Chapter seven hundred and seventy-ninth: Shanglin Garden Supervisor
Nanyuan, located twenty miles outside Beijing, has been a royal hunting ground since the Yuan Dynasty. Because it has the Yongding River running through it and is densely populated with springs, it is also called Nanhaizi.
When Emperor Taizong was still King of Yan, he often came to Nanyuan for hunting. After moving the capital, he even expanded the place and built 120 miles of walls and many palaces, making Nanyuan a famous place.
"Southern Autumn Wind" is one of the famous ten scenic spots in Yanjing.
As a royal hunting ground, Nanyuan was affiliated to Shanglin Garden. Like Neiku, Huangzhuang, and Huangdian, it was a private property of the royal family. There were thousands of people in the sea who were responsible for raising animals for the royal hunting.
However, with the death of the late emperor and the young age of the orthodox emperor, there has been no large-scale hunting in Nanyuan for more than ten years. Nanyuan has gradually become a place for supplying cattle, sheep, fruits and vegetables to the palace.
This time the emperor personally presided over the spring hunt, which should be regarded as the largest hunt in Nanyuan in recent years. Therefore, from the moment the order was received, everyone from top to bottom was busy, and finally everything was ready.
On the fifteenth day of March, early in the morning, the officials met outside Fengtian Gate. The sky was getting brighter, the palace gate was wide open, and two chariots drove side by side and went out from the palace gate at the same time. Following them, the Chang
A long procession of honor guards.
Since it is spring hunting, even if it is a national ceremony, the battles must not be small. Naturally, it cannot be completed in one day. In addition, in addition to the emperor and the emperor, those participating in the spring hunting this time are also
The civil and military ministers in the court, noble families, envoys from various barbarians, and even elite soldiers selected from the capital camp.
A mighty team stood up with whips and headed towards Nanyuan.
According to the etiquette submitted by the Ministry of Rites, the spring hunting lasted for three days. The first day was to worship the heaven, the second day was to hunt, the third day was to perform martial arts, and after giving a banquet, the fourth day was to return to the capital.
Although it was only twenty miles away, except for a few highly respected ministers who were given carriages by the emperor, most ministers could only follow the team obediently and walk on their feet.
Therefore, this spring hunting was a hard job for them. The meandering team set off early in the morning and by the time they arrived at Nanyuan, it was already sunrise.
After arriving at the palace, we settled down for a while and had lunch, followed by the tedious ceremony of offering sacrifices to the heavens. The whole day was completed only in the evening.
Of course, only the ordinary ministers took a break, and a group of important ministers could not take a break because they had to go to the palace to meet the emperor.
The palace was brightly lit, and the emperor was sitting next to a eucalyptus. Next to him were Huai En and a eunuch who didn't look too familiar. Next to him was Lu Zhong, the commander of the imperial guards in a flying fish robe. There were several documents on the eucalyptus.
.
Looking down, three ministers in crimson official robes were standing nearby, with bitter expressions on their faces. These three people were none other than Wang Wen, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Shen Yi, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and Shen Yi, the Minister of the Ministry of Finance.
Chen Yi, the censor of Zuodu.
"Tell me, what's going on?"
Correspondingly, the emperor, who was above, looked relaxed and asked with a smile.
But the more this happened, the more bitter the expressions of the three people below became. You looked at me, I looked at you, but no one responded.
After a while, Chen Yi said bravely.
"Your Majesty, there may be a misunderstanding about this matter. How about calling Linyuan Supervisor Chen Yong over? Maybe he can explain it clearly?"
"Chen Yong?"
Hearing this name, the emperor's expression changed, and then he said casually while the three people below looked at him.
"I don't want to see him. He should be in prison right now. Oh, by the way, do you want to see what the Jin Yiwei just seized from his mansion?"
As he spoke, the emperor took out a brochure from the eucalyptus and asked the chamberlain to pass it on. When several people looked at it carefully, they immediately broke out in cold sweat.
Among them, Shen Yi reacted the most, almost jumping to his feet.
At the same time, Zhu Qiyu's face finally turned cold.
"A mere supervisor of Shanglinyuan, under the eyes of the imperial court, collected nearly 30,000 taels of silver. The gold and silver utensils at home, land deeds, mansions, shops and houses, in total, amounted to nearly 100,000 taels at least. It's so big.
Courage!"
"Shang Shu Shen?"
"I'm here!"
Chen Yi complained endlessly in his heart, but he did not dare to neglect and immediately responded.
He had happily followed the emperor to spring hunting today, but who would have thought that he would be called over as soon as he arrived at the palace.
When the emperor told him, he realized that it was because someone had sued Shanglinyuan.
The matter was actually very simple. The emperor wanted to personally preside over the Spring Hunting, so he sent the Forbidden Army in advance to take over the defense of Shanglin Garden.
The day before the emperor's arrival, Lu Zhong, the commander of the Imperial Guard, went to Nanyuan for inspection as usual. As a result, after such an inspection, he discovered something was wrong.
In the huge Nanyuan, there are only some hares, deer, pheasants and other common folk animals. There are also very few elk that were specially raised in the early years, as well as ferocious beasts such as tigers and leopards.
