The First Auxiliary Road from the Imperial Examination

Sheng Yuan left the imperial city and went straight to the Ministry of Revenue.

Since her performance report has become the focus, she naturally cannot delay any longer. The current priority is to resume her post immediately.

Unexpectedly, when I entered the office, I found that An Laokou had not returned yet.

Although the Shangshu is not here, he does not need to be involved in the reinstatement procedures. The Office of the Secretary and the File Room will handle the arrangements, and he can just stamp it in the end.

Sheng Yuan greeted the steward and the person in charge of this matter, handed over the appointment letter for the tour and the approval note for delayed reinstatement, and in return received a letter of reinstatement, and the matter was considered settled.

After Sheng Yuan was reinstated, according to the Ministry of Household Affairs regulations, he did not have to be on duty that day and only had to work normally the next day.

However, she did not leave immediately. She casually called a few servants in charge of cleaning and asked them to clean the office that had been empty for several months.

She herself wandered around the Ministry of Revenue at will.

Well, Yang Wennong's office has been vacant longer than hers, but it just looks a little deserted. It is still quite clean from the outside, which shows that the cleaning servants of the Ministry of Revenue are very dedicated and come to clean frequently.

  Eh? The two supervisors of the Hosen Bureau are actually coming to the front?! Oh, they are holding picture albums in their hands? Could it be that the court is going to mint new coins again?

Hey! The head of the general archives room also came to the Shangshu office with the chief and the doctor to wait? Could it be that the treasury has received a large sum of money again? !

Sheng Yuan strolled around and looked around as he went, and soon he had a general idea of ​​the Ministry of Household Affairs' current situation.

At this time, her office was also cleaned.

She walked back slowly and checked for a moment. Seeing that the tabletop was so clean that you could see a reflection of it, she was immediately satisfied and gave the reward.

"Minister Sheng, the Minister, please come over!"

It was a coincidence that just as Sheng Yuan stepped onto the corridor, he saw the deputy envoy from the Shangshu's office jogging after him, reporting breathlessly.

"The Minister is back? That's great, as I still need his seal on the reinstatement approval letter." Although Sheng Yuan didn't understand what An Laokou had to say to someone like her who had just been reinstated, she was still happy to complete all the reinstatement procedures on the same day as she had a little obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Thinking of this, her steps towards the Shangshu's office seemed particularly brisk.

However, the relaxed pace became less relaxed after seeing An Suiyun's thoughtful face.

"Wenzhen, please sit down." An Suiyun saw Sheng Yuan and asked straight to the point without further ado, "I called you here to ask if you know anything about the situation in Kyoto?"

"The Patrol City Division and the City Defense Camp are under the jurisdiction of the Ninth Army Military Division, and I am in charge of the Five Army Command Office..." Sheng Yuan first made it clear what his responsibilities were, and then added, "However, I have to return to the mansion from the outer city every day, and I have never heard of anything wrong in these days."

After all, the person opposite him was his superior, and Sheng Yuan was not so stupid as to let him ask about his own grandson.

But she did not notice anything wrong with the wind direction in Kyoto.

"Is that so..." An Suiyun pondered for a moment after hearing the voice, then looked at Sheng Yuan and whispered, "Just now outside the court hall, Gu Ci Fu asked me about the funding issue for the Grand Princess Hong'an's mansion."

"Allocation?!" Sheng Yuan's mind raced, and he immediately looked up the court's preferential regulations for the Hong'an Grand Princess's Mansion and the Yongning Princess's Mansion.

"The food and expenses of the Grand Princess Hong'an's residence are all covered by the national treasury, and the Ministry of Revenue allocates funds twice a year... Is this okay? Is there a problem with the tax revenue in those states?"

The states that Sheng Yuan mentioned are near Kyoto, and are relatively prosperous states outside the capital. Since the time of Emperor Chengyuan, the tax revenues of these states have been counted as fiefs and given to the Grand Princess Hong'an's residence; in addition, an additional 60% of the tax revenues were transferred from the national treasury and private treasury as salaries, which can be regarded as welfare subsidies. "The Ministry of Revenue has never had any problems with its allocations." An Suiyun stroked his head, worried, "The allocations to the Grand Princess Hong'an's residence have always been repeatedly checked and only allocated after they are confirmed to be correct. This official can also confirm that at least there are no problems with the taxes and additional subsidies from the national treasury."

When Sheng Yuan heard his words, he immediately understood what he meant.

  Are there no problems with taxation and treasury allocations in several states?!

Then the problem is not the emperor's private treasury? !

Thinking of this, Sheng Yuan had good reason to suspect that Gu Ci Fu wanted to confirm Emperor Yanping's attitude towards the Princess's Mansion.

Of course, that cunning official An Laokou must have thought of this problem as well.

"This is about the emperor's private treasury... If you want to check it in detail, I'm afraid I'll have to go to the palace and ask the eunuch in charge."

Sheng Yuan spread her hands towards An Suiyun, indicating that she didn't have that ability.

Originally, as the Right Vice Minister, her job was to deal with the internal affairs of the Ministry of Revenue, while external affairs would be the responsibility of An Laokou, the Shangshu.

If anyone had unrealistic ideas and wanted to take advantage of her sisterly relationship with the Queen to take a shortcut, I'm sorry, she can't do it and doesn't want to do it!

"If the emperor stops subsidizing the private treasury..." An Suiyun already knew Sheng Yuan's character, and probably didn't have much hope in her. He just tried to test her out based on his professional habit of making the best of a possible decision.

Seeing that she really refused to agree, he did not intend to force her, but just casually pointed out his guess: "Although I can't guess the intentions of the elders, the private treasury subsidy is the oral order left by the two previous emperors, and the money used is also the money that the two previous emperors successively allocated from their own treasuries and stored separately."

What this means is that the present has no right to freeze this property.

Sheng Yuan said nothing.

  This is like putting a bell on a cat. The question is, who has the guts to run up to the emperor and say that he has no right to use the property that was designated by the two previous emperors?

If the emperor is determined to cheat, even all the court officials tied together may not be able to defeat him.

"If the emperor does not intend to continue to favor Princess Hong'an's residence, then it's no wonder that the cabinet elders are overthinking it."

An Suiyun seemed not to understand Sheng Yuan's statement and continued talking to himself.

  At this time, Sheng Yuan realized that Old An was as clear as a mirror in his mind!

Thinking of this, Sheng Yuan couldn't help but wonder the purpose of An Laokou telling her this.

"The Jiang Chu clan is now in decline, and there are only a handful of heirs left! Most of them are now taken to the palace by the emperor for education, which is very expensive."

Even though the conversation was completely unrelated, An Laokou was able to connect the dots exceptionally smoothly.

His words made it seem like he was looking for an excuse to give Emperor Yanping an excuse to cancel the subsidy for the private treasury.

But Sheng Yuan could hear that he was hinting at something.

  Heir? Princess Hong'an's welfare benefits?

……

When Sheng Yuan got on her carriage after coming out of the Ministry of Revenue, she muttered to An Yu who had been waiting for her for a long time: "It seems to me that the cabinet wants to abandon the descendants of Princess Hong'an and is preparing to rescue those direct candidates for the crown prince!" (End of this chapter)