Great Qing Xiangguo

Chapter 71

In the early morning of the second day, Chen Tingjing asked Liu Jing, Ma Ming and others to act according to the plan, and rushed to the Qianqingmen to play the matter.The emperor said that today only the case of Baoquan Bureau will be discussed, and other matters will be postponed.Chen Tingjing then said: "Show the emperor, the minister, together with Keer Kun, the minister of the household department, and Xu Da, the supervisor of the doctor of Baoquan Bureau, set up a furnace seat in front of the yamen of Baoquan Bureau to watch the casting of three furnaces. 700. The required materials were checked in detail one by one, and it was found that various expenses were over-reported in the past and should be deducted. 200. For every hundred catties of copper cast, it was reported as the loss of twelve catties in the past, but in fact nine catties was enough .Reduce the loss of three catties, save more than 700 catties of copper per year, and can cast more than 800 strings of money. Second, the craftsman is also paid too much, so more than [-] strings can be subtracted. Three , Material consumption should be reduced by more than [-] strings. There are detailed accounts in the minister's booklet, I respectfully invite the emperor to read it!"

Ker Kun took over the conversation, and said: "The emperor said, although I participated in watching the casting, I don't know the accounts calculated by Chen Tingjing."

The emperor asked Chen Tingjing: "You supervise the money law of the household department. Kerkun is the servant of the household department. You should work together. You are not clear about the accounts. Why?"

Chen Tingjing said: "Qizuo Emperor, Kerkun has served as the doctor of Baoquan Bureau for many years, and he should be clear about all the details of casting money, so I don't need to tell him."

Kerkun said: "The emperor often instructs his ministers to be sympathetic to the people, and the craftsmen in Baoquan Bureau are also common people. Chen Tingjing cares about the wages of the craftsmen in service, which is really against the heart of the Holy Dynasty to love the people. Besides, there are thousands of craftsmen in Baoquan Bureau , Once there is trouble because of the money cut, the trouble will be big."

After Kerqun finished speaking, he glanced at Xu Da and motioned him to speak.Xu Da ignored it and remained silent.The emperor thought about it, and said: "Ker Kun's words are also reasonable. More than 1000 strings of wages are just over 1000 taels of silver. There is no need to disturb the hearts of the artisans for this little money."

Chen Tingjing said: "The salary is too ridiculous to play to the emperor. The Baoquan Bureau is only six or seven miles away from the household department. It is not too expensive to send one hundred catties of copper money. ?Should be subtracted by half!"

Kerkun said: "Show the emperor, I'm really worried that reducing the wages of the craftsmen will cause a civil uprising!"

Chen Tingjing said: "Qi Zou the emperor, in fact, the wages of the servants have already been reduced!"

The emperor asked: "What does this mean?"

Chen Tingjing replied: "For every hundred catties of copper melted, the approved wage is 180 Wen. In fact, the copper melter only gets [-] Wen."

The emperor asked again: "Where did the money go?"

Chen Tingjing replied: "I have investigated and found that the wages have been deducted by the stove."

The emperor was furious: "Presumptuous! This kind of stove is really hateful! Why don't you take him as soon as possible?"

Chen Tingjing played calmly: "The situation is complicated, and Rong Chen will report it one by one! There is also a copy here, and Xu Da, the supervisor of the doctor of the Shenbaoquan Bureau, is short of 58 four catties of copper materials!"

Xu Da turned pale with shock, and looked at Chen Tingjing in fear.Immediately there was a buzz in the hall, and the ministers and workers nodded and shook their heads.The emperor coughed lightly, and the hall immediately fell silent.

Xu Da stepped forward and knelt down, and said: "Your Majesty, what Chen Tingjing participated in is not true! Chen Tingjing did take inventory of the copper warehouse, but neither the Accountant nor Kerkun participated in it, so they didn't know about the deficit."

Chen Tingjing said: "Xu Da really doesn't know if the warehouse is empty!"

Xu Da said: "Qizuo Emperor, I have been serving as the doctor of Baoquan Bureau for only half a year. How can I be short of so much copper? I really don't know if there is a deficit. I took over from Ker Kun. I only handed over the ledger, and there is no inventory in the warehouse."

Ker Kun immediately knelt down and said, "Qizou the emperor, Xu Da is lying! I have handed over the account books and inventory to him clearly, the accounts are consistent with the facts, and there is no deficit. I have an inventory account book here!"

Chen Tingjing and Xu Da were very surprised, watching Ker Kun hand over the ledger to Zhang Shande.The emperor took the account book and said: "One said that there was no inventory, and the other said that there was an inventory account as evidence. Who should I trust?"

Xu Da cried and said: "Qi Zou the emperor, Ker Kun deceived the emperor!"

