As more than a dozen officials rushed to impeach and submit memorials, everyone in the Huangji Palace changed their expressions and turned their attention to Zhao Junchen.
Some time ago, Zhao Junchen was more concerned than anyone else about providing relief for disasters in various places. In order to reverse the court's food shortage dilemma, he even went to the extent of confronting officials for nearly ten days.
But now, after the imperial court finally raised enough food and grass to support disasters in various places, a scandal suddenly broke out. A large amount of disaster relief money and food disappeared, causing more than a dozen officials to come together to impeach. Zhao Junchen was the person in charge of this matter
, naturally extremely embarrassed.
Under the attention of all the officials, Zhao Junchen's expression was quite astonished, as if he didn't know about this at all.
Emperor Deqing glanced at Zhao Junchen, and his expression became more serious.
Nowadays, sporadic Mongolian cavalry have entered Shaanxi, Gansu and plundered Shanxi. A large number of Mongolian cavalry will soon appear. Shaanxi, Gansu and Shanxi have already worked hard to resist the invading invaders. If disaster relief is provided at this time,
If problems arise again, or even trigger a civil uprising, internal and external troubles will break out at the same time, and the situation in the entire northwest will be in ruins.
Emperor Deqing naturally understood this principle, so he immediately paid attention to it.
Different from what happened in Nanjing Sixth Division just now, Emperor Deqing's serious expression this time was completely without any pretense.
Then, Emperor Deqing asked slowly: "What is going on? You should tell them one by one, don't make a mess!"
After more than a dozen officials looked at each other, Xu Zheng, the highest-ranking Censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, spoke as the representative: "Your Majesty, last night, I met with Fengxiang Prefect Xing.
According to Zhihui's messenger, the relief money and food allocated by the imperial court to various places in Shaanxi and Gansu was only about 30% of what was stated in the accounts. There were even some state capitals that were not seriously affected by the disaster and did not receive any money or food from the imperial court at all.
Most of the food and grass had disappeared, and the current food and grass could not last long. Xing Zhihui was forced to send a messenger to the capital to find out the news. The minister and Xing Zhihui were classmates from the same hometown, so this
A messenger found me here first, and then I learned that there was a problem with the imperial court’s disaster relief money and food!”
After a pause, Xu Zheng continued: "In addition, according to what the messenger said, when he passed through various prefectures and counties in Shanxi on his way to the capital, he found that although the situation in Shanxi was better than that in Shaanxi and Gansu, the people
Relief money and grain are still being withheld!”
As Xu Zheng finished speaking, Bao Wenjie, the Minister of Rites, also said with a solemn expression: "Your Majesty, I got the news from a letter from Yuan Wensheng, a colleague of Zezhou Prefecture in Shanxi Province. The disaster in Zezhou is not serious, but it is still
There are more than a thousand households in need of relief, but Zezhou has not received any relief money or food from the imperial court. The minister originally thought that this incident was just an isolated case, or that the turnover of money and food was delayed for some reason, but yesterday I met with Xu Yushi
When talking about this matter, I realized that it was not that simple. There were already big mistakes in the money and grain provided by the imperial court to Shaanxi, Gansu and Shanxi. Most of the grain did not fall into the hands of local officials. The nature of this matter
It’s extremely serious. A little carelessness will lead to big changes. I hope Your Majesty will investigate it strictly!”
Then, the remaining officials also told the news they had received.
The channels of news are different, and the details are also different, but what is obvious is that there are very serious problems with the money and food provided by the imperial court to Shaanxi, Gansu, Shanxi and other places. A large amount of money and food has disappeared. It is obvious that someone has tampered with it secretly, and
The Ministry of Husbandry and the governors of Shanxi, Gansu and Shaanxi are highly suspicious.
The nature of this matter is so serious that no one dares to cover it up.
It is precisely because of this that these officials came out to report the matter one after another this morning, and they pointed the finger at Zhao Junchen.
After all, Zhao Junchen was originally a notoriously corrupt official, and it was Zhao Junchen who arranged the money and food provided by the imperial court for disaster relief in various places. Now that there is a problem with this money and food, many people's first reaction is that Zhao Junchen can't help but give up again.
Commit corruption.
After hearing the report, everyone looked serious.
Emperor Deqing's eyes were a little cold, and he asked Zhao Junchen: "Zhao Junchen, there are problems with the money and food for disaster relief in Shaanxi, Gansu and Shanxi. You have always been responsible for this matter, what do you have to say?
"
Zhao Junchen also had a solemn expression, and he was still a little confused and doubtful. He immediately came out and confessed: "Your Majesty, I am guilty!"
Of course, Zhao Junchen would never admit that this matter was related to him. He just said: "Some time ago, I was busy with various government affairs of the court. I was really exhausted. Seeing that everything was on track, I just thought
After taking a short rest, I handed over everything to the two ministers, but they were completely unaware that there was a problem with the court's relief money and food. I really did owe a favor, and I hope your Majesty will punish you!"
On the surface, Zhao Junchen's words seemed to be an apology, but in fact, he took away all his responsibilities. He even vaguely showed that his hard work during this period of time was to let Deqing
The emperor was completely unable to punish him.
