Chapter 178 177 The matter is over

Emperor Jiajing couldn't help laughing when he saw Huang Jin's old face twitching after reading the information on his hand.

His laughter made Lu Bing and Huang Jin, who were below, burst into tears, and they knew that their master was probably already angry.

Huang Jin is a little better now. After all, I have read the information and told Emperor Jiajing what was said, which may calm the anger of this person.

However, this is not good.

Huang Jin knew very well that the emperor he served was very suspicious. The information from Dongchang might not dispel his doubts.

"The emperor, the Dongchang Monk has found out the cause of the incident. It was Wei Guangde and other Jinshi who were praising officials in the Imperial Street and had dinner in a nearby restaurant. They heard that more than 800,000 people were killed in the Shanxi Jinshi and others said that more than 800,000 people were killed in the Shanxi earthquake. They did not believe it, and they even objected to whether this number was killed or affected by the disaster.

Only He Bangli, a Jinshi of Fujian, said that he heard that the people from Zhengshi and his fellow townsmen mentioned this, which caused the imperial court to lack money for disaster relief. The Jinshi went to the Ministry of Rites to ask for a simple banquet of Rongxiang to save money and send disaster relief to the disaster area in Shanxi and Shaanxi."

Huang Jin handed the letter paper of the information in his hand to Jiajing with both hands. He couldn't control the emperor's attitude, but he couldn't make any mistakes in his own work.

"is that so?"

After listening to the information found by Huang Jin's report, his brows stretched out.

"The fanzi asked the shopkeeper and waiter of the restaurant and confirmed that there was this incident. At that time, the Jiangxi Jinshi was also having a dispute with the Shanxi Jinshi because of this upstairs."

Huang Jin hurriedly added, "The documents are written."

Emperor Jiajing then reached out to take the document and took a look. He said no differently from what Huang Jin said, and handed the document back again.

"You think their request, the court, should be approved?"

Jiajing didn't seem as angry as he first heard the news, and began to ask the two close people in front of him what they thought.

After a while, Emperor Jiajing frowned again. Seeing that neither of them spoke, he simply called him directly.

"Huang Jin, you talk first."

When Huang Jin saw that he was named, he hurriedly bowed his head and said, "Yes, Master."

At this time, he thought carefully, but still couldn't guess what his master's attitude was.

"I think that the new Jinshi is still in good faith and knows that the imperial court is not worth enough.

In recent years, the imperial court used troops from north to south, and natural disasters occurred frequently. The imperial court had to exempt taxes and provide relief, otherwise the common people would have been unable to survive."

Speaking of this, Huang Jin secretly looked up at Emperor Jiajing, unable to see his joys and anger, so he had to continue saying: "But, the rituals of the new Jinshi have been customized, and the servants don't know how to choose for a while."

OK, I didn't say anything after talking for a long time.

Looking at the emperor's eyes at him, Lu Bing cursed Huang Jin in his heart, but now he didn't dare to make a choice.

To be honest, Emperor Jiajing is actually quite cautious.

Although it seems that the Jinshi asked to lower the level of the Rongxiang banquet and subsequent rituals and reduce expenses to provide relief to the victims of Shanxi and Shaanxi, the Jiajing Emperor may not think so. Who doesn’t know that every year he would take hundreds of thousands of taels of silver from the treasury for fasting and worshiping and building palaces and temples.

Now Lu Bing is also considering what kind of words to use to treat the person above, but he will definitely not be able to copy Huang Jin. This is also something that Emperor Jiajing doesn't like.

"The emperor, I think that the idea of ​​a new Jinshi is right to increase relief to the victims of Shanxi and Shaanxi. This is what the emperor has always wanted to do. However, the cabinet and the Ministry of Revenue have always been making excuses because they had no money. I don't believe that the court can't even take out a thousand taels of silver."

Speaking of this, Lu Bing also took a peek at Emperor Jiajing. Seeing that he narrowed his eyes again, as if he was thinking about his own words, he had to continue saying: "The Rong Eun Banquet cannot be sued, and it will be handled according to the rules. The emperor should issue an order to ask the cabinet and the Ministry of Revenue to raise the second batch of relief money and grain as soon as possible, and also remind them to make plans for the next third batch of money and grain.

I have heard that due to the earthquake and the Yellow River is congested, and now it is impossible to resume farming there in the short term. The disaster may not be alleviated until next year.

The emperor can combine the hearts of heaven and the people of the country, and increase tax exemption in disaster areas for one year to show the merciful heart of our emperor.”

