In fact, the Minister of the Ministry of Households did not notice anything wrong at the beginning. After all, the officials in the Ministry of Households would move more or less the grain stored in the granary.
After all, the stored grain in the granary will be replaced every year, and the old grain will be disposed of every year, while the new grain will be piled up. Because of the smooth weather in the country and the people, these grains will basically be replaced every year. The stale grains in it can only be stored for a year at most, which is not a hindrance, so slowly deal with these stale grains and the Minister of the Household Department handed them over to his subordinates to handle.
The Minister of the Household Department understands the truth that when the water is clear, there will be no fish. You must know that the salaries of the officials of the Great Zhou Dynasty are only so small every year. If the officials under their hands are not given some benefits, how can they do their best? So as long as you don't do too much, the Minister of Hubu will turn a blind eye and close his eyes and pretend that he didn't see it.
However, what he didn't expect was that there would be people taking advantage of these tacit unspoken rules to amass money wantonly. If it wasn't for the news from that unknown person, the Minister of the Household Department would not have thought that Qi Nuo, who looks thick and big-eyed, Dutiful people dare to put their ideas on the grain in the granary of the household department.
"Your Majesty, Xiaguan has sent people to investigate. The grain in the granary has been piled up for at least three years. A lot of the grain has become moldy and smelly. It is impossible to eat hundreds of thousands of tons of food, and more than half of it has been destroyed."
Why does the granary store grain every year, put out the old grain and put in the new grain? That is because if the grain accumulates for a long time, it will produce toxins and can no longer be eaten by people.
The grain that has been stored for a year will not cause too much harm, but because it is old grain, the selling price is not high, which can be regarded as an extra income for the Ministry of Households every year.
How important are these grains in the granary? As long as there is a disaster or border war in the Great Zhou Dynasty, these grains will be shipped out as disaster relief grains and military grains. With these grains to delay the time, the court can raise grains as quickly as possible, so that it will not cause much damage. shock.
From some perspectives, it is not an exaggeration to say that these grains are the foundation of the country.
However, that unknown mysterious person sent a message to Hubu Shangshudi, and he told Hubu Shangshu that there were rats in the household who tampered with the grain in these granaries, because the weather has been good in the past few years, and nothing happened Catastrophic catastrophe, so the grain in the granary is basically no one will go to see the grain in the granary except when the grain is changed regularly in July and August every year, so those people take this opportunity to secretly talk about the grain down.
Every year when they open a granary to exchange grain, they just make a show. The new grain that was supposed to be exchanged in was not sent to the granary, but sold to those traders at a price that was 40% lower than the market price. And they took part of it as money for selling old grain to the household department, while the remaining few swallowed the rest of the money into their pockets.
How did Qi Wang know about this? It was also because he recalled a strange place in the original plot. In the memory of the original owner, a flood occurred in Ruijiang a few years later, and the victims were displaced.
Not long after the flood happened, the imperial court was about to open granaries to release grain. However, before that, the site where the granaries were located suddenly caught fire, and hundreds of granaries were all reduced to ashes, leaving no grain left. The distribution of food even caused the victims to riot. The imperial court sent troops to suppress the rioting victims.
The original owner didn't notice anything wrong, he just took everything as an accident, but Qi Wang was not as simple as the original owner thought.
After arriving in the capital, Qi Wang has been secretly investigating these things, and soon discovered the tricks.
The grain on the market should be constant, because the output of this dynasty is only so small, even if those grain dealers want to hoard enough grain, they have to run all over the world, and every year in July and August, there are many people in the capital. There are always many food dealers coming.
Qi Wang deliberately found out that the grain dealers who came to the capital were not small-scale troublemakers, and many of them were large grain dealers from various states and counties. If it was for the old grain stored in the granary of the household department, there was no need for them to come here.
Although the price of old grain is cheap, the taste is not good. Even after processing, it still has a dull smell. These grains are not easy to sell outside in the years when the weather is good. Generally speaking, those who want these shades are basically Only food vendors from relatively poor areas come here.
But this is not the case.
This may be an accident for one or two years, but if it happens every year, it is no longer an accident.
Afterwards, Qi Wang conducted an in-depth investigation and found that all they bought from the Ministry of Households was new grain every year. In November and December every year, a large number of new grains would appear on the market, which did not conform to market rules.
