Although the emperor's eyes only flicked lightly, it fell into the eyes of many caring people in the court. It's just that at this time, when the bidding documents from the internal treasury arrived, Fan Xian, who was far away in the south of the Yangtze River, had his official reputation pulled to a terrifying level because of the more than 20 million taels of silver. His Majesty must also be happy.
... At this time, do we still need to check the debts of the household department? The money sent by the Jiangnan Neiku was enough to wipe out everything, and at this time, the household investigation department, wouldn't it seem too disrespectful to Fan Xian
In fact, the courtiers are well aware that the Ministry of Households must be investigated after all, because the rumors about the deficit of the Ministry of Households have been circulating for a long time. If this matter is not clarified, the Qing Kingdom's government will eventually lose its foothold. But when to check and when to check, it requires great wisdom to judge.
Fan Xian had just made a great achievement today, and immediately his ministers jumped out to participate in Fan Jian. It seemed...somewhat unreasonable, and he didn't know what the emperor meant.
No matter what happens, someone always needs someone to take the lead, so after a little calm in the court, a minister came out, bowed to the ground, and reported to His Majesty about the deficit of the household department. How much money was missing, it all fell into his eyes, and he didn't know where the minister's confidence came from.
The emperor's meaning was very vague. Listening to the minister's words, he frowned and nodded. For a moment, the courtiers didn't know whether His Majesty wanted to investigate or didn't want to investigate
The ministers didn't dare to stare at the emperor's expression, so they secretly aimed their gazes at the Hubu Shangshu Fan Jian who was in the queue, and saw that Fan Jian still had a dignified face, with a bit of tranquility in his awe, He couldn't help cooperating with this lord's qi-nourishing skills.
"The matter of the household department... After the discussion in the imperial study room, there will be a decree."
After the emperor said these words indifferently, he announced the dismissal of the court meeting, and with a flick of his dragon robe, he turned behind the screen.
The ministers walked out of the hall, and couldn't help whispering along the way, guessing what His Majesty was thinking.
※※※
In the afternoon of that day, in the not-so-large imperial study room, under the dragon couch, there were a few embroidered piers, several academicians under the door, Yan Xingshu, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, Secretary of the Dali Temple, and Minister of the Ministry of Industry. here. Beside the dragon couch, the Crown Prince, First Prince, and Second Prince were still standing on the ground respectfully with their hands hanging down as in previous years.
The emperor sat on the flat bed, calmly flipping through the memorials presented by the court officials. In fact, since last night, officials have been complaining about the deficit of the Ministry of Finance and the Misappropriation of state funds by officials, but today, when the banknotes sent by Fan Xian were beaten, this powerful limelight was immediately stopped. No, the emperor did not allow the officials to debate the matter at the court meeting.
Sitting on the embroidered pier, Senior Scholars Shu and Senior Scholars Hu glanced at each other quietly, knowing that the emperor put the investigation of the Household Department in the Imperial Study Room for discussion, because he wanted to save some face for the Minister of the Household Department, Fan Jian, but... why Fan Shangshu Not in the imperial study today? If His Majesty really intends to protect the Fan Mansion, he should be allowed to defend himself here.
The two bachelors were a little nervous. Judging by His Majesty's arrangement, it seemed to be different from what they had imagined. The deficit of the household department... It seems that it is a real thing, not a trick played by His Majesty again. It seems that Fan Shangshu is really going to be pushed to the forefront.
"Fan Jian complained."
As if guessing what the ministers were thinking, the emperor said softly without raising his head, but there was an uncontrollable hint of anger in his soft voice.
The ministers smiled wryly, thinking that the chief steward of our Daqing Dynasty is really a wonderful person, whenever someone in the court meets himself, he always does nothing, doesn't bother to care about any cooperation, even enters the palace Self-defense also seems a little disdainful... It's just such a simple move... sick escape.
Fan Shangshu's courage... It seems that he is not as small as people thought in the past.
"Talk to each other." The emperor threw the memorial in his hand aside and said, "What do you ministers think about the household affairs?"
