Chapter 403: Questioning the Ministry of Civil Affairs
At present, everyone in the palace is looking at Yan Bi, including the Qi King's party headed by Yang Jian.
They had already discussed it here. The commotion in Hebei was too big this time and it was impossible to escape. Therefore, they had to find someone to share the blame in order to minimize Yang Jian's losses.
As a prince, small crimes are not painful, and if you survive the limelight, you will be fine.
Yan Bi couldn't wait for the emperor's personal inquiry, but he also knew that the emperor was waiting for his reply, so he took a deep breath, stood up and said:
"The key to the North-South Canal lies in the north-south ending, the Luoyang section. When the Tongji Canal was built, the water diversion channel had been completed, so there was no need to worry. However, the water system in Zhuo County was complicated, and I was afraid of making mistakes, so I discussed it with the King of Qi in advance and went
I really don’t know why so many things happened during the time when Zhuo County was overseeing the diversion of water from the Haihe River.”
"You don't know who knows?" Lai Hu'er stood up and said: "Your Majesty is patrolling the north with hundreds of officials. All the canal affairs are left to you, the people are recruited, and the food is all under your control. You can't rely on others."
What the hell do you want to put me to death? Yan Bi is not a bird to protect his son, so he said directly:
"Who told you that I am in charge of requisitioning civilians and food? I am the canal supervisor who builds the river for Your Majesty. If the river cannot be built, it is my fault. Now that the river has been built, don't think of blaming me for anything else.
buckle."
His wife is Princess Qingdu, the daughter of Yuwen Yong, and the sister of Yang Lihua's husband, so Yan Pi is protected by Yang Lihua.
Everyone comes from aristocratic families, who doesn’t have a backstage?
Yu Wenshu was still sitting and said: "The matter of recruiting civilian husbands was originally under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, but I also delegated the power to Yan Gong. As for what you do, I don't know here."
"You don't know what I'm going to do? Duke Xu Guogong is really good at pretending to be a lake," Yan Bi sneered, "Then I'll make it clear in front of Your Majesty today that I haven't recruited any civilians here, I'm just building the river.
"
"You didn't build the river?" Wei Jin, the Minister of Civil Affairs, said: "The Yongji Canal is 1,900 miles long, and you just built the Zhuojun section. Does it add up to 300 miles?"
Yan Bi was speechless for a moment.
Wei Jin struck while the iron was hot and continued: "You were the superintendent of the canal, but at first you went to Zhuo County. The King of Qi was immediately strapped for money, so he became a tailor for you. What happened? Most of the river was built by the King of Qi.
, if it weren’t for your drag, why would Hebei be like this?”
Yan Bi was immediately furious: "Be a human being and keep a line. Don't push me too hard."
Wei Jin was stunned, indeed, he couldn't push this old boy too hard, otherwise it would not end well if some things he shouldn't have said were revealed.
Letting him share the blame does not mean letting others bear all the blame. Rabbits will bite people when they are anxious.
It's okay, you don't support the fire, there are some who support the fire.
Gao Xi looked at Yan Bi and said: "There are millions of casualties in Hebei. Can Yan Gong's head be able to bear it?"
Yan Bi trembled all over.
"You are talking nonsense!" Yu Wenshu said directly: "Dugu Gong, you also followed His Majesty on the northern tour. How did you know how many people died in Hebei? Millions of people? You really dare to say that."
Wei Zheng, who suddenly changed from the protagonist to a spectator, now realized, why did I show up just to start the scene?
Are you using me as a pawn in the internal fight between the two parties? Am I no longer useful?
I only heard Gao Xi say: "Gao did not dare to deceive the king. When I first returned to the capital, I saw all the files in Hebei at the Prince of Qin's Mansion. These files were from the local officials of Hebei and various officials when the King of Qin was in the capital.
Regarding the memorial letters filed against the aristocratic family, does Xu Guogong want to know who they are suing?"
Yu Wenshu sneered and said: "Since it was something I saw in Prince Qin's Mansion, I must have reported it to Prince Qi. It would be unreasonable to accuse anyone else."
"Why is it unreasonable?" Gao Xi said.
Yu Wenshu said in a deep voice: "The King of Qin has been dissatisfied with the King of Qi for a long time. I know what you want to do today? Don't you just want to push everything in Hebei to the King of Qi? What is the truth? The King of Qin has nothing to do if he stays in the capital.
However, the King of Qi, who worked tirelessly to supervise the canal at the front, was caught by you and made a fuss about some omissions. Dugu Gongming told me, didn't you just get along with the King of Qin and want to support him to enter the East Palace?"
His words were tantamount to elevating the matter to a dispute over the reserve position, in order to reduce the impact of the Hebei incident on Yang Gong.
It means that Yang Jian didn't do much wrong, but you wanted to take him down, so you used the topic to your advantage.
Gao Xi looked at Yang Ming and said: "Many of you who are working on it have not seen those files. King Qin might as well have someone send them in so that everyone can take a look."
Yang Ming raised his head and looked at Yang Guang and said: "My son has been brought into the palace. He was originally sent to the province. I will wait for my father to visit me at his leisure. Is it appropriate now?"
Of course Yang Guang asked him to bring the things in because he wanted to settle everything today.
"Send it in."
After a while, the files piled up into a small mountain were carried into the hall.
Everyone looked ugly.
Because everyone knows that these files are made from the bones of people in Hebei.
There are a total of 378 officials in the main hall now. It is very time-consuming to circulate it to everyone, but Yang Guang still lets each of them take a look.
Gradually, cries could be heard in the palace.
