Drunken Exquisiteness

In the first New Year of Emperor Hao Di ascended to the throne, Tiandu continued to spread its golden colors and look completely new. Ruixue is splendid, lightly covering the Red Mansion and Bi Pavilion, making this world seem particularly quiet. Compared with other places, Shangjiufang, which has always been lively, is full of firecrackers and busy traffic, but it has a dignified atmosphere like a frozen layer under snow, thick deposits, and long-lasting.

From the early morning of the first day of the lunar day until the tenth day of the lunar day, there was an endless stream of cars and horses in front of the palace of Zhan Wang. The account books in the examination division are like mountains, and the abacus is ringing continuously, day and night.

On Xinzhengyuan Day, Emperor Hao and the queen went to Mingtai to accept courtiers' congratulations and gave a banquet to the Taihua Hall. However, other celebrations were cancelled and several imperial edicts were issued one after another to supervise and check the deficit. His determination made the greedy celebrities frightened, and made many honest officials clap their hands and applaud.

The central vacancy investigation went smoothly, and the case of Zhiyuandianlong was quickly filled with memorials from the ministers. Ye Tianling obviously had no interest in these things, and all sent them back to the Secretary of General Communications. What really made him care about was the reports of the police officers stationed in the various states expressing them to the DPRK every three days.

Compared with the center, the states can be described as annihilated. Everyone knows that there must be secrets in this so-called political clarity, but it has never been able to hit the point. The reason is that the problem lies in the use of people. Although the supervisors are honest and honest, after all, Zilai is an official in the sky and cannot fully understand the situation. Only supervising the state officials to check on their own, the officials protect each other and collude, naturally it is difficult to work. . Therefore, this New Year has become the most uncomfortable New Year for Ye Tianling and Qing Chen.

In the tenth day of the dynasty, the long-ailing King Cham re-entered the council. Before the morning time arrived, the ministers gathered in twos and threes in front of the Sutian Gate. As soon as he appeared, everyone came forward to bow down.

King Zhan smiled gently as usual. Because he was still in filial piety, he wore a silk brocade five-dragon crown suit, without ornamentation, without gold and jade. Although it seemed that the description was slightly reduced, the demeanor between his gestures and feet Still eye-catching. The courtiers surrounded him like a moon, and he was independent like a white crane. He was not a group, and he seemed to lead the group. Facing the greet greetings from the ministers, he always smiled slightly, Wei Zongping stood a few steps away from him, thinking about how to step forward to greet him.

That day, Shang Shusheng and Yin Jianzheng broke up in an unhappy situation. After Wei Zongping returned, his temper calmed down, but he felt regretful.

In the recent inventory of shortfalls and discounts on silk, most courtiers slandered Hao Di deeply. Several large silk and satin workshops suddenly closed their doors a few years ago, and the hot silk business in the workshops suddenly cooled down. No one dares to buy or sell silk in the hands of officials. Immediately afterwards, there were some sayings circulating in the Tiandu, alluding to the fact that the imperial concubine Lian was not from the blood of the royal family. When Wei Zong judged the situation, King Zhan seemed to be gaining the upper hand, taking preemptive steps. Besides, Princess Zhan is the daughter of the Wei family, which he has to think about.

But at the beginning of the third year, Wei Yan returned to the door of Xiangfu, and she was full of resentment. Wei Zongping and his wife asked Fang Zhi that she punished a maid in the palace for a small matter a few days ago, but King Zhan refuted her face in front of everyone in the palace. Not only did he personally stop her, but also took people away from her. What made her most unbearable was that the next day the magistrate of the mansion in the mansion came to inform that King Zhan actually gave the woman the title of concubine and ordered her to send Shuangzhai with Yanbo.

Wei Yan was very angry, and believed that King Zhan was taking advantage of Jin Hui's favor. After hearing this, Wei Zongping immediately thought sensitively that his relationship with King Zhan was not very harmonious recently. Could this be a wake-up call? Thinking of this, he looked at King Zhan. King Zhan's gaze happened to pass over a few ministers and fell on his side, Qingjun's eyes aroused a smile.

Wei Zongping hurriedly handed over: "Lord!"

