The news that Zhenwu Shengjia was about to arrive in Taiyuan spread like wildfire. It was spread to ten people and hundreds of people. It soon spread throughout Taiyuan City. Since there was no news about it beforehand, all the gentry and people in Taiyuan were doubtful about it. It has always been a major local event for the Holy Emperor to visit places. Local officials and gentry have to be busy for at least a period of time to prepare for the Emperor's visit, repairing post roads and bridges, sorting out local scenic spots and historic sites, repairing cities, appeasing places, making colorful decorations, etc. Because of the peace, the local gentry inevitably had to bleed a lot, but now there was no movement in Taiyuan City. Naturally, they refused to believe it.
Just when everyone was half convinced, news spread one after another. A super official came to Taiyuan City last night. All the officials, big and small, rushed to Mancheng to meet him early in the morning. A man appeared on Shuiximen Street. There was a team of palace guards in yellow mandarin jackets, and the home of Fan, the richest man in Taiyuan, was busy inside and outside. I heard that they were preparing to welcome him, and there were already soldiers under martial law near Shuixi Gate.
The continuous news made the gentry, merchants and people of Taiyuan unable to sit still any longer. They went out one after another and rushed to Shuiximen Street to find out what was going on. When they saw Shuiximen Street with three steps, one post, five steps and one sentry, filled with soldiers of the Eight Banners, And from time to time, guards wearing yellow mantles and riding tall horses could be seen going back and forth. Everyone was immediately convinced and returned home to help the elderly and children to prepare to see the holy face.
There are no celebrities these days, so being able to see the Holy Face with your own eyes is a great honor for the common people. Not to mention the gentry and common people, it is also an extremely glorious thing for ordinary officials to see the divine face. This is what the gentry and common people know. It is difficult to see the emperor up close, and he will flock to him. Even if he only takes a look from a distance, it will be enough to comfort him for a lifetime.
Tai'an Post was not too far away, only a hundred and twenty miles away. Zhenwu and his entourage got up early in the morning and galloped. They arrived at Taiyuan City shortly after, and there were still a few miles away from Shuixi Gate, so they stopped. Got down and took a shower. Zhenwu put on his dragon robe, and the guards tidied up their attire and put on their yellow mantles. Although they did not bring the lead car, guard armor and shields, ceremonial flags, music and dance, etc., they could not enter Taiyuan City with their faces full of dust. That would be too much. It is detrimental to the dignity of the emperor.
Outside Shuixi Gate, a large number of gentry and common people had already gathered, a mass of heads and heads. But it was quite quiet. There were two rows of soldiers standing like wooden stakes on both sides of the avenue. At the gate of the city, Yinqi led the officials of Taiyuan City to wait solemnly. All the officials were more or less uneasy. Who was it? They also did not expect that Zhenwu would suddenly arrive in Taiyuan. Judging from Yinqi's deliberate delay, Zhenwu's visit was obviously not to praise them.
Because there is no guard of honor. Zhenwu had no choice but to keep everything simple, sending only one person to hold a nine-color canopy in front of him, and then he rode slowly. Wherever they passed, people were burning incense and kneeling to greet them. When they arrived at the city gate, Yinqi took the lead and knelt to welcome him: "I respectfully welcome the emperor to Taiyuan. Long live the emperor! Long live the emperor!"
Zhenwu gently lifted the reins, stopped, stared at the officials kneeling on the ground, but did not speak for a long time. All the officials fell prostrate on the ground, with their backs like rays of light. As the saying goes, the power of heaven is so close, they faced this huge pressure in just a short moment. Many officials were soaked in sweat.
When he was about to move, Zhen Wucai said calmly: "I came from the capital on horseback and will arrive in Taiyuan in only seven days." As he said that, he urged his mount and walked slowly.
