novelaction Chapter 134 Asking for orders for the people
Chapter 134 Asking for orders for the people
Chapter 134: Pleading for the People
As soon as these words were spoken, the whole hall erupted in an uproar. The originally quiet court suddenly became lively. The Minister of Revenue, Chen Tingjing, was stunned. It was only when Yinzhen, who was standing beside him, pushed him that he came to his senses. He quickly knelt behind the prince and cried out, "Your Majesty, I am innocent. I have never committed any corruption. I beg Your Majesty to show my innocence."
Kangxi did not expect that Yinreng would impeach the Minister of Revenue right from the start. This was too inconsistent with his usual style of doing things. Could something have happened without his knowledge? Otherwise, how could a prince and a Minister of Revenue, two people who had no connection at all, appear in the same incident?
Kangxi: "Prince, you are impeaching Mr. Chen. Do you have any evidence?"
Yinreng said, "Your Majesty, I have none. However, it is only the middle of the year, and the Ministry of Revenue has only 500,000 taels of tax silver left. Even if Lord Chen did not embezzle anything, losing such a large amount of tax silver is a dereliction of duty. I am sure Your Majesty will punish him severely, and it would be best if the case were brought to the Dali Temple for trial. Then, the Dali Temple will decide whether I have wronged Lord Chen."
He knew, of course, that Lord Chen Tingjing was a good official, not corrupt. However, as the Minister of Revenue, with only 500,000 taels of silver left in the treasury, this matter fell on him. If he wanted to expose this matter thoroughly, the best way to break the ice would be to directly report the Minister of Revenue, and the most significant outcome would be an impeachment by him, the Crown Prince.
He knew that the root of this matter was the Emperor's request for the loan, but who was the Emperor? He was the highest official in the country, so how could he be wrong? Or even if he was wrong, he wouldn't make it public. So, he was just trying to give the Emperor a way out. He thought that after a while, the Emperor would understand and would naturally cooperate.
Seeing this wasn't a joke, Kangxi took it seriously. Liang Jiugong took the memorial presented by the crown prince and placed it in Kangxi's hands. He opened it and examined it carefully. Then, the waiting crowd in the hall watched as the emperor's face on the dragon throne turned from red to white, then to ashen. Finally, he stood up and threw the memorial to the ground with a vicious cry: "Hateful, hateful!"
Then he addressed the Minister of Justice and the Supreme Court, saying, "Men, throw Chen Tingjing into jail and await trial. This matter will be handled by Minister of Justice Hasan, and supervised by Supreme Court Justice Tang Zhiyu. I give you five days to thoroughly investigate the matter. I want to know where all the money in the Ministry of Revenue's treasury has gone over the years."
Fucha Hasan and Tang Zhiyu quickly stepped out: "Yes, we will obey the emperor's command."
At this time, Yinreng suggested: "Father, Xiaojiu has also been in the Ministry of Revenue for several years. If Xiaojiu investigates the matter there, it should be faster. If he really finds out, Xiaojiu will be able to make meritorious service while serving his sentence."
Even though Kangxi is only paying attention to Chen Tingjing and the memorial and not thinking of Xiaojiu, it doesn't mean that Xiaojiu is safe. The emperor's favorite thing to do is to implicate others. This time the Ministry of Revenue has really made a big mess. If Xiaojiu is not helped now, it will be difficult for her when the emperor remembers her.
Kangxi saw Yinreng still kneeling, called him up, thought about Xiaojiu's calculation ability, and nodded in agreement: "Okay, then Yinreng will assist in handling this matter. All the accounts of the Ministry of Revenue will be handed over to you. I hope to clarify all the accounts as soon as possible and find out where the missing treasury silver is."
When the Ninth Prince heard that the Emperor had given him an errand, regardless of the solemnity of the occasion, he raised his lips and quickly knelt to express his gratitude: "Thank you for your grace, Emperor. I will definitely do my job conscientiously and impartially to help you share your worries."
