My Brother-in-law is the Prince

  Chapter 292 Longyan Joy

  Master Wu was in a daze for a long time.

  His first reaction was that the other party should have come to entertain him.

  So he laughed a lot, and said with a pleasant face: "How can there be so much money and food account books... This... This is against the rules."

  Zhang Anshi said: "How much should it be?"

  Master Wu said: "Every year, the accounts of each government are more or less, but most of them are in the tens of thousands. But the officials look at the numbers here, I'm afraid there are hundreds of thousands..."

  Zhang Anshidao: "Our Taiping Mansion is like this. Why, do you think my Taiping Mansion has less money and food?"

  As soon as these words came out, Chief Wu's face changed slightly.

  He laughed dryly: "This... what is this talking about... this... lower official... lower official... invite someone to do the accounting."

  Zhang Anshi didn't grab his braids and teach him to do the math by himself, so he said, "I won't even give me a sip of tea when I'm here."

  Boss Wu nodded hurriedly, and asked someone to pour tea and water, and Zhang Anshi moved another chair.

  Zhang Anshi moved his chair and sat directly opposite Mr. Wu.

   Later, Gao Xiang and other officials followed suit, and just happened to surround the case of Mr. Wu.

  Director Wu: "..."

  He raised his head slowly, seeing dozens of pairs of eyes staring at him, he hurriedly lowered his head again.

   "Come... someone."

  A scribe squeezes in from the crowd.

   "Start to calculate the money and grain of the Taiping Mansion, and send me a few capable officials, no, send me all the scribes."

"Yes Yes…"

   I have to say that Mr. Wu is still very professional.

   After all, he has been in the household department for a long time, even if he may not be good at settling accounts, at least he knows who in the household department can settle accounts.

  When the scribes from a room came in one after another, Chief Wu began to divide the work and compiled four groups, A, B, C, and D. Group A was dedicated to counting money, Group B was to count grain, Group C was to summarize, and Ding Zu was to conduct accounting to ensure that the accounts were safe.

  The scribes began to get busy, and no one dared to neglect.

   After a while, an officer came and said: "The Hubei chief envoy came and asked if the accounts had been clarified. He rushed back to report."

   "Keep him waiting."

  Someone came again: "Sichuan chief envoy..."

  Master Wu is in a hurry, and he is being stared at now. Although the household department also watches people order food, the household department usually ignores people from the government or county to send money and food books. But at the level of chief envoys, after all, behind these people are the big officials of the frontier, and they will often give them a little face, entertain them with a pleasant face, and help them with the calculation in advance, so that they can return to life earlier.

  But what time is it now? Director Wu glanced at Zhang Anshi, who drank tea slowly, looking calm.

   But Master Wu didn't dare to delay the matter, but soon someone came to urge him, this time it wasn't an officer, but a doctor from Hubei Qingli Department came in person: "Master Wu...there is a hurry..."

   This man came in loudly, before the man arrived, the voice came first, and he seemed anxious to get angry.

  But as soon as he came in, he was a little dazed when he saw this scene. He also saw the young man in the python robe. He seemed to realize...something, so he turned around and wanted to leave.

  Zhang Anshi waved at him: "Come here..."

  The doctor smiled wryly and said: "Xiaguan... Xiaguan Liu He..."

  Zhang Anshi said: "You came just in time, don't be too polite, one more person, one more effort, let's settle the score."

  Liu He: "..."

  He mustered up his courage: "I'm an official... I still have official duties..."

  Zhang Anshi's expression changed, and he said, "Isn't it official business to check money and food? How do I think you look like the White Lotus Sect..."

  Liu He's legs were a little weak, and he said without hesitation: "But the big thing... the big thing, it's not as important as Wei Guogong. Your officer... Come and help..."

   Zhang Anshi was only satisfied, he squinted his eyes, and seemed to be dozing off.

  Gao Xiang and the others looked terrified, the father-in-law is too young, isn't this offending everyone to death?

  Don’t look at these people, they are obedient on the surface, but which one of these people in the temple is not kind on the surface, but secretly tricks you, just like the official...

  Gao Xiang felt that if he was dismissed from office, he must have a good talk with Zhang Anshi before leaving. If the Duke of Wei's temper does not change, he will suffer a lot in the future.