Ye Tianzhan nodded slightly: "Weixiang early."

Wei Zongping said: "The prince has recovered and is able to enter the court, which really makes us relieved."

Ye Tianzhan said: "There are workers and guards who are concerned." Just a few simple words, and I'm done. Wei Zongping wanted to chat with him a few more words, slowing down the recent deadlock. It happened that the three drums in front of the Taiji Hall were sounding, and the Sutian Gate slowly opened. The early morning time had come, and Wei Zongping had to give in, "Lord, please."

Ye Tianzhan smiled lightly and moved first.

As soon as the drums stopped, the forbidden bell rang, and the princes and officials of the Tiandufan rank 4 and above lined up to enter the Sutianmen. The other officials below Grade 4 waited outside Sutianmen, and after giving three prayers and nine knocks, they arched to the north and waited for their will.

Danbi is colorful, purple eaves and flying clouds, the morning sun penetrates the clouds, and shines a dazzling golden light on the Yudaolong steps. There were three crisp whips in front of the Tai Chi Hall, and the long and translucent voice of the internal servant of the decree was rumored to be inside and outside: "Your Majesty-next-drive-here!"

In an instant, from the square outside the Sutian Gate, to the sides of the imperial road in front of the palace and between the east and west eaves pillars of the Jintai Imperial Palace, nearly a thousand civil and military officials knelt at the same time, and the scene of whispering around suddenly became silent. , Very solemn.

The Emperor Hao was crowned and dressed, ascended to the throne, and between faintly looking down, the ministers knocked their heads, and the sound of long live the mountain rang into the clouds. In front of the throne, the black wide sleeves slightly lifted: "All the Qings are flat."

"Thanks your majesty the holy grace!" Hundred officials kowtowed to thank you, got up and stood step by step, ready to do something. But when the whip whistle sounded again, two of the servants in front of the hall held the imperial decree and walked down the golden steps. Huang Silk showed off and read loudly:

"...The way of being a minister, one's duty is to be loyal, he has cronies, he is responsible for the country's personal gains, and punishes the country, and must be punished. The Hubu Shangshu is the same as the school of the middle school. The forbidden agency, falsely set up the platform, recklessly, and greedy in politics. When I first came to the world, I am committed to grandeur, and every time I save tolerance, I hope to have a heart. But regardless of the charter, I dare to deceive. Qi Shang led a thank you!"

The imperial imperial Tianwei, a bolt from the blue sky, shook Qi Shang in front of the temple. The servant in the hall immediately stepped forward to remove the jade belt of his official robe, dismissed it on the spot, and turned around and resumed his decree. Qi Shang knelt down on the ground and looked up anxiously at King Zhan standing beside the imperial court and the head of the group. But then he listened to the second sacred decree-Zheng Kao Siqing Si Weiyun promoted the household department, and awarded the Shang Shubu shoot and household department Shangshu. Years ago, there was a vacancy in the Book of Rites, and Wu Congzhao, Zhengqing Supervisor of Qin Tianjian, took over.

These two imperial edicts were directly promulgated without being reviewed by the two provinces of Zhongshu School. When the imperial reform office and the promotion of the third grade officials, no one knew in advance. The imperial edict clearly reprimanded Qi Shang, but cronies and the like clearly pointed out. Supervisor Yin was unable to hold it down, so he wanted to go to the prelude to protect Qi Shang, but Wang Zhan stared at him and pressed it down. He wasn't sure, so he saw King Zhan's eyes fall on Wei Zongping, seemingly casually, and he met Wei Zongping.

Wei Zongping's heart trembled. After a while, he handed off to work and prelude: "Your Majesty, Qi Shang has been in the head of the household since the Shengwu Dynasty, and he has always behaved prudently. Although the deficit of the household is true, it cannot It's all because of him. Whether he should be degraded or not should be discussed. Moreover, the Qintian Supervisor has a heavy responsibility, and he suddenly transferred Wu Congzhao to the Ministry of Rites. It is difficult for a suitable person to take over for a while. Please consider again."

