Zhu Gaochi and Li Jinglong walked out with their feet in front and behind them.
After leaving Qianqing Palace, Zhu Gaochi couldn't bear it anymore and asked.
Li Jinglong smiled slightly, "Ah... I'm going to build a hot spring resort at home, so I came here to ask for corrections!"
"Is it your house that needs to be built, or is it your old boy who flatters Ji Zi!"
Zhu Gaochi cursed in his heart, but smiled on his face, "Gong Cao Guo is such a big handiwork. One garden covers an area of 300 acres! Tsk tsk, the style used is still the style of the previous court..."
Li Jinglong was slightly surprised, "How did you see that it was the style of the previous court?"
"This drawing!" Zhu Gaochi raised his head, "It's the hunting ground I played in Peking since I was a child, isn't it?"
Li Jinglong was startled and thought to himself that you fat guy has a nice look!
The next second, he suddenly whispered, "Your Majesty, the place you are talking about is the royal garden... Even the one in the previous dynasty was the emperor's garden. Have you been playing there since you were a child?"
As he spoke, he shook his head and said, "When King Yan was guarding Beiping, his palace and city were only part of the former Yuan Imperial City. They were not all given to him!"
Then, he whispered again, "I tell you, although this is an old thing, now King Yan has become Prince Yongyi... I believe you also know that the censors may be full one day. If you can hold on, let’s start to settle the accounts…”
Zhu Gaochi's face suddenly turned ugly.
When his father was the King of Yan, the entire city of Beiping wished it belonged to their family. Not to mention the hunting ground of the previous emperor, even the palace of the previous emperor was the back garden of his home.
Besides, the old man was here at that time. Who would dare to say bad things about his son to the old man?
But today is different from the past. The fiefdom is gone and the old man is no longer here. The men of the Zhu family have to live with their tails between their legs!
Today's emperor will not cause trouble for their men because of those old sesame seeds and rotten millet things.
But what Li Jinglong said is really disgusting!
There are many eyes and ears in front of the Qianqing Palace, so their behavior will inevitably fall into the eyes of interested people. It will also spread to the outside world through the mouths of these people.
At this moment, Zhu Gaochi suddenly caught a glimpse of Zhang Wei, the Minister of Household Affairs, Hou Yong, the Minister of Civil Affairs, Ru Yu, the Minister of War, Xin Yande, the Secretary of General Affairs, Yan Zhenzhi, the Yushi of Youdu, and others, walking towards the Qianqing Palace.
"As soon as I came out, did Hezi see them?" Zhu Gaochi thought to himself, "Is there something wrong with Hezi, and did he deliberately not let me know?"
Li Jinglong also saw this group of people beside him, with a thoughtful look on his face.
Seeing this, Zhu Gaochi suddenly felt a little gloating, "You shoot, remember to shoot! No matter how good you are at shooting, Xiezi can't do everything without you!"
Then, Zhu Gaochi said, "Mr. Cao Guo, please take my leave now. See you outside the city tomorrow!"
~
Qianqing Palace, meeting between monarch and ministers.
Zhu Yunxi sat on the throne, looked at everyone and said, "How many years has Qi Zhu, the chief minister of Guangdong Chengxuan, been in office?"
Everyone was suddenly summoned by the emperor, and they were still wondering why they were here, but they didn't want the emperor to get straight to the point.
"Back to the emperor, Qi Zhu has been serving as the Chief Secretary of Chengxuan for four years and six months..." Hou Yong, the Minister of Civil Affairs, stood up and said.
"I took a look at the assessment files of the Ministry of Civil Affairs!" Zhu Yunxi lowered his head and looked at the memorial in his hand, "He has a good official reputation in the local area and has achieved quite a lot, right?"
The ministers were silent for the moment, but they were thinking quickly in their hearts.
What does the emperor mean by this?
The Chief Secretary of a province is a feudal official. The emperor must know better than anyone what kind of official this person is. Why is he still asking about them now?
Moreover, he sounded like the emperor didn't know much about this person?
"Yes!" Hou Yong, who is the Minister of Civil Affairs, said, "Qi Zhu did a lot of good things for Guangdong Province during his tenure, building bridges, paving roads, and building official schools..."
