The Red Mansions

Chapter 436

Chapter 436

Daming Palace, Hanyuan Hall

Just as Jia Heng and the others were digesting the personnel changes in the cabinet, they saw a man from the palace holding an ivory jade wat.

Han Huang, Minister of the Ministry of Officials, came out of the class, clasped his hands and played: "Invitation to the sage, Beijing to investigate the big plan, from the Metropolitan Procuratorate to discuss with the Ministry of Officials, the first plan is to set a date on the eighteenth day of the first month, and the ministers respectfully invite the sage."

"Dahan Huidian" contains: "For example, the matter of Beijing inspection is presided over by the Ministry of the Ministry, and the Ministry of Officials, Henan Road, and the Kaogong Division assist and praise the next."

That is to say, it is presided over by the Ministry of Officials and supervised by the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

The specific method is, one test language, two counseling visits.

That is the so-called "gather public opinion from the whole country, gather public thoughts from courtiers".

Counseling is a questionnaire survey. The Ministry of Officials will distribute the questionnaire with the list of officials, that is, the interview booklet, to the officials in Beijing. Consultation" begins.

As for the test language, it is the evaluation of the officials of the central yamen hall and the cabinet scholars on the cabinet officials and other subordinates. It is generally a sentence such as "this member is hardworking and has excellent grades..." by the class teacher of later generations.

Of course, during this period, because of fear of dismissal, Beijing officials would attack each other, write and post, and even impeach and inspect the censor, and retaliation occurred endlessly.

Emperor Chongping pondered for a moment, and said: "The draft decree is fixed on the eighteenth day of the first month. Officials below the fifth rank in Beijing will be appointed by the hall of the Yamen Office. , Shangshu from Chen..."

When Emperor Chongping finished speaking, all the ministers were digesting it.

Xu Lu came out of the class to play and said: "I have my own play."

Emperor Chongping looked at Xu Lu in surprise, and asked, "Xu Qing, what can you say?"

Xu Lu said in a deep voice: "I have heard that his body is upright, and he does not obey orders. He is not upright, although he refuses to obey orders. It should not be limited to the imperial censor, but to prevent the friendship between the same government and the criticism of the other government from becoming fierce."

Emperor Chongping thought about it, nodded, and said, "Xu Qing's proposal is acceptable."

Jia Heng paused, thinking.

It is said that the censor of Zuodu hadn't lived much for a year. He was looking at the documents in the Metropolitan Procuratorate and looking for past memorials from the Secretary of General Administration, planning to rectify the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

Xu Lu suddenly looked at Jia Heng, and then bowed to Emperor Chongping: "Besides, I think that Jinyi Mansion's spies are all over Shenjing, and we can gather information for the Ministry's consideration."

As soon as this remark came out, there was an uproar in the court, and discussions boiled over.

Hello Xu Deqing!Are you colluding with the emperor's minions to attack the group of officials?

Zhao Yi, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, looked serious, and retorted when he came out of the shift: "Your Majesty, the Jingcha is not a big prison, so how can Jinyi intervene? To disrupt the political system?"

At this moment, all the ministers in the palace came out to report one after another, and the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty agreed to second the proposal.

Emperor Chongping asked in a deep voice: "Jia Qing, as the governor of Jinyi, what do you think?"

At this moment, Jia Heng could clearly feel the gazes coming towards him, making his back like a thorn, his face straightened, and he said loudly: "I thought there was no precedent, Kuang Jinyi's right to arrest is only to suppress rebellious ministers and thieves, to investigate Knowing the law, and the Jingcha has its own masters to preside over it, so where can Jinyi be with it?"

It is not easy for him to participate in this kind of offending work. Although it will lead to the unlimited expansion of Jinyi Mansion's power, it is bound to be hated by all officials, and its foundation is unstable, so it is not suitable to cultivate political enemies.

Kuang Xulu's martyrdom, he will not be buried with him.

Speaking of which, when Emperor Chongping succeeded to the throne, he also set up a large prison, but as Emperor Chongping gradually took control of the situation, Chen Han's Jinyi Mansion has become harmless to humans and animals again in the past few years.

Looking at the ministers below, Emperor Chongping's face was calm. No one knew what the emperor was thinking. After pondering for a long time, he said: "The six offices outside Jinyi are also reforming to deal with the captive war. No spare time."

This remark was considered to be a rejection of Xu Lu's proposal.