As Wei Zongping said, he raised his eyes, but saw that above the throne, the corner of the emperor’s lips twitched slightly: “Qin Tianjian has a special duty, which is different from the ministries. It is indeed not easy to find someone to replace Wu Congzhao immediately. I understand you. Difficulty, I have chosen someone for you." When he looked up, "Nothing is unfair."

The decree of the internal servant immediately said loudly: "No injustice!"

Called to go far out of the hall, straight into the purple clouds. All the officials were astonished, they talked about each other, and eagerly visited.

More than 20 years ago, Mo Buping was in charge of the Qintian Supervisor. His astrological predictions were like gods, and he was famous at the time. The fate of God is unpredictable, and people at the time believed so deeply, approaching to follow, invisibly forming a force that cannot be underestimated beside Mo Buping. So later, every word of the Qin Tianjian could influence the court, gradually making the Emperor of Heaven jealous. Mo Buping noticed it, and immediately resigned and left. At that time, it also caused a lot of shock in the court. At this time, when he returned to the court, the ministers couldn't help but have the same idea-the fate of the man.

However, after a short while, I did not step up the steps and entered the hall, the gray cloth robe was floating, and the fairy wind was bones, the eyes of the spirit fell on the human body, like the heart, but it only passed by, and when the imperial court, he performed the ritual of nine knocks and saw the emperor. . Wei Zongping is well aware of the prestige of Mo Buping in the court and the opposition. At this time, he knew that the emperor had requested Mo Buping to return to the court with the gift of the emperor.

Ye Tianling ordered Mo Buping to exempt him from the ceremony. He looked down at the ministers in front of the temple and asked with a smile: "I want to use Mr. Mo as the prime minister of Qin Tianjian, what do the officials think?"

Feng Yan glanced at Wei Zongping from the corner of his eyes, and immediately said: "Your Majesty, the Sage, know people for use, and Mr. Mo has to return to the community. It is a blessing for my country and a blessing for the world!"

"How is Wei Qing's intention?" Ye Tianling looked at Wei Zongping and asked lightly.

After Yun Danfeng's questioning, a deep gaze fell on him. Although Wei Zongping was unwilling to agree with Feng Yan, he had to leaned forward and said, "Mr. Mo is highly respected, and the minister... has no objection."

Ye Tianling heard this, the smile on the corners of her lips slowly deepened, and nodded: "It is a great blessing for me to get Mr. Mo to join the court today. I respect all the veteran officials used by the Supreme Emperor in the past. There is a table in the book. Several veterans such as Mu Yuan, Hongwen and Sun Pu of the Hanlin University are more than ancient and they still work early every day. They are very hard. I can’t bear it. I allow them to give them a Tai Chi Hall once a month. The gift of knocking."

"Chen Xie Your Majesty Long En!" Several veteran ministers stepped out one after another, kowtow to Shengen, before the dragon step, the high crown Zhu Ying and the bright head white beard were shaking. Wei Zongping's heart sank a bit further. Mu Yuan and others were all veterans who were closely related to King Cham, and they spoke with great weight in the court. The emperor’s few gentle words and compassionate words actually expelled them from the court, which undoubtedly greatly weakened the influence of King Cham. He looked at King Zhan, and a haze passed over his gentle face uncontrollably.

Faced with this series of tough measures, Ye Tianzhan immediately recovered his calm after the restlessness in his heart. At this time, Si Weiyun was reporting on several major items that had been vacated recently, and with his solemn voice, several ministers knelt and pleaded. The emperor hasn't expressed his position yet, but with the lessons learned from Qi Shang, one can imagine the fate of these people. Ye Tianzhan turned his gaze to Yushitai and discussed in public, and then Yushi was impeached and dismissed. He straightened his thoughts and continued to listen calmly.

When Si Weiyun finished playing, there was no sound in the hall, and the needle drop could be heard. Only the emperor’s cold voice passed: "What else can you say?"

The ministers who were kneeling down were all sweating and panic. Suddenly, before Dan, someone said: "Your Majesty, the minister has objections to what Si Weiyun just said."

The jade-like sound, as clear as flowing water, slowly resembling a breeze, faintly sounded in the condensed atmosphere of the hall, making people feel relaxed. Along with that voice, there were a pair of gentle eyes, the tips of the eyes were lightly raised, facing the emperor's gaze.

