Chang Sheng was looking through the official documents and worried. Officials on duty from each department were ordered to come. People's livelihood is the foundation of the country. The Ministry of Household Affairs is in charge of people's livelihood and has a heavy responsibility. Therefore, there were also officials on duty at the offices under the Ministry of Household Affairs at night. There are more than a dozen officials, most of whom are in charge of various departments.
The chief officer is not the chief officer of each department, but the doctor. However, the chief officers of each department usually do not work at night, so most of the ones left behind are deputy positions.
Everyone didn't know why Changsheng called at night, arrived in a hurry, greeted the guests tremblingly, and replied only docilely.
At this time, the seizure of the criminal's property has not yet been completely concluded. It is not that the officials and servants are slacking off in their duties, but that there are too many people involved in the case. There are more than 70 officials above the fifth rank alone, and there are even more officials below the fifth rank. Since It has only been two days since the emperor issued the decree. The house has been confiscated and the things have been shipped back, but the inventory and calculation of the family property has not been completed.
However, the amount of gold, silver and coins has been calculated, and it is about 32 million taels.
After hearing the report from his subordinates, Changsheng's mood improved slightly, and he ordered everyone in the hall to make a conservative estimate of the corrupt official's property that had not yet been converted. This was really a bit difficult, but fortunately, Changsheng wanted a conservative estimate, and it was not a fault to say that it was less. After some whispering, everyone came to a more reliable number, which should be 20 million taels.
Changsheng breathed a sigh of relief. This time, he found more than 50 million taels of money in total from the investigation of corruption. In addition to what he had collected and donated by the Ni family, after deducting the 3 million taels allocated during the day, the imperial treasury still had money. Sixty million taels.
Before the eunuchs were eradicated, the imperial treasury had less than two million taels of silver. Now it has 60 million taels of silver, which is thirty times more than before. As the saying goes, one white can cover up all the ugliness. If the emperor heard this news, he would be in a good mood. This act alone was enough to dilute the emperor's dissatisfaction with him and Longhushan for helping the Ni family move away to avoid disaster.
Knowing that Changsheng had summoned the officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs overnight, the two ministers from the Ministry of Household Affairs and the ministers from various departments came to hear the news. By the time of the second watch, more than 30 officials had gathered in the middle hall.
The longevity man prepared supper for the officials present, and then discussed matters with everyone all night long. There was only one topic of discussion, and that was how the money should be spent. Although sixty million taels is a lot, it is not a lot. At present, finance and people's livelihood are everywhere. It’s deficits and gaps, which holes should this money be used to plug.
Regarding the distribution of money, the officials present had very different opinions. At first Chang Sheng was not sure about the reason, but he soon realized that although these officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs were officials from the capital, they came from different places. They had a preference for prefectures, prefectures, and counties, which were also affected by the disaster. Chief Zhang suggested giving priority to Huai'an Prefecture, while Wang Langzhong suggested giving relief to Lingnan County.
In addition, there are also the needs of various ministries. The Ministry of War needs money to pay military salaries, the Ministry of Industry needs money to build palaces, the Royal Horse Supervisor needs money to buy horses, the Ministry of Internal Affairs needs money to maintain royal family expenses, and so on, there are countless others. These yamen also have followers. We have a relatively good relationship with each other. We can say hello in private and there will be someone to talk to when we are sharing money.
Regarding this situation, Chang Sheng was helpless and disgusted. As the saying goes, there is no justice when there is human kindness. As an official of the imperial court, when dealing with official affairs, one should consider priorities rather than closeness and distance.
Everyone in the audience was talking a lot, and in the end they were so annoyed that they simply ordered that all the official documents asking for money and food in the country be counted and listed. The total number needed was calculated first, and then the allocation was considered one by one.
There is a saying that when you are an official, your legs are broken when you are a soldier. This is true. The decision of longevity directly caused the officials and servants of the Ministry of Revenue to work non-stop. In the end, the total needs were calculated. More than 400 silver taels were allocated, and the total required silver taels were 20,000 taels.
Now that the statistics are out, the next thing to do is to cut back. We can’t directly give the yamen and local governments as much as they want. Those who can be delayed will be delayed first, and those who can be slowed down will be slowed down. Prioritize and prioritize, just like repairing rivers. The amount must be allocated, but now that there are still four months until the rainy season, this amount can be appropriately slowed down.
Changsheng had just arrived and had little understanding of the errands of the household department. He knew his own shortcomings and did not act arbitrarily. Instead, he proposed all the funds one by one and solicited everyone's opinions.
Except for him, all the other officials in the Ministry of Revenue are very familiar with their responsibilities. They all have a sense of which can be postponed and which can be reduced. They can set the tone after a brief discussion.
There are also local officials who lie and sell themselves out. In order to get more money, they have to exaggerate. Whether they lied about the disaster cannot be judged by Chang Sheng. However, these officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs are well-informed and can even tell the local owners based on the local harvests in previous years. The temperament of political officials is used to consider and distinguish between true and false.
Those who wrote petitions for disaster relief all asked for grain, but the court had no grain. Even if they provided disaster relief, they would mostly allocate grain and silver to buy grain. I don’t know much about the prices of grain and rice in various places. Fortunately, there is a Cangbu Department in the Ministry of Household Affairs. Officials who understand the situation can also calculate it more accurately.
