Chapter 879 0874 [The first peasant uprising in the Ming Dynasty]
Is it easy for Minister of Industry to make money?
Very easy.
It's not easy either.
Because this official position is too high, it just makes decisions.
Specific matters are handled by dedicated personnel, and it is difficult for Qin Hui to intervene personally.
He couldn't trust the Wang family, and even if he could, he wouldn't let the Wang family come to make money. Because if he did, the money would definitely go into his wife Wang's pocket.
He also thought about letting his brother Qin Zi make money, but as Qin Zi's official position became larger and he was transferred to an official position far away, it gradually became uncontrollable.
Qin Zi has his own ideas. He is also a Jinshi and they are brothers.
If you partner with Qin Zi, conflicts will easily arise.
Qin Hui really didn't dare to use the other brothers of the Qin family. He knew the virtues of those brothers too well. Once given the chance, something big would happen!
Since there is no one available in my own family or my wife's family, I can only choose outsiders.
Last year, Luoyang was undergoing major renovations. The projects were one after another, and Qin Hui had many loopholes to exploit. He chose a doctor from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce with a calm personality to make some money from the projects, and the method was so secretive that it would not be possible to detect it in an audit.
Qin Hui did not dare to mess around with the Yellow River management project because Ju Ming always sent people to keep an eye on it.
However, Fengli Canal, the largest water conservancy project in Shaanxi, has been dredged and expanded in the past two years.
Qin Hui and Zheng Yinian colluded to embezzle material purchases and get some project funds. Moreover, both of them were made timid by the emperor. For the time being, they only dared to make small fuss. It was not easy to get involved in large accounts.
was found out.
He could not be more cautious, otherwise he would not have been able to get tens of thousands of coins after several years of accumulation.
In the former Song Dynasty, Qin Hui's behavior was definitely a model of incorruptibility!
This year, Qin Hui became a little more courageous. He got a job for a confidant and was responsible for building the treasury warehouse outside Luoyang City - building embankments along the river for several miles, demolishing the people along the bank, and building various warehouse facilities and city walls.
Those are his absolute confidants in the Ministry of Industry. There will definitely be no problems with the quality of the river embankments, warehouses, and city walls.
None of us are fools. If we dare to cut corners when building the treasury, we will never pass the inspection and a lot of heads will be lost by then!
But you can still make money from it.
Qin Hui never thought about making too much money. Depending on the specific construction situation, he could get three to four thousand guan per month, and sometimes he could only get one or two thousand guan.
Of course, if the filial piety money in a certain month was too little or too much, Qin Hui would also check the accounts. He would even go to the construction site in person to understand the situation on the pretext of supervising the project to prevent his subordinates from doing things behind his back.
…
"Oh, another natural disaster!"
Ju Ming had a headache when he saw this kind of memorial, so he put the word "may" on the cabinet vote.
Before autumn began, there was a major earthquake in Sichuan, which damaged all the plank roads in northern Sichuan. Then there were heavy rains for days, and the water levels of the Yangtze and Han rivers surged. Just after the floods passed, several more autumn rains came, causing floods again.
The specific Sichuan disaster reporting documents have not been sent until now.
Local officials are responsible for disaster relief work, including repairing plank roads and river embankments after the disaster. They are simply applying for tax reductions and exemptions next year and allocating some funds for post-disaster reconstruction projects.
Ju Ming finished reviewing all the memorials and found that there was no random discussion of earthquakes.
Ju Ming was very satisfied with this and finally gave up on the idea of sensation from heaven and humans.
During this earthquake in history, Zhang Jun, who was in charge of Sichuan, wrote a special letter to Zhao Gou. He asked Zhao Gou to write a prayer in person, and then offered sacrifices and prayers in Sichuan to appease the local soldiers and civilians - Sichuan was heavily taxed at that time.
There were heavy troops, and after the earthquake, there was almost a mutiny and a civil commotion.
Zhao Gou replied: "The heavy rain and the earthquake must be caused by heavy troops in Shu, excessive recruitment and exploitation, and too much resentment among the people. You can just appease the people with good governance. What's the use of offering sacrifices and prayers?"
Regardless of anything else, Zhao Gou is a very rational person when it comes to engaging in feudal superstition.
