Chapter 1167: A direct minister!

A stick of incense later, Zhao Wanxian came out of Tingyuxuan with great satisfaction. He could say that he had gained a lot from this meeting with Jiang Yuyan and got everything he wanted·····················
As the saying goes, all things are difficult at the beginning. Zhao Wanxian believed that this meeting with Jiang Yuyan had made a good start for his upcoming term as the governor of Hebei and Henan, and laid a good and solid foundation. Zhao Wanxian even began to look forward to Ye Mingsheng's arrival in Yujing in half a month!

With this thought in mind, Zhao Wanxian also got on the carriage back home. However, what the Governor of Hebei and Henan did not expect was that as soon as he got home and had not even sat down, his trusted butler Zhao San handed him a letter.

"Sir, this is a letter from Sir Zhang Zhiwen!"

Zhao Wanxian was a little surprised when he heard this. He didn't know what Zhang Zhiwen wanted to talk to him about at this time. However, after a slight hesitation, Zhao Wanxian opened the envelope and read the contents of the letter!

As soon as he glanced at Zhao Wanxian, a hint of surprise appeared on his face, and then his expression immediately became very ugly. After a moment, he threw the letter on the desk, and then waved at Zhao San. Zhao San immediately bowed and left, leaving Zhao Wanxian a quiet and private space!

After Zhao San left, Zhao Wanxian punched the desk in front of him, which was made of huanghuali and worth hundreds of taels of silver.

"boom!"

With a muffled sound, the pens, ink, paper and inkstone on the desk trembled, and the furnishings on the desk became a little messy·····················
Zhao Wanxian really couldn't understand how he had offended this guy named Gu, and why he had to pick a fight with him?
Isn't it clear what I meant by leaving the file to him?

Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone could live in peace and mind each other?

Did you, Gu Sansi, get kicked in the head by a donkey?
He also took the initiative to report this matter to the Censorate and the Marshal?

Are you happy about being dismissed from the position of Minister of Personnel and demoted three levels?

You're hurting yourself by a thousand dollars, and you want to drag me into this?

Did I, Zhao Wanxian, kill your father or steal your wife, which makes you so mortal enemies with me?

Zhao Wanxian now really wants to ask Gu Sansi, what are you thinking? How much hatred and resentment do we have between us that you have to do this!
Zhao Wanxian really didn't expect that Gu Sansi not only handed in the file, but also said that he was the one who gave it!

Although he was very confused about Gu Sansi's intention, Zhao Wanxian was very clear that he was in big trouble now. Many people would definitely think that he used this file to threaten Gu Sansi, and then Gu Sansi rejected his threat and chose to self-destruct!
But I swear to God, I really didn't mean to threaten Gu Sansi when I handed the file to him. Zhao Wanxian did this to show his goodwill and strength, so that Gu Sansi would not do anything behind his back...

Zhao Wanxian didn't care what other people thought, but he had to consider what the Marshal thought about this matter!
According to Zhang Zhiwen's letter, although the Marshal dismissed Gu Sansi from his position as Minister of Personnel and demoted him three levels from the second rank to the third rank, the most important thing was that the Marshal allowed Gu Sansi to continue to perform the functions of the Minister of Personnel to see the results!

From this point, we can see that although the Marshal punished Gu Sansi severely, he was not actually too angry with Gu Sansi. The reason why he dismissed Gu Sansi from his post as Minister of Personnel and demoted him three levels was just to give an explanation to all the officials in the court!
After all, the Marshal had handled the cases of Liu Zhengyue and Sun Jingan with an iron fist and without mercy. Therefore, if he let Gu Sansi off lightly this time, it would inevitably lead to some unnecessary criticism in the court. Therefore, he must focus on dealing with Gu Sansi openly and leave everyone else speechless!

Thinking of this, Zhao Wanxian couldn't help but sigh. Things were just as he expected. Although the things in the file made Gu Sansi fall flat on his face, it was not enough to completely overthrow Gu Sansi. The Marshal still had great trust in Gu Sansi. He believed that after a period of time, when everything was calm, Gu Sansi would be reinstated!

And this was definitely not good news for Zhao Wanxian. Although he did not want to take on too deep a grudge with Gu Sansi, Gu Sansi's actions had completely cut off the possibility of the two of them keeping to themselves...

