Fate with you

"Snapped!"

The playbook was thrown to the ground, and the heavy muffled sound was like a blunt thunder, hitting the hearts of the ministers in the palace.

Lin Tai, Minister of the Household Department, lost his legs and fell to the ground, unable to hide his panic: "Your Majesty, calm down."

Zuodu Censor Ji Ang didn't change his face, and fell to the ground with him.

Meng Xiuyi supported the case with both arms, and his cold eyes fell on Lin Tai, her face was as dark as water due to rage.

This matter will never be good.

Lin Tai was terrified, and at the same time secretly scolded Ji An, this dead old man, who clung and bit like a mad dog. He usually piled up words in his mind, trying his best to get out of the predicament in front of him.

The atmosphere in the hall was as heavy as a mountain, Lin Tai thought for a few times, but only for a few breaths. He thought about it, but he couldn't think of a proper way, his throat became more dry, and his hands under his sleeves were covered with cold sweat.

For the current plan, the only way to escape responsibility is to try our best.The official decision is that it can't be done, and at least one life will be spared.

After making up his mind, Lin Tai hurriedly took two steps forward, trembling in frustration: "Your Majesty, I have been negligent, I have been negligent. When Pei Boan was around, he was a strong man, very arrogant. He intervened in everything in the affairs of the Six Departments. Chen Bai As a secretary of the household department, it is difficult to walk in the household department, even if you look at an account book, someone will report it to Pei Bo'an."

As Lin Tai said, he kowtowed in shame, and then, that deep shame turned into a look of determination: "However, although I am incompetent, I don't want to lose my integrity..."

Speaking of this, Meng Xiuyi was full of sophistry and prevarications, but Meng Xiuyi hated him: "You are looking at Pei Bo'an and can't confront you now, right?" Pei Bo'an's family copied it, What other details do you not know?

Lin Tai's heart skipped a beat, and beads of sweat dripped from his forehead coolly, as if his throat was blocked by a stone, he said with difficulty: "I dare not..."

"I just want to ask you," Meng Xiuyi angrily yelled at Yu An, "Where did all the money on the account go!"

After the emperor's angry shout, how could Lin Tai dare to make excuses and sophistry. He fell on the ground and said with a mournful face: "Your Majesty, I really don't know where the money has gone. At the beginning, it was Pei Bo'an who mentioned it with the convenience of his position in Zhongshuling. Let's go, minister, how dare I ask more questions."

Speaking of this, I'm not telling the truth.If the treasury's money is so easy to embezzle, why not set up a household department and just spread it in the streets and alleys.

Meng Xiuyi laughed angrily: "Pei Bo'an's house has been confiscated, and you still want to rely on him. Let me tell you, if you don't tell the reason today, you should stop being an incompetent official. Don't take your life!"

There are clearly 600 million taels of silver on the treasury books, but in reality it is less than a million, and the remaining 500 million taels have disappeared. If old man Ji hadn’t learned about it by accident, Meng Xiuyi would still be in the dark .The dignified son of heaven, let your servants go around and tell her how not to get angry!

Lin Tai was terrified, his arms were trembling uncontrollably, and the cold sweat on his forehead fell on the bright gold bricks.Although the emperor was young, he kept his promises, and since he was a princess, he can say what he can do.She said that if she wanted his life, her life was hanging by a thread.

To say or not to say?

It is said that he is deceiving the emperor, and the whole family is implicated. Don't talk about it, where can he go to find and make up for the huge deficit?

This is a dilemma.

"Your Majesty, the disappearance of such a huge amount of silver from the national treasury is truly an unheard-of miracle. I beg your Majesty to investigate thoroughly." The old man Ji said, who had been silent all this time.

Lin Tai's hesitation had already exhausted Meng Xiuyi's patience, she glanced at him coldly, like black clouds billowing, and the mountain rain was about to come.

"Come on!"

The two guards entered in response, and their movements were neat and unanimous: "Your Majesty!"

"Take him down, let him spit out everything he knows before tomorrow morning!" Meng Xiuyi said lightly.

Lin Tai's face turned pale, and the two guards responded in unison, grabbed his shoulders and dragged him out.