After explaining this, Kangxi looked at the ministers in the audience with an unhappy expression: "Is there anything else you want to report?"
Although the ministers below had just been enjoying themselves, especially the fact that the stingy Minister of Revenue had been dismissed by the Crown Prince, they were very happy. However, seeing that the Emperor at the top was in a bad mood, they quickly restrained their expressions. When they heard the question, they all lowered their heads and remained silent. Seeing that no one wanted to make a memorial, Liang Jiugong stepped out and said, "Dismiss the court."
The ministers were still confused about what had just happened and were wondering whether they should ask their colleagues, especially those princes who had a good relationship with the prince.
But before they could find the princes, they saw Liang Jiugong, who had originally followed Kangxi and left, return and walk in front of the prince: "My Lord, Ninth Prince, the Emperor invites you."
The Crown Prince and Yinzhen stepped out, already prepared. Without further ado, they followed Liang Jiugong to the side hall. The next moment, a group of Ministry of Revenue officials gathered around the Fourth Prince. "Lord Beile, our Minister is innocent. How could he have embezzled so much tax silver? Do you know if there's some misunderstanding?"
When Yinzhen heard the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue say this, he couldn't help but snort coldly: "Is it a misunderstanding? When the time comes, the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Court will investigate and we'll know. The Emperor is a wise ruler and would never wrongly accuse a good person. If Lord Chen did nothing, he will be released soon. What are you worried about?"
After saying this, he left without even looking at the ministers around him. He still had a lot of things to do next. These borrowed silvers were easy to borrow but difficult to repay. How to recover these borrowed silvers without losing a single soldier was a big problem for him.
The rest of the ministers were watching the joke at the side. It was because Chen Tingjing was usually the most stingy person. If they went to the Ministry of Revenue to withdraw money, it would always be stuck. Not a single cent could be wasted, and they had to give just the right amount.
Even now it is becoming increasingly difficult to borrow silver. When the previous Minister of Revenue was in office, they would lend as much money as you wanted. But Chen Tingjing would never lend money without a legitimate reason. Even if he lent money, the IOU had to clearly state the time and reason. If you borrow money for the same reason next time, they would definitely make things difficult for you.
It can be said that Chen Tingjing, the Minister of Revenue, has been a thorn in their side since he took office. Otherwise, why were there only a few people who pleaded for him when the prince impeached him just now, and they were all his subordinates in the Ministry of Revenue?
In the side hall, after Yinreng and Yin'er came in, Kangxi threw the memorial at Yinreng's feet: "What do you mean? What does this have to do with Chen Aiqing?"
Liang Jiugong had already dodged away before Kangxi was about to lose his temper, and at the same time closed the outer door to ensure that no one else could hear the conversation between him and his son.
Yinreng knelt before Kangxi again and said, "Father, I have made it clear in my memorial. The problem of the Ministry of Revenue's deposits is very serious. If this problem is not resolved, the salaries of officials in the second half of the year may not be paid. Not to mention if there is another natural disaster, the court will not be able to provide a single cent for disaster relief.
"Food and fodder must be sent before troops move. Now Xinjiang and southern Yunnan are also eyeing us covetously. If the war breaks out and the army sets out, the imperial court will be unable to provide food and fodder."
Seeing this, Yinzhen quickly knelt down and said, "Royal Father, Second Brother is right. This matter needs to be resolved sooner rather than later. And it is because we know that Master Chen was wrongly accused that we put him in jail to protect him. Besides, Master Chen is not wronged. He did not embezzle money, but he must have known about the decrease in the Ministry of Revenue's deposits. He did not report it. This is called knowing and not reporting, and he is also guilty."
Kangxi: "Asshole, he is not guilty at all, he already..."
Seeing his two sons staring at him with wide eyes, Kangxi quickly swallowed back the words that were about to come out. "Okay, then lock him up for now. Once everything is clear, you will understand that he is innocent."
