If we can't keep coming back, then building a garden is always an option.
Although the Forbidden City was built in a magnificent and exquisite manner, none of the Qing Dynasty emperors liked to live there.
Especially in summer.
It's so hot now. If it weren't for the Empress Dowager's frail health and inconvenience in moving around, she wouldn't be spending the summer in the Forbidden City this year.
However, the Minister of Works was somewhat troubled by the idea of building a summer resort.
"Your Majesty, although there is no problem with tax revenue this year, it may be inappropriate for the Ministry of Revenue to release so much silver all at once."
Emperor Kangxi's construction of the garden was more driven by personal motives; he did not actually intend to use the national treasury's silver. However, since the Minister of Works mentioned the Ministry of Revenue, he casually asked, "I remember last year's Yunnan corruption case yielded tens of millions of taels of silver in confiscated property. How come the Ministry of Revenue has no silver?"
There have been no major disasters or large-scale construction projects in the past two years. Can the money in the national treasury just grow legs and fly away?
"Your Majesty, most of that silver was borrowed by ministers whose families were not well-off."
Borrowed it?
Kangxi was somewhat bewildered.
He ordered that officials from poor families could borrow silver from the national treasury, but that amounted to tens of millions of taels of silver, most of which were borrowed.
This made Emperor Kangxi reflect on just how poor his ministers must be to be able to borrow so much silver.
Emperor Kangxi only asked about it once and did not pursue the matter further. He knew that even if he asked the Minister of Works, he would not know the situation of the Ministry of Revenue. However, he did take it to heart.
He instructed the Minister of Works to take silver from his private treasury to build the garden.
The Minister of Works breathed a sigh of relief after leaving the Qianqing Palace. Upon seeing this, the accompanying clerk couldn't help but ask, "Sir, has His Majesty issued some extraordinary order?"
"No, it's just that the Ministry of Works is building a garden."
“Building a garden? But it’s probably impossible for the national treasury to come up with more money after deducting the necessary reserves.” It’s not that they can’t come up with the money, but the national treasury always needs to keep a certain amount of money in place to deal with emergencies.
The emperor's garden would cost at least several hundred thousand, and with all the other things to be acquired, it would take a lot of money!
"The money was transferred from His Majesty's private treasury."
The official breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this: "That's good."
Although the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue are not the same department, the Ministry of Works has to go through the Ministry of Revenue for almost all the money it needs. The Ministry of Revenue only has so much money, and it can't just give as much as it asks for, so there is always a lot of haggling.
It might save a lot of trouble if the money doesn't go through the Ministry of Revenue's accounts! Who wants to argue with people every day?
"Does Your Excellency intend to personally go and oversee this garden?"
"His Majesty intends to live in the garden for a long time in the future, so we can't be careless. Please arrange for a suitable person to come over so we can discuss the renovation matters tomorrow."
"Yes, sir."
A few days later, the construction department began work, first finalizing the blueprints.
Only then did everyone realize that Emperor Kangxi wanted to build a garden.
Honestly, large-scale construction projects, especially those for the emperor's residences and palaces, usually encounter opposition from some people.
Sure enough, as soon as the news spread, an imperial censor submitted a memorial urging Emperor Kangxi to "reconsider."
By this time, Kangxi had already reviewed most of the loan slips he had obtained from the Ministry of Revenue. There were quite a few people who had come to borrow money. Kangxi selected a few who had borrowed a lot to investigate, and wow, each of them was incredibly wealthy. Kangxi even wondered if he was living too frugally.
He, an emperor, built a garden using his own private treasury money, and these people are making a fuss about it. His ministers borrowed almost a third of the national treasury's money, and yet they still have the nerve to talk.
This made Kangxi wonder if he had been too good-tempered in recent years.
The large-scale borrowing of silver by the national treasury has only occurred in the past year or so. There have been previous instances of borrowing silver, but the national treasury was not particularly well-off. There was enough silver to use, and the national treasury had to have enough to borrow more.
Last year, Yunnan confiscated the homes of a number of officials, each of whom was extremely wealthy. Except for a small portion that was kept in Yunnan for the benefit of the people, most of the money was sent back to Beijing and put into the national treasury.
Perhaps seeing the national treasury overflowing, a large number of officials began borrowing money from the treasury in less than a year.
That's why this situation has arisen.
According to the original course of history, borrowing money from the national treasury at this time was not a particularly big deal, but this action made Emperor Kangxi notice the problem ahead of time.
It's actually a good thing; the earlier the problem is discovered, the sooner it can be resolved.
The changes brought about by Youqing were absolutely no less than a Pacific tsunami.
"Lord Wang, His Majesty invites you in to speak."
This Lord Wang is Wang Hongxu, the Left Censor-in-Chief. He was not the one who impeached Emperor Kangxi for his excessive construction projects. As a Left Censor-in-Chief, a third-rank official in charge of the Censorate, he would not do something so brainless.
Although he wouldn't do something so brainless, he can't help having brainless subordinates. For example, this impeachment memorial was written by one of his men.
Unaware of the truth, Kangxi had no choice but to summon Wang Hongxu, the Left Censor-in-Chief, for questioning.
"Your humble servant pays his respects to Your Majesty."
"Get up."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
"Here are a few documents; please take a look."
As he spoke, Liang Jiugong handed the memorial to Wang Hongxu.
Wang Hongxu flipped through the document and wasn't surprised. He knew that even if the people under his command didn't do something at his behest, they would know something.
Although he was in charge of these people, they didn't listen to him behind his back, and there were some people he couldn't control.
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
