The same problem also appeared in the Qianqing Palace.
Zhu Qiyu sat on the throne, and Huaien stood at the bottom, recounting his actions in the Tenth Prince's Mansion in detail.
"...It is said that after the servant left, the acting prince went to Prince Min's Mansion. As for what they talked about, I don't know..."
Seeing Huaien's respectful look, Zhu Qiyu smiled and asked.
"Are you wondering why I asked you to deliver the message but didn't let you say it was my intention?"
"This servant dare not speculate on the Holy Will!"
Wynn lowered his head and said.
However, Zhu Qiyu didn't care and said.
"If I really want to intervene in this matter, it's not impossible to do it, but I can't do everything. People say that the Ming clan is domineering, so this time, I might as well be domineering just once..."
After that, he continued to ask without waiting for Wynn's reaction.
"Has Mr. Jian Zhai arrived?"
Wynn was standing at the bottom, thinking about the meaning of this sentence, when he suddenly heard the question and immediately answered.
"Go back to your Majesty, I've already sent someone to summon you. I'm afraid it's a temporary summons, so it will take some time. I'll go and urge you again..."
So, Zhu Qiyu nodded, and Wynn retreated.
…………
A few more days passed. On this day, it was morning and the sun had already risen high.
Shangshu Shen first went back to his home to have breakfast, and then walked as usual to the Hubu Yamen. However, what he didn't expect was that the Hubu Yamen, which should have been handling official business in an orderly manner, seemed a bit chaotic at the moment. noisy.
From a distance, Shen Shangshu saw a circle of officials surrounding the Hubu Yamen, constantly looking inside. Most of them were officials from the Hubu Yamen, and many others were obviously watching. It was lively, but everyone was blocked outside and no one went in. Moreover, everyone was gathered together and it was very noisy. I don’t know what they were talking about.
This situation in the dignified Hubu Yamen made Chen Yi frown.
"What happened? What are you doing here?"
After walking two steps forward and reaching the outskirts of the crowd, Shen Shangshu's face darkened and he asked the officials who had surrounded the Hubu Yamen.
So, everyone turned around, bowed their hands and said,
"I've met Lord Shangshu."
At the same time, the crowd consciously made a way. Meng Jian, the minister of household affairs who had always been slow and leisurely because of his age, walked out quickly. When he saw Shen Yi, he felt as if he had seen a savior. , hurriedly bowed his hands, then took two steps forward and said.
"Master Shangshu, you are finally here. Look..."
As he spoke, Meng Jian pointed to the Hubu lobby inside through the crowd. Shen Yi followed the direction he pointed and looked over, only to see that outside the originally spacious Hubu lobby, someone had placed a picture. A spacious couch.
Sitting on the couch, a middle-aged man wearing a python-patterned king's robe was leaning on the couch, with several maids waiting beside him. The fruit plate and teapot were all ready. At this moment, Liu, another servant of the Ministry of Household Affairs,
Nakafu was standing aside, wondering what he was persuading.
Acting king?
Chen Yi frowned and said something bad in his heart.
However, seeing this scene, he finally understood why everyone was blocked outside the door.
Because, in addition to the large couch, around the king, in addition to the maids waiting on him, there were also attendants and guards holding red embroidered umbrellas and holding various ceremonial guards. These people were standing
Behind King Dai, the entire lobby was blocked, and the roads in and out were also blocked.
"What's going on?"
You know, the six government offices are not far from each other. When he just came here, he had already noticed that people from the government offices next door were looking at him.
At that time, he didn't know what was going on. Now that he saw this situation and felt the eyes from all directions, Shen Shangshu just felt that he didn't know how many people were watching Hu Bu's joke. He turned to Meng Jian with a calm face and asked
.
Hearing the anger of his Lord Shangshu, Meng Jian couldn't help but shrink back and said.
"Sir, the official has just arrived. According to the officials who came earlier, this generation of princes and his people blocked the door of the household early in the morning. He also said that he came... came...
…”
"What are you here for?"
Seeing that there were many more shadowy figures behind each yamen, Shen Yi became more and more embarrassed. Listening to Meng Jian's hesitant tone, he felt irritated in his heart and scolded lightly.
"Whatever you do, you can't just be stuck here like this. You haven't seen how there are so many people around here!"
Hearing this, Meng Jian also had a wry smile on his face.
He had just returned from the morning court and went to the Yamen after dinner, when he saw this scene.
In terms of time, he didn't come much earlier, but there was nothing he could do about it. The official level was crushing people to death, and the minister was angry, so he could only bear it.