Ker Kun was calm and composed: "Your majesty, I have the guts to make a fake account book! It has Xu Da's own autograph on it."

Xu Da repeatedly kowtowed and complained: "That's fake! I didn't sign it! I only signed it when the account book was handed over, and I didn't sign it on the warehouse inventory account book!"

Chen Tingjing said: "Your Majesty, I have been supervising Qian Fa at the Baoquan Bureau for several months, but I have never heard that Kerkun and Xu Da have taken inventory of the warehouse."

Samuha finally lost his composure, stepped forward and knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, I don't care whether Chen Tingjing's performance is true or not, but I just think that the purpose of his supervision of money law is to make good money, not to stockpile it in warehouses. This move is intended to punish people, and it is not kind. Since it is not kind, it is hard to say what is right and wrong."

Gao Shiqi stood up and said: "Qi Zuo the emperor, I heard that Baoquan Bureau will send sample money to some officials every time new money is minted. I wonder who Chen Tingjing gave the sample money to?"

It turned out that Chen Tingjing went to Baoquan Bureau to supervise Qian Fa, but Gao Shiqi never received the sample money again, and secretly hated him.After hearing Gao Shiqi's words, Mingzhu knew something was wrong.

Sure enough, the emperor asked: "What kind of money do you send? Is there anything else to say about the kind of money?"

Chen Tingjing said: "The sample money that Gao Shiqi talked about is different from the sample money that the emperor knows. Before I went to Baoquan Bureau, I had never heard of sending sample money. Your Majesty, can I ask Gao Shiqi if he has received any sample money?" ?”

Gao Shiqi panicked immediately, and said, "I have never received sample money!"

Chen Tingjing said: "Since I have never received sample money, how would I know about sample money?"

The emperor said angrily: "You guys are really presumptuous! You only care about arguing in front of me, why don't you tell me what's going on with the money?"

Chen Tingjing said: "Qizou the emperor, in the past, every time Baoquan Bureau made new money, it had to send sample money to the homes of some princes and ministers, and nearly 2 taels of silver were sent every year to be deducted. I think this is a bad habit, and it has been ordered The Baoquan Bureau is abolished!"

The emperor was extremely angry, but he sneered, and said: "Huh, yes! The sample money I saw was ivory carvings, which were painted cakes that were not edible, but the sample money you received were copper coins that made a loud noise! ​​Baoquan The bureau is to mint money for the imperial court, not for your own family, so you can give it to whoever you want to try!"

After hearing the emperor's scolding, Ker Kun carefully said: "Report to the emperor, I have something to report."

The emperor glanced at him without comment.Ker Kun thought about the emperor's thoughts, and seemed to be able to let him continue, and then said: "The new prefect of Xuzhou, Chen Tingtong, borrowed ten thousand taels of silver from the Quanyili Bank in the capital. According to the Qing Dynasty's laws, it should be extortion for bribes, and his crime should be punished!"

Although Chen Tingjing had already made up his mind, he was still afraid when he heard it.Xu Qianxue stood up and spoke: "Qizou the emperor, all righteousness and benefit are bankers, no matter officials, gentry or common people, they can go there to borrow money. Chen Tingtong asks the banker to borrow money, which is different from blackmailing a big family. Please learn from the emperor!"

The emperor said: "You said so many things just now, but you didn't say a word. When it came to Chen Tingtong, you opened your mouth. Xu Qianxue, do you intend to protect Chen Tingtong?"

Xu Qianxue said: "I dare not bend the law to show favoritism. Just now I have discussed all the matters, now let me say a few words."

The emperor raised his hand and said, "No, I don't want to hear what you say right now. Mingzhu, why don't you say a word?"

Mingzhu said: "The minister is in a panic!"

The emperor asked, "What are you worried about?"

Mingzhu bowed her head and said: "Although I have never been a supervisor of Qianfa Lang, I have supervised the transfer of households and the second department of Qianfa. If there is a mistake in the Baoquan Bureau, I will inevitably be guilty."

The emperor nodded and said: "Mingzhu has always been lenient towards others and strict with herself. She is really a role model for ministers and workers. The things that Chen Tingjing and others reported just now involved a lot of people, and there must be someone who is fair. Mingzhu, I want you to call Jiuqing Zhan Shi Ke Dao, discuss together, and deal with it properly!"

Mingzhu shouted "Zha", and respectfully received the order.

The emperor said coldly: "Xu Da doesn't have to go back to Baoquan Bureau, and Chen Tingtong doesn't have to go to Xuzhou either. I don't think Kerkun would have the guts to make false accounts!"

The emperor said it lightly, but Chen Tingjing heard it like thunder.Xu Da's face had already turned pale, and he was dumbfounded.Ker Kun was both surprised and happy, and only wished the Bodhisattva bless him to pass the test by luck.

