Han ride

Chapter 332 The Distorted Censors
The Beijing Normal University has a very strong New Year flavor, the streets and alleys are full of hawking, and the six years of Chongzhen will come to an end, not to mention what happened in the past year, but at the very least, as in previous years, Jiannu knocked on the Beijing Normal University. Nothing happened. Although there was a rebellion in Shandong, it was quickly wiped out. There may still be rebellions in Shaanxi, Henan, Sichuan, and Hubei, but they have little to do with the capital. After a year of work, they can finally rest for a while.

However, at this moment, a news quietly spread in the capital.The four words Chuan Guo Yuxi suddenly became a hot word in the capital, and the news was heard in the streets and alleys.It seems that anyone who hasn't heard of these four is already behind.

"The Marquis of Zhengbei has obtained the Jade Seal of the Yuan Dynasty."

"Marquis Zhengbei built a palace in Yunzhong, and built a high platform on the outskirts of Yunzhong City, about nine feet high, and has set up hundreds of civil and military officials. He is going to ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor on the day of February [-], when the dragon raises its head."

Such words have been spread in every corner of the capital, and they are spread in a decent way, as if they are true.Not only these ordinary people are rumored, but also various officials in Beijing are also rumored about this matter, but these people are different from ordinary people. Although they are also guessing about this matter in their hearts, they dare not say it everywhere.After all, Li Xin has a heavy army in his hands. If he really becomes emperor, there is really nothing he can do.

However, in the Hall of Martial Ying, Emperor Chongzhen's face was full of dark clouds. He had just heard the news. The reaction was disbelief, but soon Dongchang and Jinyiwei got the news from the market, so that Emperor Chongzhen couldn't sit still.

"Tell me, is Li Xin's matter true?" Emperor Chongzhen's face was gloomy, and the whole hall was covered with clouds, and everyone couldn't lift their heads.

"Your Majesty, I think this matter is nothing, it's Donglu's plan to alienate people." Wen Tiren was very restless during this time, jumping up and down, at this time, he was the first to come out and said: "At this moment, the Marquis of Zhengbei Besieged by Lin Dan Khan in the Yunzhong Mansion, he is too busy to take care of himself. It is not certain whether he can defeat Lin Dan Khan's coalition forces, how can he claim to be emperor? This is clearly the enemy's plan to alienate." Wen Tiren's voice attracted the attention of many party members. They all applauded.

"There may not be a reason for it." The speaker was Bi Ziyan, Minister of the Ministry of household affairs.His expression was extremely cold, and he cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, since this matter has spread to the capital, it means that the Marquis of Zhengbei may have thoughts in this regard. Whether it is or not, the court must take precautions. The Marquis of Zhengbei has more than [-] soldiers, but the army However, there is no supervising army, which does not conform to the rules of the imperial court, and I think that it is necessary to send a supervising army to bring this army under the supervision of the imperial court, which is a good thing for the imperial court and the Marquis of Zhengbei."

After hearing this, Wen Tiren's eyebrows twitched. He hated it when someone confronted him. If it was Zhou Yanru, he would have nothing to say, but now this Bi Ziyan also appeared.Isn't this a challenge to his authority?He sneered at the moment and said: "What Bi Shangshu said is easy, there are more than [-] soldiers and horses in the hands of Zheng Beihou, most of these people are foreign troops, and they can only be suppressed by relying on the prestige of Zheng Beihou. Don't accept it!"

"Hmph, since Marquis Zhengbei is the prince of the imperial court, these troops belong to the imperial court and should be restrained by the imperial court." Bi Ziyan said coldly.

"Why is Master Bi so harsh on Zheng Beihou, but so sheltering to other colleagues?" At this time, a cold voice came out, and everyone looked at Yu Yinggui, the censor, and only heard him clasping his hands and saying : "Your Majesty, I impeach Bi Ziyan, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, for favoritism and fraud, and the recommended officials are not strict."

"Oh, what's going on?" Emperor Chongzhen was a little surprised. He was originally discussing Li Xin's matter, but why did it suddenly involve Bi Ziyan? He is not an ordinary person, he is deeply trusted by Emperor Chongzhen. He has served as Minister of the Household Department for some years. Since the reign of Chongzhen’s brother Tianqi, he was dismissed because of Wei Zhongxian, but after Wei Zhongxian was eliminated, he served as the Household Department again. Shangshu, and made great contributions to the early court of Chongzhen.

When Bi Ziyan took office, the treasury of the Ming Dynasty had already been embezzled and squandered by Wei Zhongxian, and the country had an annual deficit of more than 130 million taels of silver.With the financial collapse, the government had no choice but to extort money from the people.The three-pay increase has made the people extremely miserable.Bi Ziyan started from grasping the resources and opening up the flow. First, he proposed to reduce redundant troops and revitalize the farmland. Local officials should be assessed by the speed of economic development.Bi's suggestion was praised by Emperor Chongzhen.Afterwards, he extensively solicited opinions from court veterans, and systematically put forward 12 measures to solve financial difficulties.Including increasing salt imports, ordering merchants to transport millet to the border, reducing redundant soldiers, inspecting false military salaries, developing paddy fields in Jingdong, investigating hidden fields in the world, and setting up military settlements, etc., are all allowed.In order to prevent local officials from embezzling taxes and silver, he personally presided over the compilation of tax and service lists, issued them all over the world, strictly supervised and audited them, and brought corruption under control.The original guantun land had been occupied by powerful families for a long time, and the taxes could not be paid. Bi Ziyan was not afraid of difficulties, and personally presided over the verification and cleared the guantun land.Under his careful planning, redundant military expenditures were reduced, false claims and false claims, corruption and embezzlement were greatly reduced, and the national tax revenue increased a lot.In this way, he won the extreme trust of Emperor Chongzhen, and was named Prince Taibao.

