Wanli Ming Emperor

Chapter 233: Rain and crowds gather, the seats are full

The Prime Minister's return to the capital was like a whirlpool suddenly appearing on the already turbulent sea.

The ensemble of wind and rain is an indispensable background. Turtles, crocodiles and dragons compete to resonate and dance with the waves, while rotten fish and shrimps are swept into the air, revealing their rotten corpses.

The center of the vortex is actually the most peaceful place.

After Zhang Juzheng arrived in Beijing, he settled down at home, cleaned the house, resigned from his leave at the Ministry of Personnel, and reported back to the Ministry of Public Security. He completed the entire reporting process calmly and quietly.

After drawing a fortune at the Zhenwu Temple for the emperor's unborn children, Zhang Juzheng returned home, closed the door, refused visitors, and never showed up in public again.

This is because this is the customary practice for the reinstatement of cabinet ministers.

If he did not wait for the emperor to summon him on the first meeting, but instead went around visiting relatives and friends, it would inevitably seem a little too rebellious and free.

This is also the reason why Lu Diaoyang could only run to the ferry to meet him instead of waiting in the capital.

Of course, the Prime Minister must understand the rules, but the emperor does not have to follow the rules.

and so.

"Your Majesty ordered me to go back to the cabinet first!?"

At daybreak, an angel came to the door.

Zhang Juzheng respectfully took Wei Chao's imperial edict and confirmed it again and again with a frown.

Wei Chao hurriedly stepped forward, supported the Prime Minister with both hands, and explained: "The exact date of the Prime Minister's arrival in the capital cannot be known in advance. Your Majesty's government affairs have been fully scheduled in the past few days. Today's affairs cannot be shirked and I am too busy to attend to them."

"His Majesty has repeatedly told us to tell the Prime Minister not to worry too much."

Conventions are meant to be broken, and this sentence was once again well illustrated - Zhang Juzheng waited but did not receive an audience with the emperor.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Juzheng immediately straightened his face and bowed towards the Forbidden City: "Your Majesty, you are so tired, I am afraid it will harm your health, do you need me to share some of the burden?"

This is almost a direct question. What is the emperor doing that he can't even spare the time to summon the prime minister?
Zhang Juzheng had no doubt that he had fallen out of favor after being away from Beijing for several months.

He just looked Wei Chao up and down, wondering if the emperor was ill and these eunuchs kept it a secret! ?

The more he thought about it, the more something seemed wrong; even the look in his eyes when he looked at Wei Chao had changed.

Wei Chao felt Zhang Juzheng's gaze and couldn't help but smile bitterly in his heart.

He could only comfort himself that being a eunuch and not being suspected like this would actually mean that he was not presentable enough.

With a chuckle, Wei Chao did not shy away from mentioning the emperor's schedule: "Your Majesty will receive foreign ministers today, accompanied by several dukes, the Grand Princess, Yang Zongzhong, the Junior Secretary of the Honglu Temple, Chi Yude, the Junior Secretary of the Taichang Temple, the Superintendent of the Four Barbarians Hall, and various interpreters and translators."

In addition to relatives and meritorious officials, the Honglu Temple was in charge of simultaneous interpretation and the Siyi Hall was in charge of written translation, both of them were regular personnel in foreign affairs activities.

Naturally, what he said was professional matters, and there were professional officials to share the worries.

Off the topic, he was still explaining that the emperor was not free today and that the meeting with foreign envoys could not be changed at will, so don't think too much about it.

After hearing this, Zhang Juzheng gave up the heinous conspiracy in his mind.

He asked awkwardly, "Foreign vassal states paying tribute? Which foreign vassal states?"

Wei Chao thought for a moment and replied, "Several delegations have come, from the Portuguese, the Gansila, the Hongmaoyi, the Ryukyu, and the Koreans."

"In addition to paying tribute, there are other matters to discuss. Especially shipping. In the early spring, ocean-going ships will test sail along the coast. If they are not satisfied with the round trip, we will now plan a route for the long voyage."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Juzheng nodded in sudden realization.

The emperor had said earlier that long voyages should not be made just to show off one's military power, as that would be a waste of money and manpower.

If maritime trade is to thrive, a profitable “virtuous cycle” is required.

