Chapter 1087 Benefit Transfer!
Yijing, Ma Mansion

Looking at the snowflakes flying outside the window, Ma Runchuan, who was sitting in the study, felt very warm physically, but his mood was as cold as the weather outside··························

Ma Runchuan still had many expectations for this trip to Beijing. He believed that this would be an important turning point in his official career. If he could successfully become the governor of Youyan, his official career would be completely bright. But if he failed, his official career would be completely plunged into darkness!
Ma Runchuan couldn't help but sigh when he thought of this. Although the Marshal had not made a final decision yet, judging from the current news, he seemed to be out!
Just when Ma Runchuan was feeling sad, a young and beautiful woman opened the door and came to Ma Runchuan.

This person is Zhao, Ma Runchuan's new concubine who was taken in a year ago. She is fair-skinned, beautiful and graceful. Since she married Ma Runchuan, she has been very much loved by Ma Runchuan.

Originally, Ma Runchuan did not plan to bring Zhao with him on this trip to Beijing, but Zhao had heard about the prosperity of Yijing and wanted to see it for herself. So, after Zhao's constant persuasion and various martial arts, Ma Runchuan finally brought Zhao with him to Yijing.
Seeing Ma Runchuan's dejected look, Zhao naturally knew what he was thinking about writing, and immediately comforted him with some heartache:

“Master, your talent is well-known throughout Qilu. Marshal Ye is blind not to use you…”

Ma Runchuan, who was originally in a low mood, was immediately shocked when these words came out. The next second, he immediately covered Zhao's mouth with his hand and taught her a lesson:

"You are crazy, bitch! How dare you say such outrageous words!"

Seeing that Ma Runchuan dared to be mean to her even though she was trying to comfort him with good intentions, Zhao felt very aggrieved and said immediately:

"Hasn't he become emperor yet? You are an official of the Great Zhou, not his official!"

Seeing that Zhao dared to say that, Ma Runchuan was a little anxious and stretched out his hand to slap her. However, seeing Zhao's pitiful appearance, Ma Runchuan softened his heart. He gently lowered his raised hand and said to Zhao earnestly:

"Yuer, you must never complain like this again. You must never even think like this again. The Internal Guards of the Coordination Office are omnipresent. If they knew what you said, you would be in big trouble!"

Listening to Ma Runchuan's chatter, Zhao used her youthful, energetic and seductive lips to gently rub Ma Runchuan and said:
"Master, your Yue'er is not stupid. How could she say such things to others? Yue'er is just standing up for you. Master, you are so powerful, but the higher-ups can't see it!"

Zhao's words touched Ma Runchuan's heart, causing him to sigh again.

Seeing this, Zhao continued:

“In my opinion, you should swallow your pride and have a good talk with your junior brother. He is now the Minister of Personnel of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and I heard that he is a favorite of Marshal Ye…”

"As long as he can say one word to the Marshal, it will be more effective than a hundred words from you, Master!"

Ma Runchuan couldn't help but smile bitterly when he heard this. As a fellow apprentice who had known each other for decades, he knew how smart Gu Sansi was!

So even if he didn't say anything, Ma Runchuan believed that Gu Sansi understood everything!

Therefore, if Gu Sansi wanted to speak for himself, he would naturally recommend himself to the Marshal. But if Gu Sansi did not have this idea, then even if he really asked for his help, Gu Sansi might not be willing to help him!
Although he had such thoughts, Ma Runchuan was still very confident in the decades-long friendship between himself and Gu Sansi, and felt that Gu Sansi would most likely help him!
However, judging from the news leaking out of the court in the past few days, his good junior brother Gu Sansi did not speak for him as he had expected, but instead remained silent as usual and watched the fire from the other side of the river!
Currently, the two most popular candidates competing for the governor of Youyan are Jin Zaicheng, the former deputy governor of Liaoyang, and Ye Hao, the former governor of Yunbing!
Although Jin Zaicheng is not well-known, he is an old man who started the Fengwu Army in Fengzhou. However, he has no great connection with Cui Shao. On the contrary, he was promoted when Murong Yuliang was the governor of Liaoyang, and he had a better relationship with Murong Yuliang...
As for Ye Hao, he is a member of the Ye family. According to seniority, he is also Marshal Ye’s distant cousin. He has been working in Yijing for many years. During the Battle of Yunbing, in order to coordinate the logistics of Yunbing, the Marshal temporarily promoted him to the Governor of Yunbing!
It is worth mentioning that Ye Hao’s wife’s surname is Cui, and she is Cui Shao’s niece. Also because of this relationship, the relationship between Ye Hao and Cui Shao is also very close!

