Fu Shanhe

Chapter 102 Fundraising
The emperor intended to give Song Haidong a posthumous honor, and the scene after his death was very grand.

All the civil and military officials in the court went to pay their respects. No matter what past grudges they had, they all showed respect at the funeral.

All the guests had worried looks on their faces, not because they were sad about the passing of Lord Song, but because they were worried about the situation in the court.

The balance is broken and power is about to be reshuffled.

Every power reshuffle is bound to be filled with blood and gore.

Except for a few ambitious people, most normal people don't like this kind of scene.

No matter whether you are willing or not, as long as you are in the officialdom, you have to participate in this power game.

All major factions are gearing up for battle, and some suppressed contradictions are gradually emerging.

As soon as the body of Lord Song started its journey home, the storm broke out at the grand court meeting.

……

"Yesterday, I received a special memorial.

They said that I appointed treacherous ministers, which brought chaos to the country and brought punishment from God.

All the civil and military officials are here, let's discuss who is the treacherous minister.

Emperor Tianyuan's question, half-smiley, suddenly made the atmosphere in the hall solemn.

Especially in the imperial censor team, Lu Guoheng was already trembling with fear.

He just followed the trend and submitted a memorial, but he never expected that the emperor would bring it to the court.

Under normal circumstances, the emperor would not even look at such empty memorials and would simply throw them away as garbage.

Simply saying that there are treacherous ministers in the court without naming any targets is almost equivalent to not impeaching anyone.

In normal times, this kind of memorial is a panacea. There are tens of thousands of officials on the list of the Dayu Dynasty, so it is normal for there to be a few treacherous officials.

It's both sociable and won't offend anyone.

The prerequisite is that it is not brought to the surface. Once it is brought to the court, something big will happen.

Even the censors dared not impeach by name, which meant that there was a powerful official in the court, a powerful official who could block the flow of speech.

Especially since it is tied to the previous explosion in Beijing, it is a taboo among taboos.

As for the cause of the explosion, all the government offices in Beijing sent people to investigate, but in the end they found nothing.

The idea of ​​the interaction between heaven and man was very popular during the Dayu Dynasty.

When something cannot be found, it is easy for people to associate it with punishment from heaven.

This involves another sensitive topic - the emperor is appointed by heaven!
According to the theory of correspondence between heaven and man, only when the emperor fails in moral conduct will God send down natural disasters as punishment.

In the past, when strange phenomena occurred in the heaven and earth, or when earthquakes or floods occurred, the imperial court would usually dismiss a senior official and give an explanation to the outside world.

This incident is so serious that no important official can take the blame.

Raising this sensitive topic is tantamount to shifting the blame to the emperor.

Everyone still has to have some dignity.

After Emperor Tianyuan ascended the throne, although he was a bit turbulent, it was obvious that the situation in Dayu was improving.

It is obviously biased to insist that this person is immoral.

The most important thing is that Emperor Tianyuan raised a group of good dogs. Whoever angered the emperor would be bitten by the dogs.

It's the kind of thing that has no bottom line and will not stop until one dies.

Even if there is no crime, one can be fabricated and the case will not be resolved until the family’s property is confiscated and the entire clan is wiped out.

We already have a lot of problems, and if we go and seek death, we will really die.

Those who work in the court are all smart people. They know that they cannot say anything that may undermine the emperor's power, so everyone tacitly put aside the mention of the big explosion.

Not only can it not be mentioned in the court, but public opinion is also strictly controlled.

The processing method is a bit absurd, but the effect is surprisingly good.

As long as no one says anything, it's like nothing happened, and time can dilute everything.

Everybody had reached a tacit understanding, but suddenly someone started talking, trying to make things difficult for everyone.

Fortunately, Emperor Tianyuan showed mercy and did not directly name Lu Guoheng, otherwise all the civil and military officials in the court would have torn him to pieces on the spot.

"Your Majesty, there are no treacherous ministers in the court. Someone must be talking nonsense!"

Zuo Guangen spoke first.

If there are treacherous ministers in the court, the eunuchs like them will definitely be the first to bear the brunt of the consequences.

It doesn’t matter what they did, their identity as eunuchs alone is enough to tie them to the treacherous officials.

"Your Majesty, since you ascended the throne, Dayu has been thriving, and people all over the world are congratulating you.

Only a small number of villains, for their own ambitions, cannot bear to see the arrival of a prosperous era and continue to spread malicious rumors and slander.

The civil and military officials in the court are all pillars of the country, so how can there be any treacherous ministers? "

Pang Hengsheng said in a firm tone.

At the critical moment of the competition for the position of Prime Minister, this kind of thing happened, which was obviously meant to make things difficult for him.

