The two black treasures of Tiangui's escaped concubine

Chapter 73
"I don't have it. But I think there must be."

"No one was caught. You said you wanted it? What about the evidence?"

"I have the evidence. The evidence is that I have checked the number of garments produced by the Weaving Mansion after they are transported from Pingyan to the Weaving Mansion in Kyoto every year, which is seriously inconsistent with the cotton output of Pingyan."

Yunmei glanced at the other courtiers, but seeing that no one made a sound, Mo Mo's eyes sank: "You said the numbers don't match? But the household department in charge of Zhiyi Mansion and Cotton Cotton never mentioned this to me. thing."

"If the Holy Majesty doesn't believe it, you can take the account book reported by the prefect of Pingyan and check it with the account book of the household department. For example, last year, the prefect of Pingyan said that the cotton production per mu of land was [-] catties, but the weaving government harvested new cotton that year and wove The number of pieces of cloth is less than one hundred. The gap of more than half of it cannot be simply made by weavers."

The room was silent.This number sounds weird.Three hundred catties of cotton were woven into only one hundred catties of cloth.What's more, it is more than three hundred catties.

Seeing Longyan's silent voice, Zhu Erkang continued: "Your Majesty can summon the Ministry of Accounts for questioning, but I think that the Ministry of Accounts may not even notice this matter. Because the account books submitted by Ping Yan are different from those of Zhiyi Mansion. It's two departments."

Mo Mou narrowed his eyes: "I remember you are from the Imperial Academy?"

"Returning to the Holy One, the subject belongs to the Imperial Academy, so there is absolutely no personal grievance with the prefect of Pingyan, the Ministry of Households, and the Zhiyi Mansion."

"Then how did you notice this?"

"My lord, before returning to the Holy House, due to the lack of manpower in the household department, when I dispatched people, I went to work in the household department to check the account books of the transfer department, so I made this discovery and gained insight into the mystery of flattening."

After Zhu Erkang finished speaking, a stiff atmosphere spread in the room again.

The few standing ministers, old or young, were silent.Maybe Zhu Erkang's report came as a surprise.I only heard an old minister, coughing, coughing, coughing in his throat.

Li Zimo looked over: "Teacher Zhang, do you have any opinion on Zhu Qing's complaint?"

This old minister is Zhang Mingxian, the crown prince.Zhang Ming bowed first: "Your Majesty, I think you should ask the people from the Ministry of Accounts to come over and see how the Ministry of Accounts explains it. If the Ministry of Accounts can't explain it, or if you don't know such a thing, you can ask the Weaving House or It’s asking about politics in Pingyan.”

This meant that Zhang Mingxian couldn't explain it himself.

Zhu Erkang said: "I think that if the Holy Majesty wants to pursue this matter, it's best not to startle the snake."

If it's not just Pingyan, but there is a collusion between the Ministry of Household Affairs and Zhiyifu to cover up each other, then it really doesn't matter which one to ask.

When a group of ministers were racking their brains, they only heard the sound of grinding ink.Mo Mou suddenly glanced over, and immediately caught the unsteady curve of her mouth.

Li Shunde saw a cold sweat: I think this aunt is really a wonderful person, and there is no such thing as a wonderful person.Asking her to serve the Holy Majesty here is not to let her laugh while listening to the ministers discussing with the Holy Majesty.The question is what is she laughing at?

"What's Yan Shangshu's opinion?" Long Yan opened his mouth, and the words fell to the side like pearls, shocking several ministers in the room.

This surprise is not small.When Li Zimo said this, who could have thought in his mind that the person who helped the saint grind ink this morning must be a court lady, maybe a newcomer sent by the empress dowager to serve Li Zimo, because he looked unfamiliar.Suddenly hearing the title of a minister, how could one not be shocked!
It seems that there has never been a female official in this dynasty.

Hua Xiyan saw a few sharp eyes shooting at her like arrows, and scolded the dog emperor in her heart, even if she found out that she had thoughts, she should ask her in private.That's great, pushing her to the foreground and becoming a target of public criticism.

Don't look at men as if they are very generous and don't care about women.This is not the case at all when it comes to your own interests.She has struggled in the workplace for so many years, so she doesn't know this truth.

I couldn't help but struggle in my heart, should I say it face to face.

But I heard the courtier named Zhu Erkang say another sentence: "My lord, if you don't punish corrupt officials severely, it is connivance and damage to the emperor's prestige. I will guarantee with my head that the facts I have reported are absolutely true, and I will never accuse the villain. private."

After all, this sentence made her narrow her almond eyes.Back then, when she was working in the workplace, she was sued because she didn't know the business, and she didn't know how to take precautions, and she was in a mess.What cast a shadow in her heart from now on was that she was not the one who was implicated in that matter, but the superior who had promoted her like a mentor.So much so that when it was later revealed that the truth was a false accusation, the plaintiff was fine, but she and her innocent mentor were laughed at and received a more severe punishment than the plaintiff.

That thing, also because of cotton.

Putting down the ink stick, she faced Longyan: "The women may not understand the political platform, but women work in the countryside, so they know a little about cotton and weaving."

"Oh?"

"Master Zhu wants to sue the imperial court with only a few sums. The women think it's too frivolous."

Zhu Erkang's face suddenly rose and turned red, and he looked up at her. He was just a court lady, who somehow got the title of Shangshu, and dared to speak wildly, and opened his mouth and said: "My lord——"

Li Zimo didn't pay attention to him, but felt that when she said that sentence, her eyes were as bright as morning stars, which made his heart skip a beat, and he dropped the memorial and interrupted Zhu Erkang's words, saying: "Continue talking."

"The woman obeys the order." The crisp voice continued, "When cotton grows, the first thing to bear is cottonseed. Therefore, the cotton production mentioned by the prefect of Pingyan should refer to the newly picked cottonseed. The cottonseed becomes Before weaving, it is necessary to remove impurities, moisture, and seeds. Only by adding these three processes together, the cotton that can be used as raw material for weaving is only one-third of the original output, which is considered very good. In this way Not only should the Holy Majesty not punish the prefect of Pingyan, but he should also praise the prefect of Pingyan for his effective management of the cotton pre-treatment process and cotton storage, for the Holy Majesty and the court to plan carefully and save to the extreme."

In the room, only Zhu Erkang's liver-like face and a sentence: "This, this, this——"

"Crack!" The memorial was thrown on Zhu Erkang's head, "What is this! Zhu Qing, are you deliberately fooling me!"

"Your Majesty, forgive me! I, I just—"

"Editor of the Imperial Academy, I see that your mind is filled with straw instead of books!"

Long Wei shook the house for a long time, and Zhu Erkang was dying.The pupils of the rest of the courtiers flickered.

Needless to say, Zhu Erkang deserved it.However, this woman who exposed the secret... When it comes to cotton craftsmanship, people who don't know the situation must not be able to explain it clearly, and it is impossible for ordinary people to be able to count the specific number and talk about storage and other management. For the matter, at least one needs to be educated, and it can even be said that he has the basic skills of being an official, and he also has the experience of being an official. Otherwise, how can he make a summary statement in an orderly manner, without any flaws, and hit the nail on the head.So, after Zhu Erkang was dealt with, several courtiers in the house, Zhang Mingxian and others, recalled what Hua Xiyan just said, and they were all surprised in their hearts.

(End of this chapter)