Kangxi looked at his two kneeling sons with a look of utter sanity. Little did he know that the two brothers exchanged glances, each seeing a mockery of the emperor in the other's eyes. They had been investigating for so long, and it had been going so smoothly. How could they not know that Lord Chen was wrongly accused? And why had they obtained the account books so easily? And why had Lord Chen simply cried out "injustice" and refused to refute anything?
That was not an admission of guilt, nor was it that Lord Chen was obediently taking the blame for the Emperor. Rather, he was aware that the drawbacks of the Ministry of Revenue borrowing silver were becoming increasingly serious. This was no longer the Emperor's kindness in helping ministers in financial difficulties to solve their problems, but had evolved into a major event that could seriously affect the stability of the country.
So when Lord Chen saw that they were the ones who were determined to investigate this matter, he simply let them off the hook and tried every means to send them whatever evidence they wanted.
It can be said that this game was not just the prince's idea at the beginning, but a plan by the prince and the Ministry of Revenue to jointly eradicate this cancer.
Although Kangxi wasn't sure if the Crown Prince and the Ministry of Revenue had orchestrated this, he knew the Crown Prince must have evidence, otherwise the memorial wouldn't have listed over 40 million taels of silver. This figure couldn't be easily estimated, and such a large figure wouldn't have been written without evidence.
Kangxi: "Where did this figure come from? Is it true?" Kangxi was stunned when he first saw the number; otherwise, he wouldn't have been so angry in court. A full 40 million taels, not 4,000 taels. Honestly, his treasury didn't even have a third of that. How dare they? How dare they borrow so much silver? Isn't this the equivalent of using my treasury's money to support these parasites all these years?
Yinreng signaled Yin'er to answer, saying that the data was summarized by his investigation, so the credit should be attributed to him, and there was no need for him to interrupt.
Yinzhen understood Yinreng's meaning and was grateful that he did not take credit for his work. Under Kangxi's gaze, he answered, "These are the data I collected at the Ministry of Revenue some time ago. They are only from the past ten years. It is difficult to check for data before that, as those accounts have been sealed.
If Your Majesty wants specific figures, I will need to go to the Ministry of Revenue to retrieve all the accounts and verify them again. The data reported here is just an estimate based on my understanding, and the final result will take a few days."
Kangxi didn't expect that this was not the final number. According to Xiaojiu, the number should be even higher than this. Because he didn't have an account book, he couldn't calculate the details.
Kangxi's mood darkened even further at this thought. While the world says money is worthless and righteousness is worth a thousand gold, they also say that books contain beautiful women and golden houses. Without money, only righteousness and virtue, if one is hungry and cold, what good is that?
For a country this vast, treasury silver isn't just a figure; it's the foundation for future natural disasters or wars. When he learned his treasury had less than 500,000 taels left, he was furious. This time, as the Crown Prince had hoped, the Emperor wouldn't tolerate it.
Kangxi stared into Yinreng's eyes and said, "Prince, tell me, why did you take the initiative to reveal this matter? It won't do you any good, will it?"
Don't blame him for his conspiracy theories. He honestly doesn't see any benefit to the Crown Prince from this matter. Not only that, once this matter begins, the entire court will be against the Crown Prince. Every family has relatives and friends, and the loan will involve more than just one or two families. If one thing is linked to another, the whole body will be affected. If you pull out the radish, it will bring mud. The Crown Prince's situation will be even worse than it is now.
Seeing this, Yinreng did not avoid looking but looked directly at Kangxi: "Because that is my wish. I hope that my Qing Dynasty will prosper for generations, with clear politics and prosperity, and that the people can live a good life."
Seeing that Yinreng was not lying, Kangxi was silent for a moment, then waved his hand at the two brothers who were still kneeling on the ground: "Since you all think so, then investigate this matter thoroughly. If there are any problems, I will take over. Kneel down and pay your respects."
The corners of Yinreng's mouth began to rise unconsciously. Since the emperor was willing to cover for them, they would just go ahead and investigate. If they didn't catch all these corrupt officials this time, all his efforts would be in vain.
"My son, please retire."