Therefore, Emperor Deqing snorted lightly, and then turned his attention to the two ministers of the Ministry of Revenue, Zhan Shanchang from the "Zhao Party" and Ma Sen from the "Zhou Party".
After seeing Emperor Deqing's gaze, Zhan Shanchang also walked out of the queue quickly, and also neatly sorted out his relationship, and said: "Your Majesty, there have been too many things in the Ministry of Revenue during this period, so I have
Mr. Ma and Mr. Ma have always divided their work, and each is responsible for his own work. The things I am responsible for are the implementation of agricultural reform policies and the supervision of commercial and tax rectification. As for the relief of disasters, Mr. Ma Senma has always been responsible for it, and I am not responsible for it.
learn."
At this time, Ma Sen's expression was full of astonishment, and he felt even more aggrieved.
At the beginning, Emperor Deqing wanted to promote a check and balance between the "Zhao Party" and the "Zhou Party", so he mixed the two sides with each other. He appointed Liu Chang'an of the "Zhao Party" as the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and also appointed Ma Sen and the "Zhou Party" of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
Ye Shanghong's appointment as Minister of Household Affairs and Minister of Industry made both parties drive a nail into each other's core sphere of influence.
In the end, although Zhao Junchen and Zhou Shangjing's tacit restraint prevented the impulse of the two parties from appearing, Liu Chang'an, Ye Shanghong, and Ma Sen were eliminated. On the surface, they were the third-rank ministers of the core government office of the imperial court.
In fact, they have no power to interfere in the affairs of these yamen.
Some time ago, because Zhao Junchen took a break and delegated power, Zhan Shanchang was busy with the agricultural reform plan and commercial tax rectification. The court's disaster relief money and food matters also fell into Ma Sen's hands. Ma Sen originally thought that this was his fortune.
, but I didn’t expect to encounter such a thing again.
Vaguely, Ma Sen felt that all this was like a conspiracy arranged by Zhao Junchen in advance, just to put the responsibility on himself.
However, there is no evidence for this speculation, and Mason cannot tell it.
Finally, under the gaze of Emperor Deqing, Ma Sen stepped out and said: "Your Majesty, I don't know much about the specific arrangements for the court's disaster relief money and food. The specific matters are handled by officials under the Ministry of Household Affairs.
I am only responsible for the collection and distribution of money and food. There are no problems with the accounts of the Household Department, but I don’t know the details as to why a large amount of money and food have disappeared!"
Ma Sen's explanation was not a lie. The Ministry of Household Affairs was under Zhao Junchen's control, and all the officials in the Ministry of Household Affairs were Zhao Junchen's cronies. Ma Sen was from the "Zhou Party" and was an outsider who needed to be on guard against disaster relief money and food.
Although Ma Sen is in charge of the matter, the officials below will not inform Ma Sen in detail about the specific arrangements, and Ma Sen is not clear about it either.
But after Emperor Deqing heard the explanations from Zhao Junchen, Zhan Shanchang, and Ma Sen, he laughed angrily!
"Okay! A large amount of money and food for disaster relief has gone missing. It has neither reached the hands of the local government nor the victims. But what is going on? The entire Ministry of Household Affairs is confused! The Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs is tired.
The right minister of the household department is responsible for other things, and the left minister of the household department, who is directly responsible for disaster relief food and grass, only knows how to read the account books! Ha! In my opinion, there is no use in keeping this household department!"
After saying that, Emperor Deqing's eyes turned around Zhao Junchen, Zhan Shanchang, and Ma Sen. Then his eyes were fixed on Ma Sen, and his eyes became colder.
The disappearance of grain and grass for disaster relief is really a big deal. Someone in the court must be responsible, someone in the Ministry of Revenue must take the blame, and Emperor Deqing must find someone to establish his authority. Obviously, after Emperor Deqing thought about it for a moment, the person who took the blame would be
It will be Mason!
After seeing the change in Emperor Deqing's expression, everyone in the "Zhou Party" changed their expressions.
Ma Sen is a member of the "Zhou Party", and the "Zhou Party" naturally wants to protect its shortcomings.
Zhou Shangjing hesitated for a moment and tried to intercede for Ma Sen before Emperor Deqing spoke.
However, at this moment, Zhao Junchen spoke again.
Before Emperor Deqing and Zhou Shangjing expressed their opinions, Zhao Junchen suddenly kowtowed to Emperor Deqing and said: "Your Majesty, now is the time when the invaders are sieving. The court's disaster relief money and food are of great importance. Once Shaanxi, Gansu, Shanxi, etc.
If the victims in the area cannot receive relief, the situation in the entire northwest will be in ruins. Now that most of the relief money and food are missing, as the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, I cannot shirk the responsibility to others. All of this is the fault of my negligence!"
Upon hearing Zhao Junchen's apology, everyone couldn't help but be stunned.
No one expected that Zhao Junchen had clearly taken away all the responsibilities, but now he would take the responsibility on himself again. This is definitely not Zhao Junchen's usual style!
At the same time, Zhao Junchen's expression became more serious and he said: "However, I am currently completely unaware of where the imperial court's disaster relief money and food have gone. This matter has a major impact and cannot be taken lightly. Therefore, I sincerely ask your Majesty to let me be punished."
I have done meritorious service and will personally go to Shanxi and Shaanxi and Gansu to investigate this matter, and I will definitely give you an explanation!"