On the side of Qianqingmen, there is a war of words, but there is trouble on the side of Qianchang of Baoquan Bureau.Early in the morning, the craftsman got up early to light the furnace. Liu Yuan came over and shouted, "No furnace is allowed today."

The servant asked, "Why?"

Liu Yuan said: "We don't mint money anymore!"

The craftsman asked again: "Okay, why don't you make money?"

Liu Yuan was so impatient, he said: "Why do you ask so much? Master Xiang won't cast it if he says no. Should he listen to you or Master Xiang?"

When the craftsmen heard that Xiang Zhong had spoken, no one dared to light the furnace.

Su Ruzhai didn't know that the knife was already on his neck, and his Quanyi Liji was in full swing to mint money.Su Ruzhai picked up the copper coins that had just been minted, and said, "Go, take the money from the Baoquan Bureau and have a look."

The man ran into the house and came out with the money made by the officials.Su Ruzhai repeated the test for a long time, and said with a smile, "Who among you can tell which is Baoquan Bureau's money and which is Quan Yili's money?"

The guy said: "I can't tell, I can't tell!"

At this time, a guy hurried over and said in a panic: "Boss, there are many officers and soldiers here!"

Before Su Ruzhai had time to ask what happened, he saw more than a hundred officers rushing in.It turned out that it was Liu Jing who led the people here, and he yelled sharply: "Don't move! Confiscate all these fake money, copper utensils, and pieces of copper!"

Su Ruzhai was stunned for a long time, then suddenly shouted: "There are people in my court! You are not allowed to touch my things!"

Liu Jing sneered and said, "Hmph, is there someone in the court? Whoever is your backer is finished!"

Su Ruzhai shouted: "Masters Chen Tingjing and Chen Tingtong are both my friends!"

Liu Jing shouted: "It is Mr. Chen Tingjing who sent someone to arrest you today! Bind this person!"

Several officers and soldiers immediately pushed Su Ruzhai down and tied him like a rice dumpling for the Dragon Boat Festival.

Ma Ming came to the money factory together with the small officials from the Baoquan Bureau. Seeing that the servants were resting, they asked, "What's going on?"

A servant said: "We quit."

Ma Ming asked again: "Why don't you do it?"

The craftsman said: "Kung Fu is in charge, whether we do it or not is our own business!"

Xiang Zhong was lying on the kang, squinting his eyes and smoking a hookah.Someone shouted outside, but he pretended not to hear it.Liu Yuan rushed in to report the letter: "Master Xiang, someone came back from outside and said that Quanyi Liji was copied by the yamen, and Su Ruzhai and the guys were all arrested!"

Xiang Zhong was so surprised that he sat in and asked, "Huh? Do you know which yamen it is?"

Liu Yuandao: "I heard that the leader is someone from Chen Tingjing."

Xiang Zhong dropped the hookah and cursed, "Grandma's Chen Tingjing!"

Liu Yuan said: "Master Xiang, the same yamen, we can't go head-to-head!"

Xiang Zhong stood up, slapped the table and chairs and said, "Chen Tingjing dares to arrest all of our more than 1000 servants? We still don't believe that we are imprisoned in such a big cell! I just want to play hard with him!"

After the court was over, Mingzhu immediately convened a meeting of Jiuqing, Zhan, Shike and Taoism in the official office.Samuha and Kerkun arrived first and went straight into the second hall.Ker Kun said: "Ming Xiangguo, I'm thinking about it, and our emperor doesn't want to follow Chen Tingjing's wishes for the Baoquan Bureau's copper shortage case."

Mingzhu nodded, then shook his head, no one could figure out what he was thinking.

Seeing Mingzhu's appearance, Samuha felt anxious and said, "Ming Xiangguo, Chen Tingjing wants to take advantage of the copper material deficit case to bring down the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty!"

Mingzhu said: "I'll just follow the Emperor's wishes, don't worry!"

Seeing that Mingzhu always speaks from a distance, Kerkun felt unhappy, but could only vent his anger on Chen Tingjing: "He, Chen Tingjing, always pretends to be a saint!"

Mingzhu said: "Chen Tingjing has his abilities, you have to admire him! The money law has really made him straighten out. The new money is minted, and there are no profiteers destroying it. Alright, you two go to the main hall and wait first. My lords It'll be here soon."

When Samuha and Kerkun came out of the second hall, Chen Tingjing and Xu Qianxue also arrived.People in the officialdom secretly wish to stab a knife, but they still have to live with face.Samuha cupped his hands and said to Chen Tingjing: "Master Chen knows how to settle accounts and manage money well. I, as the Secretary of the Household Department, you should do the math."

(End of this chapter)