Chapter 518 Jia Heng: The minister dare not speak ill
Daming Palace, Hanyuan Hall
This silence did not last long and was ended by Ke Dao Yan Guan.
"Your Majesty, Wang Xueqin, the censor of Shanxi Province, the impeachment cabinet scholar, Zhao Yi, the minister of the Ministry of Industry..."
After discussing the relevant criminals, the issue of Zhao Yi, the cabinet scholar and Minister of Industry, was once again placed in front of the court officials.
As a cabinet member in charge of the Ministry of Industry, two of his ministers were involved in the affair, so it was hard to escape the blame.
At this moment, the imperial censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate took the lead in impeaching the cabinet scholar Zhao Yi.
"Hulala..."
The officials of Kedao who had been quiet for a while came out one after another to impeach and protest.
Jia Heng watched this scene with cold eyes, thinking about the changes in the situation after Zhao Yi left the throne.
Just as the impeachment of Ke Dao came to an end, Zhao Yi, who was among the ministers in the cabinet, raised his hands, lifted his official robe, knelt down, took off his black gauze hat, and placed it on the floor aside, with an ivory wat horizontally placed on it.
He raised his head and kowtowed: "Your Majesty, my minister Zhao Yi is old and dim. He does not know the wise and foolish, and cannot observe Pan carefully. The two of them deceived the superiors and deceived the subordinates, causing him to cause the disaster of collapse of the sky. I am responsible for my negligence. I sincerely ask for your permission, Your Majesty."
I beg for the bones, retire and return to my hometown."
As soon as these words came out, there was silence in the palace.
Emperor Chongping looked blank and noncommittal.
After a while, he glanced at Yang Guochang, Han Huang and other cabinet ministers, and said in a deep voice: "How do you think we should deal with it?"
It can be said that in every court meeting, the Kedao spokesperson is the initiator of the issue, but it is actually the cabinet and the Nine Ministers who make the real decision.
On the contrary, the affairs officers of the six ministries were quite cautious about impeachment.
That is to say, the situation of the Han Dynasty "started with words and ended with the court officials." Of course, the emperor could also directly approve the impeachment memorial of the imperial censor.
However, at this moment, no one in the cabinet took the initiative to speak out.
Since the appointment of He Juncheng, the Minister of Rites, the Minister of Rites has been vacant. This is just because the two ministers are actually in charge of the ministry, which does not affect political affairs.
It's not like no one went to the emperor's court to recommend candidates, but they were all left out.
Now he goes to the Minister of Industry, and he will definitely be recommended.
But when a cabinet minister vacates the throne, who knows what the emperor will think. If Zhao Yi had not left, he might have offended a colleague and made enemies for himself.
And it's easy to be suspected of having selfish motives.
While all the ministers in the cabinet remained silent, Emperor Chongping suddenly cast a pair of burning eyes on Jia Heng and asked: "Jia Qing, you are presiding over this matter and you are also the Minister of Military and Aircraft. How do you express your feelings about this?"
From what you have seen, you know how much involvement Zhao Yi, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, has involved, and how should you deal with it?"
Jia Heng was watching the play expressionlessly, but suddenly he heard Emperor Chongping nodding his name. He was startled and hurriedly got out of the train.
He was actually thinking about whether he should say a fair word for Zhao Yi.
When Zhao Yi's wife came to plead for mercy, he refused righteously, but he might not be able to say a fair word for her afterwards.
And the emperor asked him now, what exactly did he mean?
The emperor knew about Zhao Yi's wife Wu's visit to Rongguo Mansion to plead for mercy, and he awarded Keqing a reward for this.
Ordinarily, I shouldn’t have asked him, just let him know, but I just asked...
Jia Heng's mind was spinning and he understood Emperor Chongping's intention...
Zhao Yi’s political life is not over yet!
In other words, the emperor still needs a minister of the Ministry of Industry who is neither a socialist nor a party member to balance the government.
Just a little analysis, if the Minister of Industry resigns, the imperial court will inevitably promote the candidate for the Minister of Industry. At that time, it will lead to a political game between the two parties in Qi and Zhejiang, and the finally stable political situation will be stirred up again, and lead to unpredictable consequences.
situation.
After figuring out the holy intention, Jia Heng did not dare to make any mistakes. He cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, the cabinet ministers are discussing matters, and I dare not speak nonsense."
"Now that it is a court meeting, all officials can speak freely." Emperor Chongping said calmly.
After hearing this, Jia Heng pondered for a moment under the gaze of all the officials, and said: "The humble minister is bold, just for this reason, Pan Lu from the Ministry of Industry is involved in the case. Although Zhao Shangshu is a minister, he is also a minister.