  There are also some officers on duty outside, and when they heard about this place, they deliberately walked outside, or poked their heads to see the fun.

   Who knew Zhang Anshi waved at them just as he appeared, "Come, come, we are short of manpower."

  ...

  Forbidden City.

  Wenyuange University scholar and officials from the Ministry of Officials, the Ministry of Rites, and the Ministry of Households met with him.

  Jian Yi, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, presented Jingcha's memorial.

  This memorandum is only submitted to the emperor, and even the Wenyuange University Scholars cannot draft it.

  The reason why the Ministry of Officials is called the Heavenly Official is because its responsibilities are too urgent. Many things can be communicated directly with the emperor without going through Wenyuan Pavilion. Coupled with the promotion and dismissal of countless ministers, it is naturally different.

  Zhu Di felt a headache when he saw this densely packed report, and said: "This time, the Beijing inspection, isn't it just another show?"

  Jian Yi hurriedly said: "Don't dare, this time, there are 31 people who are rated as inferior...Compared with previous years, it is more than ten times more."

Zhu Di nodded, only then did he appear satisfied, and then he was furious. Officials seldom judge bad people. If they are judged inferior, it can be seen how annoying these people are. At the moment...he frowned and said: "All those who are judged inferior will be dismissed. No... Damn it, eating my imperial food, but not doing my job well, it is really hateful, after being dismissed, he will be exiled to Qiongzhou as an official for generations, and his descendants will not be allowed to take the imperial examination."

  No one expected that this time it would be extraordinarily severe.

In fact, this is also understandable. It is absolutely impossible for the official to be a bad person until the point where people and gods are indignant. The Ministry and the co-organized Metropolitan Procuratorate and Dali Temple will give you an excellent rating with their noses.

Zhu Di looked at the thick pile of Jingcha, flipped through it casually, but couldn't see anything famous, mainly because the amount of information was too large, and then said to Jian Yi: "If the government of officials is corrupt, it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Officials. Negligence, Beijing will investigate in the future, and we must not neglect it."

Jian Yi said: "Yes. This time, the minister also meant the same thing. Some people were too angry and received many reports, so the minister ordered the Lang of the Ministry of Officials to check the facts. In addition, the Imperial Court of the Metropolitan Procuratorate Shi, as well as the magistrate of Dali Temple, also cooperated with each other, and only then did some verification be made."

  Zhu Di nodded in satisfaction: "Thank you."

   As he spoke, he looked at Xia Yuanji, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, "Is the approximate amount of money and food for this year out?"

   Money and food are fundamental.

Xia Yuanji said: "Sixty to seventy percent of the accounts have already been checked. The most surprising thing this year is the Changsha Prefecture in Hunan, because there have been disasters in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Jiangxi in the past two years, but Huguang is a familiar place. Among them, the situation in Changsha Mansion is the most optimistic, with 910,000 shi, far exceeding the summer grain tax in previous years. I remember that last year, Changsha Mansion had 670,000 shi, and the year before last it was 590,000 shi. In addition, the silver tax is quite considerable, as much as 76,000 taels, which is much more than the previous two years."

  Zhu Di said: "Who is the prefect of Changsha?"

   "The surname is Zheng Minglu, and he was a Juren during the Hongwu period."

  Jian Yi also seemed to have an impression of this person, and added with a smile: "This person has a good official reputation. Back then... Changsha built the embankment, and he also contributed a lot."

  Zhu Di said: "Such a capable person needs to be put to great use. First, let him stay in Changsha Mansion for another year. After next summer, he will be called to the capital. I want to see him in person."

"Yes."

  Natsuhara Yoshida said: "But overall... the tax collection... situation this year is still not optimistic."

  Zhu Di frowned: "Why, is it less than in previous years?"

   "Compared with the situation of the previous few years, the minister is only comparable...comparable to the second year of Jianwen, and has not surpassed the record after the 20th year of Hongwu."

   Zhu Di looked displeased after hearing this.

  He walked back and forth with his hands behind his back. In the second year of Jianwen...how could it be like, in the second year of Jianwen, he was in Jingnan, and many places were not in the hands of the imperial court at all, let alone taxed.

