Chapter 13 Reception

There was a strange silence in Qingliang Palace for a moment, and then Li Zaifang spoke carefully:

"Please give me your instructions, Your Majesty, on how to deal with this..."

"What are you asking? Haven't you learned the Great Edict?!" As if a switch had been pressed, the emperor, whose throat had been rattling for a long time, suddenly became furious. His tone suddenly turned sharp, almost roaring: "Follow the rules of Emperor Gaozu! What, you dogs still want to make your own decisions? The world belongs to Emperor Gaozu, it belongs to Emperor Taizong, everything should be done according to the way our ancestors did!"

The roars echoed through the hall. Li Zaifang's legs softened and he immediately knelt down, trembling and kowtowing desperately:

"I will do it right away! I will go to the Ministry of Justice immediately and ask them to find the best leather craftsman in the capital! I will then go to the Imperial City Department and inform them to go to Di Maoyan's hometown and take custody of all the Di clan members, friends and relatives of the criminal official—"

Master Feixuan's throat was stuck again.

After a moment of silence, he finally murmured, "…What are you looking for these for?"

"According to the rules of Emperor Gaozu, if one embezzles 500 strings of cash, he will be sentenced to death by slicing; if one embezzles 1,000 strings of cash, he will be skinned and stuffed with straw to serve as a warning to others..." Li Zaifang trembled and said, "Later, Emperor Taizong made another rule that if one embezzles 50,000 strings of cash, the whole family will be executed; if the amount of stolen money exceeds 50,000 strings of cash, for every additional 50,000 strings of cash, twice as many members of the family will be implicated, and so on..."

The reason why Li Zaifang was able to rise to the position of the Chief of the Imperial Household Department was not only due to his personal connections with the emperor. During his decades of service in the Imperial Palace, Eunuch Li made up for his shortcomings with diligence and worked hard to study the laws of the country and palace affairs. His knowledge was so broad and profound that he even surpassed that of ordinary officials in the Ministry of Justice. Therefore, when he reviewed the family rules of Emperor Gaozu and Emperor Taizong, he was always well-informed and never made any mistakes.

As everyone knows, Emperor Taizong of the Ming Dynasty is the absolute orthodox; the worthy successor of Emperor Gaozu; and the undisputed Son of Heaven (officials of this dynasty had better remember these three adjectives firmly, otherwise the nine clans may have some small opinions). But for some reasons that are inconvenient to reveal according to the Da'an Law, Emperor Taizong has always been a bit extreme in expressing his filial piety. This law that requires killing people according to doubling the amount of stolen money should have been made by Emperor Zhu Si on a whim when he was feeling filial and considerate of Emperor Gaozu's desire to crack down on corruption.

Considering the circumstances during the reigns of Emperor Gaozu and Emperor Taizong, this law was not actually that outrageous. The corrupt officials at that time only demanded bribes of 10,000 or 20,000 strings of cash, so killing 11 or 12 of them would be enough. But the ancestors had made every possible effort, but they did not seem to have considered the level of corrupt officials of later generations, as well as the powerful effect of exponential growth. You know, judging from the list of stolen property this time, the amount of embezzled money that was smoking on the ground was at least 300,000 taels of silver and 800,000 strings of copper coins...

If we double the 100,000 guan, the nine clans of the Di family—no, the nine clans of the nine clans—maybe they are not enough to kill...

After just a brief mental calculation, all the important officials present fell silent, silent in the terror of this exponential growth.

In the silence, a faint voice echoed in Master Fei Xuan's ears:

[…Oh my god, Archimedes is an expert. If we were to raid the homes of several cabinet ministers in this way, I’m afraid we wouldn’t be able to find a single living person in Jiangxi or Shanghai…]

A long gasp was immediately heard from inside and outside the screen!

Things have come to this point, and Lord Xia has no choice but to speak up. He didn't necessarily care about Di Piyan's life, but as the head of all officials, he couldn't really let the emperor exterminate the nine clans of the Di family - or the nine clans of the nine clans:

"The Holy Emperor is based on leniency and benevolence. Our Emperor Taizong also said that not to be lenient and not to be unjust is the basis of the criminal system." He said solemnly: "Those who are corrupt and harm the country should be punished by heaven and earth; but among the Di family, there are always some who are not seriously involved in the crime, so it is not appropriate to punish them together. I humbly pray for your majesty's grace to only punish the main culprits who have close contacts with the criminal officials."

