Changsheng frowned slightly after hearing the eunuch read out the emperor's reward for himself and Long Haotian. The reason why he frowned was not because he had made great contributions but was only promoted half a level, but because he couldn't figure out why the emperor had this arrangement.
After receiving an award, one should go out to express gratitude. After the third imperial edict was read out, Changsheng and Long Haotian walked out of the procession, either bowing their heads or kneeling to thank the emperor, receiving the emperor's order and thanking the holy grace.
Next came the fourth imperial edict, which was directed at military generals. Almost all generals above the fifth rank of the garrison and Shence Army were called interchangeably.
Regarding the exchange of generals between the garrison and the Shence Army, the Manchu Dynasty civil and military officials were somewhat surprised, because the emperor dealt with disloyal officials extremely severely, and whether it was the garrison or the Shence Army, the generals who took the lead were loyal to eunuchs. Damn it, the emperor didn't do any big purging, he just made defense changes.
Others were confused, but Changsheng knew it very well. The main reason why the emperor made such arrangements was to sell his face and not want him to break his trust.
Changsheng is grateful that the emperor has preserved his reputation, but besides being grateful, he is also puzzled, Mr. Hubu Shangshu and Yushi, why did the emperor make this arrangement?
However, after a short period of thinking, Changsheng figured out the reason. The Ministry of Household Affairs is the head of the six departments of the imperial court and is in charge of the world's finances and people's livelihood. The Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs is not a high-ranking official, but he has great responsibilities. The country's land, taxes, household registration, military supplies, Salaries, food and wages, finance and other matters are all under the control of the Ministry of Household Affairs. This is the most tiring position. The reason why he continues to serve as the imperial censor is to increase his power and give him the power to control hundreds of officials. In order to better perform his duties as the Minister of the Ministry of Accounts.
Changsheng was very clear-headed. He knew that the reason why the emperor appointed him as the Minister of Household Affairs was because of his respect and trust in him. There were also other considerations. The first was his relationship with the Ni family. The government's finances were currently unable to make ends meet, and the Ni family was the richest in the world. If The court really couldn't bring the matter to light, and he, the richest man's son-in-law, couldn't just sit idly by. Furthermore, the Ministry of Household Affairs is also responsible for military supplies, food and wages. Once the new army is recruited and in place, it also has to raise military supplies and wages for the new army. All that is needed in war is money and food. Where can we get money for so many soldiers and horses? You can't borrow everything from the Ni family. This is why the emperor asked him to serve as the imperial censor. Next, he will continue to ransack homes to collect money for the court.
At this time, Chang Sheng did not feel the joy of being in an important position, but only helplessness and sorrow. Sometimes being trusted by others is not a good thing. The pressure is too great. This is a hard job that carries notoriety, but also a tiring job with hard work. He had no intention of being an official and wanted to relieve himself of the burdens on his shoulders earlier, but instead of taking them off he ended up carrying more and more.
While Changsheng was deep in thought, the eunuch had already read out the fourth imperial edict. After confirming that no officials were present, the emperor stood up and left the court, and all the officials bowed to see him off.
After the emperor left the court, the civil and military officials came forward to congratulate Long Haotian and Chang Sheng. Chang Sheng responded with no words. Looking at Long Haotian, he was also the same. He was full of bitterness and just forced a smile. Although he had bad conduct, he was not. Stupid, he knows what it means for the imperial court to promote him to a first-class Protector General, and he doesn't care about the salary. The bigger the hat is, the more he has to pay. He is on an equal footing with the Protector Master and the Protector Mage. He has to pay for it. Show some magnanimity and sincerity, and then recruit new troops. Why would you be so embarrassed to ask the imperial court for troops and money?
At this time, Zhang Shan and Zhang Mo were both in the palace. Chang Sheng wanted to talk to Zhang Shan. However, I don’t know whether Zhang Shan wanted to avoid suspicion or for some other purpose. He did not give him a chance to talk to him, so he went ahead with Zhang Mo and the Taoist disciples. Leave.
