Red Mansion: Bastards rule the roost

"You two, if we don't do this errand this time, we will be in trouble, and if we do it, we will be in trouble. Is there any good plan?"

Feng Yuan rolled his eyes and said with a sly smile: "This matter must be done, and it cannot be done too harshly, so as not to become the target of public criticism. In my opinion, the key to this errand is slowness and accuracy."

"Appreciate further details."

"What do you mean by slowing down? His Majesty has given a three-year period. We don't need to push too hard in the first year. It's best to use benefits to lure them, use power to force them, and use threats. There should be a considerable number of timid and unbackgrounded members. return.

As long as we can get some money back, we can have an explanation with His Majesty, and we won't be too hated in the court. "Feng Yuandao.

"That's a very good thing to say."

"The so-called accurate one, you still have to trouble Zilong to go out and kill one to serve as a warning to others.

Ask the prince to select one or two families in the clan who are ignorant and have no foundation. Zilong selects one or two families among the nobles who have no military power and are stubborn. My younger brother selects a few old parties in the court, both big and small. Thunder means dealt with it.

Not only can you get more money back, but there will be no consequences. "Feng Yuan pinched his chin and whispered.

"This is a good idea." Jia Cong smiled.

"As for the local cleanup, it's easy. Zilong's royal guards have taken action. Who dares not to return the favor?" Feng Yuan said with a smile, "The key to this matter is still in the capital."

Jia Cong thought for a while and said: "What Brother Zhengfang said makes sense, but it can only treat the symptoms, not the root cause. If we collect the debt, we will always get those hard problems in the end. What will we do then?"

Zhongxin also nodded in agreement. The old prince in the clan owed the most, who could touch them?
Feng Yuandao: "Let's get over the situation at hand first. Maybe the situation will change by then. What we can think of, His Majesty can't think of. I guess there will be holy will at that time, so why should we worry in vain?"

Zhongxin also nodded and said, "I think Huo Zhongtang will have some bad words tomorrow."

Jia Cong also said: "Forget it, I will find Prime Minister Dai Nei tomorrow to find out what your Majesty means."

"That's right."

After returning from the palace, Jia Cong first went to find Pang Chao and told him about the matter.

Pang Chao listened without saying a word, a glimmer of light flashed in his eyes, he pondered for a moment, and said with a smile: "I finally took action today."

Jia Cong hurriedly asked why.

Pang Chao said with a smile: "It's a plan to kill the grass and scare the snake."

"Sir, please clarify."

"I have been on the throne for more than ten years now. Why do I only think of catching up with losses now? Why didn't I catch up a few years ago when I was even poorer? Now that the treasury has some money, I chase after it instead. Why is this?" Pang Chao said.

If Jia Cong realized something, he said: "Sir, what you are saying is that Your Majesty did it deliberately to lure the snake out of its hole?"

Pang Chao nodded and said: "I'm afraid that Your Majesty feels that his wings are full and he is going to make great achievements. This time the noise cannot be small.

On the surface, it is to make up for the shortcomings, but secretly, it helps the new party eliminate dissidents. I am afraid it has a third meaning. "

"What do you mean?"

"Brother Cong, have you ever experienced a siege on Iron Net Mountain? Did you first make people bluff, scare and drive the prey out, then surround them to hunt them, and then gather them and annihilate them?" Pang Chao said.

"Exactly." Jia Cong said solemnly.

"This is the same logic. Based on my speculation, once the debts are forcefully collected, some people will not be able to sit still. No matter what the motivation is, they will definitely collude to resist the law. If one person is not good, there may be earth-shattering changes." Pang Chao said slowly.

"Sir, are you talking about...rebellion?" Jia Cong whispered.

Pang Chao shook his head and said with a smile: "Only the uneducated grass bandit mobs talk about the word 'rebellion'.

Wouldn't it be better to say "Qingjunzi", "Zhuyichen", "Jingnan" and "Qinwang"? It must be known that if you are not correct, your words will not go smoothly, and if your words are not right, things will not happen. "

Jia Cong said: "Isn't the emperor afraid of changes in the country?"

Pang Chao said: "I think I think I have the pearl of wisdom in my hand now, but I can't make waves at such a young age."

Jia Cong said: "Then what should I do?"

Pang Chao said: "You have been well prepared these days, just do whatever you have to do.

At the critical moment, it is a good thing that nothing goes wrong. If you dare to act decisively now, you will definitely have a backup plan. Just wait and see what happens. Don't be too smart and make too many mistakes. "

"Sir, what he said is that Cong is confident."
-
The next day, all the yamen in Beijing received the imperial edict.

"It has recently been discovered that the state treasury and the vassal treasury are in extremely deep deficit, which has put the country in a difficult position. If we do not strictly pursue the items, and a corrupt official can enjoy his leisurely life, will the national law be safe?"
There are also cliques and gangsters who fabricate absurd words for selfish reasons to confuse the public, which is extremely hateful.