The shock of having more than a dozen heads could probably satisfy the emperor's rage. If we really want to follow the rules of Emperor Gaozu and Emperor Taizong, then does that mean that what Your Majesty has done in the Taimiao is in line with the expectations of our ancestors?

That’s good enough!

Lord Xia had already saved his dignity and given Li Zaifang an excuse, but Li Zaifang did not back down immediately. After the figure behind the screen flickered, he spoke with a sad face:

"So that His Majesty will know, and all the Grand Secretaries will know, that there may be a few more chief criminals who have close ties with the guilty officials..."

Xia Ge Lao was stunned for a moment: "What?"

"The criminal official has ulterior motives and likes to appoint his cronies." Li Zaifang whispered, "According to the people below, during the years when Di Maoyan was in charge of the salt administration, he placed his relatives in positions at all levels, and all of them ate a share of the emperor's food. Even the dog guarding the salt warehouse was a stray dog ​​found in their village..."

Mr. Xia: …………

Could it be that this person has some deep hatred with his nine clans?

Xia Ge Lao was speechless. For the first time, he felt completely exhausted.

Destroy it, quickly, I’m tired.

·

Lord Xia was speechless, and the emperor seemed unwilling to push him too much. After all, Master Feixuan is not Emperor Gaozu, and does not have the ability to chop off tens of thousands of heads in one breath (besides, the power of this exponential growth is too alarming, and I am afraid that Emperor Gaozu would also be annoyed). After unconsciously thinking about that "Archimedes", he spoke slowly:

"Let's find the leatherworker first, and we'll take care of the rest later."

Upon hearing this, the court officials who were frozen on the spot breathed a sigh of relief. The emperor only mentioned the leather worker, which meant he only approved the skinning and strawing, but did not approve the exponential growth anti-corruption law. So again, human nature is always a compromise. If you want the ministers to agree with Gaozu's old system, that is naturally impossible; but if you bring up Taizong's successful method of exponential growth, they will reconcile themselves and feel that there is nothing wrong with skinning them.

Anyway, you are asking for death by smoking, who can you blame?

After reaching a rough consensus, Xia Yan was eager to change the subject and immediately began to play:

"Your Majesty, Lord Yan has been ordered to manage the tribute affairs of Goryeo. I have important matters to report to Your Majesty."

There was a clang from behind the screen, and Lord Yan stepped forward tremblingly, holding his waist and bowing tremblingly. His movements were just like a weak willow in the wind, which frightened the young eunuchs beside him, fearing that the Lord Yan might collapse on the spot.

Naturally, as a natural elixir-making saint and a chosen medicine tester, although Elder Yan is weak, he cannot be knocked down by a few pills. A few days ago, he was so furious about the Ministry of Rites' affairs that he indeed had a nosebleed and felt extremely hot. However, after taking two cold medicines in his house, he actually gradually recovered. Perhaps treacherous ministers also have their own destiny. Even the God of Alchemy would probably have to sigh at his vitality, which is comparable to that of a cockroach, right?

However, after the situation eased, Lord Yan took his son's advice, stayed in bed, and pretended to be very ill. As Yan Donglou said, unless the Goryeo envoys were really made to sleep in the pigsty and eat sewage, the budget during Emperor Gaozu's time would definitely not be enough. If they wanted to find a way to turn the situation around, they would have to use their illness to arouse the emperor's sympathy in order to implement the plan that they had discussed for a long time.

Therefore, he stayed up all night last night. Now his eyes were bloodshot and he was trembling and prostrating himself:

"The Ministry of Rites sent a report the day before yesterday, saying that Goryeo's tribute this time might be related to the Japanese... This matter is of great importance, but I am so ill, I am really afraid that I will miss state affairs."

Just a few years ago, Japanese pirates invaded the coastal areas, burning, killing and looting. Now that Goryeo's tribute involves the Japanese, it is certainly a big deal. There was an immediate commotion in the small hall; even Mu Qi looked up with a surprised look on his face.

Judging from historical records, it is not surprising that the Japanese pirates were active in recent years; but the involvement of Goryeo and the Japanese is really beyond imagination. For Goryeo, a country that was in the advanced stage of the cancer of the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children, the Central Plains was the undisputed eldest son; it was the "Little China" and the "country of Zhu Xi", so it was at least the second legitimate son; the Japanese and their ilk refused to submit to the king's rule and were at most bastards born from illegitimate children. How can a noble legitimate son have anything to do with a bastard?

