Chapter 289 They are all actors
When the morning court ended, it was still dark.
After daybreak, the news that the emperor was going to abdicate the throne to the prince quickly spread throughout Bianliang.
For a time, this incident became a hot topic in Bianjing.
Zhao Xing served as the prefect of Kaifeng for less than two years. Although the time was short, he did a lot of practical work.
It seems that the people have not gained any real benefits from the land inventory.
In fact, this is not the case. Many people’s fields have been occupied by landlords and gentry.
Some people own more than ten acres of land in their names, but the actual land they own may be only six or seven acres. The rest has been occupied by landlords and gentry using various means.
Their land was occupied and they had to pay land taxes.
They were afraid of the other side's power and dared not resist.
After the land was investigated, Zhao Xing returned it to the people.
Developing water conservancy projects is also a good thing that benefits the people.
There was actually some drought in Kaifeng area last year. Although it was not serious, it did lead to a reduction in production.
However, because Zhao Xing built water conservancy projects and constructed reservoirs in suitable places, water was diverted for irrigation during droughts. Therefore, the drought had no effect on the people of Kaifeng Prefecture.
In addition, Zhao Xing also implemented many small policies to benefit the people.
It is said that he who wins the hearts of the people will win the world.
In fact, the people's hearts are very good, as long as the people can get practical benefits.
Therefore, when people talked about the emperor's abdication to the crown prince, they all supported it.
But for those officials, the news was too sudden and they were not prepared at all.
The emperor asked the Imperial Observatory to choose an auspicious day for the enthronement. After daybreak, the Imperial Observatory informed the Ministry of Rites of the chosen date.
May 15th.
It’s been less than four months in total.
It is obvious that the emperor has long intended to abdicate.
Otherwise, how could the date of the new emperor's enthronement be decided so quickly, and in such a rush?
A new emperor has new ministers. What impact will the crown prince’s ascension to the throne have on them?
No matter what the outside world thinks, it is a foregone conclusion that Emperor Huang will abdicate and Zhao Xing will succeed him.
The accession to the throne cannot be rushed, even if the time seems rushed, the process cannot be rushed.
Otherwise, it would give people the impression that he is impatient to succeed to the throne, which goes against filial piety.
Historically, Li Shimin launched the Xuanwu Gate Incident and forced Li Yuan to abdicate, but he did not ascend the throne immediately, but served as the crown prince for a while.
Some emperors even had to resign three times before ascending the throne, showing that they did not care about power and only accepted it because the calls from their subjects were so loud.
Zhao Xing also needed to do this kind of face-saving project.
There is no way, after all, the son inherits the father's throne.
The filial piety in ancient times was actually a bit pathological.
Logically speaking, the emperor wanted to abdicate the throne to Zhao Xing, and as a son, Zhao Xing could not refuse. He had to obey his father's orders to be filial.
But in this kind of matter, one has to decline and wait for the officials to come and invite him.
He took a nap at his father's place, had breakfast with his father, and went to Longtu Pavilion.
When he arrived at Longtu Pavilion, Zhao Xing ordered someone to send the letter of refusal to succeed to the throne that he had already written to Zhizheng Hall.
To be honest, Zhao Xing felt very embarrassed doing this kind of thing.
The reason why I sent it to Zhizhengtang instead of to my father was to tell all the officials that I refused it and you should come and invite me.
How can this kind of thing not be awkward, as it involves both being the one and doing the other?
But Zhao Xing had to do this, otherwise it would be a violation of filial piety.
Zhao Xing had always thought that the ancient filial piety was so strict to the point of being pathological because it was necessary for those in power.
But now I have a new understanding.
Those in power link loyalty and filial piety together and attach importance to filial piety. Their biggest goal is to maintain their own rule.
Let people all over the world follow the concept of ruler-ruler, subject-subject, father-father, son-son.
But aren’t those ministers the same?
The ministers also used what their ancestors did and said to restrict the emperor.
Or maybe filial piety is so strict that it is pathological, and it is not only the credit of those in power, but also the credit of their ministers.
