In the past two years, Tang Ning has traveled to six departments, from the Ministry of Household Affairs to the Ministry of Industry, and has seen too many things.
Among the officials in the six departments, there were some who were corrupt, some who perverted the law, some who were doing nothing, and some who formed cliques for personal gain. It cannot be said that there were no truly clean officials, but Tang Ning did not see many of them.
No one is perfect, this saying is true everywhere and applicable at any time.
For example, he couldn't ask Tang Yaoyao to have long legs and a curvy figure at the same time; he couldn't ask Zhao Man to be innocent and cute, but also mature and charming like Su Mei. Such women are not unavailable, but they are hard to come by.
You can't let one person take all the benefits.
Similarly, officials in the court have more or less flaws in their character, some love money and some are greedy, but they do their job well and receive unanimous praise from everyone.
Compared to this, not many people pay attention to their corrupt private lives.
Tangning looked at Mo Dao on the ground, and what she saw through it was not a single person, but a group of people.
Going all the way from the saltworks in various places to the Ministry of Industry, making these problematic tools, and then bypassing the Ministry of Industry's inspection procedures and transporting them to local places is not something that can be done by bribing one or two people.
Moreover, the problem is not just this set of power tools. When there should be less, there should be less, and when there should be more, it has formed a complete industrial chain. There is no collusion between officials and businessmen to plunder the imperial court and poach Chen Huang's corners.
You know how many years you have dug it and how much you have eaten.
Tang Ning looked at the clerk and said, "Go and find Doctor Zhang."
Zhang Hao, a doctor from the Ministry of Water, soon walked in and asked: "Sir, what's wrong with this batch of ordnance?"
Tangning did not answer his question and asked, "Whose hands are the weapons of the Ministry of Industry being tested on weekdays?"
Although Zhang Hao didn't know why he was asking these questions, he still answered honestly: "Sir, these powerful weapons are inspected by Cui Shilang personally every time."
Tang Ning sighed softly and murmured, "Servant Cui..."
Tang Ning actually didn't want to be called a scapegoat, but he had been carrying the blame for so long. He couldn't take it off even if he wanted to, and no one would listen to his explanation.
Zhang Hao looked at him and asked tentatively: "Sir, is there something wrong with this batch of power weapons?"
"Arrest all the craftsmen who make the weapons." Tangning nodded, looked at him, and said, "Master Zhang, be prepared to shoulder a heavy burden..."
"Ah?" Zhang Hao looked at him doubtfully and asked, "What kind of burden?"
…
In the morning.
The recent morning dynasties have lasted for a long time, and the current situation has changed. The court has to make a large number of arrangements every day to deal with any changes that may occur in the future.
At this time, King Duan and the Minister of Hubu had been in a stalemate in the court for a long time.
The reason for the stalemate is the expansion of the martial arts examination. His Majesty has appointed King Duan to take charge of this matter. However, the martial arts examination does not mean that it can be expanded. Expanding the venue requires money, the examiners' remuneration requires money, and arranging competitions requires money. It was established to attract talents.
Bonuses also require money, and all of this money needs to come from the treasury.
But getting money from the Ministry of Revenue is not an easy task. It often requires a lot of bargaining, and you can only get the lowest amount.
In the past, King Kang and King Duan never cared about money in order to gain the right to speak in the court. If the Ministry of Household Affairs gave little, they would make up the rest themselves.
But today is different from the past. Duanwang's family had suffered a huge blow and was in disarray. The Tang family that Duanwang relied on had also been robbed of their money in Jiangnan. Now Duanwang is completely broke and afraid.
I can't get much money out.
The Minister of Hubu looked at King Duan and wondered: "Your Highness, two thousand taels of silver cannot be more. Now that the war in the northwest is tense, Your Majesty has even donated the money from the inner government, and all the remaining silver from the national treasury has been used.
Northwest can't afford much money..."
King Duan looked at him, frowned and said: "Isn't what I am doing to support the northwest and expand the martial arts to provide more generals to the army? Can't Lord Qian even see this clearly?"