——Of course, Mu Qi himself agrees very much with the positioning of the Japanese bastards; and thinks this is the most effective episode in the sale of literature by the Legitimate and Illegitimate Sect. Given the Goryeo's obsession, why would they expose the news of their collusion with the Japanese in front of the Ministry of Rites?

The attitude is not right!

He quietly took a step forward, pricked up his ears, and opened the record, ready to observe the situation at any time.

Fei Xuan Zhen Jun asked: "What do you think, sir?"

"I dare not." Yan Fenyi kowtowed: "I think that everyone has his or her own specialty. Previously, the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works were in charge of preventing the invasion of Japanese pirates. Now we can transfer the left and right assistant ministers of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works to handle it together for the sake of safety."

Master Feixuan was silent for a moment, as if he was considering a candidate. But the book in his hand suddenly dinged, and he couldn't wait to speak:

[Minister of Works?] Isn’t the Minister of Works his son Yan Donglou? This is promoting the virtuous without regard to personal relationship! 】

[…Wait, this appointment is actually quite good. I have a bit of a stereotype. Da'an was generous in its dealings with the emperor and could deceive tens of thousands of silver coins into rewards from the imperial court by simply offering a few rotten leaves and smelly mud as tribute. Many envoys also took the opportunity to engage in monopoly business, making huge profits and becoming rich. The small tributary states made money, the tribute envoys made money, and even the wealthy merchants who did business with the envoys made money. Only the imperial court lost money year after year.

The tribute trade could bring in 50,000 to 60,000 silver coins a year, but the court didn't get a single cent. It was ridiculous. 】

Master Feixuan's hand, which was pressing on the book, froze. Lord Xu, who was standing outside with his head bowed, also froze.

Since Your Majesty ascended the throne, Goryeo, Ryukyu and Siam have paid tribute every year, at least thirty times. Based on the annual harvest of 50,000 to 60,000 silver coins, how much profit should that be?

The emperor had stayed at home for too long and didn't understand the situation of the foreign vassal states; Lord Xu had never been in charge of receiving envoys and knew nothing about the tribute business. Now, after listening to just a few words of my heartbeat, I feel like the clouds have been cleared and my mind has been opened. I immediately feel my heart beating.

Who doesn’t like money?

[This stubborn problem of paying money back has been going on for a long time. Even for the sake of the dynasty's reputation, the Hanlin scholars in the Ministry of Rites who were trained in the books of sages could not deal with the barbarians who came to cheat for subsidies every year. 】

[But when it comes to specialization, Young Lord Yan is different. It’s not just that Young Lord Yan is shameless—everyone in Yan’s party is shameless, but Young Lord Yan’s talent is incomparable to ordinary people. The famous ministers of this dynasty are all good at their own things, but Yan Xiaoge Lao can stand out from the crowd. His greatest skill in life is making money - not only does he dare to make money, he is also good at making money.

The so-called courage to make money means that one dares to grab the money out of the frying pan and spend it. Not to mention the national treasury or the emperor's private treasury, even if the emperor's own son, Prince Yu, wanted to receive a subsidy, he had to pay tribute to the young cabinet minister in order to get his salary. Can foreign envoys, by pretending to be pitiful and innocent, rely on the favor of a great country to avoid the huge expense of paying tribute? As long as the young minister is around, he is trying to blind their hearts! Is the young cabinet minister such a person who cares more about face than money?

Being good at making money means that you can dig out money to spend even from cracks in the rocks. It is said that after the young cabinet minister took charge of the Ministry of Works, he made detailed and accurate budgets for projects across the country. The officials in charge of the projects were required to investigate in detail how much profit they would get according to the budget, and all the profits had to be divided among the young cabinet ministers in proportion. If you give a few thousand taels less, it will be quickly detected by the young cabinet minister's actuarial eye system and hit hard!

What's this? This is the natural saint who was born to remove dust, the god of the financial world who invented refined management five hundred years ahead of schedule. Those who study finance in the future should kowtow to the young minister!

With such a person in charge of paying tribute, why should we be afraid that the envoys will pretend to be poor and cry? Not to mention the nagging and cunning people like Goryeo, even the poor Japanese who can only eat white rice, even if they are selling hooks in the streets, they have to prepare the share for the young minister...

So, garbage is resources placed in the wrong place. If you let the young cabinet minister be in charge of the Ministry of Works, the whole country will cry out in grief; if you let the young cabinet minister be in charge of tribute and trade, that would be a miracle of finance! 】

Maybe this sentence is too vulgar. Master Feixuan inside the screen couldn't help but cough. But Lord Xu lowered his head and held his breath, as if he didn't hear anything; but when his eyes moved downward, he suddenly caught a glimpse of Lord Yan's buttocks raised high as he knelt on the ground, so he shuddered and looked away.

