After hearing Chang Sheng's words, the four of them nodded solemnly. No matter it was Da Tou or Yang Kai, Yu Yi and Shi Xuanming were not stupid people, they all had a foresight in their minds about what they would face when they left.
Chang Sheng quickly left the Yushitai and rushed to the Ministry of Finance alone on horseback. This morning, he had already drawn up a distribution plan for the treasury silver and obtained the emperor's approval. Before leaving, he had to arrange it and let everyone in the Ministry of Finance handle it according to the rules, so that disaster relief would be carried out as soon as possible. With the continued distribution of silver coins, the precarious victims will be able to get enough rice as early as possible.
After the dispersion of the court today, Chang Sheng had ordered the Minister of Hu Bu who was also in the court and the officials of the fifth rank and above to allocate and distribute disaster relief silver as soon as possible, but the official seal was on Chang Sheng, and the distribution of the allocation also required Chang Sheng's final confirmation. Chang Sheng They didn't dare to make illegal transfers unless they came, but they also didn't dare to go back to rest. They all stayed in the household department to brace themselves and wait.
When Changsheng returned to the Ministry of Household Affairs, he immediately summoned officials from various departments to assign errands. Last night, he had already compiled statistics on the situation of the prefectures, counties, and counties that had requested disaster relief. Today, he immediately determined the amount and allocated funds separately. All the yamen in the past dynasties, as The top officials in the hall have absolute power. The official seal is in Changsheng's hand, and the pen is also in his hand. How much disaster relief money should be allocated to which state, county, and county can be determined by his thoughts.
What everyone in the hall saw was that Chang Sheng had the power in his hands, with a stroke of his pen, but Chang Sheng did not feel as arbitrary and happy and proud as Gan Gang, but only worried and helpless. He did not dare to change the amount of funding set last night at will. Because these are life-saving money for ordinary people, the Ministry of Household Affairs must distribute it fairly according to the disaster situation. The direct consequence of unfair distribution is starvation. There is nothing we can do to kill people due to natural disasters, but if people starve to death because of the negligence of the Ministry of Household Affairs, it is a man-made disaster. , as a household official, he is the murderer.
There are many officials in the Ministry of Household Affairs. Although the gold seal is carried by Chang Sheng, he does not need to do it himself when stamping the seal. There is a special bookkeeper who does it for him. Chang Sheng is only responsible for writing the amount of the appropriation.
After all the official documents requesting disaster relief were processed, Chang Shengchong, the official in charge of distributing the disaster relief silver, said seriously, "There is little money in local treasury. These disaster relief coins must be allocated from the national treasury. They must be released immediately and send people to work all night to secure them." Go to various places. In addition, inform the officials of the prefectures, prefectures and counties that the silver can only be used to purchase grain and provide disaster relief. No one can use it for other purposes. Anyone who dares to misappropriate or embezzle will be personally tried by the Yushitai Council and severely punished. .”
Upon hearing this, everyone hurriedly bowed in response.
The next thing that needed to be distributed was military supplies. In order to buy time for Zhang Shan and others to recruit new troops, and to prevent the feudal town from using the silver issued by the court to recruit troops, Changsheng deliberately changed the military pay distributed to the military governors of various places into military supplies. To put it bluntly, this is Food is distributed but not money.
Even if the grain is distributed, Changsheng is still unwilling to do so, because most of the money is used to fight dogs or even raise tigers to cause trouble. But even if he is unwilling in his heart, he still has to continue to distribute it. If it is withheld directly, in case of provocation He had to bear full responsibility for the mutiny. In fact, he was not afraid of taking responsibility, but he did not dare to cause trouble, because the court was in urgent need of recuperation and could not withstand any changes and impacts in a short period of time.
When delineating the amount of funding for the Qingyang Jiedu Envoy, Changsheng not only did not reduce the established 800,000 taels, but also increased an additional 200,000 taels. The purpose of this was to delay the procurement time of the Ministry of Revenue.
