Chapter 780
Nanyuan, located [-] miles away from the suburbs of Beijing, has been a royal hunting ground since the Yuan Dynasty. It is also called Nanhaizi because of the Yongding River passing through it and dense springs.

At the beginning, when Emperor Taizong was still the King of Yan, he often came to Nanyuan for hunting. After moving the capital, he expanded the place and built a 120-mile wall and many palaces, making Nanyuan a famous Yanjing. "Southern Autumn Wind" among the ten sceneries.

As a royal hunting ground, Nanyuan is attached to Shanglinyuan. Like Neiku, Huangzhuang, and Huangdian, it belongs to the royal private property. There are thousands of sea households in it, who are responsible for raising animals for royal hunting.

However, with the death of the first emperor and the young orthodox emperor, Nanyuan had not conducted large-scale hunting for more than ten years, and Nanyuan gradually became a place to supply cattle, sheep, vegetables and fruits for the palace.

The Son of Heaven presided over the spring hunt this time, which should be regarded as the biggest hunt in Nanyuan in recent years. Therefore, since receiving the decree, everyone has been busy from top to bottom, and finally they are ready to stop.

On the fifteenth day of the third lunar month, early in the morning, the officials met outside the Fengtian Gate. The sky was getting brighter, the palace gate opened wide, and two sets of chariots drove side by side. A long procession of honor guards.

Since it is a spring hunt, even if it is a national ceremony, the battle must not be small. Naturally, it will not be over in a day. In addition, besides the emperor and the emperor, there are other people participating in the spring hunt this time. The civil and military ministers in the court, honorable families, envoys from the barbarians, and even elite soldiers selected from the Beijing camp.

A mighty team blew their whips and headed towards Nanyuan.

According to the schedule presented by the Ministry of Rites, the spring hunting lasted for three days. On the first day, they offered sacrifices to heaven, on the second day they hunted, on the third day they practiced martial arts, and after giving a banquet, they returned to Beijing on the fourth day.

Although it is only twenty miles away, except for a few highly respected ministers who were given a carriage by the emperor, most of the ministers could only follow behind the team honestly and walk over with their feet.

Therefore, this spring hunting can be regarded as a hard job for them. The winding team started early in the morning, and when they arrived at Nanyuan, the sun was already high.

Arrived at the palace, settled down a bit, and after lunch, followed by the tedious ceremony of offering sacrifices to the heavens. After a whole day, the tossing and tossing did not come to an end until the evening.

Of course, it was only ordinary ministers who took a rest, and a group of important ministers could not rest, because they still had to go to the palace to meet the emperor.

The palace was brightly lit, and the emperor was sitting beside the case, beside Wynn and an eunuch whose face was not too familiar, and next to him was Lu Zhong, the commander of Jin Yiwei in a flying fish robe, with several documents on the case .

Looking down, there are three ministers in scarlet official robes standing by, with bitter expressions on their faces. These three people are none other than Wang Wen, Shangshu of the Ministry of Officials, Shen Yi, Shangshu of the Household Department, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Chen Yi, the censor of the left capital.

"Tell me, what's going on?"

Correspondingly, the emperor above looked relaxed and asked with a smile.

But the more this was the case, the more miserable the faces of the three people below were. You looked at me and I looked at you, but no one answered.

After a while, Chen Yi bit the bullet and said.

"Your Majesty, there may be a misunderstanding on this matter, or call Shanglinyuan Supervisor Chen Yong over, maybe he can explain clearly?"

"Chen Yong?"

Hearing this name, the emperor's expression changed, and then he said casually while the three people below watched him.

"I don't want to see him, he should be in prison right now, oh yes, Jin Yiwei just confiscated the things from his mansion, look?"

While talking, the emperor took out a booklet from the case and asked the servant to pass it on. Several people took a closer look, and immediately broke out in cold sweat.

Among them, Shen Yi reacted the most, almost jumped up.

At the same time, Zhu Qiyu's face finally turned cold.

"A mere supervisor of Shanglin Court, under the eyes of the imperial court, has amassed nearly 3 taels of silver. The gold and silver artifacts at home, the land lease mansion, and the shop Zhuangzi add up to at least nearly 10 taels. guts!"

"Shen Shangshu?"

"Chen is here!"

Shen Yi complained endlessly in his heart, but he didn't dare to neglect, and responded immediately.

He was happy to follow the emperor to spring hunting today, but who would have thought that he would be called over as soon as he arrived at the palace.

The emperor found out after talking about it. It turned out that it was because Shanglinyuan was sued.

The matter is actually very simple, the emperor wants to preside over the spring hunting himself, so he sent the forbidden army to take over the defense of Shanglin Garden in advance.

The day before the emperor's arrival, Lu Zhong, the commander of Jinyiwei, went to Nanyuan to inspect as usual, but after such a inspection, he found something was wrong.

In the huge Nanyuan, there are only hares, roe deer, pheasants and other common folk animals. There are very few wild animals such as elk, tigers and leopards that were specially raised in the early years.

