deal, so Han Mo naturally had to handle things gracefully.
“I’m just afraid that after the money enters the Ministry of Revenue, it will end up in the mouths of those rats, big and small!”
As soon as Han Mo finished speaking, Zong Ying lowered his voice and replied.
“You don’t need to worry about such things. Don’t we have a Left Vice Minister of Revenue? And if we can also secure the position of the warehouse supervisor, won’t that take care of it? This money is for the court to deal with emergencies. Anyone who dares to embezzle will have to face the Prince’s sword, won’t they?”
“You say it so simply, but can they easily give up the position of warehouse supervisor?”
Hearing Han Mo’s words, Zong Ying couldn’t help but curl his lips.
“Don’t worry, our new Minister of Revenue, isn’t he supposed to check the accounts when he takes office? I don’t believe that all these guys are cats that don’t steal fish!”
The entire Song imperial court was almost rotten to the core. Corruption was too common, especially among the officials in the Ministry of Revenue. Although Han Mo did not have the determination to rectify the bureaucracy at this moment, it was still easy for him to obtain the position of a small warehouse supervisor.
“But, the Ministry of Personnel…”
“You’re overthinking it. This is a special case for special circumstances. The Emperor himself specifically agreed to the Left Vice Minister of Revenue. When he takes office in the Ministry of Revenue, shouldn’t he have one or two of his own confidants? Especially at this time, if Cai You rejects the person we recommend, wouldn’t he be afraid that we would strike at the people they’ve placed in the army? Don’t forget where the Cai family’s ancestral home is!”
After Han Mo’s reminder, Zong Ying suddenly realized that he was too slow to react in these matters.
“I actually forgot about that. If you put it that way, I feel much more confident. I just don’t know who you’ve chosen?”
“You should know this person too. He’s the Judicial Official of the Kaifeng Prefecture, Zhang Shaoyou!”
“Zhang Shaoyou? Can he do it?”
“Then let me ask you, do you know how much wealth the powerful families in Bianliang city possess? How much money can they spend to lobby for their sons? Do you know which of the scions from various families are truly capable of succeeding and which ones are just there to make up the numbers?”
Faced with Han Mo’s barrage of questions, Zong Ying fell silent. Come to think of it, it seemed to be the case. Zhang Shaoyou had already held the position of Judicial Official in the Kaifeng Prefecture for two terms. He was truly familiar with every major and minor affair in the Kaifeng Prefecture.
“Then I’ll convey your intentions directly to the Prince!”
“There’s one more thing. Have you and the Prince estimated how much military pay will be needed this time?”
Seeing Zong Ying about to leave, Han Mo stopped him.
“According to my father’s estimation, the first batch of money and grain will likely require at least 1.5 million to 2 million strings of coins. To prevent any difficulties later on, we probably need to have another million strings as a buffer! That means we need to prepare at least 2.5 to 3 million strings!”
“Not enough!”
“It’s still not enough?”
Zong Ying looked at Han Mo with some confusion. Did Han Mo have some insider information?
“Your father’s estimation is not wrong, but you’ve forgotten one thing!”
“What is it?”
“Haven’t you forgotten that the Tianning Festival is coming soon?”
“But what does that have to do with us?”
Zong Ying was even more confused. Zhao Zhen was currently the Commander of the Six Routes. Shouldn’t his most urgent task be to quickly assemble troops, organize personnel, and then march south to quell the rebellion?
“The Tianning Festival is approaching, but the two wars in the north and south have completely emptied the court. The Ministry of Revenue’s reserves have all been transferred to Yanyue. Do you really expect His Majesty to replace the rare flowers and exotic plants in Yanyue with copper coins?”
“Then, if you say that, do we still have to allocate a portion of the military pay to His Majesty?”
Zong Ying was immediately unhappy. What kind of logic was this? The emperor asking his ministers to raise military pay to quell the rebellion was one thing, but having to give a portion of the raised funds to the emperor was absurd!
“Why are you so agitated? Haven’t you forgotten our true objective? What do we need money for? We want the entire world! As long as the Prince can ascend that throne, what is a mere sum of money? Moreover, this copper money is not ours!”