Therefore, we naturally need to know ourselves and our enemies, to find out where they like our commercial goods, where our scarce local products are, and most importantly, to request nautical charts.

It seems that it is not without reason that people say that the emperor has a heavy workload.

This matter could have been handled by the Ministry of Rites.

But the emperor's relatives and ministers have made a lot of money from offshore trade in recent years, so how could they not get involved in long-distance voyages?

This forced the emperor to set up his own event outside the Ministry of Rites, with his relatives and ministers.

He reluctantly accepted the fact that the emperor was really busy today.

Zhang Juzheng then looked at the imperial edict and turned it over and over in his hands: "I haven't asked Wei Da'e yet, what does your majesty's imperial edict mean?"

A handwritten edict is a handwritten document that is not written through the formalities and is not stamped or sealed.

The form and wording are often more casual.

But the emperor's handwritten edict was more than just three-point, it was already very casual.

It was just a simple piece of white paper torn from somewhere, with items one, two, three, and four, totaling about ten words.

Wei Chao smiled when he saw this, and bowed towards the Forbidden City, explaining, "These are a few things that your majesty has asked Yuan Fu to discuss as soon as possible after he returns to the cabinet."

"The specific files have been prepared by the cabinet secretary."

It turns out that he was sent on an assignment.

Only then did Zhang Juzheng vaguely understand the meaning from items one, two, three, and four.

As Ju was thinking carefully, Wei Chao spoke again: "Your Majesty has another oral order for this matter."

The tone was solemn.

Zhang Juzheng bowed quickly.

Wei Chao cleared his throat and imitated the emperor's tone, "There are so many things going on. I hope you can handle them as soon as possible. Whether it is appropriate or not, you can report to me the day after tomorrow and explain it to me!"

The voice stopped and Zhang Juzheng bowed.

"I accept the decree."

Wei Chao helped Zhang Juzheng up for the second time and said with a kind smile, "Shall we bring Yuan Fu into the palace on the way?"

As a subject, you must respond to the emperor's urgency.

It takes a long time to prepare the sedan chair. By the time the bearers are gathered and everything is ready, it will be almost dawn.

In this case, it would be better to squeeze in and invite the Prime Minister back to the cabinet as soon as possible to work like a slave.

Zhang Juzheng naturally said nothing and nodded: "Thank you for your help, eunuch."

After saying this, they left Zhang's house together amid Wei Chao's polite greetings.

The two of them lifted the curtain and entered the sedan chair together.

The sedan chair swayed as it moved towards the Forbidden City.

……

Two flowers bloom, each showing its own beauty.

Just as Zhang Juzheng returned to the cabinet, the court officials in Wenhua Hall were gathering their strength for the upcoming court meeting.

The court officials gathered in groups of three or five, talking in low voices.

Wang Zongyi was discussing the preparations for the emperor's first child with He Luowen, and Yin Zhengmao stood aside and interrupted from time to time.

The Minister of Justice Pan Sheng and the Left Vice Minister Xu Guo seemed to have some disagreement in their words.

Minister of Revenue Wang Guoguang and Minister of Works Zhu Heng went to check the accounts of the Ministry of Works' Jishen Treasury and various shipyards today and were absent from the court meeting.

Li Youzi, Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and Wan Gong, Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, attended the meeting respectively.

Shen Shixing, Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion, has not arrived yet.

Wang Xijue, the Grand Secretary of the Dongge, dragged Wang Yingxuan, the secretary of the Wenhua Palace, to a corner.

"Wang Junqing, I heard that you went to Huguang and reported to the old ministers everywhere?"

Wang Xijue put his hands behind his back, with a hint of questioning in his words.

"Gather and report" is a special term for hall officials. It is not as simple as a simple chat. It often means "gathering" related government affairs into one, and then presenting a "report" with a standpoint and angle.

You said that you are a secretary of the Secretariat, but you only report current affairs to the emperor and the cabinet. Why did you take the initiative to report the cabinet's policies to the former prime minister who was in mourning?
Wang Yingxuan was blocked by this relative and was unable to express his grievances.

There was a little sweat on his forehead. "Lord Wang, I was ordered to go to Huguang to offer sacrifices to Chengtian Prefecture. On the way back, I paid a visit to the teacher. I also heard from the teacher that Jiangling Gong's hemorrhoids had relapsed, so I stopped by to pay a visit."