Lu Bing had no choice, so he simply kicked the problem to the cabinet and asked them to raise money and food for disaster relief.

The Rongen Banquet should be held according to the rules, and the relief for the victims should be strengthened. It is nothing more than saying that 150,000 taels of silver was the first batch of disaster relief money and grain. The court will continue to provide it one after another and taxes and labor will be exempted. In short, the kind emperor will not let the people under his rule suffer hunger.

Such words can also satisfy the hearts of all ministers and officials.

You know, Lu Bing knew that many people had complaints about such a serious disaster in Shanxi and Shaanxi, and the court only allocated a little money and grain to provide relief, especially officials from Shanxi and Shaanxi.

After Lu Bing finished speaking, Emperor Jiajing opened his eyes and looked at him, then nodded, "But, you go and bring the words to Master Yan, and let the cabinet and the six ministries report the charter as soon as possible."

After watching Lu Bing bow and withdraw from Yongshou Palace, Emperor Jiajing turned to Huang Jin again and said, "Huang Jin, do you think Wei Guangde has selfish intentions?"

"this"

Huang Jin didn't expect that Emperor Jiajing still had a thorn in his heart. He didn't seem to be fooled by the information and their words just now, so he had to say honestly: "I think there should be no one. After all, it was a coincidence to see the situation at the time of the incident. I think the Jinshi should be because the gap between the two numbers 800,000 and 150,000 is too big."

Speaking of this, Huang Jin suddenly knelt down and kowtowed, "Master, I'm sorry for the slaves. At that time, the cabinet and the Ministry of Revenue allocated too little disaster relief money. I heard that local officials were mostly fed their own pockets, and it was even more unfavorable to implement disaster relief measures, which made the disaster situation in the disaster area worsen. Originally, the earthquake only killed more than 500,000 people, but subsequent floods and plagues, 300,000 people died."

Speaking of this, Huang Jin couldn't help but whimper.

"Is Zou Shouyu back?"

Emperor Jiajing's expression did not change, he just asked casually.

"It is reported that he has not yet. He was ordered to worship Heyue, the God of Huoshan, and is now inspecting the disaster situation in the Shanxi disaster area. It is said that he plans to visit Henan after seeing the Shanxi disaster area. After all, there has been a disaster there."

Huang Jin wiped the corners of his eyes with his sleeves and replied respectfully.

"You go to the cabinet and ask them to draft an order, and grant the imperial envoy Zou Shouyu the left minister of the Ministry of Revenue as the right censor of the Censorate of the Censorate to monitor the disaster situation in Shanxi and Shaanxi. It is not conducive to disaster relief. Officials who are under the fifth rank can be directly taken down, and those above the fifth rank can be submitted for a report."

Emperor Jiajing said.

"Slaves obey the order."

After hearing this, Huang Jin hurriedly bowed again, then got up and left Yongshou Palace and went to the Xiyuan Preservation Room.

After seeing him leave, Emperor Jiajing nodded slightly, and then shouted outside the door: "Who is outside?"

After the words came, two little eunuchs trotted in from outside the door and knelt down in front of him, "Master, the slave is here."

"You go out to the Hanlin Academy and transfer Wei Guangde's provincial examination. Come over the test papers for the imperial examination."

Emperor Jiajing didn't even look at them, but just gave a light command.

Three hundred Jinshi from the new subject gathered at the Ministry of Rites, but they were all waiting in the lobby. At this moment, the officials of the Ministry of Rites had been called away by the cabinet's notes and said that they would discuss disaster relief in Shanxi and Shaanxi, and they should not be delayed.

However, if he didn't get the accurate letter, he was unwilling to leave and was reluctant to leave. He simply waited in the lobby of the Ministry of Rites.

In the cabinet, the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Revenue began to tear up the money for disaster relief in Shanxi and Shaanxi.

Originally, when the Ministry of Revenue was concerned, they just allocated money to the Ministry of Rites, but they had little to do with the Ministry of Rites, but now it is not possible. The Jinshi started to make trouble, which involved the Ministry of Rites.

Before, Wang Yongbin discussed disaster relief issues in the cabinet. As an official in Shaanxi, he naturally fought for it. However, he knew that the country was not worth enough and only won 150,000 taels of silver.

Today, I fought with the Jinshi in the main hall of the Ministry of Rites. I was extremely sad and angry, and sent all the accumulated anger to the Ministry of Revenue here.

The Ministry of Revenue is the yamen in charge of household registration and finance. In the prosperous era, it was naturally the best place to live. However, in the Jiajing Dynasty, the Ministry of Revenue was a little annoyed.