   "This is strange. During the Hongwu period...the country was initially established. After I succeeded to the throne, the court was still recovering its strength a few years ago, which is reasonable, but the world has been peaceful for so many years...how come the food tax is still less."

  In fact, if Zhu Di knew that in the later generations, the Ming Dynasty had been peaceful for two hundred years, but the taxes and registered land properties most of the time did not exceed the money and food income of the Hongwu period, he would probably be scolded.

  Zhu Di sighed: "We need to find out where the problem is. It can't be natural disasters every year."

  Xia Yuanji said: "Yes."

  Zhu Di waved his hand: "Okay, let's go down."

  Xia Yuan went back to Kedah, and when he returned to Hububu Hall, he was still thinking about His Majesty asking him to check the situation.

  This matter... Xia Yuanji also has something hard to say.

  During the reign of Emperor Taizu Gao, the world was initially settled, and the people rushed to reclaim wasteland, and many lands were taxed.

But the problem is that in the past few decades, many places...lands have begun to be merged, and those who have the ability to annex people's lands often have the ability to hide the land. This kind of hiding is of course not like magically disappearing the land. Instead, relying on their family background and status, they partnered with servants and hid in the land registered with the government.

  In addition to this, there are other doorways, which are also numerous.

But the problem is... this matter... there is no way to clean it up. We can't cut off the heads of all the state and county parents and officials in the world like Emperor Taizu Gao, and then replace the prefects and county magistrates to sort out the land situation. .

  Xia Yuanji sighed, and when he entered the household department, he didn't look sideways, so he went to the Zhongtang first, but who knew, the Zhongtang was empty.

  Xia Yuanji frowned: "People, where are people?"

   He yelled twice in succession, and only then did a guard come in a hurry: "M...Butang..."

   "Where did everyone go?"

   "All...all of them were recruited as young men. The Duke of Wei came and brought people...to invade the house...to arrest the officials to settle accounts."

   Settle accounts?

  When did the household department offend him, and what will he do?

  Xia Yuanji’s anger rose from his heart, and he flew into a rage: "Absurd. It is simply absurd. There are still national laws and regulations? He Zhang Anshi...what is he doing?"

   After finishing speaking, he flew into a rage and said, "Then why are you here?"

  The guard said with a bitter face: "The villain doesn't know how to count, he doesn't know how to settle accounts."

  Natsuhara Yoshi: "..."

  At this time, Xia Yuanyoshi realized that what the officer said about settling accounts was really a literal settling of accounts.

  He is a little confused, what account is he going to settle?

  At the moment, he raised his leg: "Where is the person?"

  The guard hurriedly led Xia Yuanji to go.

   Sure enough... I saw a hall full of people, and the sound of abacus crackling everywhere.

  Xia Yuanji hurried in, and saw a sea of ​​people, some were walking around with notebooks, some were sitting at their desks doing calculations, and some were whispering something to the person next door with their books.

   That Zhang Anshi put his feet on the desk, surrounded by Gao Xiang and others, waiting calmly.

  Xia Yuanji was furious, and stepped forward quickly, with a wave of his sleeve, he lifted Zhang Anshi's foot off the copybook.

  Zhang Anshi lost his balance, was shocked, and subconsciously said: "There are assassins, protect..."

   Taking a closer look, it was Xia Yuanji.

  Zhang Anshi sat down awkwardly, then stood up again: "Hey, hey... Mr. Xia... I've been waiting for you for a long time."

  Xia Yuanji said angrily: "Zhang Anshi, what are you doing?"

   "Submit the money and food book."

  Natsuhara Yoshi: "..."

Apparently, his whole body seemed to have been electrocuted, and he froze for a while, then he said angrily: "Submit the money and food book and submit it, why come here to act wildly, do you know where this is? If His Royal Highness knows you do such a thing, you should How can it be embarrassing?"

  Zhang Anshidao: "I submit the book, and they come to settle the accounts. I'm waiting for the results of the calculations, so I can go back to the business. Don't all the prefectures and counties in the world do this, what's wrong, I'm breaking the law too?"

  Xia Yuanji was taken aback for a moment, and said, "This...what is this?"

   "The money and food book of Taiping Mansion."

  Natsuhara Yoshi took a breath: "Why are there so many?"