These few veterans of the court center of the Qing Dynasty had calm faces, looked at their noses and their hearts, and they would not be the first to jump out to offend the Fan family even if they were killed. I need to check, but these people have a good relationship with Fan Jian, and I think that since the entire court is suspicious of the Ministry of Household Affairs, there must be someone who is more impatient than myself.
Unexpectedly... the adults are really good at nourishing qi. After a while, no one spoke, and the imperial study room fell into an embarrassing silence.
Looking at this weird scene, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince couldn't help laughing in his heart, thinking that the ministers only wanted to be safe, but they didn't expect that this behavior would only make the emperor's father more unhappy.
It was the time when he had sold well, so he coughed quickly and looked at Master Shu with his eyes.
Master Shu was taken aback for a moment, and also realized that the matter was a bit subtle. When the emperor asked, none of his ministers dared to answer. Where does this make His Majesty feel? He hurriedly said, "Your Majesty..."
With only time to say two words, the emperor's suppressed anger had already burst out, and he scolded: "You are the ones who submitted the memorial to the Ministry of Household Investigation!"
He picked up the memorial beside him and waved it around, angrily said: "At this time, you are the ones who put on the appearance of a dead bird in front of me! What is the use of the imperial court wanting you dumb-mouthed gourds?"
Frightened, several adults in the imperial study hurriedly left their seats and bowed to plead guilty, wry smiles endlessly.
The emperor drank a bowl of white fungus soup to calm down the anger in his stomach, snorted coldly, and waved for several people to sit down.
Now that the emperor was angry, the limelight became obvious.
Master Shu has a really good relationship with the Fan Mansion, but he feels that he is dedicated to the public and has no personal grievances with Fan Shangshu. In addition, he doesn't want anyone to attack the Fan Mansion by checking the household department, so he took the lead and said: " The matter of the household department is of great importance. This is where the imperial court's finances are located, and all the annual expenses are obtained from the household department's treasury. The Ministry owes so much, but since there is such a reason, it is always necessary to check. It depends on how His Majesty intends to check?"
Master Shu considered his words for a while, and said with a smile: "For these years, Fan Shangshu has been taking care of the household department. Although he was a servant a few years ago, because the old Shangshu was always sick, he was in charge of the household affairs. Commander-in-Chief. It is the most trivial thing to know about the household department, so court officials often ignore its importance. It is too easy to make meritorious service and accidents to manage the household department. It is just a hard job in the end. Mr. Fan has been in charge of the household department for many years. Although he has made no achievements, he has never made any mistakes. , and should not be taken too lightly."
As soon as these words came out, everyone knew Shu Wu's position. The Ministry of Household Affairs must investigate, but it can't make a mess. And the crown prince sneered even more in his heart, thinking that the two paragraphs of Master Shu's remarks were beautiful, since he didn't know where the rumors came from, it implied that even if the household department owed something, maybe it was just someone in the court trying to take advantage of it how.
Hu Dashi also nodded and agreed: "It must be investigated."
With a calm face, the emperor asked the Minister of Industry, "What do you mean?"
A stream of cold sweat dripped down the back of the Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry, and he said with a wry smile: "The Ministry of Industry has followed His Majesty's will and the regulations of the Zhongshusheng adults in the past two years. For personal reasons, I don’t think the Ministry of Household Affairs is deliberately embarrassing my subordinates, maybe the Ministry of Household Affairs is really inconvenient to move sometimes.”
This is a theory of punishment. If the household department is not in a deficit, how can it be inconvenient to move it
Immediately afterwards, Yan Xingshu, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, also expressed his attitude clearly. He was in charge of the assessment of officials and the appointment and removal of personnel. Of course, he suggested that the emperor should thoroughly investigate the Ministry of Households. So that the household department is under less pressure.
Hearing these secretive words of the ministers, the emperor felt a little annoyed, frowned, tapped the short table on the flat couch lightly with his fingers, pointed to the few thin memorials on the table and said: " You guys have a look at the memorial from Jiangnan."
Eunuch Yao stepped forward calmly, took the memorial, and handed it out to several adults.
For a while in the imperial study room, only the sound of adults flipping through the memorials and the sound of gradually heavy breathing could be heard.