One must know that the first emperor liked to hunt, and had specially ordered people to raise many ferocious beasts. So far, the imperial court still has a special allocation of silver taels for Shanglin Garden to raise these ferocious beasts every year.

But now, when it's really time to hunt, there are very few of these ferocious beasts that should be there.

Therefore, even though Lu Zhongdang rushed back to the palace, he reported the matter to the emperor, and this created the current scene.

"If I remember correctly, the supervisor of Shanglinyuan is a fifth-rank official with an annual salary of 190 and two shi. The capital city is expensive, but at most it is eight qian silver a shi."

"Shen Shangshu is a well-known golden abacus, you come and do the math for me, this Chen Yong has to save for many years without eating or drinking to have this 10 taels of wealth!"

When he said this, Shen Shangshu could clearly hear that the emperor couldn't restrain his anger, he was really angry!

"His Majesty calm down, the minister is guilty!"

Although the emperor's calculation is a bit too far-fetched, there are probably not many officials in the capital who really live on their salaries.

Even if you don’t talk about some gray income, it’s only firewood and salary, tax-free silver taels for farmland, and regular silver tacitly approved by the court. If you add it up, a fifth-rank official can get dozens of taels of silver every month, which is higher than salary. many.

If you add those gray incomes that are not legal, but everyone is doing, such as sending fields under the name, inscriptions, embellishing pens, charcoal respect from local officials, filial piety from gentry merchants, etc., even if it is an ordinary Qingshui yamen, if you put it together, it will be much more. Not to mention, there are always hundreds of taels of silver a year.

However, 10 taels is a bit too much!
One must know that even Shen Yi, an important official of the imperial court, who is in charge of Daming's pocketbook, his wealth is only tens of thousands of taels.

Of course, this is because Shen Shangshu has a bright official career and cherishes feathers, so he disdains to engage in some tricks of corruption and bribery.

But don't forget, Shen Yi is already in the first echelon of civil servants, and there are very few court officials who have the same status as him.

But even he doesn't have 10 taels in his family, which shows how daring this Chen Yong is.

On the other side, Chen Yi's face was also livid. He was called here today. He only knew that many rare animals such as tigers, leopards and elks were lost in Shanglin Garden, but he never thought that such a serious matter was involved behind it.

Looking at the people kneeling on the ground, Zhu Qiyu's face turned pale, but he still said with a bit of anger.

"Shanglin Yuanjian is not a government office with real power. If you think about it, there are only a few ways for Chen Yong to get money. There is probably no chance of accepting bribes, but corruption must be investigated."

"Besides that, the tigers, leopards and elks raised in Shanglin Garden are all missing, and I'm afraid they are also related to his prison."

"The first responsibility for this matter lies with the Metropolitan Procuratorate. There are six divisions and thirteen departments. The Guizhou Provincial Association is in charge of Shanglinyuan Superintendent. Chen Yong has been in office for several years, and the Guizhou Provincial Censor has not noticed it. This is a dereliction of duty!"

Chen Yi bowed his head and was scolded silently.

Although, he can actually argue with many reasons.

For example, in recent years, there have been a lot of affairs in the imperial court, especially after experiencing the turmoil of the civil war. .

For another example, the personnel of the Metropolitan Procuratorate has undergone serious changes in the past two years. Except for Chen Yi, the Zuodu censor, six subjects and thirteen departments, plus the Qiandu censor and deputy capital censor, there are often vacancies, and there is a serious shortage of manpower. , and the flow is very serious.

For another example, in recent days, the Metropolitan Procuratorate has been fully cooperating with the Ministry of War to check the military settlements. At least half of the censors have been scattered around the border to measure the acres and redraw the fish scale atlas.

These reasons can all be presented, and they are true.

However, Chen Yi didn't say anything.

Because no matter how many reasons there are, they can't cover up the mistakes. The emperor is right. The Shanglinyuan prison has made such a big mistake. It is the fault of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. As the head of Fengxian, he, the Zuodu Yushi, bears the brunt.

What's more, Chen Yi also knew very well in his heart that the emperor was not an indiscriminate person, and the actual situation of the Metropolitan Procuratorate was also clear to him, so there were reprimands, but he would not be too harsh.

Sure enough, the emperor cursed a few words, seemed to be calmed down a bit, and continued to speak.

"The decree continues, Guizhou Taoist censors will be demoted to one level, and they will return to the government for investigation. The rest of Guizhou Taoist censors will be fined for three months and will be handed over to the Ministry of Punishment and Jinyiwei for investigation. The crime will be increased!"

"According to the order!"

Chen Yi sighed in his heart. Sure enough, even if the emperor understood the difficulties of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, he could not escape the punishment.

However, this is also normal. Chen Yong was able to amass such a huge amount of wealth, so it can be seen that what he has done has lasted for a long time. Even in the recent period of complicated affairs in the court, no one cares about a small supervisor of Shanglin Court.

