Chapter 2825: Demotion and Exile
Zhou Liru had already entered the Imperial Hospital for internship and would graduate in April. He could either stay in the Imperial Hospital or be sent to medical offices in various places.
It will be very busy later, so the Liu family asked for a date before the New Year and specially arranged the wedding in March.
Today is the day for her to add makeup.
Her classmates, friends, and some families close to the Zhou family would also come to add to the makeup.
Mrs. Tang came naturally because of Zhou Man, so she came over after she finished buying things.
Zhou Man closed the door and went to the garden behind with Mrs. Tang to admire the flowers while talking. "I'm thinking about something."
Madam Tang had also heard some of the rumors and sighed, "From what your fellow student said, you've been implicated by Master Xiao Zheng and are going to be demoted and sent away?"
Although everyone in the palace and the court had reached a tacit understanding, these things were not spread out.
First of all, this matter is not small, but it is not big either. The New Year is coming and everyone is busy.
Zhou Man nodded and comforted Madam Tang in return, "We also requested this, so you don't have to worry."
Mrs. Tang asked, "Do you know where we are going?"
This matter could not be disclosed in advance. Currently, no more than two people knew that they were going to Qingzhou, so Zhou Man said vaguely, "It depends on how His Majesty assigns it."
The emperor gave Zhou Man face and waited until her niece had added her makeup before issuing the decree.
Zheng Gu was fined ten months' salary for dereliction of duty and was appointed as the director of the Luozhou Medical Department, thus making meritorious contributions while serving his sentence; Zhou Man was incompetent in teaching the Chinese people and was demoted to the director of the Qingzhou Medical Department, to take office at a later date.
As a result, Zhou Man lost his position as a fifth-rank imperial physician and became the seventh-rank director of the Qingzhou Medical Bureau.
Fortunately, her official position in Chongwenguan remained unchanged. Not only could she occupy the fourth-rank official land, she also still had the power to write directly to the emperor.
So Zhou Man took the new appointment letter to the Ministry of Revenue to find Minister Liu and said to him, "Please change my official land for me."
She said, "I will transfer the official land of Pu Village to my Chongwenguan official position, and take back the official land of Jiunanzhuang and use it as the official land of my Imperial Medical Bureau."
Anyway, a certain amount of official land will be taken back after being demoted, so it's fine as long as this number matches.
Minister Liu took a look and said, "There are more fertile fields in Jiunan Village than in Putian Village. Why did you choose to give up your official land there?"
When Zhou Man was allocated the official land of Putun, she was still just a small sixth-rank imperial physician. The position of Putun was good, but in fact, it was still not as good as when she was promoted to the fourth-rank editor.
At that time, she was a favorite of the emperor and the prince, so the Ministry of Revenue specially allocated the piece of land in Jiunanzhuang to her as official land.
The land in that area is not only flat but also fertile. Most of it is good farmland, and there are more paddy fields than dry fields.
Manbao sighed and said, "But my family has been operating the official fields in Putian Village for a longer time, with a larger investment, and the current returns are higher than those in Jiunanzhuang. So, let's exchange Jiunanzhuang for the official fields in Putian Village."
The Ministry of Revenue had no objection, because she was exchanging the good for the bad, so they naturally agreed.
As soon as he signed the official document, Zhou Man said, "Didn't Prince Consort Bai get a promotion last year? However, he didn't catch up with the distribution of official land last year. He should have received some this year. Why not give him the land in Old South Village?"
Minister Liu: ...
Zhou Man said this, and the next day Bai Erlang came in person to reserve the official land in Jiunanzhuang.
After a few days, even the emperor knew about it.
He didn't want to know, but there were all kinds of rumors outside, and Gu Zhong brought it up when he talked about the news outside.
"Many people said they didn't expect it. The other day, the princesses were giving Mr. Zhou's niece some dowry, but just two days later, His Majesty demoted her and sent her away, saying he wasn't sure whether Mr. Zhou had fallen out of favor or was still in favor."
The emperor snorted, "They underestimate me too much. The one who said this must be a woman, and she must have a bad relationship with her husband, otherwise she would not be unaware of my plan."
It was no secret that he wanted to reorganize the local medical bureau and make it take root in the local area. Any minister with a little bit of brains in the court knew the reasons and purposes of Zhou Man's exile.
"What else?"
Gu Zhong smiled and said, "There is also the matter of Mr. Zhou's official land."
"Your Majesty, you don't know that Lord Zhou's official land is managed by his family and never by the Ministry of Revenue. Oh, I heard that the income is more than twice that of the Ministry of Revenue. In addition, the tenants on the official land also live better than the public tenants. In just a few years, the tenants in Putian Village have all built new houses."
The emperor sat up straight, "I vaguely heard someone mention this matter, and also said that they wanted to follow Zhou Man's model of managing official farmland to manage the imperial farmland and the official farmland in the hands of the Ministry of Revenue."
Gu Zhong tilted his head and tried to think. After thinking for a long time, he said uncertainly, "It seems that the prince mentioned it once, but it was several years ago and I can't remember it clearly."
The emperor slapped his thigh and said, "That's the prince! Well, call him over and ask him, is Zhou Man's official land really that good?"
Gu Zhong smiled and agreed. While sending for the Crown Prince, he joked with the Emperor, "I heard that the Prince Consort and Lord Bai invested money in Lord Zhou's farm before they entered officialdom, so they've been making some money over the years. This time Lord Zhou is returning the official land, and the Prince Consort went straight to the Ministry of Revenue to ask for it."
The emperor frowned, "The allocation of official land is a matter of state. How can he ask the Ministry of Revenue to give it to him directly?"
Gu Zhong laughed and said, "Your Majesty, you forgot that the Prince Consort was also promoted last year, but by then the time for distributing official land had passed, so according to custom, he had to wait an extra year."
The emperor's expression improved a little, but he still said, "This is not good. What if the Ministry of Revenue shows favoritism because he is the son-in-law?"
There are so many tricks in the land ownership, dividing more land, or avoiding bad land and directly giving the fertile land to the other party, which is considered a common operation;
The more ruthless ones colluded with each other, and after a few years the official land became private land and disappeared inexplicably.
Gu Zhong smiled and agreed, then asked, "Your Majesty, do you want to give the Ministry of Revenue a warning?"
The emperor thought for a moment and said, "It's understandable that Bai Cheng wants that piece of official land. After all, they've been managing it and have invested a lot before. So, give it to them, but you must instruct the Ministry of Revenue not to take even an inch more."
Zhou Man's official position in the Imperial Medical Bureau was demoted to the lowest level, from a fifth-rank imperial physician to a seventh-rank director of the Medical Bureau.
Officials of local medical offices do not enjoy the privilege of official land, but they receive more rice and a slightly higher salary than officials of the same rank.
This meant that all of her fifth-rank official land would be taken back, and the two ranks of official rank that Bai Erlang was promoted to were obviously not enough for her. At least half of her official land would have to be taken back by the Ministry of Revenue.
The emperor gave all the official land in Jiunanzhuang to Bai Cheng because he was afraid that the Ministry of Revenue would think he was the son-in-law of the emperor. That was not to please him, but to harm him.
The censors in the Censorate are not vegetarians.
Gu Zhong understood the emperor's intention and smiled as he went to the Ministry of Revenue to make a request.
So the other officials who had been eyeing Zhou Man's official land immediately took action. Some of them had not received their official land after being promoted last year, while others were looking to change the location of their official land...
Of course, those who did this were officials below the fourth rank. Although the income from such a small amount of official land was higher than their own, it was not worth it for officials above the rank of assistant minister to do so.
See you at 6pm
(End of this chapter)
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