Chapter 38: Prince Duan's Debt Collection
The days in the countryside were happy and smooth. Chu Sishui took Rong Zhuo to travel and taste delicious food. Time passed quickly and a month passed in the blink of an eye.
In contrast, Prince Duan of Jinxiao City ushered in his day of misery. He had taken over the job with a solemn vow that day, but now, as he listened to his father-in-law explaining the officials involved, he had a rare headache.
Wen Renbiao knew that he was upset, so he said kindly, "Don't rush for quick success in this matter. His Majesty has also given you a deadline of six months. You should first discuss with the Minister of Revenue Wei Dongyuan about which officials' debts can be collected. Remember, don't look at the amount of money, but who they are."
Prince Duan frowned, remembered his father-in-law's words, and respectfully came to the Ministry of Revenue to seek advice.
On the day when the emperor issued the decree, Wei Dongyuan, the Minister of Finance, sorted out the debts owed by various officials and explained it to Prince Duan by spreading out the account book.
"The others took small amounts of money, but the officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Rites took large sums of money."
When Prince Duan looked at the account book, he was shocked to find that the loan was as huge as 10 million taels.
Some ministers borrowed for many years but never paid it back. Among them, the Ministry of Rites’ funds related to the royal wedding amounted to several million taels.
"Why did the Ministry of Rites lend out so much this month?"
Wei Dongyuan, the Minister of Revenue, stammered, "Your Highness, the Fourth Prince is getting married this month, and the Ministry of Rites is following the royal etiquette to purchase items, and the gift money alone is one million taels."
Prince Duan Rongbo, "Ridiculous, when Prince Rui got married a few months ago, there wasn't so much gift money. Why would he need so much gift money to marry a concubine? Moreover, the prince had to borrow money from the Ministry of Revenue for his wedding. What's the logic?"
Wei Dongyuan was careful. It was unknown who would be the winner among the princes. His Majesty's attitude was unclear. This would make the Second Prince recover the national funds. He was afraid that it was also a training. He didn't dare to offend anyone now. He said cautiously, "In the past, the gift money was indeed prepared by each prince. Because the Third Prince had the Jiangdong fief, he basically paid for the wedding money and funds himself. Because the Third Princess was the daughter of a seventh-rank official, the wedding preparations were not big, and the specifications reported by the Ministry of Rites were also standard. In order not to wrong the Third Princess, the Third Prince also paid out of his own pocket, so the wedding cost less."
"But now the Fourth Prince's concubine is the daughter of General He, who controls half of the military power in the court. The Ministry of Rites naturally dares not lower the etiquette, so it naturally raises it. Moreover, Empress Xiao Bin has also come to the Ministry of Rites and asked that the Fourth Prince's wedding should reflect the royal style. As a result, the Ministry of Rites does not have enough money for the wedding, and the Minister of Rites does not dare to touch other sacrificial funds, so he can only borrow from the Ministry of Revenue."
"Although the Ministry of Revenue is in charge of the money, Chen Yuanfang from the Ministry of Rites has a personal letter from Concubine Xiao, so we dare not not allocate funds."
Prince Duan, "So should the Fourth Prince return the loaned money, or should the Ministry of Rites return it?"
Wei Dongyuan: "The separate gift money will be returned by the Fourth Prince, and the rest of the marriage arrangements will be returned by the Ministry of Rites."
Prince Duan also understood why the money was not what he was worried about. The money loaned by the Ministry of Rites involved various concubines in the palace. He only needed to urge for repayment, and the Ministry of Rites would naturally urge repayment from various concubines and other borrowers.
Prince Duan, "The Ministry of Rites is here, what about the Ministry of Justice? Why would a prison need so much money?"
Wei Dongyuan didn't dare to explain it too clearly at this time, and only said, "Your Highness the Ministry of Justice may have to go there in person to understand the twists and turns."
Prince Duan's straight face was puzzled, "Why?"