Manchu dynasty civil and military, who would dare to look at each other like the emperor? There was a smile in his eyes, and the emperor's expression was light, but the courtiers were all tense, holding their breath.

"Do you have any objections?" After a while, the emperor slowly said.

King Cham stated in an orderly manner: "Your Majesty, the accounts of each department are complicated and numerous, and the establishment date of Zhengkao Division is short. I must not be very clear about some of them. As far as the minister knows, the shortfalls mentioned earlier actually have their place. First. The pen of 1.72 million was for the 22nd year of Shengwu, Tongwenjiang Canal in Yong and Hezhou, and the Ministry of Industry’s budget was insufficient, so the Ministry of Households supplemented it; the second pen of 850,000 was for Shengwu 17. There was no harvest of locusts in Dongzhou in 1970, and the central government allocated food and relief; the third sum of 1.4 million was a temporary military expenditure allocated to the border city after the suppression of the East Turks in the 19th year of Shengwu. There were two northern expeditions, which consumed nearly 3 million more treasury silver than expected. The most recent one is the fact that Shengwu’s 25th year of celebration was to welcome Princess Jingsheng’s visit to the Central Plains, and the Ministry of Rites and Hongfu Temple prepared ceremonies. The cost is not much, only about 400,000. In addition, there are two natural disasters in the Beijing Li plague and Huailuan land. The Emperor Taishang had ordered domestic currency relief at the time, and the money was actually advanced by the Ministry of Households... "He was methodical, and slowly said that there was almost no omission in what Si Weiyun had just played. The political sentiments of the heavenly dynasty over the years are all in his chest, and he is at his fingertips. Some ministers who are not familiar with the finance will inevitably be confused, but those who understand have already heard the key.

With just a few words, avoiding the important and neglecting, the corruption of nearly ten million in a blink of an eye turned into embezzlement. The crime of embezzlement is serious, and the crime of embezzlement is light. Moreover, it is difficult to define and investigate such embezzlement, and no one knows how much it has flowed into the private pockets of the ministers, and it is even more remote to recover it.

When King Zhan spoke, the King of the Throne was always cold, with deep eyes and indistinguishable joy and anger. At this time, he asked: "According to this statement, it would be excusable to emptied the treasury. Not only should I not strictly investigate. Have to thank them for their loyalty to the country?"

King Zhan calmly said: "Your Majesty wants to check the deficiencies. It is an act of righteousness. The ministers are very satisfied. However, since the ministers are responsible for the position of the household department, if they know the hidden secrets, they should make the heavens listen. The responsibility of this minister is also. Please check carefully."

With the support of King Zhan, the ministers of His Highness were not as nervous as they were just now, and hurriedly kowtowed in agreement: "The ministers are afraid, please observe carefully!" It seems that they have suffered a great injustice.

Ye Tianling raised his eyes and glanced at them, and smiled coldly: "King Zhan reminded me well, I really ignored this. In that case, I will first check the misappropriation, and then check the deficit. Every account is always clear. Don’t even think of a fluke about the claim."

King Zhan’s tone is still not sloppy, but the question is acute: "Your Majesty, please indicate, how should we investigate this embezzlement? Among them, the domestic currency for disaster relief was the silk reward for the Queen Mother’s birthday. Is the household Should I go to the Supreme Emperor and the Empress Dowager to pursue?"

As soon as the voice fell, there was a shocked glance in front of the hall, and two eyes suddenly intersected in mid-air. Across the Yutai Dragon Steps, through the dazzling morning light, like two unsheathed swords, the sword aura was as frost, and the edge was cold, Immediately imminent.

"Good question! I have already said in the decree that I have issued a few days ago that if you lose money and cannot be repaid, you will be the offspring. Involving the embezzlement of the Empress Dowager and the Supreme Emperor, I will pay it back!"

As soon as Ye Tianling said this, the officials looked down upon him, and even King Zhan didn't expect that he would not let go of the old accounts of the Queen Mother and the Supreme Emperor, and he was immediately stunned.

King Li had always dealt with the court and was too lazy to participate in political discussions. At this time, he suddenly bowed his hand: "Your Majesty, the ministers have never spent money and don't have much family background, but they are willing to repay this part of the misappropriation together and share the worries for your majesty."