If it is acknowledged that there are treacherous officials in the court, then an internal investigation will be necessary.

No matter what the final result is, his position as Prime Minister is definitely gone.

Only when the court is full of loyal ministers can it be proved that the cabinet is qualified, and he can naturally complete the replacement.

Reason told him that this incident could not have been done by the eunuch party.

The word "treacherous minister" is the most taboo for eunuchs. No matter when, when talking about this topic, everyone will habitually think of them.

If it wasn't done by political enemies, it might have been done by one of our own people.

Not everyone within Qingliu wanted to see him become the Prime Minister.

Deep down in his heart, he had already made up his mind to find out which bastard had done it and get rid of him at the critical moment.

"Oh, it's not enough for you two to say that I am a traitor. I also want to hear everyone's opinions.

Lord Xu, Lord Lu, Duke Cheng... all of you, tell me, who is the treacherous minister in this court?"

Hearing Emperor Tianyuan's question, all those who were named stepped out in unison.

"Your Majesty, there are no treacherous ministers in the court!"

It is necessary to make a statement. At this sensitive moment, whoever sings a different tune will become the common enemy of all officials.

"Um!

Since everyone says that there are no treacherous ministers in the court, then I also believe that there are no treacherous ministers in the court.

The person who submitted this memorial is most likely out of his mind and is talking nonsense to me.

Forget it, there’s no need for us to bother with a fool, let’s deal with the government affairs first!
The cabinet has sent away two senior ministers, including a prime minister, and the quota must be filled.

Everyone in the court is a loyal minister of Dayu. If the ministers have no different opinions, the ranking of the cabinet will proceed as usual.

Then we will nominate two more people from the court to fill the cabinet vacancies."

After Emperor Tianyuan finished speaking, all the officials were dumbfounded.

The candidate for Prime Minister was decided in just a few words, but everyone didn't know where to start to refute.

As the winner, there was no excitement on Pang Hengsheng's face.

The ranking as a substitute is in line with the procedure, but its value is still far less than that of the court recommendation.

But he couldn't say anything because there was nothing wrong with the emperor's actions.

Since he was promoted in line, the subsequent candidates to join the cabinet must also follow this principle.

If you want to advance beyond your level, you must first face the problem of "ranking".

Of course, as long as all officials reach a consensus, it is not difficult to overcome this hurdle.

The problem is that when it comes to selecting cabinet ministers, the officials have never had a unified stance.

The most likely scenario is that everyone will publicly nominate a few people, then fall into endless disputes, and finally report to the emperor for his judgment.

Imposing a small restriction is definitely not aimless.

After thinking about the situation in the court, Pang Hengsheng knew that this was aimed at the Qingliu Party.

Among the five cabinet ministers, two were from the Qingliu family, and he himself became the prime minister.

Even if he and Xu Wenyue were at odds, the emperor could not tolerate the appearance of a third cabinet minister from the Qingliu Party. If the final candidate was a Qingliu Party member, the emperor would find a way to get him, regardless of whether he was in the first rank or not, as this was the overall balance of government.

“Since no one objects, then Elder Pang will serve as the Prime Minister.

I am a little tired, please let Elder Pang take charge of the rest of the court meeting!"

After saying this, Emperor Tianyuan turned around and left.

By the time the confused officials reacted, the court promotion campaign had already begun.

Candidates appeared one after another, and the originally solemn court suddenly became lively.

Not only officials in the court appeared among the recommended persons, but some famous people in the opposition also became recommended candidates.

Many young officials recommend people based entirely on their own preferences, and their main focus is to do whatever they want.

The usual factional divisions seemed to have lost their effect at this point.

All the bigwigs in the court tacitly chose to watch the show.

A similar scene occurs every time a judge appoints a candidate to a court.

Most of the candidates are just put forward as runners-up, not really supported to take office.

There are many candidates mainly to ensure the fairness of the recommendation process.

Many of them are trying to use the names of these people to pave the way for the winners.

Through continuous screening and elimination, those with high reputation are selected to enter the second round, and then the real wrestling will begin.

"quiet!
I made a statistics of the nominated list, and there are twenty-seven people in total.

Now we will nominate three to five highly respected people from among the public as candidates for the cabinet."

Pang Hengsheng said with a serious look.

This was his first time hosting such an event, and he would never allow anything to go wrong.

……

Yangzhou City.

The bloody storm in the court did not affect Li Mu's good mood.

It was expected that he would be appointed as the garrison commander of Yangzhou.

Originally, there were two big bosses supporting it, but because of the political marriage, it became three big bosses supporting it.

If you still can't grab a spot, then you'll run into a strong dragon.

