After the maid Xiao Qi left, only Zhao Yanxun and Lin Jingyu were left in the room.
The scene was quiet, Zhao Yanxun was thinking about something, and Lin Jingyu was also silent.
After a few breaths, it was Lin Jingyu who broke the silence and said: "My lord, you have seen it all. Just a simple question from you scared Xiao Qi to the point of being scared out of his wits and making him tremble!"
"Xiao Qi is like this, and so are the people. How dare they sue the officials!"
Zhao Yanxun's expression was serious and he said slowly: "My dear concubine, my king is so shameless today, it hurts to be slapped by you!"
"The people below embezzled the official food, and I also had the fault of being lax in controlling my subordinates!"'
Zhao Yanxun said this, but Lin Jingyu didn't know how to respond.
"No one is a sage, and no one can do anything wrong..."
As soon as she said this, Lin Jingyu realized that she had made a mistake.
Zhao Yanxun is a person favored by God. It is not an exaggeration to say that he is a sage. How can she deny this?
Seeing that her husband was not angry, Lin Jingyu felt relieved. She also knew what she should say and what she should never say nonsense.
Picking up the tea cup in front of him, Zhao Yanxun said in a deep voice: "I will investigate this matter strictly and give justice to the people!"
Lin Jingyu smiled: "I naturally believe in the prince!"
…………
After walking out of Feiyuxuan with a gloomy face, Zhao Yanxun said to the accompanying eunuch: "Go and find Lin Quan!"
Lin Quan is mainly responsible for intelligence collection and monitoring many officials, similar to Zhao Yanxun's role in Shidongchang.
In this world, the Jin Dynasty also had a compilation supervisor, which was the emperor's personal intelligence agency.
Because Lin Quan was on errands, he was often away from the palace, so he had to send someone to look for him.
"yes!"
Soon, Zhao Yanxun returned to Jinshen Palace.
After sitting down in the west hall, Zhao Yanxun first calmed himself down, and then told Huo An: "Go and call the two chief historians!"
The two chief historians work in the palace, so it is easy to find them.
After sitting in the hall for less than ten minutes, the two chief historians appeared together outside the side hall.
"Your Majesty, Zhou Chengping (Cheng Wenguang), comes to see His Highness!"
Zhao Yanxun immediately raised his head and asked: "Two beloved ladies, please rise!"
Zhou Cheng and Zhou Cheng stood up slowly and saw Zhao Yanxun's gloomy face, which made them feel a little bad.
But I heard Zhou Chengping ask: "Your Highness has summoned me, what instructions do you have?"
"Nowadays, all the affairs of the palace are managed by the two beloved ministers, so that I can rest. You two are the backbone of the palace!"
The situation was not good, but he was praised, which made Zhou Chengping and two people even more confused.
"How can I dare to be praised by Your Highness for sharing your worries?" Cheng Wenguang bowed and replied.
Zhao Yanxun squeezed out a smile: "It seems that Cheng Qing is a cautious person!"
These words sounded more and more strange. Thinking of this, Cheng Wenguang warned himself to talk less.
Unexpectedly, Zhao Yanxun changed the subject and said: "The so-called wise man will make a mistake every time he thinks about it. No matter how cautious a person is, there will be times when he is negligent!"
The two ministers didn't know why. Cheng Wenguang didn't dare to answer the question at this time, but Zhou Chengping was not afraid of anything.
"Please enlighten me, Your Highness!"
Zhao Yanxun said calmly: "I heard today that the people farming outside the city are doing hard work but they don't even have enough to eat!"
"The prince's food is distributed in full, so why did this happen?"
After saying this, Zhao Yanxun glanced at Cheng Wenguang.
The Dianbu Office is responsible for material management, and the Treasury Office is responsible for storage. These two official offices are headed by Shi Chengwenguang, the right chief.
Nowadays, in addition to the problem of not having enough food, it is natural to ask Cheng Wenguang for an explanation.
The cauldron falling from the sky caught Cheng Wenguang off guard.
Now that spring plowing is halfway through, he has not received any news about this matter.
At this time, Cheng Wenguang was already cursing in his heart, and he didn't know that it was the bastard below who was thinking of risking his life.
Do you dare to embezzle the food of the palace, and embezzle all that you have eaten? It will only harm yourself, but it will also implicate him, the superior official.
"Cheng Qing, do you have anything to say?"
After being pointed out by Zhao Yanxun, Cheng Wenguang could no longer pretend to be dumb.
He took a step forward, knelt down and replied: "I have not heard of this. If there is really a traitor below who dares to touch the food, I am willing to be punished by negligence!"
This sentence has two meanings in writing. One is to show that he is unaware of the matter and naturally has nothing to do with it. The other is to directly accuse himself of negligence to avoid implicating himself too much.
"The crime of oversight, do you know that you almost killed hundreds of people with this oversight?"
When he said this, Zhao Yanxun's tone was filled with anger.
Cheng Wenguang was trembling, kowtowed to the ground and said: "I am incompetent, please punish me severely!"
With a sneer, Zhao Yanxun looked to the other side and said, "Zhou Qing, don't you have anything to say?"
"I am also guilty!"
"What are you guilty of?"
Zhou Chengping looked serious and replied: "I am guilty of lax supervision!"
"Okay... okay, it's quick for you two to plead guilty, but everyone should think carefully about why this kind of thing happened?"
"What is the problem? Why are these officials greedy? Do you perform your duties with all your heart and soul?"
"Should you admit these sins?"
All problems are ultimately systemic problems.
System problems are divided into two categories: one is problems with the system itself, and the other is problems with the people who implement the system.
For Zhao Yanxun, although the matter of people's food being misappropriated was a big deal, it was no bigger than the loopholes in the system.
Solving institutional problems is the key to eliminating such problems.
Listening to Zhao Yanxun's increasingly cold tone, both Zhou and Cheng kowtowed to the ground, not daring to look directly at Zhao Yanxun.
"Today, I didn't call you here to convict you!"
"Whether you go back and investigate yourself, or ask the officials below to question you directly, you must find out the truth for me!"
"If you take the initiative to plead guilty, you can be treated leniently. If you conceal it and fail to report it, you will be severely punished."
Looking at the two people kneeling in front of them, Zhao Yanxun said in a stern tone: "Do you understand?"
"I understand!"
The two aloof elders were no different from slaves in front of the angry monarch.
"Back off!"
"yes!"
After saying this, Zhou Chenger slowly stood up and then carefully exited the side hall.
Walking in the corridor, Cheng Wen couldn't help wiping the sweat from his forehead. He was so scared that his liver was shaking just now.
The words "accompanying you like a tiger" appeared in Cheng Wenguang's mind again.
After walking out of the hall, Cheng Wenguang breathed a long sigh of relief, and a glimmer of light appeared in his heart that was covered with dark clouds.
Walking down the steps, Cheng Wenguang couldn't help but curse: "These bastards below are really too brave. They should be killed... they should be killed!"
At this time, Zhou Chengping, who was traveling with him, said: "Sir Cheng, I will have the trial office stationed in the treasury management office later!"
"It depends on whether you ask first or I find out first!"
Hearing this, Cheng Wenguang felt even more unhappy and immediately threw up his sleeves and left.
Watching Cheng Wenguang leave, Zhou Chengping also breathed a sigh of relief, and then quickly left the Jinshen Hall.