Therefore, although Cui Shao has not yet expressed his position on the competition for the governor of Youyan, many people believe that he is secretly supporting Ye Hao!

Judging from the current situation, the governor of Youyan will basically be chosen between Jin Zaicheng and Ye Hao. As for Ma Runchuan, he is completely out!
In this regard, although Ma Runchuan comforted himself by saying that it was Gu Sansi's favor to help him and it was his duty not to help him, there must be his own reasons why Gu Sansi did not speak up for him. Gu Sansi, as the Minister of Personnel, was under a lot of pressure and needed to treat everyone equally. He could not allow people to point fingers behind his back and say that he was nepotism!

However, although Ma Runchuan found various reasons for Gu Sansi, his heart was still full of bitterness and disappointment!
The disappointment is not only with myself, but also with Gu Sansi!
At the moment, the position of Youyan Governor is too critical for Ma Runchuan. It can even be said to be one of the few opportunities in his life. Ma Runchuan is not young anymore, and he is almost fifty years old now. If he cannot get promoted at this time, he may never get promoted again in this life...

Therefore, Ma Runchuan urgently hopes that his former classmates and good junior brothers can help him at this critical juncture so that he will not leave too many regrets in his life and career!

However, disappointingly, judging from the current situation, things seem destined to be like this!

Thinking of this, Ma Runchuan didn't want to stay in Yijing any longer. After thinking for a while, he instructed Zhao:
"Please pack up in the next two days. I will ask the Marshal for permission to return to Licheng tomorrow!"

"Ah? Master, you are leaving now!" Zhao said in surprise:

"Why don't you want to?" Ma Runchuan asked back with a frown?
Zhao hesitated for a moment and said:
"I finally came to Yijing, and I haven't had enough of sightseeing. Master, can you stay for a few days?"

If it was normal times when Ma Runchuan was facing Zhao's coquetry, he might have obeyed her, but at this moment, Ma Runchuan had made up his mind and said coldly:
"You've already spent nearly a thousand taels of silver in the past few days. Isn't that enough?"

"Since you don't want to leave, then you can stay here. I will go back to Licheng by myself!"

Seeing that Ma Runchuan seemed to be really angry, Zhao quickly said coquettishly:

“Master, if you leave, why should I stay here? I have sworn to be with you forever, for the rest of my life…”

"I'll pack my luggage now. Master, we'll leave when you decide!"

Ma Runchuan didn't say anything after hearing this, but his expression remained serious. Seeing this, Zhao's beautiful eyes turned, and her slender hands quietly attacked Ma Runchuan. However, just as Zhao was about to make the next move, the guard heard the voice of the servant. "Master, the Minister of Personnel Gu Sansi Gu is here to visit!"

At this moment, Ma Runchuan had no time to think about other things. In addition, he was more or less resentful of Gu Sansi for not helping him, so he blurted out subconsciously:
"Tell Gu Sansi that I'm not feeling well and can't see you today!"

Before Ma Runchuan finished speaking, he calmed down. After hesitating for a moment, he shouted to the servant outside the door:
"Wait a minute! Invite Master Gu into the main hall!"

"Yes!"

After saying that, Ma Runchuan packed up his clothes. Seeing this, Zhao quickly wiped her clothes and changed Ma Runchuan into a set of clean clothes.

After a cup of tea, Ma Runchuan came to the main hall of the mansion. At this time, Gu Sansi was drinking tea and waiting for his arrival·······················
Although he was willing to come out to see Gu Sansi, Ma Runchuan's resentment was still not reduced. Looking at Gu Sansi, he could only force a smile and said:

"Think carefully, what brings out a busy man like you?"

