Xu Ruoqin's memorial from Zhejiang still entered the capital. It was submitted by the General Affairs Secretary and has been handed over to the cabinet.
Liu Jian didn't want to get involved in this matter. One was the emperor's favorite, and the other was the emperor's beloved son. It would be of no benefit for him as a cabinet minister to interfere with that.
In the past few years, he has managed the country quite well with the help of Li Dongyang and Xie Qian with a more pragmatic style. Anyway, anything new is Dong Gong’s idea.
He implemented various political orders in the name of the prince. If he was dissatisfied, he would go to the prince.
What greatly pleased him was that since the twelfth year of Hongzhi's reign, the prince's various decrees had never burdened the people or increased their burdens. How good.
However, the current situation in Zhejiang is marked by the appointment of Wang Hua, the governor of Zhejiang. Many officials who were suppressed began to break the tacit understanding of only focusing on Wei Bin and turned their attention to the prince.
People discovered that sending Wei Bin away was of no use.
In this case, the political struggle is evolving in a more intense direction.
Many officials in the Ming Dynasty even dared to criticize the emperor, let alone the prince. However, most people did not dare to do so after the Zuo Shunmen Incident.
This time...but for some reason he started to provoke Dong Gong again.
Liu Jian has worked hard for several years and has aged much. He is very thin, as if he is undernourished. His face is wrinkled. After the skin loses tension, his eyelids droop, causing his left eye to look smaller than his right eye.
But his mind was still very clear.
How to deal with this memorial in Zhejiang still needs to be carefully considered. In particular, one of the sentences, "Being pampered and holding a high position, having a warm family and being well-paid, taking advantage of the wealth and power to compete with the people for the benefit of the people, the people are safe and secure," is a direct reference to Dong Gong's behavior of taking a bank in Zhejiang.
This means: if you are in a high position, your family is rich and have a good salary, and you use the power of the government to compete for profits with the people, how can the people be stable?
This is a Confucian principle.
Liu Jian and others, as Confucian masters, naturally agree with it. But during his years in court, all the ministers who have been in contact with him know what kind of person the prince is.
Liu Jian didn't like the prince at first, but he came to agree with it bit by bit through practice.
It may be true that the prince was collecting silver in Zhejiang, but as Wang Hao asked, when did the East Palace add a palace, and when did it find a rare treasure.
Even the strange recipes and secret techniques favored by Emperor Hongzhi were dismissed by the East Palace.
So now I am still so opposed to Dong Gong, either because I am stupid because of my reading, or there is some reason.
"Who is this Xu Ruoqin? Who asked him to go to this memorial?" Li Dongyang was also stumped by this memorial. "How will the cabinet vote?"
This is a very difficult thing.
If the person who pressed this memorial was just a prefect, that would be fine. But if the power behind the prefect is investigated when the time comes, the behavior of the cabinet will always be unjustifiable.
Memorials are the embodiment of imperial power. How can one minister press another minister's memorial?
But if you just send it up like this, it will be troublesome how to vote.
For example, if you support what the official said, you will be against the prince. If you refute it, it will be easy for others to make irresponsible remarks and flatter him. ….
If you don't say anything and hand it over to the prince and the emperor, you will be more likely to be scolded by the prince: "You are blind. Why does the cabinet say nothing about this kind of memorial?"
Can that be interpreted as a tacit consent?
Seeing that Emperor Hongzhi's health is getting worse and worse, and there is no sign of a long life at all, so this juncture is really going to give the cabinet a hard time.
[Recommended, @
Inform the East Palace. With this gesture, the prince would at least not blame him too much.
As for the matter itself, once it is handed over like this, it is probably possible to get rid of it as soon as possible.
There is no other way.
Hey, it’s really difficult for Mr. Liu Ge.
…
…
Hangzhou, Zhejiang.
The arrival of Wang Hua represents the end of Wei Bin, and now this scene is finally staged.
Every step did not exceed the expectations of others, and Zhejiang's official circles did not have a big reaction to this. Just a eunuch, it was done, and even a few scoldings behind his back did not affect anything.
What people care about is Wang Hua's action.
Chief Minister Li Yancai was not as stupid as Dang Shanji. He came to Zhejiang from Hubei. To be honest, he was already a little worried and even regretted...
This pool of water in Zhejiang is so damn deep...
"How could Wang Hua do such a thing?" Li Yancai couldn't deal with this man's behavior before and after. He was like last time, and suddenly became greedy this time. "After Wei Bin left, the prince specially sent him to Zhejiang. "
Dang Shanji was more vulgar. He raised his voice and said: "Why did the prince send you here? Then Wei Bin was sent by the prince. What's the result? After all, there are so many people in the house to support, plus the welcome and transportation Go, how can the little money from salary alone be enough? He, the governor of Zhejiang, can’t make his own money, right? What if he doesn’t use it?”
Li Yancai didn't believe it, "If this is the case, how can he report to the East Palace?"
"What's wrong with this? I arrested Wei Bin and took out two to three hundred thousand taels of silver. Isn't this a good enough job?"
Dang Shanji said two to three hundred thousand taels.
Apparently, more than half of the 800,000 taels of silver left by Wang Hua had been cut off.
He even said that his heart was not as black as Wang Hua's.
But how can I put it? The degree of corruption in the sea trade between Zhejiang and Fujian is simply unimaginable.
