Rebirth of the best emperor

Chapter 34
"Your Majesty, Li Hong, is incompetent. Please punish him!" As soon as he entered the study, Li Hong fell to his knees and begged Wang Mang for punishment.

"I don't quite understand why Li Aiqing is guilty." Wang Mang sat down and took a sip of tea.

"Your majesty is in charge of the household department, but the household department has no money. This is my dereliction of duty. I can't find the money, which makes your majesty suffer. This is also my real job. This minister of the household department really failed. Please your majesty. Punishment." Li Hong said.

Wang Mang's eyes flashed, and he said with a smile: "Since you feel that what you have done is negligent, then don't do it."

"Ah?" Li Hong was dumbfounded for a moment, logically, after he pleaded guilty, shouldn't the emperor say what is wrong with Aiqing, Aiqing thinks too much, and Aiqing has to continue working?Why didn't the emperor play his cards according to the routine?
Seeing Li Hong's confused face, Wang Mang shook his head with a smile, and said, "Li Aiqing, I was just joking with you, don't take it seriously, you still have to work for me as Minister of the Household Department."

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Li Hong didn't dare to speak big words this time, and kowtowed: "I must be heartbroken to repay Your Majesty's trust in this humble minister."

After the monarchs and ministers thought about it, Wang Mang and Li Hong talked, what did Li Hong do?It was still for the 20 taels of silver that Wang Mang got from Shangguan Wan'er.

On the same day, Shangguan Wan'er ordered Li Yueru to ask Wang Mang to send someone to fetch the silver. Wang Mang directly notified Wang Yongji of the Ministry of War to fetch the silver, and then went to the Ministry of Households to complete the formalities.

According to the rules of the imperial court, all money and materials have to go through the accounts of the Ministry of Accounts, but now the Ministry of War directly bypasses the Ministry of Accounts and takes the silver directly from the Shangyuan Palace. In the eyes of some people, it is still not in compliance with the rules, so Li Hongming is here to ask for guilt, but in fact he is here to ask for guilt.

Even Li Lan who was waiting on the side could hear this, Li Lan said directly: "Master Li, are you going to ask His Majesty for a crime?"

"I don't dare!" Li Hong quickly kowtowed. This could be hinted secretly, but it is absolutely impossible to say it clearly. Li Hong didn't even think about saying it directly to Li Lan. At this time, Li Hong Some regret coming here, why does the emperor today not play cards according to common sense.

"Li Hong." Wang Mang stopped calling Li Aiqing and Master Li, and called Li Hong by his name, and said, "Should your household department give you the 20 taels of silver from the Ministry of War?"

"It should be given." Li Hong knelt on the ground and nodded, looking at Wang Mang, his eyes were full of "Your Majesty, you should let me get up", but Wang Mangchun pretended not to see it.

"Then why didn't you give it before?" Wang Mang asked again.

"Before the Ministry of Households had no money, so I couldn't give it to you." Li Hong explained: "These ministers have reported to you at the court meeting. The Ministry of Households really wants to give money to the Ministry of War, but it is true that there is no money in hand. Coincidentally, A woman can hardly cook without rice."

"I won't settle this matter with your household department for the time being." Wang Mang waved his hand, and said: "Then I will help the Ministry of War to borrow money from Shangyuan Palace for temporary use. This is a matter between the Ministry of War and Shangyuan Palace. , I am a Chinese, what does this have to do with your household department?"

"Borrow?" Li Hong was in finance, so he grasped the key point in an instant.

"That's right, it's a loan." Wang Mang said: "The Ministry of War borrowed this silver from Shangyuan Palace. When your household department has money, give the Ministry of War the silver that should be given to the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of War will also give you the 20 taels of silver Return it to Shangyuan Palace."

"It's not the money, it's..." Li Hong's scalp tingled with anxiety, and he stood up immediately.

"Did the emperor ask you to stand up?" Li Lan asked tentatively.

"Please punish me, Your Majesty!" Li Hong knelt down on the ground again with a slap, and looked at Li Lan with some resentment, asking you eunuch to talk too much. Fait accompli?Kneeling is always uncomfortable.

