Big Song Xiaohou Ye

Chapter 193
In this day's court, the ministers were still talking about Zhao Ji's privately raising the tax on Yujie yesterday. Although the tax on Yujie had been lowered again yesterday, the ministers did not stop impeaching Zhao Ji.

The black line on Zhao Ji's face made him a little annoyed, why did this group of people still hold on to it? He admitted his mistake yesterday, and his salary was also fined. They still didn't think it was enough. Impeach.Glancing at Ding Wei again, I don't know what disease this old man has suffered recently, but he didn't say a word, letting those old stubborn people criticize him to pieces.

Ding Wei was actually very proud of himself. Many of the ministers who impeached Zhao Ji today actually came from his favor. For example, Jiang Zongren, the Minister of Dali Temple, was instigated by him.

Why did Ding Wei do this?A few days ago, there were always ministers impeaching Ding Qi for offending Sheng Jia, but this matter was indeed Ding Wei's fault, and every time Ding Wei had to bow his head and be reprimanded.

But since yesterday, Zhao Ji suddenly appeared with a target on his shoulders. Those ministers who impeached Ding Wei in the past have all aimed at Zhao Ji. Someone had already been arranged to impeach Zhao Ji and force him to resist for a while longer.

Empress Dowager Liu E is in court today. She heard about Zhao Ji's impeachment by officials yesterday. As expected, someone impeached him today. Liu E's political experience is much richer than that of Zhao Zhen. It is very abnormal to openly oppose Xiao Yuan Wang Zhao Ji. If Ding Wei, the prime minister, does not know, it will make people laugh out loud.

Liu E glanced at Ding Wei, who was like an old monk in meditation, but as a prime minister, he didn't say a word. It would be strange if this matter had nothing to do with you!Just as Liu E was about to question Ding Wei, when the words came to her lips, she remembered Ding Wei's recent filial piety, but changed her words again, only to hear her ask: "Master Prime Minister, how do you think this matter should be resolved?"

When Ding Wei heard Liu E's direct call and wanted to answer by himself, he immediately understood the meaning of the queen mother, and he hurriedly bowed out and said: "The matter of taxation is related to the fate of the country, and it is really not a joke. As the governor of Kaifeng, King Xiaoyuan secretly Raising the tax on Yujie is really not enough to convince the public, which is also the reason for the strike." Ding Wei didn't just say how to solve it, but came up and criticized Zhao Ji.

Zhao Ji glared at Ding Wei angrily, what happened to this old man today? Why did he wear a pair of pants with Zhao Zhen? Aren't they always at odds?

Ding Wei ignored Zhao Ji's gaze, and continued: "But since King Xiao Yuan has already known his mistake, everything in Yujie has returned to normal, and besides, His Majesty also punished King Xiao Yuan yesterday and fined him a year's salary. In the opinion of the veteran, this matter should be let go, Da Song still has many important matters to be resolved, so there is no need to waste too much time here."

Zhao Ji snorted coldly, still feeling a little annoyed.

Liu E nodded and said, "My dear friends, what do you think?"

Ding Wei had already expressed his position first, and most of the ministers also expressed their agreement. Seeing that the situation was over, the remaining ministers had to calm down and agree by default.

A trace of loneliness flashed in Zhao Zhen's eyes, and he sighed secretly, the Queen Mother still favors Zhao Ji so much...

After a while of silence, Feng Kaiji, a member of the Ministry of Rites, said: "Qizou Empress Dowager, Your Majesty, a few days ago, the heavy rain washed away the Bianliang River, and the east side of the imperial mausoleum was flooded by the river, and there were faint signs of water seepage. Repair the imperial mausoleum."

When Feng Kaiji said this, the officials were in an uproar. If the imperial mausoleum seeps water, it will affect the dragon's veins. This is not a trivial matter!All of a sudden, the court seemed to explode, and all the ministers bowed their heads and began to discuss.

The faces of Liu E and Zhao Zhen changed greatly, and Zhao Zhen said anxiously: "Did Master Feng send someone to check it? There is no water seepage in the imperial mausoleum, right?"

Feng Kaiji said: "Your Majesty, I have already sent people to check it carefully, and there is no water seepage yet, but if it is after a while, it will be difficult to say."

Ding Wei was startled, he didn't know about such a big event, he was so dizzy and dizzy after being impeached by the officials these days, he actually ignored such a big event!

Liu E said: "Lord Lu, how much silver will it cost to repair the imperial mausoleum?"

The finances of the Northern Song Dynasty were managed by the third envoy, and this time the third envoy was held by the deputy prime minister Lu Yijian, so Liu E would ask him.

Lu Yijian is over 50 years old. He has made a lot of achievements in politics in the early stage, and he still has some reputation in the court. He heard the Queen Mother asked, and he came from a background and said; Ten thousand taels."

All the ministers gasped when they heard that, two million taels for one repair?Nowadays, the yearly income of the Great Song Dynasty is less than 200 million taels, and the repair of the imperial mausoleum will cost the tax revenue of nearly a hundred states and counties!
Some of the ministers knew that there was not much silver left in the treasury of the Song Dynasty, and they couldn't help but began to worry about where the money would come from.

Zhao Zhen asked: "How much silver is left in the warehouse?"

Lu Yijian hesitated and said, "There are less than 1000 million taels left."

Zhao Zhen said honestly, "How much is less than 1000 million?"

Lu Yijian had no choice but to say: "The remaining silver is about 700 million taels."

Zhao Zhen stood up all at once and said, "Is that all left?"

