Nightwatcher

Chapter 600 Recommendation

It's two o'clock!

Outside the Meridian Gate, the cold wind howled.

Beijing officials arrived in the palace one after another in carriages, and then walked to the Meridian Gate.

The howling cold wind was like a bone-scraping steel knife, shaking the lanterns hanging on the city tower and the stone lamps on the roadside, and the torches in the guards' hands were shaken violently. .

The officials and gentlemen are wrapped in thick cloaks and windproof hats. Careful people can find that no matter their rank or power, everyone wears plain clothes.

The cloak is made of wool, and the hat is made of mouse fur.

People from wealthy families in Beijing can afford to wear this attire.

The attitude of the Beijing officials is obvious, everyone is poor, living on food and clothing, where can the money be donated?

At this time, there was still half an hour before the court meeting, and the officials got together in twos and threes, discussing in low voices.

The censor who supervised the order turned a blind eye to this.

"Tianchaohui, His Majesty is determined to torment us."

"Yes, otherwise, just donate some money, it's not too much."

"Your Majesty Yang is confused. He said that we are only asked to donate three months' salary, but it is actually a bluff plan by His Majesty. I just want to ask you, when the time comes, Wang Shoufu offered to donate one year's salary. Will you respond or not?" Response? Do you really think this donation is enough? It’s just to pry my mouth away first.”

"Master Zhu is right, Yang understands."

"We must not let go of this matter, just like what we discussed yesterday. As long as we follow the steps of the princes and don't let go or give in, His Majesty will torture us for a few more days at most."

"Hey, I have nothing to worry about, the house I live in is still rented. The capital has already started to lack food, and I will donate my salary later. How will I survive?"

"Like Mr. Zhao, we are all scholars with two sleeves."

"My lords, it's freezing cold, I'm not feeling well, I can't take it anymore. Why don't you just donate according to His Majesty's wishes."

This is an official who is in a wait-and-see state, and his heart is biased towards donations.

The officials around him immediately showed an angry expression: "Master Li is too confused. There are constant snowstorms in various places, and there is a shortage of food, charcoal, and money. With our meager salary, how can we fill the treasury?"

"Master Li only saw what was in front of him, but didn't think about it any deeper. The reason why the princes gritted their teeth was really a precedent. If there is one, there will be two, and if there is two, there will be three. After a while, His Majesty will be short of money, come again Donate, shall I drink the northwest wind?"

"Such a simple truth, but Xu Xinian, a concubine, couldn't understand it."

"Where is it that I can't understand it, it's clearly pretending to be deaf and dumb, just to please His Majesty."

"This son is self-righteous. Relying on his cousin's prestige, he is defiant. Recently, he is next to Mr. Shoufu, and he is a little smug."

"Hey, don't be a son of man."

One of the officials spat sharply.

On the other side, Zhang Xingying, who was promoted to Yushi of Youdu, slowly approached Liu Hong, and sighed softly:

"His Royal Highness has a very good idea. If we can call on the literati and bureaucrats to donate, and then the local government can call on the gentry to donate. With money and food, the disaster situation can be greatly alleviated and the refugees can be curbed.

"As long as we get through this winter and the people see the hope of spring plowing, they won't make trouble everywhere.

"It's a pity that His Majesty has just ascended the throne, and his prestige is not enough, and his foundation is not stable. Wei Gong has passed away, otherwise he will join hands with Wang Shoufu to promote donations.

"Now, well, the people under our hands are also dissatisfied."

His Royal Highness Huaiqing urged Xu Erlang to play, but the ex-Wei party didn't know about it at first.

After discussing with several key personnel, they always believed that this plan was difficult to achieve and would encounter great obstacles.

First of all, it is extremely difficult to extract wool from the pockets of civil and military officials. Everyone is from the period of Emperor Yuan Jing, how can we not know each other's virtues?

Eat and take cards, and make money without limit.

Dafeng's national strength has been weakened until now, is it really the late emperor's fault? The first emperor's upper beam was not straight, and the people below followed suit.

Usually it is too late to make money, so one can imagine how much resistance there will be if one expects to get a fortune from these old gluttons.

Secondly, who knows when this "cold disaster" that almost crushed the camel's last straw will end, it's only been a month of winter, and the colder time has not yet come.

At that time, the imperial court still has no money, what will His Majesty do? Another call for donations?

In the end, this is essentially a court game.

The emperor and officials actually belonged to two opposing camps. The fact that the new monarch did something like this made the civil servants smell something bad.

Whether it is out of standpoint or out of love for money, instinctive resistance and resistance.