By the time Changsheng finished dealing with the congratulatory officials and accepted the official seal from the eunuch, Zhang Shan and others had already gone far.
"Congratulations, Lord Shangshu." Long Haotian's voice came from the north.
Changsheng heard the gloating in Long Haotian's words, so he sarcastically replied, "Congratulations to you too, General Protector of the Country."
Long Haotian walked to Changsheng and said, "Your Majesty trusts you and entrusts the household department to your hands. From now on, we will have to rely on Master Shangshu to provide us with military pay, money and food for marching and fighting."
"Get out of here, I don't want to talk to you." Changsheng turned around and left.
As soon as these words came out, the surrounding officials were shocked and looked at each other, but Long Haotian didn't take it seriously and walked a few steps quickly to follow Chang Sheng, "It seems that not only I understand you, but the emperor also understands you. You are fair and impartial, and only you are responsible for this." Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, in the future, we can be fairly provided with the military pay, money and food we need to suppress the rebellion."
Chang Sheng impatiently waved his hand, "I'm already very annoyed. Just stop nagging in my ears and arrest Yang Fugong quickly."
"Yes, yes," Long Haotian said with a smile, "Master Shangshu, the imperial court asked us to recruit new troops by ourselves, and promised to pay us one million taels in advance to raise funds. Please allocate this money to us as soon as possible. How can we do it without silver taels? Recruiting troops?”
"I didn't even know this happened. Just wait until I go back and read the official documents." Changsheng didn't want to talk to Long Haotian anymore, so he hurried away and left him behind.
Returning to the Yushitai, I found an acquaintance standing at the door. It was Yu Yi, a nun. This person was the head catcher of Dali Temple. Previously, Dali Temple sent her to Yizhuang to verify the authenticity. Yu Yi discovered the clues but hid it from him. Kindness preserved him.
Yu Yi came here to inform him of the time and place of the execution. A large number of eunuchs were sentenced to beheaded, which means to be killed immediately. The executions will be carried out today, outside the west gate of Chang'an at 3:00 noon.
Changsheng didn't like to see beheadings, but he was a royal censor. If he participated in the trial, he would naturally become the supervisor of beheadings. He couldn't do it without going.
Seeing that Yu Yi was about to leave, Chang Sheng hurriedly called her and asked her if she would like to be transferred to Yushitai. Although Yu Yi was a nun, she was decisive in killing, fair and strict. She admired Chang Sheng's style of conduct. Compared with Yu Zhan, the Qing of Dali Temple, Yang Shuyun, who was looking forward and backward, weighing the left and right, Yu Yi preferred Changsheng who was clear about grievances and straightforward.
Seeing that Yu Yi agreed, he was relieved to have a good life. After Yu Yi left, he returned to the court and wrote an official letter. He sent someone to take the official letter to Dali Temple to transfer people. Yang Shuyun was half of his own, so he was embarrassed to steal people openly. , the official letter written was a secondment to Gonghan. To put it bluntly, Yu Yi still belonged to Dali Temple, and Yushitai was just a temporary secondment, but his secondment must have been a loan without repayment.
Da Tou has been waiting nervously at the house for Chang Sheng to leave the court. Knowing that he is back, Da Tou comes to the court to ask what happened in the court.
Yesterday, Changsheng sent Datou to send the four million taels of silver from Yushitai to the Ministry of Accounts. He was worried that if he arrived late, the Ministry of Accounts would mishandle the money. Changsheng conveniently informed Datou in a concise and concise manner that he had been appointed by the imperial court as the person in charge of household affairs. Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, and then hurried to Hubu with Datou on horseback.
Datou knew that the affairs of the household department were complicated, and he also knew that Changsheng had taken on a hot potato, so he was worried, "Sir, the job of the household department is not easy to handle."
