Chapter 260 The decency of the court can only be measured by money
There were not only He Shen among the officials in the Hall of Yangxin, but also Yiletu, Minister of the Ministry of War, Ji Yun, a bachelor in attendance, and Song Gui, a bachelor in the cabinet.
He Shen did not see the contents of the secret book, so he did not know what the emperor meant by discussing the crime silver.
"I'm confused."
Qianlong handed He Shen a secret envelope from Jia Jiashikai, the newly appointed Sichuan governor and leader of the flag-bearing guerrilla affairs. He also signaled to Iltu, Ji Yun and Song Gui to take a look at it and then share their views on the crime.
Ji Yun, who was the first to read it, shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, I think it is not advisable to pay for the crime with money."
Qianlong glanced at Ji Yun, whom he often criticized as a prostitute, and did not get angry. He just asked him calmly: "Why is it not advisable?"
Ji Yun immediately explained the disadvantages of this system. If Agui deliberately conspired to rebel, then all Agui's followers in the Jinchuan Army should be severely punished. But now the Sichuan Admiral wants to use money as a scapegoat and openly let these Agui's followers go.
Doesn't it appear that the imperial court is unclear about what is right and wrong?
Moreover, once this system begins, it will definitely destroy military morale and make officials and generals even more unscrupulous.
Qianlong said nothing.
What Ji Yun said made sense, but it didn't agree with him.
There are too many doubts about whether Agui really had any objections, why Fulehun killed Agui without asking for permission, and whether Fu Changan's death was caused by Agui.
This is also the reason why he recalled Fulehun to question him face to face.
Before finding out the truth, rashly investigating the remaining members of Agui's party will not only be useless, but will also destabilize the army, which is not in the interest of the imperial court.
"Your Majesty, I think this method is feasible!"
The speaker was Yiletu, the Minister of War, the brother-in-law of Fulhun, the governor of Sichuan.
Qianlong said: "Tell me about it."
"I believe that just as the Admiral of Sichuan said, the current stability of the Jinchuan Army is paramount to everything else. If Agui's gang members can be made to voluntarily pay money to replace their crimes, and the emperor is magnanimous and cannot be held accountable, the impact of the Agui Rebellion can be minimized."
Although he is Fulehun's brother-in-law, as Minister of the Ministry of War, Yiletu still has to focus on the overall situation. The top priority right now is not to pursue Agui and his associates, but to stabilize Jinchuan's 100,000-strong army.
This statement was very much in line with Qianlong's wishes. He couldn't help but nod his head and asked Song Gui, the cabinet bachelor, what he meant. As a result, the cabinet bachelor knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, your Majesty!"
Qianlong was amused: "What did I say, you just said I am a saint?"
Song Gui raised his head and said: "The emperor said that the silver was the emperor's money. I think the emperor is right!"
Qianlong meditated.
Tens of millions of taels of silver were invested in a place as big as the palm of Jinchuan. Where did the money go?
Qianlong himself didn't believe it when he said that all the civil and military officials in Jinchuan were as honest as water.
So, isn’t this crime settlement money meant to take back the money appropriated by him, the emperor?
"I am thinking that all officials, regardless of banner or Han, will inevitably make mistakes occasionally or be confused for a while. If they are dismissed from their posts and investigated, who can take over? Is it possible to purge all Manchu and Han officials?"
Qianlong decided that the Jinchuan incident would no longer be pursued, and that no one should be implicated in the name of purging the Agui remnants of the party, and that the Military Aircraft Department should immediately prepare a decree and promulgate it.
After drafting the edict, he looked at He Shen and said, "I find this idea of discussing crimes against silver quite new. You have been in the Ministry of Revenue for some time, so tell me what you think."
He Shen's feeling was not new, but a very familiar feeling. With his shrewdness, he didn't know the disadvantages of this system, but when he saw that the emperor seemed to support this system, he was moved and said: "Back to the emperor, I thought it was inappropriate to discuss the crime of silver."
Implemented in front of the Jinchuan Army, it can also be promoted throughout the country. In this way, half of the money paid by criminal officials will be reserved for public use to benefit the people of that area. Half of it will be put into the national treasury because it is urgently needed by the country."
He also said that in the forty years since he ascended the throne, the emperor has shown kindness to the world. He has exempted the world's money and food four times, exempted the provinces from sending grain twice, and when floods and natural disasters occurred, he did not hesitate to spend millions of money from the treasury on disaster relief. All the people in the world are grateful.
Nowadays, the national treasury is short of silver due to the war, and the internal treasury is in deficit every year. It is time to take some urgent measures to alleviate the country's urgent problem of being short of money.
"Your Majesty, in the past, the imperial court also had cases of fining officials who committed crimes, but this amount was pursued by the Ministry of Household Affairs, and many of the people who pursued it were slack."
