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At the same time, driving the two ministers of household affairs home, I am afraid only Zhao Junchen can do this kind of thing, it is really a big deal.
Whether it was courage and decisiveness or wantonness, in short, Li Chengru was completely suppressed.
However, the subsequent development of the matter was even more unexpected than Li Chengru!
After Hong Zhengshuo and Ma Sen left the Hubu Yamen in despair, Zhao Junchen once again denounced the incompetence of the Hubu officials during this period, saying that all the chaos in the Hubu Yamen during this period was due to Because the officials of the Ministry of Revenue are inactive and overstaffed, they must be vigorously rectified, otherwise sooner or later there will be trouble in the Ministry of Revenue!
As a result, Zhao Junchen began a large-scale investigation into the work performance of officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs. All officials were required to report to Zhao Junchen in detail the content and progress of their work during this period. He also encouraged officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs to actively report the illegal behavior of their colleagues. chronological matters.
For a time, the entire Hubu Yamen was in a state of panic and panic.
In the end, a total of seven Household Department officials made mistakes in their work, six more Household Department officials were exposed for corruption, and 11 more Household Department officials were dismissed due to incompetence, cheating, and no achievements. But he was severely reprimanded by Zhao Junchen.
Therefore, not long after Hong Zhengshuo and Ma Sen left the Hubu Yamen, another twenty-four Hubu officials were temporarily dismissed from their posts by Zhao Junchen.
And these dismissed Hubu officials were all "dissidents" who had recently joined the Hubu Yamen. They were all the thorns and spies planted by various factions in the imperial court and entered the Hubu Yamen while Zhao Junchen was away from the capital.
In just over an hour, Zhao Junchen had removed all the nails and eyeliner!
As for those officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs who came from the "Zhao Party", not only were they not reprimanded or dismissed, they were also highly praised by Zhao Junchen for their "well-behaved" and "smart and capable" behavior.
Then, Zhao Junchen made a decision with a wave of his hand, citing the lack of manpower in the Ministry of Household Affairs, to recruit back all the "Zhao Party" officials who had been forced to leave the Ministry of Household Affairs due to suppression by various factions some time ago!
In this way, all the officials of the Ministry of Household Affairs were replaced by Zhao Junchen's close followers, and the Yamen of the Ministry of Household Affairs once again became a private kingdom dominated by Zhao Junchen!
Seeing these methods of Zhao Junchen, Li Chengru couldn't help but be stunned!
How blatant is this to exclude dissidents and fight for the same party? What kind of overwhelming and wanton behavior is this? Not only is there no cover-up or euphemism, but even the most basic decency and rules are ignored!
Li Chengru was used to seeing partisan conquests and struggles for power, but this was the first time he had seen such violent methods without taboos.
At this moment, Li Chengru finally understood one thing - why he was completely ignored by Zhao Junchen, who was still the Minister of Household Affairs - because there was an essential difference in their courage and determination. It’s not an exaggeration to say otherwise.
Normally, Zhao Junchen always greets people with a smile and can put down his posture, but if he encounters a situation where he must break his face, Zhao Junchen will not hesitate, and his methods will be more ruthless and decisive than anyone else!
Involuntarily, Li Chengru's awe for Zhao Junchen deepened.
*
After Zhao Junchen's rectification operation came to an end, Li Chengru, who had been silently watching, hesitated for a moment, but took the initiative to approach Zhao Junchen and reminded him kindly: "Zhao Gechen, these household officials you punished all have their own characteristics. His backers, such as Shen Shoufu, Zhou Ge Lao, etc., cannot be underestimated. There are even several officials whose backers are the current emperor... If you drive them away without leaving any room, aren't you afraid that their backers will be in the future? Will I take revenge on you?"
After Zhao Junchen turned to look at Li Chengru, his expression became gentle and close again, and he slowly replied: "Li Shangshu is worrying too much! After all the troubles during this period, His Majesty and the various factions have reached a consensus, and soon I understand that the finances of the imperial court are still inseparable from me, so Your Majesty deliberately asked me for the candidate of the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Therefore, when I recommended you to be the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, all the factions had no objection, because they had already acquiesced. The Hubu Yamen has been returned to me!
For the imperial court, the most important thing now is to get the Hubu Yamen back on track... But what is on track? Isn’t it just to restore the Hubu Yamen to its previous situation? Naturally, these new faces must be driven away, and familiar faces must be found! Therefore, the rectification I am making today is exactly what I said in the title. Your Majesty and several cabinet ministers have already anticipated this situation and will acquiesce to my drastic measures! "
Hearing Zhao Junchen's explanation, Li Chengru was stunned for a moment, but he was completely unable to refute.
At the same time, Li Chengru discovered to his dismay that there was also a huge gap between his political vision and situation judgment and that of Zhao Junchen.
However, Li Chengru did not notice that Zhao Junchen's name for him had quietly changed!
Not long ago, Zhao Junchen still called him "old boss" with full respect, but now he has become "Li Shangshu", and there is already a subtle distinction between superiority and inferiority.
But after Li Chengru was shocked by Zhao Junchen's various methods, he didn't feel there was anything wrong with this change at all!