"Master Bi, Yushi Zheng Youyuan, I wonder if Lord Shangshu knows you?" Yu Yinggui said, looking at Bi Ziyan.Although he is only a censor, and Bi Ziyan is the Minister of the Household Department, with a high position and authority, but he doesn't care.

Bi Ziyan turned around to look at Yu Yinggui, nodded and said, "I recommended him as Yushi." Bi Ziyan said without fear.He knew why Yu Yinggui wanted to mention Zheng Youyuan at this time, but he didn't think it was wrong for him to do so.

"The emperor said before that officials who have not paid off the treasury deficit during their tenure cannot be recommended as court officials. I wonder if Mr. Shangshu knows about this?" Yu Yinggui smiled.

"Hasn't Zheng Youyuan paid off the treasury deficit?" Emperor Chongzhen's face was gloomy.Now the treasury is empty, and officials from all over the country are not able to repay the emptiness of the treasury for various reasons, so this makes Emperor Chongzhen extremely angry.

"Maybe [-]% has been completed." Bi Ziyan said with some uncertainty: "Zheng Youyuan has already returned [-]% of the debt to the treasury."

Emperor Chongzhen was surprised, turned his head and asked Yu Yinggui again, "Tell me, how much money is owed?" From Chongzhen's point of view, since Yu Yinggui impeached Bi Ziyan, this Yu Yinggui must have already grasped how much money Zheng Youyuan owed to the treasury.

After all, this Yu Yinggui is a formidable person. When he heard Chongzhen's words, he immediately said: "Zheng Youyuan owes the treasury silver and Jinhua silver a total of [-] pieces of silver."

"That's almost 3000 taels." Emperor Chongzhen's complexion changed, and he couldn't help but glance at Bi Ziyan. This important minister has supported him a lot over the years. Logically, he should be spared this time. But when he thought of the clean state treasury that even mice didn't want to stay in, Emperor Chongzhen became anxious again.

"Your Majesty, we are discussing the matter of Li Xin. We will discuss this matter after the wind blows." Zhou Yanru saw Chongzhen's hesitation, and he gave Yu Yinggui a look. What can 3000 taels of silver do? Those wealthy businessmen in the south of the Yangtze River sometimes eat more than 3000 taels of silver for a meal.

"This?" Chongzhen was a little moved.

"Your Majesty, if one Zheng Youyuan doesn't pay off the treasury's debt today, there will be countless Zheng Youyuan tomorrow. If they don't go after them, all those people will follow suit. Then who will pay off the treasury's debt among the officials below? The national treasury is empty, so how can there be any money to suppress the rebellion?" Yu Yinggui snorted coldly: "If the Marquis of Zheng Bei rebels now, the imperial army must put down the rebellion immediately. If there is no money, how can the soldiers fight? Your Majesty, this hole Can't open."

"Huh." After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen's face changed, his face was cloudy and uncertain, and finally his eyes fell on Bi Ziyan, his face was gloomy. Seeing this, Zhou Yanru knew that Bi Ziyan could not be kept. Emperor Chongzhen these days They are all anxious about money, even the cost of the harem has been reduced again and again, just desperately trying to get money, nearly 3000 taels of silver, it can be said that it is enough for Chongzhen to get rid of a household secretary.

"3000 taels is not a lot, so let's check it out!" Emperor Chongzhen finally spoke.Bi Ziyan trembled, his face was pale, and he slowly removed the black yarn on his head, revealing his silver hair.

"Resign, old minister." Bi Ziyan bowed to Chongzhen, put the black yarn on the ground, and retreated slowly.Looking at Bi Ziyan's desolate figure, everyone sighed one after another, feeling faintly sad that the Chongzhen Emperor's official position was not easy.Who doesn't have an in-law, who doesn't have a disciple, 3000 taels of silver are brought up to the court, and a minister of the household department is forced to step down in such a state of embarrassment.When everyone thought of this, they all looked at Yu Yinggui with disdainful eyes, only to see that Yu Yinggui was smiling all over his face, full of complacency.He is a censor, but he can participate in a household minister, and if he spreads it, he is enough to be proud of the scholars.

"It's obviously not enough to be just a minister of the household department." Yu Yinggui looked at Zhou Yanru, the leader of the officials, with a hint of madness in his eyes. In the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty, the biggest treacherous minister was this Zhou Yanru.Only by defeating him and replacing him with someone with outstanding talents can he protect the Daming country and assist the Holy Son of Heaven.Only the Ming Dynasty can be rejuvenated and restored to the appearance of Taizu and Chengzu.

A court meeting that was originally used to discuss military affairs has now become a criticism meeting where the Minister of the Ministry of Households participates. The court of the Ming Dynasty can be regarded as a wonderful existence.

(End of this chapter)