unclear

Chapter 118
"The late emperor left a lot of money. The three main halls and Prince Fu's residence were all closed, including my mausoleum. The monthly salary of the inner palace was halved, the meals were halved, the tributes were halved, and all expenses were halved. There is still a lot left over every year. Some. Let’s try it first to see if it’s enough. As the emperor, I am acting as a herdsman. I can’t watch my people starve to death.”

This sentence is really on point. Hong Tao has been brewing his emotions for a long time early in the morning, just waiting for the opportunity to perform an impromptu performance in front of a group of top ministers to see who has the talent to understand deception more thoroughly. .

At this time, you must walk slowly with your hands behind your back, your face slightly raised and thoughtful, your expression melancholy, your voice low, your eyes changing many times along with the lines, from giving up to being decisive and then to being excited, showing a person who wants to make a difference but is eager to perform. The young emperor's interpretation is penetrating.

"Long live my emperor... His majesty's love for the people will be evident with every passing day. I am willing to donate three months of my salary!" Does the performance look like it? Don't watch the advertisement to see the effect.

Just when Li Zhi and Zhao Shiqing were trying to dissuade them, Li Tingji, Li Dai, Sun Wei, Xiao Daheng, Wen Chun, Shen Li and others were also communicating with each other with their eyes. It seemed that the result was achieved.Wen Chun was the first to express his stance. He kowtowed and shouted long live. In addition to his actual actions, his expression and tone were on point, and his eyes even had a little water in them.

"I am willing to donate half a year's salary... I am willing to donate three months' salary..." This was followed by another voice of agreement. Now even the neutral officials who did not intend to express their stance could not hold back. They had to donate even if they were unwilling to do so. ah.

"Okay, okay, I'm very relieved. All the dear ministers are my loyal ministers of the Ming Dynasty. As long as the monarch and ministers work together, there is nothing impossible in the world. The specific details will be drafted by the six ministries and submitted to the cabinet as soon as possible. That's it. I'm a little tired!"

Being praised in person by a group of top ministers and all supporting his own ideas, Hong Tao seemed very excited and felt a great sense of accomplishment. He waved his hands with satisfaction and turned around and walked out of the palace with big strides.Several young eunuchs who followed him quickly packed up their books and maps and filed out.

"Yushi Wen, what do you mean by this? Your Majesty has not yet given an answer on the palace examination. Once the imperial list is issued, no one can change it!" The emperor left, and the Jiuqing court meeting ended. The ministers were in twos and threes. Go outside.Li Tingji, the Minister of Rites, slowed down and trailed behind, approaching Wen Chun, the censor of Zuodu, and whispered a reminder.

Before coming here, all the factions had a tacit understanding. They put aside their previous differences and united as one to change the title of the palace examination. Why did they go to disaster relief after talking about it.It's okay to go off topic, but you guys want to bring it back.In the end, the emperor was able to get away with a lot of flattery and donations. What a fuss!

"Li Shangshu, the emperor has emptied his internal funds, shouldn't we do our part as benevolent ministers? No matter how big the affairs of the Jinshi are, they are not as important as the life and death of the common people... Your Majesty really loves the people like a son!"

Wen Chun calmly stepped aside, stroking his beard and shaking his head, continuing to sigh at the emperor's virtue, but he did not stop at all, leaving Li Tingji behind and walked away without looking back.

"Old man!" Li Tingji heard Monk Zhang Er scratching his head. It was the Donglin Party members who initiated this accusation, and they were the ones who suffered the most in the palace examination.Why do you act like a normal person now and never mention the list of Jinshi?

Not only was Wen Chun behaving strangely, but Qin Party bosses like Sun Wei were also in a hurry, as if their home was on fire.Looking at the cabinet bachelors again, Shen Li, Wu Daonan, and Fang Congzhe all have almost the same virtues. They are either flying in their steps or thoughtful.

"Brother Jiu, His Majesty has left." While he was wondering, someone from behind said hello.

