Chapter 216: New Official Takes Three Actions
The Minister of Revenue has just arrived at the Ministry of Revenue and is preparing to convene several key officials of the Ministry to discuss the funding issues related to the princess' wedding.
The princess' dowry was prepared by the royal family.
But other wedding expenses need to be allocated by the Ministry of Revenue.
There are so many departments in the court, one wants money today, the other wants money tomorrow. The amount of money in the national treasury is limited, and every penny must be carefully calculated.
Before entering his own office, he said to a clerk, "Ask the left and right assistant ministers and the left and right doctors of the Ministry of Revenue to come here."
After a while, the clerk came in and said, "Your Excellency, the four gentlemen are not in the government office."
The Minister of Revenue frowned. He usually didn't bother with them because they were late or left early.
It has been an hour since the government office was established, but none of the four chief officials has arrived yet.
It seems that we are too indulgent to them on a daily basis.
With displeasure in his heart, he said in a deep voice: "When they arrive, let them come here to see me first."
He did not wait for the four heads of the Ministry of Revenue, but waited for the imperial edict issued by the Ministry of Personnel.
The Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue was suspended for half a month because of excessive use of rituals and music.
The Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue was suspended from his post for half a month because he kept a concubine outside his home.
The Left Langzhong of the Ministry of Revenue was suspended from his post for half a month because he favored his concubine and killed his wife.
The Right Langzhong of the Ministry of Revenue was suspended for one month because he indulged his wife and abandoned his mother.
The entire Ministry of Revenue, his right-hand man, and his right-hand man's right-hand man were all punished by the three provinces.
The Minister of Revenue frowned. What they committed were not serious crimes. Most of them were against etiquette and law. They could not be punished legally, and at most they could be condemned morally.
The penalties imposed by the three provinces are also reasonable and compliant.
But this is anything but normal.
Etiquette and laws are very strict. If everyone acted strictly in accordance with them, the world would have been united and everyone would have become a saint long ago.
As long as the officials do not make mistakes in principle, the three provinces will not punish them for these things.
There must be some reason why the four heads of the Ministry of Revenue were punished on the same day.
After a while, he left the Ministry of Revenue and walked towards the Secretariat.
Ministry of Rites.
Li Nuo was flipping through a thick booklet in his hand.
Mingjingsi is worthy of being the number one secret agency in Daxia. It knows everything about officials of all ranks in the court, even what happens in their inner quarters.
This booklet records clearly which official has a quarrel with his wife and concubines, which official is unfilial to his parents, which official has a concubine, which official is often late and leaves early, and which official likes to secretly visit brothels.
Compared with those officials who are corrupt, abuse their power and take human lives lightly, these are obviously minor problems and are not worth the Dali Temple and Mingjingsi's intervention at all.
But these matters happen to be within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites.
As a member of the Ministry of Rites, one of his important duties was to uphold rites and laws and to monitor whether the officials in Chang'an had any personal moral flaws.
Li Nuo rubbed his wrist, picked up another memorial and began writing.
The table in front of him was already filled with a thick stack of memorials.
After finishing this memorial and preparing to pick up a new one, I found that there were no blank memorials left.
"Someone come."
As Li Nuo spoke, a clerk at the door ran in quickly and asked, "What do you want, sir?"
Li Nuo said: "Bring some blank memorials here."
The clerk looked bitter and said, "Sir Li, all the blank memorials of the Ministry of Rites are here with you..."
Li Nuo was surprised and asked, "Are there so few memorials from the Ministry of Rites?"
The clerk did not dare to say anything. It was not that the Ministry of Rites had few memorials. The memorials he wrote in three days were already the Ministry of Rites' annual workload. Even the blank memorials from the Vice Minister and the Minister of the Chancellery were sent to him.
This newly arrived Yuanwailang really cannot tolerate any sand in his eyes. He has been in the Ministry of Rites for decades, and this is the first time he has seen such a scene.
Li Nuo put down his pen and said, "In that case, let's stop here today. Remember to ask someone to purchase more. I will need them tomorrow. Oh, and ask Lord Lu to hand over these memorials. Be careful not to miss any..."
A moment later, the clerk walked to Lu Sheng's office with a pile of memorials in his arms, and with a clatter, he piled all the memorials in his arms on the table.
Lu Sheng looked at these memorials and rubbed his eyebrows with a headache.
Although a new official has three fires to start with, the prince consort's temper is too strong...
The key point is that every memorial he wrote was based on etiquette and rules.
Lu Sheng didn't even bother to look at them, and said, "I won't read them anymore. Send all these memorials to the Secretariat..."
Secretariat.
It was almost time to leave the court. Du Yu stretched and his body made a creaking sound.
