Chapter 14: The princess couldn’t understand this move and became autistic!
Emperor Qing openly sells official positions?

The princess couldn't believe this news no matter what.

This phenomenon does exist in the court, and Emperor Qing is most likely aware of it.

I just always turned a blind eye to it.

But if it comes to asking Emperor Qing to sell official positions and titles, the princess still finds it hard to imagine such a scene.

She seriously suspected that Li Chengde was lying to her.

But what benefits will this bring to Li Chengde?
To satisfy momentary pleasure?

After all, Emperor Qing would definitely spread this news, and she only needed to wait for a while to expose Li Chengde's lies.

In fact, she hardly had to wait before the relevant news reached Guangxin Palace.

Moreover, it is spreading to the entire city of Kyoto at an even faster speed!
If you want to sell official positions, you must let people know, otherwise how can others buy them?
But what the princess didn't expect was that the person responsible for selling official positions and titles was actually Li Chengde in front of her? !

The princess was not surprised that Li Chengde participated in court discussions and established a government to recruit talented people.

This is normal. Anyone who is not blind can see that Emperor Qing intends to let Li Chengde participate in the fight for the throne.

The Crown Prince and the Second Prince have been fighting for many years, and both sides already have strong foundations.

If they wanted Li Chengde to pose a threat to them, they could only artificially strengthen his power.

Therefore, the Prince of Wei's Palace must be able to openly form a team of its own.

But now Emperor Qing has entrusted the matter of selling official positions to Li Chengde. So, are the people recruited by the Prince of Wei's Palace recruiting talents for His Majesty, or are they adding talents to the Prince of Wei's Palace?

We can even extend another question here. Li Chengde seems to be just a tool, so is it possible for him to participate in the fight for the throne?

The eldest princess really couldn't understand it.

Whether Emperor Qing sold official positions or entrusted the matter to Li Chengde, it sounds unreal.

No matter how hard she thought about it, she couldn't understand what this father and son were doing!
However, one thing is certain, that is, the court of Qing Kingdom will be unstable for some time to come!
This is not a bad thing for the eldest princess.

"So, you think you can't handle the official sales alone, so you plan to cooperate with me?"

The eldest princess walked closer, very close to Li Chengde, and deliberately blew a breath while speaking.

Li Chengde reached out and pinched her chin, and smiled slightly in the eldest princess' panicked eyes.

"I just revealed this news to you, but I didn't intend for you to be involved."

"But you are right. I came to you to discuss a cooperation."

The fear in the eldest princess' eyes quickly disappeared, and her charm reappeared.

At the same time, she stretched out her index finger and gently stroked Li Chengde's chest, "Why, are you so anxious? It's still daytime now, aren't you afraid that someone will come over?"

Li Chengde ruthlessly grabbed her wrist, causing the princess to immediately cry out, "It hurts!"

But Li Chengde's eyes were calm and he continued to talk to himself, "You have been in charge of the inner treasury for so many years, you should have a lot of people loyal to you, right?"

"I guess these people must have a lot of wealth, right? They might be interested in buying an official position."

The princess smiled softly, "You think too much. Being an official is not as easy as doing business. They have seen through this a long time ago and will not cooperate with you."

"Oh?" Li Chengde raised his eyebrows slightly and released the princess's chin. "Then let's wait and see!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Chengde turned around and left, leaving the eldest princess staring at his back in a daze.

The news of the establishment of Tongwenguan in the Prince of Wei's Palace was also passed on through the hands of the Supervisory Council to every court official who was concerned about the struggle for the throne in a very short time.

But among all the court officials in Kyoto, few would be shocked.

After all, in their eyes, it was only a matter of time before Prince Wei's Palace recruited its own team. They even felt that Tongwenguan was built too late!
As early as the court meeting that day, after the Fourth Prince proposed the plan to wipe out the Western Hu and was named King of Wei, Emperor Qing's intentions had become clear.

It is an indisputable fact that the Fourth Prince will soon participate in the fight for the throne, and court officials must prepare in advance.

Even on the day when the news of Xihu's surrender reached Kyoto, some people had already expressed their willingness to surrender.

But to their surprise, the Fourth Prince had no intention of letting them enter the Prince of Wei's Palace to serve.

This is very strange.

As a prince who was about to take part in the fight for the throne, he did not take the opportunity to win over a group of court officials who were loyal to him.

It's really confusing.

Of course, more people understand it as the Fourth Prince proceeding step by step and not giving himself the opportunity to make mistakes.

Since His Majesty the Emperor has not given a clear order, he will do nothing to avoid giving His Majesty a negative impression of forming a clique for personal gain.

Therefore, many court officials were actually more active than the Fourth Prince in Tongwenguan, an institution that was legitimately responsible for recruiting talents for the Prince of Wei's palace, and had been waiting for this day for a long time.

However, the news they waited for was a little different, as if they couldn't understand what the Fourth Prince meant!

It is said that the Fourth Prince put up a wooden sign at the side door of the Prince of Wei's Mansion. The content on it was brief but very explosive.

There were only two words written between the lines: "selling official positions"!
There was even a sign next to the wooden sign that listed the price list for various official positions!

