With Shi Kefa’s mediation, Ma Shiying and Gao Hongtu ceased their bickering.
Ni Yuanlu looked at Gao Hongtu, whose face was still flushed, feeling a sense of bewilderment. There were three men who needed money to spend; why was Gao Hongtu so determined to clash head-on with Ma Shiying? It made no sense! Although he was the Minister of Revenue in Nanjing, he was only that—a Nanjing Minister of Revenue. Once outside the city walls, his authority was not even that of a local prefect. All he had to do was manage the money, guard the coffers, and spend as the Crown Prince commanded. Even if he earned no merit, at least he would have done the hard work. By the day the Crown Prince ascended the throne... no, it was highly unlikely Gao Hongtu would live to see that day. Gao Hongtu had been born in the eleventh year of the Wanli reign and was now a venerable sixty-one years old.
Suddenly, it dawned on Ni Yuanlu: Gao Hongtu held another identity—he was a veteran of the Fu Society. Historically, the Fu Society was a political and literary group composed of scholars from the Jiangnan region, often referred to as the "Little Donglin Faction." Though they were called the Little Donglin, they differed from the actual Donglin Faction. Most of the Donglin Faction members merely shouted slogans without accomplishing anything practical. The Fu Society, however, did not shout slogans; they quietly went about their business. Their "practical work" was not for the nation or the people, but for m…
Chapter 333