Guide to Traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty.

Chapter 879 0874 [The first peasant uprising in the Ming Dynasty]

Is it easy for the Minister of Industry to make money?
It's easy.

It's not easy.

Because this official position is too high, it just makes decisions.

Specific matters are handled by dedicated personnel, and it is difficult for Qin Hui to intervene personally.

He couldn't trust the Wang family, and even if he could, he wouldn't let the Wang family fish for it. Because if you do that, the money will definitely go into your wife Wang’s pocket.

He also thought about letting his brother Qin Zi make money, but as Qin Zi's official position became larger and he was transferred to an official position far away, it gradually became uncontrollable.

Qin Zi has his own ideas. He is also a Jinshi and they are brothers.

If you partner with Qin Zi, conflicts will easily arise.

Qin Hui really didn't dare to use the other brothers of the Qin family. He knows the virtues of those brothers very well. Once given the opportunity, something big will happen!
Since there is no one available in my own family or my wife's family, I can only choose outsiders.

They are not fools. If you dare to cut corners when building the treasury, you will never pass the inspection and a lot of heads will be lost by then!

Zhu Ming had a headache when he saw this kind of memorial, so he put the word "may" on the cabinet vote.

"Oh, another natural disaster!"

Local officials are responsible for disaster relief work, including repairing plank roads and river embankments after disasters. They are simply applying for tax relief next year and allocating some funds for post-disaster reconstruction projects.

……

This year he became a little more courageous. Qin Hui got a job for a confidant and was responsible for building the treasury warehouse outside Luoyang City - building embankments along the river for several miles, demolishing the people along the bank, and building various warehouse facilities and city walls.

But you can still make money from it.

He was extremely cautious, otherwise he would not have been able to get tens of thousands of coins after several years of accumulation.

Zhu Ming finished reviewing all the memorials and found that there was no discussion of earthquakes.

Of course, if the filial piety money in a certain month is too little or too much, Qin Hui will also check the accounts. He even went to the construction site in person to understand the situation on the pretext of supervising the project to prevent his subordinates from messing up things behind his back.

Qin Hui never thought about making too much. Depending on the specific construction situation, he could get three to four thousand guan per month, and sometimes he could only get one or two thousand.

Qin Hui colluded with Zheng Yinian and embezzled material procurement to get some project funds. Moreover, both of them were made timid by the emperor, and for the time being they only dared to fight in small ways. Even if they were mixed up in large accounts, they would not be easily detected.

Last year, Luoyang underwent major renovations and construction projects one after another. Qin Hui had many loopholes to exploit. He chose a doctor from the Ministry of Industry with a calm personality to use the project to make a little money, and the method was so secretive that it would be impossible to detect it in an audit.

Before autumn, there was a huge earthquake in Sichuan, which damaged all the plank roads in northern Sichuan. Then there were consecutive days of heavy rain, and the water levels in the Yangtze and Han rivers surged. Just after the floods passed, several more autumn rains came, causing floods again.

During this earthquake in history, Zhang Jun, who was in charge of Sichuan, wrote a special letter to Zhao Gou. Ask Zhao Gou to write a prayer in person, and then offer sacrifices and pray in Sichuan to appease the local soldiers and civilians. At that time, Sichuan taxed heavily to support its soldiers, and after the earthquake, mutiny and civil commotion almost occurred.

However, Fengli Canal, the largest water conservancy project in Shaanxi, has been dredged and expanded in the past two years.

Qin Hui did not dare to mess with the Yellow River management project because Ju Ming always sent people to keep an eye on it.

The specific Sichuan disaster reporting documents have not been sent until now.

Ju Ming was very satisfied with this, and finally stopped engaging in the act of sensing from heaven and man.

In the former Song Dynasty, Qin Hui's behavior was definitely a model of incorruptibility!

Those are his absolute confidants in the Ministry of Industry, and there will definitely be no problems with the quality of the embankments, warehouses, and city walls.

Zhao Gou replied: "The heavy rain and the earthquake must be caused by heavy troops in Shu, excessive recruitment and exploitation, and too much resentment among the people. You can just appease the people with good governance. What's the use of offering sacrifices and prayers?"

Regardless of anything else, Zhao Gou is very rational as far as engaging in feudal superstition is concerned.

