After the quiet whip sounded, amidst the howling of the cold wind, it was time for the ministers to perform their duties.
"Ahem!"
"Ahem!"
"..."
At almost the same time, there were several coughs in the queue of civil servants, and then several people were seen walking out almost together.
This is the rule of the Ming Dynasty. Before doing something, you must cough first.
Among them, Xue Guoguan is the assistant minister of the cabinet and stands at the front of the queue. Therefore, with the geographical advantage, regardless of what happened behind, he immediately shouted loudly: "Your Majesty, I have my own message!"
Emperor Chongzhen looked up and found several people in the censor queue rushing to speak, and he couldn't help but be a little surprised. However, Xue Guoguan made an appointment last night, so he nodded and said: "It's accurate!"
It's early in the morning and it's winter. No one wants the morning court to last too long. Therefore, generally speaking, no one is willing to do anything at this morning court unless it is an important matter. Therefore, not only Emperor Chongzhen was a little surprised that someone was rushing to do something today, but other civil and military officials were also a little surprised. For a moment, everyone looked at the people who were coming out.
When the censors at the back saw Xue Guoguan coming out, they had no choice but to retreat first. On the other side of the queue of generals, when they saw the censors clearly, someone whispered: "Damn it, who did you take advantage of again!"
Obviously, among the censors listed just now, there should be someone who is relatively famous in this field.
Amidst the howling of the cold wind, I heard Xue Guoguan playing loudly: "Your Majesty, the people of the Ming Dynasty in the capital area were fortunate enough to escape the ravages of the Manchu and Qing Tatars and hid in the capital city. However, under the emperor's feet, inside the capital city, they Still can't survive! Starving and freezing, a large number of people freeze to death and starve to death every day. I think that if the imperial court does not do its best, how can the people of Ming Dynasty be allowed to freeze and starve to death in the capital city!"
Having said this, he took out a memorial from his sleeve and continued to play loudly: "We have compiled statistics on the miserable situation of the refugees in the capital, and please ask your Majesty to take a look at it!"
While talking, Chen Baoting hurriedly came over and took the memorial from Xue Guoguan and forwarded it to Emperor Chongzhen.
When other officials heard what he said, they couldn't help but turn their attention to Shuntian Prefecture Yin. This was his scope of responsibility. Most of them are gloating in their hearts. Well, Xue Manzi found him, he is in big trouble!
However, Shuntian Prefecture Yin did not panic. Before Emperor Chongzhen called him to ask questions, he coughed and went out to report: "Your Majesty, what Mr. Xue Ge said is true, but there is something wrong!"
At this point, his voice became louder again, and he said confidently: "I am the official who is the father and mother of the people. If something like this happens, I should do my best to accommodate these people. However, a clever woman cannot make a meal without rice, and the people under my jurisdiction The granary has been vacant for a long time, and this matter has been reported. As long as the Ministry of Revenue can allocate food, I will guarantee that no one will starve to death."
Hearing this, Li Daiwen, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, could no longer remain silent. He coughed quickly and went out to report: "Your Majesty, tomorrow will be a disaster for people and thieves, and the Manchu Tatars will wreak havoc. The national treasury has already been unable to make ends meet. How can I There is still food left! I have already reported this matter!"
These things are actually known to everyone. Who doesn’t know that an empty treasury can starve rats to death! Money and food, Yin has been eating a lot of food for many years! Even this can not meet the normal expenses of the court. For this reason, Liao and Zhen wages have been levied, but it is still not enough!
In fact, in order to solve the problem of money and food, Yang Sichang had already proposed to Emperor Chongzhen to increase the training salary.
Therefore, the question raised by Xue Guoguan is actually an unsolvable question. Seeing that this well-known issue has been put on the table again, many of the civil and military officials below have the mentality of watching a show. What should the emperor do?
In fact, those refugees die every day, and we are not blind, so why don’t we mention it? Just because I know there is no way to solve it, so why bother to stand up and embarrass the emperor and leave a bad impression on the emperor! Xue Manzi is indeed Xue Manzi, he dares to do anything!
Emperor Chongzhen on the throne didn't actually need to read the memorial. He knew that these data were given to Xue Guoguan by Jin Yiwei last night, and he also had a copy on hand. But at this time, he still pretended to read it carefully, then looked at the ministers below with a heavy face, and said loudly: "Human life is at stake, more than five thousand lives! Do you have any good ideas? Come quickly!"
After he finished speaking, the square became quiet. The coughs that had been impatient just now were no longer heard. Only the sound of flags and flags blown by the cold wind could be heard.
Seeing this situation, Emperor Chongzhen looked at Xue Guoguan and said: "Since Xue Qing has raised this matter, he must have some way to solve it. Don't have any scruples, just come forward!"
When everyone heard this, they all turned to look at Xue Guoguan. Some people thought of Xue Guoguan's usual behavior, such as Yang Sichang and Fang Fengnian, who were both assistant ministers. They thought of Xue Guoguan's proposal to solve the money and food issue that day, and they were suddenly shocked. They felt that Xue Manzi was coming up with another idea. !
Sure enough, Xue Guoguan listened to the signal sent by the emperor and immediately echoed loudly: "It is the duty of a minister to worry about the humiliation of the minister and relieve the king's worries. Since there is no money and food in the national treasury, your majesty can make these common people work as servants in the homes of the officials in Beijing and earn a fortune It’s great to have food to eat and a shabby room to shelter from the cold!”
When Fang Fengnian, the assistant minister standing next to him, heard this, he thought to himself: It is indeed so, it is indeed so! This Xue Manzi is really determined not to give up unless he arouses public outrage!
At this time, he was very afraid that Xue Guoguan would add another sentence and send refugees to civil and military officials in the name of the cabinet. In order to avoid being dragged down by Xue Guoguan, Fang Fengnian reacted immediately. Without waiting for the emperor to speak, he immediately coughed and went out to announce: "Your Majesty, you must not!"
In fact, Yang Sichang also had the same idea as him. Almost at the same time as Fang Fengnian, he went out to report: "Your Majesty, this method is absurd!"
Emperor Chongzhen looked at them, but he didn't expect that there were more coughs, and civil and military officials came out one after another, all of them opposed this matter.
Although he had expected this, Emperor Chongzhen was still very disappointed in his heart. He immediately looked at them with a gloomy face and said nothing as they explained their reasons.
"Your Majesty, my salary is limited and I really can't support more people!"
"Your Majesty, the salary for the past few months has not been distributed by the imperial court. Even the ministers don't know how to spend this year. Now if there is another mouth in the family, they will really go hungry. It is unseemly!"
"..."
Anyway, he complained all the time, and even asked the court for the salary he owed. Haha, it was the same in the Ming Dynasty. They were so poor that even officials were given discounts on their salaries. At this time, these officials used it to make excuses.
When Xue Guoguan heard this, he immediately argued with them, pointed at them, and said one by one that they were all lying to deceive the emperor, and it was strange that they could starve to death!