"The report is completely false."

As one of the four members of the Yan school, he visited Yan Jing, the deputy envoy of Huguang Education. It was a deep relationship between teacher and student, needless to say.

As for Zhang Juzheng, when he was revising the "Da Ming Hui Dian", Zhang Juzheng invited Wang Yingxuan to be the editor, which was also a favor for him to recommend. Now that the recommender was ill, how could Zhang Juzheng not visit him?
All in all, normal human interaction.

Wang Xijue was too lazy to listen to his explanation and just snorted coldly: "You better take care of yourself!"

He just turned away and turned away.

When the others heard the noise, they all looked over here, either directly or implicitly.

Seeing that Wang Xijue was looking grumpy again, they all showed an expression of being accustomed to it.

The old stubborn donkey has just this kind of temper. People in the court call him Little Gao Gong. He always has a sour face and scolds people every other day.

A month ago, when Wang Xijue was at his most popular, some censors wanted to join him and took the initiative to fight for him in the cabinet and compete with Shen Shixing for power.

As a result, Wang Xijue showed no mercy and instead openly rebuked the censors Li Zhi, Jiang Dongzhi, and Yang Keli in the court, saying that these people were villains who were opportunistic and "biased towards factions and were treacherous" and had put him in an unjust position.

That's okay.

After this incident happened, no one, whether it was the censors or the clerks in the ministries and agencies, was willing to follow Wang Xijue.

Wang Xijue ignored these glances.

Of course, he knew that his actions were somewhat out of place. He realized this as early as when he offended Zhang Siwei and was demoted to Nanzhili.

But he felt that the atmosphere in the court was not bad now, and there was at least a place to work, so why bother to win over disciples?
Just like when he scolded Wang Yingxuan just now, it was also out of public interest - he was not afraid of Zhang Juzheng, on the contrary, he was afraid of these Zhongshu Sheren!

The current emperor is not as good as the two emperors Gia Long.

Working hard to govern the country and handling all kinds of affairs means that more power will be concentrated in the emperor's hands.

However, as the moon waxes and wanes, and as the essence becomes full, it overflows, and power will inevitably spread from the emperor to his surroundings.

The current Zhongshu Sheren is showing signs of gradually gaining momentum!
Especially during the month when the emperor seldom left the Western Garden, this group of Zhongshu Sheren had actually earned the reputation of a small cabinet!

That would be fine, after all, he is in the court and has no real power within the scope of his duties.

But what was Wang Yingxuan trying to do by running up and down on his own initiative?
Extension of authority? Conspiracy?
Wang Xijue became extremely alert and took the most direct approach, confronting the man face to face.

If you don't listen to my repeated warnings, don't blame him for taking ruthless action!

This short episode reduced the whispering in the Wenhua Hall a lot.

As colleagues entered the hall one after another.

The courtiers who were chatting separated themselves and stood in their corresponding shifts.

As Wenyuan Pavilion Grand Secretary Shen Shixing and Silijian Seal Holder Zhang Hong arrived as the finale, ceremonial officers Xu Wenbi and Jiang Keqian also came in from the side hall and stood at the head of their respective shifts.

The Imperial Household Department spoke on behalf of the emperor and said, "Let's get started."

Zhang Hong bowed respectfully towards the empty throne.

The ministers saluted in turn.

Shen Shixing took the lead and said, "Regarding the discussion on the money law a month ago, Your Majesty sent back the memorials from the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Households, and asked us to refer to the proposal of Wan Xiangchun, the Minister of Industry, and then make a reply as agreed."

Lord Shen has been presiding over the morning court for half a year. He seems to be more calm and composed, and his arrangements are also well-organized.

The so-called Wan Xiangchun's proposal had been circulated to many colleagues in advance.

After the land survey came the tax reform. One battle has not yet ended, and another one is about to follow.

The central government cannot issue decrees on a whim, so naturally there must be some preparation. The currency law is the basic preparation for the tax law, and the copper coin law is currently being discussed.

The copper coin laws of this dynasty can be summed up in one word: chaos.

During the Hongwu and Xuande periods, in order to promote the use of Baochao, although copper coins were minted, they were not allowed to be used by the public.

