The same problem also appeared in the Qianqing Palace. Zhu Qiyu sat on the throne, and Huaien stood at the bottom, recounting his actions in the Tenth Prince's Mansion in detail.
"...It is said that after the servant left, the acting prince went to Prince Min's Mansion. As for what they talked about, I don't know..." Seeing Huaien's respectful look, Zhu Qiyu smiled and asked.
"Are you wondering why I asked you to deliver the message but didn't let you say it was my intention?"
"I dare not speculate on the holy will!" Wynn lowered his head and said. However, Zhu Qiyu didn't care and said.
"If I really want to intervene in this matter, it's not impossible to do it. However, I can't do everything. They say that the Ming clan is domineering, so this time, I might as well be domineering just once..." said Then, without waiting for Wynn's reaction, he continued to ask.
"Is Mr. Jian Zhai here?" Wynn was standing at the bottom, thinking about the meaning of this sentence, when he suddenly heard the question and answered immediately.
"Go back to your Majesty, I've already sent someone to summon you. I'm afraid it's a temporary summons, so it will take some time. I'll go and urge you again..." So, Zhu Qiyu nodded, and Huaien withdrew.
.........A few more days passed. On this day, it was morning and the sun had already risen high. Shangshu Shen first went back to his house for breakfast, and then walked as usual to the Hubu Yamen. However, what he didn't expect was that the Hubu Yamen, which should have been handling official business in an orderly manner, seemed a bit chaotic at the moment. noisy.
From a distance, Shen Shangshu saw a circle of officials surrounding the Hubu Yamen, looking inside. Most of them were officials from the Hubu Yamen, and many others were obviously watching. It was lively, but everyone was blocked outside, and no one went in. Moreover, everyone was gathered together, making it very noisy. I don’t know what they were talking about.
This situation in the dignified Hubu Yamen made Chen Yi frown.
"What happened? What are you doing here?" Taking two steps forward and reaching the outskirts of the crowd, Shen Shangshu's face darkened and he asked the officials who had surrounded the Hubu Yamen.
So, everyone turned around, bowed their hands and said.
"I've met Lord Shangshu." At the same time, the crowd consciously made a way. Meng Jian, the minister of household affairs who had always been slow and leisurely because of his age, walked out quickly and saw Shen Yi's figure. , as if seeing a savior, he hurriedly bowed his hands, then took two steps forward and said.
"Master Shangshu, you are here. Look..." As he spoke, Meng Jian pointed at the Hubu lobby inside through the crowd. Shen Yi followed the direction he pointed and looked over, only to see the originally spacious hall. Outside the Hubu lobby, at some point, a large couch was placed.
Sitting on the couch, a middle-aged man wearing a python-patterned king's robe was leaning on the couch, with several maids waiting beside him. The fruit plate and teapot were all in place. At this moment, Liu, another servant of the household department, Nakafu was standing aside, wondering what he was persuading.
Acting king? Chen Yi frowned and said something bad in his heart. However, seeing this scene, he finally understood why everyone was blocked outside the door.
Because, in addition to the large couch, around the king, in addition to the maids waiting on him, there were also attendants and guards holding red embroidered umbrellas and holding various ceremonial guards. These people were standing Behind King Dai, the entire lobby was blocked, and the roads in and out were also blocked.
"What's going on?" You know, the six government offices are not far from each other. When he just came over, he had already noticed that people from the government offices next door were looking at him.
At that time, he didn't know what was going on. Now that he saw this situation and felt the eyes from all directions, Shen Shangshu just felt that he didn't know how many people were watching Hu Bu's joke. He turned to Meng Jian with a calm face and asked .
Meng Jian couldn't help but shrink back when he heard the anger of his Lord Shangshu and said.
"Sir, I just arrived not long ago. According to the officials who came earlier, this prince led his people to block the door of the household early in the morning. He also said that he was here... to... …”
"What are you doing here?" Seeing that there were many more shadowy figures behind each yamen, Shen Yi became more and more embarrassed. Listening to Meng Jian's hesitant tone, he felt irritated and scolded.
"Whatever you do, you can't just be stuck here like this. You didn't see what it's like with so many people surrounding it!" Hearing this, Meng Jian also had a wry smile on his face.
He had just returned from the morning court and went to the Yamen after dinner, when he saw this scene. In terms of time, he didn't come much earlier, but there was nothing he could do. The official level was overwhelming and the minister was angry, so he could only bear it.