Seeing that King Duan had to argue with the Minister of the Ministry of Finance for so long even for thousands of taels of silver, King Kang showed a smile on his face and said: "The emperor brother can't blame Mr. Qian. The national treasury is tight, and every sum of money must be used wisely.
As princes and fathers, we should share the worries of the court. It is only a few thousand taels of silver. The emperor's brother can just take it out from the palace. If the emperor's brother is short of money, it is better to take five taels from the emperor's brother first.
How about a thousand taels?"
All the officials looked at each other in confusion. What King Kang said was obviously to help, but in fact it was a mockery.
He was mocking King Duan for not being able to even afford a mere few thousand taels of silver, and once again revealed King Duan's scars.
As we all know, King Duan relied on the Tang family, and most of the Tang family's financial resources came from the Su family in Jiangnan.
A few days ago, Tang Ning went to Jiangnan and ransacked the Su family's house. All the property belonged to the imperial court. The Tang family lost their money bag, and Prince Duan naturally had no money either.
King Kang is different. Behind him are the small and medium-sized dignitaries in the capital. Although a number of them have been dealt with in the past few days, the situation is undoubtedly much better than that of King Duan.
King Duan could naturally hear the deep meaning in King Kang's words. If he accepted King Kang's gift, wouldn't it mean that he couldn't even part with a few thousand taels of silver, and instead let King Kang lose out?
He looked at King Kang and said calmly: "Brother, I don't need to worry about this matter. If you are in a tight situation, two thousand taels of silver will be enough..."
King Kang waved his hand and said: "We are all one family, there is no need to be polite."
Prince Duan glanced at him and said, "Brother Huang understands your wishes. I can still handle this small matter..."
The officials were already used to Prince Kang and Prince Duan pretending to be brothers and sisters in the court hall. Several officials came forward to report some things, and then they saw a man walking out of the crowd at the front.
There are rules for standing in the court. The official standing further forward has a higher official position and greater power. When everyone saw the figure standing clearly, many people couldn't help but feel a "thump" in their hearts.
Tang Ning spoke out, and the chickens and dogs were restless.
This is a rule that all the officials have concluded since he has traveled through the six divisions. As long as he takes the initiative to speak, there will definitely be nothing good going on, and there is a high probability that some people will be unlucky.
Even Emperor Chen, who was leaning on the dragon chair, couldn't help but sit up straight when he saw Tang Ning standing up and asked, "What does Tang Aiqing have to say?"
Tang Ning cupped her hands and said, "Your Majesty, I have been ordered by Your Majesty to temporarily take over the position of minister of the Ministry of Works. However, when I was at the Ministry of Works, I unexpectedly discovered that someone had tampered with the power of the Ministry of Works, and the ordnance produced was missing.
Jin Shaoliang, the weapons sent to salt fields and mines in various places have increased to a certain extent. I suspect that someone has enriched his own pockets and misappropriated a large amount of salt and iron profits from the imperial court... Please take a closer look, Your Majesty."
As soon as Tang Ning said this, the court immediately became silent.
The Ministry of Industry is the most well-oiled yamen among the six ministries, and everyone knows this.
On weekdays, when it comes to building bridges and paving roads, repairing palaces, and the Ministry of Revenue or the Internal Affairs Bureau allocating money, it is common for officials from the Ministry of Industry to deduct a little money in private. As long as there are no major problems, even His Majesty will turn a blind eye.
But they dared to lack even a few ounces of ordnance. They were too courageous. They were treating the lives of border officers as trivial and had already touched the bottom line of the imperial court.
This is not the most serious thing. The most serious thing is that they actually reached out to salt and iron. The imperial court specializes in salt and iron. In order to nationalize this hugely profitable industry, they actually took action directly on it...
Everyone knows that this matter cannot be accomplished by one or two people. If you shake your head and shake your head, dozens or hundreds of people may come out...
King Duan stood in the palace, a little surprised by the news. King Kang's throat moved up and down, he pursed his dry lips and felt waves of dizziness.
"How brave!" Emperor Chen stood up from the throne with a sullen face and said sternly: "Check for me, don't let anyone go!"