Mainly because Song Huizong was so outrageous that Zhao Gou was very repulsive to religion, auspiciousness, and the feeling of heaven and man. During his reign, a large number of Buddhist temples and Taoist temples were demolished, and heavy taxes were levied on those that were not demolished.
Just when Ju Ming was about to leave work, an official from the Tongzhengyuan hurried over to ask for a meeting.
"Your Majesty, Jiangxi secret memorial. On the cover of the memorial, there is a civil uprising written on it."
The newly appointed Living Master last year changed his face when he heard this, and quickly took out the paper and pen that had been packed.
Ju Ming's expression was also extremely ugly. What the hell was going on when he started a civil uprising in the second year after he ascended the throne?
The memorial was written by Li Bing, the prefect of Ji'an, claiming that hundreds of farmers were causing trouble in Yongxin County. Due to improper handling by the county magistrate, more than ten farmers were injured and hundreds more were imprisoned. After the conflicts intensified, some mobs instigated
He sneaked into the county town and killed officials to rebel.
Then he wiped out two large clans and led thousands of people to kill Ji'an Fucheng.
There were 500 garrison troops in Ji'an Prefecture. After hearing the news, they rushed to suppress it. They defeated the rebel army in a battle and captured the thieves chief alive.
Seeing this, Ju Ming's lungs almost exploded with anger.
Thousands of farmers rebelled. How fucking big is this public dissatisfaction?
Then, the prefect Li Bing introduced the causes and consequences in detail.
He said that he was transferred to Ji'an at the beginning of the year. About five months after taking office, someone secretly submitted a letter to the government and threw him directly into his backyard.
The letter anonymously reported to the former magistrate Yan Qi, saying that this person colluded with the wealthy families to clear out the land indiscriminately during the process of allotment of land. Many of the land properties of the wealthy families were concealed, and these properties were also attributed to small and medium-sized landowners. Some people also went to the Chief Secretary
, according to the report from the Inspector General, the officials sent by the province to investigate were perfunctory.
Li Bing felt that the matter was serious, so he secretly sent someone to investigate.
However, when he took office as a new official, he did not have many confidants, and the local officials could not trust him, so he only sent a few loyal servants to visit him.
Due to the autumn grain collection, the investigation work was delayed.
In addition, the chief envoy went to Jinling for a meeting and when he came back, he asked the prefectures and counties to organize immigration. The news of immigration spread and was exaggerated by rumors. In addition, there were problems with the landownership, which resulted in many people being inflated in taxes. So some people
They went to the county government office to cause trouble, but the situation was intensified by the clerks and government officials, which eventually led to this civil uprising.
"Calling the ministers of the cabinet to discuss matters!"
Ju Ming's face was as dark as ink.
The ministers didn't know what happened, and some even went home from get off work.
I arrived at the Council Hall in a daze, and as soon as I entered, I saw that the emperor's face looked wrong.
Ju Ming patted the memorial and said, "This is a secret memorial from Li Bing, the prefect of Ji'an. It was sent directly to me, bypassing the Chief Secretary and the Cabinet of Jiangxi. Take it and read it slowly!"
The secret reporting system was introduced by Zhu Guoxiang to prevent officials from concealing reports at all levels.
Prime Minister Zhai Ruwen was the first to read it, and after reading it, he passed it to Vice Prime Minister Liu Yan, who started to feel restless.
Yan Qi, who violated the rules when he entered the village, was a descendant of Yan Hui. He had a relationship with Zhai Ruwen when he was in Shandong, and he could barely be considered a member of Zhai Ruwen's faction.
The political envoy to the left in Jiangxi was also from the Zhai Ruwen faction.
Zhai Ruwen has been careful enough and has not been greedy for anything since he was promoted to Prime Minister. But the guys he promoted are not obedient and are becoming more and more courageous.
The secret music was passed on, and two or three more people read it.
Zhai Ruwen couldn't sit still anymore, so he took off his official hat and put it on the table. He left his seat and knelt down and kowtowed, saying: "I know someone unknown, so I request that I be appointed as an official and return home."
The ministers who had not seen the secret report were all shocked.
What could cause the Prime Minister to resign?
