Sir, you have to pay more

Chapter 19 The whole country coaxes the queen mother

Jia Zhongtang sincerely thanks Comrade "No Tears Lazy" for donating 1000 taels of silver before Zhongtang made his fortune, becoming the second leader of this work after "Little Overlord Farewell Chicken"!

In Beijing in late autumn, it is very cold in the morning and evening, especially at dawn.

At this point, no one wants to stay in bed and not get up.

Except for the poor (workers) who are busy making ends meet, and those who are officials.

The Qing Dynasty stipulated that the office hours for officials in the Yamen were Chenzheng (5:7 to [-]:[-]) in winter and spring, and Maozheng ([-]:[-] to [-]:[-]) in summer and autumn. At Yin time (three to four o'clock), you have to get up, dress and wash.

Some Han officials whose families cannot live in the whole city have to get up at the ugly hour (two o'clock), otherwise they will miss their work time, but they will be impeached by the censor in charge of discipline.In the slightest, fines and salaries will be included in the performance appraisal to affect the year-end evaluation, and in severe cases, they will all be dismissed because of this.

Therefore, it is not unreasonable for Jia Liu's father, Jia Daquan, to say that being an official, especially an official in Beijing, is the most painful thing in the world.

Tong Yinglian, the governor of Zhenghuang Banner Manchuria, who is also the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment and the servant of the Ministry of Household Affairs, got up early. Today is him, the Minister of Manchuria, who is on duty in the Yamen, so it must not be too late.

It’s just that Ying Lian is a 66-year-old man after all. Although he was dressed warmly, the moment he walked out of the house, the coldness that came to his face still made the old man frowned. After getting on the sedan chair, he headed towards the imperial city.

The yamen of the household department is in the imperial city, just past the Daqing Gate, next to the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Officials.In the Ming Dynasty, most of the six offices of Jiuqing Yamen were working in the original location.

Today is thirteen, so there is no need for a court meeting.

Even if they go to court, the Qing Dynasty is different from the previous dynasty, because the emperor of the Qing Dynasty only needs to go to court three times a month, that is, the fifth day, the fifteenth day, and the 25th day of the lunar new year.

At the time of the ancestors, Lord Shunzhi was diligent in political affairs at the beginning, requiring all civil and military officials to go to the court to perform affairs every day.But after a long time, Lord Shunzhi couldn't take it anymore. He felt that the daily court was too complicated and too tiring, so he decided to perform civil and military affairs on the fifth, fifteenth, and 25th day of the lunar new year.For the other 27 days, there is no need to go to court.

In the previous dynasty, the emperor would be scolded if he didn't go to court for a day, saying that he was not diligent, lazy, and lazy, and everyone was a fool.

The Qing Dynasty directly established the system that the emperor only went to the court three times a month, and everyone inside and outside the court, including the people, praised the emperor.

However, it was a relief for the emperor not to go to court, but it was of little benefit to the officials. Except for the big and small officials in the inner court, all Manchu and Han civil and military officials had to go to the yamen at dawn to sit on duty on time.

The Zhenghuang Banner of Manchuria is divided into Deshengmen, which is the north of the imperial city. This place is also the closest to the imperial city. It is only a stick of incense from Yinglian's house to Daqingmen.

It was still very dark at this time, and there were many officials carrying sedan chairs on their way to the yamen, and some officials who were not high enough to sit in sedan chairs were walking in the dark.

Near the imperial city where the yamen are located, many low-ranking officials can be seen following the sedan chairs of princes and dignitaries that can be illuminated with lamps, like a centipede.There is no way, because it was dark and there was no lighting before, and the result was that I strayed into the Yu River and drowned.

It's just that today is a bit strange. Before arriving at Daqing Gate, Ying Lian, who was sitting in the sedan chair holding a hand warmer, felt that it was suddenly bright outside and full of people's voices. The scene immediately surprised Ying Zhongtang.

I saw that the Daqing Gate, which was originally pitch-black, was decorated with lights and festoons overnight. Rows of palace lanterns from top to bottom reflected the Daqing Gate in splendor and splendor.

Looking at the long road from Daqingmen to Tiananmen (Ming Chengtianmen) in Miyagi, a stage was built every dozens of steps, and an archway was built between every two stages.On the clean roads at the gates of the major yamen on both sides, several verandahs sprung up like mushrooms after rain, and they were also decorated with lanterns and festoons, which could not be seen at a glance.

