Your Majesty, please resign again

Chapter 184 Covering your ears and stealing bells from top to bottom! (Here we go, five thousand!)

Hearing Jia Changchao's words, Zhang Heng was speechless for a moment.

During this period of time, he did hear a lot of similar remarks, even from the subordinates in the household.

They wouldn't say it openly, but they often complained in front of him about things like the cynicism and ridicule of subordinates in the Third Division, Privy Council and other government offices. In fact, they were also somewhat emotional.

The junior staff in the Privy Council of the Third Division would sneer at Hufang, and their superiors must also have serious opinions about this.

But when I think about it, I think it's normal. In the past, the imperial court was not very active in disaster relief. Every time there was a disaster, the most the imperial court could do was to open Changpingcang and add tens of thousands of yuan in disaster relief funds. No matter how much more it was, it would be gone.

As for reducing taxes, it also depends on whether local officials love the people enough and are willing to risk losing their jobs to help the disaster-stricken areas apply for tax exemptions for the year.

If the local officials were wise enough to protect themselves, the imperial court would assume that there was no such thing and the levy would still have to be levied.

But precisely because of this, Zhang Heng's inner anger grew stronger: "Teacher, I don't understand!"

Jia Chang asked, "What don't you understand?"

There was anger in Zhang Heng's eyes: "The people are water; the king is the boat. Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it."

I don’t think scholars from Manchuria would understand this truth, right?

But now it is not just one state or one county that is going to suffer from drought, but four or five people from all walks of life are going to suffer from drought!

If the imperial court had not made preparations in advance, and tens of thousands of refugees would have arrived, wouldn’t the nobles in the imperial court be afraid of being submerged by the torrential flood?"

Facing Zhang Heng's question, Jia Changchao smiled bitterly and said: "It's not that I don't understand, but the gap between understanding and doing is bigger than you can imagine.

The human, material, and financial resources you want have already touched the bottom line of each department. If we all sympathize with others and share a small portion, as before, we will be doing our best.

But what you want is to take away almost all the resources that are not planned by each department. They must be anxious, because this is related to the internal welfare of each department.

If you take away these, they may only get a basic salary this year, but all other overt and covert benefits will be gone.

Therefore, it is understandable that the opposition is so great this time.

The people below Baisi Cao's office are unwilling to cut their flesh, and the superior officials do not dare to respond easily. After all, if it causes public anger in the office, they will not be able to sit still."

Zhang Heng sneered and said: "Yes, they cannot see the rebellion of the people in the world, but the people under their command rebel, which is a vital interest. At that time, in order to calm down the anger of Cao's office, the officials will have no choice but to transfer the chief officer. Indeed

It’s the key to the interests at stake!”

Jia Changchao patted Zhang Heng on the shoulder and said: "It's good if you understand this truth. Life is a long journey and the official career is difficult and dangerous. If you understand this truth, the road ahead will be easier."

Zhang Heng felt that the anger in his heart was about to break through his chest, but he didn't know where to pour it out.

He wanted to go with the flow. Since most people in the court did not agree with this matter, he followed the trend, drastically reduced the budget, stopped big projects, and then made a fuss about some minor details.

After that, he wrote a few more letters and gave advice to the officials. His attitude must be compassionate and compassionate, so that everyone in the court could see his firmness, but he had to be cautious in his actions, otherwise he would offend others and it would be difficult to be an official in the future.

.

This is what most of the so-called gentlemen in the imperial court did. Oh, yes, it is best to record it in poems. When the poems and poems spread, people all over the world will know: Oh, Zhang Ju is a true minister.

, He speaks out and dares to remonstrate, he is so patriotic and loves his people, he is truly a true gentleman!

Zhang Heng thought of the shining gentlemen of this era.

Fan Zhongyan held a dragon boat race, provided food and drinks to the audience, and then said it was disaster relief;

Teng Zijing was relegated to guard Baling County, and then he built the Yueyang Tower. He said that the government was well-connected and people with all kinds of problems were prosperous, and he became a famous minister.

Ouyang Xiu was demoted to a certain place for hundreds of years, and then he built a pavilion and named it the Drunkard Pavilion, which showed his noble temperament...

Well, there are also some officials who, after becoming local officials, leave all political affairs and so on to subordinates, and then go sightseeing and write various poems on their own. Well, Qingshi has left his name, and of course it will be left to future generations.

There is indeed a lot of spiritual wealth, but what about the responsibilities of an official?

…

Therefore, the Song Dynasty, which had so many famous ministers and gentlemen as bright as the morning stars, was the dynasty with the most civil unrest.

