Shortly after Sheng Yuan was questioned, Dali Temple delivered the investigation report to the cabinet. Not long after, the cabinet discussed and characterized the case as a "military supply corruption case" and ordered Dali Temple to handle it strictly.
Soon, the cold and snowy Kyoto became lively.
The three armies of the Internal Guard, the City Defense Army, and the City Patrol Division joined forces and frequently appeared in the mansions of officials.
At the same time, boxes of furniture continued to flow to the state treasury.
It is said that everyone in the four departments of the Ministry of Household Affairs is so busy that the supervisor at the bottom who is responsible for counting the confiscated assets has sparks in his mouth.
In view of Emperor Jinghe's request for Dali Temple and various ministries to speed up the progress and strive to close the case before the year-end vacation, so that the border troops and court officials can have a happy holiday; at the end of December, the imperial censor made a satirical poem about the corruption caused by the Nanyuan Army. The case came to an end quickly.
Several royal merchants involved in the incident, the Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Household Affairs, the Qing Li Si Lang of the Ministry of War Arsenal, and the Military Supervisor were all brought to justice.
Emperor Jinghe ordered the Ministry of Household Affairs to use part of the confiscated property to compensate the Nanyuan Army, and also ordered the Ordnance Supervisor, whose officials had all been replaced, to prepare military supplies to meet the needs of the border troops.
At this point, the corruption case caused by Qian Shi's poetry writing was over.
As for the border military official who was at the center of the whirlpool, he was demoted to Qianhu because of such a shameless act as writing satirical poems on the outer wall of the general affairs envoy.
Well, this kind of ending is both satisfying and frustrating.
Of course, some were happy and some were sad. Among the courtiers outside the incident, some were smiling from ear to ear, like An Suiyun, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue; some were depressed and unhappy, like some ministers in the cabinet.
But no matter what, everyone still had to keep their emotions consistent, after all, the happy emperor on the throne was watching.
When spring returns to the earth, the turmoil of a few months ago seems to have disappeared.
But when it rained at night, those remaining problems gradually began to ferment.
First, large-scale debates about "business existence, business cooperation, and business importance" successively occurred in private academies across the country.
The main content of the debate is the relationship between business, economics and businessmen.
What everyone discussed was the necessity, significance and role of merchants.
Gradually, these debates spread among literati and officials, and later, officials and students also spontaneously organized discussions.
Before this trend spread to Kyoto, someone again discussed "Which is more important than peasants, farmers, industry and commerce?"
This discussion seemed to be about assigning an order to scholars, farmers, industry and merchants, but in fact it was calling on the imperial court to give merchants normal treatment as ordinary people, allowing them to take scientific examinations and become officials, not restricting their expenditure regulations, and allowing them to live freely.
It should be said that Da Chu did not have many restrictions on merchants. As long as the merchants' grandchildren were not engaged in merchant affairs, they could take the imperial examination. After they obtained the title and became an official, they could also apply for a title to the merchant.
This kind of treatment was unimaginable before Dayan.
But obviously, the merchants who have gained some freedom want to unlock the remaining unfreedom.
Therefore, when Sheng Yuan was once again in charge of the morning court, someone proposed to change the imperial examination qualifications of merchant families to the second generation.
“Since the beginning of the Yan Dynasty’s emphasis on trade, to the Chen Dynasty, and to the present dynasty, merchants have been like living water, making the country’s economy flourish. Wherever they left their footprints, there was a lot of exchanges between the East and the West, and there were many interactions between skills, commodities, culture, etc. The existence of merchants has enabled goods to be transported from all over the world, special products from the east to the west, and skills from the west to the east. If they have made contributions to the country, they should be rewarded and treated with equal regard." Chen Ling, the censor of the Thirteenth Road, said with his hand.
After finishing his words, before Emperor Jinghe could say anything, a sarcastic sneer resounded throughout the court: "Ouch, if you follow what you said, I'm afraid Zhang Ziwen of the Western Han Dynasty will want to talk to you!"
