Chapter 1793 Another fourth-grade official is gone
"Ten loads of Baiyun tea from two Zhejiang provinces, one hundred jars of fine wine, fifty jars of seafood; five hundred catties each of lactose and white sugar from Hunan; ten bear gall bladders and otter livers each from Guan Nei; five carts of new bamboo shoots from Hubei; and two miscellaneous fruits from Hedong. Ten carts; Ten boats of white fish along the Huaihe River." In the Chui Gong Hall, a chamberlain held a gift list and reported to Emperor Liu.
This was something prepared by the Xuanhui Academy for the upcoming Jiaqing Festival. However, before the long list of tributes was finished, Emperor Liu interrupted: "That's enough!"
The chamberlain who was immersed in reading was startled and fell to his knees. Emperor Liu put away his bored state, glanced at it, and said in a calm tone: "Are these things prepared by Xuanhui Academy? "
"Go back to the official house!" Yantuo felt the change in Emperor Liu's tone and immediately explained: "Exactly! The Jiaqing Festival is approaching, and various places present gifts to show their filial piety, and the Xuanhui Academy will collect and organize them to celebrate the festival! "
Hearing this, Emperor Liu sneered twice and said: "Is it the Xuanhui Academy that comes forward to promote it, or is it the initiative from various places to offer gifts?"
"This" Yantuo's eyes flashed slightly, he lowered his head and replied: "I don't know!"
He could also see that Emperor Liu had another opinion on this matter. Zhao Changyan, the envoy of Xuanhui, might have flattered the horse this time. As the chief steward of the palace, Yantuo didn't know what happened. thing.
This was led by the Xuanhui Academy, which secretly sent various prefectures to offer gifts to celebrate the Jiaqing Festival, and at the same time intended to please Emperor Liu. In fact, Yantuo also knew that Xuanhui envoy Zhao Changyan personally wrote letters to the chief executives of various places to hint. , and how could the Daozhou officials dare to question it? If the emperor wanted these things, they would naturally prepare carefully.
Even after the things were sent to Xijing, they were inspected by the Xuanhui Academy and even aroused Emperor Liu's curiosity. But at this last step, something seemed to go wrong.
In the early days of the Republic of China, Xuanhuiyuan was still a high-ranking member of the imperial court. It had great power and was responsible for a wide range of affairs. One of its functions was to inspect domestic and foreign famous objects.
However, as the official system of the Han Dynasty was improved and reorganized, many powers that originally belonged to the Xuanhui Yuan were split and transferred to bureaus inside and outside the palace. The status of the Xuanhui Yuan gradually became embarrassing, and even the Xuanhui envoys In the end, the grade was only determined to be the fourth grade, leaving only the right to inspect square objects and famous objects.
Under normal circumstances, this is considered a lucrative job, and those who get through it are not ordinary things. But the situation in the Han Dynasty is different. In addition to paying tribute to foreign countries, Emperor Liu did not want any objects, and even issued edicts several times to prohibit contributions from various places. , so as not to disturb the people.
This greatly reduced the importance of Xuanhui Palace, which was not even as full and busy as the temple supervisor of the palace. Although the Han Dynasty claimed that all nations came to the court, only a few countries actually paid tribute to the court for a long time. With that kind of strength, they basically Just once a year.
There is a saying that if the Xuanhui Academy wants to play its special role, it really has to rely on contributions from domestic and local areas. That is the big head and the embodiment of value. This has been the case in all dynasties with similar powers.
But I happened to meet Emperor Liu who acted against common sense. He actually had to purchase items for the royal palace from outside the palace. Is there such a reason in the world?
In this context, the Xuanhui Academy gradually became unknown and was not taken seriously by people. The Xuanhui Envoy also became a idle job or even a pension position. He could only become more active when foreign envoys paid tribute.
However, the newly appointed Xuanhui envoy Zhao Changyan obviously did not intend to sink like this and intended to make some changes. Taking advantage of this Jiaqing Festival to test Emperor Liu's thoughts, the most important purpose was to please Emperor Liu. Regaining the power of the Xuanhui Envoy and rectifying the reputation of the Xuanhui Academy will be the accompanying benefits.
Obviously, this is a courageous person who also has certain political ambitions and is unwilling to be mediocre. Zhao Changyan was a Jinshi in the 13th year of Kaibao and ranked among the top three. He was the top flower in that year and was famous for his quick thinking. Refer to that year He once became famous in the capital.
