Looking at the emperor's meticulous appearance, Shen Shangshu felt embarrassed.
This plot is wrong. According to past experience, at this time, shouldn't the emperor say that since the treasury is empty, he should allocate half of it from the inner treasury to piece it together and provide disaster relief first?
Why did the emperor suddenly change his temper?
Guiltily, he raised his head and glanced at the Emperor, only to find that the Emperor was also looking at him with a deep look on his face, so Shen Shangshu blushed and said.
"Well, Your Majesty, I thought about it for a while. Now the imperial court's finances are tight. There are still several months before the summer grain collection. Spring is coming soon in the capital. The Japanese army has already set out to suppress the Japanese. There cannot be any difference in military supplies. Although the Fengyang snow disaster It’s heavy, but if you save a little bit here and there, you won’t actually need as much as 300,000 taels…”
Then, several glances came over, causing Shen Shangshu to lower his head.
Zhu Qiyu shook his head and glanced at Shen Yi. This old guy was used to fighting the autumn wind. He had discovered it during the drought in Jiangxi before. The budget given by the Ministry of Revenue was very large, but in fact the money was sent to the Ministry of Household Affairs. When he pulled it down, there weren't that many at all. Shen Yi moved them all to other places to fill the holes.
It should be said that as a minister of the Ministry of Revenue, this is not an excessive move, but it cannot be too excessive.
For example, this time...
"Oh? Then Shen Qing, tell me, how much money does the Ministry of Revenue plan to allocate?"
Raising his eyebrows, Zhu Qiyu asked 'sincerely'.
Chen Yi looked around, looking guilty, and said with a sigh.
"Probably...allocate two hundred thousand taels first?"
As if he was afraid that the emperor would not believe it, after saying this, Shen Yi immediately said again.
"Your Majesty, don't worry. If there is not enough in the later period, the Ministry of Revenue will continue to allocate more, and the disaster relief work will certainly not be delayed."
Two hundred thousand taels...
Wang Wen and Jin Lian on the side also understood at this time that this old guy Shen Yi was really a big talker.
It is obvious that two hundred thousand taels can solve the problem, but I dare to pay half the premium.
Thinking about all the major events in the past, when the emperor's internal treasury was sufficient, he would usually give out a part of it, ranging from one to two percent to three to five percent.
From this point of view, Chen Yi is probably planning to get hundreds of thousands taels from the emperor first, and then tens of thousands taels from the Ministry of Revenue to handle the disaster relief.
He is truly an old fox!
However, now that this trick has been seen through, it depends on how you end it!
Sensing the gloating mood of the two people next to him, Shen Yi couldn't help but grind his back molars. If he had known earlier, he should have just taken the peppercorns and moved them out again.
It seems as if he is playing this trick to make money for himself. The imperial court has so much money to spend, and there is no way to increase it. How can it be useful just by spending less?
Seeing the old men below glaring at each other, Zhu Qiyu couldn't help but shake his head.
He didn't bother to expose Shen Yi. Every money allocated from the inner treasury had a record of its whereabouts. At least in this regard, Shen Yi still had some integrity. A small warning was enough, but there was no need to let him go. Can't get off stage.
"The treasury is empty, and it is not easy for the household department to move around. Thank you Shen Shangshu for your hard work."
After a few words of comfort, Shen Yi's face looked much better, but he was still a little gloomy.
After all, 200,000 taels is not much in total, but again, the court needs money in all aspects. Originally, the court has been unable to make ends meet in the past two years. Although, Shen Yi had already spent money when approving the budgets of various yamen this year. A portion of the money was left for disaster relief.
But it was just the beginning of the new year and he had to spend so much, which still gave him a headache...
Seeing this situation, Zhu Qiyu pondered for a moment and said.
"Let's see, these two hundred thousand taels will not come out of the treasury if I think of a way!"
?!
"Does your Majesty mean what he said?"
Shen Shangshu immediately cheered up, without even caring about etiquette, and looked up at the emperor with burning eyes.
Facing such excited Shen Yi, Zhu Qiyu smiled and said.
"You have no joke!"
"Your Majesty's Holiness!"
So, Shen Shangshu immediately bowed and said:
"On behalf of the victims of the Eighth Guards of Fengyang, I would like to thank Your Majesty for His grace!"
For Shen Yi at this moment, he doesn't care about anything else. The important thing is to settle this matter first.
Lest after a while, the emperor regrets it again, then he will have no place to cry.
With this look, I looked at the two ministers next to me and were speechless. Isn't it just two hundred thousand taels of silver? Doesn't it matter to you, the minister of household affairs?