The credit of Baochao and the vacant market were clearly there, and this behavior led to large-scale private minting and circulation, with even government offices getting involved and becoming involved.

From the Zhengtong to Chenghua years, the banknotes became completely ineffective, the central government was helpless and simply went crazy.

While lifting the ban on coins, they also stopped minting copper coins themselves.

As for private minting? Sorry, it is still not allowed.

It would be strange if there was no shortage of money. To use the complaint of Qiu Jun, the Minister of Revenue at that time, it was blocking the flow of goods and harming commerce.

It was not until February of the 16th year of the Hongzhi reign that the central government realized the seriousness of the situation and decided to re-mint the "Hongzhi Tong Bao" coin.

But it was useless even if the higher-ups figured it out, as the lower-ups had to do the work - just like the land survey during the Wanli reign, which took seven years to prepare for the performance appraisal of officials - and the Xiaozong dynasty had long lost the ability to communicate information from above.

A few years later, Emperor Xiaozong decided to check how his currency system was being implemented, and the answer he received was "only one or two out of ten coins minted in various places."

Xiaozong had no choice but to issue an imperial decree to check the coins of the Hong, Yong and Xuan dynasties stored in the imperial palaces of the two capitals and the thirteen provincial governments.

It turned out that coin minting could no longer be carried out, and the only thing they could do was to redeem the copper coins minted by their ancestors in order to alleviate the sluggish circulation of commercial goods.

Of course it doesn't work.

It was not until Emperor Sejong ascended the throne that he became furious and began to settle old scores, ordering the Ministry of Revenue to work with the Ministry of Works to check all the copper coins that had not been minted in the previous dynasties and to make up for them.

In the sixth, eighteenth, twenty-third, and thirty-second years of the Jiajing reign, copper coins were issued almost every once in a while, and the monetary system enjoyed a great improvement during the Jiajing reign.

During the reign of Emperor Muzong, there was chaos for several more years, probably because Emperor Muzong had no strong opinions.

The Nanjing Ministry of Revenue said that there was a shortage of coins, so Emperor Muzong stopped minting coins.

Later, Tan Lun made another memorial saying that minting coins was a good policy to store wealth. Not only should coins be minted, but also the standard should be standardized. Instead of using reign titles, coins should be minted as Ming Tong Bao so that the people can identify and circulate them. Emperor Muzong thought this made sense, so he ordered a 1.2 million yuan investment to mint coins.

Later, Zhang Siwei submitted a memorial saying that other emperors used their reign titles to mint coins, but this had lost its distinctiveness in our dynasty. Are they looking down on our Emperor Muzong?

Muzong thought it made sense and rescinded his order.

Jin Xueyan, the governor of Shanxi, thought that this was not acceptable. Could the coins not be minted? He immediately submitted a memorial saying that it could be called "Longqing Tongbao" if it was not acceptable.

Emperor Longqing thought about it and agreed.

It went back and forth until April of the fourth year of the Longqing reign, and Gao Gong finally couldn't stand it anymore.

Although Old Gao did not understand monetary law, he also knew that unstable policies were not conducive to market confidence, so he submitted a memorial to the Emperor Longqing asking him to "not say any more and confuse the people" - don't think that one thing will happen one after another, and confuse the people.

After all, it was old man Gao's words that worked. Emperor Longqing made up his mind and ordered the Ministry of Revenue to mint 2 million Longqing Tongbao coins. "From then on, the currency system became slightly popular again."

Of course, the monetary method was only "slightly smooth" and barely stabilized market transactions.

There are still a lot of problems, such as rampant private minting, unstable pricing of official coins, and shoddy workmanship and uneven quality of coins.

During the Wanli reign, preparations had to be made for tax reform, and these issues had to be addressed. Otherwise, the overall environment would be problematic, and tax reform would probably cause chaos in the country.

Li Youzi, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, was a little embarrassed and stepped out to ask, "Lord Shen, may I ask why Your Majesty did not accept my proposal?"

Regarding the discussion on currency law, he presided over the meeting of the Ministry of Revenue.