Seeing that many people began to look at this place, Meng Jian lowered his voice and said with his old face turning red for some reason.
"Sir, on behalf of the prince, he came to the Ministry of Revenue to collect debts!"? ? ? Chen Yi's eyes widened with disbelief on his face.
What the hell? Want debt? Are money grabs so blatant these days? He actually grabbed it all on the head of the dignified household department?
Even for a feudal lord, this is too much! Looking at Dai Wang leisurely leaning on the couch in the distance, Shen Yi gritted his teeth and asked.
"Is it because of the move to Zhangzhou?"
"Because the Ministry of Revenue said in the court that the treasury had no money and could not build a new palace, so you came here to 'collect debts' on behalf of the prince?" Although the words were a question, the tone was very firm.
As we all know, Dai Wang has always wanted to move to the mainland. Now, the emperor finally relaxed, but was stopped by the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works in the court. It is certain that Dai Wang is dissatisfied.
However, Shen Yi never expected that this generation of kings would be so courageous that they would dare to block the door of the household blatantly.
Still want debt? Damn it, there was no imperial edict to move the feudal vassal, and the Ministry of Revenue did not agree to allocate money to build the palace, so where did the debt come from?
After saying that, he raised his steps and wanted to go forward to argue with the king. However, before he could move, Meng Jian on the side tugged on the corner of his clothes and stopped him. He frowned and looked at Meng Jian, only to see the latter's hesitant look on his face. He lowered his voice a little and said.
"My lord has misunderstood. On behalf of the prince, I am not here to move the feudal clan."
"You have forgotten that His Majesty had a decree at the time that all those who took the initiative to report privately cultivated land and occupied military settlements, Prince Dai took the initiative to report at that time, and the names of several vassals from the Prince Dai's house and the Dai vassal line totaled more than 9,000 hectares. The land will be returned to the court."
"But the imperial court has never fulfilled its original promise. So far, the amount of silver used to redeem the land in the Prince's palace has been less than one-third..." Although these words were spoken in a low voice, there were many officials around. , not too far away, so someone still heard the specific content.
Of course, maybe he didn't hear it, but that didn't stop him from seeing the embarrassment on Shen Shangshu's face... Touching his nose, Shen Shangshu looked around, regretting that he was a little too ostentatious just now. This Meng Jian is really, I didn’t know I would have told you earlier.
As a result, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue began to think seriously about whether it would be too embarrassing to find a reason to leave at this time... Meng Jian naturally did not know that the Minister in front of him had already begun to think about leaving. , finally speaking out his words, he hurriedly asked.
"Sir, the current situation requires you to personally come forward. Otherwise, this generation of princes will always be blocked in, and the people below can't get in or get out. It's not a problem..."
"Uh, Sir Meng, I just remembered that the Ministry of War sent a message yesterday, saying that the account books at the military camp are a little unclear, and I need to go over and check them. You can take care of them here first, and I will go and deal with the Ministry of War. Then come back." After some mental struggle, Shen Shangshu finally decided to escape.
It was indeed very embarrassing for the Hubu to be blocked. However, there were many times when it was embarrassing. After the Battle of Wala, the Hubu's warehouse was completely empty, and the salary of the imperial court could not be paid out. At that time, everywhere It was someone who came to him to ask for money and food. If he hadn't been very alert and would just go to the palace to hang out, he would have been annoyed to death by the officials from various ministries who came to 'collect debts'.
This generation of princes made it clear that they were here to cause trouble. No matter what he said, Shen Yi knew very well that the root cause was still the transfer of the feudal clan.
If he gets in, he won't be able to get away. It's embarrassing to be embarrassed. He still doesn't believe that the king can come to block him every day. If that were the case, it would be easier.
No matter so much, let's get through today first... Therefore, after saying this, Shen Shangshu left Meng Jian with a stunned look on his face, raised his legs and prepared to leave.
"Where are Shen Shangshu going? Aren't you going to go to the Yamen?" However, at this moment, a voice came from in front of him.
Shen Yi looked up and found that King Dai had stood in front of him at some point. Then he looked at Liu Zhongfu, who was standing next to King Dai and was relieved to see him. Shen Shangshu still didn't understand. What kind of situation is this? He secretly cursed the two expressionless things in his heart, but he had to squeeze out a smile on his face and said.
"I've met the prince."
"This early in the morning, Your Majesty came to the Ministry of Finance. I was unable to greet you in time. Please forgive me." When things have reached this point, it is impossible to run away. After taking a look at the officials around him, Shen Yi Take a step forward and say.