Soon, Chen Dong also finished reading the secret report. He did not ask to resign, but stood up and bowed: "The Supervisory Office is also responsible for this matter. The censor must assist in the inspection and acceptance. There are problems in the entire Ji'an Prefecture.
Shi helped him get through, please hand over the relevant censor to Dali Temple for review."
"The officials are also responsible for the oversight." Meng Zhao stood up.
When the official positions were changed after the major case, Pan Lianggui was originally appointed as the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and Meng Zhao was appointed as the Minister of the Ministry of Criminal Affairs. However, when they were finally appointed, their official positions were swapped.
Without him, Meng Zhao is truly one of his own, and his qualifications are deep enough.
Pan Lianggui lacks qualifications and may have difficulty convincing the public.
Ju Ming remained silent, waiting for everyone to finish reading the secret performance.
Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, although there have been civil unrest, they were during the transition between the old and new dynasties.
Since the world became stable, this is the first time that a large-scale uprising has occurred. Although some people secretly instigated it, it can lead to thousands of people, and the government can force the people to rebel!
The county magistrate who directly intensified the conflict has been killed by the mob.
A wealthy family that colluded with the prefect to illegally manage their land was also wiped out by the mob.
But why are the Chief Secretary and the Inspector General so perfunctory and why have they not reported it until now? There are even signs of covering up the matter.
If it weren't for the secret report from the Ji'an prefect, Ju Ming would still be kept in the dark until now.
Extremely bad nature!
Zhu Ming looked at Zhai Ruwen: "You can retire. Be granted the title of Grand Master and return to your hometown with honor."
Zhai Ruwen just expressed his position. He really doesn't want to retire. He also wants to assist the sage to restore the prosperity of the Han and Tang Dynasties!
Zhai Ruwen was like a deflated rubber ball. He knelt down with a slumped face and said, "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."
Liu Yan's face was expressionless, but his heart was filled with joy.
He finally got rid of Zhai Ruwen, and he could finally become prime minister.
Ju Ming added: "The Inspectorate, the Ministry of Punishment, and Dali Temple will dispatch officials to Jiangxi, and the three judicial departments will review and investigate the matter strictly."
"According to the order!"
Chen Dong and Pan Lianggui accepted the order in unison.
"Each province in the country will review the number of people and households to see if there is still something like this in Jiangxi," Ju Ming continued, "I will give local officials who have not yet been transferred a chance to make corrections. If they have been promoted and transferred, they can also surrender.
Reduce the punishment. As for the newly appointed magistrates, if they don’t conduct a thorough investigation, they will be scapegoating their predecessors. If the problems of their predecessors are found, the current magistrates will have both merit and demerit.”
After saying that, Ju Ming gave another order: "Li Bing, the prefect of Ji'an, has made great contributions in suppressing civil unrest and has made great contributions in secretly reporting major cases. He will be promoted to Jiangxi Zuobu envoy!"
As soon as this statement came out, all the ministers were shocked.
From a small prefect to being promoted to Jiangxi's Zuobu government envoy?
This is to encourage officials to send secret reports to the emperor, and to encourage officials to report on their predecessors.
Zhu Ming also said: "Deputy Prime Minister Liu Yao was promoted to Prime Minister. Fang Mengqing, the Secretary of the Ministry of Hubu, was promoted to the cabinet minister. Bai Chongyan, the right minister of the Ministry of Hubu, was promoted to the minister of the Ministry of Hubu."
The imperial meeting ended, and Zhai Ruwen left in despair.
The governor of Jiangxi Zuo was his in-law and was recommended by Zhai Ruwen. It was obvious that there was a big problem this time. The former prefect of Ji'an was also Zhai Ruwen's old friend and was the main culprit in this case.
The two of them must have relied on Zhai Ruwen's power to cause trouble in Jiangxi.
They disrupted the first national policy of the Ming Dynasty, "dividing a small family into an equal share of land," and provoked the first real peasant uprising since the founding of the Ming Dynasty.
Zhai Ruwen is the Prime Minister. If he doesn’t take the blame, who will?
At least, the emperor gave him enough face. When Zhai Ruwen retired, he was granted the title of Grand Master without any form of punishment.
Qin Hui looked at Zhai Ruwen's hunched back, feeling an inexplicable fear in his heart.
He had a vague feeling that one day in the future, he might also be investigated.
