After receiving the news that Huang Qiong had returned to Chang'an, the emperor in Jingzhao forwarded most of the documents from the capital. Originally, it was only the Longyou and Shaanxi Second Roads, as well as those involving various left-behind officials in Xijing. Later, as Huang Qiong moved into Taiji Palace, this Zhezi also expanded from Longyou and Shaanxi 2nd Road to Liangchuan and Shanxi Road, Hebei Lianghuai Road and other roads.
These documents are no longer sent to Jingzhao Mansion, but directly from this jurisdiction to Chang'an Mansion. In the past few days, even the information from the six ministries of household, industry, war, and personnel, as well as the Privy Council, have been urgently sent from 800 miles away from Jingzhao. Especially the household information, almost even the invitation information was sent over. The desk of Wanchun Hall is filled with memorials almost every day.
Faced with these piles of troubles, Huang Qiong once thought that the old man was teasing him. Because Huang Qiong found the old man's personal approval on a memorial, but the approval was forwarded to the Prince of Xijing for final decision. Looking at this imperial approval, Huang Qiong almost didn't vomit blood. Since you have already read the booklet, you can just approve it and send it to me. Why do you have to pass it on to me for my decision? Are you tired of doing this?
During these days, there were a large number of 800-mile express shuttles back and forth on the official road between Jingzhao and Chang'an every day. Not to mention that the people at the post station were exhausted. They had basically become a decoration since Taizong moved the capital. They were so idle that they never had to go to work. There were only three officials left in the Xijing General Administration Department. Nowadays, I am busy all day long without moving my feet. Three people barely have time to eat every day.
Later, it was Huang Qiong who transferred several young officials from the nine temples in Xijing to help, and the situation became better. It's just that as a super cold bench among the cold benches, there are few officials among the nine temples in Xijing. Huang Qiong made such a move, and the pressure on the General Secretary was gone. But Zhengqing was the only commander left in Jiusi, and all his limited subordinates were drained.
But even though I had some objections, it was unnecessary for the old man to take off his pants. But not long after, Huang Qiong discovered that these memorials transferred from Beijing, especially those from the Ministry of Household Affairs, apart from reporting this year's autumn taxes and autumn grain storage, most of them were related to one thing, that is, reaching out to ask for money. money. It's the end of the year now, and there are so many places asking for money from all aspects.
Maybe the old man knows that he is really not good at managing money. So with one stroke of a pen, all the money-requiring coupons were transferred to Huang Qiong. In addition to the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War, there are also those involving the transfer of officials, as well as those involving the roads north of the Yangtze River. As a result, during this period of time, Huang Qiong's place had more tricks than the old man's. Helpless Huang Qiong can only be busy every day.
But the crux of the matter is that this is not a matter of discounts. There are indeed four departments in Xijing, the Privy Council, the Nine Temples, and the General Administration Department. Such yamen are also complete. But the problem is that there is no Zhongshu Province or Shangshu Province to carry out such execution. No matter whether it is the four ministries, the Privy Council, the Nine Temples, or the General Affairs Department, none of the officials are neatly organized. Some of them are short of half a kitten, and some of them only have three or two kittens.
The most critical thing is that even after these discounts were approved, no one implemented them. Among the officials in Xijing, few have real power. The real power is still in the hands of the yamen in Jingzhao. The Ministry of Industry was even reduced to the task of repairing Taizu's mausoleum and the Xijing Ancestral Temple and Palace. I had approved all the documents myself, but I couldn't find anyone to execute them in Xijing, so I had to send them back to the capital.
It doesn't matter what you do, but you must have enough manpower. What Huang Qiong was facing now was an incomplete Zhu Yousi, an insufficient number of officials, and a mountain of mistakes that could never be finished. After approving for more than an hour, Huang Qiong put down the pen in his hand and pinched the bridge of his nose a little tired. I just turned around and saw that there were still a lot of discounts, and I couldn't help but let out a long sigh.
With such a setback, Huang Qiong felt that if he continued like this, he would die from overwork one day sooner or later. Now he finally knew why ancient emperors did not live long. In addition to the overwhelming temptation of the hordes of beauties, I'm afraid the mountains of discounts are also one of the reasons. Even if there is a 30% discount in it, and it is either flattering or a bunch of nonsense, you still have to read it, right?
If you don't read a piece of information, you might get sprayed all over by those super trolls. A bunch of ignorant kings will be labeled as lazy again. Moreover, many of the yamen who were asking for money were really waiting for the money allocated by the court to run errands. So I just sigh, I still have to do the work that needs to be done, I still have to approve the discounts that need to be approved, and I still have to make the abacus.
Huang Qiong put the already cold tea cup on the imperial desk and drank it all in one breath. He picked up the cinnabar-stained brush and began to mark the folds again, continuing to be his old scalper. Those who have a penny or a penny are there to calculate. Those yamen who reach out for money should give as much water as they can squeeze out of the reported amount. Especially for water transportation and river engineering, how should the money be allocated?
First, the salaries of officials in the coming year, the salaries and wages of the four major camps, the Xijing camp, and the border troops that need to be coordinated by the imperial court, as well as the money and grain needed for the two rivers in the coming year will be left in advance. The rest are all useful, Huang Qiong is calculating them one by one. While thinking about the abacus he invented, he was calculating in his mind that the autumn tax had just been put into the treasury not long ago, and how much was left to be used.
The rights are great, but the responsibilities are also relatively great. At present, the annual income is not as good as the previous year, and all the money and food must be spent wisely. Except for the money and food that must be left in advance, there is really not much money left to use. Looking at the pile of memorials asking for money and food, Huang Qiong laughed at himself. Under the old man's arrangement, he was now almost catching up with the good boy.