Before he could finish speaking, Zhu Yunxi said again, "Who recommended it at that time?"
Everyone was stunned again!
Can the Chief Secretary of a province be recommended?
When he was supposed to go to Beijing to serve as a minister, he made way for your people, so he went to Guangdong. Have you forgotten about it now?
But the censor of Youdu seemed to have heard the implication of the emperor's words.
Yan Zhenzhi said, "I still remember that the reason why I chose Qi Zhu as the chief envoy to Guangdong was because his father-in-law, the late Xu Ben, a veteran of the Hongwu Dynasty, also served as the chief envoy to Guangdong... "
Xu Ben, Zhu Yunxi knows this!
When the Panyu magistrate was killed by the grandfather of Yongjia Marquis Zhu Liang, it was this man who wrote to the old man to complain.
Although Marquis Yongjia deserved to die, his failure was also the reason why Marquis Yongjia and his son were whipped to death by the old man.
"Ha!" Hearing this, Zhu Yunxi smiled in his heart, "There is an uncle who is a sea merchant, and there is also a founding minister, and his father-in-law who was the Chief Secretary of Guangdong! Well, Li Zhigang has met his match this time!"
"This Qi Zhu, I have some impressions!" Zhu Yunxi said, "A Jinshi in the 18th year of Hongwu's reign has always had a good official reputation. He has never been impeached for so many years..."
As he spoke, he changed his tone, "But I received a note this morning. It said that the governor of Guangdong, Qi, misappropriated taxes and ordered his disciples to collude with businessmen and monopolize trading houses..."
All the ministers were silent and deep in thought.
The emperor said that someone was cheated and impeached, so it must be that someone was cheated.
But this is not a big deal!
Even if a provincial official is impeached, it is normal. If he is said to be illegal and corrupt, just send someone to investigate.
If there is evidence, then deal with it; if there is no evidence, then let him continue to be an official!
Why summon the ministers alone and talk about it?
Besides, Guangdong is a peaceful place.
Nowadays, the New Deal is in full swing in Jiangnan, which makes everyone fearful. Why did Guangdong slip out again?
"Although someone has impeached someone, after all, it involves a provincial official!" Zhu Yunxi said again, "Qing Bao Ai has gone to Hangzhou. This case... the Ministry of Officials!"
Hou Yong said hurriedly, "I'm here!"
"For now, take a look at the articles of impeachment, and then draw up a charter for me!" Zhu Yunxi said with a smile.
Suddenly, Hou Yong's mind was filled with confusion.
The emperor asked him to handle it, but he didn't ask him to investigate, but instead asked him to draw up a charter?
What charter?
Is there something weird about this matter?
Hou Yong took the article of impeachment against Qi, opened it and read the signature...
Chen Dewen, envoy of Guangdong Ship Taxation Department.
"This person turned out to be Yin Tianfu! He committed a crime and was sent to Guangdong!" Hou Yong thought to himself,
"He is also one of the old ministers whom the Emperor trusted when he was in the East Palace!"
"The emperor wants Chen Dewen to serve as Chief Secretary of Guangdong? Then there is no need to go to such trouble?"
The more he thought about it, the more confused he became.
"In Guangdong Province, the customs duties alone have a cash balance of more than 3 million yuan every year... and this is before the full opening of the sea!"
"It is said that the emperor intends to build four ports in Guangzhou..."
Hou Yong's mind was in turmoil, and he glanced at it inadvertently.
Suddenly, he noticed that Zhang Yan, the Minister of Household Affairs, looked a little unhappy in front of him.
He suddenly remembered something.
The late Xu Ben, Qi Zhu's father-in-law, seemed to have a close relationship with Zhang Shangshu?
Then, Hou Yong continued to think secretly, "Since Zhang Yan became the Minister of Household Affairs, the taxes in Guangdong Province have exceeded the limit every year, and they are all escorted to the capital in advance..."
"As early as the time of Emperor Taizu Gao, Taixia alone was rich in the south of the Yangtze River. And since the emperor set up the Ship Tax Department in Guangdong Province and Zhang Zuo became the minister, in just a few years, Guangdong Province has been able to compete with Zhejiang Province. Got it!"