This operation is amazing!

In previous fights for the throne, it was not uncommon for the princes to spend money to win over important court officials, while the court officials spent money to obtain official positions through the princes' recommendations.

But those are all unspoken rules and will not be brought up.

The Fourth Prince is so good that he is selling official positions openly!
This behavior was so exaggerated that the courtiers in Kyoto were completely confused. Of course, some people reacted and guessed that this was most likely what His Majesty meant.

Otherwise, how could the Fourth Prince dare to act so openly and honestly without receiving any punishment?

But even so, no one dared to visit.

"We have such a good business, yet no one comes. They are so short-sighted!"

"Are they still worried that Your Highness won't be able to make proper arrangements for them? This worry is totally unnecessary!"

Fan Sizhe paced back and forth in the room, his face full of anxiety and solemnity, and he seemed even more anxious than Li Chengde.

"Your Highness, how can you still sit still? Our business is almost ruined. No one is buying!"

Fan Ruoruo glanced at him and said, "Your Highness has his own considerations, so don't worry."

Fan Sizhe chuckled, "Sister, isn't this also for our business consideration?"

Li Chengde looked at him and asked, "Then how do you think we can make this business a success?"

When this question was mentioned, Fan Sizhe immediately became excited, "Your Highness, I can't help but speak out!"

Li Chengde nodded slightly, "Go ahead."

Fan Sizhe began to count the problems. "First of all, the price of this official position cannot be transparent!"

"How much money each position will cost is completely variable."

"Even if there is fierce competition for a position, you can let the highest bidder win!"

"Secondly, even if the price is fixed, it cannot be placed openly in front of the gate of Prince Wei's mansion."

“No matter how brave you are, you won’t dare to come in when you see those two wooden signs!”

"So my suggestion is to remove those two signs and let's deal with the selling of official positions in private!"

"Your Highness, I can guarantee that as long as we change from open to secret, someone will definitely come and give us money!"

Fan Ruoruo glared at him and said, "Fan Sizhe, from what you said, you must have been thinking about it for a long time, right?"

Fan Sizhe immediately said, "I swear to God, this is all just my idea!"

Fan Ruoruo nodded. "As expected, I was wondering why it sounded so unreliable."

"You'd better stop messing around. If you ruin His Highness's plans, I will never forgive you!"

Fan Sizhe shrank his neck and dared not speak.

At this time, the concierge announced, "Your Highness, business has arrived."

As soon as these words came out, Fan Sizhe immediately became energetic. He looked at Li Chengde with admiration, "Your Highness, I really admire you. Your trick is amazing!"

"The prices are clearly written and placed at the door so people can choose whatever they want."

"This is just as casual as selling vegetables, so that those who want to buy an official position will think it is reliable!"

"Who dares to sell official positions publicly and announce the price? Only His Highness has the courage to do so!"

Li Chengde stretched out his hand to interrupt him, "Don't worry, look who is coming."

Soon, a Taoist priest appeared with a smile on his face, "Greetings, Your Highness."

"Oh?" Li Chengde's mouth curled up slightly, "Mr. Yuan, do you want to make progress?"

Yuan Hongdao was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Your Highness guessed correctly. I have been in the Prime Minister's Mansion for so long, but I have never been given a high position, so I plan to buy an official position with money."

"However, I haven't saved much money, and I'm a little tight on cash. I hope Your Highness can give me some pointers."

Li Chengde looked playful, "Since you are short of money, there is nothing to discuss. Send us away."

As soon as he finished speaking, Yuan Hongdao froze in place.

Immediately afterwards, Fan Sizhe rushed out and planned to drive Yuan Hongdao out.

This made Yuan Hongdao quickly explain, "Your Highness, I still have some money saved!"

Li Chengde stopped Fan Sizhe's behavior and looked at Yuan Hong with a playful look, "Are you rich now?"

Yuan Hongdao was afraid that he would be kicked out, so he nodded quickly, "Your Highness, what I just said was the truth. I don't have much money saved, so I can only buy a seventh-rank official..."

Hearing this, Li Chengde immediately laughed, "It doesn't matter how much money you have. If you have less money, you can buy a small official position first, and then you can make it bigger and stronger and create more glory."

Yuan Hongdao nodded repeatedly, "Your Highness is right, but I didn't bring much money today..."

"That doesn't matter." Li Chengde offered a solution, "Pay the deposit first, and I'll reserve the seat for you. The final payment will be made after you take office."

"If that doesn't work, I can also wait for you to slowly make money while in office, and then pay me in installments."

"Of course, in this case, you will need to pay an additional handling fee and late payment fee."

After hearing this, Yuan Hongdao's eyelids jumped, and he quickly said, "No need for installments, no need for installments, I will pay off the remaining money in one lump sum when I get back!"

Li Chengde hummed lightly, motioning Fan Sizhe to collect the money, "It's a pleasure to work with you. I hope there will be a next time."

"No need, Your Highness. A seventh-rank official is good enough. I am very satisfied... Your Highness, please stay. I will take my leave first!"

(End of this chapter)