Since military supplies and grain and grass were issued instead of military salaries and silver taels, all purchases were handled by the Jinbu Department and the Cangbu Department of the Ministry of Household Affairs. After signing all the official military supplies documents, Chang Sheng issued another order that the military supplies and grains sent to various places must be There must be enough and there must be no shortage. The purpose of doing this is naturally to delay time.
Do the feudal vassal towns in various parts of the country know that his move is delaying time? The answer is yes. They must know that this is also expected by Changsheng. However, people are greedy. This distribution of military supplies is the largest in recent years. Before the distribution of grain and grass is in place, those Jiedu envoys Never act rashly and throw away a duck that is about to reach your mouth.
Although the emperor stated in court that the expenses of the inner court would be reduced from five million taels to three million taels, Changsheng did not comply with the order and still allocated five million taels to the palace. Zhang Shan was right, the emperor We are all human beings, and we also have joys, sorrows, and joys. The emperor was so mad that he lost two million taels of his expenses. If he had followed the order, he would have been able to eat only six dishes when he was supposed to eat ten. The emperor would have been very resentful. It’s just that the Ministry of Accounts can’t do anything.
The writing of the five million taels of longevity is quite confusing. In fact, if someone else is in charge of the household department, he will also give five million taels to the inner court. But his mentality is different from others. To be precise, his original intention is different. Others are trying to please the emperor. He wanted to be promoted to an official position, and he wanted to please the emperor in order to continue to be in charge of the household department, because next he had to raise military pay for Zhang Shan and others. This was a thankless job that others really couldn't do well.
Handling tedious official duties is the most time-consuming. By the time many trivial matters are arranged, it is already time for handover.
Chang Sheng did not dare to delay and immediately returned to the Yushitai. At this time, Datou and others had already changed into casual clothes, prepared horses and waited for a long time.
Chang Shengsheng Yu Yi and Shi Xuanming left the city from the south gate and north gate respectively. After leaving the city, they made a short circle and waited on the westbound road.
Since Da Tou and Yang Kai would leave the city from the west gate next, Chang Sheng was not in a hurry to let them leave.
Datou knew that Changsheng had not eaten all day, so he prepared a meal for him. While Changsheng was sitting in the hall and devouring his food, several eunuchs in eunuch costumes appeared outside the court door.
When Changsheng saw the eunuch, the eunuch outside the door also saw him. There were three eunuchs coming this time, two young eunuchs following behind, and the one walking in front holding the imperial edict in his hand was a middle-aged eunuch.
The middle-aged eunuch said with a smile on his face, "Oh, Mr. Li, you are so diligent in your work. It's already late, so why don't you have lunch?"
Changsheng went to court only rarely and was unfamiliar with many of the eunuchs in the palace. The sudden appearance of the eunuch with an imperial edict in his hand also surprised him.
Just when Chang Sheng stood up in confusion, the middle-aged eunuch turned around and said sharply to the two young eunuchs behind him, "Wait outside the door."
After drinking down the young eunuch who was accompanying him, the middle-aged eunuch walked into the courtroom and said, "Master Li, my surname is Zhou from the Za family. I am here to deliver the edict on the order of the emperor."
The middle-aged eunuch looked left and right as he spoke. Upon seeing this, Datou hurriedly winked at Yang Kai, and the two quietly stood up and left silently.
Changsheng went down to the court and came to the middle-aged eunuch, "Thank you, Eunuch Zhou."
"Master Li is serious, this is a matter within the Zajia family," the middle-aged eunuch lowered his hand and lowered the imperial edict that he had been holding. "The emperor has an edict. Li Changsheng, the minister of household affairs and the imperial censor, does not have to kneel to receive the edict."
