In fact, Zhao Junchen has always been most at ease with the Hubu Yamen. It is not an exaggeration to say that this Yamen is Zhao Junchen's own backyard.
Over the years, the Household Department has been run by Zhao Junchen as airtight as an iron barrel. Officials from top to bottom are all close confidants promoted by Zhao Junchen and are loyal to Zhao Junchen.
Some time ago, in order to provoke a hostile fight between Zhao Junchen and Zhou Shangjing, Emperor Deqing transferred Zhou Shangjing's close confidant Ma Sen to the Ministry of Household Affairs to serve as the left minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and also transferred Li Chengru, a subordinate of Zhao Junchen, to the Ministry of Household Affairs.
The Ministry of Personnel serves as the right minister of the Ministry of Personnel.
Ma Sen has been an official for many years, and he is not a good candidate. He is full of ability and scheming methods. He also has the chief minister of the cabinet Zhou Shangjing as his backer.
Without the need for Zhao Junchen to personally take action, officials from all levels of the Ministry of Revenue united to oust him. Now, although his status in the Ministry of Revenue is respected, he is nothing more than a decoration.
Of course, Li Chengru's treatment in the official department was the same.
However, it can also be seen from this that Zhao Junchen has strong control over the household department and the loyalty of the whole household department to Zhao Junchen.
However, whether one is loyal or not is only one aspect, and whether one is following one's heart or not is another aspect.
Nowadays, Zhao Junchen is no longer the same Zhao Junchen. He is no longer as short-sighted as before and regards money as his life. Instead, he pays more attention to his own reputation, future development and safety.
However, the officials of the Ministry of Household Affairs were still as corrupt and accepting bribes as ever, relying on Zhao Junchen's protection. They repeatedly misappropriated money and food from the Ministry of Household Affairs and acted more and more unscrupulously.
As a result, the household department suffered a loss of money. When Zhao Junchen wanted to do something serious, he was always a little helpless and even powerless. This was only one aspect.
The most important thing is that as long as these people continue to engage in unscrupulous corruption and bribery, and as long as Zhao Junchen still protects these corrupt officials, it will be impossible for Zhao Junchen to improve his reputation or reverse the situation he is facing.
In the final analysis, although everyone in the household department was loyal to Zhao Junchen, they were at odds with each other.
Compared with the benefits they brought to Zhao Junchen, the harm they brought to Zhao Junchen became more and more eye-catching.
…………
While thinking secretly, Zhao Junchen shook his head. After sighing, he murmured softly: "Everyone in the world says that 'what goes up and what goes down leads to imitation'. Since I returned to Beijing, I have never touched the money and food in the household department again. I am completely acting like an upright official."
Although they have never said it clearly, they should have understood that my thoughts have changed. Why don't they follow my example? Instead, they become more and more unscrupulous!"
Although Zhao Junchen's voice was soft, it still fell in the ears of Xu Qingyan and Chu Jiayi.
This sentence was still said without any beginning or end. Xu Qingyan still couldn't understand it. Chu Jiayi, on the other hand, thought of Zhao Junchen's behavior these days. She seemed to understand something, and secretly looked at Zhao Junchen's face, as if she had something.
think.
Just when several people were having different thoughts, there were suddenly several knocks on the door in the study.
Then, I heard Fang Ru's voice.
"Sir, can I come in?"
When he heard that Fang Ru was coming, Zhao Junchen, who was originally a little depressed, somehow got better and said with a smile: "Come in."
Fang Ru pushed open the door and walked in, holding a wooden plate in her hand, with two plates of snacks placed on the wooden plate.
Her smile and demeanor were as charming and enchanting as ever, but she glanced at Chu Jiayi inadvertently.
"The master has a lot of duties during this period, and he is also tired. I also heard that the master likes osmanthus cake and jujube cake very much in recent days, so I went to the kitchen to make some myself and brought them to relieve the fatigue of the master. Please try it.
Is it still delicious?”
While talking, Fang Ru walked around the desk, came to Zhao Junchen, put two plates of snacks in Zhao Junchen's hand, then picked up a piece of osmanthus cake with two white and tender green onion fingers, and handed it to Zhao Junchen's mouth.
There were no outsiders in the study at this time. Seeing Fang Ru looking so attached and charming, Zhao Junchen shook his head and laughed. He didn't care and just took the sweet-scented osmanthus cake and put it in his mouth.
After tasting it carefully, Zhao Junchen nodded and said: "Not bad, not bad. I didn't expect you to have such skills, Ru'er. It's much better than the chefs in the house."
Hearing what Zhao Junchen said, Fang Ru smiled very happily, as pretty as a peach blossom, and full of charm.
In fact, in order to make these two plates of dim sum, Fang Ru had been preparing since last night. She had worked hard and put in a lot of effort. She has been busy until now just to win these two compliments from Zhao Junchen.
