My father is Jiajing

Chapter 247 San'er is very bad
After chatting about these things, Gao Gong began to get to the point.

Gao Gong said, "You and I cannot change these things now, so it is useless to think too much. Now we should think more about the things we can change and decide. Hai Rui, you have been in the capital for more than a year. I believe you know how the prince treats you."

"Now that the prince has encountered such a great difficulty, you should also think about how to repay the prince's kindness. The expansion of the capital is now imminent, and the grand ceremony for the start of construction has already been held. The only thing left is to actually start construction."

"Your Majesty, as the chief official for the expansion of the capital, does not need to manage daily affairs, but if there is any mistake in this matter, it will eventually affect your reputation and damage your prestige."

"So, today I'm going to speak frankly. I want to ask you, if the prince needs you, are you willing to lead the way for him?"

Gao Gong looked at Hai Rui who was eating the radish strips with a burning gaze, only to see that Hai Rui still had a calm expression on his face at this moment, and was not shaken at all by Gao Gong's words. It seemed that there was only this radish strip in his eyes.

Watching Hai Rui slowly putting the radish strip into his mouth and eating it, Gao Gong couldn't help but feel a little angry.

You have to know that Hai Rui's current success is entirely due to the help of Prince Yu. Without Prince Yu's high regard for him, Hai Rui would not have had the opportunity to receive training from Gao Gong, which allowed him to pass the imperial examination and become a second-class Jinshi.

Now that Prince Yu is in trouble, he remains calm and only offers carrots. How could Gao Gong not be angry?

Hai Rui, who sensed Gao Gong's emotional change, remained unchanged at this moment.

He gently put down the chopsticks in his hand, and then said to Gao Gong: "Mr. Gao, I am an official of the court. I will do whatever the court needs me to do. Although the prince has been kind to me, I cannot abandon my public duties and use my power for the prince's private benefit."

"Besides, I am just a small official in the Ministry of Revenue. I have been in the Ministry of Revenue for a year now. I may be selected by the Ministry of Personnel to be sent to a local prefecture or county to serve as a local leader. So even if I, Hai Rui, want to help His Majesty, I am unable to do anything. I cannot do anything for His Majesty in the Ministry of Revenue."

Gao Gong was also angry when he heard Hai Rui's words. He could not help but drink another cup of wine and said angrily, "What use can a minister of the Ministry of Revenue have? I am not asking you to be a spy for the prince. Besides, the prince does not need to ask a small minister of the Ministry of Revenue like you to understand the ministry's movements."

"I came to ask you this time just to know, if the prince wants to transfer you to the Ministry of Works or Shuntian Prefecture to be responsible for supervising the expansion of the capital, will you be willing to sacrifice your life and monitor the progress and quality of the project for the public good?"

After Hai Rui heard Gao Gong's words, his expression was immediately moved.

He never expected that Gao Gong came to him for this matter.

It turned out that he thought Gao Gong wanted to learn more about the internal affairs of the Ministry of Revenue through him, so he kept his distance and only told Gao Gong some trivial matters about the Ministry of Revenue.

So at this moment, Hai Rui was no longer as calm as before. He looked at Gao Gong with a gleam in his eyes, "If I can really contribute a little to such an important event as the expansion of the capital, Hai Rui is willing to die for you, and go through fire and water for you!"

After seeing Hai Rui's reaction, Gao Gong couldn't help but snort, "I really don't know how you can be an official? I heard that you have offended everyone in the Ministry of Revenue. If the prince hadn't noticed your fearlessness and your ability to get things right, you would have been kicked out of the Ministry of Revenue."

Hai Rui said unconcernedly, "I serve as an official based on my conscience and rules, and those who can be offended by me are definitely those who do not follow the rules. Therefore, I am not afraid of offending people."

After hearing Hai Rui's words, Gao Gong couldn't help but think more highly of Hai Rui. It seemed that some things couldn't be learned just by hearsay, but had to be verified by oneself in order to know the essence of the matter.

Gao Gong felt relieved and no longer angry. He also liked Hai Rui, a straightforward person who always made clear what he meant.

Because he also knew that he could trust such a person with important tasks. Thinking of this, Gao Gong couldn't help but sigh for Zhu Zaigui in his heart. The prince's ability to judge people was indeed extraordinary. He could recognize Hai Rui, a rough diamond in the rough, at a glance.

Gao Gong raised his wine glass and said to Hai Rui with a smile, "Come on, have a drink. This one's on me."

Hai Rui felt warm in his heart when he saw Gao Gong, who was in high spirits, but principles are principles.

Hai Rui said, "You can drink, but I have to pay for it, otherwise I won't drink."

Gao Gong listened to Hai Rui's words and couldn't help but shout, "Why are you so clear-headed? Can I bribe you?"

Hai Rui said, "Master Gao, you have misunderstood me. I am just a small official in the Ministry of Revenue. No one needs to bribe me. This is just my principle. I cannot accept rewards without merit. I hope Master Gao will forgive me."

Hearing Hai Rui's words, Gao Gong couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "In fact, in essence, I can be considered half your teacher. I'm afraid it's not appropriate for you to treat your teacher like this, right?"

Who would have thought that after hearing this, Hai Rui immediately seized the opportunity and said, "Hai Rui has no way to repay Master Gao's kindness in teaching me. But Master Gao also warned Hai Rui that he should not treat him as a master or a disciple in the future. So Hai Rui is following the rules that Master Gao set for him."

After Hai Rui said this, Gao Gong was speechless. He then shook his head and said, "Forget it, forget it. I can't argue with you now. You may have paid for the wine, but the dish is mine. Otherwise, just keep eating the radish strips."

After hearing what Gao Gong said, Hai Rui no longer insisted.

So, this date ended with Hai Rui buying wine and Gao Gong buying vegetables. After they finished their business, they chatted and laughed while eating the remaining pickles and wine.

After returning to Prince Yu's Mansion, Gao Gong immediately conveyed Hai Rui's intention to Zhu Zaigui.

Zhu Zaigui was overjoyed when he heard that Hai Rui was willing to help him.

Zhu Zaigui immediately asked Meng Chong to go to Xiyuan to find Huang Jin, and asked Huang Jin to help say a few good words in front of Emperor Jiajing so as to recommend Hai Rui as an official of Prince Yu's Mansion, responsible for the inspection task of Prince Yu's supervision of the capital's expansion project.

When Huang Jin told Emperor Jiajing about this little thing, Emperor Jiajing just laughed and did not refuse.

Emperor Jiajing said, "I also want to see what this little black guy is capable of. The Ministry of Revenue has been tossed around by him for a year, and it is indeed much better than before. Otherwise, seeing that he has little experience, I can't help but want to transfer him to the Censorate to be an Imperial Censor."

After hearing what Emperor Jiajing said, Huang Jin also laughed and said, "The Emperor is so kind and benevolent that he has bestowed such a great favor on Hai Rui. If he had really been promoted to the Censorate, he would definitely be grateful. But now he doesn't have that blessing and can only work for Prince Yu."

Emperor Jiajing said with a smile: "It won't be easy for him to go to San'er. I have also seen that San'er is looking for this little black guy just to use him as a human shield. He is really a bad guy."

As he spoke, Emperor Jiajing could not help laughing again, as if he approved of and was optimistic about Zhu Zaigui's approach and thought that it should be done this way.

However, Emperor Jiajing was fortunate that he did not transfer Hai Rui to the Censorate as a censor. Otherwise, given Hai Rui's personality and work attitude, he would definitely have enjoyed Hai Rui's real critical hit in advance, which would have broken his defense in advance.

(End of this chapter)