Chapter 82 Let the God of Wealth take care of the purse

A quarter of an hour ago.

Ok Hee Palace.

Yan Song, who was originally in charge of the cabinet and had never been to the Meridian Gate, thought about it and decided to come to Yuxi Palace alone.

After explaining his purpose, Yan Song met the emperor who was still practicing Taoism as usual.

When Yan Song first met the emperor, he said, "Your Majesty, today's Wumen Gate is a farce, but it is also an opportunity for Your Majesty to win the hearts of the court officials."

As soon as the words "the hearts of the court officials" came out, Jiajing immediately showed his curiosity.

"Oh? How should I interpret what Lord Yan said?"

Yan Song smiled and said, "As far as the court is concerned, the salaries of all officials should be paid by the Ministry of Revenue from the national treasury."

Whenever Yan Song thought of the words his eldest grandson had said to him at home, even now he could still break out in a cold sweat of fear.

The accounts with the Emperor must be sorted out clearly.

Jiajing really benefited from these words.

Yan Song continued, "It's just that the treasury is empty now. I heard that the money Yan Shaoting sent to the Ministry of Revenue was either spent or used to fill the deficit of last year.

But how could a small official from the outer court know the difficulties of the court and His Majesty? Now that things in the southeast are getting better, it is the time to use people, and we must not let the court stop.

The court cannot afford to have any problems right now, and the Ministry of Revenue cannot pay the official salaries. This old minister is wondering if Your Majesty could first reward the minor officials in the outer court with three months' salary.

This will help resolve today's farce at the Meridian Gate, and will also let the officials outside the court know that your majesty loves the people and your ministers. You can also reprimand the Ministry of Revenue and order them to do their job carefully."

Yan Song tried his best to modify his words.

Even the three months' salary paid from the treasury was referred to as a reward.

When Jiajing heard this, he instinctively wanted to refuse.

But thinking of what Yan Song meant, he realized that the fault for delaying the salaries of court officials was not the Ministry of Revenue. If he took out a few tens of thousands of taels of silver from the 2.8 million taels of silver in the treasury today, he would gain a great reputation and be praised by the minor officials in the outer court.

It's a good deal.

So, what happened in front of the Meridian Gate happened.

The young eunuch who went with Lu Fang to the Meridian Gate and saw the effect of distributing the silver, and rushed back to report, also recounted in detail how all the officials on the scene praised the emperor for his wisdom.

Jiajing became even happier and felt that this was the best deal.

Put it in the past.

When will those noisy petty officials in the outer court be so kind as to boast that they are here?
If it weren’t for the 2.8 million taels of silver in the treasury.

If not for the fact that all this money was obtained by Yan Shaoting.

How could I win praise from all the officials in the court by spending only a few tens of thousands of taels of silver today?
It was precisely for this reason that Jiajing went a little too far and said to Yan Shaoting in front of Xu Jie, Gao Gong and Yuan Wei, "I can't live without Yan Runwu for a day."

Xu Jie remained silent, but his face looked somewhat ugly.

He began to feel that the political situation was developing in a direction that he could not predict.

Gao Gong's face flushed red, he was so angry that he couldn't vent it.

Just take what the emperor said today.

The natural cause was that the officials were demanding salaries, but the Cabinet and the Ministry of Revenue were unable to come up with the money, so the emperor had to take money from the treasury to pay the officials' salaries.

Where did the money for the treasury come from?

It’s all because of Yan Shaoting.

What does the emperor mean by this sentence?
Yuan Wei didn't feel anything, as he was a newcomer to the cabinet.

When he saw Lao Xu and Lao Gao, he didn't say anything.

Yuan Wei saw the opportunity and agreed with a smile: "The loyalty of Yan Shidu to the country has long been known to the whole court. Today, your majesty's love for his subjects should also be known to everyone in the world. If the monarch and his subjects work together, why should we worry about the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty?"

As expected, he is someone who climbed into the cabinet by writing lyrics.

Even Yan Shaoting felt a little disgusted.

Jiajing accepted all the money with a smile, and then his face turned serious: "I am a small official in the outer court who has no salary to buy rice, which caused today's incident. I will not blame you.

But the Cabinet and the Ministry of Revenue are the ones who manage the purse strings for me, the court, and the country. How could they allow the officials to be left without food and sit in silence at the Meridian Gate? "

cabinet.

Household Department.

When Jiajing mentioned these two units at the same time, Xu Jie and Gao Gong immediately crossed their arms and bowed, apologizing for their crimes.