The emperor was suspicious by nature and was particularly sensitive about personnel appointments; he would often interrogate them carefully. Lord Yan was well prepared and had already thought of a countermeasure. But after the True Lord coughed, there was silence, and after a long while he slowly spoke:

"What do you think, elders?"

You didn't even ask in detail? Lord Yan was a little surprised.

Then, something even more surprising happened. Elder Xu, who had been pretending to be a wooden man behind everyone for half a day, suddenly stepped forward, bowed and made a report:

"Lord Yan's idea is very good. I second it."

Facing the looks of people who were as if they had seen a ghost in broad daylight, Lord Xu slowly stood up, lowered his head and stopped talking.

...If they could really squeeze out money from the tribute, they wouldn't have to go to such great lengths to cut expenses and dance on the tightrope of the Nine Clans Candy Crush Saga.

Master Feixuan also fell silent. He didn't necessarily like Yan Donglou's domineering temper that even dared to bully the prince; but the information revealed in the heavenly book was too touching. Now the palaces and temples need to be repaired, the gold foil of Qingci cannot be cut off, and people have to be sent everywhere to keep an eye on the news of the soldiers' death. Which one of these does not cost money like water?

Anyway, when it comes to paying tribute, it doesn’t matter how much the Yan party makes. Throughout the ages we have only heard of farmers rebelling, but how could there be any foreign barbarians causing unrest? Besides, as long as Yan Fenyi still wants to make progress, he should get eight or nine cents of the profit from one or two taels of silver for himself and the national treasury. With these eight or nine coins, it's not impossible for him to be patient...

Thinking of this, Master Fei Xuan let out a long breath:

"Yes."

Seeing Yan Fenyi's delight, he felt a little moved in his heart: if the profit from tribute was really so huge, it would not be good to let Yan's party control everything, so he should arrange some people to stir up trouble.

"Receiving foreign vassals is a big deal, so let the children of the noble families learn from them." He said calmly, "It will be good to see the market."

It was a common practice in the dynasty to give preferential treatment to the nobles. Everyone bowed down together, shouted "Long live the Lord", and immediately approved the decision of the Lord. Mu Qi, who was just passionately inputting and eating melons, was confused:

……ah?

·

As the most die-hard of the sons of nobles, the old Taoist has an unshakable base. As long as Mu Qi is not crazy enough to take off his pants and give Lao Deng a big bath, no matter what the activities are, it is impossible not to arrange a job for the Prince of Mu. Mu Qi was stunned and could only listen blankly as Li Zaifang read out the list. Not surprisingly, this added to his workload.

How can eating melons affect innocent people?

The old Taoist priest struck the bronze bell again to adjourn the meeting. All the important officials finished their ceremony and left silently. Lord Yan was completely confused. He couldn't understand what had happened to Xu Shaohu that he would praise him. He thought about going back and figuring him out for three days and three nights, determined to uncover Qingliu's trick. The scheming Lord Xu walked in a daze, his hand still tightly grasping the book he had taken out of his pocket yesterday. His mind was full of weird and supernatural things that were not tolerated by a saint, and the aftermath of the collapse of his world view. He did not care about the looks of his political opponents at all.

...If he hadn't had a shred of rationality left, he would have almost rushed behind the screen and kowtowed to His Majesty, asking Master Fei Xuan sincerely:

You're playing tricks all day long, are you repairing something for real?

Are there really any supernatural powers in this world?

When you go to cultivate immortality in the future, could you bring a few of your old ministers with you?

Xu Shaohu finally made up his mind to go back and find out all the poems and documents compiled by His Majesty Feixuan Zhenjun and Emperor Qingmiao over the past few decades, and read them carefully and seriously.

Judging from the current situation, maybe I can actually succeed in cultivating it.

As for Mu Qi...Mu Qi walked out of Xiyuan dejectedly, thinking about the workload of his new job as he walked. But after less than two turns outside the palace, he was met by someone:

"Meet the prince!"

The fat man in silk clothes came out with a smile, bowed to Mu Qi, and said in a very friendly manner: "How are you these days, Prince? How is old Lord Mu? I have been too busy recently and didn't even come to greet you. Damn it!"

Mu Qi looked carefully and was stunned. Even if he lived a secluded life and didn't fit in with the crowd, he would never mistake this fat face that was famous in the capital, so he bowed in return:

"Thank you for your concern, Young Lord. Everything is fine at home... Did you come here on the orders of Lord Yan?"