The cabinet ministers had foreknowledge of the affairs, so they did not know about them. Of course, they should be held responsible for oversight. However, most of the affairs of the six ministries of our dynasty were controlled by two ministers. The construction of Kuang Huangling Mausoleum was undertaken, and the prime minister of the country's clan and vassal was responsible for the affairs. Mr. Zhao Ge was here.
No involvement…”
As soon as these words came out, all the officials in the palace were stunned.
What does this mean?
Is this emperor's minister, who has recently become famous, speaking for Mr. Zhao Ge?
Zhao Yi, who was kneeling, was startled and quite surprised.
The day before yesterday, his wife went to Rongguo Mansion to seek mercy from Mrs. Rongguo. After he heard about it, he was very angry. How could a woman with long hair and short knowledge be able to seek help from Wu Xun's disciples?
But when I heard that the young powerful man refused, I felt a little relieved and then a little disappointed.
But now...are you actually trying to be fair to yourself?
Yang Guochang, the chief minister of the cabinet, looked ugly. Is it something that this person can discuss whether the ministers should stay or not?
At this moment, Han Huang, the Second Assistant to the Cabinet, moved his eyes slightly, vaguely understanding the Emperor's intention.
However, someone must be responsible for the collapse of the imperial mausoleum. A prince has been deposed as a commoner, and no important minister in the outer court has been convicted. How can you stop Youyou's mouth?
At this moment, after Jia Heng finished speaking, the civil and military officials in Hanyuan Palace felt cold in their hearts.
While Han Huang was thinking about it, all the officials were waiting for Emperor Chongping's opinion on how to deal with it.
At this time, the sky outside the hall was already bright. The golden morning light passed through the red withered windows and was projected into the hall. The sight that was originally slightly dim suddenly brightened.
Emperor Chongping seemed to be thinking about it and muttered: "What Jia Qing said is not unreasonable. Zhao Yi was ordered to return to the headquarters and reorganize the ministry in addition to the titles of bachelor of Wenyuan Pavilion and cabinet minister."
As soon as these words came out, all the officials in Hanyuan Palace were shocked.
This means he is no longer a cabinet minister and is back to being a director of the headquarters.
However, political life was also saved.
Jia Heng immediately raised his hands and said: "Holy Saint, Holy Ming."
Today's cabinet has become a confrontation between the Qi and Zhejiang parties. The party struggle will probably become more intense. Jia Heng guessed Emperor Chongping's intentions.
Zhao Yi, who was kneeling below, kowtowed and thanked me. His voice was almost crying, and he said in a trembling voice: "Your Majesty, thank you for your kindness."
He had just said that he was going to retire and return to his hometown, but he was only in his fifties, so how could he willingly return to his hometown to entertain his grandchildren and take care of himself in his old age?
To be honest, this matter relied on the advice of the Lord of Ning Kingdom.
Emperor Chongping glanced at the ministers and said: "Liang Yuan, the minister of household affairs, has been arrested and brought to the capital for discussion. As for the construction of the imperial mausoleum, silver still needs to be allocated. The Ministry of Internal Affairs must strictly confiscate the properties of the officials involved to make up for the shortfall. Gongling Mausoleum
Now that it has collapsed, several years of work payments have been lost, and the stolen money needs to be returned to the construction community.”…
The faces of the ministers below were stern, knowing that they were going to ransack their homes.
At this time, Emperor Chongping said: "In addition, I have drafted a decree to ask King Chu and King Qi to supervise the construction of the imperial mausoleum as the chief and deputy envoys and supervise the construction of the mausoleum. The two kings must work together to ensure that Gongling Mausoleum is completed as scheduled."
After the previous earthquake, most of the Emperor's body and bones would not be able to survive for long, and the imperial tomb needs to be repaired at an accelerated pace.
The ministers below responded in unison.
At this point, the handling of the relevant officials in the Imperial Mausoleum has been settled, and what remains is the supplementary matters for the vacancies of corresponding officials such as the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Household Affairs.
However, because a group of people had just been dismissed, Emperor Chongping did not mention the matter of replenishment at this moment, so no one could speak rashly.
However, at this moment, Emperor Chongping said: "Han Qing."
"I'm here." Han Huang came out of the class and said.
Emperor Chongping said solemnly: "The two ministers of the Ministry of Industry are both involved. Now the Ministry of Industry is short of two officials from the affairs department. The Ministry of Personnel will jointly recommend the candidates to the third rank and above in Beijing. In addition, after the recent inspection and evaluation in Beijing, the candidates will be reported to the cabinet for preparation.
I’ll keep it for you.”
Han Huang's face became solemn, he cupped his hands and said, "I obey the order."
At this point, the early reports of the collapse of the imperial mausoleum have been determined, and then there is a competition between all parties for officials from the Ministry of Industry.