Huang Qiong, who was reviewing the folders, was suddenly stunned by a folder from the Ministry of Industry. The content of this excerpt is that the Ministry of Industry asked whether the construction of the imperial tombs that was suspended last year due to severe drought in Shaanxi and Longyou would continue. If the construction is to be continued next spring, the Ministry of Industry needs to prepare materials now. The Ministry of Industry means that half of the underground palace of the Imperial Tomb has been excavated and built, and many materials have been prepared.
If we don't continue building now, there will be a huge waste. Especially those woods, which are extremely easy to rot due to long-term exposure to the sun and rain. When the time comes to replace it, additional customization and additions will be required. These nanmu are worth thousands of gold and need to be harvested in Liangchuan. Not only is it extremely time-consuming, it is also more expensive. The same is true for gold bricks, which are extremely easy to weather if left outside for a long time.
At present, only half of the underground palace has been built. Now it can only be covered with reed mats, and I am worried that the feng shui will be lost. If the court is really not lenient at the moment, even if the square city, Ming Tower, Ming'en Hall, stone statues, as well as stele pavilions, Feng Shui walls and other buildings will not be built for the time being. But it would be best to complete the construction of the underground palace, the treasure roof, and the Shinto first. Even if Queen Daxing can be laid to rest first, it will also be more conducive to maintaining Feng Shui.
Looking at this memorial, Huang Qiong did not criticize it directly. The old man could obviously handle this matter by himself, but he insisted on turning it over to him. Was he testing himself, or was he still determined to continue the construction? However, the old man, who always claimed to be frugal, really couldn't open his mouth. So why don't you just turn it over to yourself and leave it to yourself? As for losing Feng Shui, Huang Qiong still knew about it.
He also knew that people in this era were extremely superstitious about Feng Shui. And the higher the status of people, the more obsessed they are with Feng Shui. When emperors of past dynasties succeeded to the throne, the first thing they often did was to survey Feng Shui and find the location of the mausoleum. Even if it is not built first, the dragon's cave must be pointed out first. Then, the selected location of the golden well must be sealed, and strict security must be started until the construction of the mausoleum begins.
No emperor in the past dynasties did not pay attention to what happened after his death. During the construction process of the mausoleum, and after the construction was completed, many people came to see it in person. Not only the location where the underground palace was built, but also the soil taken out must be inspected personally and based on topographic maps. After choosing Kanai, it is not uncommon to check it out in person. After the construction of some mausoleums is completed, before the stone gate of the underground palace is temporarily closed, you have to go down to the underground palace to see it in person.
Although the old man is still in good health now, he is still an adult after all, and he must still attach great importance to what happens after his death. Now the mausoleum is just a pit dug, although the ground made of three layers of cobblestones and three layers of soil has been completed. But before the shutdown, it was built to this point. But although the gold bricks to pave the ground have arrived, they have not yet been laid.
As for the other parts of the entire underground palace, they are still in the state of adobe. Although the underground palace was covered with a reed shed, the old man was definitely feeling uncomfortable. Especially Queen Dahang, who has been lying in the temporary enshrinement hall for more than a year, but has been unable to be buried because the mausoleum has been suspended. In this era where people are all about being laid to rest, doing so would really bring disgrace to the Tian family.
I'm afraid that when this tip came to me, the old man still wanted to continue building it, but he couldn't open his mouth. Then he sent this piece of information to himself and asked himself to open the door for him. However, this minister of the Ministry of Industry may still have some taboos about himself, and his words are very cryptic. He kept talking only about completing the construction of the underground palace and Baoding, the most important buildings, so as not to violate Feng Shui.
Other buildings that are not very important can be postponed. But in fact, it is better to continue to build the mausoleum. The old man has this idea, and if he doesn't approve, he may be hurt. Once word gets out that he is the heirloom of the filial piety, he may be seen as a treason in the eyes of many people. Just continuing to build will cost a lot?
Huang Qiong took a look and found that the entire mausoleum was completely built, and at least three million more coins were needed. If you only complete the underground palace and the top of the treasure, it won't cost much, only 400,000 guan. This is because the gold bricks, stones, lime, river pebbles, and loess used to build the underground palace had already been transported from the place of origin before the work was suspended last year. Therefore, even if the construction is completed and continued, it will not cost much.
If the five offerings of Fangcheng, Minglou and Stone are completed, it will take about one million guans. And if you build a strip version, for example, the Qin'en Hall does not use nanmu, and only local Henan pine wood is used for all the wood. If the floor of the Hall of En'en and the walls of the underground palace are replaced with the usual spotted stones and white marble strips commonly used in imperial mausoleums of this dynasty, and instead replaced with ordinary gold bricks and blue bricks, the cost can be further reduced.
Of course, if the five coupons are changed to three coupons, and there are no carvings or murals in the underground palace, the cost can be further reduced. If even the stone statues were abolished, the cost would be even lower, roughly only 2 million guan, which is a full 1 million guan savings compared to the previous emperors' tombs. But how to do it? Because the construction of an imperial mausoleum still requires imperial approval, the Ministry of Industry dare not specialize in it.
Looking at this thing that the Minister of Industry had painstakingly calculated, Huang Qiong was really dumbfounded. If I really follow what he said and blindly cut and save, let’s not talk about whether the old man is happy or not, whether he accepts it or not. Once the content of this excerpt is spread out, I am afraid that the overwhelming label of unfilial piety will be slapped on my head immediately.