While greeting, Mu Qi remained calm and moved a step to the side. Although the rumors about the young minister are very similar to Huang Yao's, considering his behavior, we cannot take it lightly.

Yan Donglou felt even more delighted when he saw the gentle attitude of the Prince of Mu. Recently, there was a meeting in the Western Garden. He waited outside the palace early and bribed the eunuch to pass on the message. After listening to the instructions from Master Feixuan, he immediately knew the key to his plan - since Xu Shaohu had already given in, the other officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Works would certainly not dare to ruin the Yan Party's plans; the only ones who needed to be dealt with were the sons of nobles who were temporarily sent in by the emperor.

Among the nobles, the Duke Mu's Mansion is the most prominent. As long as the Duke Mu's son is won over, the Yan family's plan will be almost complete. The young cabinet minister was flexible and simply ran to the West Garden to stop people in the street. He was humble and courteous, and showed great friendship. He even took the initiative to hold the reins for Mu Qi's horse, showing his great consideration.

When the two sides gradually became familiar with each other, the young cabinet minister began to speak tentatively: "Brother, I just received the order from the emperor, and I came up with an idea outside the palace wall. The emperor wants to govern the country frugally, and we should naturally obey the emperor's will. But it is not easy to go from extravagance to frugality, and it is really difficult to do with too little money. Fortunately, I know a few loyal merchants who are willing to share the worries of the court..."

He talked on and on for half a day, but the meaning behind his words was very clear: according to the regulations of previous years, the cost of entertaining a foreign envoy would be at least 20,000 or 30,000 taels of silver; according to the rules set by Emperor Gaozu, the maximum amount that could be spent was 500 taels. Even gods cannot make up for this gap of four or five hundred times, and no official would dare to fill the hole out of his own pocket. But the young cabinet minister was so ingenious that he actually found some wealthy merchants whom he had met when he was working as a plasterer in the Ministry of Works, and contracted the envoys' visit in batches, having them use their own goods and servants to supply the needs.

The whole logic was very complicated, but Mu Qi understood it as soon as he heard it - isn't this the sponsor of a major event?

What a huge brand effect it would have if you could show up at an event where the country entertains envoys? Any businessman with a little bit of brains would be willing to share the worries of the imperial court! The young cabinet minister's ability to make money is truly unique in ancient and modern times, and his reputation is well-deserved, with a vision that is five hundred years ahead of its time.

Of course, in the eyes of the officials in the Ministry of Rites, this was probably a case of greed for money and a blasphemy against civility, something that a gentleman would not bear to do. But is Mu Qi the kind of person who values ​​face over money? He quickly expressed his attitude:

"Young Lord is extremely intelligent. I am ashamed to say that I am not as smart as him. I strongly agree with such a good plan!"

Yan Donglou was overjoyed. He had never expected that persuasion could be so easy. He felt like he had found a soulmate. He thought that the people in the capital who commented that the Prince of Duke Mu was "unreasonable" were just hearsay and could not be trusted at all. In his joy, he simply told this like-minded friend the truth:

"Your Majesty, you are too kind. I dare not accept your compliments. But this matter is not easy. I still have some difficulties and have to ask for your advice."

"Young Lord, please speak."

Yan Donglou sighed, "It is true that it is better for the Chinese to have no ruler than for the barbarians to have one! Those foreign barbarians do not understand the difficulties of the imperial court, and they are all cunning and weird. Obviously, everything was prepared for them, but after these envoys settled down, they saw that the servants and cleaners were replaced, and they actually made a big fuss in the posthouse and insisted on changing them back. Especially the one or two Japanese who mixed in, they shouted particularly loudly. It is really unreasonable!"

Mu Qi let out an "oh" and understood immediately - he might not understand the minutiae of diplomacy, but he knew too well the practices of the vassal states of the dynasty. As the saying goes, guests should follow the host's wishes. Why should outsiders find fault with the servants in the post station? It's simply that the envoys have been traveling back and forth for a long time, spending a lot of money, and have already planted spies and trusted confidants among the servants, who cannot be easily shaken.

This practice is unbreakable, but the Ministry of Rites has always condoned it. It is still okay when the country is at peace, but if anything goes wrong in the country, these spies will undoubtedly be a huge disaster. The future disaster caused by Japanese pirates and the devastation along the coast may have originated from this!

Oh my god, I have to strongly support the young minister now!