You must know that when new grains are on the market, all that is sold on the market are basically new grains, but in winter, the old grains that can be sold on the market will be the old grains accumulated last year, and even if it is old grains, the price is not as high as that of the old grains. The new grains are almost the same. If new grains can be sold in winter, the price will naturally be several percent higher than normal.
The status of merchants in ancient society was lowly, and few people would notice their movements. If it wasn’t for someone who was interested in investigating, they would not have discovered this situation. Qi Huang integrated the things he had investigated, and soon found out who is the person.
It's no wonder that Qi Nuo, who was relying on Prime Minister Qi behind his back, stayed at the Ministry of Accounts and did not move. It was because no matter which department he switched to, he couldn't make as much money as he did in the Ministry of Accounts.
Qi Wang was the last to remind Qi Yuanhang of his blood relationship, but he didn't think that Qi Yuanhang would deal with Qi Nuo. After all, this person has always been a partial listener and will give 100% to those he trusts. With Bai Bai's trust, he would not believe what Qi vainly said.
So before leaving the capital, Qi Huang sent someone to hand over a letter to Hubu Shangshu, explaining what the Hubu rats have been doing, Hubu Shangshu is not for other things, just for his own head That official hat will not be left alone.
Facts have proved that Qi Huang's guess is not wrong. After knowing what Qi Nuo did, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry has been holding back, but slowly investigating some things, and when he caught their current situation, he immediately sent Qi Nuo Nuo brought it to the palace.
It's no wonder that the Minister of the Household Department has never dared to leak the news. He was not sure whether Qi Yuanhang was involved in what Qi Nuo did. It was a big matter. In order to prevent side effects, he immediately rushed to the palace with his people .
"This matter of Qi Nuo's report to the emperor is indeed wrong. I should not believe Qi Nuo. I always think that the prime minister is upright and honest. As his eldest son, Qi Nuo should be as high-spirited as the prime minister. Who can To think he could do such a thing? It's appalling and outrageous."
Hubu Shangshu had always had a good impression of Qi Nuo in the past. He felt that he was hard working and all the work was done beautifully. He could be said to be the most trusted right-hand man of Hubu Shangshu. Selling this is good, but who would have thought that such a person would stab him in the back
If there is no need to open a granary for disaster relief these years, then this matter will continue to be concealed, but if one day it is necessary to open a granary to release grain, but all the grains that come out of the granary are moldy, spoiled and inedible. What consequences to come
It is no exaggeration to say that the granary is the foundation of the country, especially the grain in these granaries managed by their household department is even more important. It is not that no household officials had the idea of touching the grain in the granary, but they at most That is to say, one out of ten is removed, and new grains and old grains are mixed together. Although the taste is not good, it is still edible.
But who would have thought that Qi Nuo would be so vicious and greedy? Not only is there not a single piece of new grain in the granary, but even the old grain is filled with the broken grain. This kind of grain will not be eaten by humans, even if it is fed to livestock.
"Qinuo, what else can you say?!"
After the emperor heard the words of Hubu Shangshu, he was completely dumbfounded. After he reacted, layers of anger surged away from his heart. The emperor stood up abruptly, grabbed and put The inkstone on the platform smashed towards Qi Nuo.
Even though the emperor had a very good self-cultivation, he was blown away by what Qi Nuo did.
It is no exaggeration to say that the food in the granary can be said to be used to save lives. Whether it is food for disaster relief or as military food, it has a vital role. Qi Nuo actually stretched his hand on the food. He wanted to do something. What? Doesn't he know that if there is no food support in a famine year, there will be a major famine
At this moment, Qi Nuo was scared out of his wits. He never thought that this matter would be exposed. He had been doing it very secretly before, and no one had discovered it. You must know that the past few years have been smooth and the weather has been good. There had never been disasters like floods and snowstorms in the dynasty, so his courage grew day by day, and after he tasted the sweetness, he became more and more greedy.
From Qi Nuo's point of view, the grain in the granary is actually a waste, it's better to exchange it for money, he's actually not greedy, most of the money is filled into the account of the household department in various names Here, although the method used is not suitable, the national treasury is indeed much more abundant than in the past because of this reason, so what is wrong with him
But even if he had 110,000 reasons, facing the furious emperor now, he couldn't explain those explanations at all. He knelt down on the ground and kowtowed to the emperor, hoping that the emperor would forgive him.
