146 “Sexy Pampering” Chapter 145

【Daddy Chapter 21】The emperor is angry

Emperor Xieyu has been having a headache recently.

It was midsummer, but there had been no rain for a long time in the Central Plains. Reports of drought and locust plagues were coming from various places. Food and silver were indispensable for disaster relief. However, the Ministry of Household Affairs reported that the national treasury was at its bottom, and the debts that had been demanded were not repaid. Emperor Xie Yu was extremely angry.Moreover, even if he forces everyone who “borrowed” money from the treasury to pay back the money they owe, it will not be able to quench their thirst. Disaster relief is urgent.

Because of Chu Dahai’s incident, Shen Zhen came up with an idea that would kill two birds with one stone. He secretly met with the emperor a few days ago to reveal the truth. Emperor Xie Yu greatly appreciated the proposal and applauded it. He also called several close ministers to discuss it in detail, and finally got Gongsun Mu’s bait today.

Because Shen Zhen is the Minister of Civil Affairs and is in charge of the appointment and dismissal of officials.He took advantage of his position to arrange official positions for relatives who should not be officials, which is dereliction of duty. If the crime is serious, he will be punished by the Nine Clan, and if the crime is minor, he will be dismissed from his official position.

“Shen Qing! What’s going on!?”

Emperor Xieyu slapped the dragon throne with his big palm, his face serious, like a black cloud.

All the ministers in the court lowered their eyebrows and lowered their eyes. It had nothing to do with them, but they secretly said in their hearts: Shen Zhen is going to be in trouble this time.

Gongsun Mu’s face was overjoyed, as if he had seen Shen Zhen being dragged away by the inner guards and looking like a bereaved dog who had lost his official position.

Shen Zhen walked out of the queue of ministers with a calm expression and stood beside Gongsun Mu.

He saluted, but the words he spoke made Gongsun Mu’s heart thump.

“Your Majesty, this is not an abuse of power by me, nor does it have anything to do with whether that person is a relative of me. I just want to share the emperor’s worries, and there is a precedent for this!”

“Oh?” Emperor Xieyu asked cooperatively, “Why does this arrangement of official positions for others involve me again? How does Shen Qing want to share my worries?”

“Your Majesty, there are droughts and locust plagues in many places. People are struggling to survive, and famine is everywhere. The most important thing is disaster relief. However, the national treasury is stretched thin, and the disaster relief money has not been received. I see it in my eyes, and I am even more anxious in my heart.”

“Hmph!” Emperor Xie Yu became angrier when he mentioned this. He glanced at all the ministers in the hall, making everyone tremble with fear. “Yinliang, I would like to ask, my dear lords, where is the silver!? Hubu! Where are the people! What use do I need from you!?”

The Minister of Hubu and the Minister of Hubu hurriedly came out, knelt on the ground, and repeatedly called out for guilt.

When Gongsun Mu saw that things had gone astray, he quickly tried to get Emperor Xie Yu’s attention back.

“Your Majesty, Master Shen’s dereliction of duty has nothing to do with this matter…”

“Haha,” Shen Zhen responded to Gongsun Mu with a smile, “Don’t be impatient, Lord Gongsun. Isn’t this exactly what I was talking about…” He then turned to Zhang Feng, the Minister of Household Affairs, and the two looked at each other. Shen Zhen took the lead and said, “As the saying goes, ‘taking history as a mirror can help you know the ups and downs.’ Not long ago, I went to the Hanlin Academy to check the historical records and happened to meet Lord Zhang.”

Zhang Feng bowed to Shen Zhen and then said, “Yes, Your Majesty, I was also worried about disaster relief at that time. I had a few discussions with Sir Shen, and happened to mention a measure taken by the previous dynasty. I was enlightened and found a way to solve the urgent need!”

“I have prepared a memorial and was about to report it, but Lord Gongsun discovered this move before me, haha.”

Gongsun Mu was confused. He had no idea why Shen Zhen’s dereliction of duty would be involved in the Ministry of Household Disaster Relief.

Zhang Feng said slowly, “In the first year of the reign of Emperor Wude, after the Donglin Incident, the treasury was empty. Emperor Wude implemented a policy that only existed for three months.”

“‘Donate an official’!”

Donating an official position, as the name suggests, means donating to get an official position.

In the previous dynasty, the Donglin Party took power and the treasury was emptied for a time. After Emperor Wu De came to the throne, the Turks invaded, and military supplies and food were once in short supply.Emperor Wu De overcame the public opinion and promulgated the New Deal. Businessmen from various places could obtain official positions personally consecrated by the emperor by donating grain, grass and military supplies to the army.