Do these things have anything to do with these gentlemen?

Zhang Heng didn't know much about it before he came to the Song Dynasty. He even echoed what others said, saying that there is no China after Yashan, so what is China?

But when he came to this era, he and his two brothers were facing the rice that was not filling under the lingering rain, watching the rice in the rice vat becoming increasingly scarce, drinking gruel with only a little taste of rice milk, and then after harvesting, Xu

The officials took away the last bit of food from their family, half threatening and half robbing them. The despair of the three brothers was indescribable.

Therefore, under this situation, the three brothers could only pack up their packages, pick up the wooden sticks and hatchets, and walk to Bianjing City.

Zhang Heng struggled up from the bottom of this society, and he realized that in the Song Dynasty, it was a fact that the economy was prosperous, that the culture was brilliant, that there were many famous ministers, and that Zhao Zhen could be considered a good emperor.

However, this prosperity only belongs to a small number of people.

Everything Zhang Heng could see was rich in fine clothes and delicacies, and the people he interacted with were all white people, chatting and laughing with scholars, as if the world had really been so prosperous and civilized for hundreds of years.

But Zhang Heng understood in his heart that more than 90% of the people at the bottom accounted for it, struggling to survive on the line of food and clothing. In good years, they could only take care of food and clothing. If there was a slight natural disaster, they would become refugees. The hardship of life was unbearable.

figurative.

However, the princes of the Manchu Dynasty turned a blind eye to their suffering, failed to provide disaster relief, and made it seem superficial!

This reality made Zhang Heng feel very painful and angry, especially when he stood up but was unable to do anything. This kind of anger almost made him unable to control himself.

"Teacher...but the imperial court can obviously do something!..."

Zhang Heng choked up and couldn't speak any more.

Jia Changchao just sighed longly. He didn't know how to comfort his disciple. The hot blood in Zhang Heng's heart touched him quite a bit, but what could he do?

Although he is the prime minister, he cannot shake him in the face of such a general trend.

Faced with the fierce remarks, Zhao Zhen couldn't bear it anymore. After a court meeting, Zhao Zhen summoned Zhang Heng.

Zhao Zhen first asked Zhang Heng about his recent work status in a gentle manner. After Wen Yan encouraged him for a few words, he tactfully said: "Ju Zheng, you have to do the work of Huang Zheng, but you also have to consider the actual situation of the court. According to your current situation,

This plan may mean that after the disaster relief, the court will not be able to do anything this year.

Moreover, the ministers of the DPRK and the Central Government also have opinions, saying that this famine may not be as bad as expected, it may be much better. If we are making such a big fanfare now, there will be no drought by then, isn't this a waste of people and money?"

Zhang Heng was a little in disbelief when he heard this: "Guan Jia, who said this? It is almost the end of April, and the farming season has already been delayed. No matter whether it rains this year or not, if the farming season is delayed, it will be delayed. The reduction in grain production has already been delayed."

It’s inevitable!

Therefore, we have to prepare according to the worst-case scenario, otherwise we will be caught off guard once things get to their worst.

As for whether it wastes people and money..."

Zhang Heng looked directly into Zhao Zhen's eyes and said: "...Your Majesty, everything we do is to protect the people of the world!"

Zhao Zhen lowered his eyes: "Ju Zheng, I understand your worries, but I can't handle the current situation!"

As if he felt sorry for Zhang Heng, Zhao Zhen immediately said: "But Ju Zheng, don't worry, I have already prepared to issue the third edict to sin against oneself. God should have seen it, and he should be able to sympathize with all the people and punish the Song Dynasty."

The rain has come, and when the drought will resolve itself, there will be no need for such trouble, haha."

Zhang Heng: "..."

In Zhang Heng's view, this was tantamount to hiding one's ears and stealing the bell. Zhang Heng wanted to argue hard, but Zhao Zhen did not give him this chance, saying that he was tired and asked Zhang Heng to step back.

Zhang Heng had no choice but to quit.

In the next few days, various subordinate officials responsible for requesting funds reported the situation to Zhang Heng. The response from each department was that the support they could basically provide was still far from Chengdu.

The reply from the Third Division stated that it only had a budget of 300,000 yuan for disaster relief. The rest of the Privy Council and the like were even stingier, and together they were not as much as the Third Division.

Zhang Heng made some statistics and found that in the end he only had more than 500,000 yuan to spend.

Regarding this achievement, Zhu Chenzhong was very happy and said to Zhang Heng: "It is indeed a reminder. Such a large amount of disaster relief funds is actually the largest amount since the founding of the Song Dynasty. We can fight for prosperity!"