After a long time, all the adults finally finished reading each other and raised their heads with shocked expressions. But Shu Wu and Hu Dashi looked at each other, and quickly turned their heads away, neither concealing the deep worry in their hearts. If the things mentioned in the memorial are true, Fan Shangshu's courage...is really too great !
"Guo Zheng, the censor of Jiangnan Road, wrote a letter stating that Fan Xian chose a puppet surnamed Xia to manipulate in the bidding of the inner treasury. He won the six goods bids on Xingbei Road, and on the other hand, he was also allowed to hedge against the imperial merchants, forcibly raising this year's bids."
The emperor's calm voice sounded again, calmly as if he was talking about a topic that had nothing to do with him.
"Guo Zheng wondered how Fan Xian got the large amount of silver."
The emperor looked at the ministers and said with a sneer, "I... also have doubts. He, Fan Xian, indulged his subordinates in competing with the imperial merchants for profit. I will not mention this matter for the time being, but which minister can tell me where he got so much money from?" ?”
Shu Wu's throat was dry, and he was a little speechless. Only then did he know why so many court officials believed that the deficit of the household department must be huge. It turned out that it was because of the problem in the south of the Yangtze River. The emperor's meaning is also very obvious. Fan Xian can fully grasp the situation of the opening of the inner treasury, and secretly controlled the six bids on Xingbei Road with his own men. The huge amount of silver taels involved in this matter is probably... from the Ministry of Households, or from the Ministry of Finance. transferred from his father.
The ministers were silent. At this time, they were not afraid of offending Fan Shangshu, but were still immersed in the shock. Judging from the inscription of the memorial, it should be the imperial palace that he visited last night. His Majesty should have known for a long time that Fan Xian used some disgraceful means during the opening of the internal treasury. But His Majesty's expression of joy at the court meeting earlier was not a lie... His Majesty's forbearance, His Majesty's forethought, really were beyond the discretion of the courtiers. In other words, His Majesty liked Fan Xian earning money for him very much, but he didn't like it very much... Fan Xian used the money from the court to earn money for him
Only the emperor can move the money of the imperial court, and no one can act on his own initiative. It seems that the Fan family really touched the emperor's back this time.
In the calm, the second prince, who was only allowed to listen in the imperial study again in February, said with a smile, "Father, I have something to say."
"Speak." The emperor said coldly.
A calm smile appeared on the soft face of the second prince, he saluted all the ministers, and said softly: "I have some complaints with Fan Tisi, but I dare not express my opinion because of this matter. I think Since Fan Xian is far away in the south of the Yangtze River and has the status of an imperial envoy, there is no one to restrain him, and even if his subordinates steal the imperial money for their own use, it is a serious crime. gone."
This was setting the tone. Everyone knew that he was targeting the Fan family, but no one could refute anything.
The First Prince, who had been silent all this time, suddenly said: "Guo Zheng, the censor of Jiangnan Road, has an old grudge with Fan Xian, and was almost punched black by Fan Xian in the hall of the Ministry of Punishment."
After saying this, he never spoke again.
Master Shu sat on the stool and listened, thinking rightly, this is an opportunity that must be seized, otherwise, if Guo Zheng's memorial is true, not only the household department will be in chaos, Jiangnan Fan Xian will not have a good ending, If the two sides are in chaos, I really don't know how many people will be killed. The Qing Dynasty court can't bear such a big toss.
He hurriedly followed the words of the eldest prince and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, Guo Zheng, the old minister is not afraid of being inappropriate, so he has to say something more. This man is very successful, and he has done a lot of ridiculous things. He was demoted to the south of the Yangtze River by His Majesty last year. It's hard to guarantee that he won't deliberately exaggerate and frame people because of his old grudge with Master Xiao Fan."
As soon as the word feud was uttered, everyone couldn't help but glance at the second prince who had the deepest feud with Fan Xian. Although the second prince still maintains a beautiful smile on his face, his face has actually started to heat up. He glanced at the first prince with resentful eyes. He has been brothers with the first prince since he was a child, and he doesn't understand why the eldest brother insists on standing up now. Over there with that bastard!