Kuixu, the imperial censor of Zuodu of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Su Keji, the governor of Shanxi, Su Zhan, the chief envoy, Yue Dai, the administrative envoy, and Xuezheng. The commander-in-chief and other officials were shocked when they heard this half sentence. Zhenwu was clearly warning them not to think that they can do whatever they want just because the emperor is far away. This place is only six days' mileage from the capital. .
After entering the city, Zhenwu went directly to the Fan family compound. Fan Yubin had already been waiting at the door with his whole family. When he saw Zhenwu coming on horseback, he immediately knelt on the ground and shouted long live.
Zhenwu said with a smile: "No courtesy, stay flat." After saying that, he got off his horse and entered the courtyard with the support of everyone. Because time was tight, Fan Yubin directly gave up his main courtyard, and everything was there. Temporarily replaced.
Seeing Zhenwu entering Fan's house, the officials following him couldn't help but look at each other in shock. What kind of song was Zhenwu singing? He couldn't live in a ready-made fuyamen, so he actually stayed in a merchant's house? All the officials couldn't help but secretly figure out the whole story. Those who had exploited the Fan family or still owed money to the Fan family complained endlessly.
Zhenwu took a bath, changed clothes, and had a meal, then rested for a while, and then ordered Kuixu, the censor of Zuodu, Xuandu Procuratorate, to come to see him. Kuixu and other officials had been waiting outside for a long time, and they were tired and tired. When Zhenwu summoned him, he He quickly followed in.
As soon as he entered the room, Kuexu kowtowed and said, "Slave Kuixu, please pay my respects to Your Majesty." He stood up and walked to Zhenwu. He knelt down respectfully, consciously took off the hat on his head and put it aside. This is the etiquette of a minister knowing he is guilty and begging for punishment.
Zhenwu glanced at him and then said calmly: "You are sitting in Taiyuan to supervise relief and disaster relief matters, Shanxi?What's going on? "
"This slave deserves to die." Kuixu hurriedly kowtowed: "Shanxi's relief work for the victims was originally in a step-by-step and orderly manner, but when the work-for-relief project was implemented, the slave was greedy for success, seeking favors, and delusional to completely cure the flood in Taiyuan City. The stalls were too big to clean up, so they misappropriated the disaster relief money to the river workers and agreed to collect corvee labor.
??The slave made his own claims without requesting an order. In order to seek his own honor and disgrace, he ignored the disaster victims. He had betrayed the emperor's trust, and he was ashamed of the victims of the three Jin Dynasties. He begged the emperor to severely punish him to maintain the discipline of the court. "After saying that, he kowtowed three times. The floors in the Fan family were all paved with bluestone, and his forehead suddenly turned black.
Zhenwu did not expect that Kuixu would be so straightforward. He took all the blame on himself as soon as he came. After thinking for a while, he asked: "Have you ever bribed money from this relief effort?"
Kuixu hurriedly bowed and replied: "Back to the Emperor, I have a small family fortune and my conscience is still intact, so I will not take food from the victims. Your Majesty has repeatedly issued orders that embezzlement of money and food for disaster relief is strictly prohibited. The embezzlement and fraud case in the warehouse in the capital has not been far away, and this minion has also I don¡¯t have the guts to take bribes for disaster relief money and food.¡±
Zhenwu glanced at him. Although his old man Nalan Mingzhu was dismissed from his post, he left behind a huge amount of property. He also believed that Kuexu would not lose big because of small things, but Kuixu being the minister of the Ministry of Works was not a cure. He knew nothing about river engineering, so why did he make the stall so big? To invite favors? It is possible that he has placed great emphasis on the Eight Party officials. With Kuisu's qualifications and talents, it is not impossible for him to get into the study room.
However, it is obviously impossible to misappropriate disaster relief money and food, eradicate floods in Taiyuan, and collect corvee labor without the cooperation of Shanxi Governor Su Keji and Chief Envoy Su Zhan. Why doesn't Kuexu shirk responsibility and instead take all the blame so simply? ? Is it out of righteousness? Impossible, there is no such thing as justice in officialdom.