However, if the Guizhou Taoist who is in charge of the management said that he hadn't noticed it at all, I'm afraid it's impossible.

If it was in normal times, it would be fine, but now that the Son of Heaven personally presides over the spring hunting, this matter obviously cannot be resolved, and Chen Yi is prepared for this.

However, what surprised him was that the person appointed by the emperor was the Ministry of Punishment and Jin Yiwei...

You know, usually this kind of case is directly taken over by Jin Yiwei, but this time it was handed over to the Ministry of Criminal Justice to participate, which reminded Chen Yi that when the case of Ren Li was handled, the emperor also handled it in the same way.

Recalling the palace examination case again, the Son of Heaven also handed it over to the presiding judge of Dali Temple, assisted by Jin Yiwei. When these several cases were connected, Chen Yi seemed to have a taste, but he couldn't figure it out.

However, since the emperor said so, it means that this matter is the responsibility of the procuratorate, and that's it.

Then next...

"In addition to the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Ministry of Officials cannot escape the responsibility!"

After scolding Chen Yi, Zhu Qiyu turned his head and looked at Wang Wen.

Wang Laoshangshu knelt on the ground with shameful brows and drooping eyes, with the same look of being beaten and scolded.

All over the court, this person will only look like this in front of the emperor. Whoever dares to say that this old man is reasonable or not, he will always disturb three points.

But in front of the emperor...

"Wang Shangshu, how long has Chen Yong been working as supervisor of Shanglin Court, and how is the evaluation?"

It should be said that, as the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, Mr. Wang's professional ability is still very strong. All over the court, whether it is the capital or the local government, all the officials above the seventh rank have their resumes in his mind.

Therefore, when the emperor asked, Wang Wen immediately answered.

"Returning to Your Majesty, Chen Yong was transferred to Shanglinyuan Supervisor in the sixth year of Zhengtong. In the ninth year of Zhengtong, he was promoted to Jianzheng because of his excellent evaluation. He was re-evaluated in the 12th year of Zhengtong, and his performance was average. The Ministry of Officials plans to stay in the post until now. Last year, Beijing inspected. Chen Yong The evaluation was above average, therefore, it was not transferred."

"In this way, Chen Yong has been in Shanglinyuan prison for nearly ten years, including his time as a supervisor. No wonder he dares to do something like this!"

With a cold snort, Zhu Qiyu's tone became a little unhappy again, and said.

"I won't mention many things before, but last year's Jingcha, Chen Yong's behavior was still able to evaluate the middle and high. It can be seen that there are still falsehoods in the Jingcha, and this is the fault of the officials."

"After returning to Beijing this time, you will do three things."

"First, check the Lang Guan who was in charge of evaluating the officials of the Shanglin Garden during the Beijing inspection last year, and strictly investigate whether there is any bribery, malpractice and dereliction of duty among them."

"Secondly, a gentleman must first correct himself. After returning, you will preside over it yourself, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate will coordinate with you to investigate the officials and ministers of the Ministry of Officials. Anyone who acts favoritism will be severely punished!"

"Third, immediately add the censors of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and make temporary concessions on the rest of the election affairs, and give priority to ensuring that the six departments and thirteen departments are full, so as to avoid the occurrence of the Shanglinyuan supervisor."

After the words fell, before Wang Wen could speak, Chen Yi cast an envious and jealous look towards him.

What the hell is the same person with different fates!
In this matter, both the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Ministry of Officials are obviously responsible, and even in detail, the Ministry of Officials is even more responsible.

After all, just after the Beijing inspection last year, Chen Yong was so slack and dereliction of duty that he was not found out, and even got a mid-level evaluation.

But the result?

His subordinates who were suspended from duty, and those who were awaiting investigation, were directly handed over to the Criminal Department and Jin Yiwei.

When it was Wang Wen's turn, he was asked to investigate the favoritism of the Ministry himself, and asked the Metropolitan Procuratorate to cooperate with him in rectifying the Ministry's affairs.

This is not punishing him, it is clearly helping this old guy to further control the bureaucracy!
However, after thinking about the last words of the emperor, no matter how dissatisfied Mr. Chen felt, he had to suppress it.

After all, if you get benefits, you have to work.

Nodding reluctantly, Chen Zongxian reluctantly walked with Wang Wen.

"The minister leads the order."

So, Zhu Qiyu shifted his gaze to the last person.

"Shen Shangshu!"

"The minister is..."

Shen Yi carefully looked at the expression of the Son of Heaven, feeling a little uneasy in his heart, logically speaking, this matter has nothing to do with the Ministry of Household Affairs.

So, under Shen Shangshu's anxious gaze, Zhu Qiyu said.

"It was originally said that this matter has something to do with the Ministry of Household Affairs. However, the number of livestock and poultry raised by the Shanglin Court Supervisor should vary from year to year. However, the fodder, grain, and silver that the Shanglin Court Supervisor asks for every year are almost the same. When you checked the accounts before, Didn't you notice it?"

(End of this chapter)

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