At this time, Gu Sansi didn't know what his senior brother Ma Runchuan was thinking. He just felt a little strange looking at the unnatural smile on his senior brother's face, but he didn't think much about it and went straight to the point after a moment of hesitation.

"Brother, I won't be polite with you. Can you answer a question for me?"

Seeing Gu Sansi's serious look, Ma Runchuan felt a little confused. He didn't know why Gu Sansi came here. But after hesitating for a while, Ma Runchuan said in a deep voice:

“You know everything you know and you can’t explain it without saying it!”

Hearing this answer, Gu Sansi did not hesitate and asked directly:

"Brother, what is your relationship with Wang Jianghe, the owner of Licheng Guangrongfa?"

Before Gu Sansi finished speaking, Ma Runchuan narrowed his eyes. Then, under Gu Sansi's gaze, he slowly spoke:
"Think carefully, why are you asking this suddenly?"

Gu Sansi nodded and said:
"Brother, this matter is very important. I need you to give me a definite answer!"

Seeing Gu Sansi being so serious, Ma Runchuan began to hesitate. Based on his understanding of Gu Sansi, something must have happened for him to suddenly come to him. Moreover, judging from his expression, something very important must have happened...
But do I really need to tell Gu Sansi about this?

Thinking of this, Ma Runchuan's heart was in endless entanglement. After pondering for half a cup of tea, Ma Runchuan finally made a choice and said to Gu Sansi:
"Don Wang is my friend!"

Ma Runchuan paused for a moment, feeling the scrutiny in Gu Sansi's eyes, and then he continued:
"He also gave me some silver!"

After saying this, Ma Runchuan seemed to feel ashamed and subconsciously lowered his head, not daring to look at Gu Sansi again.

At this time, Gu Sansi said in a deep voice:

"This Mr. Wang not only gave you money, but he also gave you Miss Zhao Yue'er, right?"

Hearing this, Ma Runchuan smiled bitterly and said helplessly:

"You really can't hide anything from me, Sansi! So what happened?"

After recommending Ma Runchuan to the Marshal that day, Gu Sansi had no idea that Ye Mingsheng was deceiving him, and he actually thought that the Coordination Office had really reported Ma Runchuan!
So in order to avoid being implicated later, Gu Sansi did not directly tell his senior brother Ma Runchuan the good news, but wanted to investigate what Ma Runchuan had done in Qilu!
Gu Sansi directly found Shen Changhong, the left vice minister of the Ministry of Personnel. Shen Changhong was a native of Qilu. He had worked in the Qilu Provincial Administration for more than ten years and was very familiar with the situation in Qilu...

When asked by Gu Sansi, Shen Changhong was initially vague and unwilling to say more, but under Gu Sansi's questioning, Shen Changhong finally told everything he knew.

Shen Changhong told Gu Sansi that Ma Runchuan was very close to Wang Jianghe, the owner of the local business Guangshengfa in Qilu, and Wang Jianghe assisted Ma Runchuan in achieving many political achievements.

But this Wang Jianghe is certainly not selfless. With the help of Ma Runchuan, this Wang Dongjia obtained the development rights of some plots of land in Licheng and the mining rights of an iron mine in Qilu, and made a lot of money!

In addition, when Ma Runchuan was in Qi and Lu, he fell in love with a local opera star named Zhao Yue'er. However, as a local star, the redemption fee for Zhao Yue'er was as high as thousands of taels of silver.

Although Ma Runchuan was the Deputy Governor of Qi and Lu and received a lot of annual salary and rewards, the expenses of entertaining and seeing off officials in official circles were not small.

In addition, he bought some fixed assets such as shops and houses, so Ma Runchuan felt a little painful when he had to pay thousands of taels of silver to redeem Zhao Yueer.

Third, as the deputy governor of Qi and Lu, Ma Runchuan also paid attention to his own influence and reputation.

So when Ma Runchuan was having trouble making a choice, Wang Jianghe came forward to redeem Zhao Yueer from the Pear Garden and gave her directly to Ma Runchuan, which made the businessman win the friendship of the Deputy Governor of Qi and Lu...
(End of this chapter)