This chapter is an update for the only ally of this book, "Reader Tang", who is overdue for more than a year.
Time has leisurely entered the eighth year of Qianyou. From the winter of last year to the spring of this year, the most gratifying thing for the Emperor of the Han Dynasty was not to expand the territory, add more achievements, and take Hanzhong all, but because of the Yellow River. However, among the hundreds of thousands of people in Qing, Zi, Yun and other prefectures affected by the floods, none of them starved to death. With the relief and coordination of the various prefectures, they moved to rebuild their homes and cultivate acres of land.
Of course, this was good news reported by officials and censors from various places. When the New Year came, Liu Chengyou did not disappoint. He took it seriously and spread it widely to show the good fortune of the Han Dynasty. However, after this, Liu Chengyou immediately sent Wang Min, the minister of the Ministry of War, to patrol Qilu to inspect the situation of the people and depose the local government.
During the Shangyuan Festival, the palace issued an edict and the whole city celebrated together. The concubines and concubines inside and outside, officials, soldiers and civilians bid farewell to the old and welcomed the new. Emperor Liu Chengyou personally visited the Imperial City Palace to accept worship from the people. One hundred thousand people from Tokyo gathered in front of the Imperial City Palace.
Due to its large scale, the Privy Council directly mobilized the Longqi Army in the right wing in Beijing to maintain order. There was a huge crowd at the scene, shoulder to shoulder, and the shouts of "Long live" were as loud as the tide, almost shaking the city of Kaifeng.
Newly made fireworks in the palace were released behind the city gate so that the whole city could enjoy them. The gorgeous fireworks lasted for half an hour, bursting out with beauty and brilliance, eye-catching, and seemed to symbolize the prosperity of the Han Dynasty.
That night, the emperor held a banquet in the Chongyuan Hall, inviting ministers of rank five and above to enjoy the banquet. Liu Chengyou was also drunk, so he stayed at Kunming Hall at night. In the excitement of drinking, he fiddled with the talisman and forced the empress to try some new postures, and then she was sulky for several days.
After the carnival of the Lantern Festival, everything in the court slowly returned to normal. While the officials and the people were still immersed in the afterglow of festive joy, Emperor Liu Chengyou raised the Emperor's Sword again, this time the target was Huainan Water Transport.
"Have everything been cleared up?" In the Chongzheng Hall, Liu Chengyou tilted his body somewhat casually and glanced at the ministers standing below.
Waiting below are the three prime ministers Li Tao, Fan Zhi, and Xue Juzheng, plus Zhao Li, the censor of Zuodu. Speaking of which, among the four ministers who hold the real power of the government, the most inspiring one is Zhao Li. From a humble official to a censor in Taiwan, until he was favored by Liu Chengyou, he was promoted step by step to a senior official in the censorship. Now he is the chief official. The Procuratorate in charge is still only organized, and it seems that it has not yet reached the ceiling of its capabilities.
"Your Majesty!" Faced with the emperor's solemn expression, most of the ministers were frightened, but it was Fan Zhi who took the lead and said calmly: "After preliminary verification, it was several officials from the Huaidong Transshipment Department who made false claims on the transshipment losses. He deceived the superiors and deceived the inferiors, enriched his own pockets, and sold the official grain of the imperial court for personal gain."
In the later Jin Dynasty, water transportation was not carried out at any cost, and most of the officials in charge were willing to die for their debts. After the founding of the Han Dynasty, the same situation happened. Later Wang Pu investigated the matter and went to the court. So starting from the third year of Qianyou, the grain was transferred, and each dendrobium was consumed at the cost of one dou.
This is a reasonable policy, and it also gives grace to water transport officials, but it also gives greedy officials the opportunity to play tricks on supply and consumption. During the transfer to Huaidong, a group of people conspired to steal more than 20,000 dan of grain. Based on the current price of grain in the Han Dynasty, it was worth nearly 4 million dan.
"I thought that the officials had suffered so much that they had given me so much kindness. Is this how they repaid me?" Liu Chengyou didn't look angry, but his tone was frightening: "Just a few petty officials can bully me." To hide it and commit such a major corruption case? I don’t believe it, you are so knowledgeable and knowledgeable, do you believe it?”
After hearing the question, Zhao Li stood up and said in a descriptive tone: "Huaidong Transport Envoy Zhao Feng was once accused by the people!"
