Chapter 5098: Public Funds Transferred

Chapter 5098: Public Funds Transferred
Fang Jun was surprised: "How can you women be so open about your private topics? Oh my, the world is no longer as it used to be, and people's hearts are getting worse!"

"No!"

Wu Meiniang was shy and refused to give in. She continued, "Didn't Confucius also say 'food and sex are human nature'? When you men get together, you comment on women. We women will naturally talk about men too."

Fang Jun was very interested: "Tell me, what does it mean that 'all men are different'?"

Wu Mei Niang felt a little hot and fanned her face with her slender hands. However, chatting with her husband about some private topics made her feel excited.

"I used to think that all men were the same, the only difference being their education and appearance. What did height, weight or body shape matter? But now I know that the difference between one man and another... sometimes can be even greater than the difference between a man and a dog."

What kind of metaphor is this?!

As expected of you, the Great Emperor!

Fang Jun raised his eyebrows: "For example?"

Wu Meiniang lowered her eyelids slightly and spoke in a voice as soft as a mosquito: "For example, the Princess of Wei said that His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei is less than three inches tall, and because of his fat body, he lacks endurance, so he often calls back his troops and stops fighting at the first sound of the drum... Even the Princess of Dingxiang County said that although Duke Xue is tall and strong, he is hollow inside and looks good but is useless..."

Duke Xue was Ashina Zhong, and his wife was the daughter of Concubine Wei and her ex-husband, who was granted the title of Princess of Dingxiang County...

Fang Jun was quite surprised: "I saw that Ashina Zhong had strong bones, so he must be energetic and capable, but I didn't expect him to be a silver-plated spearhead. Princess Dingxiang was dissatisfied with marrying Ashina Zhong at the beginning, but she didn't dare to disobey the emperor's will. Now that the sex life is not harmonious, doesn't she have any complaints?"

"Ok?"

Wu Meiniang narrowed her eyes and stared at her husband suspiciously: "I haven't heard any complaints, but there may be resentment... How about you go and comfort Duke Xue on his behalf? Outsiders only say that you are a 'good princess', and the county lady is not much worse than a princess..."

Fang Jun was more and more surprised: "Do you care about this?"

Among the wives and concubines, if there is one woman who is the most lax in the man's defense, it must be Wu Meiniang. This woman doesn't care at all about her husband's extramarital affairs. Even if Fang Jun asks his sisters to sleep on the same bed and quilt, she probably won't refuse...

Why are you still jealous of Princess Dingxiang?

Wu Meiniang curled her lips: "Who cares about this? If my man can sleep with all the women in the world, it would be the supreme pride!"

Fang Jun: "...No matter what, you are not allowed to keep any male lovers outside!"

"what?"

Wu Meiniang had not expected him to bring this up. Her beautiful face flushed. She was surprised at first, then she glared at her lover with a charming look: "I am not even strong enough to serve you, how can I have the energy to care about other men? Besides, I have a hero like you in my life, how can I care about other men?"

"Haha, just kidding, just kidding, don't take it seriously!"

Fang Jun laughed and moved on.

He was very confident in his abilities, but whether it was Gao Yang or Wu Meiniang, they were both bohemian figures in history. As their husbands, he was inevitably suspicious and suspicious.

Wu Mei Niang's eyes flickered, as if she saw through her husband's humility, and she said coquettishly, "Last night, I was so weak that I couldn't bear the beating. How could I have any other thoughts?"

Fang Jun looked her up and down, and seeing her delicate, charming, and bright, he couldn't help but be moved, and licked his lips: "What you said is not true."

Wu Meiniang raised her eyebrows and asked, "How do you treat me, my dear?"

"You won't know until you try it!"

"Oh! I can't bear it any longer. Please have mercy on me, my dear."

"How dare you, a vixen, be so arrogant? Just wait and see how your husband will take you in!"

……

In the afternoon, Fang Jun sent someone to deliver the invitations. He had to host a banquet when he arrived in Luoyang, but there were only a few families in Luoyang that he could invite, including the Prince of Wei’s Mansion, the Duke of Xue’s Mansion, and Henan Yin Zhang Xingcheng…

Since they were all old friends, there were not so many etiquette requirements. The dinner was set up in a pavilion in the back garden. There was an evening breeze and the lights were as bright as day. We were surrounded by flowers and trees and running water. There were mats on the floor in the pavilion and several tables for dining.

Wu Meiniang hosted a banquet for the female relatives in the front hall...

The atmosphere during the banquet was very harmonious. When Ashina Zhong was drunk, he stood up and ran outside the pavilion to dance. It was surprising that the burly Turkic man had a charming posture and danced in the style of the north.

But after returning to the table, seeing Fang Jun looking at him from time to time, Ashina Zhong couldn't help but ask, "Is there something wrong with my clothes and decorations?"

Fang Jun smiled and shook his head.

Ashina Zhong was suspicious, and always felt that there was something hidden in Fang Jun's smile. After thinking about it, he really couldn't figure it out, and it was simply inexplicable...

He saw Fang Jun's eyes lingering on King Wei again, with a smile on his face.

What kind of smile is that?

Ashina Zhong pondered for a while, and finally understood: it was a kind of looking down from the top of the mountain, all living things were at his feet, with a hint of pity in his contempt...