Changsheng was still depressed and about to kneel down, but when he heard Eunuch Zhou's words, he was stunned on the spot. Seeing the imperial edict was like the emperor coming in person. It is a common rule for ministers to kneel to receive the edict, but this time Eunuch Zhou actually ordered him to avoid kneeling to receive the edict. Eunuch Zhou was a eunuch who delivered orders. What he conveyed was the emperor's wishes. Why did the emperor allow him to receive orders without kneeling?
Just when Changsheng was secretly doubting, Eunuch Zhou had already unfolded the imperial edict and began to read out, "Under my sect, Li Changsheng, the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs and the imperial censor, is loyal to the emperor and the country, and can handle affairs effectively. I will reward you with a horse riding in the imperial city. I admire you for not kneeling when I see you."
Changsheng was confused at first. After hearing the eunuch read the decree, he became more and more confused. He had just let everyone in the Ni family go. Logically speaking, the emperor should be angry. Why did he suddenly issue a decree and rewarded a horse in the imperial city? Don’t you kneel down when you see me?
It had only been a few days since he was promoted to the position of Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs. How could he handle the affairs effectively? What kind of song did the emperor make?
"Congratulations, sir. No one other than an important minister of the Zhu Kingdom can enjoy this honor." Eunuch Zhou rolled up the imperial edict and delivered it with both hands.
Changsheng took it with both hands, full of doubts.
Just when he was secretly wondering, Eunuch Zhou looked around and then looked directly at Changsheng with strange eyes.
Upon seeing this, Changsheng immediately guessed that Eunuch Zhou had something to say to him in private. Thinking that he would rush to Qingyang immediately, he immediately turned and walked towards the public case, "I have urgent official business. I wanted to go to the palace to meet the saint. My father-in-law came just in time. I'm sorry for bothering you." My father-in-law will present my official account to the Emperor."
Changsheng said this very loudly. After saying this, he took out the empty book, dipped his pen in ink, and wrote quickly. The general meaning was that he suddenly got a tip that Yang Fugong, the imperial convict, was hiding in the place where Yang Shouxin, the envoy of Qingyang Jiedu, was hiding. At any time, there is the possibility of traveling to another place to connect with the adopted son of other commanders. The matter is extremely important and urgent, and I must immediately take people there to assassinate and hoe the traitors.
While Chang Sheng was writing the memorial, Eunuch Zhou took the opportunity to take a few steps forward and whispered, "Master Li, the Za family owes much to Duke Ji."
Changsheng raised his head and glanced at Eunuch Zhou when he heard this. Duke Ji Guo was the title of Ni Tuo. Eunuch Zhou meant that he was very close to Ni Tuo.
Changsheng had known for a long time that the emperor had Ni Ni's spy. Hearing what Eunuch Zhou said, he immediately guessed that Eunuch Zhou was Ni Ni's spy.
Eunuch Zhou lowered his voice and said urgently, "Master Li, the emperor felt dizzy and unwell today from the court. After retreating from the court, he was still restless. After a nap, he suddenly woke up and immediately summoned Si Tiantai Baozhang to the palace to see him. Interpretation of dreams.”
Hearing Eunuch Zhou's words, Changsheng frowned. Baozhang was an official in Sitiantai. He was responsible for observing stars and predicting good and bad luck. He was the emperor's royal magician.
Eunuch Zhou continued, "While the emperor was taking a nap, an old man in soap clothes and a black beard fell into his dream. He accused him of blaspheming the gods and disturbing his dignity. Based on what the emperor said, Baozhang asserted that the old man with a black beard was the Mingxing Lord of Nan Dou Si. As for the matter, The black-bearded old man blasphemed the gods and messed up the concept of superiority and inferiority, which was judged as a neglect of the mortal gods. As it happens, my lord, you are kneeling down to worship today, the emperor suspected that you are the god that the old man in black said, lest you go to court If you kneel down again at this time, you will break the emperor's dragon spirit, so I have hastily issued an order to allow you to not kneel before you."
After Eunuch Zhou spoke, Changsheng's expression changed drastically. This was not good news. The emperor was already very suspicious, so he was afraid that he would be even more wary of him...