He Shen further suggested that all the power of collection of criminal funds should be given to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and then a portion of the national treasury would be allocated based on the amount of cash collected. This would eliminate the lack of transparency in the payment process of the Ministry of Accounts and the risk of corruption.
"well said!"
Qianlong was so happy when he heard this that he actually said to Heshen: "You go and be the general manager of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and take charge of the bank of Guangshu Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Next month, go to the Military Aircraft Department to discuss the bank system. You can discuss it with Yinglian and give it to you."
I will draw up a specific charter."
After finishing speaking, I thought for a while and added, "Also, the actual amount of money cannot be determined when negotiating a crime."
Undetermined actual amount?
He Shen was stunned and a little confused: "What does the emperor mean?"
Qianlong said: "If I ask the offending officials to decide how much money they should pay for their crime, or if I want me to decide how much money they should pay, doesn't it mean that I am asking for money from them?"
After hearing this, the three people in Iletu were all shocked. The emperor was really short of money!
The actual payment is fixed and the amount is required. There are always rules to follow.
There is no fixed amount of payment, and there is no upper limit for the offending officials.
Should I pay 10,000 yuan, 100,000 yuan, or 1 million yuan?
How much do you have to pay to satisfy the emperor?
To put it harshly, the emperor is already shameless.
But who among the three dares to say that the emperor is shameless?
Because they are shameless too.
When Ji Yun, a bachelor of poetry at the Imperial Palace, saw that the system of deliberation silver was about to be enacted, and saw that the emperor was so short of money, he decisively knelt down and bowed to the ground. He said with a sincere and uneasy look on his face: "Your Majesty, I was collecting articles from the "Yongle Dadian" at the National History Museum.
At that time, I accidentally destroyed several volumes of books. I asked you to fine yourself five thousand taels of silver and put it into the inner treasury as a warning to yourself!"
Qianlong was startled and waved his hand: "That's right. Don't be so careless again in the future."
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness!"
Ji Yun quickly kowtowed and thanked him.
Song Gui, the cabinet bachelor next to him, was stunned by this. He had no time to think and had to kowtow: "Your Majesty, please fine me some silver!"
Qianlong was surprised: "Songgui, what mistake did you make?"
Song Gui looked uneasy and said that when he was watching Emperor Zhu's memorial at home yesterday, he accidentally dropped incense ashes on Zhu's memorial.
"Every time I think about this matter, I feel that it is a great disrespect to the emperor. I did not dare to tell the emperor before that since today I have received a penalty of 30,000 taels of silver, I have asked for a fine of 30,000 taels of silver. I will strictly discipline myself and serve the imperial court at the same time."
Qianlong was stunned for a long time, but then asked Songgui: "Do you have thirty thousand taels in your family?"
"minister"
Song Gui thought that he had overpaid, but he had already revealed the figures, so he had to bite the bullet and said: "Even if I sell my house and land, I still have to pay this 30,000 taels!"
"It doesn't have to be like this. It was an unintentional mistake on your part. I will fine you ten thousand taels of silver. How can I let you sell your house and land?"
After saying that, Qianlong looked at Heshen and said, "I'll leave this matter to you."
"嗻!"
He Shen responded, but his family had no money, and even the small amount of salary was not enough to cover expenses.
Two days ago, a junior official from the Ministry of Finance tried to give him a gift, but he scolded him like crazy.
In Daping Daying, Sichuan Admiral Jia Jia'e's consort is studying the quality of shrouds.
The shrouds were sent by Yang Yuchun's father Yang Tingdong and several brothers from his family. There were ten carriages and more than 4,000 pieces in total.
I can’t say much about the quality of the product, it looks a lot like the so-called Tang suit.
"Not bad."
The admiral looked at a few pieces and expressed his satisfaction. He asked Yang Tingdong how much the unit price of these shrouds, hats and shoes was.
Yang Tingdong hurriedly quoted the price, saying that a set only cost one or two taels of silver.
"One or two cents?"
The Admiral's smile suddenly faltered.
Yang Tingdong was startled by this, and he quickly said that if the admiral found it too expensive, he could lower it by more than ten cents.
They also operate on a small scale and mobilize a lot of manual labor for quick production, so they really don’t make much profit.
“Cheap but no good product!”
The Admiral's smile faded, he waved his hand and said with great dissatisfaction: "These shrouds are for the fallen soldiers. They are their last dignity. This matter is not only a major matter for the Admiral, but also for the imperial court. How can we do it cheaply?"
Charge it with goods! I think it’s at least five taels of silver per set.”
After saying that, he looked at the governor and asked, "Isn't it too much to report a set of fifty taels to the Ministry of Household Affairs?"
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
This chapter is based on the deeds of real officials and has been slightly artistically processed.