You must know that the late emperor was fond of hunting and had specially ordered people to raise many ferocious beasts. To this day, the imperial court still allocates a special amount of silver to Shanglin Garden to raise these ferocious beasts every year.
But now, when the time comes for hunting, these ferocious beasts are pitifully few.
Therefore, Lu Zhongdang rushed back to the palace and reported the matter to the emperor, which led to the current scene.
"If I remember correctly, Shanglinyuan Jianzheng is a fifth-grade official with an annual salary of one hundred and ninety-two dan. Rice is expensive in the capital, but at most it is only eight coins of silver per dan."
"Shang Shu Shen is a famous golden abacus. Come and calculate it for me. How many years did Chen Yong have to save without eating or drinking to have a fortune of one hundred thousand taels!"
When these words were spoken, Shen Shangshu could clearly hear the emperor's uncontrollable anger. He was really angry!
"Your Majesty, calm down, I am guilty!"
Although the emperor's calculation is a bit far-fetched, there are only a few officials in the capital who really rely on their salaries to survive.
Even if we don’t talk about some gray income, just the firewood silver, the tax-free silver from the farmland, and the regular silver tacitly approved by the court, all in total, a fifth-grade official can get dozens of taels of silver every month, which is higher than his salary.
Much.
If you add in those gray incomes that are illegal but everyone is doing, such as sending land under your name, writing inscriptions and polishing pens, local officials' charcoal and bingjing, gentry and merchants' filial piety, etc., even if it is an ordinary Qingshui Yamen, combined, it will be much more
Not to mention, there are always hundreds of taels of silver a year.
However, one hundred thousand taels is a bit too much!
You know, even if Shen Yi is an important official in the court and is in charge of Ming Dynasty's money bag, his family wealth is only tens of thousands of taels.
Of course, this is because Shen Shangshu has a bright career and cherishes feathers, so he does not bother to engage in corruption and bribery tricks.
But don't forget, Shen Yi is already in the first echelon of civil servants, and there are only a few people in the court who have the same status as him.
But even he didn't have a hundred thousand taels in his family, which shows how daring this Chen Yong is.
On the other side, Chen Yi's face was also livid. He was called here today. He only knew that many rare and exotic animals such as tigers, leopards, and elk had been lost in Shanglin Garden, but he never thought that such a serious matter was involved behind this.
Looking at the people kneeling on the ground, Zhu Qiyu's face softened slightly, but he still said with a bit of anger.
"Shanglinyuan Supervisor is not a powerful yamen. There are only a few ways for Chen Yong to get money. There is probably no chance of accepting bribes, but corruption must be investigated."
"In addition, all the tigers, leopards, and elk raised in Shanglin Garden have disappeared. I'm afraid they have something to do with him as the prisoner."
"The primary responsibility for this matter lies with the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Sixth Section and the Thirteen Roads. The Guizhou Taoist Association is in charge of the Shanglinyuan Supervisor. Chen Yong has been in office for several years, but the Guizhou Taoist censors are not aware of it. This is a dereliction of duty!"
Chen Yi lowered his head and accepted the scolding silently.
Although, he can actually argue with many reasons.
For example, in recent years, there have been many things happening in the court, especially after the turmoil of the civil war. The whole court is full of waste and many things, and it is inevitable that an unpopular place like Shanglinyuan cannot be taken into consideration for a while.
.
For another example, the personnel of the Metropolitan Procuratorate have undergone serious changes in the past two years. In addition to Chen Yi, the Zuodu censor, there are often vacancies in the six subjects and thirteen roads, plus the Qiandu censor and the deputy capital censor, and there is a serious shortage of manpower.
, and the flow is very serious.
For another example, in recent days, the Metropolitan Procuratorate has been fully cooperating with the Ministry of War to conduct an inventory of military settlements. At least half of the imperial censors have been scattered across the border to measure acres and redraw fish scale atlases.
These reasons can all be given, and they are real.
However, Chen Yi didn't say anything.
Because no matter how many excuses there are, the mistakes cannot be covered up. The emperor is right, the Shanglinyuan Supervisor made such a big mistake, it is the fault of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. As the head of Fengxian, he, the Zuodu Censor, is the first to bear the brunt.
What's more, Chen Yi also knew very well in his heart that the emperor was not an indiscriminate person, and he was also aware of the actual situation of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Therefore, there was some reprimand, but he would not be too harsh in his thinking.
As expected, the emperor cursed a few words, seemed to feel a lot more angry, and continued to speak.
"After passing the decree, the censor of Guizhou Dao will be demoted one level and return to the government for investigation. The remaining censors of Guizhou Dao will be fined three months' salary and handed over to the Ministry of Punishment and the Jin Yi Guard for investigation. If there is any concealment, failure to report, corruption and bribery, they will be punished.
Extra sin!"
"According to the order!"
Chen Yi sighed in his heart. Sure enough, even if the emperor understood the difficulties faced by the Metropolitan Procuratorate, he could not escape the punishment.