Wang Mang shook his head and said, "After talking, what is silver?"

"It was His Majesty who passed the three trials, and Shangyuan Palace lost to His Majesty." Li Hong whispered.

"Who told you this?" Wang Mang slapped the table and said, "Whoever said that the Shangyuan Palace lost my money? It's nonsense. I am the emperor, and the queen mother is my elder. I can be with the queen mother and the common people. Do you usually play that gambling game? I just played a game with Shangyuan Palace, and outsiders know about it.”

"Ah?" Li Hong opened his mouth wide, he knew that's not the case!

Seeing that Li Hong still had some disbelief, Wang Mang continued: "The Queen Mother has been feeling unwell for the past few days, and her mood is not very good, so I played a game with the little girls around the Queen Mother, and the Empress Dowager Yibo felt better. Not bad, the Queen Mother is in a much better mood now."

"Huh?" Li Hong asked in amazement, "The money?"

"Silver, silver, you are worthy of being in charge of the Ministry of Accounts. Open your mouth and shut your mouth, it is all silver." Wang Mang laughed and said: "I saw that the Queen Mother is in a good mood, so I opened my mouth to borrow money from the Queen Mother for the Ministry of War. The Queen Mother is also very grateful for the south. The fortune of the soldiers, I agreed at that time, and Wang Yongji also knew about it, why, didn't he tell you?"

"This..." Li Hong just felt that it was too stupid for him to be an early bird, why didn't he investigate clearly, and came here to challenge the emperor?
Seeing Li Hong digesting his words with a thoughtful face, Wang Mang smiled in his heart. As early as he had agreed with Shangguan Wan'er to give him 50 taels of silver at the end of the year, he had already decided that the money to the Ministry of War must be said to be a loan. Yes, otherwise, if it is really given, it will not be easy to pay back.

Sure enough, his plan for a rainy day was correct. Isn't this the dignified Hubu Shangshu, so he came here to find trouble?
Thinking of this, Wang Mang's heart moved, and he looked at Li Hong with a bit of hatred in his eyes, and said: "Li Hong, I am very disappointed in you and the household department you lead. Tell me, what do you think? Are you qualified?"

At this time, Li Hong was still thinking about the 20 taels of silver. Their household department has already promised the money, so how can they explain it now, but what Wang Mang said made Li Hong suddenly startled, and he raised his eyes to look at Wang Mang. , Li Hong suddenly felt that he was not reckless in coming here today, but the fish that was delivered to his door on his own initiative, which might be chopped into several pieces.

"I don't know what your Majesty is talking about." Li Hong said bravely: "All the officials of the household department of the minister have always been conscientious, and they never dared to slack off on the financial affairs of the imperial court. Contribute all my strength..."

"Speaking is better than singing." Wang Mang sneered, and told Li Lan, "Li Lan, read it to him."

Li Lan responded, stood up, smiled at Li Hong, cleared her throat, and read:

"In March last year, Liu Qing, a member of the household department, received 1000 taels of silver from Taiyuan Prefecture and allocated 1 taels of relief money that should have been used for disaster relief to Taiyuan Prefecture. Get up again."

"In April, Zhang Shan, a member of the household department, and Yueqing, a member of the military department, privately seized a batch of supplies that were supposed to be sent to the southern front because of a disagreement, which indirectly led to the fall of Haicheng."

"May,……"

……

"In January of this year, Liu Qing, a member of the household department, accepted a bribe of 5000 taels from an unscrupulous businessman and received a batch of unqualified military uniforms from the businessman in the name of the household department. This incident caused an uproar inside and outside the court, and is still under investigation. However, according to the investigation results, it seems that it has nothing to do with the household department.”

"Don't read it, my minister is guilty!"

Hearing what Li Lan said, Li Hong's complexion turned pale. At this moment, his complexion was already pale without any trace of blood. Now he finally couldn't take it anymore, and he knelt down listlessly on the ground.

"Ding……"

(first update)
(End of this chapter)