Natural disasters are constantly occurring in various places, and the Ministry of Revenue has to allocate silver to provide relief. Military expenditures in the south and north have also increased significantly. The amount of silver collected by the Ministry of Revenue every year cannot even enter the warehouse as soon as it arrived in the capital, it was snatched away by officials from other departments with notes.

"Okay, OK, Da Zongbo sat down to calm down. What did Da Situ say? Now the Ministry of Revenue must squeeze out a sum of silver."

Yan Song sat in the upper position and looked at them. At this moment, he kicked the ball to Fang Chun, the current Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.

"Taicang is really out of money."

Fang Chun spread his hands straightforwardly.

"Fifty thousand taels, I don't believe that the Ministry of Revenue can't even take out this amount of money. If you go back and find someone to check it, you can see that there is still the money that has not been settled and transported away. You can deduct 50,000 taels first for disaster victims in Shanxi and Shaanxi."

After sitting here for a long time, Yan Song was exhausted and didn't want to continue watching them argue, so he could only make a quick decision to suppress the Ministry of Revenue and take out the money.

Before, he could have been above and watched the six ministries shirking responsibility for each other's disaster relief, but just now the emperor sent Lu Bing and Huang Jin to pass on two orders in a row, and he knew that he could not continue to delay and should really take out the money to explain.

"Gei Master, the Ministry of Revenue is really out of money."

Fang Chun was about to say something else, but Yan Song waved his hand and said, "No matter which bank money it is, you will deduct it. You don't have time to talk to them at this time. If you don't agree, you can come to the cabinet to find me."

Seeing Fang Chun still having to speak, Xu Jie, the second servant next to him, said: "Da Situ, disaster relief is like putting out a fire. We can afford to drag it down. Millions of disaster victims in Shanxi and Shaanxi can't wait. Just squeeze in, and you can finally find a way."

After a moment of silence, Fang Chuncai said helplessly: "There has been a new banknote in Tongzhou to Beijing. 50,000 taels of money can be withdrawn from it for disaster relief. However, this money is prepared for the salary of officials in Beijing this year, this."

"Let's dial first."

Xu Jie interrupted first, and looked at Yan Song on the left as he spoke. Seeing him nodded slightly, he continued: "The salary of officials is released first, and the money must be solved first. At that time, the amount of money left will be given first. I will find a way to make up for the rest in the second half of the year."

When it was getting late, Wei Guangde and his friends, who were still waiting for news at the Ministry of Rites, finally waited for the latest decision of the court. The 150,000 taels of silver were just the first batch of disaster relief money, not all. Now the Ministry of Revenue will quickly allocate the second batch of disaster relief money for 50,000 taels, and there will be more disaster relief money to be released to the disaster areas in Shanxi and Shaanxi. The court will not care about the lives and deaths of the victims.

After hearing this news, all the Jinshi were relieved.

As soon as they entered the officialdom, they could not be considered to have entered the officialdom. They all felt that such a big disturbance had happened in the same year.

Asking the court to allocate the second batch of disaster relief money in advance is a good thing no matter what, and at least it can save countless people.

Zhu Dashou and other three Jinshi were one step behind at the beginning, and now they would not give up the opportunity to win over the same year. Finally, the three hundred Jinshi gathered here to find a big restaurant to drink and celebrate, and enhance their relationship.

But this time they have 300 people, and it is not easy to find such a big restaurant.

While Zhu Dashou asked his entourage to inquire about the information about the restaurant, he called Tao Dalin, Jin Da and Wei Guangde to discuss it.

In any case, the four of them are candidates with font sizes in the palace examination, the top scorer, the second scorer, the Tanhua and the Chuanlu, which are enough to represent the current Jinshi.

Although he was very curious about how Wei Guangde rose from the end of the third grade to the first place in the second grade, there was no need to inquire about this matter.

He already knew the cause of this incident. When he heard that more than 800,000 people were killed in the Shanxi earthquake, and the court only allocated 150,000 taels of silver to provide disaster relief, he was also surprised and felt that it was ridiculous.

Well, anyway, this opportunity for Wei Guangde to miss his face did not arouse the disgust and defense of Zhu Dashou, Tao Dalin and others. Everyone still thinks that Wei Guangde did the right thing.

In fact, what they didn't know was that Wei Guangde had already regretted it now.

When the cabinet sent someone to send a message to recruit Wang Yongbin and others, Wei Guangde thought of a bad thing.
To be continued...