After the Longqing switch, Yuegang, a city open to the outside world, had a record of more than 10,000 taels and more than 20,000 taels of tariffs a year.
It should be true, but it's certainly highly problematic.
Looking at the history here, just looking at the historical data, one has to doubt the usefulness of opening the sea.
After all, businessmen engaged in maritime trade can become millionaires in a few years. The imperial court's tax revenue is only 10,000 taels a year, 20,000 taels?
Where's the money!
Moreover, according to later statistics, within about seventy years after the Longqing switch, the silver flowing into the Ming Dynasty from all over the world was conservatively estimated to be 350 million taels, and a less conservative estimate would be 500 million taels. ….
It can be seen that the foreign trade of the Ming Dynasty was very strong, and running a trade surplus was a skill passed down from our ancestors. On the other hand, it can also be seen that the corruption of officialdom is irredeemable.
Although what Dang Shanji said now was very rough, it was difficult for Li Yancai to refute it. After all, the logic was reasonable.
As for what to do next,
Li Yan had to come up with this idea himself.
You can also ask for instructions like Wang Hua did. It was Liu Daxia who recommended him to take up a post in Zhejiang. Liu Daxia was a favorite of the emperor, so Li Yancai was naturally willing to put him as the leader.
But how could he ask for instructions?
Report Wang Hua's corruption to the superiors? That's okay, but they will also lose the opportunity to make money. Now that this lid is covered, everyone can live a good life in Zhejiang. If you lift it, the money can only be seen.
And you have to shoulder the responsibility. After all, if you are not greedy, and you don’t allow others to be greedy, and you don’t want to live in harmony with others, which colleague will be able to tolerate you next?
Or ask Liu Daxia how much they should take?
This is not appropriate either.
Everyone came together because of morality, and what was going on when they wrote a letter asking how to distribute the money.
Even if you have to mention money, remember it, don't ask, but give it directly. Don't give him multiple-choice questions about this kind of thing, but tell him that you have worked hard. It's all small money, so you have to push him half-heartedly and let him win.
In this case, he can take the money and blame you again by saying, "You won't allow it next time."
Therefore, for Li Yancai, it was not easy for him to report the matter. When reporting the matter to the capital, should he fill in 1.26 million taels, 800,000 taels, or collude with Wang Hua to fill in Two hundred thousand taels.
He had to make up his own mind for all this, and he had to do it all without telling the people in Beijing. No one above wants to know how you committed corruption, and no one wants to make a fuss. They just want you to send some of the money you embezzled. As for how much and how to send it, it all depends on whether you can become an official.
Li Yan thought carefully and felt that it was better to be on the safe side since he was new here.
"Well, let's see what he wants to do at the governor's office. We are subordinates after all. No matter how ugly he looks, we can't stop him. But I always feel that the governor is a little weird this time, so we should keep it in check."
Dang Shanji was a little unhappy after hearing this. I have already explained it to you, but you still say it is strange. What do you mean?
But he still endured a trace of displeasure and muttered, "Okay. What do you want to do?"
Li Yan thought for a moment and stretched out his finger, "Didn't the governor's office ask us to interrogate Wei Bin? The two of us will judge Wei Bin based on 800,000 taels. If we don't use 1,200,000 taels as the standard, we will treat it as a confession." As for the eucalyptus scrolls we sent up, 400,000 taels of silver is the best. You and I each have 50,000 taels, and you and I will break the lower part into half. Mainly the upper part."
Then he lowered his voice again and said: "No matter what, I can't just deal with this matter. After all, it concerns the prince. What if there is an oversight and we are blamed? So what should we do? So this money is still We have to send it upwards, and we have to send more. The higher ups can ignore us, but they won’t ignore the money, right? Let’s talk less and send more. Even if we behead someone in the future, it will be from top to bottom.”….
Dang Shanji heard what he said eloquently, but his little eyes were full of doubts, "It takes so much effort, only fifty thousand taels? Then it's better not to take it!"
"Okay, as long as you say this, I will accept it. Then we won't take it. The eight hundred thousand taels will be written on the scroll and sent to Beijing. Zhejiang is clean up and down, and we can still participate. He has a copy of Wang Hua."
That's a bad thing to say.
How could Dang Shanji recognize it? He shrank his head back and said, "Why do I have to say this? Why don't your chief minister's office take a stand on such a big matter?"
Li Yancai was speechless and pointed at this guy, "If you say you won't take it, you're afraid you won't be able to survive in the officialdom. If you say you won't take it, you're greedy, so you have to risk it to get this life-threatening money, right?"
"What are you talking about? If something really happens, how can you be innocent if you take less?" Dang Shanji stretched his neck and was still stubborn.
This stupid donkey attitude made Li Yancai a little annoyed. He already knew that there must be something fishy in it, so he had to take it, so it would be better to take less, but he insisted on taking more.
"Then it's up to you to take it! Anyway, I won't take more!"
Dang Shanji gave him a hard time and was very happy, "Hey, hey, what are you arguing with me for? If you have the ability to go to the governor's office, he took away 30% of it! Besides, he has taken so much, what are you afraid of?"
These words also touched Li Yancai's heart. Yes, the prince's own heart is even darker...
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There will be a private event for Tai Lao tomorrow. In line with the promotion of the event, the chapters originally updated at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning will be updated at 10 o'clock. Thank you. .
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