Pingyang Fu of the Red Chamber

Chapter 702: Prime Minister’s Clever Plan
In the Qianqing Hall,

Some officials were confused and had no idea what Luo Yunhou was up to.

Many people on the noble side stared at Marquis Luo Yun with suspicious eyes for a while, then stared at the elder in front of them for a while, but still didn't understand what Marquis Luo Yun meant.

Zhang Jinyu didn't care about other people's reactions. He bowed to the Emperor Wu on the dragon throne again and said,

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will first ask them where the fifty ships of the Ministry of Works went, who took them, how they were used, and how long they were used. Tell them in detail and calculate the cost. Then we can analyze how to make up for the deficit of the Ministry of War. Now, I have returned 260,000 taels of silver, which is also interest."

Zhang Jinyu pretended to be aggrieved. Not only would this way of asking offend people, but it would also be a thankless task. He had to make the calculation clear so that all the civil and military officials could see how he had suffered a loss.

"What you said does make some sense. Keep asking and see how to use this boat."

The Emperor Wu's words were heard, and many officials were terrified, especially Zhao Yi Fu from the Maritime Customs. His legs were trembling, his face was pale, and his hands and feet were cold. To put it bluntly, after those ships transported the raw silk and satin, they were not idle in private. They made a lot of money by running ships and transporting goods. However, all the money had been taken away and divided by the officials of the Maritime Customs. Both the upper and lower levels took it, and Zhao Yi Fu took the largest share. How could he return it? As the saying goes, cooked rice cannot be spit out. He needed to think of a countermeasure to get away with it.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will definitely interrogate you carefully!"

Zhang Jinyu bowed, took the chicken feather as a token of authority, then turned sideways and asked Eunuch Dai,
"Eunuch Dai, how did you use the ten boats of the Ministry of Internal Affairs?"

Dai Quan was not stunned when he heard the Marquis' question. These ten ships were not idle. The Ministry of Internal Affairs had a lot of things to do, and they were mainly busy transporting tributes to His Majesty and the Emperor. The goods purchased from Jiangnan were also done privately. His Majesty knew all of this, and the Emperor knew it too. Thinking of this,
Dai Quan smiled and replied calmly,
"My Lord, there is nothing to hide about these ten ships of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Since the Ministry of Internal Affairs took over these ships, they are mainly used to transport supplies to the northern border troops. They have to go there once a month, and eight ships are needed for transportation. Twenty days are enough for a round trip. When they come, they also serve as cargo ships. They don't make much money every month. When they come back, each ship earns one thousand taels of silver. In eight months, that's sixty-four thousand taels. In addition, the tribute from Jiangnan is transported by the remaining two ships, and there are account books to check."

At this point, I don't know if it was the atmosphere.

Dai Quan paused, his eyes immediately turned red, tears flowed, and he murmured lamentingly;

"Your Highness, you may not know that for the sake of the court and the people of the world, the emperor has paid for the expenses of the palace from your majesty's treasury since the sixth year of Yuanfeng. Not a penny of the national treasury has been touched. Many tributes were purchased by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and sent to the palace.

Thank God for your kindness and blessing. Your Majesty has been frugal for many days. I have seen it with my own eyes and felt pain in my heart, but I could not tell you. Now that the Marquis asked, I will just tell you clearly that the expenses of these ships are recorded in special account books and can all be checked. "

Dai Quan wiped his tears and finished speaking. He knelt on the ground and kowtowed to His Majesty.

Suddenly,

Zhang Jinyu reacted immediately, took the lead and knelt down, cheering loudly;
"Your Majesty is kind and cares about the people of the world. I am ashamed."

When the others saw this, they also knelt down and kowtowed, cheering loudly.

"Your Majesty is kind and cares about the people of the world. We, the ministers, are ashamed."

The long voice spread throughout the palace!
"Please stand up. I am not protecting the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Dai Quan, all the money earned in the account books must be handed over to the Ministry of Revenue. Not a penny less."

Emperor Wu waved his hand, asking all the civil and military officials to stand up, and also instructed Dai Quan,
Dai Quan responded with red eyes.
"Yes, Your Majesty, this old slave accepts the order."

Not to mention the reactions of civil and military officials.

Zhang Jinyu felt quite guilty. Did he offend someone, or the emperor himself? He should have said it earlier and not asked. He turned around to look for the official from the Maritime Customs. According to his rank, he should also be in the palace. Why didn't he see him?
Feeling unhappy, he suddenly shouted loudly;
"Who are you? The chief officer of the Maritime Customs? I am here to ask you questions on behalf of the emperor. How can you hide yourself?"