Seeing that many people began to look at this place, Meng Jian lowered his voice, and for some reason, his old face turned red and said.
"Sir, Prince Dai said that he came to the Ministry of Revenue to collect debts!"
???
Chen Yi's eyes widened with disbelief on his face.
What the hell?
Need debt?
Are money grabs so blatant these days?
He actually grabbed it all on the head of the dignified household?
Even for a feudal lord, this is too much!
Looking at King Dai leisurely leaning on the couch in the distance, Shen Yi gritted his teeth and asked.
"Is it because of the move to Zhangzhou?"
"Because the Ministry of Revenue said in court that the treasury has no money and cannot build a new palace, so you came here to 'collect debts' on behalf of the prince?"
Although it was a question, the tone was very firm.
As we all know, Dai Wang has always wanted to move to the mainland. Now, the emperor finally relented, but he was stopped by the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works in the court. It is certain that Dai Wang was dissatisfied.
However, Shen Yi never expected that this generation of kings would be so courageous that they would dare to block the door of the household blatantly.
Still need debt?
Damn it, there was no imperial edict to move the vassal state, and the Ministry of Revenue did not agree to allocate money to build the palace, so where did the debt come from?
After saying that, he raised his steps and wanted to go forward to argue with the king.
However, before he could move, Meng Jian on the side tugged at the corner of his clothes and stopped him. He frowned and looked at Meng Jian, only to see the latter's hesitant look on his face. He lowered his voice a little and said.
"Your Excellency, you have misunderstood. Your Majesty is not here to transfer the feudal clan."
"You have forgotten that His Majesty had an order at the time. Prince Dai took the initiative to report anyone who took the initiative to report privately cultivated land and occupied military settlements. At that time, Prince Dai took the initiative to report, and the names of several vassal princes from Dai Wang's palace and Dai vassal line totaled more than 9,000 hectares.
The land will be returned to the court."
"But the imperial court has never fulfilled its original promise. So far, the amount of silver used to redeem the land in the Prince Dai's palace has been less than one-third..."
Although these words were spoken in a low voice, there were many officials around and they were not too far away, so someone still heard the specific content.
Of course, maybe I didn't hear it, but that didn't stop the embarrassment on Shen Shangshu's face...
Touching his nose, Shen Shangshu looked around, regretting that he had been too ostentatious just now. Meng Jian really didn't know he would have told him earlier.
Therefore, the Minister of Revenue began to seriously think about whether it would be too embarrassing to find a reason to leave at this time...
Naturally, Meng Jian didn't know that the Lord Shangshu in front of him was already thinking about making a fuss, so he finally said what he said, and he hurriedly asked.
"Sir, the current situation requires you to personally come forward. Otherwise, this generation of princes will always be blocked in, and the people below can't get in or get out. It's not a problem..."
"Uh, Sir Meng, I just remembered that the Ministry of War sent a message yesterday, saying that the account books at the military camp are a bit unclear and I need to go over and check them. You can take care of them here first, and I will go and deal with the Ministry of War.
thing, and then come back.”
After some ideological struggle, Shen Shangshu finally decided to escape.
It was indeed very embarrassing for the Hubu to be blocked. However, there have been many embarrassing times. After the War of Wala, the Hubu warehouse was completely empty, and the salary of the imperial court could not be paid out. At that time, everywhere
It was someone who came to him to ask for money and food. If he hadn't been very alert and went to the palace to wait for him when nothing happened, he would have been annoyed to death by the officials from various ministries who came to 'collect debts'.
This generation of princes has made it clear that they are here to cause trouble. No matter what he says, Shen Yi knows very well that the root cause is still the transfer of the feudal clan.
If he gets in, he won't be able to get away.
It's embarrassing to be embarrassed. He still doesn't believe that the king can come and block him every day. If that were the case, it would be easy.
No matter how much it is, let’s get through today first…
Therefore, after saying this, Shen Shangshu left Meng Jian with a stunned look on his face, raised his legs and prepared to leave.
"Where is Shen Shangshu planning to go? Aren't you going to go to the Yamen?"
However, at this moment, a voice came from in front of him.
Shen Yi looked up, only to find that King Dai had stood in front of him at some point. Looking at Liu Zhongfu who was standing next to King Dai, he was greatly relieved to see him. Shen Shangshu still didn't understand.
What kind of situation is this? He cursed in his heart at the two expressionless things, but he had to squeeze out a smile on his face and said.
"I have met the prince."
"This early in the morning, Your Majesty came to the Ministry of Household Affairs. I failed to greet you in time. Please forgive me."