The main reason was that Song Huizong was so outrageous that Zhao Gou was very repulsive to religion, auspiciousness, and the feeling of heaven and man. During his reign, a large number of Buddhist and Taoist temples were demolished, and heavy taxes were levied on those that were not demolished.

Just when Ju Ming was about to get off work, an official from the Tongzhengyuan hurried over to ask for a meeting.

"Your Majesty, this is a secret memorial from Jiangxi. The seal of the memorial has the words "Civil Revolt" written on it.

The newly appointed Living Master last year changed his expression when he heard this, and quickly took out the paper and pen that had been packed.

Zhu Ming's expression was also extremely ugly. Why on earth would a civil uprising break out in the second year after he ascended the throne?

The memorial was written by Li Bing, the prefect of Ji'an, claiming that hundreds of farmers were causing trouble in Yongxin County. Due to improper handling by the county magistrate, more than ten farmers were injured and hundreds more were imprisoned. After the conflict intensified, a mob instigated a rebellion and sneaked into the county town to kill officials and rebel.

Then they wiped out two large clans and led thousands of people to Ji'an Fucheng.

There were 500 garrison troops in Ji'an Prefecture. After hearing the news, they rushed to suppress it. In the first battle, he defeated the rebel army and captured the thieves chief alive.

Seeing this, Ju Ming's lungs almost exploded with anger.

Thousands of farmers rebelled. How fucking big is this public dissatisfaction?

Then, the prefect Li Bing introduced the causes and consequences in detail.

He said that he was transferred to Ji'an at the beginning of the year. About five months after taking office, someone secretly submitted a letter to the government office and threw it directly into his backyard.

The letter anonymously reported to Yan Qi, the former prefect, saying that this person colluded with a wealthy family to clear out the land indiscriminately. The land properties of the rich families are often concealed, and these properties are also attributed to small and medium-sized landowners. Moreover, some people reported it to the Chief Secretary and the Inspector General, but the officials sent by the province to investigate were perfunctory.

Li Bing felt that the matter was serious, so he secretly sent someone to investigate.

However, when he took office as a new official, he did not have many confidants, and the local officials could not trust him, so he only sent a few loyal servants to visit him.

Due to the autumn grain collection, the investigation work was delayed.

And because the chief envoy went to Jinling for a meeting, he asked all prefectures and counties to organize immigration when he came back. News of the immigration spread and was exaggerated by deliberate rumors. In addition, there were problems with the allocation of land to farmers, resulting in many people being inflated in taxes. So some people went to the county government office to cause trouble. As a result, the situation was intensified by the clerks and government officials, which eventually led to this civil uprising. "Calling the ministers of the cabinet to discuss matters!"

Ju Ming's face was as dark as ink.

The ministers didn't know what was going on. Some of them had even gone home from get off work.

I came to the council hall in a daze, and as soon as I entered, I saw that the emperor's face looked wrong.

Ju Ming patted the memorial and said, "This is a secret memorial from Li Bing, the prefect of Ji'an. It was sent directly to me, bypassing the Chief Secretary and the Cabinet of Jiangxi. Take it and read it slowly!"

The secret reporting system was instituted by Zhu Guoxiang to prevent officials from concealing reports at all levels.

Prime Minister Zhai Ruwen was the first to read it. After reading it, he passed it to Vice Minister Liu Yan, and he began to feel restless.

Yan Qi, who violated the rules when he entered the village, was a descendant of Yan Hui. He had a relationship with Zhai Ruwen when he was in Shandong, and he could barely be considered a member of Zhai Ruwen's faction.

The political envoy to the left in Jiangxi was also from the Zhai Ruwen faction.

Zhai Ruwen has been careful enough and has not been greedy for any money after being promoted to Prime Minister. But the guys he promoted were not obedient, and they were getting bolder and bolder.

The secret music was passed on, and two or three more people finished reading it.

Zhai Ruwen couldn't sit still anymore, so he took off his official hat and put it on the table. He left his seat and knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "I know someone unknown, so I request that I become an official and return home."

The ministers who had not seen the secret report were all shocked.