Zhang Jinyu's words were too serious, as if the Maritime Customs was deliberately afraid of being questioned.

But what he said was true. No one knew where the Maritime Customs official Zhao Yifu had gone. The civil servants looked at each other with suspicion on their faces.

The reason why Zhang Jinyu shouted like this was, first, to divert attention, and second, because the Maritime Customs was not very persuasive and the weak ones were easier to pick on.

"My Lord, here it is, here it is."

A trembling sound was heard, and Zhang Jinyu's gaze followed it to look behind the team, but it was easy to find because it was too obvious.

I saw an official standing in the middle of the civil service team. His fat body was a bit eye-catching. In addition, his official uniform was not only loose, but also made of the finest Shu brocade. Even the boots on his feet were thousand-layer sole light cloud boots, the best on the market. It was obvious that he had spent a lot of money to maintain this fat body.
It was obvious that there was a lot of corruption. The official robes of the cabinet ministers and the vice ministers were made of ordinary brocade cloth from Jiangnan. Even these, ordinary people did not have the opportunity to wear them. Most of them wore linen cloth.

Seeing the chief officer of the Maritime Customs running over breathlessly, Zhang Jinyu had no good words to say.
"Hey, sir, who are you? Should I bow to you?"

Zhao Yifu's already puffy face was covered with even more sweat, and he replied tremblingly;
"Reply, Lord, how dare I, Lord, pay my respects to you."

This is to worship,

Zhang Jinyu stretched out his hand to stop him from saluting.

"Let's not waste any more time. The Ministry of Industry has 20 ships, and your Maritime Customs has also requested 20 ships. What have you done in the past eight months?"

"Do it, do it, your subordinate, think about it."

When Zhao Yi Fu got anxious, his mind went blank. He had been doing private work for the past eight months and earned a lot of money, but all the money had been divided up. He didn't remember the details. He had to deliver raw silk to the weaving factory, but there were only 100,000 pieces in stock. Yes, raw silk.

Zhao Yifu wiped the sweat off his face with his sleeve, and a large area of ​​the fine Shu brocade was immediately wet and greasy. Zhang Jinyu took a step back in disgust. This thing...
"My Lord, I want these ships to transport the raw silk in stock to the Suzhou Weaving Bureau. Each ship costs 10,000 taels of silver, so 20 ships would cost 200,000 taels. However, the Weaving Bureau has written an IOU, and the silver has not been paid yet."

Speaking of which,
Zhao Yifu was also filled with resentment. If the weaving bureau had not issued an IOU, would he have been able to keep those smuggling ships alive?

"Oh, you work for someone but don't pay them. What kind of logic is this? Does the weaving bureau have no idea of ​​the rules?"

It was the first time that Zhang Jinyu heard that the Maritime Customs could owe money. The Weaving Bureau was so rich. It was interesting.
Just finished asking questions,

Zhao Yifu's face flushed and he said angrily;

"My Lord, I swear to God, everything I said is true. I borrowed the boat last August, and it has been busy for three months for the raw silk of the Weaving Bureau. The key is that according to the market price, it costs five thousand taels per month to transport valuables, but the Weaving Bureau only gave me ten thousand taels in three months. The IOU is still in the government office, and there is proof to check."

As if they had grabbed a life-saving straw, they threw all the dirty water on the Suzhou Weaving Bureau. This made several ministers frown. This was not right. With 200,000 taels of silver, the Weaving Bureau could have gotten it by just leaking a little bit.

Zhang Jinyu didn't understand what was going on, so he continued to ask;

"Even if you wrote IOUs, what did you do for a living in the remaining five months, and how much money did you earn?"

When questioned further, Zhao Yi Fu's face became more and more ugly. How could this be calculated?

I was sweating profusely.

Zhang Jinyu knew what was going on when he saw this, but he didn't expose it.
"Master Zhao, think about it carefully. According to the market price, a ship that goes back and forth for one month is worth 4,000 taels of silver. Five months means 20,000 taels. Twenty ships means 400,000 taels of silver. Could it be that all this silver is gone? Hmm!" "Don't be ridiculous, my lord. I was in a hurry and didn't calculate it. It's 400,000 taels of silver, that's right."

Zhao Yi Fu took advantage of the situation and did not dare to argue anymore. He just agreed to it directly. He said that he could not pay 400,000 taels by himself, and those who had been given the silver must get it back.

"That's good."

Zhang Jinyu nodded, turned around and said to the Martial Emperor on the high platform;

"Your Majesty, I have a solution."

"Oh, I got it. Then tell me, how do we settle the account?"

