The nobles and generals were very puzzled by the actions of these people, but they did not feel pity.
The prince's plan can not only provide military pay, but also provide relief to the people, and it doesn't cost his own money, so why not do it?
If you don't have a good plan, but deliberately obstruct it, you are causing harm to the court, and you must get rid of it quickly!
The feudal lords of Dongchang still adhered to the principle of easy-to-find searches, and they lived up to the prince's ardent expectations and came back carrying six boxes.
The first box was filled with scattered pieces of silver, which meant they were in varying amounts. The smallest piece contained as much as ten taels.
After all, Wu Changshi couldn't really pick only one or two taels when he was searching for them and when his subordinates presented them as offerings. In that case, he would be no different from someone kneeling on the street begging for food.
The things that the four strong men carried in, this box contained at least a thousand taels, and it was not just this one box, the three boxes opened in a row were all filled with white money.
The fourth box contained calligraphy and paintings, and the fifth and sixth boxes contained antiques. However, according to reports, the Wu Mansion still had a lot of valuable jewelry that was still being counted and was not shipped immediately.
As soon as the resting courtiers saw so many boxes, they guessed the possible outcome. It was no different from Chen Biqian and Li Juesi. The world was really declining, and the court meeting resumed immediately.
Yaoji sighed with emotion, then looked at everyone jokingly and said: "My dear friends, since when did corrupt officials in our country dare to blatantly play 'thief shouts and chases the thief'? A fifth-grade official is still a fool." After a few years of serving as a fifth-rank official, he has accumulated so much wealth. No wonder the people are poor and hungry. If such an official lives for one more day, many more people will die! According to the calculation of a fifth-rank official's wealth of ten thousand taels, one hundred five-rank officials Pinguan is one million taels. Isn’t the court short of money? Then grab a few more! I’m still surprised that Ming Dynasty is so embarrassed. Where did all this money go? It turned out that it was all in the officials’ mansions. !Have you all seen it? This is the person recommended by Shang Zhouzuo, the censor of Youdu. I said that he was negligent, or are you deliberately trying to embarrass him? Dear friends, there is no need to be polite. Go up and taste Wu Changshi's belongings. Take a look at this Can the collection of Liao be compared with that of Li Juesi?"
Except for Lin Yuji, who was not yet awake, the other seven people were exposed outside the main hall. When they saw the Dongchang clan returning in triumph, their hearts suddenly dropped.
This Wu Changshi really failed in his successes and failed in many things. He dared to challenge the chief minister before he wiped his butt clean. As a result, his house was ransacked without even touching the sleeves of the chief minister, and so much wealth was confiscated. Now I think There is no way to deny it.
"The Chief Assistant will draw up a list of candidates for the vacant position and will nominate them at the meeting tomorrow. There is another important thing today, which is to review Yang Shicong's invitation to this palace, as well as the Chief Assistant Xue Guoguan, the Minister of Punishment Zhen Shu, and the Zuodu Censor Zhong Qian At the banquet, all the students from the Imperial College will accompany you! Therefore, today’s court meeting can end here. The other beloved ministers will go back to their respective yamen to handle government affairs. We will continue tomorrow! From now on, unless there is a huge difference in official position, courtiers can call each other 'sir'. When the subordinates see each other, Superiors can also be called 'Master', such as Mr. Zhang, Mr. Li, Mr. Liu, etc.!"
The nicknames of officials in the Ming Dynasty were extremely complicated, and officials could not call each other wrong. For example, the Minister of Hubu was called "Da Situ", the Yushi of Zuodu was also called "Zongxian", the Minister of Libu was called "Zhongzai", and the Chief Soldier was called "Zongzai". "Zhentai", the governor has more titles, such as "Zhongcheng", "Fuxian", "Ministry"...
For Yaoji, these nicknames are simply unintelligible, and he doesn't quite match them, so he must sort them out.
If ordinary people can't figure out the other person's exact nickname, they should always call him "Master X".
Since these people are all older than me, we can all be called "adults" for the time being.
As for Yang Shicong's treat, this guy has been clamoring to the imperial city for so long, how can he spill some blood inappropriately?
Do you think that because your surname is Yang, you can get closer to the disorderly Yang Shen?
Soon you will know that I am not Jiajing, and you are not Yang Shen!
When they heard that Yang Jiefei actually wanted to entertain the prince, chief assistant and others, the officials forgot about the prince's change of title.
Because didn't Yang Shicong lead a group of Imperial College supervisors to kneel and petition outside the palace? Why did it suddenly change to a banquet?
When the prince advocated that court officials should eat with integrity, Yang Shicong actually held a banquet with great fanfare. There must be something fishy in it and we must investigate it.
Could it be that the prince's words were just one-sided and Yang Jiexuan did not reveal this intention? Because he was unable to attend the meeting, he was completely unaware of what happened today?
All kinds of speculations are lingering in the minds of the ministers, but it is difficult to explore the mystery without taking a look at the scene.
"If you, my dear friends, are interested, you can go together after handling political affairs in your respective yamen. I believe that Yang Jiefang will not be short of a pair of chopsticks! When entering the court, let the dung merchants wait for a while. I will meet them when I return!"
Of course, going to a meal is more important than meeting the "shit bosses", and taking so many people to the Yang Mansion would be an extremely lively scene, guaranteed to be something Yang Shicong will never forget.
At this time, Yang Shicong and Wu Weiye had been waiting here for the prince's arrival for almost four hours, that is, they had been kneeling for about eight hours, without even a drop of water entering.