  He has been in charge of the household department for many years. With such a large workload, I am afraid that it is at least a chief envoy-level account.

  Zhang Anshidao: "What are these words? Duke Xia shouldn't ask me why there are so many Taiping Prefectures, but should ask...why there are so few other prefectures and counties."

  Natsuhara Yoshi: "..."

  Xia Yuanji calmed down a little. He decided to ignore Zhang Anshi. To be angry with such a person is simply asking for trouble, and sooner or later his life will be shortened.

  At that moment, he found Mr. Wu and said, "Let me take a look at the accounts."

  Boss Wu hurriedly gave up his seat, Xia Yuanji shook his head, picked up an account book, and began to read it carefully.

  Looking at this... Natsuhara Yoshi seemed to be fascinated, flipping through the pages, the expression on his face could not be seen with joy or anger.

   After reading one copy, I couldn't help but look at the next one.

  Zhang Anshi sat down again, put his feet on the copybook, closed his eyes and meditated.

   More than half an hour has passed...

  Xia Yuanji remained silent the whole time, only looking at the accounting accounts one by one, until the accounts were calculated one by one, and summarized to Mr. Wu.

  Xia Yuanji looked at the ledger, but his face changed.

  He looked unbelievable, the more he looked at it, the weirder his face became, he pointed to the number, and asked Mr. Wu: "Is this number right?"

   "There should be no mistakes." Chief Wu said: "The lower officials have already cleaned up, and this number is probably not far from ten."

  Xia Yuanyoshi said: "How is this possible?"

  Boss Wu smiled wryly, and whispered to Xia Yuanji in a low voice: "The lower officials also think it's impossible... That's why I asked people to calculate it over and over again..."

  Xia Yuanji said: "You continue to count, and check it a few more times."

  Master Wu said: "Yes."

  Zhang Anshi suddenly trembled, stood up and approached him, and said, "Duke Xia..."

  Xia Yuanji said: "Don't make trouble, the old man has something to do, so don't make trouble here."

  Zhang Anshi said: "What's the matter?"

   "What does it matter to you?"

  Zhang Anshi: "..."

  After Xia Yuanji finished speaking, he took the ledger and left in a hurry.

  He rushed into the palace.

  At this time, Zhu Di was recuperating in the Wenlou. He was very surprised why the tax was getting less and less, but it seemed that there was no problem.

   "What is Zhang Anshi doing these days?"

   "Your Majesty, Zhang Anshi is collecting food."

   "This guy is really addicted to being a magistrate." Zhu Di smiled wryly, "How could he have such a strange habit? Is this the influence of the prince, or is this the virtue of their Zhang family?"

   "This..." Yi Shiha said: "Slaves are not good.

  Zhu Di said: "The prince is not like me."

  He sighed.

  The logic is this, Zhang Anshi behaves strangely, and Zhang Anshi was raised by the prince, although his personality may be different, but the things in his bones must be the same.

  Then it can be inferred from this that the prince also has this virtue in his bones. Obviously, this is very different from Zhu Di. Zhu Di is good at swordsman, skilled in bow and horse, and likes passionate and emotional things.

  Yi Shiha had no choice but to laugh dryly, he didn't dare to answer.

   "Your Majesty, Duke Xia, Minister of the Household Department, asks to see you."

  Zhu Di frowned: "Didn't you just leave? Is it something urgent again? Call in."

  Xia Yuanji entered the hall and saluted: "Your Majesty..."

  Zhu Di only raised his eyelids: "What's the matter again, I'm really afraid to see you, every time your household department is in a hurry to see you, there's either a flood or a landslide somewhere."

  Xia Yuanji said: "The minister is here to announce the good news."

  Xia Yuanji is still very professional. After reading the accounts of the Taiping Mansion, he immediately felt keenly that the money and food problems in some places may not be covered.

  Of course, local problems cannot be covered up. If it is related to the Ministry of Household Affairs, it has a little relationship. If it is not related, it can actually be separated.

   It can be said that the head of the household department is still suspected of dereliction of duty.

  After reading the accounts, Xia Yuanji immediately made a decision that he had to go to the palace as soon as possible to announce the good news, and showed his joy in this matter. In this way...he was just negligent at best.