Although Changsheng was appointed as the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, his eyes were completely blank. In his impression, the country was suffering from widespread disasters, and the entire Tang Dynasty should be short of food. However, it was not convenient for him to ask such a childish question directly, so he just After a little detour, an official came out to explain. It turns out that there is still rice, but most of it is in the hands of merchants and wealthy households. Merchants always have to buy low and sell high to make profits, so they cannot be criticized for being rich and unkind. , and the imperial court was not a bandit after all. Even if it needed rice, it could not steal it overtly or covertly. It could only buy it from wealthy merchants with silver coins.
He already knew that the errands of the Ministry of Revenue were more complicated and cumbersome than those of Yushitai, but it was not until this moment that he realized that this errand was far more cumbersome than he imagined. Yamen all over the country, including the ministries directly under the imperial court, all yamen that needed money Official documents will be sent to the Ministry of Household Affairs, which will be weighed and reported to the emperor for approval. Previously, when the Eunuch Party controlled the government, it still needed to go through the three levels of Zhongshu Province, Menxia Province, and Shangshu Province. Now that the Eunuch Party is gone, Zhongshu Province and Menxia The provinces and ministers are both under the control of the emperor, and management can be carried out as long as the emperor nods.
However, as an official of various ministries, when dealing with official duties, you cannot just leave the mess to the emperor and ask the emperor what should be done. Instead, we need to come up with specific countermeasures and then ask the emperor for instructions on whether this can be done.
The left and right ministers are all deputies of the minister. Although the two deputies and a group of subordinates are present, Chang Sheng does not seek their opinions on all matters. All expenses related to the emperor, including the Ministry of Industry's maintenance of the emperor's palace, and the internal affairs of the imperial guards. Equipment and military supplies, including food, clothing, housing and transportation in the palace, all these funds will be allocated in full.
Changsheng had far-reaching considerations in doing this. He must let the emperor know that he puts the emperor first. The emperor himself can be frugal, but he must not be forced to be frugal by his subordinates. There is an essential difference. The silver must be allocated in full, and the emperor must use it. It is the emperor's attitude to return without finishing.
The minister and other officials had no objections to the matters finalized by Chang Sheng. The top leader had absolute power. This was a custom and custom that had lasted for thousands of years. The deputy had no complaints about this, because whoever made the decision was responsible. If something goes wrong, it's the chief officer's misfortune to hold him accountable.
Even if the plan is to reduce it item by item, the amount of silver that must be paid in the final short period of time still exceeds 10 million taels. The palace's annual expenses, including the military salaries of the imperial army and the garrison, even if the full allocation is only 5 million taels, the maximum The two expenses are military pay and disaster relief.
The total amount of military pay requested by the Jiedushi in various places was about 50 million taels, and the silver taels required for various disaster relief were also close to 50 million taels.
At this time, Changsheng began to worry again. The Ministry of Household Affairs currently had 60 million taels of silver in it, but he could not release all of it. According to his original intention, he wanted to focus on disaster relief as much as possible, because the people are the foundation of the country, and disaster relief is not People will die, and the soldiers and horses in the hands of Jiedushi are no longer controlled by the court. Giving them military pay and food is equivalent to raising tigers and adding fuel to the fire.
However, if military pay is not paid, these Jiedu envoys will have an excuse to rebel, and the imperial court currently does not have the strength to quell the rebellion.
Although the powerful eunuchs headed by Yang Fugong have been expelled from the court, Yang Fugong has not yet surrendered to the law. This man has many adopted sons who are leading the army. Those Jiedu envoys named Yang Shou should all be this person's adopted sons. There are five people in total, with a total strength of more than 200,000, stationed in different areas.
Seeing that it was time to go to court, Changsheng ended the discussion and went to court with the officials of the fifth rank and above. Except for him, the other officials were all civil servants with imperial examination background. They all went to court in sedan chairs, and the original Minister of Household Affairs also had In the sedan chair, Changsheng had been having a meeting all night. He was dizzy. After leaving the central hall, he remembered that he was in the Ministry of Household Affairs, and that Mr. Hei had also been given to Ni Chenyi by him, so he could only go to court in a sedan chair.
Since he was not wearing official uniform and had to go back to the Yushitai, Changsheng sat in the sedan chair and braced himself, thinking anxiously about how to divide the money. There must be those Jiedushi's spies in the court, and he wanted to Disaster relief requires reporting the national treasury of silver, and once the treasury of silver is reported, those military-respecting Jiedushi envoys will know that the imperial court has silver, and only provide disaster relief without paying military pay, which may also trigger a mutiny.
But deep down in his heart, he also knew very well that no matter how much money he allocated to those Jiedushi envoys, it was just meat buns beating dogs, and in the end it was the court that was unlucky.
Put off everything? No, it won't work. There are serious disasters in various places. Many people will starve to death every day. If money is not allocated for disaster relief, more victims will starve to death. He was born in poverty and is well aware of the hardships of the people. Now he is in a high position and has We are unable to rescue these victims, but if we delay doing so, it will be a waste of human life and corpses.
When he returned to the Yushitai, he happened to meet Yang Kai who wanted to go to court. After Yang Kai took the medicine, the remaining poison was gone, but his spirit was still a little sluggish. Seeing this, Changsheng ordered him to stay at the Yushitai to rest, and he changed into official uniform. Take a sedan chair and rush to the palace...
