【Father-in-law Chapter 21】The Emperor is angry

Emperor Xie Yu has been having a headache recently.

It is midsummer, but the Central Plains has been suffering from drought for a long time. Drought and locust plagues have been reported from various places. Food and silver are essential for disaster relief, but the Ministry of Revenue has reported that the national treasury is empty, and no one has paid the debts that have been demanded. Emperor Xie Yu is already on the verge of anger. Moreover, even if he forces all those who have "borrowed" silver from the national treasury to return the silver they owe, it will not quench the thirst with distant water. Disaster relief is urgent.

Shen Zhen came up with an idea to kill two birds with one stone because of Chu Dahai's matter. He secretly reported it to the emperor a few days ago. Emperor Xie Yu praised it greatly and applauded. He also called several trusted ministers to discuss it in detail. Finally, today, Gongsun Mu took the bait.

Because Shen Zhen is the Minister of Personnel, he is in charge of the appointment and dismissal of officials. He used his position to arrange official positions for relatives who should not be officials. It is a corruption. Those with serious crimes can be exterminated with nine clans, and those with minor crimes can be dismissed from office.

"Shen Qing! What's the matter!?"

Emperor Xie Yu slapped the dragon throne with his big hand, his face solemn, like a dark cloud.

All the ministers in the court lowered their heads and looked indifferent, but they were secretly thinking in their hearts: Shen Zhen is going to fail this time.

Gongsun Mu was delighted, as if he had seen Shen Zhen being dragged away by the inner guards and losing his position like a bereaved dog.

Shen Zhen walked out of the line of ministers with a calm expression and stood beside Gongsun Mu.

He saluted, but the words he said made Gongsun Mu's heart skip a beat.

"Your Majesty, I did not abuse my power, and it has nothing to do with whether that person is my relative. I just wanted to share your worries, and there are precedents for this!"

"Oh?" Emperor Xie Yu cooperated with confusion, "How does arranging official positions for others involve me? How does Shen Qing want to share my worries?"

"Your Majesty, there are droughts and locust plagues in many places now. The people are living in poverty and famine is everywhere. The most important thing is disaster relief. However, the national treasury is stretched to the limit and the disaster relief money is delayed. I see it with my own eyes and am even more anxious."

"Hmph!" Emperor Xie Yu became even angrier when this was mentioned. He scanned all the ministers in the hall, making them tremble with fear. "Silver taels, I want to ask, my dear ministers, where is the silver taels!? Where are the Ministry of Revenue! What do I need you for!?" The

Minister of Revenue and the Vice Minister of Revenue hurriedly stepped out, knelt on the ground, and cried out for guilt.

Gongsun Mu saw that things were going off the track, and hurriedly tried to draw Emperor Xie Yu's attention back.

"Your Majesty, Lord Shen's dereliction of duty has nothing to do with this matter..."

"Haha," Shen Zhen replied to Gongsun Mu with a smile, "Don't worry, Lord Gongsun, isn't this what I was going to say..." He then turned to Zhang Feng, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. The two looked at each other, and Shen Zhen spoke first, "As the saying goes, 'Learn from history and understand the rise and fall of a country.' Not long ago, I went to the Hanlin Academy to read historical books and happened to meet Lord Zhang."

Zhang Feng bowed to Shen Zhen and continued, "Yes, Your Majesty, I was also worried about the disaster relief at the time, and I discussed it with Lord Shen for a few words. It happened that he mentioned a measure of the previous dynasty, and it was as if I had suddenly realized something, and I found a way to solve the urgent problem!"

"I have prepared a memorial and was about to submit it, but Lord Gongsun discovered this move before me, haha."

Gongsun Mu was confused. He didn't understand why Shen Zhen's dereliction of duty would be related to the Ministry of Revenue's disaster relief.

Zhang Feng said slowly, "In the first year of Wude in the previous dynasty, after the "Donglin Incident", the national treasury was empty. Emperor Wude once implemented a policy that only existed for three months."

"'Donate an official position'!"

Donate an official position, as the name suggests, to get an official position by donating.

In the previous dynasty, the Donglin Party abused its power and the national treasury was once emptied. After Emperor Wude ascended the throne, the Turks invaded and military supplies were once in short supply. Emperor Wude resisted public opinion and promulgated a new policy. Merchants from all over the country could obtain official positions personally appointed by the emperor by donating food and military supplies to the army.

Although the official positions obtained in this way could not be granted real power and official seals, a large number of merchants who yearned for the style of officials donated money to buy a false title.

