I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 196 The Sound of the Bronze Chimes in the Hall of Preserving Harmony
Zhu Yijun turned around, bowed to Emperor Longqing, put his hands in his sleeves, and slowly walked out.

This is his prerogative.

Emperor Longqing sat on the throne, high above.

Other ministers were to stand obediently before the emperor in the hall and were not allowed to move around at will, cough, talk or do other disrespectful things in front of the emperor.

He was the only one who could walk slowly in the palace, as long as his father, Emperor Longqing, had no objection.

At present, it seems that Emperor Longqing has no objection at all.

Zhu Yijun walked to the left front of the ministers and spoke slowly.

"Mr. Yin, Minister Hu, do you have any shame?"

As expected of him, he is the late emperor's good grandson. Once he turns hostile, he will be very straightforward and show no mercy to his subjects.

Hu Qingxu straightened his neck, put on the demeanor of the most loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty, and shouted: "Your Highness, why do you say that? You are humiliating me!"

Zhu Yijun said rudely: "It is not me who humiliates you, it is you who humiliates yourself!"

He glanced at Yin Shidan, then at the other ministers, then his eyes moved around the faces of the other ministers and continued.

"You, the Ministry of Revenue, are in charge of the Ming Dynasty's taxation and expenditure. You are in charge of the two capitals and thirteen provinces, and countless fields. Other people's fields are getting more and more, but what about you? The fields recorded in the Yellow Book and Fish Scale Book are getting less and less. You, the Ministry of Revenue, are really good!
The salt from Lianghuai, Jiechi, Changlu, and Zhejiang is all under the control of your Ministry of Revenue. Yes, you, Hu Qingxu, were once the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing, and you are in charge of the national salt administration.

The number of people who consume salt in the Ming Dynasty is increasing year by year, but the salt tax you collect is decreasing year by year. You, the Ministry of Revenue, are really good.

The grain transport is under the jurisdiction of your Ministry of Revenue. That’s right, you, Hu Qingxu, served as the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing for five years, and you were also in charge of the grain transport.

The imperial court spent four to five million taels of silver a year and set a grain tax of four million dan per year. The loss was 400,000 dan the year before last, 600,000 dan last year, and 800,000 dan this year.

The number of officers and officials in the grain transport department increases year by year, and the money spent increases year by year, but the losses increase year by year. You, the Ministry of Revenue, are really good!"

Zhu Yijun spoke in a relaxed tone and calm voice, but his words were like the muffled thunder in the layers of dark clouds. If one was not careful, it might be a loud thunderclap that would tear the sky and earth apart.

"Grandpa Emperor has rectified the trade and paid more than three million silver taels of customs duties to the Ministry of Revenue every year. The accounts are clear and not a penny is missing. There are also other taxes. The money in the world is managed by your Ministry of Revenue. If you work hard, you should be able to get by. During the Hongwu, Yongle, and Xuande dynasties, the Ministry of Revenue had a surplus every year.

When it came into your hands, you didn't manage the finances properly or clear up the accumulated malpractices, but instead caused a lot of deficits. The officials in the capital could not pay their salaries, so you shamelessly asked the inner treasury for money, and even wanted to take the Coordination Bureau away to fill your holes.

Lord Yin, Minister Hu, do you have any shame?"

Yin Shidan and Hu Qingxu's faces were so gloomy that water seemed to be dripping from them.

Emperor Longqing sat on the throne, feeling mixed emotions as he watched Zhu Yijun lightly ridicule the ministers standing beside him.

Our boss has indeed learned the true skills of the late emperor in dealing with ministers.

His words were so sharp that the ministers were speechless.

Yes, the Ministry of Revenue was in charge of land registration and taxes throughout the country, and was considered the great steward of the Ming Dynasty. Other landlords and officials had more and more land and more and more money.

Only in the Ming Dynasty, the fields and population were decreasing, but the taxes collected were getting less and less. What was going on?

We are not fools. It is nothing more than local officials and gentry occupying farmland, hiding people and evading taxes. Your Ministry of Revenue does not investigate these, but only focuses on the Coordination Bureau and the silver in the inner treasury.

That's my money!

This is the money of me and the prince!
Zhu Yijun continued.

"The General Coordination Bureau was left to my father and me by my grandfather. We are the father and son and we dare not touch it lightly. My grandfather also told me about the style of you civil officials.

When the emperor had just ascended the throne for a few years, Xia Yan and other civil officials took advantage of his youth and ignorance and implemented the Jiajing New Deal. The land of the imperial clan became less and less, and the princes and clans in various places could not afford to eat. However, the land of local families became more and more, and they became richer and richer.