Not to mention Emperor Yongxing, Emperor Yuan Jing would also encounter resistance when he did this when he was in power.

Liu Hong glanced at the officials who gathered together and whispered to each other:

"Perhaps, at this time, His Highness Huaiqing is watching with cold eyes. Who are those who agree to donate money; who are those who agree in their hearts but dare not make public anger; who are too stingy to give out a penny."

Zhang Xingying suddenly said: "She knows that this plan is not feasible?"

He frowned: "If this is the case, wouldn't it hurt Xu Cijiu?"

Liu Hong said with a smile: "No, he has Wang Shoufu's backing, and at most he will sit on the bench for a few years."

Zhang Xingying nodded and sighed:

"I still hope that this matter can be done. The treasury is really out of money. Now the refugees are making trouble everywhere, and there are signs of chaos in the country. If you don't stop it early, there will be chaos sooner or later."

Liu Hong showed a meaningful smile. At this moment, a commotion in the distance attracted the two of them.

Liu Hong and Zhang Xingying squinted their eyes and looked at the past, only to see a young official in a green robe standing aggressively in front of Xu Xinian who was also wearing a green robe, cursing angrily and spitting all over the place.

Liu Hong's eyes were not very good, so he looked at it for a long time and asked:

"Who is that?"

Zhang Xingying said with a smile: "Jianke explores flowers, Qian Mu."

Liu Hong also laughed:

"It's those stunned youths who wrote notes to sue the servants of the Ministry of Officials for corruption and bribery, and brought out all the officials from the Ministry of Officials?

"It seems that I have been sitting on the cold bench for a long time, and my butt can't stand the cold, so I came here to vote for a certificate."

Zhang Xingying shook his head: "Being a gunman for someone. It will indeed be profitable in the short term. In the long run, heh, he has angered His Majesty. He still wants to have some good fruit to eat."

Liu Hong said with a smile: "It's okay, if you get a vote and join the Youth Party, you can still be an official. As long as you keep a low profile in the future, will His Majesty still keep an eye on him?"

There is chatter and laughter on one side, and swords are on the other side.

Qian Mu pointed at Xu New Year and said aggressively:

"It's very cold in the year, the government is clean and honest, there is a lack of rice and charcoal, not everyone is like Xu Tanhua, the family has thousands of dollars, rich clothes and good food.

"With three months' salary, how do you let those colleagues who have nothing to do with their sleeves spend this winter?"

Before Xu Nian could speak, he sneered and said sarcastically:

"In order to please His Majesty, you actually came up with such absurd tricks, you villain. I am at the same time as you, and I feel ashamed."

The officials on the sidelines echoed.

Xu Nian expressed no expression on his face, and said: "This official is for the people of Li, and I have a clear conscience."

"What a clear conscience!"

Qian Mu laughed three times, and said loudly: "I am willing to disperse all the family property, fill the treasury, and relieve the victims. Xu Tanhua, since you have a clear conscience, and since you are the people of the Li people, do you dare to use up all the family property like this official?" Donate?"

After saying this, there was applause all around:

"Master Qian is a gentleman."

"Master Qian is righteous."

A series of narrow eyes looked at Xu New Year.

Xu Xinnian frowned. What Qian Mu said was a rascal. Xu's family has a lot of shops, fertile land, and dividends from the chicken essence left by his elder brother. What does the other party have?

Although it is not impoverished, but after sitting on the bench for so long, I am afraid that the family only has a few buckets of rice and a few taels of silver.

But he couldn't reason, because neither Qian Mu, nor the people behind him, nor the officials around him were reasoning with him.

People are here to find fault.

If you ignore it, maybe after the court meeting, he will be called a "hypocrite" again in the new year.

At this moment, Wang Shoufu came over, did not speak, but glanced indifferently at the surrounding officials.

The officials immediately fell silent.

Qian Mu smiled, regardless of whether Xu Xinian responded or not, what he wanted to express has already been conveyed.

After that, there was no more movement until Mao Shi came and the drums sounded.

Civil and military officials kept silent, walked through the Meridian Gate, crossed the Jinshui Bridge, and lined up in order of rank.

Only a small group of people can enter the Golden Temple.

As one of the core figures in this turmoil, Xu Xinian was also allowed to enter the hall, but he had to stand at the entrance of the hall.

Following the princes entering the palace, Emperor Yongxing arrived a few minutes later.

He sat on the dragon chair, looked down at the ministers, and said loudly:

"The disasters are serious everywhere. As the king of a country, I am very sad. Do you have a good plan for disaster relief?"

The princes and nobles below showed expressions of "knowing this earlier", and put forward a few suggestions without pain, such as reducing or exempting taxes, calling on the gentry to donate, and so on.