However, this is also normal. Chen Yong was able to amass such a huge amount of wealth, which shows that what he did has not been done in a day. Even though the affairs of the court have been complicated recently, no one cares about the small Shanglinyuan Supervisor.
But if the Guizhou Dao who is responsible for the custody says that he has not noticed it at all, it is probably impossible. There must be some partiality and perversion of the law.
If it were normal times, that would be fine, but now that the emperor personally presides over the spring hunting, this matter is obviously unsolvable. Chen Yi is prepared for this.
However, what surprised him was that the candidate assigned by the emperor turned out to be the Ministry of Punishment and the Jin Yiwei...
You know, this kind of work is usually taken over directly by the Jin Yiwei. This time, it was handed over to the Ministry of Punishment, which reminded Chen Yi of how the emperor also dealt with it when Ren Li was married.
Thinking again of the palace examination, the emperor handed it over to the chief judge of Dali Temple, with the assistance of the Jin Yiwei. When these few things were connected, Chen Yi seemed to have a taste of it, but he couldn't think clearly.
However, since the emperor has said this, it means that the responsibility of the Procuratorate in this matter ends here.
So next...
"In addition to the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the civil servants cannot escape responsibility!"
After scolding Chen Yi, Zhu Qiyu turned around and set his sights on Wang Wen.
Mr. Wang Laoshang knelt on the ground with sullen eyebrows and drooping eyes, as if he was ready to be beaten and scolded.
In the whole court, this person only behaves like this in front of the emperor. Anyone else dares to say whether this old man is reasonable or not, he will cause trouble.
But in front of the emperor...
"Wang Shangshu, how long has Chen Yong been serving as the Supervisor of Shanglin Garden? How is his evaluation?"
It should be said that as the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Mr. Wang's business ability is still very good. From top to bottom, whether it is the capital or the local government, the resumes of all officials above the seventh rank are stored in his mind.
Therefore, when the emperor asked, Wang Wen immediately answered.
"Back to Your Majesty, Chen Yong was transferred to the post of Supervisor of Shanlinyuan in the sixth year of Zhengtong. In the ninth year of Zhengtong, he was promoted to the position of Supervisor due to excellent evaluation. He was re-evaluated in the twelfth year of Zhengtong. His performance was average. The Ministry of Civil Affairs planned to stay in office until now. Last year, when he was inspected in Beijing, Chen
It is rated as average or above in the Yongkao test, so it has not changed its tune."
"In this case, including the time he served as the eunuch, Chen Yong has been in Shanglinyuan for nearly ten years. No wonder he dares to do this!"
With a cold snort, Zhu Qiyu's tone became a little unhappy again and said.
"I won't mention many things before, but Chen Yong's behavior in the Beijing inspection last year was still rated as average. It can be seen that the Beijing inspection still has some untruths, and this is the fault of the officials."
"After returning to Beijing this time, you will do three things."
"First, check the Lang Guan who was responsible for evaluating the officials in the Shanglin Garden during the Beijing inspection last year, and strictly investigate whether there was any bribery, favoritism, malpractice or dereliction of duty."
"Secondly, a gentleman should first correct himself. After you return, you will personally preside over it, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate will coordinate with you to investigate all the officials and members of the Ministry of Personnel. Anyone who shows favoritism will be severely punished!"
"Third, immediately add the censors of the departments of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and temporarily give in to other matters of selection. Priority will be given to ensuring that the posts of the six departments and thirteen departments are full, so as to avoid the recurrence of the Shanglinyuan Supervisor incident."
After Wang Wen finished speaking, Chen Yi cast an envious and jealous look at him.
Damn, the same people have different fates!
For this matter, it is clear that both the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Ministry of Personnel are taking the blame. Even if we look into it in detail, the Ministry of Personnel is even more responsible.
After all, just after the Beijing inspection last year, Chen Yong was so slack and derelict in his duties that he was not found out and even got an above-average rating. This is a clear case of dereliction of duty on the part of the officials.
But what’s the result?
His subordinates who were suspended from duty and those who were awaiting investigation were directly handed over to the Criminal Department and Jin Yiwei.
When it was Wang Wen's turn, he was asked to investigate favoritism in the ministry by himself, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate was asked to cooperate with him in rectifying ministry affairs.
This is not punishing him, it is clearly helping this old guy to further control the staff!
However, after thinking about the emperor's last words, Mr. Chen must suppress it no matter how dissatisfied he is.
After all, if you get benefits, you have to work.
Reluctantly nodding, Mr. Chen reluctantly followed Wang Wen.
"I accept the decree."
So, Zhu Qiyu shifted his gaze to the last person.
"Shang Shu Shen!"
"I'm here..."
Chen Yi carefully looked at the emperor's expression, feeling a little uneasy. Logically speaking, this matter had nothing to do with the household department.
So, under the anxious gaze of Shen Shangshu, Zhu Qiyu said.
"Originally, this matter should have something to do with the Ministry of Household Affairs. However, Shanglin Yuan Supervisor raises livestock and animals, and the number should be different every year. However, the fodder, grain, and silver required by Shanglin Yuan Supervisor every year are almost the same. When you checked the accounts before,