Xu Lu didn't insist either, or he proposed it only as a test, not only to test the will of the emperor, but also to test the will of the young nobleman. road.

All the ministers also secretly breathed a sigh of relief at the moment, but when they thought of the opening of the Jingchao curtain, their hearts were also covered with a thick layer of haze.

It can be said that there is bound to be a storm in the city of Shenjing, and within at least half a year, there will be attacks, revelations, and impeachments, one after another, and I don't know how many people will take the opportunity to make trouble.

Seeing that everything was agreed upon, Emperor Chongping said in a deep voice: "All the ministers have dispersed, Bowling Marquis Shi Nai, the Minister of Military Aircraft and the cabinet scholars stayed to discuss military affairs together."

It was already mid-noon, and the officials slowly left the Hanyuan Hall.

And the news that Jingcha started on the eighteenth day of the first month spread like a hurricane throughout the city of Shenjing.

When the ministers dispersed, only the five major military planes and a few officers remained in the hall, and the five ministers in the cabinet all of a sudden became much cleaner.

Emperor Chongping turned his attention to Jia Heng again, and asked, "Jia Qing, how are the troops in the capital camp going?"

As soon as this remark came out, not only Shi Ding, but also the sons of the princes of the two counties Dongping and Xining all looked at the young man in unison.

Jia Heng cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, the [-]th Regiment Battalion has completed preliminary training, and we will start recruiting and training soldiers."

Emperor Chongping immediately looked at Shi Jie, the servant of the Ministry of War, and asked, "Do you have a plan for the elimination of generals and schools in the frontier army?"

Shi Jie cupped his hands and said: "Go back to the Holy Majesty, and make a preliminary draft of the policy of eliminating the frontier army, copy a few copies, and ask the Holy Majesty to read it and all colleagues to review it."

As he said that, with the help of the two small eunuchs, he took out the specific strategies for transcribing from the briefcase and distributed them.

Emperor Chongping's eyes lit up, and he said, "Yan Qing, Jia Qing, take a look."

Jia Heng also took the note and read it with lowered eyes. It has to be said that Chen Han's military department still has excellent people.

First of all, check the side, check the vacancies, pay the actual soldiers and pay, and weed out the old and weak who eat the vacancies.

Secondly, drawing lessons from the mutiny of the Beijing camp, the Ministry of War's strategy is more stable. It just counts the troops, reduces the payment of money, and ignores the past of corruption.

In the end, the King of Beijing and the King of Nan'an County were sent to suppress and appease them, because there were many frontier generals, and only the two of them could restrain them.

"In the original novel of the Red Chamber, Nan'an, Bei Jing and others frequently go out to investigate the frontiers. It is obvious that they are rectifying the frontier army, but these frontier generals are afraid that they are not greedy enough, and they may not be willing to stop if they do not have heavy troops to suppress and exchange." Jia Heng's eyes dimmed. Hang, thought.

He always felt that things could not be so easy.

At this time, Yang Guochang's face was ashen and defeated, his lips parted, after all, he swallowed the side general's self-respect, not to act arbitrarily.

Now, he has lost the right to speak in military affairs, and no one will believe what he says, no matter good or bad.

"Only by waiting for their failure, can we get a chance." Yang Guochang thought.

Emperor Chongping first looked at Jia Heng and asked, "Jia Qing, what do you think?"

Jia Heng thought for a while and said: "The minister thinks that safety is the most important thing. The frontier army is different from the Beijing camp. The frontier generals lack restraint and face the enemy captives. They are quite different from the Beijing camp."

This is actually a correct nonsense, but Jia Heng can only do so. Now that Emperor Chongping is full of ambitions, he doesn't want to talk about other things, otherwise he will not trust Nan'an, Beijing and others, which will easily cause unprovoked disputes.

Is it really similar to what the Taoist priest said to Hai Rui that only one person in the Manchu Dynasty is a capable minister, a virtuous minister, and a loyal minister?

The king of Nan'an County smiled and said: "Your Majesty, don't worry, Hu Congjing, the chief soldier of Gansu, and Wu Teng, the general of Ningxia, were generals under the old minister. When the veteran and Baoling Hou are here, we must persuade them to check the vacancies and carry out actual military operations. Pay policy."

Baolinghou Shi Nai clasped his hands at the right time and said, "Your Majesty, the two towns of Guyuan and Yansui, the veterans are willing to check the soldiers and horses and rectify the military affairs."

