Although Huang Qiong, the emperor, suffered a lot in his childhood, he still grew up deep in the palace. After leaving the palace and becoming a vassal, first there were internal and external stewards in the palace, including the former Princess Shou, who is now the housekeeper of Queen Daxing. As the prince who is the head of the family, he does not need to ask about the annual expenses. Those are not needed at all.
Even though he was the longevity king back then, his life was very miserable. Even for a prince, his life was still somewhat difficult due to the allocated land and money. He could be considered the poorest among Sejong's disciples. In addition, under the pressure of Emperor Liezong, he has always lived a cautious life. Whether in the palace of Prince Shou in the capital or in the fiefdom, he never leaves the palace easily.
Although he is not the kind of person who doesn't eat meat, he simply doesn't understand the fireworks of the world. Although he is not completely ignorant of the sufferings of the people. But if you need him as a prince, you have to ask him every day how much the vegetables purchased by the palace cost, how much each kind of vegetables costs per pound, how much eggs cost per pound, and how much meat costs per pound.
In the palace, how much food is needed to feed a family every day, how much vegetables and meat is needed, how much charcoal is needed for a fire every day in winter, and other such things. No matter how idle he is, no matter how little the palace's income is, he will never lose face and do something that only a princess should do. If you haven't managed a house before, I'm afraid you don't know what's fishy in some aspects.
Moreover, when the emperor approved money, he always looked at the following details and followed the practice since the founding of the dynasty. How much money and food is spent on river work every year, how much money and food is used on military affairs, and how much money and food is used on official salaries? These are all subject to rules and regulations. As the current emperor, it was impossible for him to ask where every money went and whether it was reasonable. Being diligent does not mean knowing how to manage money.
But let’s ask about the detailed use of each money. How much of those who were asked to take away large sums of money and food were used where they should be? When spending money, those yamen falsely reported how much extravagant expenses they had. Among the requirements in the memorial, I did not check how much water there was, although this can barely be regarded as grasping the big and letting go of the small. If you have sufficient income, it would naturally be okay to do this.
After all, as a superior, you must also consider the following difficulties. It has become a routine practice to peel off the money and food allocated from above. As the emperor, you, as the emperor, have to consider how much money and food will be allocated to you in the end. But now that the income is so difficult, it would be a bit awkward to still do this. Even if all the water is not squeezed out, at least half should be squeezed out.
How did you save all this money and food? Isn't it just by squeezing out those over-exaggerated moisture? In order to take care of the officials below, when I allocate money and food under the approval package, I usually squeeze out half of the water. In just half a year, so much money and food was saved. It shows how serious the problem is in the allocation of money and food every year.
More importantly, since the Mingshu Science and Technology Department had to be suspended because there were too few candidates, or even none for many years, the imperial court has lacked officials who are good at financial management. The ministers and ministers of the Ministry of Revenue, and even the heads of various departments below, are not all good at financial management, but they are very few. The officials in the Ministry of Revenue were thinking more about how much more kickbacks they could get.
Instead of sorting out the accounts clearly, should the money and grain be approved every time? Moreover, at this time, the Ministry of Accounts was performing some of the functions of the Ministry of Finance. But no matter the officials at all levels, the rules and regulations, and the management model, they are simply incomparable to Huang Qiong's previous life as the Ministry of Finance. After Huang Qiong took over the errands of the Department of Accounts, he put a lot of effort into sorting out the bad debts of the Department of Accounts.
This is just the bad debts accumulated in the past ten years. As for the previous bad debts, there were too many to be sorted out. What makes Huang Qiong even more dumbfounded is that the period when the Ministry of Household Accounts had the clearest accounts since the Sejong Dynasty, and only had a certain balance, was when his grandfather was in charge of the government. After I, the emperor, took over the power, the accounts of the Ministry of Revenue were almost in a mess.
It can be seen that I, the emperor, do lack the ability to manage money. The key lies in employing people. Perhaps Huang Qiong’s grandfather experienced those precarious days. When employing people, this emperor valued loyalty more than whether the person's ability matched him. At the same time, he also takes too much power and does not know how to put more suitable people in positions that suit him.
Several ministers of the Ministry of Household Affairs were unable to adapt to this position. Some can't even read the ledgers. How can such a minister of household affairs be more calculating than those officials? If you are not deceived, it would be strange to allocate money randomly. For example, in terms of ability alone, Fang Ming was originally the most suitable candidate for the position of Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. But the Henan pacification envoy was vacant, so Fang Ming was transferred to the Henan Road pacification envoy.
The position of Henan Road Soothing Envoy was not suitable for Fang Ming. As a result, this year, the Minister of the Ministry of Finance is still an incompetent person, sitting there and eating nothing. But when Fang Ming sat down as the Henan pacifier that year, it was almost like sitting on the crater all day long, and what he did was physically and mentally exhausted. Being implicated in King Jing's rebellion and being dismissed from office and imprisoned was actually a relief for him.
When he arrested the Henan Road official that day, the look of relief on Fang Ming's face was not at all fake, but he truly felt relieved. How can the emperor's decree be implemented? Isn't it the officials of these three provinces and six ministries, as well as the officials of all state governments in the world? How can we do good things when many yamen are like dogs but not wolves, and officials are left without food?