Will the emperor forgive him? The answer is obvious.
The enraged emperor didn't want to hear any excuse from Qi Nuo at all, so he directly called Habayashi Wei and dragged Qi Nuo into the dungeon.
Qi Nuo was dragged down like a dead dog. He made such a heinous mistake. It is impossible for him to get out of the prison in his life. There is even a winner. How much money was collected by the method, I am afraid that he will not be able to keep his head on his shoulders.
After dealing with Qi Nuo, the emperor sent someone to call Qi Yuanhang into the palace again. He lashed out at Qi Yuanhang and reprimanded him angrily. At first he was confused by the emperor, and it took him a long time to understand what the emperor was saying.
Qi Nuo actually sold the grain in the granary of the household department privately, and even filled the granary with bad grain instead of new grain, how is this possible? He is a child raised by himself, and Qi Yuanhang's proudest child, how could he do such a thing.
Although the current emperor is in holy wrath, Qi Yuanhang still bites the bullet and begs for mercy for Qi Nuo for the sake of his son.
"The emperor is happy and angry. I feel that there may be some misunderstanding about this matter. He may have been framed by others. That child was raised by Weichen since he was a child. He was taught by Weichen himself. He can't do it." Such a thing that endangers the Great Zhou Dynasty, please ask the emperor to learn from it and find out the truth... "
However, before Qi Yuanhang could finish his words, a pen holder made of jade smashed towards his head. Qi Yuanhang did not dare to hide, and was deeply hit by this blow, and a huge pain swept over him. I was twitching all over my body, and my face became pale.
"You bastard, I've never seen you who can't teach children like this! Misunderstanding? What kind of misunderstanding is there! That bastard was personally caught by the Minister of the Household Department, and his books clearly recorded that he sold How much profit he made, he himself admitted it, and you are still quibbling here?"
At this time, the emperor wished he could go straight down and strangled the father and son Qi Yuanhang and Qi Nuo to death with his own hands. It was in vain for him to trust Qi Yuanhang so much, but this is how he treated himself? Letting his son move his granary to empty, this is obviously to harm his country!
No matter how much love Qi Yuanhang had in the past, but it was related to his own country, that love was nothing. Official position, demoted him to a commoner, and placed him in Qi Nuo. Seeing that Qi Yuanhang had made so many contributions in the past, he could be spared the death penalty, but he could not escape the life penalty. He would spend his whole life in that dark prison.
In the morning, he was still the prime minister who was under one person and over ten thousand people, but in an instant, his official robe was stripped off, and he was only wearing a white shirt, and he was kicked out of the palace in such a mess After walking out of the palace gate, Qi Yuanhang's feet softened, and he passed out.
The coachman guarding the palace gate found the unconscious Qi Yuanhang, he hurried over and carried him to the carriage.
The eldest son was imprisoned, and his official position was deprived. This had a great impact on Qi Yuanhang. How could Qi Yuanhang, who has always been proud, bear this blow? After returning home, he still couldn't afford to get sick, and his whole body deteriorated at a speed visible to the naked eye.
There are no secrets in the capital, what Qi Nuo did soon spread throughout the capital, and the official circles in the capital were completely blown up because of this incident.
These officials who have been ups and downs in the officialdom have actually seen many corrupt officials, but they have never seen anyone who is as greedy as Qi Nuo.
But everyone knows the importance of the grain in the granary, even if they want to be greedy, they only dare to be greedy for a little bit, who can be like Qi Nuo, who greedily took away all the hundreds of thousands of tons of grain
Thinking about Qi Yuanhang's brilliant first life, he was finally ruined by his proud eldest son. Not to mention his official position was deprived, and he heard that he couldn't get sick after returning, and he was about to die.
Qi Nuo's troubles this time are really too big, and Qi Yuanhang has been completely down, and none of the officials who had a good relationship with him came to see him—Qi Yuanhang was completely beaten this time. After entering hell, there is no possibility of turning over in this life, who will continue to associate with him at this time
Even Xu Chengjun, the daughter-in-law, was forcibly taken away by the people sent by the Dingyuanhou Mansion on the day when the incident broke out, and on the day when Xu Chengjun was picked up, the Dingyuanhou Mansion sent a letter of divorce, severing This marriage with the prime minister's mansion.