"It seems that this matter must be dealt with seriously, otherwise it will chill the hearts of all the ministers."
Li Shimin was talking to himself.
In fact, the voices of dissatisfaction in the imperial court had already sounded, claiming that Muchuan had monopolized hegemony, engaged in the "One Word Hall", and treated the Ministry of Households as his own family.
It was just that Jianyu Muchuan had outstanding political achievements and extraordinary abilities, so Li Shimin turned a blind eye.
At this time, Li Shimin asked Wei Zheng, the prime minister next to him: "Wei Aiqing, what do you think?"
"In my humble opinion, why not first summon the Minister of Household Affairs to the inner hall for questioning?
After all, he just made a suggestion on adjusting the salary, and it is His Majesty who makes the final decision."
"That makes sense."
After all, even as the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, it does not mean that the salary will be increased if the salary is increased. Doesn't this require Li Shimin's own consent?
So if Muchuan is questioned, then Li Shimin is also guilty.
However, with so many ministers coming to give feedback, it is impossible to remain indifferent and not respond, right?
So Li Shimin thought about letting Muchuan come into the palace to have a good discussion. Maybe the salary issue could be changed?
"Come here, go and call the Minister of the Ministry of Finance."
Li Shimin said this, and then a young eunuch came forward to convey his will.
Under normal circumstances, it would take about an hour for Muchuan to arrive at the palace. During this process, Li Shimin continued to review the memorial.
Not long after, a message from the guard came from outside.
"Reporting to your Majesty, the imperial censor is asking for an audience."
Hearing that the imperial censor had arrived, Li Shimin was confused. After all, it was already late at this hour. If there were political matters, they should be reported to the court tomorrow.
Afterwards, Li Shimin looked at the memorials on the desk and thought thoughtfully. He could probably guess the purpose of the imperial censor's visit.
"Let Zhang Zicheng come in."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Under the leadership of the guards, Zhang Zicheng, the imperial censor, walked up respectfully.
The Yushi Dafu is a third-grade official who is the highest-ranking officer of the Supervision Department and Yushitai in various places. He supervises various officials of the imperial court for corruption and illegal acts.
Combined with the impeachment of Muchuan by a large group of ministers and the late night visit of the imperial censor, Li Shimin could quickly guess Zhang Zicheng's intentions.
Zhang Zicheng was wearing a Xie Zhi official robe and a black square hat. He was about forty years old and had a thin figure. When he met the Holy Emperor, he gave an audience respectfully.
"Greetings, Your Majesty, long live my emperor."
"Master Yushi, please excuse me. If I guess correctly, you should be here for the Minister of the Ministry of Finance, right?"
Zhang Zicheng was slightly shocked. He didn't expect that his Majesty had already understood it before he even said it. Then he nodded and praised: "Your Majesty, your Majesty is wise, that's exactly what happened."
"Regarding the matter of the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, there is nothing illegal, it is all due to my misgivings."
Li Shimin then praised him, saying that he was the one who agreed to the salary adjustment made by the Minister of Household Affairs, and that the process was legitimate and compliant.
Zhang Zicheng disagreed after hearing this. Even if it was legal and reasonable, privately granting such huge power to Muchuan could easily lead to "corruption and perversion of the law." Even though Muchuan did not break the law now, there is no guarantee that he would not do so in the future.
What's more, the courtiers had been rumoring for a while that the emperor was too fond of Muchuan, making Qi Cai Aowu look arrogant.
"The humble minister begs the emperor to withdraw his order and restore the salary of the chief official of the Ministry of Household Affairs to the original level, so as to prevent the civil and military officials of the imperial court from discussing in private and affecting the majesty of the emperor."
Zhang Zicheng has a sonorous voice and a resolute face.
Wei Zheng next to him was a fair and strict man. After listening to Zhang Zicheng's words, he felt that they were reasonable and made Li Shimin think twice before he acted.
Li Shimin saw both of them saying this, which made him not think carefully about whether to withdraw the benefits to the Ministry of Household Affairs. After all, on the one hand, he really wanted to give Muchuan a favor, but on the other hand, he had to consider whether it would affect
The morale of the civil and military officials in the imperial court.
About half an hour passed, and the young eunuch who went to summon Muchuan to the palace finally came back.
Li Shimin, who was sitting on the throne, saw that there was only the young eunuch and Muchuan was not there.
"Where is the Minister of Household Affairs?"
Li Shimin asked.
The young eunuch replied submissively: "The Minister of the Ministry of Finance said... he is very busy and has no time to be summoned to the palace."
Hearing this sentence, Li Shimin, Wei Zheng and others were stunned. It simply overturned their worldview.
Since ancient times, ministers had to obey the emperor's summons. But what happened to Muchuan? When Li Shimin wanted to summon him, he actually said he was busy and couldn't come?
Isn’t this an illegal decree from the Holy Father?
Zhang Zicheng, the imperial censor, was the first to come out and reprimand: "Your Majesty, this Minister of Household Affairs is really arrogant and arrogant! His Majesty summoned him and refused to obey. If he is not governed, I am afraid he will do the following crimes in the future!"
Wei Zheng: "The trip of the Minister of the Ministry of Finance is indeed wrong, but he is not such a ignorant person. Maybe something happened to him?"
Li Shimin was furious at this time. For so long since he became emperor, no one had dared to openly resist an order like this. Even if Muchuan was a truly talented and knowledgeable minister, he could not be so presumptuous.
Just when Li Shimin was about to order the guards to go out and capture Muchuan, His Highness's young eunuch hurriedly said: "The Minister of the Ministry of Finance also ordered the villain to bring it."
Li Shimin; “What else can Muchuan say?
Come here quickly."
"The Minister of the Ministry of Revenue knows the purpose of your Majesty's summons. He said that if it is for salary, he will explain it in the court tomorrow morning, which will definitely satisfy everyone. I also ask the Holy One to allow some grace."
After hearing what the young eunuch conveyed Muchuan's message, Li Shimin and others were confused and confused. What kind of medicine did the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue buy from the gourd?
Zhang Zicheng, the imperial censor, knew that Muchuan was despicable and cunning, so he must have said that to delay time, so he immediately said: "Your Majesty, you must not believe the Minister of the Ministry of Finance! He said that he will give an explanation tomorrow.
, I might do something embarrassing to His Majesty again tomorrow! If that happens, it will be detrimental to His Majesty’s majesty!”
Li Shimin sat on the dragon chair and thought deeply for a while, then glanced at Wei Zheng, wanting to hear what Wei Zheng had to say.
Wei Zheng said: "The Minister of the Ministry of Finance has always been very witty and full of fantastic ideas. Since he has said that he will give everyone an explanation tomorrow, I think there will be a good answer. Why don't we wait a little longer to figure it out?"
Li Shimin nodded slightly. Although he was very angry, considering that Muchuan was not an ordinary person, there might be some deep meaning behind this approach, so he agreed to wait a moment as Wei Zheng said.
Zhang Zicheng was naturally dissatisfied with this, but it seemed that both Li Shimin and Wei Zheng had reached a consensus. It would be a bit unwise for him to stand up and object again at this time.