"Since you have been accused, is there no verification? Is there no result? Huh?" Liu Chengyou asked immediately.
"It is the negligence of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. I did not do my job well. Please punish me!" Zhao Li said hurriedly.
Liu Chengyou didn't care whether he was retreating in order to advance. He waved his hand and said in a sharp tone: "This matter has not yet reached a final result. Don't be too busy pleading guilty! Let me investigate this Zhao Feng! If he is innocent, I will clear my name with him, otherwise...
This matter must be investigated deeply, and no matter who is involved, it must not be tolerated. If there weren't good officials among the gangsters, how could I have known that there was such bad governance in the water transport! How long has it been since the founding of the Han Dynasty? The world has not yet been unified, it is like a major case of corruption! "
"It seems that Meng Hanqing is not enough to alert people!" Liu Chengyou murmured to himself. When he said this, he glanced at Fan Zhi.
Fan Zhi obviously felt the emperor's gaze, which seemed a little thorny, but he remained calm.
Liu Chengyou obviously did not give up and continued to raise a question: "Huaidong Transshipment has such a huge debt, and the superiors and subordinates are not aware of it? Where is the censor? Where is the Huaidong Inspector?"
"After I return to the Yamen, I will conduct a thorough investigation!" Zhao Li immediately made a promise with a stern expression. It can be felt that the emperor is somewhat dissatisfied with the work of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and he is also a little angry in his heart, angry at those who affect his status in the emperor's heart.
Fan Zhi raised his hand and said: "Huaidong's inspector Zheng Renjie is ill and has difficulty in handling the affairs. This may have given some unscrupulous subordinates an opportunity to collude with each other to commit evil!"
"It seems that there are a lot of problems in Huaidong!" Liu Chengyou laughed angrily.
"Huaidong and Huaixi are newly occupied territories after all, and they have not been subordinated to the Han Dynasty for a long time. It is understandable that there are some residual poisons of the pseudo-Tang Dynasty in the upper and lower areas. They need to be gradually cleared by the court before they can be returned to their own control!" Li Tao He whispered something, not sure if it was an explanation or a comfort.
Liu Chengyou said: "Li Qing, there is no need to deceive yourself on my behalf! Both the Chasi Department and the Transportation Department were established by me. There are many officials in charge of the affairs, including Han ministers. It would be biased to blame all the faults on the old officials of Jinling." Got it!"
"There is a problem with the officials of the Han Dynasty. The most important thing is for the court and the officials to reflect and self-examine to prevent minor mistakes!"
"Your Majesty is wise, but I am ignorant!" Li Tao responded quickly after hearing the emperor's unkind tone.
At this time, the only person left in the palace who had not been targeted by the emperor was Xue Juzheng, the third minister. This made him feel anxious, and before the emperor directed his nameless fire at him, he took the initiative to say:
"Your Majesty, after inspection, the warehousing and transportation of official grain in various places are divided into large and small buckets. Some traitors use small buckets to enter and exit the warehouse, and use large buckets to consume and transfer. This is how they corrupt official funds. In addition, when the people sell grain in exchange for tax money, there are often evildoers who use big fights as small fights to take advantage of Guizhou, making the people suffer without being able to complain..."
"Ha! Don't look at just a fighting tool, but it is related to the national economy and people's livelihood!" Liu Chengyou stared at Xue Juzheng and said: "Now that you have noticed, you should make changes to bring order to the chaos!"
"The Third Division suggested that the imperial court should formulate a standard copper bucket and distribute it to all prefectures and counties, and the local officials would cast it according to the mold and promote it. From then on, the use of buckets will all comply with the regulations of the imperial court. As for the other large and small buckets, they are scheduled to be abolished. Anyone who still uses it after the expiry date will be severely punished if discovered!" Xue Juzheng said immediately.
"This is a good idea!" Liu Chengyou nodded immediately, thought for a moment, and then said: "Not only fighting tools, but other measuring tools should also be set by the imperial court to a unified standard for the convenience of the people and officials!"
"Your Majesty is wise and quick, and you can draw inferences from one instance. I admire you!" Xue Ju was suddenly stunned, as if he wanted to use a compliment to ease the emperor's mood.
He took a deep breath and looked around at the ministers who had endured his anger. After venting his anger, he felt much better. But there was still no expression on his face as he said: "Everyone, please step aside! Remember, we must get to the bottom of what happened in Huaidong and give an explanation to me and the imperial court!"
"yes!"