In fact, there is a hidden reason for Zhao Junchen's rectification, and that is to kill the chicken to scare the monkey!
And Li Chengru is one of the monkeys that Zhao Junchen needs to warn!
This plan is also very effective.
Li Chengru was in a complicated mood and felt that something was wrong. After pondering for a moment, he finally came to his senses and reminded Zhao Junchen again: "Zhao Gechen, His Majesty asked you to sit in the Ministry of Household Affairs mainly to solve the water transportation issue. You are also in charge of Baidu. You boasted in front of the officials that the first batch of water transport will arrive in the capital within a month, but now you are focusing on rectifying the household department, I'm afraid it will delay the official business!"
This time, after hearing Li Chengru's reminder, Zhao Junchen looked as if he had suddenly recalled something trivial.
Then, Zhao Junchen turned around and waved, and saw an official from the Ministry of Household Affairs quickly walked up to Zhao Junchen and asked, "Does Zhao Gechen have something to say?"
Zhao Junchen nodded and ordered: "Immediately go to the two yamen of the Ministry of Industry and Water Transport to convey my message to them and tell them not to be too greedy. The amount of river engineering money to dredge water transport this year is still only five dollars as usual. One hundred thousand taels, one tael of silver is not much! If they are not satisfied, the Ministry of Household Affairs will abandon them and directly distribute the money to the local governments along the canal, allowing local governments to be directly responsible for river construction matters. This matter There is no need for them to handle it!
In addition, in the early days of dredging water transportation, the first tranche of river work silver required is about 80,000 taels, which the Ministry of Revenue can barely scrape together. If the two yamen of the Ministry of Works and Water Transport agree to my proposal, you can arrange it. , immediately handed over the money to them, asked them to dredge the river as soon as possible, and told them that the money needed for the follow-up would be made up soon! "
After the Ministry of Household official took the order and left, Zhao Junchen smiled and explained to Li Chengru again: "The two major yamen, the Ministry of Industry and Water Transport, have always been very greedy. This time the lion asked the Ministry of Household for 800,000 taels. I just want to deceive students and take advantage of the opportunity to make a fortune, but now that I am in charge of the household department, they naturally don’t dare to ask for high prices! I gave them five hundred thousand taels of silver, which was specifically for They have left enough oil and water! So, they will soon agree to my proposal."
Seeing Zhao Junchen's attitude, Li Chengru was amazed in his heart, but he still said worriedly: "Although the first sum of river work silver in the early stage has been solved, there will still be a gap of more than 400,000 taels of silver in the future. I'm afraid it will be It’s hard to make up for it! The imperial court currently has too many expenditures, and none of them can be cut or reduced, but where can we find the money to make up for the gap? Moreover, after dredging the river, we still have to spend money A sum of money was given to encourage the canal workers, but the money was also unavailable!"
Li Chengru had been away from the Hubu Yamen for too long, but he was somewhat inexperienced in this aspect.
Four to five million taels of silver sounds like a lot, but to Zhao Junchen, it is just a small number.
You know, Zhao Junchen went to Shaanxi and Gansu to preside over military affairs a few days ago and made more than four million taels of silver in one go! As long as Zhao Junchen is willing, he can even lend a sum of money to the Ministry of Revenue to make up for the gap.
However, as the saying goes, "wealth should not be revealed", Zhao Junchen would not use his own money unless it was absolutely necessary.
In fact, in recent years, the court's real concern lies in food, not money!
Due to the continuous discovery and mining of gold and silver minerals in various places, as well as the long-term import from outside China, the gold and silver savings of all walks of life in the government and the public have far exceeded those of the previous dynasty. Silver has also depreciated rapidly, and its purchasing power has become increasingly low. This is just because of the savings of the Han people. I am so used to it that this situation did not become too shocking.
Therefore, as long as you have enough means, it is not difficult to raise four to five million taels of silver. It is also easy for officials to make money. Corruption and bribery are just low-level methods.
Out of various considerations, Zhao Junchen planned to use a more controversial method to solve the gap in this money.
Thinking of this, Zhao Junchen said slowly: "Speaking of which, I should also look for an opportunity to visit Mr. Zhou Ge! Since it involves the Caoyun Yamen, this matter cannot avoid him no matter what."
Li Chengru understood Zhao Junchen's statement.
The water in Caoyun Yamen has always been very deep, and it is extremely difficult for outsiders to intervene.
But Zhou Shangjing is different. The Water Transport Yamen is his sphere of influence. The current Governor of Water Transport, Zhang Keshuang, is also a grandson of Zhou Shangjing!
Therefore, if Zhao Junchen wants to solve the water transportation problem within a month, raising enough river engineering money is just the beginning, and the contribution of the Ministry of Industry is only one part of it, but if all subsequent things want to go smoothly, they must To obtain Zhou Shangjing's support.
Moreover, taking this opportunity, Zhao Junchen also wanted to find out Zhou Shangjing's true thoughts!
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Chongzi’s university major is economics, and the university group is full of discussions on related aspects. Last night, the U.S. stock market crashed, and the professor and classmates were all excited. They discussed it all night. It was already dawn when I came to my senses, so I was very sleepy today. It’s a small chapter, please forgive me!
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