Fang Yuanque looked at it with great admiration: "Yes, I have to remind you, no matter how serious the disasters were in the past, there were not so many.

Last year there was a severe drought in Sichuan and Sichuan, and there was a severe drought in Jianghuai two years ago. The imperial court seemed to have allocated less than 100,000 guan. Even the courtiers were saying that it was too much money.

The situation this year is not clear yet, so I have given you so much, and it is still useful to give me some face."

The entire household was very excited. They all thought that this was Zhang Heng's achievement. Of course, they also wanted to take credit for themselves. After all, they were indeed working harder than before during these times. They went to various departments to ask for money, but they were also trying hard.

of.

It is precisely because of this that it aroused strong reactions from various government agencies.

Of course Zhang Heng knew this situation. Although he was very unhappy in his heart, he still had to continue to encourage people: "Everyone has done a great job. Let's keep working hard. By the end of the year, I will thank you one by one for your credit."

With Zhang Heng's promise, everyone in the household suddenly became excited.

Zhang Heng comforted his subordinates, and then began to study the data with wide eyes.

This time, the Third Division gave 300,000 guan to store the treasury, seal piles of money and goods, and pay tribute rice. In addition to the military rations supported by the Privy Council, the total amount of money and food was nearly 500,000 guan.

These are indeed a lot over the years, but according to Zhang Heng's estimate of the disaster, it is definitely not enough, and may even be only a fraction.

If it were anyone else, he might have become discouraged and comforted himself with the words "do your best and obey fate", but Zhang Heng is not such a person.

Zhang Heng came to Fang Yuanque and asked: "How is the situation of Chang Pingcang in various places?"

Fang Yuan questioned: "It's probably not that fast, and... it's not that easy either."

Zhang Heng knew there was something fishy as soon as he heard it, and quickly asked: "How do you say it?"

Fang Yuan questioned: "Changpingcang often has problems. When the Changpingcang was first established in the Song Dynasty, it was strictly forbidden to misappropriate rice from the warehouse.

But after a few years, there will be a lot of surplus rice in the warehouse. If it is not updated in time, the rice will become stale and inedible.

Therefore, during the reign of the late Emperor, it was stipulated that rice from Changping Cangcang could be used as military rations after two years, and the rice would be repaid with new rice.

But as soon as this case was opened, the behavior of disbursing grain for storage was unstoppable.

While the rice is being misappropriated legally, the phenomenon of unauthorized misappropriation is also very serious, so that when disaster relief is urgently needed, there is no rice available.

The problem of local governments distributing free rice without authorization has become increasingly serious, so the court has continuously introduced new laws and regulations to strengthen management.

In the first year of Kangding, the imperial court issued a law stipulating that "if one day passes, he will be imprisoned, and a hundred sticks will be given; on the second day, one level will be added, and the offender will be punished for one year. Therefore, he will be transferred to other departments and commanded according to his own authority."

Good at implementing laws].

However, even if strict laws are adopted to manage the unauthorized use of disaster relief materials, it cannot stop local officials from unauthorized misappropriation of Changpingcang.

You can watch and after a period of time, the data of normal positions in various places will be reported. The data will look good and basically comply with the regulations.

If you really want to check it, if you post it in advance, it will still be full when you look at it again. But when it comes to disaster relief, people are starving to death all over the mountains and plains. But after the disaster year, the accounts of Changpingcang have been settled.

.

Therefore, generally speaking, when we provide household disaster relief, we generally do not take Changpingcang’s data seriously. It only counts if we have real money and silver in our hands to provide disaster relief.”

Zhang Heng sneered: "So it was a famine instead, and the bad debts of Chang Pingcang were covered up. When they provided rice and ten thousand shi for disaster relief, they dared to report to the police that they had given 200,000 shi for grain relief, and then naturally misappropriated the original money."

Was the food stolen?"

Fang Yuanque gave a thumbs up and praised: "It's worthy of reminding you, you really understand the world!"

Zhang Heng felt even more upset when he heard this. Originally, he thought that Chang Pingcang could take the lead. Even if he was corrupt, he didn't dare to be so arrogant. But now, listening to Fang Yuanque, it seems that he can't count on it too much.

Always close your position, otherwise you will really miss something big!

Fang Yuanque sighed: "The place is also difficult, the money and food have basically been collected, what should we do if there is no money in the place, we can only use a variety of means to make money!

For example, when collecting grain and rice, all kinds of expenses are increased, and all kinds of exorbitant taxes are imposed.