Immediately, the Qing Dynasty Mansion was built. Huo Peng, the great scholar of Mingti Renge, was in charge. King Zuo Zongzheng, Zhongxin Wang, Huanhou Jia Cong, and the right minister Feng Yuan of the Ministry of Revenue were all in charge. They must recover all the money.

Any shortage of money and food in the government's treasury will always be caused by invasion, fraud and misappropriation, and the general manager of money and food who is responsible for specific affairs has the responsibility of blocking it.

If the official refuses to resist the obstruction, the chief official will go directly to the court to present a petition for exoneration. If he fails to resist the obstruction, resulting in the official being at a loss and being involved, the chief official will be imprisoned and pursued together, and the official's sentence will be reduced to the first level.

If an official shows favoritism, accepts an explanation, and conceals the deficit, once I find out, I will definitely punish the official who takes over.

It turns out that there must be people who think that since their fame and family goods cannot be guaranteed, they should die to deny it and leave their wealth for their descendants. If there is a shortfall, even if they die, all the stolen money will still be recovered and compensated. "

One stone stirred up a thousand ripples, and when this edict was issued, all the ministries in the capital exploded.

If your salary is so low and you don't let people borrow money, and if you borrow money you still have to chase it back, how can you survive this life? Aren’t officials human beings? Where is the benevolence and righteousness of the court, and where is the elegance?
The civil and military officials in the capital unanimously "excited the public sentiment", suspended official duties, mobilized from bottom to top, complained to superiors, and urged the officials of their own yamen hall to express their feelings.

Because King Zhongxin only cares about his clan and the Jin Yiwei dare not go, let alone the courage to go to the military aircraft office to cause trouble, all the officials in the capital went to Feng Yuan.

When Jia Cong rushed to the household department with dozens of large boxes filled with silver winter melons and silver ingots, he saw that it was crowded and noisy, like a busy city. He didn't know what had happened.

"My lord, is Brother Zhengfang here?" Jia Cong asked an official from the Ministry of Revenue.

"Hey, Lord Marquis is here. Mr. Feng is very busy. I will take you there." The official nodded hurriedly and took Jia Cong to Feng Yuan's apartment.

After walking through the crowd and reaching the door of Feng Yuangong's room, they heard the sound of arguing coming from inside.

"Old Feng, I don't need to tell you how much money we have owed to the imperial court for raising integrity over the years. You also know it. It is only right to kill people to pay debts and repay money. If we want to repay the money, it is easy to say that first let the court pay us the money for raising integrity over the years. I owe you as much money as I owe to the treasury. I will give it to you immediately," said Li Muyu, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites.

"Yes, that's right! Give Yang Lian the money first."

"Old Feng, I borrowed the money out of public interest. I was waiting for the money to run errands in the Yamen, but the Ministry of Revenue was still reluctant to allocate it. In order not to delay the government affairs of the court, I had no choice but to go to the treasury to borrow money.

I wanted to wait until the public funds were allocated before returning it, but the Ministry of Accounts kept delaying it. What can I do?
You see, the accounts of the Ministry of Industry are available as proof. One by one, I can clearly remember that they were all used for official purposes and were definitely not misappropriated privately. "Wan Ziyi, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, said.

"Yes, so do we. It's all been used on official business, so what are we missing?"

"Old Feng, I have no choice but to borrow money. You know that my family is poor.

It was not easy to live in the capital. His salary was only a small amount, and he was in arrears with the money to support his integrity every year. The Hanlin Academy was a Qingshui Yamen, and his family members were in desperate need of food every day. Without borrowing money, it would be difficult to make ends meet.

Over the years, I have only borrowed tens of thousands of silver in total. Do you think you can be accommodating and reduce or reduce the amount as appropriate? "

"Old Wu is right. There are dozens or hundreds of people in our family, and we only have a small salary. How can we drink the northwest wind? The imperial court has always taught the world with benevolence and righteousness, why is it suddenly so eager to collect debts? I think someone wants to take the opportunity to punish people. !”

……

When Jia Cong heard that they were all professional gangsters, he secretly thought that he couldn't afford to offend them, so he wanted to run away.

Unexpectedly, someone had seen him earlier and shouted: "Marquis Huan is here. Lord Marquis, you have to say something fair for us. Your Duobao Pavilion opened recently, and we haven't stopped visiting it."

"Master Marquis, all our money has been spent on those naughty things in your family. I really can't spare any money to repay the treasury at the moment. I beg you to be accommodating."

When Feng Yuan heard this, he hurriedly got out of the crowd, pulled Jia Cong in, and said with a smile: "Everyone, you don't believe what I said alone. Now that the Marquis is here, please tell me."

