sjar Chapter 1361
Chapter 1361
Since returning to his office after court, he felt every moment that he might be arrested at any time, until now that Mai Zhide has come to his door.
The reason Qian Jinguang is conflicted is because he wants to talk to someone to distract himself, but he also has to keep what he wants to say a secret.
He could only discuss it with Mai Zhide, who was also a participant, but he was worried that their contact would fall into the eyes of those with ulterior motives.
For example, the emperor's personal guards, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, might be hiding somewhere, watching him closely and trying to catch him in the act.
It's worth noting that the Ministry of Works was deeply involved in the money shop case, so it's entirely reasonable to assume that the Embroidered Uniform Guard was targeting it.
So at this moment, although Qian Jinguang really wanted to talk to Mai Zhide, he was too timid to even meet him.
Just as Qian Jinguang was hesitating, Mai Zhide's voice came from outside the door again, but this time he lowered his voice.
"Brother Qian, now that I'm here, the more you resist meeting me, the more suspicious you'll become!"
After saying this, Mai Zhide changed his voice back to its original volume and shouted loudly into the room.
"Is Lord Qian here? We need to discuss the issues of land reclamation in the Jiangnan region after the autumn harvest, and the repair of the lower reaches of the Yellow River in the second half of the year."
After Mai Zhide finished speaking, Qian Jingguang immediately got up and came to the door.
However, this action has absolutely nothing to do with land reclamation or river repair; it's mainly related to what Mai Zhide said earlier.
The more you avoid meeting someone, the more suspicious they become. This statement really hit Qian Jingguang right in the heart.
So after opening the door, Qian Jinguang immediately put on a look of deep remorse and said to Mai Zhide:
"I'm so sorry, Lord Mai. I was just pondering the construction of the city wall and got a little lost in thought."
"I'm so sorry I didn't hear you, Master Mai. Please come in quickly!"
As they were talking, Qian Jinguang grabbed Mai Zhide's sleeve and, with an apologetic expression and a warm tone, led him into the house.
However, after closing the door, Qian Jingguang's expression and tone of voice completely changed.
"Are you out of your mind? His Majesty said at court this morning that he would continue to investigate the money exchange case, and now you come looking for me?"
"Do you know that the Embroidered Uniform Guard is currently investigating this case thoroughly? If we meet, there might be Embroidered Uniform Guards watching us!"
Compared to Qian Jinguang's nervousness, Mai Zhide appeared very calm, even composed.
"We are both Vice Ministers of the Ministry of Works. It is normal for us to discuss important matters and make decisions together. What are you so nervous about?"
"The more open and honest we are, the less aroused we'll be. If you're like this, you might as well just turn yourself in!"
"You'd better not make it too obvious. If you drag others into this, I don't need to say what will happen to you!"
Upon hearing Mai Zhide's words, Qian Jinguang was suddenly startled, and then cold sweat broke out all over his back.
In fact, he was an outsider in this whole affair from beginning to end, because all he had to do was cooperate.
He had no idea who the mastermind behind this was or who else was involved; he simply did the work and took the money.
Mai Zhide initially brought him in under the pretext of being able to take revenge on Wei Wu, but he was actually attracted by the money.
Now the money has indeed been obtained, and in considerable amounts, and Wei Wu has indeed been imprisoned because of this matter.
But this was not the outcome he wanted, because the risks were simply too great.
So after Mai Zhide finished speaking, Qian Jinguang immediately retorted.
“You didn’t tell me this back then. You just said we could use this method to print banknotes.”
"Then everyone would make a quick buck and stop, but you printed an excessive amount of banknotes, which has made the problem this serious."
"Now you're threatening me? Fine, if anything really happens to me, none of you will get away with it!!"
Hearing Qian Jinguang's blustering but cowardly threat, Mai Zhide didn't take it too seriously; he genuinely didn't think Qian Jinguang had the guts.
After all, he was so frightened before the matter was even exposed that he had no chance of turning himself in to the imperial court.
Therefore, Mai Zhide didn't pay much attention to Qian Jinguang's words, but he also understood that they couldn't just stay at an impasse.
So after Qian Jingang finished speaking, he immediately softened his tone.
"I'm not lying to you, everyone does make a quick buck and then stop, but do you think very few people are involved in this?"
"Tell me how much silver you received in this money exchange case."
Upon hearing Mai Zhide's words, Qian Jingguang became less confident and hesitantly uttered a number.
"I took it, two hundred thousand taels..."
"Two hundred thousand taels? Tell me how long you would have to be an official to earn two hundred thousand taels of silver."
Qian Jingguang remained silent in response, after all, if it came down to salary, he couldn't earn that much money in several lifetimes.