Emperor Wu Zhou Shihong was obviously also interested. Is the deficit issue so simple?
"Your Majesty, since the ships are all borrowed from the Ministry of War, there is a saying among the people that if you borrow, you must return. If you don't return it, you still have to pay the rent. I think that each ship is rented for two thousand taels of silver per month. For fifty ships, that would be five hundred thousand taels per month.

Of course, we cannot let the Ministry of War down. Ten of the 20 ships of the Maritime Customs need to be returned to the Ministry of War and distributed to the Canal Transport Office, which controls the Yunhe River and the main fleet of the Beijing docks. They cannot be disbanded and must be kept as a backup. The remaining ten ships will be given to the Imperial Household Department. If Suzhou is transporting raw silk in the future, let the Imperial Household Department do it. The Maritime Customs is a well-funded office, and that's how I feel. As for the deficit of the palace, I can do nothing about it."

After Zhang Jinyu finished speaking, he mentioned the matter of repairing the palace. He, Zhang Jinyu, was not that capable. He did not know that Zhao Yifu, the Maritime Customs Officer, knelt on the ground with a sad face, as if his mother had died.
"Your Majesty, this is absolutely not allowed. Return the ships of the Maritime Customs. There are still many goods that have not been transported. These are all valuable silver. I am stupid. Is Your Majesty biased against me? Why do you want the Maritime Customs to return the ships? The Ministry of Works still has 20 ships."

He kowtowed suddenly with a "bang" sound, and immediately his forehead turned red. It was really true.

Zhang Jinyu couldn't help but widen his eyes. Wow, he really dares to do it. He has guts. Whether you agree or not depends on how His Majesty arranges it, so he didn't say anything.

Emperor Wu Zhou Shihong, who was sitting on the dragon throne, frowned and listened to Marquis Luo Yun's narration. He suddenly thought that if these ships were used well, not only would they save the court a lot of expenses, but they could also earn some money. In two years at most, or one year at least, the loss of these silvers would be earned back.

Emperor Wu was obviously unhappy when he saw Zhao Yifu, the Maritime Customs Officer, kneeling on the ground. The Maritime Customs Officer already had quite a few merchant ships, but they wanted another twenty ships. How could this be possible? He then looked at the Prime Minister Li Chonghou and asked;

"Lord Li, please tell me, what should we do with these ships?"

Prime Minister Li Chonghou looked back at Zhao Yifu of the Maritime Customs and saw a red mark on his forehead. He knew that something must have gone wrong with the Maritime Customs. The materials that the court needed to transport should not have been moved at all, and the borrowed ships were used for private work.

"Your Majesty, what Marquis Luo Yun said is absolutely right. The deficit of the Ministry of War is a bit large, but it is not without reason. If these fifty warships are used well, they can not only help the court a lot, but also make money back.

I think that the Ministry of Works doesn’t need to return the 20 ships. The Ministry of Works still needs to take care of the important goods for the court, so they just need to keep the accounts. As for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the most important thing is the delivery of raw silk from the Suzhou Weaving Bureau. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has always been rigorous and will definitely not delay it. In the second half of the year, the Ministry of Revenue will have to rely on the silk and brocade from the Weaving Bureau to make up for it. As for the palace, it is even more impossible that there are fewer ships.”

Li Shoufu was talking to himself without even turning his head to look at Zhao Yifu, the Maritime Customs Officer. His eyes were pleading, and he almost cried.
"So, there are still too few ships. I think that all the ships of the Maritime Customs should be allocated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. First, all the expenses of the Jiangnan Weaving Bureau will be borne by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Second, in their spare time, they can earn some money to subsidize the palace. At least, this is the little contribution that we, as ministers, can make."

Before he could finish his words, a wailing sounded.
"Sir Prime Minister, please have mercy on me. Although the Maritime Customs still has many merchant ships, you also know that the government has not replenished new ships for a long time. Some of them are too old and can't handle the heavy tasks. These ships are life-saving. The official warehouse of the court needs to transfer a lot of goods. The money from the transfer must be handed over to the Ministry of Revenue. I risk my life to ask for mercy from Sir Prime Minister."

Zhao Yifu of the Maritime Customs cried and screamed, and the blood on his forehead was horrible. He begged Li Shoufu to show mercy.

This situation is even more cruel than the idea proposed by Luo Yunhou. Every kill is done without shedding blood.

This scene,
Many civil servants were also confused and wondered what the Prime Minister was intending or if there was some other hidden agenda. They all looked ahead at the old, hunched figure. There had been too many unexpected things today!
"Lord Zhao, this is the imperial court, a place where all officials discuss matters. It is not a government office for you to cry out for injustice or complain about your misery. You should understand what I said. None of these ships should be kept, and the money used to borrow the ships must be handed over to the Ministry of Revenue. If you cannot handle the goods of the Maritime Customs, you can resign. The cabinet will arrange someone to take over. Lord Zhao, did you hear me clearly?"