The tragic situation in Hebei cannot be described in a memorial or a letter, but these words can take you into a scene, a hell on earth where people are devastated, devastated and hungry.
The internal historian ordered Lu Chu to hold his head and cry, with runny nose and tears.
He may not be the kind of person who cares about the people, but he is a wanderer who always misses his hometown. Every mountain, water, plant, and tree is the scene of his hometown that haunts his dreams.
Cui Hongsheng couldn't bear to look at it anymore, but after closing his eyes for a while, he couldn't help but pick it up and look at it again.
Officials in ancient China had a habit that wherever they were born, once they developed, they would definitely benefit their hometown.
Because for them, their hometown is a rope that pulls people back thousands of miles away.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! No one has finished reading yet, Yu Wenshu decided to strike first, took a few shots and shouted angrily:
"These beasts deserve to be killed!"
Su Wei was stunned and said: "Who is Xu Guogong talking about?"
Yu Wenshu was furious, his chest rose and fell sharply and he said:
"This time the Ministry of Civil Affairs cannot escape the blame. As the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, I am willing to bear the blame. The officials sent by the Ministry of Civil Affairs to Hebei to be responsible for recruitment cannot escape. The local officials are even more derelict in their duties. There are also those aristocratic families who refuse to borrow food.
, it should also be punished, how can these beasts be so messy down there?"
After that, Yu Wenshu went to Yang Guang and said: "I would like to ask the governor of Wu'an, Chen Junbin, the governor of Hejian, Yang Wanshi, the governor of Bohai, Gao Shengdao, and the governor of Xindu, Cui Hongjun, to question them about their dereliction of duty, and then send an inspection envoy to Hebei to investigate and deal with the grain merchants who have harmed the country.
The hoarding worm.”
Having brought so many people in at once, and also himself, Yu Wenshu was determined to get more people to help Yang Xian take the blame.
As long as Yang Jian can be saved, everything else is trivial. If Yang Jian cannot be saved, everyone is doomed.
Pei Ju asked: "Who are the people sent by the Ministry of Civil Affairs to Hebei?"
Yu Wen said: "Wei Yijie and Wei Fusi from the Department of Household Affairs."
Pei Ju nodded, looked at the emperor and said, "Your Majesty might as well call them in for questioning."
Yang Guang didn't say anything and just nodded.
Next, the two pot holders came in.
The two cousins knelt in the center of the hall, waiting for questioning.
Privately, the family also greeted them and tried to blame Yang Xun. The crime was not serious, but at most it was negligence of duty. They tried their best to shift the blame to those local officials.
As you push it down layer by layer, more and more people will be involved, and the emperor's punishment will become lighter and lighter.
Yang Guang asked: "What on earth did you two do in Hebei?"
With the family behind him as a guarantee, Wei Fusi knew that he would definitely not die, but he still instinctively swallowed and said:
"I was ordered by the minister to recruit civilians in Hebei. The specific number of recruits was agreed upon by the ministry. Many of the officials below were opposed to it. However, after many attempts by the minister, I still supplied the canal in full to ensure the safety of the canal.
The project cost a lot of people's resources, but I don't know why it happened like this."
Another Wei Yijie added:
"The canal is our national policy in the Sui Dynasty. I know that such a major event is urgent and I only rush to Hebei to urge the local government to ensure supply. How could I know that there would be a civil unrest? The people's misunderstanding of the national policy stems from the inaction of local officials.
Coupled with the instigation of thieves behind the scenes, the matter becomes serious."
Yang Wensi sneered and said: "After the incident happened, it was all thanks to these local officials to suppress it. You two got along and pushed the incident onto others. If you didn't force it too hard, would they do this?"
Wei Fusi raised his head and said: "We are also under orders to do things. We are all doing it for the canal. It is not our responsibility to appease the local people and ease the people. We also provide people and food. How come some counties are fine and others are in trouble?
?”
"Where did nothing happen?" Niu Hong pointed to the pile of files in the hall and said, "You two take a good look and pick them up to see which county in Hebei has no dead people."
Wei Fusi said with a helpless look: "Niu Gong Mingjian, it is normal for people to die in projects, but the number of deaths is not under the control of our Ministry of Civil Affairs."
"Then who should be in charge?" Niu Hong slammed the table and said angrily: "At this time, you still want to shirk responsibility? These files clearly say that in some counties, you dare to allocate 30,000 people. How many people can there be in one county?
people?"
Wei Fusi's face was ashen and he said: "The dead people have nothing to do with the conscription. They are local resistance to the national policy and cannot guarantee the supply of medicine and food. Niu Gong is angry at his subordinates. He really found the wrong person."
"You still said," Niu Hong grabbed a dossier and threw it directly in front of Wei Fusi, saying:
"This memorial was first reported by Chen Junbin, the prefect of Wu'an. It was you who forced the local people to forcibly recruit civilian husbands. Chen Junbin couldn't come up with it, so you ordered the military government to forcibly recruit women and children. Children as young as twelve were dragged in by you.
On the canal, the local grain store has been looted by you, so that there is no grain to buy in the market, and the people have nothing to eat, and you still say it has nothing to do with you? You are from the Ministry of Household Affairs, who gave you the right to mobilize troops? "
"This, this, this" Wei Fusi trembled all over and collapsed on the ground.
At this time, he remembered the last trick taught to him by his clan.
He suddenly began to twitch, fell to the ground on his back, kicked his limbs wildly, rolled his eyes, and drool overflowed from his mouth.
Yes, he used it before me? Wei Yi's face was as gray as ashes.