As far as I know, there are two types of additional taxes: transfer, conversion, additional consumption, free warehouse, additional tax money, dividing the money and rounding it up, large buckets and small buckets, dry noodles and noodles, presenting samples, and preparing.

There are 13 items in total including borrowing, repeated reminders, missed tax reminders and others.

Each item has many different names, but even so, it is difficult to satisfy.

There is no other option but to misappropriate Changping rice money. Most of the time there is no problem. After all, disasters are not happening in every place every year. As long as they are replenished at the end of the year, it will be fine.

So, when we were doing household statistics, there was a saying, "The official items in the accounts are different from those in the calendar, and the items in the calendar are different from those in the warehouse. At the end of the account, there was one or two hundred thousand in money and goods.

But the calendar and the treasury are completely missing. The collection of exorcisms and memorials are just useless words.]

During the previous drought in the Jianghuai River, the official items in the accounts, the quantities recorded in the calendars, and the actual amount of grain and rice stored in the warehouses were all different.

At that time, the final account recorded one or two hundred thousand in money and goods, but when it came time to put out food, there was no food to put out.

The officials were furious and sent people to investigate. When the officials who went there took a look inside the warehouse, they were shocked because there was not even a grain of rice in the warehouse, but there were a bunch of rats that had starved to death."

Zhang Heng let out a long breath, with a murderous look in his eyes: "Everyone has difficulties, it's difficult for the court, and it's even harder for the people. Chang Pingmi cannot be touched originally. This is the life-saving rice for the people. Since they dare to ask Chang Pingmi

If you start, you should be prepared to lose your head!"

Fang Yuanque was suddenly shocked. Hearing what Zhang Heng meant, did he want to investigate Chang Pingcang?

Fang Yuanque hurriedly asked: "It's important to mention that Changpingcang has too many connections. If we really want to investigate, the implications will be too great. If a shocking case is really involved, you will offend many people."

This is not good for your career!"

Zhang Heng shook his head and said: "There is nothing you can do without offending others. Changping meters is too important. This is the most important part of relieving the victims. The third division and military rations are just auxiliary. The most important thing is Changping meters.

The amount of rice is often large, and it is all located at the disaster site, so there is no need to send it in from other places. It can not only alleviate the disaster in time, but also play a role in calming people's hearts."

Fang Yuanque smiled bitterly and said: "However, if it has been embezzled and corrupted, it means it is not there. If it is there, we can find it without checking. Apart from uncovering a large number of corrupt officials, it will not be of any benefit to disaster relief. Our landlord is mainly

To save the famine, there is no need to interfere with other matters, right?"

Zhang Heng smiled: "But it's not necessarily the case. It's not there now. If you check it out, it will be there. If it is there, it won't be there again."

Fang Yuanque was a little confused when he heard this, but Zhang Heng didn't say much, and instead ordered him to call all Zhu Chenzhong and Qiao Xinyou.

When Qiao Xinyou saw Zhang Heng, he congratulated him and said, "It's an extraordinary move to raise the point. I received nearly 600,000 yuan in disaster relief funds as soon as I made the move. This achievement is truly the first in the history of the household! Congratulations to the raise!"

Zhang Heng smiled and said: "This is also dependent on your efforts, and this is also your contribution. On the contrary, I took advantage of you..."

Qiao Xinyou, Zhu Chenzhong and the others all quickly said modestly.

Zhang Heng was not willing to spend his precious time on such politeness, so he immediately changed the subject: "...I invite you here today to discuss a matter."

Fang Yuanque hurriedly said: "If you have any suggestions, just ask."

Zhang Heng nodded and said: "I have decided that Hufang will send a special envoy to the state capitals in early May to investigate the storage situation in Changpingcang. You can make arrangements."

When Qiao Xinyou and Zhu Chenzhong heard the news for the first time, they were a little surprised and saw the shock in each other's eyes.

"Tips! Be careful about this!" Zhu Chenzhong's face was solemn.

"Yeah, a reminder, this matter is very involved, so we need to act with caution!" Qiao Xinyou also said anxiously.

Zhang Heng smiled and explained to them in a low voice.

"To remind you, you are really... really..." Qiao Xinyou thought for a long time but couldn't think of the right words. Zhu Chenzhong immediately came to the rescue and said: "In the midst of strategizing, we can win the battle thousands of miles away!"

"Ha, that's it!"

Qiao Xinyou laughed, and then said to himself - you are such an old, well, little fox!

So treacherous!

(End of chapter)