Military supplies and food were replenished, and the morale of the army was greatly boosted. Three months later, the Turks were defeated.

After the imperial army returned to the court, Emperor Wude also stopped this measure.

It can be said that "donating officials" was a last resort under the emergency situation at the time, and the previous dynasty also had a group of officials without real power. However, such "donating officials" did not affect the government at all, but instead solved the urgent problem.

However, in the eyes of the noble families of the Xie Dynasty, those who gained false reputations by "donating to an official position" were not worthy of being on the stage at all, and were still businessmen full of money. Therefore, they had never thought of and were unwilling to propose such measures to Emperor Xie Yu to damage their own reputation and interests.

Shen Zhen only gave his explanation at this moment.

"I think that now that the national treasury is empty and there is a famine, we should put the people first and raise funds through donations to raise disaster relief funds as soon as possible to save the lives of thousands of people!" "

Chu Dahai took the initiative to donate 1 million taels of silver to the Ministry of Revenue. With the position of a county clerk, he can save more than 100,000 disaster-stricken people in the current emergency. I think it is reasonable and excusable!"

Zhang Feng said immediately, "I second the proposal!"

After listening to this, Emperor Xieyu was silent for a long time.

You could hear a pin drop in the court.

Gongsun Mu still had a last glimmer of hope at this moment. He hoped that the emperor would rebuke and oppose this proposal.

However, the facts made him despair.

"Good!"

Emperor Xie Yu clapped his hands and laughed, "Mr. Shen, Mr. Zhang, you are really my timely help!"

"Your Majesty!" Gongsun Mu was anxious, "Please think twice, Your Majesty!"

He also realized what Shen Zhen was planning and wanted to stop it, "'Donating to become an official' is putting the cart before the horse. Officials are the backbone of a country. If businessmen are allowed to enter the government at will, it will probably discourage students all over the world!"

He was a sharp-tongued person, using the students of the whole world to pressure Emperor Xie Yu, wanting Emperor Xie Yu to compromise.

But he forgot who had forced Emperor Xie Yu to this point.

"Disappointed!?" Emperor Xie Yu sneered, raised his hand and pointed at the people standing with their heads bowed in the hall, "I am the one who is disappointed!"

"How on earth is my treasury empty!? Huh?" He pointed the finger at Gongsun Mu, "Gongsun Mu! Do you want me to tell you how much money the Gongsun family has "borrowed"!?"

"Zhang Feng!" Emperor Xie Yu shouted.

"I am here!" Zhang Feng listened attentively to the holy teachings.

"Report the amount to Lord Gongsun!"

"Yes!" Zhang Feng took out the memorial he had been carrying from his arms, "In the eighteenth year of Yongxing, Lord Gongsun Zhi borrowed thirty thousand taels from the Ministry of Revenue; in the twentieth year of Yongxing, Lord Gongsun Chang borrowed fifty thousand taels; in the third year of Tianbao, Lord Gongsun Hui borrowed twenty thousand taels..." "

The Gongsun clan has borrowed a total of three hundred and fifty thousand taels, and has not yet repaid it."

Gongsun Mu's legs were already shaking.

Every time Zhang Feng read out a number, a strand of sweat appeared on his forehead. Although Emperor Xieyu had investigated this matter in the early days of his reign, because there were many people involved, and they were all court ministers and royal relatives, in the end nothing was done. He didn't know that Emperor Xieyu had actually asked the Ministry of Revenue to check the accounts one by one and wait for him here.

"Hmph," Emperor Xie Yu saw that the effect of killing a chicken to scare the monkey was achieved, and snorted coldly, "If the emperor breaks the law, he shall be punished as the common people. As important officials in the court, you do not set an example, but instead plot party struggles and corruption all day long. Where do you put me! Where do you put the millions of people in the Great Xie!?"

"Your Majesty, please calm down!" "Your Majesty

, please calm down!"

"Your Majesty, please calm down!"

Everyone in the court knelt down, and the officials were uneasy. It has been a long time since they saw Emperor Xie Yu lose his temper.

As the saying goes, when the emperor is angry, millions of corpses are buried.

This time, it seems that the one who hit the jackpot is not Shen Zhen, but Gongsun Mu.

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"Donating to be an official" has existed since ancient times. Since it is a fiction, it is necessary to be cautious in textual research.

A similar incident happened in the Qing Dynasty. The fourth master, the male god of Qing Dynasty lovers, also did debt collection work.