Chapter 2380 Complaint
The Emperor, Empress, and numerous other imperial princes, princesses, and concubines were all served by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Palace Affairs. The Ministry of Internal Affairs was responsible for serving within the palace, entering and leaving the palace, and disseminating imperial decrees. Under it were the Ye Ting Bureau, the Gong Wei Bureau, the Xi Guan Bureau, the Nei Pu Bureau, and the Nei Fu Bureau. The Ministry of Palace Affairs consisted of the Shang Shi, Shang Yao, Shang Yi, Shang She, Shang Cheng, and Shang Chariot Bureaus.
Both provinces were managed by internal officials, who were either eunuchs or female officials, and rarely by external officials.
However, there is a general manager above these two provinces. The current general manager is Lord Luo, who is in charge of the royal family, or the emperor’s private property.
However, he only took his subordinates to take care of external affairs, such as the management of the imperial farm, the emperor's shops, mines, etc. He was extremely busy, and the two provinces were basically autonomous.
All the officials who served as the Grand Eunuch were very self-aware and did not dare to get too involved in the affairs of the two provinces. After all, those were the emperor's family affairs.
Moreover, the Grand Eunuch was not only the emperor's subject, but also the queen's subordinate.
Yes, in addition to obeying the emperor, Lord Luo also has to obey the empress, who also has the power to appoint and dismiss the chief steward of the inner treasury and handle the affairs of the inner treasury.
So after Lord Luo took office, he diligently managed the industries of the Emperor and Empress, and occasionally brought some things home. His exchanges with the two provinces were nothing more than requests for money and materials, and he would give the money and materials after approving them.
Of course, he didn't have to do such things himself, and most of the chores were left to Xin Chun.
Because the emperor, empress, and princes' daughters often visited the imperial estates near the capital, Lord Luo handed over the two imperial estates in the capital to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
I didn't expect that something that was convenient for you, me and him would end up like this.
Lord Luo is still kneeling in the palace.
Gu Zhong brought in a cup of tea, carefully placed it next to the emperor's hand, and whispered, "Your Majesty, how about you try today's tea?"
The emperor took a sip of the tea and drank it, then he felt better. He then looked at Lord Luo who was still kneeling beside him and said with a cold snort, "Stand up."
Lord Luo breathed a sigh of relief, got up from the ground, and stood with his head lowered.
The emperor said, "I have always trusted you, that's why I've entrusted all matters to you. The Ministry of Revenue is complaining about a deficit, the Imperial Treasury is complaining about a deficit, but in the end, it's not me who's suffering, it's you!"
The emperor became angry when he talked about this and couldn't help but put the teacup heavily on the table.
Lord Luo knelt down again and quickly confessed his guilt.
The emperor sneered and said, "Liu Hui is ordinary in other aspects, but he is an expert in accounting. You go and hand over all the accounts of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Palace Affairs to him, and let your inner treasury calculate them together with the Ministry of Revenue. I want to see why my inner treasury is getting poorer day by day."
Lord Luo responded respectfully, then stood up and slowly retreated.
The emperor looked at Gu Zhong and said, "You go with me. If the eunuchs and the palace officials don't obey, you can teach them a lesson."
Gu Zhong agreed with a smile, bowed and retreated.
Lord Luo was standing outside waiting for him. The two of them walked out together. Only after they were far away did Lord Luo let out the breath that was in his chest.
Unlike external officials like Wei Zhi, Lord Luo often dealt with Gu Zhong and the two were very familiar with each other. So he glanced over and said coldly, "I heard that before His Majesty lost his temper, only Eunuch Gu was by his side?"
Gu Zhong sighed and said, "Lord Luo, this is indeed my fault. I didn't expect His Majesty to be so angry."
Lord Luo frowned, "What did you really say to His Majesty?"
Gu Zhong said quickly, "Master Luo, please listen to my explanation first. I'm not complaining. Oh, it's too late to say this now. I'm also very panicked and feel extremely guilty."
Lord Luo just listened to this, but who knows whether he really feels guilty?
These eunuchs have taken many lives, so how much conscience do they have?
Now Lord Luo just wants to know why the emperor is so angry.
Gu Zhong said softly, "I'm sorry for being so nosy. Your Majesty was in a good mood this morning and had already arranged all the memorials. With nothing else to do, Your Majesty wanted to go out for a stroll."
"But Lord Luo also knows that His Majesty doesn't dare go to the Rare Animal Garden because of Lord Wei's impeachment. But the wind is so strong outside, a late spring wind that is worse than the winter wind. His Majesty just caught a cold two days ago, how dare I let him go out?"
Lord Luo: "Speak to the point."
Gu Zhong said with a guilty look on his face, "To prevent Your Majesty from going out and getting out of the cold, I told you some interesting things happening outside. Isn't this about Doctor Zhou?"
Lord Luo: "Lord Zhou Manzhou?"
"Exactly."
Lord Luo: "What does this have to do with her?"
"It's okay," Gu Zhong said with a depressed look on his face. "It's just that His Majesty likes Lord Zhou, so I found some interesting stories about Lord Zhou to tell His Majesty. I remember Lord Zhou mentioned before that she was good at business since she was young. So when she was young, the Zhou and Bai families cleared out a small farm for her and Prince Consort Bai to manage together. They not only grow wheat and rice on that farm, but also raise many chickens and ducks."
"Those chickens laid so many eggs that the price of two eggs in the county town dropped from three cents to one cent. Later, it was three eggs for two cents. I heard that eggs in their county town are now only two eggs for one cent." Gu Zhong sighed, "Who could have known by such a coincidence that at that moment, Xiao Yuan of the Imperial Hospital had just submitted a memorial to Your Majesty requesting funding. I heard that the first batch of funds allocated to them by the Ministry of Revenue and the Imperial Treasury was spent very quickly, and since many people have moved into the imperial farm since then, the expenses have increased even more, so..."
Gu Zhong looked up at Lord Luo with sympathy, "Your Excellency should have known why His Majesty was angry a long time ago, right? Not only are the prices of the things purchased by the imperial farm for the Imperial Medical Bureau much higher, but the things purchased for the palace are also..."
Lord Luo moved his lips for a moment before saying, "Of course I know my people aren't very clean, but clear waters can hold no fish. Everything we give to the palace must be the best, so it's normal for the prices to be higher than outside."
Lord Luo said with a headache: "Even if the price of chicken, duck, eggs, meat and vegetables is doubled, how much more can it cost?"
Gu Zhong laughed and said, "That's not just doubled, it's tripled. I heard that eggs on the market are only two cents each, but the eggs bought by the purchasing manager are six cents each. How many eggs does the entire palace consume every day? If you accumulate them day by day, it will cost a lot of money."
He said, "If they hadn't gone too far, Your Majesty wouldn't have been so angry."
Lord Luo frowned, "I can't interfere with the palace's purchases. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has always been in charge. The inner treasury only allocates funds..."
Gu Zhong said calmly, "But Lord Xin, who works under Lord Luo, has been handling this matter. I heard that since Eunuch Tong fell ill, Lord Xin has been in charge of purchasing matters."
When Lord Luo heard this, he immediately stopped talking. Interfering in palace affairs was a taboo. Even he, the legitimate chief eunuch of the inner treasury, had to avoid it. How could Xin Chun have the courage to interfere?
See you at 9pm
(End of this chapter)
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