Although there are only two plates of dim sum in front of Zhao Junchen now, there are no less than two or thirty plates of "failed works" that Fang Ru had discarded in the kitchen.
However, after hearing Zhao Junchen's praise, Fang Ru felt that all her hard work was worth it. Not long ago, she was so busy in the kitchen and her face was covered with flour. Now that she thinks about it, it seems that it has become a sweet memory.
However, when she was happy, Fang Ru asked softly inadvertently: "It's fine if I like it, but I don't know how my craftsmanship compares to Miss Chu."
Hearing what Fang Ru said, Chu Jiayi lowered her head and said: "Madam, the snacks you made by yourself are naturally excellent. How can I dare to compare with you?"
Fang Ru ignored Chu Jiayi's words and just looked at Zhao Junchen with her pretty eyes, waiting for Zhao Junchen's answer.
In fact, Fang Ru regretted it as soon as she said these words. Fang Ru herself had tasted the pastries made by Chu Jiayi. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the craftsmanship was as good as that of the royal chef in the palace. Although Fang Ru was unwilling to admit it,
Chu Jiayi's craftsmanship is indeed much better than hers.
However, Fang Ru still wanted to hear Zhao Junchen's answer.
Even if it's just a lie.
But Zhao Junchen was worried, but he completely noticed Fang Ru's thoughts, and said truthfully without caring: "This can't be compared. Your craftsmanship is pretty good, but Jiayi's pastry-making skills are even better than those of Lian Gong."
Even the imperial chefs in China are incomparable."
Hearing what Zhao Junchen said, a look of disappointment flashed across Fang Ru's expression, and her originally bright eyes also dimmed a bit.
But then, Fang Ru returned to her usual enchanting appearance and did not want to continue to dwell on this topic. She saw Zhao Junchen frowning slightly, as if he was worried about something, so he moved lightly and walked behind Zhao Junchen.
A jade finger pressed on Zhao Junchen's temple and rubbed it gently.
"What are you worried about, Master?"
Fang Ru asked softly while massaging Zhao Junchen's head.
Zhao Junchen sat back on the chair with his eyes closed, enjoying Fang Ru's massage while raising his hand to wave slightly.
Seeing Zhao Junchen's expression, Xu Qingyan and Chu Jiayi knew that Zhao Junchen wanted to have some private words with Fang Ru. They were more or less reluctant, but after all they could not disobey Zhao Junchen's wishes. They left quickly.
Already.
After Xu Qingyan and Chu Jiayi left, only Zhao Junchen and Fang Ru were left in the study.
Zhao Junchen did not speak, but just enjoyed Fang Ru's massage, and Fang Ru did not urge him. He just massaged Zhao Junchen's head with a focused expression.
After a long time, Zhao Junchen finally spoke and said slowly: "Hey, I am worried about the situation in the household department."
Fang Ru asked softly: "What happened to the household department?"
"Nothing happened, just like always, and that's why I'm bothered."
Saying that, Zhao Junchen sighed, and told Fang Ru that the Ministry of Finance could not even get out thirty to fifty thousand taels of silver. Then he sighed: "No matter how embarrassed the Ministry of Finance is, it will not be reduced to what it is now."
It looks like the officials up and down the Ministry of Revenue have really been indulged by me. In the past few years, the financial management of the Ministry of Revenue has improved a lot, and I am no longer greedy for the money of the Ministry of Revenue.
But after all, there are hundreds of officials watching, so it’s hard to be too obvious. So how can the remaining silver of this household only have this little amount? Where did the rest go? Wasn’t it because those people were greedy for money?
Got it!"
At this point, Zhao Junchen sighed again. Then he said: "In the past, I still counted on these people to help me watch over the household to stabilize the rear, and I also thought that they were still loyal to me, so I treated their little actions
, I also turned a blind eye and didn't pay much attention to it. But now, as I have established my position in the court, what these people do is becoming more and more annoying. To me,
, it has done more harm than good. As long as these people are still there, my plan to reverse my reputation is destined to be nothing more than a mirror image."
Fang Ru quietly listened to Zhao Junchen's complaints and did not interrupt. She just frowned slightly and thought about how to deal with it.
Zhao Junchen continued to complain: "People say that in the officialdom, the most important thing is to work up and down, but how come it can't work here? Since I came back from Lu'an Mansion, have I ever touched the money of the household department again? Such a change,
Why can't they understand? Let alone follow suit. Now that I have become the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and have changed the accounting methods of the Ministry of Revenue, these people have become even more unscrupulous. Doesn't this force me to take action against them?
!?"
Fang Ru asked: "Sir, do you want to rectify the household department?"