Although the official position donated in this way does not confer real power or official seal, there are still a large number of businessmen who yearn for official style who donate money to buy a false reputation.

The military supplies were replenished, and the morale of the army was greatly boosted. Three months later, the Turks were defeated.

After the imperial army returned to the court, Emperor Wude also stopped this move.

It can be said that “donating officials” was a last resort under the emergency situation at that time. As a result, the previous dynasty had a group of officials without real power.However, such “donation of officials” did not affect the government in the slightest, but instead solved an urgent need.

However, in the eyes of the aristocratic nobles of the Xie Dynasty, those who gained false reputations by “donating officials” were not worthy of publicity at all. They were still businessmen full of bad reputations. Therefore, they had never thought of, nor were they willing to propose such measures to Emperor Xie Yu to harm their own face and interests.

Only then did Shen Zhen give his explanation.

“I believe that now that the national treasury is empty and there is a disaster, we should put the people first and raise funds through ‘donations’ to raise disaster relief funds as soon as possible to save thousands of people’s lives!”

“Chu Dahai took the initiative to donate one million taels of silver to the Ministry of Household Affairs. As the county’s chief clerk, he can save the immediate needs of more than 100,000 people affected by the disaster. I think it is justified and excusable!”

Zhang Feng immediately said, “I second the proposal!”

After hearing this, Emperor Xieyu was silent for a long time.

You can hear a needle drop in the court hall.

Gongsun Mu still had the last bit of luck at this moment, and he hoped that the Holy Emperor would rebuke and oppose this proposal.

However, the reality made him despair.

“Okay!”

Emperor Xie Yu could be heard clasping his hands and laughing, “Shen Qing, Zhang Qing, you guys are really my timely blessing!”

“Your Majesty!” Gongsun Mu was anxious, “Please think twice, Your Majesty!”

He also realized what Shen Zhen was planning and wanted to stop it, “‘Donating officials’ is putting the cart before the horse. Officials are the backbone of a country. If businessmen are allowed to join officials at will, I am afraid it will chill the hearts of students all over the world!”

He had a sharp mouth and used all the students in the world to pressure Emperor Xie Yu, hoping that Emperor Xie Yu would compromise.

But he forgot who it was that pushed Emperor Xieyu to this point.

“It’s chilling!?” Emperor Xie Yu sneered, raising his finger and pointing at the people standing with their heads bowed in the hall, “I’m chilling!”

“How on earth did my treasury become empty!? Huh?” He pointed the finger at Gongsun Mu, “Gongsun Mu! Do you want me to repay you how much money the Gongsun family ‘borrowed’!?”

“Zhang Feng!” Emperor Xie Yu shouted.

“Your Majesty is here!” Zhang Feng listened respectfully to the holy teachings.

“Report the number to Master Gongsun!”

“Yes!” Zhang Feng took out the memorial he had been carrying from his pocket, “In the eighteenth year of Yongxing, Lord Gongsun Zhi borrowed 30,000 taels from the Ministry of Household Affairs; in the 20th year of Yongxing, Lord Gongsun Chang borrowed 50,000 taels; in the third year of Tianbao, Lord Gongsun Hui borrowed 20,000 taels…”

“The Gongsun clan borrowed a total of 350,000 taels, which has not yet been repaid.”

Gongsun Mu’s legs were already trembling.

Every time Zhang Feng read a word, there was an extra wisp of sweat on his forehead.Although Emperor Xieyu had investigated this matter in the early days of his accession to the throne, due to the large number of people involved in the case, and all of them were court ministers and relatives of the emperor, it was eventually dropped.He didn’t know that Emperor Xieyu actually asked the Ministry of Revenue to check the accounts one by one and wait for him here.

“Huh,” Emperor Xie Yu snorted coldly when he saw that killing the monkeys to scare the monkeys was achieved, “When the emperor breaks the law, he is guilty of the same crime as the common people. As important ministers of the court, you do not set an example. Instead, you spend all your time plotting corruption among the party. Where do you put me! Where do you put the millions of people in my great country!?”

“Your Majesty, calm down!”

“Your Majesty, calm down!”

“Your Majesty, calm down!”

Everyone in the court knelt down and worshiped, and all the ministers felt uneasy. It had been a long time since they had seen Emperor Xie Yu lose his temper.

As the saying goes, when the emperor is angry, millions of people will be killed.

This time, it seemed that it was not Shen Zhen who was in trouble, but Gongsun Mu.

–
“Donating officials” has been around since ancient times. Since it is a myth, it should be avoided with caution.

There was a similar incident in the Qing Dynasty, and the Fourth Master, the idol of Qing Dynasty wear enthusiasts, also did debt collection work.