Li Chonghou's expression remained unchanged, and he did not give Zhao Yifu any chance to quibble. He told Zhao Yifu that he had only two choices: do it or not do it. Zhao Yifu was so scared that he knelt there, wiping his blood and sweat with his sleeves. His whole arms were almost soaked, as if he had just been fished out of the water.
"Reply, reply to the Prime Minister, I am capable and will transport all the materials needed by the court within three months. One tael of silver is not a small amount."

This time, Lord Zhao did not cry out for injustice or beg, but just agreed quickly.

"That's good. The cabinet will send someone to investigate within three months. Don't say that I didn't give you a chance. Even if the court doesn't punish you, I will replace you."

After Li Chonghou finished speaking, he turned to Luo Yunhou and asked;
"My Lord, I, the Prime Minister, also want to ask you, are those warships at the docks in the capital city currently on any mission?"

At this time, Zhang Jinyu stood in the team of nobles, watching with great interest. Li Chonghou, this old fox, was really powerful. He dealt with the people from the Maritime Customs in just a few words. Wow,

Just thinking,

Hearing the Prime Minister's question, his heart darkened. Could it be that he meant to attack those fleets? But there was nothing he could do. They were originally from the Governor's Office of the Grand Canal Transport. If it weren't for Brother Shen's generosity, he would have returned it long ago. He moved his steps, walked out, and clasped his fists.

"Li Shoufu, the ships in the capital really have no missions right now, and the transport guards are all resting."

"That's good. The canal is busy now, and there are many pirates. We can't let so many ships stay in the capital. So, my lord, these 30 ships need to return to the Governor's Office of the Grand Canal to inspect the entire canal. Of course, since the Ministry of War has not received the ships, these account books and draft bills are obviously unreasonable. Even if they are on the heads of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Revenue can sign!"

Zhang Jinyu opened his mouth but did not refute. After all, the Prime Minister had made it clear that the imperial court would not support people who eat for free.

Helpless, he clasped his fist and replied;
"I agree with the Prime Minister's arrangement. It is not necessarily a bad thing for everyone to do their own job. I will follow the Prime Minister's arrangement. However, old sir, what should we do with the other 8 million taels of deficit in the Ministry of Works?"

Although Zhang Jinyu agreed, he was still angry. The navy that he had finally gained control of was gone just like that. Don’t you even need to set a trap for the Prime Minister? Aren’t you powerful?

"Haha, Lord Marquis, you are really quick to speak. There is no need to rush anything. Things are done one by one, and money is earned little by little. There is no need to rush."

The tone sounded like teaching, which made Zhang Jinyu feel very uncomfortable. He snorted in his heart. It sounded nice, but where could one save up nearly 10 million taels of silver, and earn it bit by bit? The only way was to rob. Could it be that if one really robbed, the people outside the Great Wall would be promoted to marquis, which was really a lot of money? No way.

"Then I would like to ask the Prime Minister how to earn money bit by bit. You know, the taxes in the world are already very heavy. Are you going to increase them?"

Zhang Jinyu turned the tables and first brought up the issue of taxes. This was a major event in the country, and the court had not increased taxes on the people for a long time.

Zhang Jinyu's irresponsible words caused an uproar among the civil and military officials in the Qianqing Palace, and they talked about it.

Beijing King Shuirong smiled and whispered;

"It's still Marquis Luo Yun, who dares to say anything. Look, Prime Minister Li wants to establish his authority, but he has found the wrong person."

"Haha, who says it's not true? Marquis Luo Yun is not one to suffer a loss. He was asked for thirty ships, so he can openly raise the tax. If the tax is really increased, the civil servants will be at a disadvantage."

Mu Shi, Prince of Dongping, stared with great interest at Marquis Luo Yun, who was talking in front of him, with a smile on his face. He was a man who would not suffer any loss, and he didn't know what the Prime Minister would say. In addition, the deficit of the court was getting bigger and bigger. If there was no remedy, the court would have a hard time in the future.

The key is that he has not prepared for many things yet. He glanced at Bei Wang Shui Rong beside him and smiled;
"Brother Shui, you must be ready in the North."

"Haha, then don't bother Brother Mu. Jingnan has been in chaos for so long. Brother Mu, this is a rare opportunity."

Shui Rong narrowed his eyes slightly and replied with a smile, "You all have the same idea, but you still have to test me. Is that interesting?"

(End of this chapter)