Yan Song sat on a stool and spoke for Xu Jie and Gao Gong, saying, "In the past, the court was in deficit, the treasury was empty, and the Ministry of Revenue was helpless. Now the court is implementing national policies in the southeast, and although there are twists and turns, it is gradually getting on the right track.

This year, everyone should tighten their belts and live a harder life. When the 500,000 rolls of silk from the southeast are sold next year and the court gets the money, then life will be better.”

At this time, no matter what happened in the past, Xu Jie and Gao Gong had to look gratefully at Yan Song.

But Jiajing did not intend to let it go.

Today, I finally got the chance to use my own money to make a splash in the previous dynasty and win the hearts of the people.

How could he just give up?

Jiajing snorted, "A good cook cannot cook without rice. Where will the money for the inner court and the Ministry of Revenue come from this year? But there are tens of thousands of officials inside and outside the court of the Ming Dynasty. Do we have to rely on Yan Shaoting alone to make money to support them?"
How did the court suffer deficits in the past? How did the Ministry of Revenue, which is in charge of the purse strings, do it? "

The emperor's words have come to this.

Even if it was his fault, Xu Jie and Gao Gong could not say it at this time.

The two men bent their waists a little more.

Xu Jie said, "The court is like this, it's all my fault. Your Majesty trusted us, entrusted us with important tasks, summoned us to the cabinet to assist in government, but left the treasury empty and the court in deficit. All the faults are ours. I am the second assistant in the cabinet, and I am also in charge of the Ministry of Revenue. For today's farce at the Meridian Gate, I am primarily responsible."

Old Xu has admitted his guilt.

Gao Gong frowned and could only agree, "I am also guilty."

See the two of them take responsibility.

Jiajing's eyelids shrank slightly, and he waved his hand and said, "You are also diligent. The court is in a difficult situation, and it is not the fault of you two. Now is not the time to discuss who is guilty, but... the work of the Ministry of Revenue cannot continue like this."

As he spoke, the Taoist priest glanced quickly at Yan Shaoting's face.

Xu Jie said respectfully, "Your Majesty is merciful. This time I will severely reprimand the Ministry of Revenue and order them to do their job well. As Lord Yan said, the current difficulties are only temporary. We should not spend what should be saved in the future, and we should send people to put the money and grain that should be collected into the treasury in full and on time."

"Thank you for your hard work, Lord Xu. But I can only ask the Ministry of Revenue to patch things up."

Jiajing first affirmed Lao Xu's work attitude, and then changed the subject.

Without waiting for Xu Jie and Gao Gong to think and react.

Jiajing had already said: "The Ministry of Revenue needs to be changed. No one from top to bottom is worse than Yan Shaoting who can share the worries of the court.

Then let him, the God of Wealth, manage the purse of the Ministry of Revenue, and let him, who is good at making money and doing accounting, sort out the future accounts of the Ministry of Revenue for me and you."

This statement came out.

That really shocked Xu Jie and Gao Gong.

If it weren't for their years of composure as officials in the court, the two of them, especially Gao Gong, would have rejected the emperor's proposal on the spot.

Let people from the Yan Party come to the Ministry of Revenue?

I’m afraid that the Ming Dynasty’s treasury will have to change its name in the future!
However, after what happened at the Meridian Gate today, neither Xu Jie nor Gao Gong had the face to say that Yan Shaoting should not have gone to the Ministry of Revenue.

I really can't find any reason to object.

Xu Jie's heart was moved, and he saw clearly the emperor's actions and plans today.

It is just to let Yan Shaoting enter the Ministry of Revenue!
Can you refuse yourself?

If he refused, then the blame for today's incident at the Meridian Gate would really be put on him and Gao Gong.

This was a scheme that the emperor set up himself.

Xu Jie felt helpless, but could only lower his head: "Your Majesty is wise, with Yan Shidu going to the Ministry of Revenue, I think the court will be able to make more money and the country will be rich and the people will be strong."

As for Gao Gong.

I don’t want to talk anymore.

It’s also because I have nothing to say.

The cabinet minister in charge of the Ministry of Revenue nodded in agreement.

Jiajing smiled and looked at Yan Shaoting: "Since Lord Xu also said so, you are now responsible for the affairs of the southeast, so go to the Ministry of Revenue Zhejiang Qingli Division to serve as a doctor."

Yan Shaoting bowed.

As thoughts ran through his mind, he thought that the situation that the Taoist priest had set up today was probably the result of the causes he had planted before.

He said respectfully: "I accept your order and thank you. I will live up to your expectations and do my best to serve you wholeheartedly."

(End of this chapter)