   Otherwise, if you wait for others to report the letter, or wait for Zhang Anshi to ask for an interview, then... instead, it seems that the scandals of the household department and the local government have been exposed, so it is not a matter of negligence, and even His Majesty may suspect that he is also involved.

   After all, this is a matter of attitude. Any emperor can actually accept the negligence of his subordinates. After all, people are flesh and blood, and it is impossible to cover everything.

   But once you start to doubt your essence, even if there is no evidence, it will definitely be fatal.

Between monarchs and ministers, if you want harmony, good communication is very necessary, which is why, after Xia Yuanji looked at the general ledger, he didn't wait for the final calculation of the most specific number, ignored Zhang Anshi, and immediately ran all the way out of breath. The reason for the Annunciation.

  Zhu Di looked at Xia Yuanji: "Huh? Why do you like it?"

   "Your Majesty, the Taiping Mansion's money and rations for this year have been calculated to be seven to eighty eight. Although this is not a specific amount, it is roughly close to ten. Your Majesty, please take a look first."

  Xia Yuanji hurriedly presented the account book.

  Zhu Di sat up, then took out the account book, looked down, and felt a little overwhelmed.

   "Taiping Prefecture... under the jurisdiction of three counties, with a household registration of less than 90,000... is that right?"

"Yes." Xia Yuanji said: "Last year, the summer grain of Taiping Mansion was 230,000 shi, but this is also understandable, compared with the population of Changsha Mansion, which governs eleven counties and one prefecture, there is a huge difference. This Changsha Mansion has a total of 450,000 households, and it is a first-class mansion. But this year, the grain tax of Taiping Mansion has increased by four times from 230,000 shi. The harvested grain is nearly a million stones."

   "The arable land of Taiping Mansion is only 20% of that of Changsha Mansion, and the population is only 20-30% of that of Changsha Mansion. The grain harvested is actually more than that of Changsha Mansion. This...is really beyond my imagination." Xia Yuanji said.

  Zhu Di's eyes straightened.

   "Changsha Mansion, this year is regarded as a first-class mansion, so this Taiping Mansion... Zhang Anshi... Did he drive out all the people in Taiping Mansion?"

  Think about it, 20% of the arable land and population have harvested more grain than others. Isn’t this squeezing people out of oil?

  Xia Yuanji said: "Your Majesty, please pay attention... look at the number of cultivated land."

  Zhu Di just woke up.

"Last year, the cultivated land in Taiping Mansion was 15,000 hectares. This number is close to 64,000 hectares. This number is also correct, but this year...the number of acres reported by Taiping Mansion...is three Nineteen thousand hectares...more than doubled."

  Zhu Di noticed it now, and couldn't help saying: "In one year, can we reclaim more than double the land?"

  Xia Yuanji raised his head, and then... said in a low voice: "I... also feel strange, but... Your Majesty, let's check the amount of silver first."

  Zhu Di was interested at this time, but after seeing it, he was shocked again.

   "When I was last year...not counting Qixia, how much did you get in the three counties of Taiping Prefecture?"

   "145,000 taels..."

  Zhu Di took a deep breath: "How is this possible? This year, I received 270,000 taels directly. This is the amount excluding Qixia. Adding Qixia, there are 730,000 taels?"

  This number is very scary, this is just a mansion.

   Moreover, Taiping Mansion does not occupy a large area. Because it belongs to Nanzhili, it only has three districts and three counties under its jurisdiction. Whether it is population or cultivated land, it belongs to the younger brother among all the mansions in the world.

"Your Majesty, with this amount alone, the grain tax, and the Taiping Mansion are already ranked second in the world, probably only below the Suzhou Mansion, but this Suzhou Mansion...has a lot of arable land and a dense population. How can the Taiping Mansion compete with it?" What's more... the silver tax, even if Qixia is excluded, it can be called the crown of the world."

  When Zhu Di heard this, Long Yan was delighted first.

   But instead, his smile froze.

  In his smiling eyes, instead, there was a kind of sharpness pierced into his pockets. His eyes swept away, as if he thought of something that didn't make him happy.

  ………

  Finally finished writing, I can go to sleep, fulfilling my mission, thank you for your support, continue to ask for monthly tickets.

  (end of this chapter)