Lu Yijian nodded.

Only then did the ministers realize that the finances were so tight that 700 million taels was really poor for the Song Dynasty. The fiscal revenue last year was about [-] million taels. I didn’t expect this year It's just been eight months, and it's almost over!

Zhao Zhen said angrily: "I know that the treasury is tight, but I didn't expect it to be so tense? Where did you spend the 9000 million taels of silver!"

Lu Yijian has troubles and can’t tell. His plan is only to keep accounts, and he has the final say on how to spend it. Moreover, when His Majesty said this, the officials are also waiting for his answer. Seeing their righteous indignation, it seems to me that It's my own plan that squandered the money.

Lu Yijian had no choice but to frown and said: "Military expenditures are 4000 million taels, disaster relief expenditures are 800 million taels in total, ministers' salaries and various rewards are 2000 million taels, and various expenditures in the palace..."

Zhao Zhen listened blankly, only two or three items of expenditure have already lost 7000 million taels, let alone 9000 million taels according to this method of spending, even if there is more, it is not enough to spend, he interrupted Lu Yijian with a wave of his hand. : "No matter how much money is left in the treasury, father's tomb must be repaired!"

Since ancient times, China has paid attention to governing the world with filial piety, and the tomb of my own father is about to be washed away by the flood, and any son will be unable to sit still, not to mention that Zhao Zhen is still an extremely filial child.

The ministers couldn't open their mouths even if they wanted to persuade them. Big mouths like Fan Satire chose to keep silent at this time. Anyone who obstructed it would prevent His Majesty from practicing filial piety. , and that is almost against the entire ethics of the Song Dynasty. Even if he is thinking about the court and the people, no one will remember him well. On the contrary, he can drown people by spitting stars.

The helpless officials had no choice but to echo: "Your Majesty is wise."

Prime Minister Ding Wei said: "I would like to report to the Empress Dowager, Your Majesty, since the imperial mausoleum has shown signs of water seepage, it will be cheaper to repair it sooner rather than later. I suggest that Mr. Lei Gong from the Ministry of Internal Affairs be in charge of this repair. When the Yongding Mausoleum was built, the veteran As the envoy of Shanling, Eunuch Lei has assisted the veterans in dealing with various affairs, so he has a better understanding of the situation in the imperial tomb, so he can handle it faster."

Liu E said: "Just follow what the prime minister said."

Zhang Shixun, Chen Yaozuo, and others all scolded Ding Wei as an old fox. The mausoleum builder is an extremely honorable position. Usually, he will be promoted after finishing the mausoleum. Naturally, this position is no longer needed.But in order to prevent people from the Zhang and Chen factions from ascending to the throne, he actually suggested an eunuch to serve as the mausoleum repair envoy, which is really amazing. In this way, he can't help suppressing Zhang, Chen and other opposing forces, and also wins over the eunuch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, killing two birds with one stone.

Not only Zhang, Chen and other ministers were secretly cursing Ding Wei, Zhao Ji was even more eager to go up and beat this old dog.Just now when Feng Kaiji mentioned the matter of repairing the imperial tomb, he secretly became interested in it, and wanted to win this good job for a while. Ding Wei has always been on good terms with him, and if he asked him, he would definitely support him.

Unexpectedly, this old dog just said to support himself, but he played such a trick at the critical moment, and he really cheated himself, and this is not the first time this old thing has cheated himself like this, this old thing has repeatedly cheated himself , it is clear that he doesn't like himself as a little prince!
The reason why Ding Wei refused to give up to Zhao Ji was because he was afraid that his power would become stronger and he would set up an opponent for himself for no reason.The Empress Dowager was already very partial to Zhao Ji, if he was allowed to get a job as an envoy to repair the mausoleum, wouldn't it increase his prestige even more? It was very clear that if one day his power surpassed his own, this kid would definitely kick him away mercilessly.

Zhao Ji gave Ding Wei a hard look. The old man Ding has been very proud recently. He offered Yan Dan to the Queen Mother and introduced the female Taoist priest, which made the Queen Mother very happy. This old thing is now trusted by the Queen Mother. Kick yourself away, since you are ruthless, don't blame Xiao Wang for being ungrateful!

Zhao Ji sneered and said, "Since the prime minister knows that he is a Shanling envoy, why did His Majesty's Yongding Mausoleum begin to seep after only ten years of construction? How did you become a Shanling envoy!"

Ding Wei was surprised, he didn't expect Zhao Ji to make a sudden attack, it seems that this kid is also a little anxious.

Ding said that this kind of old fox would be blamed by him. He smiled slightly and said: "When the Yongding Mausoleum was built, the old minister carefully surveyed the surrounding landforms to ensure that there are no hidden dangers..."

Zhao Ji interrupted: "But isn't there a hidden danger now?"

Chen Yaozuo and the others shook their heads secretly. Looking at Ding Wei's confident appearance, he knew that he already had a countermeasure. It seemed that King Xiao Yuan was going to lose in this round of confrontation. But it was a good thing for them.

Ding Wei said: "Little King Yuan, after listening to the old man, there was indeed no hidden danger in the construction of the imperial mausoleum, but this time the imperial mausoleum is in danger of water seepage. The corner on the east side of the mausoleum was engulfed by the river.”

What Ding Wei meant was very clear. This is a natural disaster, and everything else is accidental. How can the old man be blamed for the river's breach and diversion?

Zhao Ji had nothing to say, so he hummed heavily.

(End of this chapter)