The opinions in the ministry were almost unanimous. "Since private money is allowed to flow, official money is increasingly blocked. We must punish the ringleaders severely, report them and arrest them, and prohibit smuggling." - It's not that the current money laws of the Ministry of Revenue are bad, but that they have been harmed by private money. We must take action and catch typical cases.

Upon hearing this, Shen Shixing turned to look at the newly promoted official of the Ministry of Revenue and explained politely, "Your Majesty said that in principle, fiscal and taxation issues should be handled as much as possible in the general direction."

What this means is that the proposal of the Ministry of Revenue is merely scratching the surface and is only suitable to serve as a supplement or to provide support for the main policy.

Li Youzi was speechless.

Seeing this, Wan Gong, the Minister of Works, followed closely and expressed his attitude: "Mr. Shen, according to Wan Xiangchun's proposal, the Ministry of Works has calculated it."

"It's not difficult to unify the design. We can unify the names of the three types of coins, namely the gold back, the wax, and the enamel border, and call them the Ming Tong Bao coins. The year of production can be attached to the back of the coins."

This is of course a simple matter. After all, the standards are unified, and a lot of labor and materials can be saved.

If Emperor Muzong had not felt that this move would weaken the reign title, the Ministry of Works would have done so as early as the Longqing period.

"But it is unreasonable to eliminate impurities. If we do this, the cost of making coins will increase by at least 70%!"

"I'm afraid the copper money in the national treasury is difficult to support now."

In his opinion, Wanxiangchun's proposal was simply out of touch with the real world.

In short, Wan Jishizhong believed that the main reason why the currency system was not working was because the court's copper coins were too mixed and cheap, and the people could not recognize them all and looked down on them.

Not only must the style be unified and the carvings be exquisite, but the lead sand must also be removed and the copper content increased so that the people will like to use it and official money can be circulated.

But the former is simple, while the latter is difficult, and the national treasury may not be able to afford the cost.

"That's a bad word."

A voice sounded and everyone turned around.

However, it was the Minister of War Yin Zhengmao who stepped forward to refute it.

Although Yin Zhengmao was a talented man, he was also an expert in money matters - people at the time joked that he had become a financial expert after years of corruption.

Yin Zhengmao was completely unaware, and said with a big belly, "Minister Wan, please don't deceive us. When we mint silver, the cost is 70% higher, and even if it doubles, the court will still make a profit."

The imperial court always made huge profits from minting coins.

During the Jiajing period, Yin Zhengmao participated in a discussion on currency law. At that time, he personally calculated that with the cost of 39 taels of silver, he could get 65000 million copper coins, which were worth more than 93 taels of silver.

Basically the profit is more than two or three times.

Wan Gong was displeased when he heard this, but Yin Zhengmao was indeed knowledgeable and he was unable to speak for a moment.

At this time, Yao Hongmo, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Personnel, suddenly spoke up to save the situation: "This is a different time. In the 45th year of Jiajing, the minting of coins in Yunnan was stopped."

"We have been able to make ends meet by smelting copper sporadically these years."

"If your majesty wants to mint new coins, I'm afraid we'll have to reopen the Yunnan copper mines, and the costs of manpower, transportation, and chieftain robbery will also have to be taken into account."

The cost of obtaining materials from the mainland and from the border is naturally much higher.

The two sides argued back and forth for several rounds, but neither could convince the other.

For a moment, the discussion seemed to be at a stalemate.

"Wan Jieshizhong, you are the initiator, what do you say?"

Wang Xijue suddenly spoke up, signaling Wan Xiangchun to express his opinion.

As soon as Xiao Gaogong opened his mouth, everyone's verbal battles stopped immediately, and their eyes followed Wang Ge Lao's gaze and focused on Wan Xiangchun.

Wan Xiangchun is only thirty-five or thirty-six years old, and has very little hair on his forehead.

He was standing at the end of the shift and was suddenly the center of attention, which also startled him.

Wan Xiangchun immediately collected his thoughts and stepped out to answer: "My Lord, my colleagues, I dare to express my humble opinion... I think that the court mints coins for profit and definitely cannot be stingy with capital."

This statement is vaguely offensive. If I consider the cost, does that make me a profit-seeking villain?

Wan Gong immediately frowned.

Fortunately, Wan Xiangchun didn't see it.