Zhao Junchen said: "With this idea, the household department has indeed become a burden now. Although it is the most loyal, it is always not easy to use. However, I don't know how to rectify it. The household department is rotten to the root. If I want to
To rectify the situation, we have to clean it on a large scale, but with such a large-scale cleansing, where will I find people to replace them? Even if I find people to replace them, my loyalty to the Ministry of Revenue will not be assured."
As he said that, Zhao Junchen smiled bitterly and shook his head, and then said: "After all, the reason why everyone in the household department is loyal to me is because under my protection, they can freely and boldly covet money. If I don't let them covet money anymore,
, this loyalty is no longer there. What’s more, this greed is the most addictive, and it can’t be changed so easily.”
After Fang Ru was silent for a moment, she suddenly said: "Sir, you just mentioned the words of deeds and deeds. Although you have indeed stopped taking money from the Ministry of Household Affairs these days, the actual situation is different from what you said."
I think a little differently."
Hearing what Fang Ru said, Zhao Junchen couldn't help but be startled, opened his eyes and asked: "What's going on?"
Fang Ru sighed and said: "Master, these days, you have only focused on the important affairs of the court, but you have ignored the income of the government. Although I have told the master, you never care... Master, do you know
"At the end of the year, how much filial piety money did our government receive from officials at the Ministry of Revenue?"
"How many?"
"There are a full two hundred and one thousand taels, more than double the amount in previous years." Fang Ru explained: "I didn't think much about it at the time. I just felt that if we refused their filial piety money, they might be
They felt uneasy and thought that you were going to abandon them, so they accepted it, but now that I think about it, our doing this actually caused them to misunderstand."
After Zhao Junchen pondered for a moment, he asked: "You mean, although I no longer directly embezzle the money from the Ministry of Finance, in the eyes of everyone in the Ministry of Finance, I just changed my approach, but I no longer reach out directly.
Instead, they took a share of their greedy money?"
"That's probably it." Fang Ru nodded and said: "After all, your past style... impressed them too deeply. If you didn't tell them clearly, how could they think that you actually wanted to improve your reputation and stop being greedy?"
Got money?"
After a pause, Fang Ru continued: "Besides this, I'm afraid there are other reasons for Yuerongfang."
"Yue Rongfang?"
Zhao Junchen was stunned again and asked in surprise.
Nowadays, although Zhao Junchen has experienced the experience of being an official and has grown a lot in his mental and vision, he is not really a corrupt official after all, and he does not understand the mentality of corrupt officials far as well as Fang Ru.
Therefore, there are many things that Fang Ru still needs to point out in order to understand.
Fang Ru nodded lightly and said: "Most of the money in the household department is used for fixed purposes, and there is not much left over for them to be greedy. No matter how much they are greedy, the income is not as good as Yue's."
Rongfang's daily revenue is more than a thousand taels. However, after you opened Yuerongfang, sir, you only distributed the shares of Yuerongfang to those officials who had newly joined you, such as Zuo Lanshan, Zhan Shanchang and others. But
He didn't take into account the elderly people in the household department. Those people in the household department know the benefits of Yuerongfang best. Seeing this, they naturally have an idea in their hearts."
"You mean, they are dissatisfied?" Zhao Junchen frowned.
At the beginning, Zhao Junchen had a grudge with the elder Wen Guanliang, and a partisan fight between them was about to break out. In order to win over Wen Guanliang's disciples and make them willing to defect to him, Zhao Junchen threw out the trump card of Yuerongfang shares, which was the bottom line.
, also gave Zhao Junchen a complete victory over Wen Guanliang.
However, precisely because Zhao Junchen was too trusting and trustworthy in the household department at that time, he never thought of giving them the shares of Yuerongfang.
Since ancient times, people's minds have always been "worried not about scarcity but about inequality", and the same is true for corrupt officials. Thinking of this, Zhao Junchen was negligent.
Fang Ru shook her head and said: "They are still loyal to you, and they are not dissatisfied. But almost at the same time, you stopped taking money from the Ministry of Household Affairs. I'm afraid it also caused them to misunderstand.
This money was left to them to appease them, and from now on they will only share it. Under such misunderstanding, they thought they understood the master's thoughts, and they acted unscrupulously."
After Zhao Junchen was silent for a moment, he nodded and sighed: "So, you can see clearly. It turns out that everything was because I made them misunderstand..."
Fang Ru smiled and said: "How can I see clearly? It's just that you, sir, only focus on the important affairs of the court, and you haven't thought too much about the little thoughts of the people below."
After a pause, Fang Ru said: "However, since it is not appropriate for the Ministry of Household Affairs to carry out major rectifications now, sir, you must also distribute some other benefits to the top and bottom members of the Ministry of Household Affairs to divert their attention. Let them first
I don’t think I will suffer any loss, and then I make it clear to them that I will never take money from the Ministry of Finance again, so that these people can be convinced. If there are still people with dirty hands and feet in the future, if you punish them again, I will be considered a good example."