When things got to this point, it was impossible to run away. After looking at the officials around him, Shen Yi took a step forward and said.
"Your Majesty, you see that the Ministry of Household Affairs is very busy with official business. So many officials are stuck here, which is also delaying things. How about you ask the attendants to wait outside, and I will accompany you in to talk. If you want anything,
Let's discuss it easily..."
Since you can't run away, let's try to lose less people.
But it was obvious that King Dai did not intend to give him this face. Looking at the smiling face of the Minister of Hube in front of him, he smiled jokingly and said.
"It's nothing big, just a few words. After I finish speaking, I will leave. I won't delay Minister Shen from handling his official duties."
"Your Majesty, you..."
Shen Yi had a bitter look on his face and wanted to speak, but after only speaking a few words, he was interrupted by King Dai.
"I came here today to ask Shen Shangshu, when will the silver taels that the imperial court agreed to redeem for the land that I returned to the imperial court on behalf of the palace be disbursed?"
The voice of these words was not low, so almost all the officials present heard it clearly.
As a result, there was a low-pitched discussion below. No wonder Dai Wang was so confident and dared to block the door of the Ministry of Households openly. It was because he took the blame.
Again, when the king took the initiative to declare his private land to the imperial court, he set an example among the clans. Later, the imperial government's great policy of reorganizing the military settlements was successfully implemented. Part of the reason came from this.
Especially for other vassal kings, it would be unreasonable for them to insist on claiming that they are innocent, or to use hundreds of acres of land to cause trouble in the lake.
From this standpoint, this matter was a favor owed by the imperial court to the king.
So now, Daiwang is here to ask for this favor!
Feeling the various looks and comments coming from around him, Chen Yi's old face turned a little red and said.
"Your Majesty, this matter is very complicated. Do you think we should go in and explain it in detail?"
"It's nothing complicated. The imperial court has its own regulations. Everything should be done according to the regulations. Or should we say that the Ministry of Revenue wants to resist the decree?"
The Dai Wang obviously didn't buy it. His demeanor was leisurely, but his tone was aggressive.
The Ministry of Finance currently has no money, and he knows this.
Of course, the Ministry of Household Affairs says every year that it has no money. Whether or not it actually depends on the specific situation.
But at least, if you want to come up with so much redemption money at once, you will definitely not be able to come up with it.
He came here this time just because he was sure. Shen Yi didn't dare to give an answer blatantly in front of so many people.
You must know that a Daiwangfu is nothing, but in addition to Daiwangfu, there are other noble families, as well as some early vassal princes and clans who took the initiative to report their land to avoid disaster. Together, these are a huge number.
The plan of the Ministry of Revenue, to put it bluntly, is to put the land back into the hands of the imperial court first. As for the money for redemption, the money will be owed first, and it will be paid off step by step over several years, according to the mansion, or it will be paid off step by step.
This method is actually to make sure that no one dares to fight with the Ministry of Finance in person. But now, Dai Wang comes to the door and asks for the money directly. For Shen Yi, the only one who can do it is Han Hu and others.
Take this road past Ci's Lake.
Otherwise, if I give it, the rest of the mansions will also come to me in the same way, and there will be no way to explain it.
But if he refuses to give it, and this generation king clearly wants to cause trouble, with his status, Shen Yi can't force him, so he just says that he is the generation king and comes to ask for it in person. His household department will say that he has no money or no
Giving is almost the same as refusing to pay.
At that time, all the mansions came to ask for explanations. No matter which way they went, the Ministry of Revenue could not afford it.
Therefore, we can only try to get to Zihu.
But the problem is that the current king obviously wants to make an explanation. Seeing Shen Yi's hesitation, the king took out a stack of letters from his sleeve, shook it in front of everyone, and said.
"Since you are all here, regardless of your official position, you can all bear witness to this king. I am here today not to cause trouble for the household department, nor to make unreasonable troubles, but because the previous court had this purpose."
"We, the vassal kings and clans, have returned the fields under their names to the imperial court according to the decree. It is only the generation of vassals. Now there are many princes and clans writing letters asking me about this matter. What's more, some of them have donated their fields.
We already have no food or clothing."
"I know that this matter is complicated and involves many things, and the Ministry of Accounts needs time to sort it out. Therefore, I don't expect that Shen Shangshu will be able to take out the redeemed silver today, but there must be a day, right? A month, or
Three months, otherwise, will it be next year or the year after tomorrow?”
"Since we are committed to serving the imperial court according to the decree, if the Ministry of Revenue keeps dragging it on without any explanation, it will be very disappointing to the loyal ministers of the imperial court."