There are Jin Yiwei guards nearby. Even if someone wants to leave midway, it is impossible. You have to endure it if you are anxious. If you can't help it, just solve it on the spot...
The afternoon sun was even hotter and scorched everyone. If the supervisors were not all young and strong, if they had been the senior officials at this time, they would have almost passed out due to exhaustion.
"My ministers Yang Shicong and Wu Weiye, together with the Imperial College students, respectfully welcome His Royal Highness, and wish His Highness a thousand years, a thousand years, a thousand years!"
The prince did not break his promise, and he finally arrived after waiting for a long time. He also brought so many ministers who had resigned from the court. If some colleagues responded to his call, the matter would be settled. The wall fell and everyone pushed, not afraid that the prince would not agree.
However, the formation when the prince came out of the palace was indeed a bit terrifying. There were dozens of servants, hundreds of officials, and hundreds of surrounding guards. The golden robes were eye-catching, the curtains were gorgeous, the ceremonial guards were majestic, and the ostentation was huge. Looking from a distance, it was really extraordinary. Extraordinary!
In the early Ming Dynasty, only civil servants of the third rank or above could ride in sedans, while those below the fourth rank could only ride horses. Later, the standards were relaxed. However, all officials could only ride in sedans carried by four people. Those who exceeded the prescribed number would be punished.
Elderly officials can be given sedan chairs by the emperor, but if they have the conditions to ride in a sedan chair and they can afford to keep one, there are two different things. Hiring four sedan bearers costs at least four or five taels of silver per month, which is obviously more expensive than raising a horse.
Therefore, whether an official is amassing money can give some clues based on whether he travels in a sedan or on a horse.
The monthly salary of officials below the fifth rank is only twenty or thirty taels of silver. If they only receive the salary from the court, sometimes it cannot be fully discounted. Even clothing and food for their own family is a problem. Who would spend four to five taels of silver to raise four people? Bearer?
Yaoji got off the golden chariot (a carriage specially designed for the prince), and with the support of the chamberlains, he walked up to the master and asked: "I heard that you are here to petition for Chen Biqian? I hope that I will send him a petition." Release, is this a problem?"
Today's meeting is the last time this teacher-student pair meets. If he hadn't wanted to see how much money was hidden in Yang Shicong's house, Yaoji wouldn't have come to see this guy. "Loyalty and courage" is really a blame-shifter. a shame.
Yang Shicong immediately kowtowed to the prince, then straightened his upper body and explained his purpose: "Your Highness is wise, Chen Shilang is well-educated in poetry and calligraphy, diligent in government affairs, ambitious, and generous to others. I sincerely ask your highness to remember Chen Shilang's past service to the imperial court. Share, pardon Chen Biqian!"
Since Chen Biqian's home had been ransacked and it was said that a large amount of property had been seized, Yang Shicong also realized that if he wanted to impress the prince, he would not be able to mention his family property, so he deliberately avoided sensitive words such as "being an official with integrity" and "self-denial and serving the public". , specifically mentioning Chen Biqian's merits, hoping that he could get away with it for the sake of his reputation as the prince's teacher in the East Palace.
"Haha, these are minor issues mentioned by Yang Jiefang. Chen Biqian's main issue is corruption and perversion of the law. Now that everyone has obtained the stolen goods, there is no denying it. Let's wait until tomorrow when the Metropolitan Procuratorate verifies that everything is correct, and then we can show it to the public! If you don't believe it, Come and take a look at Chen Biqian’s collection!”
Yaoji waved his hand, and Yang Jinchao immediately asked his men to bring over a box of paintings and calligraphy that Chen Biqian had accumulated over the years, several of which had been shamelessly signed and stamped by someone.
When Yang Jinchao saw a group of people gathered around him, he hurriedly shouted to the onlookers: "The Holy Master is here, don't make any noise or hinder the Holy Cong! This is a stolen thing, watch it carefully and don't damage it!"
In addition to Yang Shicong and Wu Weiye, there were also many supervisors who didn't know the reason. Under the instigation of the two leaders, they were very angry at the prince's punishment of Chen Biqian, so they must ask for an explanation today.
In order to let everyone find the root cause, Yaoji specially reminded: "The key point is not this painting, but the signature in the lower left corner! This painting could equal Chen Biqian's salary for two years at the time. I don't know how Chen Shilang could afford such a It’s a valuable painting!”
I want to see how you wash this guy's floor. If you can't clean it, I will give you a bad review!
A confused and stupid supervisor seemed to be eager to help Chen Biqian clarify these stolen goods, and suddenly said indiscriminately: "If you didn't buy it, or if it was a gift from someone else, you don't necessarily buy this painting!"
Yang Shicong's expression froze instantly. He didn't dare to say such a bad excuse. What's more, the prince was not alone at this time, and there were important officials of the court beside him. Without a reasonable explanation, he was determined not to speak.
"Is that considered accepting bribes? According to the regulations of the imperial court, officials who accept bribes exceeding sixty taels will be beheaded!"
Yaoji inserted a tag according to the situation, and now you can walk in a narrower path.
"..."
The supervisor immediately scratched his head and fell into deep thought. He did not expect the prince to react so quickly.
The classmate next to him came to his rescue and said: "Chen Shilang may not know the value of this painting!"
This argument was immediately recognized by the surrounding supervisors, because they could not think of a better excuse.