Emperor Yongxing said:

"Since donations are required, the imperial court should set an example, and the lovers should set an example. In this way, the squires can be willing, and they can also warn the officials to prevent them from filling their own pockets."

Only the squires are called to donate. Not surprisingly, most of the money will be exploited layer by layer.

The leaders and nobles of several parties came out one after another in tacit understanding, shouting "no".

At this time, Dali Siqing appeared on the stage, and said in a deep voice:

"Your Majesty, corruption prevails in the court, and corruption is prevalent, so that the national treasury is empty, and donations can cure the symptoms but not the root cause. If you want to relieve disasters, you must first clean up the evil spirits."

After the voice fell, the militant, the household department came out from the matter, and said loudly:

"Your Majesty, I want to impeach Xu New Year, a concubine of the Imperial Academy, for accepting bribes."

No one in the hall spoke, and no one questioned what kind of bribes the concubine of the Imperial Academy could accept. It seemed that such a thing had been expected.

The official department came out of the matter and said loudly:

"Your Majesty, I want to impeach Xu New Year, a concubine of the Imperial Academy, for accepting bribes under the banner of Wang Shoufu."

Then, the six departments came out one after another to impeach Xu New Year.

Those who can stand in the Golden Luan Hall are all veterans, and they immediately understand what tricks these people are playing.

This is their counterattack.

Taking Xu Erlang as the starting point, he rebelled against Emperor Yongxing and Wang Shoufu.

Doing this will not completely anger Emperor Yongxing and Wang Shoufu, but also give his own attitude and tell Emperor Yongxing, we want to kill your assault pawns, one by one.

At the same time, he tactfully warned Wang Shoufu that although the royal party is powerful, it has not yet reached the point where it can overwhelm the sky with one hand. Besides, there are voices of disapproval in the royal party.

Is there any gift for Xu New Year?

The answer is yes.

As Wang Shoufu's future son-in-law, members of the royal party often gave him gifts, but in the officialdom, he was his own if he received a gift.

He wanted to integrate into the royal party as a student of Yunlu Academy, so he couldn't be too lofty.

Although Xu New Year turned down many expensive gifts, this cannot change the fact.

"In officialdom, being clean is good enough to accomplish nothing, and being in harmony with others is easy to become a target for political opponents to attack and annihilate. Therefore, the core problem is that the power is not strong enough.

"The problem solved is: get more people."

Xu Xinnian suddenly realized.

Among the princes in the hall, some were watching Emperor Yongxing's expression, and some were examining Wang Shoufu.

See how they respond.

If Emperor Yongxing sheltered Xu Nian, they would have other tricks, and if Wang Shoufu stepped forward, they would have other tricks, such as pulling him into the water and impeaching him together.

Now they are the dominant side.

No one noticed, Liu Hong came out slowly, bowed and said:

"Your Majesty, I believe that what the Minister of Dali Temple said was reasonable, the treasury is empty, and taxes are difficult to collect, all because of corruption and bribery.

"Therefore, I ask Your Majesty to strictly investigate all officials and rectify the atmosphere."

Interesting. All the ministers and nobles in the hall looked at Liu Hong in unison.

This is to take advantage of the opportunity to fish in troubled waters. Liu Hong was regarded as Wei Yuan's "successor" in the court and took over Wei Yuan's team. Nearly 50%.

The vacated position was divided among the royal party and various factions.

In officialdom, this is an appropriate concession.

Now that Liu Hong stood up, it was obvious that the former Wei Party, which was in charge of Yushitai and Da Gengren, wanted to take advantage of the opportunity.

Emperor Yongxing smiled: "Liu Aiqing's words are reasonable, let's continue."

Liu Honglang said:

"Since the death of Duke Wei, the police officers have declined, and the minister's ability is not as good as that of Duke Wei. He has worked hard and lost energy. I want to recommend someone to His Majesty to replace the minister in charge of the police officer's yamen.

"To better monitor the officials."

All the gentlemen were stunned, this is not the line they imagined, Liu Hong actually put down the burden at this juncture, and handed over the position of batterer to others?

Emperor Yongxing pretended to be surprised: "Who does Liu Aiqing want to recommend?"

Liu Hong glanced at the princes and nobles who were either puzzled or vigilant, and said loudly:

"The silver gong, Xu Qi'an!"

PS: Continue to code the next chapter, but it is recommended to read it tomorrow. Because it is likely to be updated tomorrow morning, I will habitually code until midnight, and then sleep for a while. don't wait.

After the nucleic acid test today, I will go home in a few days.

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