Jia Cong smiled and greeted everyone, and said: "I know that all of you are tight on money and cannot afford so much money at the moment.

But this matter was decided by the emperor last night after he summoned me and others overnight. It is a major policy of the imperial court and cannot be avoided. Let’s go home and think of a way to collect money. "

Now that he is doing business, he doesn't want to offend others if he can, just to make money by being harmonious.

When everyone heard this, they were unwilling to agree. They complained, cried out, defended, and argued. In short, they did not want to pay back the money.

Jia Cong was dizzy from their noise. He looked at Feng Yuan and saw him spreading his hands, shaking his head and smiling bitterly.

"Everyone, listen to me," Jia Cong raised his voice, suppressing everyone's voices.

"You all have your own reasons for borrowing money. Cong is not the master of Qingtian. I am not here to try the case today. My family, like you, also owes a lot of money to the treasury. I am here today to pay off the debt."

"How much does your mansion owe?" Everyone asked curiously.

"Since my great-grandfather's generation, Ning Rong's second house has owed a total of 634500 taels of silver. Is that more than you all?

Although Ning Guo is gone now, the debts owed are still there, and I have to pay them back. "

Jia Cong paused and said, "Brother Feng, please send someone outside to check and receive them."

"Well, Zilong is happy. Look, what is the style of a famous family? Everyone is complaining about being owed tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of silver, just like a mud-legged person.

Look at the way the Marquis behaves. Otherwise, he is a member of a wealthy and noble family, sharing the same family with the country. "

When Feng Yuan heard that someone was coming to give money, he became excited and stepped on everyone's kicks. He also picked up Jia Cong to attract fire.

Everyone was angry and said: "Marquis Huan has been rich and powerful for generations, how can we compare?"

"If we have money, why should we borrow it from the treasury?"

Jia Cong glared at him angrily, damn, he wanted me to make a fool of myself again.

Feng Yuan smiled "honestly" and winked quietly, meaning that this is your brother's strength.

With no choice, Jia Cong had no choice but to accompany Feng Yuan to do all the tricks, because he lowered his face and said: "Everyone, as the saying goes, a gentleman should correct himself first. Since the debts are to be pursued, naturally they should be pursued from me, the prince and Lord Feng.

After the three of us have finished retreating, it's your turn. No one can try to be cunning. In accordance with the Holy Will, I will only say three words to you.

First, the fly has to pay back, and so does the tiger. Regardless of officials, big or small, or even relatives of the emperor, as long as there is a shortfall, they will all be returned, and no one will be exempted.

Second, you must pay back your debt when you are in office, and you must pay it back when you leave office. Some deficits are not caused during an official's term of office.

For example, Zhang San left a deficit of 10 taels during his tenure at the Ministry of Industry, but Zhang San only misappropriated 5 taels, and the other 5 taels were misappropriated by his predecessor, or even his predecessor's predecessor.

In this case, if Zhang San wants to return it, his predecessor and his predecessor's predecessor will also have to share the return.

Third, the living must pay back, and the dead must pay back. Some officials caused a deficit during their tenure, but now that they are gone, do they not have to pay it back? No! The debts of deceased officials shall be repaid by their parents, wives, children, and brothers.

In short, it is a program. As long as there is a name in the accounts of the household department, no matter who you are, the accounts must be cleared. Otherwise, I will not be able to pay the job in front of the emperor, and the emperor will blame me. Don't blame me for not caring about my colleagues. "

When everyone heard this, their faces turned red and white. They still lacked some confidence to fight against Jia Cong. Now that Jia Cong has accepted the emperor's order, he has the support of the two major military aircraft of the New Party, and he is in charge of the Imperial Guard, and he has no flaws. , it is really difficult to deal with.

Feng Yuan's atmosphere was in place, and he hurriedly smiled and smoothed things over, saying: "Marquis Huan and I are also acting under orders, and we are not trying to get into trouble with you. If I have offended you, please forgive me.

Don't talk about everyone, don't I, Fatty Feng, want to withdraw hundreds of thousands of silver? Just tighten your belt and it will be over.

I know everyone's difficulties, so let's go back and collect the money first, and pay a sum of money up to half a month, so that I can explain it in front of the emperor.

As for what to do next, it depends on your refund ratio, okay? In my humble opinion, if you can retreat as much as possible, retreat as much as possible. If your Majesty is angry, you will definitely attack those who retreat less. Don't say that you are unforeseeable.

Goodbye everyone, I, Old Feng, have to rush back to collect money to pay off my debts, so I will spend less time with you. "

Feng Yuan spoke and ran away quickly.

Jia Cong secretly scolded the fat man for his lack of loyalty and left me alone to hold the vat. He quickly cupped his hands and followed in his footsteps.

When everyone saw that the two imperial envoys had run away, they felt unwilling and looked at each other. What, are you really retreating? (End of chapter)