He paused and continued, "The imperial court can certainly make a fortune by minting coins, but it is ultimately a one-size-fits-all business. If the copper coins are rotten and half lead, once they flow into the private sector, one official coin is only worth half a private coin."

"At that time, the people will discard the official money like a worn-out shoe, and finally it will become the source of private minting, which will be the root cause of the corruption of the currency system!"

"Only when copper coins are circulated throughout the world can they benefit the flow of goods. Then the wealth will be stored among the people and then fed back into the tax revenue. This is the right way to go!"

After saying this, he bowed and saluted.

Wang Xijue nodded, giving others room to interrupt, and looked directly at the Minister of Revenue, Li Youzi.

Li Youzi was nearly incontinent after being glared at. Although everyone knew that he had a weak kidney, he really didn't want to bring the nickname "Li Sanhu" to the Wenhua Hall.

He quickly stepped out to respond: "I will return to the ministry to discuss the matter immediately after the court is dismissed."

Wang Xijue hummed softly and looked at Wan Gong: "Let's review it together and present it to the cabinet."

A higher-ranking official can crush a person to death, so Wan Gong had no choice but to bow.

Shen Shixing saw that he had a general direction, and nodded slightly: "Next thing."

He paused and said, "It's still the money method."

"Fu Zuozhou, a minister of the Ministry of Rites, reported that Huang Jinse, the director of the Ministry of Works, and Lei Ruheng, the secretary, were greedy and presumptuous, and made counterfeit coins, which led to the obstruction of the currency law."

Wan Gong's eyelids couldn't help but twitch.

This matter has even come to the court for discussion, and I didn't even know about it!
Naturally, someone who knew the inside story would follow up on Shen Shixing's words.

Deputy Chief Censor Chen Wude stepped out and said: "Huang Jinse, the director of the Ministry of Works, and Lei Ruheng, the secretary, have been involved in corruption. I am afraid that they have been punished for corruption. They will be dismissed from their posts and their writings will be taken away."

In other words, it was indeed as Fu Zuozhou had reported, that the two people in the Ministry of Works were corrupt in the matter of coin minting.

Considering that his actions damaged the ecology of money and law, in addition to being dismissed from office and demoted to civilian status, his official title and official position were also taken away.

This fast process is obviously the result of the emperor holding a small meeting.

Wan Gong, the hall official, was so frightened that he didn't even dare to say a word to defend his subordinate.

Seeing that there were no objections, Shen Shixing moved on to the next topic: "Next is the Ministry of Revenue's report, saying that the provinces directly stored grain for famine preparedness, but most of them were not enough."

In this dynasty, a considerable amount of taxes and levies were levied by local governments.

Taizu even ordered the construction of relief granaries in all prefectures and counties to prepare for famine.

As for today, "too numerous to count" is an euphemism. To put it bluntly, the economy has been basically emptied out and every time you investigate, you find a fire.

As soon as he finished speaking, Chen Wude, who had not yet joined the team, spoke first: "There are countless famine warehouses in the world. Don't send more inspections. Otherwise, even if you empty the Ministry of Personnel, you won't be able to check them all."

There were quite a few granaries in the Ming Dynasty to prepare for famine. The large prefectures stored 30,000 shi of grain, the medium-sized prefectures stored 20,000 shi of grain, and the small prefectures stored 10,000 shi of grain. Each county was also divided into three levels.

If we have to check them one by one, it might take more than ten years to complete the process.

There was silence for a moment.

After a long silence, Fan Yingqi, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and the Governor of the Warehouses, sighed inwardly and stepped out and said, "Let's upgrade him."

"There is really no need to store grain at the state and county level. It would be better to merge it into the provincial government's granary."

"Nowadays, even if there is a disaster, the provincial government will dispatch supplies, and the county granaries are in name only."

"Besides, according to the experience of several granaries in the Ministry of Revenue, only those above the prefecture level, where there are people watching all around, will be more restrained."

This is not a new idea. It was mentioned during the Jiajing period.

But after all, the granaries are the food and clothing of millions of workers, and closing down the reserve granaries in the prefectures and counties will offend many people.

It was bad enough that the person was stabbed in the back, but in the end the method was not adopted.

The imperial court still allowed counties and prefectures to retain land taxes and transfer them into and out of granaries.

