Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

When he came to Taiyuan Prefecture again, Chen Qiyu encountered something:

Officials including Li Yangchong, the governor of Shanxi, were captured by the Jinyiwei sent by the emperor.

The cause of this incident is actually related to him.

When Chen Qiyu was ordered to inspect the post roads and passed through Shanxi, he conveyed the emperor's will to the Shaanxi officials, ordering the Shanxi officials to make quelling the rebellion and disaster relief their top priority, counting the money and grain in the treasury, and preparing to provide relief for the drought.

If you don't check it clearly, you won't know. Once you check it clearly, you will immediately find a big problem.

Wu Shangmo, the right governor of Shanxi, discovered that the money and grain used to build a shrine for Wei Zhongxian had disappeared.

The emperor clearly intended to use this money to donate to the construction of the mausoleum, but Shanxi officials reported that all the money was used to purchase materials and transport the materials for building the shrine to the capital. The money was concealed and divided up by people from all levels.

The leader among them was Li Yangchong, who was previously the Right Governor of Shanxi and now the Governor of Shanxi.

As a member of the Donglin Party, Wu Shangmo was most concerned about matters involving the eunuch party. After learning about this matter, he immediately planned to submit a memorial.

However, many Shanxi officials, both big and small, were involved in this matter. Before his memorial was submitted through the formal channels, the Shanxi officials who noticed this matter burned the account books.

Wu Shangmo himself was warned by Li Yangchong not to meddle in other people's affairs.

In desperation, Wu Shangmo took out the silver seal of "Punishment and Correction" bestowed on him by the emperor, and sent a secret letter through the Embroidered Uniform Guard, which was directly delivered to the emperor.

When the emperor learned about this, he was furious and ordered the Trial Committee of the Treason Case to try this case together.

He also asked the Embroidered Uniform Guard to obtain the approval of the Criminal Department's Censor and come directly from the capital to arrest the officials in Shanxi who were involved in the case.

What Chen Qiuyu saw at this time was Li Yangchong and others being arrested and escorted to Beijing for trial.

Seeing Li Yangchong, who was chatting and laughing with him a few days ago, now being sent to Beijing in a prison cart, Chen Qiuyu felt sad and deeply felt the unpredictable life in the officialdom.

Looking at Wu Shangmo, who was ostracized by Shanxi officials for exposing the incident and now stood alone, Chen Qiyu knew that he was right, but he just didn't want to get close to him. He said to Geng Ruqi, the Censor-in-Chief of the Independent Commission Against Corruption who was leading the investigation of the case:

"Lord Geng, would you like to go back to the capital with me? It would be a good companion for you on the way."

Geng Ruqi shook his head and replied:
"Chen Shaoqing should go back as soon as possible. His Majesty has repeatedly asked about the situation in Shaanxi."

"I will also serve as acting governor of Shanxi and be responsible for thoroughly investigating this case."

The governor of Shanxi was arrested, and a large number of Shanxi officials were implicated. Geng Ruqi, the head of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, was sent by the emperor to Shanxi to thoroughly investigate the case.

So he can't leave for the time being, and maybe he will continue to work as the governor of Shanxi.

After all, Geng Ruqi himself knew that the emperor was not very satisfied with the Independent Commission Against Corruption under his charge.

Since the establishment of the ICAC, it has done a pretty good job. Ruan Dacheng, the junior minister of the Imperial Household Department, and Li Yangchong, the governor of Shanxi, were both arrested on charges of corruption and bribery, which can be considered their achievements.

Unfortunately, neither of these two cases was discovered by the ICAC. Even the ICAC, which is responsible for the official property declaration that is being promoted in the court, is not active.

This made the emperor feel that the ICAC was incompetent, or at least not doing its best.

Geng Ruqi knew about this himself, but he really couldn't bear to be cruel to his colleagues who had rescued him in the past, so this time he took the initiative to request to lead the team and stay in Shanxi to try the case.

If he does a good job and puts Shanxi in order, the current acting governor of Shanxi may be given a real job.

Chen Qiuyu didn't know the inside story, but he had no idea about the position of Governor of Shanxi.