But where does this smile come from?
While chatting and laughing, Zhang Xingcheng, the governor of Henan, heard that Fang Jun had just donated the 200,000 strings of cash and ten properties in Luoyang that he had "extorted" to Wei Wang Li Tai. When he looked at Li Tai, his eyes lit up.

"Your Highness, you were ordered to build Luoyang City. Now the city is rebuilt and all industries are thriving, but Henan Prefecture has invested a lot of manpower, material resources and financial resources in this. The treasury is so empty that rats can run through it. It will take at least 20 years to recover these investments. Now even the salaries of officials are unsustainable. The entire Henan Prefecture is almost unable to make ends meet... Why don't you temporarily embezzle 100,000 strings of cash and hand it over to the treasury. When you have enough money, Henan Prefecture will repay the principal and interest according to the private interest rate. How do you do?"

This is not an exaggeration.

When Pei Huaijie was in office, he colluded with Henan noble families from top to bottom and internally and externally, and made a fortune by merging land, monopolizing business, etc., but all the money went into his own pocket, and the government did not receive any increase in revenue.

On the contrary, because of his close cooperation with the Henan noble families, the government office was filled with the children of the Henan noble families. These people took advantage of everything and gnawed the government office like termites, leaving it leaking everywhere and full of holes, and the financial deficit reached hundreds of thousands of strings of cash.

When Zhang Xingcheng first took office, he was faced with such a mess.

In addition, Zhang Xingcheng had always worked in the central government and had never served as a local official. He was really at a loss as to what to do in this hard life of having to support the government officials every day...

"Ok?"

Li Tai, who was clinking glasses with Fang Jun, was stunned when he heard this and subconsciously wanted to refuse.

Although the "Revitalization Society" had received donations of no less than one million strings of cash from Fang Jun, a huge sum of money, the funding from the court was not much and it relied entirely on this money to maintain its operations. Fortunately, he had purchased a lot of industries for the "Revitalization Society" in the past two years and its income had gradually stabilized.

But when the meat was in Li Qingque's mouth, how could he let others take a bite?
But when he heard that the money would be repaid with interest, he was tempted. Although the "Revitalization Association" had huge expenses, the money would not be spent in one day. Such a large amount of money would have to be kept in the warehouse. If he could borrow it and collect some interest, it would be the best of both worlds.

But he was unsure, so he looked at Fang Jun.

Fang Jun took a sip of wine, and seeing Zhang Xingcheng looking at him eagerly, he thought for a moment and said with a smile, "It's not impossible... It's difficult for Zhang Fuyin to take up his new post. Your Highness should help alleviate the difficulties of Henan Prefecture."

Zhang Xingcheng breathed a sigh of relief and said hurriedly, "I am very grateful for what the Duke of Yue said! As the governor of Henan, I have no choice but to serve Your Highness in the construction of Luoyang! Now that I am in trouble, I hope Your Highness can lend a hand and help me out."

Having suffered repeated setbacks in his official career, the high-spirited and ambitious official of those days is long gone, replaced by the low-key, pragmatic and diligent Henan Yin.

Whether it is "taking sides" or "admitting his vote", as long as he can help Henan Prefecture overcome its current difficulties, his personal dignity is insignificant.

Although they are both officials, being in the central government and being transferred to the local areas are actually worlds apart...

Li Tai pondered in silence, he knew that Fang Jun would have further plans.

As expected, Fang Jun continued, "Zhang Fuyin's character and behavior are obvious to all, so he is trustworthy. But the Tang Dynasty is a system of floating officials after all. Today, Zhang Fuyin is in office, so everything is fine. But when he succeeds and is promoted and returns to the center, will his successor deny this debt? Even if he admits it, will he be able to repay it? Zhang Fuyin has a sincere heart for the country and the people, and the King of Wei is generous and willing to help the country, and is even more willing to support Zhang Fuyin. This is a good thing that has the best of both worlds. If there is any dirty work in the future because of this debt, it will be very bad."

Zhang Xingcheng thought it made sense and asked, "Does the Duke of Yue have any solution?"

Fang Jun smiled and said, "Of course there is... This money cannot be borrowed privately by the two of you, but must be used from the public account."

"Public account?"

"In the name of the 'Tang Dynasty Cultural Revitalization Association', the money was loaned to Henan Prefecture. The prefect, the vice prefect, the military commander, and the household officer signed and sealed the deposit. Then the two parties drafted a mortgage agreement, using the mine under the jurisdiction of Henan Prefecture as collateral for a period of five years, with fixed interest payments every year. When the term expires, the money and interest will be paid in full. If the money is not repaid by the due date, the 'Revitalization Association' will take over the mine under the jurisdiction of Henan Prefecture and automatically obtain the mining rights until the money and interest are collected."

Li Tai frowned: "Although the mine is nominally under the jurisdiction of Henan Prefecture, it is actually owned by the state. What if the central government disagrees with the mining rights when the expiration date comes?"

This is very likely to happen. After all, why should the central government care about the mess of your local government?
Fang Jun said: "So this agreement must be submitted to the Secretariat and can only be implemented after it is confirmed by the Central Government."

With the endorsement of the Secretariat, there is no need to worry about denial.

As for whether the Secretariat would allow Henan Prefecture to mortgage the state-owned mineral resources...that depends on Zhang Xingcheng's ability.

It's not possible that others take the trouble to make preparations while you, the one who borrowed the money, just sit back and reap the benefits, right?