The minister's morality was interrogated by the Criminal Department of Dali Temple, and he never humiliated the guards.The old man Ji's slightly white brows trembled, and just as he was about to make a distinction, he looked up and saw the gloomy expression on the emperor's face, and then swallowed his words silently. His Majesty is in a fit of anger, so he won't listen to advice. We will bring up this matter later. proper.

Meng Xiuyi glanced at him and said: "The roads are being repaired everywhere, the dams in the south of the Yangtze River are stable, and the military equipment needs to be improved. Everything needs money. The treasury is suddenly empty, and it will definitely be overwhelmed. Qing quickly took people to the Ministry of Households to investigate the matter thoroughly. .”

Ji An bowed immediately: "Yes."

The national treasury has already planned for this year's expenditure. It was quite sufficient at first, but now it is stretched.

Ji An straightened up, and said again: "Since the founding of the Great Jin Dynasty, when the year is good, the annual tax revenue is 600 million taels, but in bad years it is only 300 million taels. Jiangsu and Zhejiang occupy one third of it. Tax cuts and tax exemptions, large and small natural disasters in other places, the deficit of the national treasury has become a fact. Since Lin Tai is stubborn and refuses to tell the truth, the 500 million taels of silver should be spent cleanly and cannot be recovered. Your Majesty, fill the deficit , is a top priority."

Meng Xiuyi said coldly, "I know."

Seeing this, Ji An gave a salute, and said respectfully, "I will take my leave."

When Ji An retreated, Meng Xiuyi bent his straight back, closed his eyes tiredly, raised his hand and frowned.

Mai Rongen hurriedly stepped forward to massage his shoulders.

Sitting in front of the case for a long time to deal with political affairs made her shoulders stiff and uncomfortable, and this massage was sore and unbearable.Meng Xiuyi gritted his teeth, one after another urgently needed to be done in his mind, and now he added a state treasury deficit.

Other things have to be suppressed, and filling the shortfall is the top priority.

The disaster caused by a treacherous minister, but she, the king, was required to take care of the aftermath, Meng Xiuyi was very aggrieved, wishing to send all these corrupt officials who didn't care about serving the country and the people, but only knew how to enrich their own pockets to prison .

"Your Majesty, Doctor Li is asking for a pulse for peace." The little eunuch came in to report.

Meng Xiuyi opened his eyes and said, "Xuan come in."

McConnell stepped aside.

In a few breaths, a middle-aged woman walked in from the outside, dressed in a scarlet official robe, carrying a medical kit, with her eyes slightly closed, she cupped her hands and bowed: "I greet Your Majesty."

Meng Xiuyi looked at her for a moment and said, "Excuse me."

Dr. Li is not long in his practice as a doctor, and this is the first time he asks the emperor for his pulse, so he is naturally nervous.Fortunately, at her age, she is quite experienced, even if she is nervous, she can restrain herself and not let it out.

Doctor Li stepped forward steadily and took out the pulse pillow from the medical box. Meng Xiuyi stretched out his hand and put his wrist on the pulse pillow, and Doctor Li's fingertips touched it.

Meng Xiuyi closed his eyes with a calm expression.

After a while, Doctor Li was holding back his hand, and said: "Your Majesty seems to be overly worried." She paused, and continued: "Thinking too much hurts the spleen. The spleen governs the flesh. Too much thinking makes you lose weight. The spleen belongs to the soil. The heart belongs to fire, and fire gives birth to earth, and if the child's disease invades the mother, it can cause the disease of the heart meridian. I hope that your majesty will cherish yourself and combine work with rest."

After she finished speaking, she paused for a few breaths, but did not hear the emperor's response, and paused for a while, but still did not hear a sound.Doctor Li was worried, and looked up cautiously, only to see that the emperor's eyes were closed, and his breathing was extremely long, more than twice as long as that of ordinary people.She is a doctor, so she knows that His Majesty is not asleep, and most people will take this deep breath when they are calm.

She hesitated for a moment, and called out: "Your Majesty?"

Meng Xiuyi suddenly opened his eyes, frowned slightly, and said calmly: "I know, let's back down."

This step was wrong, Doctor Li was about to say the treatment method before he saw Mai Rongen winking at her, which meant to tell her not to talk too much.I think His Majesty is not going well today.Doctor Li packed up the medicine box and retreated.

The hall fell silent again, Mai Rongen brewed a cup of ginseng tea lightly, and brought it to the emperor, the emperor glanced at him, that glance was penetrating and sharp, as if it could penetrate people's hearts, Mai Rongen shook his hand, He hurriedly lowered his head.