Ye Tianzhan's face turned pale, and his mind suddenly settled. He reacted very quickly and immediately said: "With meager power, the minister is also willing to pay off for the Supreme Emperor and the Empress Dowager."

Ye Tianling looked down at him and slowly said, "It's rare that you have such filial piety. It is worthwhile that the empress dowager can't worry about you before her death, so she told me in every possible way. In this case, Zhaoning Temple is about to start construction, and it is not suitable. The person who is going to supervise the construction, I will leave this to you."

There was a slight commotion in the Tai Chi Hall. The Zhaoning Temple was chosen to be located nearly a hundred miles outside Yige City, and King Zhan was ordered to supervise the construction. It is no different from taking power and demoting the sky. Yin Jian immediately stepped forward to kneel and play: "Your Majesty, the prince has not healed from his illness. It is really difficult to withstand this important task. Please think twice!"

When he knelt, the ministers followed him, and he knelt down most of the time. Feng Yan guessed the situation. It was easy to demote King Zhan now, but he had to consider the subsequent series of reactions, so he knelt down without saying a word.

Facing a court of courtiers, Ye Tianling's face was cold and unwavering, but he was faintly persecuted, and suddenly chuckled: "I was negligent, then I will allow you to leave for three months, today Stop the prince's seal for the nine chapters during the dynasty. You can rest well in the mansion."

This is almost claustrophobic, but it is better than leaving the sky. Compared with the ministers, King Zhan, who was the first to bear the brunt, appeared extremely calm, bowing and leading the order: "The ministers thank your majesty for grace."

Just as there was a turmoil here, the attendant from outside the hall hurriedly entered and said on his knees: "Your Majesty Enlightenment, Dingzhou inspector Liu Guangyu, please see!

The emperors and ministers in the palace were very surprised. Liu Guangyu guarded Dingzhou and had a heavy responsibility. Why did he suddenly come to Tiandu without being summoned?

Unless something big happened to Dingzhou. Ye Tianling raised his hand and said, "Xuan!"

But for a moment, Liu Guangyu strode into the Taiji Hall with a stride under the guidance of officials from Honghe Temple. The years of hard work at the frontier and the dusty servants in his suit made his original profile look quite tough, but what impressed him was the resentment in his expression. Before he walked to Yutai, Fuyi knelt down and said loudly, "Liu Guangyu, the inspector of Chendingzhou, see your Majesty!"

Ye Tianling frowned: "Liu Guangyu, why did you leave your job without permission and come to see me?"

Liu Guangyu repeatedly kowtowed: "The minister came to Tiandu today to ask your majesty to give tens of thousands of soldiers to the prefecture!" He took out a bag of things from his arms and raised his hands above his head.

The officials secretly talked about it, and they didn't know what Liu Guangyu was doing. Ye Tianling raised her head to indicate that a servant came forward to take the things, held it to the throne, and opened the bag, which contained a lot of grains.

"What do you want me to see about these grains?"

Liu Guangyu clenched his fists and looked very indignant: "Your Majesty, this is the rations allocated to the given prefecture during the period of time in the past few days. Your Majesty, please take a closer look. These rations are all aged yellow rice, but mixed with some new rice. They were sent to the barracks. Recently, many people in the Dingzhou army suddenly became weak and had difficulty breathing. The investigation was caused by eating these poisonous rations! By the time the minister left, more than 30 soldiers had died in Dingzhou! "

These words are like a huge boulder, thrown into the water that was originally turbulent. The civil and military officials were shocked upon hearing this, and there was an uproar in front of the hall.

Ye Tianling's eyes were suddenly sharp: "Who makes sense! Who is Shizhou's grain road, how can the army rations allocated be old moldy rice?"

No one dared to answer this. After a short pause, Feng Yan said, "Return to your Majesty, it is the Yingchuan transit envoy Gong Ke who is in charge of the Shizhou grain road."

