Chapter 337: The crime of greed for ink, Zhao Shen is furious
Chapter 337: The crime of corruption, Zhao Shen gets angry
Just two days ago, at the morning meeting, Zou Wenhai, the imperial envoy, and Fu Yuande, the director of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, had spent countless money on renovating the Wanshou Palace three years ago. As a result, the Wanshou Palace was renovated in just two years. It collapsed during the heavy rain last year. This is a heinous crime and should be punished.
In March last year, several parts of the Wanshou Palace collapsed during a heavy rain. This was not an unusual thing for the rainy Jiangnan. At that time, the Ministry of Industry also immediately sent people to repair the collapsed areas. .If Zou Wenhai hadn't mentioned it this time, even Zhao Shen would have almost forgotten about it.
However, this kind of thing is not big or small.
The head of the Ministry of Works is a low-ranking official of the sixth rank below Shangshu, Minister, Langzhong, and Yuanwailang. He cannot even go to court. In the Ministry of Works, he is just a petty official as big as a sesame seed!
Since he was personally targeted by the imperial censor, he was unlucky. Next, he was naturally arrested and questioned directly. The high officials above the court did not cause any trouble at all because of this incident! If only a sixth-grade official wanted to If someone is valued by the court, they will not do anything else every day. There are countless Zhou prefectures and counties in the Song Dynasty. How many people will not die on any day?
However, just when this matter was almost forgotten, the Minister of Punishment reported the matter to Emperor Zhao Shen in a memorial.
After reading his memorial, Zhao Shen immediately became furious. Then, he photographed the memorial on the face of the doctor from the Ministry of Industry.
The doctor was already a fourth-rank official, ranking only after the minister and the minister, and he could be considered a high-ranking official. However, during the interrogation of the principal, something went wrong, and the doctor was involved.
Of course, if it only ends here, this is still not a big deal.
In Zhao Shen's rage, Wan Xuyao, the Minister of Punishment, personally took action and directly sealed the residence of the doctor from the Ministry of Works!
Originally, when Shen Tang left Lin'an, according to his plan with Shi Hao, Wan Xuyao, the mainstay of the main war faction, wanted to find an excuse to leave the court. Wan Xuyao also understood the importance of this matter, so he did not hesitate at all. , wrote a letter stating that his father was seriously ill, and asked the emperor to allow him to temporarily return home to fulfill his filial piety. After a hundred years, he would return to the court to serve the Song Dynasty. Zhao Shen was originally a man of filial piety, so naturally he did not block Wan Xuyao's request.
However, after Wan Xuyao left the court, Zhao Shen was shocked to find that there was no longer a shadow of the main war faction in the entire court. Looking around, everyone was talking about Tang Si retreating. , Chen Kangbai and other members of the peace faction, together with Ma Shao, the third minister, basically did not participate in other matters, making the entire court peaceful. This was by no means what Zhao Shen wanted to see.
However, the situation has reached this point, and even Zhao Shen can't do anything for a while. At least, neither the left and right ministers nor the newly appointed acting privy envoy Diao Hongxin can be directly dismissed.
Zhao Shen thought for a while and issued another decree, directly recruiting Wan Xuyao who had left half way and had not yet arrived home. Fortunately, the position of Minister of the Ministry of Punishment has not been replaced by anyone else, so it is logical for Wan Xuyao to come back, otherwise If so, it would be difficult for Zhao Shen to do so.
The emperor made an urgent move, and no matter Wan Xuyao and others were willing or not, they could not refuse directly. Therefore, he returned to the court again.
Wan Xuyao moved very quickly. After Zhao Shen gave the order, it only took half an hour to confine the residence of the doctor from the Ministry of Industry, and then spent another half a day to ransack the entire residence. However, this time, it directly poked a hornet's nest!
In the Daqing Palace, Zhao Shen sat on the dragon chair with a stern face. The ministers below all bowed their heads. They could feel that the suppressed anger in Zhao Shen's heart was about to sweep away. However, who would be swept away? On the body, it is unknown.
"Wan Xuyao, how guilty is Sun Xuecheng, a doctor from the Ministry of Industry?" Zhao Shen asked in a cold voice.
Wan Xuyao left the mission and said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, I searched Sun Xuecheng's residence and found one and a half million taels of silver and more than two hundred thousand taels of gold. There are many other jades, colored glazes, calligraphy and paintings, and the statistics have not yet been completed."
"Snapped!"
Zhao Shen threw the memorial that Wan Xuyao had just presented directly on the main hall, "Okay, no wonder everyone says that I, the Song Dynasty, are rich! A mere doctor's family actually has millions of money! What if all your mansions are destroyed?" If we copy them all, can we get hundreds of millions of taels of gold and silver?"
"Your Majesty, forgive me!"
"Your Majesty, forgive me!"
In the main hall, all the courtiers prostrated themselves! But Tang Sidui and Chen Kangbai secretly looked at each other, because they already felt that the wind was going in the wrong direction! He was just a doctor who had been greedy for some money, and His Majesty was actually What is the meaning of being so angry?
"Forgive me, forgive me, I am forgiven all the time, but you tell me what I want to forgive you for!" Zhao Shen's furious voice spread, and the hall fell into silence.
"My army of the Song Dynasty was on the Northern Expedition. The soldiers were paid an average of one tael per month. The hundreds of thousands of soldiers in Sizhou only lost more than 500,000 taels every month! A doctor, greedy for money, enough money to spend three months on my army. !How do you want me to treat those soldiers who are fighting to the death! If each of you is like this, does that mean that as long as I capture you all, it will be enough for my Song Dynasty to have millions of soldiers!"
At this time, the army of the Song Dynasty was not small. First of all, although the combat effectiveness of the Forbidden Army was extremely weak, the number had doubled from more than 200,000 at the beginning of the Song Dynasty to a terrifying number of nearly 400,000. Then Including the Zaoyang Army, Lieri Army and other local armies, the Song Dynasty's army numbered six to seven million. At the same time, the military expenditure for this huge army was also a huge amount.
From ordinary soldiers to the top imperial guards, the salary ranges from 500 to 5,000 yuan! In other words, the annual military expenditure of the Song Dynasty, including military salaries, food, grass, equipment, etc., almost cost nearly 20 million taels of silver. .And at this time, how much tax money was there in the Song Dynasty? Everyone knows that the Southern Song Dynasty was wealthy, and the tax money was indeed a lot, as high as 60 to 70 million taels. However, the annual fiscal deficit was at least 10 million taels.
This is why soldiers often don't get any money for their pay, but just use some grain, rice, salt and other supplies instead.
Back to the story, under Zhao Shen's rage, all the ministers trembled, but remained silent. The best way to deal with the furious emperor is to remain silent. Anyway, there is no evidence for some things. Could it be, Could the emperor really kill them all? Moreover, the Song Dynasty was not interested in killing literati. Looking at the hundreds of years of the Song Dynasty, how many literati died under the emperor's sword?
Anyway, it's time to listen, and after the emperor has finished getting angry, everyone should eat and drink, without delaying anything.
However, they did not expect that the next moment, Wan Xuyao would directly throw a thunder!