As the saying goes, more friends mean more roads, more enemies mean more walls. To be honest, Zhao Wanxian really doesn't want to make enemies with Gu Sansi from the bottom of his heart!
After all, Gu Sansi enjoys the Marshal's trust, and the position of Minister of Personnel is too critical. If Gu Sansi wants to make things difficult for you and do some small tricks behind your back, it would be too easy for him to do it!

But what Gu Sansi did is really hard to understand. I don’t know why he did this!

In addition to the possible difficulties that Gu Sansi might pose in the future, Zhao Wanxian also realized that he had a new trouble!
Although the Marshal had only dealt with Gu Sansi and had not punished himself, Zhao Wanxian knew very well that the Marshal would never let him off so easily. After all, his role in this matter was not glorious and had caused a very bad impact!
If my guess is correct, when the Marshal inspects Hebei and Henan in more than half a month, he will definitely ask about this matter!

I must think carefully about how to explain this matter to the Marshal. If I fail to explain it well, my position as the Governor of Hebei and Henan may be unstable!
However, the only possible good news about this matter is that Zhao Wanxian did not expect Zhang Zhiwen to write this letter to him and tell him about this situation···················

Although he would have received the news in the next few days even if Zhang Zhiwen had not written this letter to him, Zhao Wanxian was still quite surprised to receive this letter from Zhang Zhiwen. After all, the fact that Zhang Zhiwen wrote this letter to him and told him the matter itself shows Zhang Zhiwen's attitude!

You must know that the person he offended this time was the Minister of Personnel Gu Sansi, who was the true confidant of the Marshal and the pillar of the Yijing court!
Honestly speaking, in his previous contact with Zhang Zhiwen, Zhao Wanxian just wanted to learn more about the situation in Hebei and Henan from Zhang Zhiwen, and contact Jiang Yuyan through Zhang Zhiwen!

It was rumored in the Yijing court before that the reason why Jiang Yuyan was able to climb onto the Marshal's bed was that Zhang Zhiwen had made great efforts behind the scenes!
It was said that Zhang Zhiwen presented Jiang Yuyan to the Marshal in order to have Jiang Yuyan whisper in the Marshal's ear so that he, Zhang Zhiwen, could take advantage of this opportunity to rise to the top!

However, what Zhang Zhiwen had never expected was that although Jiang Yuyan climbed into the Marshal’s bed, he was not promoted because of this. He even offended the first lady An Miaoyi because of offering Jiang Yuyan to the Marshal, which also led to Zhang Zhiwen wasting several years in the position of Deputy Governor of Hebei and Henan, and he was never promoted...
Thinking of this, Zhao Wanxian seemed to realize something. Although Gu Sansi had always kept a distance from the eldest lady and others and did not get involved in their affairs!

But no matter what, Gu Sansi is the eldest son's teacher after all, so he will definitely stand on the side of the eldest lady in the future!
So from this perspective, Zhang Zhiwen's idea is understandable. As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Zhang Zhiwen seems to be intentionally joining forces with himself for warmth. Thinking of this, Zhao Wanxian thought carefully for a while and then shook his head silently.

Although he didn't know what Zhang Zhiwen meant, the path Zhao Wanxian chose was to cling to the Marshal's thigh and be a loyal minister. Therefore, joining forces with Zhang Zhiwen would change his situation of being isolated and helpless in the court. However, fundamentally speaking, it was not conducive to his image as a loyal minister in the Marshal's mind, and there was also the suspicion of being a clique!
And most importantly, according to his understanding, although Zhang Zhiwen did not get along with that group of people and was ostracized in Hebei and Henan in the past few years, this does not mean that Zhang Zhiwen is clean!
Thinking of this, Zhao Wanxian gave up the idea of ​​writing a reply to Zhang Zhiwen. In order to prevent Zhang Zhiwen from exposing himself in the future, it is best for him not to get too close to him··························

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Yijing, Ye Mansion

In the warm room, amid the clattering sound of abacus, An Miaoyi sat in a chair and read today's Yijing Daily with great interest. Although Ye Baode's death had a great negative impact on Dadongsheng Company and Yijing Daily.

However, after obtaining Ye Mingsheng's permission, An Miaoyi also invested in buying the publisher of Yijing Daily, Hongyun Newspaper, from Dadongsheng Trading Company, making Hongyun Newspaper an industry under the name of the Ye family, and continued to allow those down-and-out scholars to write the novels they liked to read for her.