After Ye Tianling was furious, he calmed down instantly and immediately understood the cause of the matter. A few years ago, there was a shortage of military supplies in various prefectures in northern Xinjiang, and the treasury was in short supply due to insufficient taxes. Therefore, a batch of money and grain was borrowed from Shizhou and Lingzhou, which are rich in production, for a temporary emergency. From this point of view, when the state government has sufficient money and food on the surface, in fact it must have a huge deficit. It is not difficult for the officials to find a way to deceive the inventory. However, the central government suddenly adjusts the food and they have no way to deal with it. Rice pretends to be good rice. Thinking of this, I should add fuel to the fire: "Spread my will, order the Secretary to immediately lock down Gongke, the state inspector and the police will be suspended for crimes, and they will be sent out! The Yan and Ji prefectures, carefully check the rations allocated by other states, and beware of such things from happening again."

Liu Guangyu said again: "Your Majesty, the cold weather and snow are raging in northern Xinjiang, and the medicinal materials are in short supply. The poisoned soldiers are either unconscious or weak. They have difficulty even standing. Those who are not poisoned have empty stomachs. Defending the border under such severe weather. These military rations are no longer edible. The minister urges your Majesty to adjust the rations first, otherwise, it will be impossible to guarantee that there will be no starvation of soldiers! The minister... the minister is hard to redeem!" He has always Taking care of the soldiers, at this time, was extremely sad and indignant, and could not help choking in his throat, tears in his eyes.

Now, let's not say that it is too late to adjust the grain since the day. It is too late. Where can the national treasury raise so much munitions? Ye Tianling looked at King Zhan almost immediately. If it weren't for the shortfall, how could Dingzhou have such a mess?

King Zhan's complexion was not much better than him, pale and blue, sullen in shock, as if he were different from the usual unrestrained and relaxed face. He was not only unpredictable because of such an incident in Dingzhou, but also annoyed that the Yingchuan transfer agent Gong Ke was the eldest son of Gong Sicheng. As if feeling the gaze in front of him, he raised his eyes, and his calm eyes were like rapid waves, changing rapidly and extremely complicated.

The undercurrent was turbulent, spreading from between the two in front of the hall to the whole hall. Even Liu Guangyu, who had just arrived and was unknown inside, could vaguely feel something. He was shocked by the silent but cold confrontation in front of him. Speechless.

It was only a moment's time, but everyone was suffering to stand uneasy. King Zhan endured the anger that gradually turned from anger to the deep cold gaze above the Yutai, he suddenly bowed, and quickly said: "Please give the minister five days, within five days, the minister promises that the soldiers of Dingzhou will have food. It's edible, there is no worries about it.

Yin Jianzheng was eager to sigh, but in such a short time, chaos has arisen from the center to the place. As long as King Zhan completely ignores him, even if he is in a claustrophobic mansion, Chaozhong will ask him to come forward sooner or later. Wouldn't it be different then? With such a great opportunity, King Zhan just raised his hand to let it go!

King Zhan asked for his orders at this time, as if he had forgotten what had happened before, standing in the hall, waiting for his will.

Now everyone is waiting for the emperor to speak, whether it is accurate or not. If it is correct, the words of Liu Guangyu before entering the temple have become empty talk. Not only is King Zhan still firmly in the center, but also makes people aware of his pivotal position; if not, the situation in the DPRK is stalemate and the situation in Dingzhou is urgent. This matter?

King Zhan's step back was well established, and he immediately pulled back his previous disadvantage. But everyone also knows that with the emperor's cold and arrogant temperament, if he insists on disposing of King Zhan at the cost of Dingzhou, it is easy to do nothing. Feng Yan figured out the holy intention, and immediately went to the prelude: "Your Majesty, the rations you need now can be recruited from the four states of Hanzhong, and you will arrive in Dingzhou within ten days at most."

King Zhan narrowed his handsome eyes when he heard this. Yin Jianzheng and Wei Zongping looked at Feng Yan in annoyance at the same time, but they saw the emperor raise their hands to stop all the ministers behind, watching King Zhan: "If after five days, the rations will not arrive. What about the state?"

This is the acquiescence of King Cham's invitation. Between staring at each other, King Zhan's eyes shone brightly: "If there is any mistake, the minister is at your disposal."

After a period of silence, Ye Tianling said slowly: "I will give you ten days, so you can do it for yourself."