What could make the Prime Minister resign?
Soon, Chen Dong also finished reading the secret performance. He did not ask to resign, but stood up and bowed: "The Supervisory Office is also responsible for this matter. The censor must assist in the inspection and acceptance of the stalls. There are problems in the entire Ji'an Prefecture, but the inspection censor helped him get through. Please inform the relevant censor Transferred to Dali Temple for review.”

"The officials are also responsible for the oversight." Meng Zhao stood up.

After the major case, the official positions were changed. Pan Lianggui was originally appointed as the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and Meng Zhao was appointed as the Minister of the Ministry of Criminal Affairs. But when they were finally appointed, their official positions were swapped.

Without him, Meng Zhao is truly one of his own, and his qualifications are deep enough.

Pan Lianggui lacks qualifications and may have difficulty convincing the public.

Ju Ming remained silent, waiting for everyone to finish reading the secret performance.

Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, although there have been civil unrest, they were at the time when the old and new dynasties were changing.

This is the first large-scale uprising since the world became stable. Although some people secretly instigated it, thousands of people could be mobilized, and the government could force the people to rebel!
The county magistrate who directly intensified the conflict has been killed by the mob.

A wealthy family who colluded with the prefect to illegally manage their land was also wiped out by the mob.

But why are the Chief Secretary and the Inspector General so perfunctory and why have they not reported it until now? There are even signs of covering the lid.

If it weren't for the secret report from the Ji'an prefect, Ju Ming would still be in the dark until now.

Extremely bad nature!

Ju Ming looked at Zhai Ruwen: "You can retire. Be granted the title of Grand Master and return to your hometown with honor."

Zhai Ruwen just expressed his position. He really doesn't want to retire. He also wants to assist the sage to restore the prosperity of the Han and Tang Dynasties!

Zhai Ruwen was like a deflated rubber ball. He knelt down with a slumped face and said, "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."

Liu Yan's face was expressionless, but he was cheering in his heart.

He finally got rid of Zhai Ruwen, and he could finally be the prime minister.

Ju Ming added: "The Supervisory Yuan, the Ministry of Punishment, and Dali Temple will dispatch officials to Jiangxi. The three judicial departments will review and investigate the matter strictly."

"According to the order!"

Chen Dong and Pan Lianggui accepted the order in unison.

"Each province in the country will review their own assessments to see if there is still something like this in Jiangxi," Ju Ming continued, "I will give local officials who have not yet been transferred a chance to make corrections. If they have been promoted and transferred, they can also surrender. Reduce the punishment. As for the newly appointed magistrates, if they don’t conduct a thorough investigation, they will be blamed for their predecessors’ faults. “

After saying that, Ju Ming gave another order: "Li Bing, the prefect of Ji'an, has made great contributions in suppressing civil unrest and has made great contributions in secretly reporting major cases. He will be promoted to Jiangxi Zuobu envoy!"

As soon as this statement came out, all the ministers were shocked.

From a small prefect to being promoted to Jiangxi Zuobu's envoy?
This is to encourage officials to send secret reports to the emperor, and to encourage officials to report on their predecessors.

Zhu Ming added: "Deputy Prime Minister Liu Yao was promoted to Prime Minister. Fang Mengqing, the Secretary of the Ministry of Hubu, was supplemented as a cabinet minister. Bai Chongyan, the right minister of the Ministry of Hubu, was promoted to the minister of the Ministry of Hubu."

The imperial meeting ended, and Zhai Ruwen left in despair.

The governor of Jiangxi Province Zuo was his in-law and was recommended by Zhai Ruwen. It was obvious that there was a big problem this time. The former prefect of Ji'an was also an old friend of Zhai Ruwen and was the culprit in this case.

The two of them must have relied on Zhai Ruwen's power to cause trouble in Jiangxi.

They disrupted the Ming Dynasty's first national policy of "dividing a small family into an equal share of the land" and provoked the first real peasant uprising since the founding of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhai Ruwen is the prime minister. If he doesn’t take the blame, who will?
At least, the emperor gave him enough face. When Zhai Ruwen retired, he was granted the title of Grand Master without any form of punishment.

Qin Hui looked at Zhai Ruwen's hunched back and felt an inexplicable fear in his heart.

He had a vague feeling that one day in the future, he might also be investigated.

But can you still stop?

(End of this chapter)