Although Zhang Kuan established Zhang Dang in the government, Zhang Dang is a practical party. National affairs require Zhang Dang's people to contribute their talents and efforts. But what about Wang Cheng? He hides when he can, but rushes forward with all his strength when encountering benefits. How can such a right-wing prime minister manage the eight ministries well?
As an old fox in the officialdom who wavers around and never expresses his position, Wang Cheng can be said to have served three generations of emperors, from Emperor Shengming (Emperor Dao) to Emperor Shengzhuang (Emperor Taiqian), and now Emperor Dade, but he Unlike Zhang Kuan, he was never sure of his political stance and did not participate in the battle for the right to inherit the throne. Therefore, he was trusted by Emperor Shengzhuang, also known as Emperor Taigan.
In the process of seizing the heir, Wang Cheng thought that he would make a sure profit, but in the heart of the great emperor, this person was not worthy of trust. Once he was ill and unable to handle the affairs of the government in the future, he would definitely take refuge in someone else's name. In addition, Emperor Dade was also quite dissatisfied with Wang Cheng's ability. Under his governance, the Eight Departments were not as good as the Sixth House, which was in charge of the Left Chancellor. In particular, many official appointments were surprising.
Everyone knows that behind the scenes, Wang Cheng must have received a lot of money to sell his official position to make money. The most famous official runner is none other than Wang Cheng.
Wang Cheng could make money by selling his official position, but he was as devoted as an iron rooster in supporting the emperor. As the saying goes, only by losing small profits can you gain big profits. How can an emperor not know that his officials are corrupt and accept bribes, but there are limits to corruption and bribery. When the emperor is short of money , Wang Cheng only donated five thousand taels of silver, which in the eyes of Emperor Dade was his provocation to him, and he did not take the emperor into consideration at all.
If Wang Cheng was allowed to make a bad start, Emperor Dade's enthusiastic donation activities would end in embarrassment. This was the reason why the emperor had to remove Wang Cheng, his right minister.
Even at this moment, the Generalissimo and the Left Prime Minister did not say a word to help Wang Cheng, but instead added insult to injury. It can be seen that Wang Cheng suddenly offended all the important ministers in the court. Regarding the removal of the Right Prime Minister Wang Cheng, no matter it was Both Du Shanbo and Left Prime Minister Zhang Kuan supported it. They knew in their hearts that Wang Cheng had been an official for fifty years and had a huge fortune. He could afford at least two to three hundred thousand taels of silver. It is natural that Wang Cheng ended up like this. It should be true that in the future, few will be held accountable, and even the proceeds of corruption over the past fifty years will be reported one by one.
"Old minister...Old minister..." Wang Cheng was confused at this time, even a little slurred, "Old minister, I planned to... go home to raise... to raise one hundred thousand taels..."
Emperor Da De still said with a smile on his face: "Thank you for your hard work, Prime Minister. In the future, the historians of the empire will remember your hard work for fifty years as an official. Historian, do you know?"
Sicheng of Taishiyuan immediately said: "I have written it down."
Emperor Dade said: "The right prime minister has resigned, but there is no one in the right prime minister's department. Where is the minister of household affairs?"
The Minister of Household Affairs came out to Rui and said: "I am here."
"You will temporarily act as right minister."
"My lord... my lord..." Xiang Rui said excitedly, "My lord, I accept your order."
What those in power fear most is losing power. Once power is lost, the entire system will collapse. Wang Cheng was so short-sighted at this time that he was beaten to the bottom, which really frightened everyone and also awakened everyone.
"I am willing to donate 50,000 taels." Xiang Rui said. As the Minister of Household Affairs and concurrently serving as the right minister, he could neither take too much nor too little, so he had to bite the bullet and say the number of 50,000 taels.
"I am willing to donate thirty thousand taels."
"I am willing to donate thirty-five thousand taels."
"I am willing to donate twelve thousand taels."
"I am willing to donate twenty thousand taels."
The people who came to court today actually donated at least five thousand taels from the king, and the least from the rest was ten thousand taels. Now everyone is bleeding a lot. Some families are rich, but not all families are rich, but this time
At this moment, I can only bite the bullet and donate money to avoid the ugly consequences of being dismissed from office in court like Wang Cheng.
Wang Cheng looked at the ministers and then the entire hall, and suddenly fainted.
"The right prime minister fainted!"
Immediately, the ministers helped him up, and the eunuchs carried him out of the Zhengde Hall. As everyone looked at Wang Chengyuan's retreating figure, their hearts felt cold, and they suddenly realized that the great virtuous emperor who could inherit the Shenghan Empire was not a human being.
He is so weak and bullied as he imagined, but he is not as weak as he appears on the surface.
A eunuch on the side counted the amount of silver donated by the ministers and presented it to Emperor Dade. After reading it, Emperor Dade still frowned and said: "My beloved sires donated a total of 1,175,000 taels, but it is still not enough."
.Prince Jin, how much do you donate?”
King Jin was surprised. He donated money. How could he donate money? He had little money.
Because the King of Jin was still young, he didn't know how much food he had in his palace. In order to prevent him from imitating the King of Chu (the seventh prince), the Queen Mother Zhang asked the money and food manager in the King of Jin's palace to keep telling him that there was not much food. Of course, the King of Jin's palace did not have much money.
He didn't have much money. After all, he had just established his government and had no other income except salary.
"My brother...my brother...my brother donated ten thousand taels of silver." King Jin said bravely.
The Great Virtue Emperor smiled slightly, nodded and said: "I know, my dear brother, that being an imperial official is a leisurely job with little salary. The Jin Palace receives no more than 30,000 taels of silver from the internal treasury every year, and the imperial official only receives 200 taels of silver a year. You...
The salary of an imperial official is not as good as that of a county magistrate. So, you go and guard the royal hunting grounds.
The royal hunting ground has been idle for a long time. Go and run it. Except for the land in the hunting ground, the emperor's younger brother can take it for himself. This can be regarded as my love for you." Without waiting for King Jin's reaction, Emperor Dade stood up again and said: "Declaration of decree,
He ordered Lu Baiting, the magistrate of Longyang County, to be promoted to an imperial official, and Ji Hai, the imperial study room, was appointed magistrate of Longyang County."
The King of Jin was demoted to the royal hunting ground in Ping'an County, which made all the officials and courtiers finally realize a huge problem. No matter how gentle a tiger is, it is still a tiger. Emperor Dade was indeed in poor health, but if they despised him because of his poor health
, you have to pay a price. Emperor Dade also seized the best opportunity to strike back, and while the court was raising military pay, he sent his political opponent, who was also his own brother, to guard the royal hunting grounds.
The royal hunting ground had been abandoned for many years. Apart from the wild beasts, there were idle forest guards and the people of Ping'an County. King Jin wanted to defend himself and fight for himself, but he suddenly realized that he was a minister, and ministers could not raise any objections.
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As the saying goes, the higher the praise, the worse the fall, and this was the case for King Jin. He stood aside in despair, at a loss, trying his best not to let his tears flow out, and did not even hear the sound of retreating. Waiting for the officials
When he was leaving the court, King Jin suddenly woke up and immediately looked at his grandfather Zhang Kuan.
Zhang Kuan also looked at his anxious face and felt disappointed. He shook his head and told him not to mess around and talk to him later.