August 15th, Mid-Autumn Festival.
According to the Jianwen system, government officials can take a break on this day to spend time with their families and enjoy the bright moon.
Jingren Palace in the capital.
Concubine Xian watched the maid pack the boxes and cages and fell into memories.
It has been more than four years since Hongwu entered the East Palace in the 31st year of his reign. He has not yet returned home, and his parents have not been to the capital.
Firstly, he didn't want his parents and family to come to the capital, lest they become domineering and cause trouble because of their status as royal relatives. Secondly, he was born in an ordinary family, staying close to one place and rarely traveling far.
Despite this, the contact with his family has not been interrupted, and there are four or five letters exchanged every year. Fengyang suffered a drought last year, and Wuhe County was also a disaster-stricken area. Fortunately, the court responded in a timely manner, and God opened its eyes, and the drought did not last long.
Now that I have received divine grace, I have to get out of this complicated palace and go home to visit my relatives. This is an honor and a blessing for me.
"Check carefully to make sure there are no omissions."
Concubine Xian ordered.
This time to visit relatives is not the low-key way Concubine Shu returned to Jurong, but a high-profile return home. The corresponding etiquette is the responsibility of the inner palace etiquette officer, and the items brought need to be selected several times to ensure not only the quality, but also the quantity. There can be no problem. There are only seven of the eight, which is against etiquette.
Just when Concubine Xian was almost ready, Queen Ma Enhui in Kunning Palace became a little troubled. There was an imperial edict on the table. Yes, it was an imperial edict, but the content only had one sentence:
I'm waiting for you in Yangzhou.
Before Zhu Yunwen left Beijing, Ma Enhui knew that she had no way to leave the harem. The emperor's northern tour could be said to be to inspect the public sentiment. What was the point of following the northern tour as a queen?
Besides, there are a lot of things in the harem. The Queen Mother needs someone to pay her respects, she needs approval for internal affairs, and she needs to check the accounts for business. There are so many things going on, no one cares about what to do.
But Ma Enhui still underestimated Zhu Yunwen's determination. When Zhu Yunwen saw that Ma Enhui wanted to travel but had to compromise and stay, he decided to take her on a northern tour.
Who stipulates that the emperor can only bring concubines on parade?
The Queen is the mother of the world, and it is not a matter of course for her to come out to see her people and children.
I remember that when Zhu Yuanzhang was conquering the world, Ma Xiuying was still living in the military camp and mending clothes for many soldiers. In the autumn of the second year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang visited Suzhou, and the person he brought with him was Queen Ma.
Zhu Yunwen was worried that Ma Enhui was unwilling to travel, so he wrote an imperial edict.
Ma Enhui was moved but also a little overwhelmed. How could she travel in a hurry without any preparation? The affairs of the first officer have not been settled properly. Once you go out, how will you deal with the affairs of the harem?
Empress Dowager Lu personally came to Kunning Palace, not only brought the things Ma Enhui needed for her trip, but also took Ma Enhui's hand and said with a look of affection: "Over the years, you are the one who has worked the hardest. Now the country is peaceful and the people are safe, Your Majesty It’s a rare opportunity to go out of the palace to patrol the north, so you should be by your side to take care of me.”
Ma Enhui was a little worried: "Queen Mother, if I leave the capital, many things in the harem will be put on hold. I'm afraid it will affect a lot..."
"The Romance of Fairy Wood"
There are no longer a small number of transactions handled by the harem. Although there are dedicated people responsible for some payment withdrawals and accounting proofreading, considering that it is related to the harem's income, Ma Enhui always needs to review it twice a month, and the Northern Patrol takes a lot of time, so there is no fear of a month. It's impossible to come back.
Empress Dowager Lu said with a smile: "Don't worry, the affairs in the harem will be left to Concubine Ning and Concubine Shu for the time being. I will take care of it, and there will be no problems."
Ma Enhui knew clearly that Zhu Yunwen must have persuaded Queen Mother Lu to come here. Such attention and care made Ma Enhui's eyes red. She quickly ordered the maid to prepare the Mid-Autumn Festival dinner and spend time with her family.
Zhu Yunwen had no time to appreciate the bright moon or taste moon cakes. The arrest and imprisonment of Liu Zhan and Liu Ning only revealed a corner of Yangzhou's salt administration corruption. Because there was no warning when they were arrested, many of the Liu family's account books were not transferred. , all fell into the hands of the Security Bureau.
There are many ledgers, densely recording transactions in the past sixteen years. Among them are some ministers, important ministers, and generals from the Hongwu period. If you look carefully at the records of the past four years, you can see that the transfer of interests is even more frequent, and most of the officials are concentrated in Lianghuai. They were all transferred to the Salt Envoy Department, the Approval and Inspection Office and the Yangzhou Magistrate's Yamen, as well as some imperial censors and household officials.
"emperor."
Xia Yuanji picked up an account book and handed it to Zhu Yunwen, and pointed at a person's name: "Although Liu Zhan only interacts with this person once a year, the amount is ten thousand taels, which is the largest single expenditure in the past few years. "
Zhu Yunwen followed Xia Yuanji's fingers and his eyes fell on a name:
Liu Guan.
"This name seems to have been seen somewhere."
Zhu Yunwen felt a little familiar, but thought about it carefully but couldn't put it into words.
Xie Jin came over and his eyes lit up: "It's him!"
Zhu Yunwen looked at Xie Jin.
Xie Jin explained: "Your Majesty, this person was a Jinshi in the eighteenth year of Hongwu. He was later appointed as the magistrate of Taigu County. A year later, he was transferred back to the capital to serve as the supervisory censor."