"I know, but I can't resist the decree." Chang Sheng sighed helplessly.
"If it were a peaceful and prosperous time, the Ministry of Revenue would be the best errand, but now the war is in turmoil and the weather is precarious. The errand of the Ministry of Revenue..."
Before Datou could finish speaking, Changsheng waved his hand and interrupted him, "You will be very busy now. You have to go out and search every house. There are more than 70 officials involved in the case who are above the fifth rank."
"You've been transferred to the Ministry of Household Affairs, so it's not our turn to ransack the house, right?" Datou said casually.
"I'm still wearing it as a royal censor. I haven't lost it yet." Changsheng said.
"Ah? The Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and the Censor? Then we have great power." Datou Duo was shocked.
"The greater the power, the greater the responsibility." Changsheng Duo has no choice but to say that he is not negative and does not want to be alone. He is just worried that the affairs will be complicated and he will definitely be exhausted in the future.
The two hurried to the Ministry of Household Affairs, which was larger than the territory of Yushitai. At this time, everyone in the Ministry of Household Affairs had learned that Changsheng had been appointed as the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, and guessed that he might come to take up his new post. He led everyone to gather outside the door and wait for him.
When Changsheng arrived, all the officials came forward to greet him. Changsheng handed over his official seal as usual, and then came to the court to formally meet with the officials of the Ministry of Household Affairs.
Below the Yushitai there are three courtyards: Taiyuan, Dianyuan and Chaoyuan. Under the Hubu Department there are four divisions: Hubu Division, Duzhi Division, Jinbu Division and Cangbu Division. The Hubu Division is in charge of the country's population, land, All things corvee. The Duzhi Division is in charge of taxation, renting, and other matters in the world, while the Jinbu Division is in charge of cashiers, measurement, and official remuneration. The Warehouse Department is in charge of national treasury, grain supply, warehouse reporting and other matters.
The Hubu Hall official is the third-rank Hubu Shangshu, the two deputies are the left and right ministers of the fourth rank, and the fourth-rank chief is the fifth-rank Hubu Langzhong.
Everyone knew who Chang Sheng was for a long time, and no one dared to be negligent or presumptuous, nor did they dare to be ostracized. They were very respectful to Chang Sheng, and welcomed him sincerely. After he went to the Yushitai, he spent the food and salary of the Yushitai. He has been greatly improved, and now he is in charge of the household department, and everyone hopes that following him will make life easier.
As the Minister of Household Affairs in charge of people's livelihood and finance, he first needed to know how many people and fields there were in the Tang Dynasty. After hearing his question, the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs immediately stood up and answered, knowing that there were more than 11 million households in the Tang Dynasty. , the total population is about 77 million people, and the total recorded arable land is about 8 million hectares.
Changsheng then asked about the balance of the national treasury. This time, the answers were from Dr. Duzhisi and Dr. Cangbesi. According to them, the treasury of the Tang Dynasty had a surplus of two million dans of grain scattered throughout the country. With the four million taels sent by people, the national silver inventory is about 12 million taels.
Changsheng has no idea about money, but the 4 million taels he gained from ransacking his house and extorting bribes recently accounted for one-third of the national bank account. This problem is very serious. This shows that 12 million taels is very important to the entire Tang Dynasty. There are very few truths.
Since he had to rush to Ximen to supervise the beheading at noon, Changsheng had no time to talk to everyone. He just ordered everyone in the household department to immediately assign officials from the headquarters to search the property of the guilty minister together with the detectives from Yushitai and the Yulin army sent by the palace. Chen's family members transferred their property and divided their troops into more than 70 groups. They started in the afternoon, inspected it overnight, and counted and stored it in the warehouse as soon as possible.
After the explanation, everyone immediately split up to prepare. Changsheng did not have the habit of bringing an entourage with him when traveling. Seeing that noon was approaching, he rode west with Da Tou and the other two and rushed to the west gate to behead...