"Your Majesty, you see the Ministry of Household Affairs is very busy with official business. So many officials are stuck here, which is also delaying things. How about you ask the attendants to wait outside, and I will accompany you in to talk. If you want anything, Let's discuss it easily..." Since running away is impossible, let's try to lose less people.
But it was obvious that King Dai did not intend to give him this face. Looking at the smiling face of the Minister of Hube in front of him, he said with a joking smile on his face.
"It's nothing big, just a few words. After I finish speaking, I will leave. I won't delay Shangshu Shen from handling his official duties."
"Your Highness, you..." Shen Yi looked bitter and wanted to speak, but after only speaking a few words, he was interrupted by King Dai.
"I came here today to ask Shen Shangshu, when will the money that the imperial court promised to redeem the acres of land that I returned to the imperial court on behalf of the royal family be paid?" The voice of these words was not low, so almost all the officials present were talking. Heard it clearly.
As a result, there was a low-pitched discussion below. No wonder Dai Wang was so confident and dared to block the door of the Ministry of Households in an open manner. He dared to take advantage of the situation.
Again, when the king took the initiative to declare his private land to the court, he set an example among the clans. Later, the court's smooth implementation of the government's policy of reorganizing the military settlements was partly due to this.
Especially for the other vassal kings, it would be unjustifiable if they insist on claiming that they are innocent, or if they use hundreds of acres of land to cause trouble in the lake.
From this standpoint, this matter was a favor owed by the court to the king. So now, Daiwang is here to ask for this favor!
Feeling the various looks and comments coming from around him, Shen Yi's old face turned a little red and said.
"Your Majesty, this matter is very complicated. Look, why don't we go in and explain it in detail?"
"It's nothing complicated. The imperial court has its own regulations. Everything should be done according to the regulations. Or is it that the Ministry of Revenue wants to resist the decree?" Dai Wang obviously didn't buy it. His expression was leisurely, but his tone was aggressive.
Hube currently has no money, and he knows this. Of course, the Ministry of Household Affairs says every year that it has no money. Whether or not it actually depends on the specific situation.
But at least, if you want to come up with so much redemption money at once, you will definitely not be able to come up with it. He came here this time just because he was sure. Shen Yi didn't dare to give an answer blatantly in front of so many people.
You must know that a Daiwangfu is nothing, but in addition to Daiwangfu, there are other noble families, as well as some early vassal princes and clans who took the initiative to report their land in order to avoid disaster. Together, these are a huge number.
In fact, the plan of the Ministry of Revenue, to put it bluntly, is to take the land back into the hands of the court first. As for the redemption money, the money will be owed first, and it will be paid off step by step over several years, according to the mansion, or it will be paid off step by step.
This method is actually to make sure that no one dares to fight with the Ministry of Finance in person. But now, Dai Wang comes to the door and asks for the money directly. For Shen Yi, the only one who can do it is Han Hu and others. Take this road to Ci's Lake.
Otherwise, if you give it, the rest of the mansions will also come to you in the same way, and there will be no way to explain it.
But if he refuses to give it, and this generation king has made it clear that he wants to cause trouble, and with his status, Shen Yi can't force him, he will just say that he is the generation king and come to ask for it in person. His household department will insist that he has no money or no Giving is almost the same as refusing to pay.
At that time, various mansions came to the door, asking for explanations. No matter which way they went, the Ministry of Revenue could not afford it.
Therefore, we can only try to get to Zihu. But the problem is that the current king obviously wants to make an explanation. Seeing Shen Yi's hesitation, the king took out a stack of letters from his sleeve, shook it in front of everyone, and said.
"Since you are all here, regardless of your official position, you can all bear witness to this king. I am here today not to cause trouble for the household department, nor to make unreasonable troubles. It is because the imperial court had this purpose."
"We, the vassal kings and clans, have returned the fields under their names to the imperial court according to the decree. It is only the generation of vassals. Now there are many princes and clans writing letters asking me about this matter. What's more, because of the donation of the fields We already have no food or clothing.”
"I know that this matter is complicated and involves many things, and the Ministry of Accounts needs time to sort it out. Therefore, I don't expect that Shen Shangshu will be able to take out the redeemed silver today, but there must be a day, right? A month, or still Three months, or else, next year or the year after?”
"Since we are committed to serving the imperial court according to the decree, if the Ministry of Revenue keeps dragging it on without knowing anything, it will be very chilling to the loyal ministers of the imperial court!"