After a while, Emperor Chongping finished discussing several matters with a group of ministers. After a while, the court meeting was dismissed, and all the officials left the palace one after another, and began to work for the absence of two third-rank ministers from the Ministry of Industry.
Daming Palace, inner study room
Emperor Chongping sat behind the bars, picked up the files brought from the Jinyi Mansion, read the files, pondered for a moment, and then picked up the imperial pen to write the verdict. He only occasionally asked Jia Heng about the confessions of the relevant prisoners and the details of the criminal evidence.
This emperor had been in charge of the Ministry of Punishment when he was in his residence, and he was familiar with the laws and regulations of the Han Dynasty. He was very good at handling them without any hesitation, and he sentenced many officials in a short time.
Sentence, exile, and punishment according to the severity of the crime.
Putting the file aside, Emperor Chongping looked at Jia Heng and said: "Ziyu, all the stolen money from the Zhongshun Prince's Mansion must be recovered as soon as possible. In the past six months, the commander-in-chief in the north will need it."
Jia Heng said: Your Majesty, Prince Zhongshun has hidden a lot of stolen silver in other palaces in various places. I am now interrogating the relevant cronies of Prince Zhongshun. It is important not to hide the stolen money. However, there are some places where the silver is hidden, and even Prince Zhongshun's cronies don't know about it.
"
Emperor Chongping frowned and said, "Is there much other hidden stolen money?"
Jia Heng thought for a while and said: "I estimate that there are still seven or eight million taels left."
Emperor Chongping pondered for a moment and said: "Chen Rong has been in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for many years, and he has embezzled a lot of government funds. I will personally go to Gongling to inquire about him in the next two days."
Jia Heng: "..."
Sure enough, Yinzi's charming eyes made even the emperor unable to sit still.
"Nowadays, silver is used everywhere in the imperial court. Just these extravagant wealth can go as quickly as it comes." Emperor Chongping didn't have any joy in his face. His brows were furrowed. He stood up from behind the eucalyptus and walked to the window with his hands behind his hands.
Said: "The Ministry of Household Affairs has been urging internal funds to allocate money for emergencies in the past two days. In the past few years, natural and man-made disasters have caused money to be everywhere, and the national treasury cannot make ends meet."
Jia Heng's face paused slightly. Gein, this was the first time Emperor Chongping had talked to him about finance and tax matters. He hesitated for a moment and then said: "As far as I know, the household department should have a balance last year."...
At the beginning, the Sanhe Gang was confiscated by Jia Heng and made a windfall of tens of millions. Of course, with so much property, the real cash was only a few million taels. However, the various properties were later sold by the tax collectors in the east and west cities, and the gold and silver were obtained one after another.
A certain proportion will continue to be charged into internal funds and the national treasury.
After that, the money was used to reorganize the army in the Beijing camp, pay official salaries, and pay part of the salary to the border troops. It can be said that the money was spent like water.
Emperor Chongping nodded and said: "There is a balance of two million taels, but this money has to be prepared before the summer tax. Officials' salaries will be reduced by half starting from the first month. As for the soldiers' pay for the Beijing camp, I will pay it from the internal funds."
Allocate funds to ensure that actual troops are paid and their training will not be affected."
Jia Heng thought for a while and suggested: "In recent years, the imperial court's expenditures have been huge, so it is better to find new financial resources."
"It is necessary to open up new sources of income." Emperor Chongping nodded, and suddenly said: "Old Yang Ge has worked hard, and it has paid off."
Jia Heng's expression paused, but he couldn't answer the question.
He has probably guessed some of the Emperor's thoughts. Although Yang Guochang has made many mistakes and omissions, his ability to manage finances and manage expenditures cannot be replaced by anyone at the moment, and he still needs to be respected by the Emperor.
Perhaps Yang Guochang will have to hold on for a while until the emperor finds a replacement.
Therefore, Qi Kun was sent south.
Jia Heng suddenly realized that this arrangement was to gain credit and qualifications for Qi Kun so that he could take up the banner of the Qi Party. This was still to suppress the Zhejiang Party.
At this moment, Emperor Chongping interrupted Jia Heng's thoughts again and said: "In addition, the border troops have been begging for pay more and more recently. What I and the Ministry of Revenue want to do is to reorganize the army first and then pay the troops.
Disarmament depends on how Beijing and Nanan go during their border inspection."
Jia Heng listened quietly to the emperor's narration. In other words, the emperor was not asking for his opinion anymore, but just wanted to find someone to talk to and let him talk to. As the minister of military aircraft, he became a suitable candidate.
"I don't know how much the salt tax will be paid this year. The money you confiscated from the prisoners and the profits from various properties should be kept in the internal funds and prepared. Except for giving money to the Beijing camp, they should not be touched arbitrarily.