With the support of the Ye Mansion, the already rapidly developing Yijing Daily immediately stepped onto a new level and currently has become a two-horse race with the Yijing Morning News.

In addition to asking Yijing Daily to write her favorite novels, An Miaoyi also developed a great interest in running Hongyun Newspaper. In order to seize the market, Yijing Daily has always adopted a low-price strategy. This has also led to the fact that although Yijing Daily has sold a lot, it has not made any money. On the contrary, there is still some deficit in the account!
In the past, the Yijing Daily was able to continue to operate only because Ye Baode wanted to use the Yijing Daily to please An Miaoyi, and for this purpose he did not hesitate to use the money from the Dadongsheng Company to provide capital transfusion to Hongyun Newspaper, the publisher of the Yijing Daily.

Now that Hongyun Newspaper and Yijing Daily have become the property of the Ye Mansion, this problem will need to be faced by An Miaoyi...

At this time, in the warm room, there were not only An Miaoyi and the maids and nannies of the Ye Mansion, but also five accountants. These five people were all famous actuaries in Yijing. Today, An Miaoyi invited them here to calculate the operating situation of Hongyun Newspaper!
At this moment, a maid came over and reported to An Miaoyi:

"Madam, Director Su of the Second Manufacturing Bureau said that he can give Hongyun Newspaper a 30% discount on printing!"

Hearing that Su Junjie was only willing to give a 30% discount on the printing of Yijing Daily, An Miaoyi felt somewhat unhappy, but she did not get angry. Instead, she looked at a tall, thin and well-mannered middle-aged man not far away and asked:

"Mr. Chen, what do you think?"

Facing An Miaoyi's question, Mr. Chen did not answer immediately for the sake of caution. Instead, he silently calculated in his mind before answering:
"Madam, this move can reduce the cost of Hongyun Newspaper by 15%!"

"How much is that in silver?"

"According to the current sales volume of Yijing Daily, we can probably save at least three hundred taels of silver every month!"

An Miaoyi frowned slightly after hearing this. According to current calculations, the monthly deficit of Yijing Daily is about six hundred taels of silver. Although it is not much when taken out individually, the accumulated deficit of seven thousand two hundred taels of silver a year is not a small amount!

If this deficit is allowed to continue, although it will not have much impact, it will somewhat damage her reputation as An Miaoyi...

An Miaoyi's idea was very simple. She didn't expect Yijing Daily to make money to subsidize the Ye Mansion's finances, but Yijing Daily and even the entire Hongyun Newspaper could not continue to lose money. Hongyun Newspaper must achieve financial balance!
Originally, An Miaoyi's idea was to investigate the internal reasons of Hongyun Newspaper to see if there were any problems within the newspaper that led to the losses, but on the other hand, she also planned to start with the printing side and ask the Second Manufacturing Bureau responsible for printing to give a discount and give Hongyun Newspaper an internal price!

The director of the Second Manufacturing Bureau, Su Junjie, was also very sensible. As soon as An Miaoyi expressed her opinion, he immediately sent the internal price!
But this internal price did not satisfy An Miaoyi. However, An Miaoyi also knew that the Second Manufacturing Bureau was different from the First Manufacturing Bureau. The Second Manufacturing Bureau needed to be responsible for its own profits and losses. Director Su Junjie was under a lot of pressure. A 30% discount might not be a small amount!

After considering for a while, An Miaoyi gave up the idea of ​​forcing Su Junjie to surrender, and instructed the nanny beside her:

"The ginseng delivered to the palace recently is quite good. Nanny Wang, please pick a few and send them to Director Su to thank him on behalf of Hongyun Newspaper!"

"Yes!"

After saying that, An Miaoyi also started thinking about other ways to solve the problem of Hongyun Newspaper's losses, but at this moment Qiqige walked into the warm room.

Seeing Qiqige's solemn expression, An Miaoyi also understood that something important had happened. With a stern expression, she instructed the accountant and the maid in the warm room:

"You all go down first!"

After these people left, Qiqige also reported to An Miaoyi:

“Madam Bai’s family lent 50,000 taels of silver to Chen Wanting’s family through an underground Q village…”

(End of this chapter)