He also reorganized the nine frontiers, and the land of the guards that supplied the frontier troops with food and fodder became less and less, while the land of the local tyrants became more and more, and then the frontier troops could not provide for themselves, and had to pay from the national treasury.

Zhu Yijun looked at Yin Shidan and Hu Qingxu with a look of sarcasm on his face.

"Now that you have done all the harm you should do, you want to instigate my father and me, under the banner of benefiting the country and the people, to treat my father and me as fools and give you the Coordination Bureau. Wait for three to five years, and the Coordination Bureau will have done all the harm, and the inner treasury will be as clean as the national treasury you control. My father and me, can we go outside the Meridian Gate and set up two bowls?"

Xu Jie and other cabinet ministers all fell to their knees with a thud, and other ministers followed suit and knelt on the ground, shouting in unison: "We have failed in our duty, Your Majesty and Your Highness, please punish us!"

Gao Gong finally felt the oppression that Zhu Yijun brought to the ministers.

The late emperor only knew how to vent his anger and scold you.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince remains calm throughout, but his words are very sharp, and will make you bear the charges of disloyalty, unfilial piety, injustice and unreliability!

Emperor Longqing, sitting on the throne, felt indescribably happy when he saw his ministers kneeling on the ground.

These civil officials, each of whom claims to be the spokesperson for justice and righteousness, always stand on the moral high ground and make soul-stirring criticisms of you.

If you say something in reply, they will threaten to resign, as if the court would be in chaos if they were not there.

You know they are hypocritical, but you have to rely on them to govern the world, so you have to give in and let them succeed.

Now Jun'er, on the other hand, stood on the high ground of national law and morality and severely criticized their dereliction of duty and hypocrisy. His words were not harsh, and he did not scold or yell at them, but he exposed their ugly appearance vividly and thoroughly, leaving no room for escape.

Hu Qingxu knelt on the ground, saw the eyes of his accomplices on both sides, and saw the gestures made secretly by Yin Shidan in front of him, and his heart was filled with determination.

At this point, we can only fight hard!

Hu Qingxu encouraged himself, gritted his teeth, and spoke loudly.

"I, Hu Qingxu, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, petition to stop the war in Liaodong and to lend the food and wages used by the Supervision Office and the General Coordination Bureau for the war to the Ministry of Revenue for emergency use."

Everyone was shocked. Was this the final revelation?
Zhu Yijun sneered, "How dare you say that. During the national mourning period, when the emperor's grandfather's body was still warm, Wang Gao, the chieftain of the Jianzhou Jurchens, violated the rules in public and circulated a manifesto to humiliate the late emperor and our Ming Dynasty with words.

What a shame! You turned a blind eye and turned a deaf ear!
The Liaodong War was funded by the royal treasury, without spending a single cent or grain from the national treasury. You, as ministers, can be disloyal, but my father and I, as his descendants, cannot be unfilial!"

"We dare not! We have failed in our duty and shall be punished by death!"

These words were extremely serious. Once they were spoken, all the ministers in the palace were terrified and apologized in unison to Emperor Longqing and Zhu Yijun, father and son.

Most people even hate Hu Qingxu.

The Liaodong war used the money and grain from the General Planning Bureau, not the money and grain from the Ministry of Finance. You didn't have any control over it, so you couldn't embezzle money, so you feel uncomfortable, right?

He insisted on taking over part of the money and grain from the Coordination Bureau under the pretext of providing emergency support to the national treasury.

We don't even know your character, but once the money and grain from the Coordination Bureau fell into your hands, 40% of it was first taken away by you, and then it was exploited by people at every level, and finally fell into the hands of officials and officers and soldiers of the border army. If there was still 20% or 30% left, you would all be great officials worthy of being engraved on your monuments.

Now His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has blocked the door tightly.

If you continue to be entangled, not only will you be disloyal, but you will also make the Emperor and the Crown Prince appear unfilial.

This is such a serious crime that even if all your officials in the Ministry of Revenue are destroyed, it still won’t be enough to bear the consequences.

Zhu Yijun slowly walked to the side and gave a look. Qi Yan, who had been standing in the corner, walked forward, holding a bronze bell in both hands and a wooden hammer on his waist.

Zhu Yijun pulled out a gavel from his waist and struck the bronze cymbal.

"clang--!"

The sound of bronze chimes echoed throughout the Baohe Hall.

Emperor Longqing, who was sitting on the throne, was startled, but soon calmed down.

The ministers kneeling on the ground were so frightened that goose bumps appeared on their backs and cold sweat covered their foreheads and backs.

The sound of the bronze chimes that frightened them to the depths of their souls has returned!
(End of this chapter)