The surprise is yet to come. He was appointed as the acting Lieutenant General of Yangzhou, responsible for training a battalion of new troops.

Simply acting as an agent for a certain position may be just a temporary transition, but if you are assigned a special task, it is not a simple agent.

The reason he was not actually awarded the title was simply because his level was not high enough.

Being in a high position all of a sudden is likely to attract criticism.

As a person with connections, the probability of being taken advantage of by others is very low.

I guess after a period of time, when the new army is organized and trained, the word "agent" can be removed.

The only regret is that the military funds allocated by the imperial court are limited, only 50,000 taels per year.

The Southern Zhili Provincial Administration and Yangzhou Prefecture each contributed 50,000 taels of silver, 1,000 pieces of cloth, and 10,000 dan of rice.

It sounds good. With an annual budget of 150,000 taels of silver, 2,000 pieces of cloth, and 20,000 shi of rice, it is not a problem to support a battalion of soldiers.

Unfortunately, the amount of local financial assistance is only a suggestion from the Grand Marshal's Office and is not binding.

How much he can get depends on how he negotiates with local officials.

Even the 50,000 taels allocated by the imperial court would most likely be lost along the way.

The imperial court was in financial difficulties, and the local army was in such a miserable situation.

If the salt administration issue had not been resolved, the court would probably have hesitated even to train a battalion of new troops.

After all, these expenses are just routine maintenance costs.

Dayu's army was no longer purely equipped with cold weapons; firearms accounted for a large proportion.

Weapons, armor, artillery, and ammunition are also a considerable expense.

"Congratulations, sir, on your promotion to Yangzhou Lieutenant General!"

After taking a look at the official document, Lan Linjie stepped forward with a look of joy and congratulated.

The speed of Li Mu's promotion made him truly feel what it meant to be an official with someone in the court.

"Don't be too quick to congratulate me, I still have a lot of troubles!

Nominally, I am a lieutenant general, but as a lieutenant general, I don’t even have a single soldier.

The troops of the Five Cities Army will not be stationed in Yangzhou for a long time, and some generals in the army have begun to be transferred away one after another.

It is estimated that in two or three months, we will withdraw from here.

Before these troops withdraw, we must form a new army to take over the defense they leave behind.

None of the military funds and military equipment promised by the court arrived.

If something goes wrong, I can't let the general lead the servants to charge!"

Li Mu said helplessly.

The various factions in the court were fighting endlessly for entry into the cabinet and had no time to care about such a small matter in Yangzhou.

Although he had some connections, the logistics part was in the hands of the civil servants.

"Sir, I have heard of local subsidies, but this is the first time I have encountered such a high subsidy.

Although Nanzhili was wealthy, every income had corresponding expenditure.

It might be difficult to ask the Chief Secretary to come up with such a sum of money every year.

The situation in Yangzhou Prefecture is even worse. For a long time to come, the lower prefectures and counties will ask for money.

Even if the new prefect is willing to help us with financial support, I'm afraid it would be difficult for him to come up with so much money and grain.

Or you can think of a way in Beijing to get the Grand Military Governor's Office to allocate some money?"

Lan Linjie said with a wry smile.

Getting promoted is a good thing, but I never expected that there would be so many troubles after the promotion.

“The amount of the subsidy is high, that’s what I did intentionally.

It's all about bargaining anyway, so it would be easier to negotiate if we let the Governor's Office set a high number.

If we can really get it, we will consider it a profit.

Given the wealth of Southern Zhili, if the provincial government really wanted to give money, it would not be impossible to raise the money.

The situation in Yangzhou Prefecture is similar. Even if agricultural taxes are gone, isn’t there still business?

With so many merchants traveling back and forth, as long as local officials want to make money, they will definitely be able to raise funds.

The Grand Marshal's Office only has a limited budget every year, and all the troops are keeping an eye on it.

It is not difficult for me to ask for money, but the difficult part is that if I ask for it this year, do I have to continue asking for it next year?

Find a way to open source it!

Sitting on a mountain of treasure, I don’t believe I can starve to death!”

Li Mu said proudly.

If he were to serve as a lieutenant general in other places, he might indeed be troubled by lack of pay, but this is Yangzhou Prefecture.

As one of the richest places in the Dayu Dynasty, as long as you are willing to find a way, you will be able to make money.

"Sir, have you set your sights on the unowned land outside?

This may be inappropriate, as the powerful officials in the court and the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River are all eyeing these fertile lands.

With your status, it's acceptable for you to go in and get a share.

If you want to rely on these lands to support a battalion of soldiers, the impact will be too great!"

Lan Linjie said with a look of horror.

(End of this chapter)