"Wait, a year?"
Zhu Yunwen was very surprised.
The imperial court regulated the examination every three years. As a new Jinshi scholar, how could Liu Guan return to the capital from a county magistrate in just one year and become a supervisory censor.
Xia Yuanji thought about it and said, "I know something about this matter. It is rumored that when Liu Guan was the county magistrate in Taigu County, he used various means to get a lot of silver from the Chang family to smoothen the relationship with the capital. Only then in a short period of time Return to the capital within a year."
"Chang family? Are you saying that Liu Guan also robbed Shanxi merchant Chang Qianli back then?"
Zhu Yunwen was a little surprised.
Xia Yuanji did not agree with Zhu Yunwen's use of the word "robbery". Chang Qianli became a famous Shanxi merchant in Shanxi. One reason was border merchants, and the other reason was smuggling. Once caught and convicted of smuggling something like this, it would cost lives. Liu Guan used this to threaten Chang Qianli and ask for benefits and hush money. It can only be said to be blackmail, and robbery is inappropriate.
"and after?"
Zhu Yunwen asked.
Xie Jin said calmly: "Later Liu Guan returned to Beijing and served as a supervisory censor for ten years. During these ten years, his performance was remarkable and he looked like a loyal minister. Taizu thought that his advice was meritorious. In the 29th year of Hongwu's reign, he was promoted to the position of censor of Zuoqiandu."
Zhu Yunwen listened quietly.
In eleven years, Liu Guan was promoted from an unknown county magistrate of the eighth rank to a censor of the capital Zuoqian of the fourth rank. The promotion speed of a senior cadre in the Metropolitan Procuratorate is not fast, but it has surpassed many officials.
"In the 29th year of Hongwu's reign, he was promoted to the imperial censor of Zuoqiandu? But why am I not impressed?"
Zhu Yunwen was very confused. Although he ascended the throne in the summer of the thirty-first year of Hongwu, he should still remember the events of the twenty-ninth year of Hongwu, but he had no impression of Liu Guan.
Xia Yuanji solved Zhu Yunwen's doubts: "Because he started to commit corruption after he was promoted to the censor of Zuoqiandu, he was imprisoned within two months. Later, some ministers interceded for him, and he was demoted by Taizu to become the prefect of Jiaxing. "
Zhu Yunwen frowned. This Liu Guan was really powerful. He not only survived in the hands of Taizu, but also kept his official position. You know, how many great people have been blown away by wind and rain, but he is still at ease.
Xie Jin added: "Liu Guan served as the magistrate of Jiaxing for three months. His father passed away, and Ding You had to go home to observe mourning. It has been five years now. Logically speaking, he can return to the Ministry of Civil Affairs after his three-year period of mourning is over. After reporting for duty and being re-assigned to an official position, people were surprised that he did not return to the capital."
Looking down at Liu Zhan's account book, Zhu Yunwen sighed: "Judging from the account book, Liu Zhan has always had a close relationship with Liu Guan, and the benefits are huge. He must be asking for help from others. Although Liu Guan is not an official, he The energy is still there, so check it out. Find out where this person is now, how much his family property is, and where the money is used."
Xie Jin and Xia Yuanji nodded repeatedly.
In any case, Liu Guan is very unclean. If this is the case, let's investigate to the end to see why this person made Liu Zhan willingly give money, and why a person who is not an official has such energy.
Xia Yuanji looked at a pile of account books and felt a little unbelievable: "From the perspective of the Ministry of Household Affairs, there are not many problems with the salt administration in the Huaihe River. But who would have thought that the problems would be so big. The salt administration is related to the people's livelihood. If left unchecked, If this continues, sooner or later there will be big chaos."
Zhu Yunwen threw an account book aside and said a little tiredly: "The problems exposed by the Lianghuai Salt Policy may not only exist in Lianghuai. This incident reminds us that we cannot see the inside by just looking at the surface. Problems. Official corruption, manipulation of salt prices, these things are serious, but the most serious ones are the flaws of the Kaizhong Law."
"The flaw in the method of opening the middle?"
Xie Jin and Xia Yuanji were a little surprised.
Zhu Yunwen nodded solemnly and analyzed it one by one: "You all know the operation process of the Kaizhong method. The border merchants exchange the banknotes for the currency and sell it to the domestic merchants through salt to obtain profits. But after the border merchants exchange the salt for the currency, they may not It was sold to domestic merchants in a short period of time. Like this time, someone took advantage of it and maliciously manipulated it. The border merchants stayed in Yangzhou for three months and couldn't sell any salt, and even to the point of selling at a loss."
"This is one of the flaws in the Kaizhong Law, so this problem must be solved. For example, the court is responsible for buying back salt imports from border merchants, allowing domestic merchants to purchase salt imports directly from the court, reducing the waiting time of border merchants."
Xia Yuanji nodded. This is indeed a big problem. Most border merchants have not settled down in Yangzhou. They still have to go home. Living in Yangzhou for three months will cost everything. If border merchants can go to Yangzhou, Being able to sell Shiohiki on the same day can indeed save you a lot of money.
But the problem is that once the revenue is completely controlled by the court, internal businessmen must deal with court officials, which will easily breed corruption, and even a second immortal figure will appear.
Faced with Xia Yuanji's concerns, Zhu Yunwen thought for a long time and said, "This is indeed a problem. Do you think it is feasible to incorporate Yanyin into the central bank?"
"Qianzhuang?"
Xia Yuanji was confused. What kind of operation was this, asking the bank to sell salt?
Xie Jin fell into deep thought and didn't know why.