In the years since he joined the officialdom, although he has not accomplished any major events or achieved any notable achievements, he has shown a strong ability to work hard, and he especially likes to figure out his ideas. To be a fourth-rank official in the imperial court is already extraordinary.
This time, for Zhao Changyan, it was a gamble, and although he did something unusual, it was relatively obscure. At the same time, the tribute paid was mostly ordinary objects and local specialties, not rare treasures.
However, Zhao Changyan, who was good at guessing what was going on, could not figure out Emperor Liu's thoughts after all. At this time, noticing the flicker in Yantuo's words, Emperor Liu said coldly: "These things, except for the donations from envoys from various countries, seem to be Am I someone who cares about the taste of these delicious food? Even if I want to enjoy some sugar, rice, wine and water, do I need special tribute from various places?"
Emperor Liu's voice became louder and louder, and his tone became more and more angry: "I have repeatedly issued orders in the past to severely ban contributions from various places. It is precisely because, although these things are from local products, they are mostly taken from private households and local contributions are wasteful. Needless to say, it must be forbidden to trouble the people. After so many years, there are still people who dare to violate my prohibition. Who gives them the courage?"
"Calm down the official's anger!" Seeing that Emperor Liu had really taken the initiative, Yantuo mourned for Zhao Changyan and at the same time comforted him: "Perhaps there is some misunderstanding?"
"Misunderstanding?" Emperor Liu stood up, grabbed the gift list from the hand of the chamberlain, threw it on the ground, stepped on it under his feet, and shouted angrily: "Do you really think that I can be bullied? So many Daozhou have agreed to make this contribution! How can we make this trip happen if there is no one to contact us? Do you think I am an old fool?"
"Don't you dare?" Yantuo trembled, and no longer dared to be careless.
"The gift list is here, where is Zhao Changyan?" Emperor Liu said coldly.
Yantuo responded quickly: "We are waiting for the edict outside the palace!"
"Waiting for the imperial edict!" Emperor Liu said contemptuously: "Are you waiting for my reward?"
Emperor Liu's eyes were cold, almost without thinking, he stared at Yantuo with oppressive eyes, and ordered: "I will not use the Imperial City Department for this matter. You go and find out the contribution to me and give me an explanation!"
"Yes!" Yantuo didn't dare to have any other reaction.
This matter was not complicated at all, and Yantuo probably knew the tricks involved. He went out of the palace to pretend to investigate and then came back. And Yantuo's report basically sold Zhao Changyan away.
However, when Yan Tuo finished playing, Emperor Liu's reaction was very calm, and he just said coldly: "What is the use of keeping a minister who is so daring and arrogant?"
The word "kill" came out of Emperor Liu's mouth with almost no obstruction, which shocked Yantuo. He knew that Emperor Liu would deal with it severely, but he never expected that when the Jiaqing Festival was approaching, he would kill again. A minister.
After hesitating for a while, Yantuo still asked for a favor, not for Zhao Changyan, but because he was afraid of bad luck. However, Emperor Liu's temperament was so cruel and cold, how could he care about this, he just said with murderous intent: "What the hell... It would be no shame to kill the traitor who ruined my reputation, his blood will only add to the joy of the Jiaqing Festival!"
Emperor Liu had already said this, but Yan Tuo still dared to say more. So, after Zheng Xu, the judge of Luoyang Prefecture, another fourth-rank official of the imperial court lost his head. This time he was also a traditional scholar-bureaucrat.
"Zhao Changyan was killed?" The news spread quickly inside and outside the palace. Zhao Kuangyi, who was on duty in Guangzheng Hall, was shocked when he heard it, with a look of disbelief on his face: "What did he commit?"
Zhao Changyan had a smooth career in the past, so he naturally had a certain background. His backer was Zhao Kuangyi. Zhao Kuangyi had always admired this person and felt that he had outstanding literary ideas, acted vigorously and resolutely, and was very courageous. Zhao Changyan declared the emblem envoy This job was recommended by Zhao Kuangyi before. He never thought that instead of sending him to the sky, he would fall into hell.
However, when he learned the reason, even Zhao Kuangyi could not help but be stunned for a moment. After a long time, he said angrily: "Why is he so confused! What is his intention in openly violating His Majesty's prohibition? There is a right way to die! Death is not a pity!"
At the same time, Zhao Kuangyi quickly picked up a pen and personally wrote a letter of apology in order to recognize the unknown and praise the virtuous.