"Brother Yue Feng, what's wrong with them? Why don't you keep His Majesty? We can't delay the palace examination!" Looking back, I saw it was Xiao Daheng, the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment. They were both members of the Zhejiang Party, so there was no need to go around in circles. I quickly asked for help. .

"I'm afraid they can't take care of the palace examination anymore. Just look, some of them are busy... If I remember correctly, my brother Jiu's family is in Fujian, right?" Xiao Daheng is ten years older than Li Tingji. Aged [-], he is tall, has an upright face, and speaks with a strong voice.

"My younger brother is from Jinjiang Fuqiao... Where is Brother Yue Feng talking about being busy?" Li Tingji didn't quite understand. Does the imperial examination have anything to do with his hometown? "I'm busy looking for someone to collect food! It's a pity that my brother's family is in Tai'an Prefecture. In recent years, the weather has been rough and the rain has been bad, so there is no extra food to store!" Xiao Daheng pointed to the backs of the hurried figures in front of him. , the taste in the words is somewhat sour.

"Food... His Majesty's new disaster relief method? They are trying to get food!" Li Tingji woke up the dreamer with one word. When he heard the word food, his eyes widened in vain.

"Of course! Your Majesty is young and energetic, and he did the ridiculous thing of using internal funds to buy food. Little did he know that these food disaster victims received less than [-]%, and the rest went into other people's pockets."

Xiao Daheng nodded heavily. As soon as he heard the emperor's plan, he wanted to speak out what was wrong with it, but he swallowed back the words in front of his colleagues.

He is old, and even if the emperor doesn't dislike him, he won't be able to stay in this position for long.As the saying goes, destroying a person's wealth is like killing his parents. There is no need to risk his life for the whim of a young emperor.

"So that's it...Brother Yue Feng, I want to announce the winner of the list, so take the first step!" Li Tingji understood everything now, and Wen Chun and his gang left in a hurry to go back to find someone to discuss the opportunity to make an acquisition. Food, ready to kill the emperor.

Indeed, compared with the free money, whether the palace examination questions are appropriate is not a big issue.Isn't it just that there are dozens of Jinshi missing? You can still take the exam in three years.But if I miss this God-given opportunity, I may not be able to catch up again in ten years.

Should I just watch such a once-in-a-lifetime good thing?It must not be possible. Even though our family is not in a grain-producing area, we have a good teacher.Although Mr. Shen Ge has become an official, he is an old disciple of the current Dynasty Ge and has served as an official all over the world. It is not more difficult than anyone else to rely on these connections to buy and store grain.

"Alas... The rain is coming, it's time to go back to my hometown!" Seeing Li Tingji's brisk steps, Xiao Daheng couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.Since Shen Yiyi resigned, there has been an ongoing debate within the Zhejiang Party over who should succeed him, with Li Tingji being the loudest voice.

But judging from today's performance, it is far from the level of leading figures.It can be seen from this that although the Zhejiang Party today has not lost its arrogance, it has become powerful on the outside but on the inside.Instead of following them around like headless flies, it would be better for him to get away quickly and leave this ever-changing maelstrom.

If the new law for disaster relief had not been proposed, I could have just waited and watched for a few more years. However, the emperor used his internal funds to buy food for disaster relief. The ministers shouted long live on the surface, but secretly worked together to drive up prices in an attempt to make a big profit.

It’s really hard to see who will win, but you can guess how it will end.If the emperor wins, the officials who participated in driving up food prices and hoarding them will definitely pay huge compensation and will never give up.If the emperor loses all his internal funds, it will not have much effect, and the possibility of the emperor and his ministers falling out is very high.

Anyway, no matter what the outcome is, the confrontation between the king and his ministers is unavoidable.If he was still in the court, he could only choose one of two options: either follow the ministers to deal with the emperor, or help the emperor clean up the court.

According to the emperor's wishes, the new disaster relief law will not be implemented immediately, and will need to be decided based on the severity of the disaster in various places.It will take time to promulgate new laws to arrange the vassal clan and order local officials to cooperate.Instead of trying to escape when the time comes, it is better to avoid it in advance.

(End of this chapter)