An hour ago, several other servants had been drinking tea and chatting, discussing where to gather after leaving the government office.
He was the only one who was so busy until now that he had just finished reviewing the last memorial.
In the past two days, there have been an unusually large number of memorials from the Ministry of Rites.
However, these reports of accusation and impeachment were all well-founded and he could not ignore them or reject them, otherwise he would be derelict in his duty.
Originally, everyone arranged Li Nuo to work in the Ministry of Rites in order to prevent him from causing trouble. However, no one expected that he would still be so troublesome after entering the Ministry of Rites.
Du Yu had just taken a sip of tea when he saw a clerk walk in with a pile of documents in his arms that were taller than his head. He was slightly startled and asked, "These..."
The clerk said, "These are the memorials just sent by the Ministry of Rites..."
Du Yu felt dizzy for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Make me a cup of tea, strong tea!"
Song Mansion.
It was already completely dark. Su Qing was waiting in the yard. After a long time, a tired figure walked in from outside.
She immediately walked forward, took Song Zhe's hand, and asked, "Why did you come back so late today?"
Song Zhe sighed and said, "Don't mention it. The Ministry of Personnel has been in a mess these past two days. Even the Shangshu is overwhelmed. Today, all the officials in the Ministry of Personnel are reflecting on themselves..."
The left and right assistant ministers and the left and right doctors of the Ministry of Revenue were all suspended because of their poor personal ethics.
Although the officials of the Ministry of Personnel were not reported to the three ministries for their personal ethics, the Ministry of Rites questioned their public duties.
The performance appraisal of officials by the Ministry of Examination has been questioned for falsified data. The Censorate has intervened and after investigation, it has been confirmed to be true. All officials of the Ministry of Examination are under investigation.
The Ministry of Personnel is not much better.
Half a year ago, a clerk from the Ministry of Personnel voluntarily resigned because he needed to return to his hometown to take care of his elderly mother, and the Ministry of Personnel agreed to his resignation.
Yesterday, a memorial was submitted to the Ministry of Rites stating, "An official from the Ministry of Personnel was dismissed for supporting his mother. Is there something wrong with being 'filial'?" The entire Ministry of Personnel was pushed to the forefront of controversy.
Previously, there was a Right Langzhong of the Ministry of Revenue who abandoned his wife and mother, and later, a minor official of the Ministry of Personnel resigned from his post for his mother.
Comparing the two, the difference is obvious.
Filial piety is highly respected in all countries on the mainland.
This is the most basic morality as a human being.
Because of this incident, the Shangshu and two vice ministers were summoned to the palace and scolded by officials from the Censorate.
Who doesn't have a mother? Whose mother doesn't grow old? The Ministry of Personnel holds the power to appoint and dismiss officials all over the country. It promotes those who indulge their wives and abandon their mothers to the fifth rank, but dismisses filial sons who resign from their posts to serve their mothers. What kind of values does the Ministry of Personnel convey?
The three gentlemen were offended in the palace, so when they returned to the Ministry of Personnel, they naturally scolded all the officials in the Ministry of Personnel, from top to bottom.
The Ministry of Personnel immediately re-employed the clerk and promoted him two levels. At the same time, it sent someone to bring his mother to Chang'an and properly settled her.
Only then did the Censorate give up.
Today, the entire Ministry of Personnel was checking the files to see if similar incidents had occurred before, which was why Song Zhe came back so late.
Su Qing didn't understand these things. She took Song Zhe's hand and said, "Let's move out. It's too boring here. Your mother doesn't like me anyway. Let's buy a new house outside..."
Song Zhe sighed, patted her hand gently, and said, "It's not possible during this period, you have to be patient..."
Originally, Song Zhe had such a plan.
Mother and wife actually have the same personality.
They all have a strong desire to control their younger generations.
One wants to control, the other doesn't want to be controlled, so the situation has turned out like this.
Either of them is right, or both of them are wrong.
In this case, it would be best for them to move out.
But the court has been taking a different tone recently, and if the two of them move out like this, they will easily be the target of gossip.
If he was reported by the Ministry of Rites for being unfilial, he would be suspended from his post and fined.
He looked at Su Qing and said, "If you feel bored, go find Jia and Yi and let them accompany you around Chang'an."
When Su Qing thought of her two daughters, she felt mixed emotions.
Girls cannot be kept at home when they grow up. Her two daughters are closer to others than to her, their own mother, and don't listen to her at all. Seeing them surrounding Li Xuanjing's son, she feels even more uncomfortable.
Only when her husband returns can she feel a little comforted.
She took Song Zhe's arm and said, "Come back to your room. I've been making you some deer antler and black chicken soup for a whole day. Tomorrow, I'll teach you a set of health-preserving exercises to strengthen your body..."
(End of this chapter)
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