I have to be arbitrary in everything big and small, and I am exhausted every day. Although it cannot be said that the state affairs and government affairs are in a complete mess, there are still many shortcomings. The national strength and national strength were also declining, and the court's income became increasingly difficult. Although the old man now seems to have a tough stance on the rebellion in Ningxia Mansion. The so-called abandonment decision before was nothing more than an illusion.
But there was an embarrassed look on his face because of the money and food issue, and he was even a little timid in making decisions, but Huang Qiong knew it was not a lie. No wonder my mother rarely comments on me, the emperor, in front of me. For me, the emperor, except for the emperor's mental skills, the rest of the aspects, especially the aspect of being a king, are just an evaluation of his talents.
Mother almost never commented on the emperor in front of Huang Qiong. Even in these more than ten years, she only talked to Huang Qiong about the emperor twice. Therefore, Huang Qiong has always remembered her mother's evaluation deeply. It turned out that Huang Qiong did not have a deep understanding of this point before he was given the responsibility of supporting the administration of the government by the emperor. I just feel that the old man is a little spoiled by his son and the clan in this world.
But after the old man took full control of other ordinary government affairs except military power. Faced with the various shortcomings that had accumulated since his own dynasty, and although the old man had been in power for more than 20 years, he had never improved, Huang Qiong felt that his mother's evaluation was indeed quite pertinent. Even when sorting out the mountain of bad debts in the household department, Huang Qiong still felt that her mother had rated her highly.
Since taking charge of state affairs, the old man has remained indifferent to various shortcomings that have accumulated more and more. Especially after watching the old man ask him to read the various memorials he had reviewed during the more than 20 years he had been in power in order for him to learn government affairs. Huang Qiong felt that during the past twenty years that the old man had been in power, apart from further tightening various rights, the rest was nothing but Xiao Gui Cao Sui.
Even in the memorials in the first few years when the old man took power, Huang Qiong saw the swords and swords between the old man and his ministers, mainly the old troops left behind by his grandfather. I saw how difficult it was for the old man to recover his rights and the huge obstacles he encountered. I also saw the old man making the same difficult choice in order to protect his mother and son and balance the interests of the clan.
Although the reason why the old man was currently indulging in the clan and missing the best opportunity to rectify the clan was to protect his mother and himself who was still a fetus at the time, Huang Qiong was somewhat surprised, and even quite surprised. But if Huang Qiong is asked to evaluate the old man's more than 20 years in power, Huang Qiong will still give these four words of evaluation. No matter how much, I'm afraid it will only be the same as my mother.
Naturally, Huang Qiong would not say these thoughts in front of the old man. He was not itchy. If you tell your own father that your level of governance is really not good, at most you are just a middle-aged man. Now that the government is in this state, you are the culprit. It would be strange if the old man didn't get angry half to death and beat himself up severely.
After nearly two years of contact outside the palace, Huang Qiong had already quite understood the character of his emperor. I don't even have a general understanding of some aspects of my emperor, his typical character of being obsessed with saving face and suffering. So although Huang Qiong was a little distracted, she still chose to remain silent on this matter. When it comes to the old man's past governance, talking more will lead to more disputes.
When the emperor looked at Huang Qiong, he was not only more meaningful but also thoughtful. This son is capable, and not ordinary capable. Whether it is in employing people or handling government affairs, he has his own unique point of view, and he is clear about this. Otherwise, this ninth son would not have been finally selected as the heir under heavy pressure.
But he didn't expect that his son would be so capable. Under the pressure of such heavy government affairs, he was able to handle it with ease, and was able to take some time off from his busy schedule to flirt with women. He easily accomplished what he had not been able to do in the more than 20 years since he took the throne. If it were him, he would be so busy that he wouldn't even have time to enter the harem.
Thinking back to these years, in order to deal with government affairs and review memorials, I got up earlier than a chicken and went to bed later than a dog every day. I almost never slept well. Every day, I am overwhelmed by the busy government affairs, but the national strength is still declining, and the income is becoming increasingly difficult, and it is getting worse every year. I also know that there are many evils in the DPRK, which have reached the point where they cannot be cured unless they are rectified.
But when it comes to rectification, I still have a lot of worries, and I don't dare to raise the knife in my hand to rectify the government affairs. Thinking of this, the emperor couldn't help but sigh in his heart, feeling that he was really old. I don’t know when I started to feel timid about doing things. I spend my whole day saying that governing a big country is like cooking small dishes. Although this is true, it is also an excuse I make for myself.
If he gives his son two more years of experience, or even less than two years, he should be able to hand over the baton with confidence. At this time, the emperor looked at Huang Qiong with mixed feelings in his heart. Although he was happy that he had chosen the right successor, he also felt somewhat sad and even jealous. Because he knew very well that Huang Qiong was not using all his strength now, at most he was using half of his strength.
And this son, using only half of his ability, smoothed out the tedious government affairs in an orderly manner, and dealt with all aspects of government affairs. Although he was a little immature at the beginning, as time goes by, he is becoming more and more mature now. In just half a year, he accomplished what he had not accomplished in more than twenty years. How to prevent him, as an old man, from feeling both excited and a little jealous?