Beijing Wang Shui Rong also said with emotion: "Datong and Taiyuan two towns, Xiao Wang is willing to go."

These two places did not set up trilateral governors and Xuanda governors as in the previous Ming Dynasty, but the governors of Hedong, Hexi, Ningxia, Shanxi and other places were all civil servants.

Seeing this scene, Emperor Chongping was also somewhat pleased. Since the rectification of the Beijing camp, he felt that there were a lot of clues, and there was a breaking point at once. The administration of officials is in full swing.

It is advancing in an orderly manner as Jia Heng said earlier.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but take another look at Jia Heng, nodded and said: "The Ministry of Households, the payment and money will be completed recently, and they will be escorted to the border. Qi Qing, you must make no mistakes in handling this matter."

Because Yang Guochang was in charge of the rectification of the salt affairs, Qi Kun was completely handed over the matter of paying the frontier army.

Qi Kun's complexion changed, and he cupped his hands and said, "I would like to follow the orders of the Holy Majesty."

Seeing this scene, Jia Heng was not as optimistic as Emperor Chongping.

Beijing and Nan'an may make these frontier generals curb their greed and not ask the court for money and food in the open, but the military's decline cannot be recovered in half, and maybe even...

Because the desire is hard to fill, will this weaken the defense strength of the frontier army?

You must know that these generals are already rotten.

Most of them are military landlords, who enslave private soldiers, and even secretly communicated with the barbarians.

If there is no big victory to lay the foundation, it is of limited use to rely on the three-inch tongues of Nan'an and Beijing to exchange blood for the frontier army.

When Emperor Chongping saw that everything had been finalized, he ordered military pilots Hang Min and Shi Shu to draw up an edict: Baoling Hou Shi Nai, Nan'an County King, and Beijing King would be imperial envoys to go to Liubian Town to supervise military affairs.

This matter was negotiated, it was almost noon, Emperor Chongping summoned the imperial dining room to give a banquet, and invited several cabinet ministers and military planes. In the afternoon, Jia Hengfang and a group of cabinet ministers left Daming Palace.

Just as he stepped out of the Daming Palace, a clear voice came from behind Jia Heng.

"Jia Ziyu, stay here."

Jia Heng looked at Beijing Wang Shui Rong head-on, his face slightly surprised, and asked, "What's the matter, my lord?"

Shui Rong smiled and said: "The little queen will go to the north to investigate the border, Ziyu will be free tomorrow, how many drinks at the palace?"

Jia Heng pondered for a moment, then looked at the Prince of Nan'an County not far behind him, or the family of Xining and Dongping, and said: "It's really a coincidence, these few days, the lower officials have to deal with military affairs, I'm afraid I won't be able to get away. When the prince returns from Chabian, let's talk again."

It is impossible not to contact the Beijing and Nan'an families, but there is no need to do it now, and wait for the two to check and come back before making a fuss.

There was no annoyed look of refusal on Shui Rong's face, he smiled and said, "Then Xiao Wang is looking forward to that day."

Jia Heng nodded and said: "If there is nothing else to do, the next official has important matters to attend to, so I will go back first."

Shui Rong said politely: "That Ziyu, go slowly."

Watching Jia Heng leave, the King of Nan'an came from behind and said, "Nephew."

Shui Rong shook his head and said, "Jia Ziyu didn't agree, wait for Cha Bian to come back, and then we'll talk."

The old Nan'an County King gazed deeply, and said in a low voice: "After all, this person is personally introduced by the Holy One, and there is a gap between us and us."

Liu Fang, who was recommended by the King of Beijing to join the military plane, sneered, and said, "My lord thinks highly of him."

Shui Rong frowned, and said, "Jia Ziyu can still do something."

On the other side, Zhongjing Hou Shi Ding, walking along the palace road with his brother Bao Linghou, looked relaxed and relaxed.

Shi Ding asked, "Brother, how do you feel about Jia Ziyu?"

Shi Nai is nearly fifty years old, his hair is already gray, his spirit is hale and hearty, and his eyes are sharp. Thinking of the young man just now, he smiled and said: "At a young age, he already holds a high position. Sincerely a handsome young man, there are successors in Jia's family, no matter what. , my historian and Jia’s family are related by marriage, and it’s different from Nan’an and the others.”

There is a bit of sympathy in saying this.

After Shi Nai finished speaking, he glanced at Shi Ding, and said: "Now you have the position of military aircraft driver, and you are often accompanied by the driver. If the governor is vacant, he may not be allowed to be released."