"Emperor Chongping warned solemnly.
Jia Heng responded and said yes.
The monarch and his ministers talked for a while, and at noon, Emperor Chongping wanted to stay with Jia Heng to have lunch with him, but he declined in gratitude to Jia Heng.
After that, Jia Heng left the Daming Palace, thinking about the next appointment of a vacant official in the Ministry of Works, or in other words, how to plan official positions for his father-in-law and Jia Zheng.
As soon as he left the palace, he saw a butler in shorts, who came over with a smile, bowed his hands and said: "Master Jia, my master has prepared wine and food in Zuixian Tower, please come with me."
Jia Heng nodded and followed the housekeeper to Zuixian Tower.
This was also something we had agreed with Song Jing before, so we should not let Uncle Song go.
Zui Xian Tower
Jia Heng followed the steward up to the second floor, which was a private room with simple and elegant decoration. Song Jing seemed to have been waiting for a long time, then stood up, cupped her hands, and said with a smile: "Ziyu, you are here."
"Master Song, I've been waiting for a long time. Your Majesty just stayed to talk for a while." Jia Heng also cupped his hands and said greetings. When he saw King Wei who was smiling and cupping his hands, he was surprised and asked: "Your Highness, King Wei
?”…
"Ziyu." King Wei explained with a prosperous smile on his face: "I just led my men to find a place to have lunch. I happened to see my uncle and we had a conversation together. I heard that my uncle wanted to invite Ziyu over for dinner.
So I came here to take a look, Ziyu doesn’t mind if I take the liberty of coming here.”
Jia Heng did not expose the cover-up, but smiled and said: "Your Highness, you are serious. We work together with the Yamen and have dinner together, so there is no need to be presumptuous."
Without waiting for the King of Wei to resign, he took the initiative and asked: "Your Highness, how have things been going in Gongling over the past two days?"
His current strategy towards the King of Wei was not to be too close to him and give him some unrealistic fantasies, which would arouse the emperor's suspicion, but not to be too sarcastic and make him jealous.
King Wei said: "In Jingzhao, people from the Five Cities Military and Horse Division went to rescue. Many craftsmen were buried under the imperial mausoleum. They kept digging for two days and two nights, and rescued more than a hundred craftsmen, but seven or eight were killed or injured."
Ziyu didn't know about the ten people, it was so miserable, and Jiajuan was crying and crying, it was very sad to hear this."
At the end of the sentence, King Wei seemed to have a look of intolerance on his face.
However, it is obviously impossible for Tianhuang Guiwei, who was raised in the deep palace, to have much empathy and empathy. It can only be said that a large part of it is due to the image of a kind king.
Jia Heng sighed and said: "These are all the troubles caused by corrupt officials. Today, the Holy Father has severely punished them all."
King Wei nodded, with a hint of indignation on his face, and said, "It is a crime that cannot be punished for doing something out of selfish interests that is outrageous to both humans and gods."
Jia Heng looked at King Wei and thought to himself that although his skills were not perfect yet, at least his attitude was good.
"Now the imperial court has to allocate money again to build the imperial mausoleum. I don't know how much money it will cost this time." King Wei said with emotion, and then said: "I hope the two brothers can work hard and build the emperor's mausoleum as soon as possible."
The mausoleum is completed."
He had already learned from his uncle that the construction of the imperial mausoleum had been handed over to the two royal brothers. He wanted to share his father's worries, but others beat him to it.
Song Jing quietly watched his nephew talking to the young nobleman who held a heavy army. At this time, he said: "Ziyu, every tael of hidden silver that was copied and inspected by Prince Zhongshun must be used in the right way."
This statement is more like a statement that although he is the uncle of King Wei, he will not line his own pockets for personal gain.
Jia Heng said: "Just now, Your Majesty has been talking about this. In the past two years, the national treasury has been empty and various expenses have been wasted. This money for inspections needs to be put to good use."
Song Jing said seriously: "Ziyu, don't worry, since I am in charge of internal affairs, I have to look after the treasury for the Holy Spirit. In fact, these years, the Holy Spirit does not respect luxury, does not build palaces, does not indulge in sex, and the daily expenses are even more ordinary than those of a middle-class family."
Far worse.”
Jia Heng nodded and said: "The Holy Spirit advocates frugality, and everyone in the government and the public knows this."
They all thought to themselves that they didn't know what Song Jing was thinking after Jinyang squeezed Song Jing away.
Don't be afraid that you will blame yourself, right?
Well, probably not, because he doesn't know the relationship between him and Jinyang.
Several people were chatting. It was not the first time to have a casual conversation during a dinner party. They were chatting casually, and before they knew it was afternoon, they dispersed.