After thinking for a moment, Zhenwu vaguely guessed that Kuisu must be trying to hide something by doing this? Is there something wrong with Su Keji and Su Zhan? Did he want to use this to excuse the two of them? The more he thought about it, the more reasonable he became. He said that he was not taking bribes, and using work for relief to cure floods in Taiyuan was not a serious crime. Breaking the sky was a matter of ability. If Lao Ba and Lao Shi were interceding for him, they would not be punished at all. Severe punishment.
???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? out out and said in a deep voice: "For your own selfish interests, to trap tens of thousands of victims in fire and water, it is really crazy and despicable, so I leave my hat and go to the wing to wait."
Hearing this, he left his hat behind. Kuixu couldn't help but feel a sinking feeling in his heart. Is Zhenwu going to dismiss him? This was somewhat beyond his expectation. As the saying goes, thunder, rain and dew are all the grace of the emperor. He kowtowed hurriedly and said: "I thank the emperor for his grace."
Kuixu, who was waiting, bowed and retreated. Zhenwu was silent for a long time before he ordered: "Summon Su Zhan for an audience."
If there is a problem between Su Keji and Su Zhan, it is naturally a problem of money and food. Apart from the embezzlement of disaster relief money and food, there is no other problem. The chief envoy is in charge of the administration and financial affairs of a province, so he must first ask Su Zhan.
Su Zhan came in all the way, but did not see Kui Xu coming out, so he felt quite uneasy. He could not figure out why Zhenwu skipped Governor Su Keji to summon him first. As soon as he entered the door, he took a quick glance, but did not see Kui Xu. But when he saw Kuixu's official hat lying on the ground, his heart immediately thumped, and he secretly thought something was wrong. He hurriedly suppressed the panic in his heart and kowtowed: "Slave Su Zhan respectfully wishes His Majesty's blessing."
He stood up and walked to Zhenwu. He knelt down as usual, but did not take off the hat on his head. Zhenwu glanced at him, but did not rush to speak. After taking a sip of tea, he said: " Tell me, how much did you lose?"
Su Zhan suddenly felt sweat on his forehead when Zhenwu asked him directly how much he had lost. Could it be that Kuexu had already tricked him and confessed everything? Thinking of Kui Xu's explanation last night, he quickly calmed down. Impossible, Kui Xu couldn't be recruited. Recruiting him would do no good to anyone. How could Kui Xu not know this?
Thinking of this, he hurriedly took off his hat, kowtowed respectfully and said: "Back to the emperor, more than half of the money and food in the vassal treasury and the money and food in Taiyuan Prefecture have been lost."
?Another tell the truth? Zhenwu couldn't help but be secretly surprised, and after thinking for a moment he said: "Why the deficit?"
"Go back to the emperor." Su Zhan said respectfully: "This is all the result of the work-for-relief project. Because the project is too big, the work-for-relief money allocated by the imperial court is far from enough, so Kuexu ordered the local government to go ahead. Advance payment, the slave couldn¡¯t bear to see the river control project abandoned halfway, so he took matters into his own hands.¡±
This guy pushed it cleanly! Originally he wanted to make a fool of himself, but unexpectedly he turned out to be a slippery man. Zhenwu glanced at him and felt like he was in the clear mind. Needless to say, Su Keji and Su Zhan agreed to this huge river control project to make up for the shortfall. , otherwise you won¡¯t make fun of your own future.
Surlining slightly, Zhenwu laughed and said: "I want to check Shanxi's losses can be said to be as good as the opposite palm. Just take your imprisonment.?, shortfall! After a slight pause, he continued: "Ma Qi, Wang Juan and Zhao Shenqiao are following me. They can reach Taiyuan in two days." "(To be continued)
{Piaotia Literature www.piaotia.net thanks all book friends for their support, your support is our greatest motivation}