Zhao Ziyi came from a humble family and was a top scholar in the imperial examination in the eighth year of the Xuande reign. He was well versed in agriculture and sericulture. When Xu Ge Lao was in office, he valued his disciples, but he never achieved his ambitions.
After Chen Ge Lao came to power, Shen Zhixiu, who was then the Minister of Revenue, went to the Ministry of Personnel and recommended Zhao Ziyi as the Minister of Revenue.
After Zhao Ziyi came to power, Emperor Xuande paid him considerable attention. He was not pedantic in his speech or behavior, and he never complained about his poverty to the emperor or the cabinet.
If he didn't have money, he would find a way to raise it. He was very good at robbing Peter to pay Paul.
At least from Shen Zhixiu's perspective, he felt that Zhao Ziyi was more suitable for the Ministry of Revenue than him.
Today, as soon as Censor Jin arrived at the palace, Zhao Ziyi watched the excitement with a look of excitement on his face. No matter how he looked at it, this matter had nothing to do with him.
He was watching with great interest, in his heart praising Wang for his quick reaction, but the melon suddenly fell on his head.
Minister Zhao immediately restrained his expression and walked forward seriously.
"Why did His Royal Highness Prince Ning change his mind about what we agreed on before?"
Emperor Xuande looked at Li Yunzhou and asked, "What on earth is going on?"
Li Yunzhou bowed and said, "Your Majesty, the matter is very simple. At that time, the northern border was short of food and clothing. It happened that the Lin family's caravan was near the border town, so I bought a batch of food, cotton clothes, charcoal and medicinal herbs."
"I had no money at the time, so I could only write an IOU to the Lin family."
"The head of the Lin family caravan didn't hesitate at all. He said that even if they didn't pay, it wouldn't matter. They could just consider it as contributing to the Great Zhou. The boss often provides disaster relief. If he goes back and tells them about it, the boss won't blame him."
"I thought it was wrong to take something for free, so I insisted on writing an IOU. I mentioned this to Your Majesty a few days ago, but you may have been so busy with government affairs that you forgot."
Emperor Xuande vaguely remembered this incident. Li Yunzhou just mentioned it casually at that time, and he listened to it with pleasure.
After hearing Li Yunzhou's explanation of just one coincidence, Censor Jin was not going to let it go.
He looked directly at Su Qingyu, "I would like to ask Madam Shen San, why did you suddenly raise so many winter clothes?"
In Jin Yushi's opinion, Prince Ning was from the Li family, so he was naturally well-versed in handling court affairs. However, Madam Shen San was a woman, and Young Master Lin San came from a merchant family; they were unlikely to be as difficult to deal with as Prince Ning.
Starting with these two people, perhaps we can find evidence to convict Shen Zhixiu.
Su Qingyu was wearing a light green silk skirt with a frescoed pattern and gold and jade jewelry. She stood in the center of the hall with her back straight, looking calm and dignified.
After hearing what Censor Jin said, Su Qingyu said, "My mother comes from a merchant family, so I'm also good at business. I'm raising winter clothes for my third cousin because I want to use the Lin family's caravan to sell the clothes to the border town."
“Is this wrong?”
Censor Jin asked, "Last winter was a cold one. Those cotton-padded clothes could have been sold in the capital. Why did they have to be sold in the border town?"
"Or is it that selling clothes is a lie, and the real purpose is to use this opportunity to buy the hearts of the army?"
Su Qingyu glanced at Censor Jin with a mocking look, "Censor Jin, don't you know? The border town in the northern border is much colder than the capital."
"Those clothes can be sold anywhere, but if they are sold in border towns, they can save many lives."
"Although I am a woman, I also care about the suffering of the people. I don't think there is anything wrong in helping others to the best of my ability."
Censor Jin blushed after hearing what Su Qingyu said. This contrast made it seem that he did not take the lives of the people seriously.
Emperor Xuande's eyes were deep, and he remembered what Lin Wanyin had said the last time she came to the palace, "When the Holy Lord comes to the throne, even a woman is willing to contribute."
As expected, mother and daughter are of the same bloodline, and Emperor Xuande did not doubt Su Qingyu's words.
Censor Jin didn't find a way to break through with Su Qingyu, so he turned to look at Lin Wuchen, "May I ask Third Young Master Lin, as the manager of the Lin family caravan, can you still make such a big decision? That's not a small amount of money. Unless these things are used to buy the hearts of the troops, and you have already made arrangements."
Lin Wuchen smiled lightly and spoke loudly.
"Yu Shi Jin may not understand the rules of my Lin family. The Lin family has businesses in almost all of the 160 prefectures in the Three Kingdoms."
"The Lin family has issued an order to all shopkeepers and stewards. No matter where a natural disaster strikes, all shopkeepers and stewards have the right to open their warehouses and release grain to help the people."
"If Censor Jin doesn't understand, he can go to the counties that have been hit by disasters and check the county annals. Were the Lin family always the first to provide disaster relief? The government offices have to report this to higher authorities, but the Lin family doesn't."
"For this batch of goods from Northern Frontier, I, the common people, have no desire for the imperial court's money at all. Only when the imperial court is doing well can we merchants do well."
"But if you don't want the money and are just trying to buy the soldiers' hearts, then I'd better settle the account with the Ministry of Revenue."
"If this continues, no one will dare to consider the court in the future."
As Lin Wuchen spoke, he took out the IOU signed by Li Yunzhou himself and handed it to the Minister of Revenue Zhao Ziyi.
"Minister Zhao, do you think I should go to the Ministry of Revenue to get this silver, or should Minister Zhao send someone to deliver it to me?"
Zhao Ziyi was furious at this moment. He had just agreed with Prince Ning a few days ago that the money would be paid in the autumn. Why did Censor Jin, who had nothing better to do, impeach Lord Shen?
Now that he has been impeached, he will have to beg for alms everywhere again.
Do they think that he, the Minister of Revenue, can produce silver?
Censor Jin didn't care about the life and death of the Ministry of Revenue, and said in a deep voice: "This is all your one-sided statement. Lord Shen is in a high position and has great power. Shouldn't Mrs. Shen San avoid suspicion?"
Su Qingyu couldn't help but roll her eyes at Censor Jin. "Then according to what you said, my husband is so powerful, so my maternal family and I can't do business?"
"Is the imperial court able to provide so much silver to support such a large family? Or does Censor Jin think my husband should embezzle money?"
Censor Jin's face froze, then he said, "That's not what I meant." Suddenly, a thought occurred to him, "Even if you haven't bribed the army, you're still suspected of profiting from the country's misfortune."
"The debt is being collected at Ganyang Palace. I think we can make a lot of money from this."
Su Qingyu thought to herself that she would have to give her opinion to the Third Master when she returned. The imperial court should also select talents based on their abilities. Someone like Jin Yushi was obviously not very smart.
She said angrily, "Censor Jin, why don't you take a look at the details of the bill before you put the blame on us."
Censor Jin was stunned, not understanding what Third Madam Shen meant.
Zhao Ziyi picked up the bill and began to read it. After reading it, he said, "Censor Jin, all the things in the Lin family were calculated based on their cost. Not only did they not make a single penny from the court, but they also lost money on the way."
Censor Jin was speechless. He lost the impeachment today without even needing Elder Shen to refute it.
He could only bow and say, "It seems that I have misunderstood."
He continued, "Your Majesty, I have another matter to impeach. Lord Shen originally claimed that he was attacked by bandits and fell off a cliff, injuring himself, and that's why he didn't return to the capital. However, as far as I know, he was still in the capital when the Shen family held his funeral."
"Such a crime of deceiving the emperor cannot be forgiven lightly."
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