It was for this reason that other court officials remained silent, waiting for the Ministry of Revenue to speak - this was something that the Ministry of Revenue should have raised, and it was only when Wang Guoguang was about to retire that they started to talk about the problem without offering any solutions, and had to throw the blame on the Wenhua Palace.

After a long stalemate with Li Youzi, Fan Yingqi finally couldn't help but put on the hat of the initiator.

Shen Shixing looked around and saw that no one answered, so he pretended to say, "Since that's the case, the cabinet has no other choice but to follow Minister Fan's wishes."

Fan Yingqi bowed and returned to the ranks.

The court has a lot of things going on right now.

A few decades ago, the court would often finish the work in half an hour, but now nearly two hours have passed and the pot has not been settled yet.

From dredging the Baigou River to facilitate shipping, to the proposal for naturalization that came after Wen Chun took office in the southwest.

From the causes and effects of the civil unrest in Shandong to Fujian, which served as a pilot area, the land survey is almost coming to an end.

There is order and chaos, joy and sorrow.

It was not until the sun was almost overhead and the ice that the eunuchs had placed in the corner of the Wenhua Hall melted that the last item of today's court meeting was discussed.

Shen Shixing raised his head and glanced at the sky: "Today..."

Just when he was halfway through his words, Zhang Hong, who was standing beside the throne, suddenly spoke up and interrupted him: "The imperial kitchen will prepare lunch later and send it to Wenhua Palace."

The ministers were stunned when they heard this.

The meeting is over now, who would want to stay here and eat the bland soup from the imperial kitchen?

However, all the court officials in Wenhua Palace are shrewd people.

Shen Shixing thought for a moment and asked Zhang Hong, "Zhang Dayong, do you mean that His Majesty will come to discuss matters later?"

Zhang Hong said nothing, just looked towards the side hall.

"Your Majesty did assign several tasks for us to discuss as soon as possible."

A familiar voice was heard in the Wenhua Hall.

All the ministers were shocked and turned their heads around.

A figure that had not been seen for many days followed Wei Chao and walked out from the side hall.

Zhang Juzheng lowered his fingertips to hold his beautiful beard and bowed politely: "I was just reading files and documents in the side hall. I am uninvited to appear here. Please don't be offended, my colleagues."

Everyone suppressed their sudden surprise and bowed in greeting.

"Motosuke!"

"The Prime Minister."

"Mr. Zhang."

Zhang Juzheng looked at Shen Shixing first and said with a smile, "Mr. Shen is leading the court discussion. He has shown a certain demeanor."

Shen Shixing was quite at a loss and took half a step back from his position as foreman.

Only Wang Xijue asked bluntly, "Has the Prime Minister met His Majesty?"

Didn’t the Secretary of the Central Secretariat say that the Emperor had no time to summon Zhang Juzheng today?

The Prime Minister came to court before he had finished his mourning period, which is a serious act of disrespect for the emperor and his father.

After Wei Chao led the way, he was about to pass through the palace, and before leaving, he did not forget to explain: "This is the order of your majesty."

Zhang Juzheng smiled without saying anything, and everyone nodded in sudden understanding.

It was getting late, and it was not the time for small talk. Zhang Juzheng stood where Shen Shixing had been, and got straight to the point: "Your Majesty's handwritten edict concerned several important matters. Everyone, let's discuss them all at once."

After hearing this, the court officials in the hall felt that the visitor had ill intentions, so they lowered their heads and remained silent.

There are now a lot of unresolved issues piling up in the court, all of which have their reasons and are extremely difficult to resolve.

I guess the debt collector has come today.

"Prime Minister, please speak."

Wang Zongyi from the Ministry of Rites had never been involved in the matter, and at this moment he was the only one who felt at ease and took the initiative to inquire.

Zhang Juzheng looked around at his colleagues in the hall, his eyes wandering back and forth between the Minister of Punishment Pan Sheng, the Left Vice Minister Xu Guo, and the Deputy Chief Censor Chen Wude. "First, your majesty asks, have you come to a conclusion on the Lotus Injustice Case?"

"Should the Nanjing Minister of Justice Weng Dali and the Wucheng Military Commander Zhang Guowei be put to death?"

(End of this chapter)