First, the disaster relief situation in Shanxi was as severe as that in Shaanxi; second, as a native of Shanxi, he had to avoid his hometown. Therefore, he never thought about the position of governor of Shanxi. After seeing Li Yang in the prison car rushing towards him for help, he spit fiercely, ignored him, and returned to Beijing with his team.

After all, what Li Yangchong embezzled was Shanxi's future disaster relief funds. Even if he didn't like Wu Shangmo's behavior of breaking the rules of officialdom, he would not get close to Li Yangchong.

Chen Qiuyu rode at full speed and finally returned to the capital at the end of June.

The capital city was immersed in joy at this time, because after nearly three months of continuous drought, it finally rained in the capital city.

Chen Qiyu was also somewhat happy when he saw this scene. Because it rained in the capital, it meant that the grain harvest this season would not be completely lost. The money and grain from the court could be used more for disaster relief in Shaanxi and Shanxi.

This was the best thing he had ever seen.

In the Forbidden City, after Zhu Youjian learned that Chen Qiuyu had returned to Beijing, he quickly issued an imperial decree to summon him.

He was very impressed with Chen Qiyu for completing the inspection so quickly and thought he was a practical person:

"Mr. Chen has made great contributions in his inspection. I will have the Ministry of Personnel record his achievements and he will be rewarded in the future."

"As for the matter of the Imperial Household Department, Chen Qing will have to take care of it temporarily."

Zhu Youjian felt a little ashamed when talking about this matter, because Qin Shiwen, the Minister of the Imperial Household Department, was exhausted by the task he assigned.

Qin Shiwen was a thoughtful person. After being listed as a member of the eunuch party, he always wanted to use his merits to wash away the stain on him.

He was very concerned about the emperor's arrangement for him to integrate the Taipu Temple and the Xing Taipu Temple and to manage the horse administration and postal services.

The fact that the Xingtaipu Temples in various places were set up so quickly was inseparable from his efforts. He even cooperated with the Imperial Household Department to set up a postal company to deliver newspapers to various places.

Zhu Youjian was given more responsibilities as such a capable official. He handed over the planning and construction of the highway to the Imperial Household Department.

For example, in the case of the Beijing-Tianjin Highway, apart from the Ministry of Works that organized manpower and the Shaofu Temple that provided technical support, the Taipu Temple had the heaviest task.

Qin Shiwen traveled back and forth between Beijing and Tianjin during the dog days of summer, despite the severe drought. A few days ago, it suddenly rained, and he fell ill due to the combination of cold and heat.

If the Qin family was not a family of doctors, and if Qin Shiwen's followers had not been very perceptive and had not sent him to see a doctor in time, Qin Shiwen might have died of illness and become the first minister to die of exhaustion during the Chongzhen reign.

After this incident, Zhu Youjian was quite frightened. Not only did he commend Qin Shiwen for his merits, he also promoted him to the position of Prime Minister and ordered him to have a good rest.

He also arranged for the imperial physicians to give physical examinations to all ministers.

This physical examination revealed that many ministers were working while ill. No wonder some of them had been requesting to retire and resign and return home.

What worried Zhu Youjian the most was Li Qiyuan, who had just arrived in Beijing.

This person was criticized together with Han Yu some time ago, and they blamed him for not taking office earlier.

Now that he has arrived in the capital, Zhu Youjian realizes that Li Qiyuan is really ill and unable to shoulder the heavy responsibility.

This made him so panicked that he hurriedly transferred Li Qiyuan to the position of advisory minister for recuperation, in order to avoid being criticized for exhausting the old minister.

There was also the 83-year-old Great Wall Commander Wang Xiangqian, who was about to be reinstated for a year. Zhu Youjian did not dare to keep him in office any longer, and was even worried that he would have health problems in the last few months. He often sent eunuchs to visit him and even sent imperial doctors to follow him.

Chen Qiyu, a young man under 40, was given a heavy burden. While Qin Shiwen was recuperating, he served as the Minister of the Imperial Household Department and the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War. (End of this chapter)