Shi Ding's tone was not without envy, and he said: "Brother, I'm afraid I'll have to look at this Jia Ziyu's advice, just now, the Holy Majesty will always consult about matters, how trustworthy it is."

Shi Nai said in a deep voice: "It's easy to win the holy family for a while, but it's hard to win the holy family for ten years. Our generation of martial arts, after all, we still have to make meritorious deeds on the battlefield in order to survive."

Shi Ding nodded in agreement and said, "Brother's words are very true."

But it is said that Jia Heng left the palace gate and went to Jinyi Mansion.

The Jingcha has officially kicked off, and it is not yet known how many turmoil will arise. The people in the Jinyi Mansion need to keep an eye on it, not to intervene, but to grasp the information in real time.

Jinyi Mansion, in the official hall

The high-ranking military officers of Jinyi Mansion, from the Commander Tongzhi Ji Yingtian down, several Daqian households and Deputy Qianhu households, more than a dozen people gathered together.

Just as Jia Heng sat down, he was greeted by a group of subordinates. He took out Emperor Chongping's instructions on the Jinyi Mansion the day before yesterday, and said in a deep voice: "This governor has already reported to Ming Sheng. For intelligence collection in the six regions of South China, Northwest, and Southwest China, they will be reassigned in the next few days, and Qulang, a thousand households in Jinyi, will be promoted to be the envoy of Beizhen."

The faces of the thousands of households below were mostly shocked, and there was a different feeling in their hearts, especially when they looked at Qu Lang, they felt extremely jealous.

How long has it been since he was promoted to the town care envoy?

Qu Lang, the new governor of Jinyi Mansion, had flushed cheeks and agitated emotions.

In the officialdom, any promotion will only be settled when the news is finally confirmed.

Let the restless Qianhu and deputy Qianhu disperse, Jia Heng led Qu Lang to the study, sat down behind the mahogany table, lifted the teapot, poured tea for himself, and said in a low voice: "Quzhen Fushi, Jingzhong All intelligence affairs are detected by Jin Yi, and the Beijing police has become popular recently, so people should keep an eye on them to prevent any troubles."

Qu Lang's face was still a little uncontrollable excited, but when he heard this, his expression changed, and he cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty obeys."

Jia Heng picked up the teacup, took a sip, and asked, "Is there any movement on that matter?"

This was almost a question he asked every once in a while, and if King Zhongshun didn't continue, he always felt a bit awkward in front of Li'er.

Qu Lang said: "Captain, Luo Chengwang, the construction secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, who was previously let the low-level officials stare at him, is really famous. This person has an account book in his hand, which is said to be the details of the royal tomb's profit distribution. It contains the list of officials involved in the case and evidence. , and hid in the palace of Prince Zhongshun."

Jia Heng frowned, put down the teacup in his hand, and asked, "Is the clue reliable?"

Because in the past, officials from the Ministry of Industry and Household Affairs, Jinyi Mansion did not dare to resort to random means, but could only make indirect and other covert means to detect.

Qu Lang lowered his voice, and narrated what happened: "This Luo Chengwang has a concubine..."

Jia Heng's eyes flickered, and he said to himself, Xiaosan is anti-corruption?

After listening to Qu Lang's narration, Jia Heng pondered for a moment, and said: "Don't startle Luo Chengwang for the time being, you have to find a way to get the ledger."

Now all the officials in the capital are panicking. If the corruption case of King Zhongshun and officials from the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Industry is exposed like this, I am afraid that some of the precarious officials of science and Taoism will feel as if they have seen the smell of blood. Like a shark, biting wildly.

King Zhongshun will peel off his skin even if he is not dead!

Qu Lang said in a low voice: "The woman was so frightened that she dared not speak up."

Jia Heng looked dimly, and said: "Don't be careless, you still have to find a way to get this account book. With this thing, it will be easier to handle."

Qu Lang said: "My lord, Prince Zhongshun's mansion is heavily guarded, it's not easy for our people to get in."

Jia Heng frowned, and asked, "Where is that official Qi? He hasn't been found yet?"

Qu Lang said in a low voice: "Brothers went to Red Sandalwood Castle, but the building was empty, brothers are still searching, people from Zhongshun Palace are also looking for this person."

Jia Heng said in a deep voice: "Find this person as soon as possible. If you can't find it, try to find a way from other places to find the account book."

(End of this chapter)