However, on the surface, the two of them did not hesitate at all and bowed to him in the same way.
"Your Majesty's Holiness!"
"Get flat..."
Zhu Qiyu's face was calm, he smiled and said.
"Shen Qing, you should not thank me this time, but thank Jin Shangshu!"
ah?
Shen Yi had just stood up. Hearing this sentence, he couldn't help but feel confused. He turned to look at Jin Lian next to him, only to find that the latter was also confused.
Then, they both raised their heads and looked at the emperor in confusion.
Seeing this situation, Zhu Qiyu picked up a memorial from his hand and said.
"This is a corruption case that has been concluded by the Ministry of Punishment in recent times. Among them, there are seven people who are above the fifth rank, and fourteen people who are above the seventh rank. Some are accepting bribes and operating arms dealers, and some are Those who embezzled Chang Pingcang’s grain.”
"The Ministry of Punishment conducted a thorough investigation. Among these people, eleven were dismissed from office, four were sentenced to exile, sixteen were all sentenced to confiscation of their homes, and three were demoted and ordered to return the stolen money. I have ordered the Jinyi Guards to go there. All their property was confiscated from all over the country. Yesterday Jinyiwei just reported that a total of 15,000 taels of gold, 40,000 taels of silver, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, fields and houses, etc. were confiscated from these people’s homes, totaling 320,000 taels!"
"It just so happens that this disaster is urgent, and since the Ministry of Revenue is temporarily unable to make money, I plan to use the confiscated silver taels to get these 200,000 taels."
"It can be said that if the Ministry of Punishment had not worked overtime during these days, I would not have been able to get the two hundred thousand taels from Shen Qing..."
Ah this...
What a loss!
Shen Shangshu was stunned for a moment before he came to his senses.
Fifteen thousand taels of gold were converted into silver, which amounted to at least 70,000 taels. Adding in the silver, there were a full 110,000 taels in silver alone.
Jin Yiwei must have falsely reported the value of antiques, calligraphy and paintings, fields and houses, but if he dared to quote 320,000 taels, the market price must be at least 200,000 taels.
This adds up to more than three hundred thousand taels!
In other words, if he just gritted his teeth and insisted on asking for 300,000 yuan, he might actually be able to get it.
But he was so frightened by the emperor, and felt that the emperor's inner treasury had also helped a lot with the drought in Jiangxi. He estimated that the inner treasury didn't have much money, so he relented.
All of a sudden, one hundred thousand taels were gone...
Therefore, people are always worried about inequality rather than scarcity. Shen Shangshu, who was originally complacent because he defrauded the emperor of 200,000 taels, immediately became overjoyed when he heard that he could have defrauded him of 300,000 taels. Nothing left.
However, even so, he still had to thank Jin Lian next to him.
"In this way, we really need more Jin Shangshu. In recent days, the gentlemen of the Ministry of Punishment have indeed worked very hard, putting those in the Ministry of Husband to shame!"
Although he said this, the look in Shen Shangshu's eyes was full of 'Old Jin is too uninteresting, and he didn't tell me all the details earlier...'.
Unexpectedly, at this time, Jin Lian next to him was also very innocent.
The Ministry of Punishment was only responsible for trying the case, and after the case was concluded, it was reported to the emperor. As for the confiscation of the house, it was Jin Yiwei who did it, and he didn't know how much money was confiscated.
Having said that, although he had expected it in his heart, Jin Lian was really shocked when he said this number.
You know, although these people were sentenced to confiscate their homes, most of them were low-ranking officials of the sixth or seventh rank, and officials of the fifth rank or above. Because they were involved in too many things, he was very cautious. At this stage, he only picked out a few ironclad pieces of evidence. Rushan was sentenced without any room for mercy.
But even so, they were able to find something worth more than 300,000 taels, which shows how fat these people are.
Thinking like this, on the other side, the emperor's voice sounded again, saying.
"These officials are actually the worms in the court. The people of the world are working hard, but they are still suffering from disasters and epidemics, and they have no food to eat. But these people, living on the salary of the court, do not think about gratitude for God's grace and pacifying the people, but only think about how to line their own pockets. It’s really hateful!”
Seeing that the emperor was vaguely angry, the few people below quickly calmed down their thoughts and said with cupped hands.
"Your Majesty, calm down."