Wei Dongyuan: "The Minister of Justice Huang Tijiang reported directly to the higher authorities, and our Ministry of Revenue has no idea what is going on with this amount."
Prince Duan also understood that someone in the Ministry of Justice was embezzling money.
He had nothing much to say to the Minister of Revenue Wei Dongyuan, so he said goodbye and left towards the Ministry of Justice.
The six ministries were originally located together, although in different locations, but once there was any disturbance, everyone would keep in touch. Officials were bound to have urgent matters that their families could not provide for them immediately, so everyone would start to turn to the Ministry of Revenue.
Today you lend a little, I lend a little, and slowly the amount grows larger. It's not that these people are unwilling to pay it back, they just act on their own, and sometimes they just want to see the other party do something and find that the Ministry of Revenue has no money, so that the other party can be anxious and embarrassed.
Ever since Prince Duan took over this business, people from the six ministries basically avoided him, for fear that he would come to them with the account books to ask for money.
The Minister of Justice Huang Tijiang heard early in the morning that Prince Duan had gone to the Ministry of Revenue. An hour later, the Second Prince should have arrived. He glanced at the window in front of the office and saw Prince Duan, with a stern face, coming with the account book and his palace attendants.
Huang Tijiang greeted him with a big smile on his face, "Oh, Your Highness, it is an honor to have you here. Please come in, please come in."
The two sat down in the hall, and Prince Duan got straight to the point, "Sir Huang, I came here this time to settle the debt you owed from the Ministry of Revenue. The court is now investigating the debts owed in previous years, and the Ministry of Justice is the largest debtor. I hope Sir Huang can repay the debt as soon as possible."
Huang Tijiang's smile froze, and then he sighed, "Second Prince, you don't know that my Ministry of Justice has a lot of complicated affairs and huge expenses. In order to repair the prison of the Ministry of Justice and improve the treatment of prisoners a few years ago, I had to borrow some money from the Ministry of Revenue."
Prince Duan, "Let's not talk about repairing the prison of the Ministry of Justice for now, but the amount of money is too high. The Jinxiao City prison alone requires three million taels of silver. Is this for prisoners or for adults to live in?"
Huang Tijiang trembled slightly, "Second Prince, please be careful with your words. My government office has been built according to the ritual official system from beginning to end. My salary is only a few hundred taels a year. I don't have the spare money to decorate the place for myself, and I don't have the courage to use public funds."
"It's not that I don't want to pay it back, but the Ministry of Justice is still spending more than it earns, and I really can't afford to pay it back."
"Your Highness, please give them some time. Once these prisoners are released on bail by their families, I will go to the Ministry of Revenue to repay the money."
Prince Duan was unhappy, but he couldn't get angry, so he stood up and said goodbye, "Sir Huang, this matter is of great importance. The amount of money borrowed by the Ministry of Justice is huge, and the amount of money received is unknown. You will send me all the specific items and matters of the Ministry of Justice's loans over the years. His Majesty has also personally approved that the prince will work in the six ministries these days. Sir Huang, if you remember anything, or if you have any loans to repay, feel free to come to me."
Huang Tijiang nodded respectfully and said that he would sort out the account books and related loan matters and send them over in the afternoon.
Prince Duan also knew that these old foxes would not agree to repay the loan so quickly. There must be someone in the Ministry of Justice who pretended to borrow money and secretly pocketed the money. As for who it was, it depended on who Lord Huang was willing to let out.
After leaving the Ministry of Justice, Prince Duan went directly to the Minister of Rites Chen Yuanfang.
It was almost time for lunch, and some officials from the Ministry of Rites stopped what they were doing and chatted with their colleagues about some harmless things.
Minister of Rites Chen Yuanfang had just been talking to his staff about the two major events of this month when he heard the clerk running over and whispering, "Prince Duan is here."
The veins on Chen Yuanfang's forehead twitched, and he knew he couldn't avoid it.
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