Looking at the square outside the Daqing Gate, there are also countless palace lanterns hanging in the air.Many pine trees popped out of nowhere on the originally empty square. Each tree was decorated with silk ribbons and matched with four-color palace lanterns. It made people stunned and suddenly enlightened.

The inside and outside of the imperial city at this moment is really like a fairyland on earth.

Officials, big and small, were attracted by the prospect, and forgot to go to work for a while.

Ying Lian also stepped out of the sedan chair. He glanced at the ground and found that there was no dirt on the ground. It was obvious that someone had cleaned it up overnight.I can't help but feel that the Ministry of Internal Affairs is very efficient in handling errands, but I don't know how much money those guys got from it.

"Master, look at that, look at that!"

"."

Yinglian's entourage and bearers looked around like countrymen entering the city, very excited, all of them were dazzled by the beautiful scenery in front of them.

But at this moment, their master didn't notice the magnificent scene in front of him. Instead, his face sank like water, and his brows were slightly frowned.

Not far away, someone saw Ying Lian's face sinking like water, thought for a while and walked over slowly, and said softly: "Brother Ji Sixth, the household department is in trouble."

"Ji Liu" is Ying Lian's character.

The person who came was Liu Tongxun, the president of "Siku Quanshu", the chief master of Shangshufang, a bachelor of Dongge University, and minister of military aircraft.

"It's more than a trouble. I don't think it's enough to take the Ministry of Households as a role."

Another person came over, but it was Qing Gui, the son of Yin Jishan, a former scholar, and the current military commander Zhang Jing.

"The Empress Dowager used 600,000 taels of silver for her 3th birthday, and more than [-] million silver for her [-]th birthday. This time, the scale of the [-]th birthday is much larger than the previous two. I think it will cost half the national treasury. "

Looking at the inside and outside of the imperial city decorated with lanterns and festoons that looked like a fairyland, Qing Gui couldn't help but shook his head.

The current state treasury of the Qing Dynasty has an annual income of more than 30 million taels, and the emperor will spend half of the treasury income on a birthday party for the empress dowager. No one should be alarmed!
Liu Tongxun gave a wry smile, and said to Yinglian: "Brother Ji, you are also working as a post in the household department. You know what's going on in the household department. Where can I make up for it?"

After finishing speaking, he sighed again and said, "It took five years to pacify the Zhun and Hui tribes in the west, and the money used was more than 30 million taels. The last time I used troops in Jinchuan, the land was only a thousand miles away, less than one-tenth of the Zhun and Hui tribes. Second, use up to 40 million silver, but get twice the result with half the effort. Today, Xiaojinchuan is rebelling again, and the three armies are gathered together. I am afraid that the money and food will cost no less than 30 million. From 31 to 34 years, I used more than [-] million taels of silver. To celebrate the Empress Dowager's birthday, how can the state treasury supply it? If it is not dissuaded, the country's financial resources will be exhausted, and the people will definitely complain. If this continues, how will we get it?"

"Isn't that right? During the previous tour, there was a local government who flattered the local government. How could it cost tens of millions of dollars? The vitality of the southeast is greatly consumed, and the influence of the influence has corrupted the customs of the officials and the people. Harm, do not give advice."

Although Qinggui was young, he was a rare and honest person among the Manchurian officials, and he was also known for his outspokenness and admonition.

"Don't worry Liu Zhongtang, since I'm in charge of the Ministry of Household Affairs, I should put state affairs first." Ying Lian expressed his attitude.

"So, very good."

Liu Tongxun didn't say much, and went to his sedan chair to check in for the military plane.Qing Gui stayed behind and said a few more words with Ying Lian before leaving.

Seeing Qinggui walking away, Ying Lian was about to get into the sedan chair, but a voice came from his ear: "The emperor is a man of great filial piety, Zhongtang must not speak out about the Empress Dowager's birthday. If the treasury is really difficult to meet, you might as well ask for a big donation. "

The so-called "big donation" is a provisional routine in the "donation" method of the Ministry of Officials-to take out some high-quality officials and nobles for sale when encountering certain major events.

Most of the official titles sold by the Ministry of Officials are below the fourth rank, so they are called small donations;

The official titles sold by the big donation are at least the fourth rank, and most of them are real jobs, so they will only be sold under special circumstances.

(End of this chapter)