They looked at each other, and finally, Shen Yida said.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, this plan relies on the joint efforts of the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Punishment and the Metropolitan Procuratorate. All these worms in the imperial court have been identified. Jin Shangshu has been in charge of the Ministry of Punishment for many years and is familiar with the criminal law. I believe it will not take long to decide." If we can bring all these corrupt officials to justice, we can restore peace to the court."
After receiving the money, I have to say a few words of kindness.
Although it is said that Shangshu Shen lost one hundred thousand taels of silver because he was not persistent enough, one good thing about him is that he always adjusts his mentality very quickly.
Regardless of whether it is two hundred thousand taels or three hundred thousand taels, anyway, it is a good thing to get money. You must know that according to convention, all the silver taels confiscated by the criminal's house usually go into the emperor's inner treasury.
Now, the emperor is willing to take over the silver required for this disaster relief, which is already a great favor to the Ministry of Revenue.
To be fair, although the amount of silver given by the emperor made Shen Shangshu feel a little disadvantaged, it was not that much of a disadvantage.
After all, what the imperial court needs is silver, food, fuel, and cloth. However, most of the items seized are antiques, calligraphy and paintings, and even some silks, satins, porcelain, etc. cannot be solved at the moment. Urgent need.
However, the money allocated by the emperor was indeed real money that could be put to immediate use. Therefore, Shen Shangshu quickly understood the reason and began to speak well of the Ministry of Punishment.
However, what he didn't expect was that the emperor did not expose it this time, but sneered and said.
"Return the imperial court to a peaceful world?"
"I don't think so!"
As soon as these words came out, not only Shen Yi, but also Jin Lian and Wang Wen who were present cheered up.
Their intuition from many years of serving in court told them that the emperor had a plan when he said this. If nothing unexpected happened, this should be what he had summoned them to do today.
As expected, immediately after, the emperor looked at Jin Lian aside and said.
"In recent days, the Ministry of Punishment has discovered a lot of things, right?"
"Jin Shangshu, I heard that you stay in the Ministry of Justice every day and don't leave until late at night. Are you really busy until then, or are you avoiding the officials outside your house who want to see you?"
this……
Jin Lian didn't expect that the emperor would suddenly talk about this, and said with a wry smile on his face.
"Your Majesty is wise, during the interrogation by the Ministry of Punishment, many ministers did come to inquire about the case, but I definitely did not act in any selfish way. Please be clear to your Majesty!"
Therefore, sometimes, many things are not subject to human will.
Since the last summons by the emperor, Jin Lian returned to the Ministry of Justice and worked overtime to deal with the cases at hand.
However, the reason why this case is difficult is not the case itself, but the branches and branches involved.
Even if Jin Lian can withstand the pressure from the outside world and refuse all intercessors, in the end, he will continue to stay in the officialdom, and these officials of the Ministry of Punishment will also continue to stay in the officialdom.
That being the case, then, facing the situation before them, they had only two options, either to put their hands up and let go, to accept some favors if they couldn't shirk them, to say a few nice words in front of the emperor, or to delay for a while. Give these prisoners a chance to develop relationships. In this way, even if the final result is still unsatisfactory, they will not be blamed.
However, the emperor's strict order came first, and this was the first time that the Ministry of Punishment intervened in an official criminal case. Therefore, this path must not be taken.
Otherwise, at least he will be blamed by the emperor, and at worst, the Ministry of Punishment will never have a chance to turn around in the future.
But if they don't do this, then they will have to turn all the cases they handle into solid cases!
In this way, even if others are dissatisfied, they will not be able to find fault with them openly, let alone be used as a means of criticism in the future.
But the price of doing this is that the entire criminal department is extremely busy.
And, that's not all, what's more important is...
"I definitely believe in the justice of Jin Shangshu."
Looking at Jin Lian with a sincere face, Zhu Qiyu waved his hand and said.
"However, during these days, I have received many intercession petitions. There are even some ministers who are willing to risk their lives and reputations to vouch for some officials. Either they say that they are forced to have no choice, or that they are deceived.
"
"I have only one question. Obviously, many of the ministers who begged for help and acted as guarantees have served in the capital for several years. However, most of the ministers who have been found out in the plan are local officials..."
After saying this, the expressions of the three people below suddenly changed, as if they were vaguely aware of something, so Zhu Qiyu snorted softly and said.
"Even if these two have known each other before, after all, when they are officials in different places, they probably don't meet once a year. But what I can't figure out is how these ministers who begged for mercy can identify that they are now in the Ministry of Punishment
Are these ministers innocent?"
"Is it because they are reckless and gullible, and they easily complain about the character of an old friend of the same age? Or is there another reason behind this?"
This chapter has been completed!