"Call Cui Yunji here." Meng Xiuyi didn't go to pick her up, but said something calmly.

Mai Rongen frightenedly agreed, and hurriedly retreated out.

When the little eunuch outside the hall saw him coming out, he hurriedly stepped forward with a smile: "Does Lord Mai have any orders?"

Mai Rongen wiped the sweat off his forehead, stuffed the ginseng tea in his hand into the hands of the little eunuch, and said: "You run there yourself, go and summon Cui Yunji, Master Cui, Your Majesty is in a hurry to see her .”

The little eunuch made a promise and ran out.

Standing on the high platform, Mai Rongen sighed softly as he watched him go down the jade steps until he disappeared.His Majesty has been in a bad mood since Mr. Bo went to Jiangnan.He thought he could figure out the holy will very well, but now he was getting more and more uncertain about His Majesty's thoughts, just like before, he didn't know which string he had poked at His Majesty.

He really doesn't understand love and love.Not knowing how to persuade His Majesty, besides, he was not sure what His Majesty wanted, Mai Rongen turned around slowly, and shook his head sadly.

His Majesty called urgently, Cui Yunji came very timely.

After returning from the south of the Yangtze River, Cui Yunji experienced a lot of experience, shed a lot of refined and bookish spirit, cultivated a bit of maturity and practicality, and even the youthful sentiment that she showed from time to time became charming and charming.

The emperor recounted what happened just now without pausing, and at the end, he said flatly: "The franchise of salt and iron is urgent." The treasury can't wait.

It's really hard to wait for something like this to happen.Moreover, if the national treasury is short of money, the ministers in the court who still disagree with it may not be able to oppose it vigorously. In the final analysis, the treasury is the most important thing.

Cui Yunji thought for a while, and said: "My minister's trip to the south of the Yangtze River, although the matter has not been accomplished, it is quite successful. There are three obstacles to the promotion of official salt management. First, the salt merchants. The salt merchants in the south of the Yangtze River are as rich as the enemy. , subsidized officials, and formed a frightening network of relationships. It is easy to move them; secondly, Yanding. Yanding boiled salt and sold it to the saltworks. They made a living by this. They have a way out; thirdly, the previous emperors have learned from the past that the salt sold in the government camps is expensive, and the people may not be willing, and in addition to the fact that Jiangnan was hit by a disaster last year, the people's livelihood is difficult, and they certainly don't want to have turmoil."

If these three things are solved, it will not be difficult to implement official management. If salt can be used for official management, iron will be much easier. If the first two can be successful, tea will not be so important.

There are always difficulties when it comes to change.After the emperor listened quietly, he said: "Of the three, the last one is the most important one. The salt sold in the government camp was expensive because of the many officials in the salt government in the late emperor's time, and they were exploited layer by layer, so the price of salt naturally rose. This time I will strictly control the situation, and will definitely simplify it, so that the price of salt will not rise but will fall, and you can try to publicize this matter.” As for how to publicize it and how to win the trust of the people, it is up to the ministers to worry about it.

Salt merchants look wealthy, but in fact they have no power, and duckweed is nothing to be afraid of.Yan Ding continues to produce salt, as long as they sell the salt sold to the salt farm to the government, there is no need to be afraid.

For a big event, it is much easier to break it down step by step and solve the problem step by step.Cui Yunji thought about it in her mind, and said: "That's true. I have been visiting Jiangnan for several months, and Xixi and Caoye have the most salt wells. I think these two places are the best place to start."

Xixi, Caoye?Meng Xiuyi frowned: "These two counties belong to Lin'an Prefecture..."

"Exactly, Mu Sheng, governor of Lin'an County, is His Majesty's confidant, so I can trust it." Cui Yunji looked at the emperor's face carefully, and spoke softly.

Meng Xiuyi remained silent, but frowned and thought.

Cui Yunji didn't dare to disturb her, but it's only natural for His Majesty to pay more attention to anything related to Mr. Bo.It's just that for some reason, Master Bo stopped participating in politics, and went to Lin'an thousands of miles away to be the county governor.Cui Yunji originally thought that His Majesty was the first to deploy the manpower for the official affairs, but looking at it now, it was clearly not the case.

She couldn't help but start guessing why.