Those in power want to put a tight ring on everyone in the world, but they don’t realize that they are also putting a tight ring on themselves.
"Your Highness!"
Eunuch Liu interrupted Zhao Xing's wild thoughts.
"What's the matter?" Zhao Xing asked.
"The Prime Minister, along with the six ministers and vice ministers, the chief and deputy chief of the Privy Council, and the chief of the three ministries... are outside asking for a meeting!" said Eunuch Liu.
Zhao Xing sighed. He knew he was acting, and it was so embarrassing, but he had to go on.
When I stood up and walked out of Longtu Pavilion, I saw a large crowd of people outside the Pavilion.
The people outside are not all the officials, but the chief and deputy chiefs of each department.
There are also differences between the three types of invitations. The first type of invitation is for officials of the fourth rank and above in the court, and the second type of invitation is for civil and military officials.
The third petition is a joint petition by the subjects. At that time, not only will the officials "force the palace", but the people will also petition at the palace gate.
When the officials outside the hall saw Zhao Xing coming out, they saluted and then passionately urged Zhao Xing to accept the throne and ascend the throne as emperor.
Zhao Xing was extremely embarrassed, but those officials looked righteous and not at all embarrassed.
It really is true what the saying goes, as long as I am not embarrassed, others will be embarrassed.
Zhao Xing sighed inwardly, thinking that he was not thick-skinned enough.
After these people finished speaking, Zhao Xing angrily scolded them, saying that they were trying to frame him as unfilial, then he left in anger.
There had to be an interval between the three invitations. Zhao Xing left angrily, and the first invitation was over, and all the officials left.
I will invite you again after some time.
…………
After this period of adaptation, Zhao Xing also gradually adapted. Basically, he could finish all official business in the evening every day, then go to visit his father and leave the palace.
When she was having dinner with Zhang Guifen in the evening, Zhang Guifen complained to her that many officials' wives had come to the East Palace to seek an audience today, and she was very tired.
In addition, people from the families of the concubines in the harem would visit the palace under the pretext of paying a visit.
Zhao Xing had no good solution for this, so when he ascended the throne, Zhang Guifen became the queen.
It is quite normal for the officials' families to come and curry favor with us, and we cannot refuse them.
The people from the concubines' families came to visit them just to inquire about news or to persuade them to gain benefits for their respective families.
Several days passed and the second invitation had not come yet, but Sima Guang came to see him.
Since Sima Guang took over the Duzhishisi, he has never come to see Zhao Xing.
Zhao Xing was not in a hurry. If there were any problems with the three departments, it would take more than a day or two to find out.
Now that a few days have passed, it seems that Sima Guang has gained something.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince!" Sima Guang bowed.
"No need to be polite!" Zhao Xing waved his hand and went straight to the point, saying, "You've been in office for a few days. Have you found any problems?"
"Your Highness, I have found some information." Sima Guang said seriously, "The reason why the Ministry of Revenue did not approve the Ministry of Revenue's application was that the national treasury was indeed out of money."
"Where did the money go?" Zhao Xing frowned.
Although Sima Guang said that he had found the problem, he also said that the Ministry of Revenue did not agree to the Ministry of Revenue's application, which meant that they really had no money.
This means that the national treasury should have money, but for some reason it has no money.
"The three departments have a lot of bad debts that have not been recovered. They have always been embezzled in advance before, so nothing went wrong. However, His Highness requires that the military pay be paid on time and not delayed, so the three departments dare not use this part. And to build the Great Wall in the north, the national treasury also needs to raise part of the money, so the Duzhi Division has been cutting some unnecessary expenses during this period." Sima Guang said.
"So I am somewhat responsible for the Ministry of Revenue's refusal to approve the Ministry of Revenue's application," Zhao Xing sneered.
He finally understood that the Ministry of Revenue had a lot of bad debts, and it was able to maintain its operations by borrowing from one pocket to pay off another.
The east wall they tore down was the military pay.
No wonder he found out during his investigation that wage arrears in the army had become the norm.
The situation of the troops near Bian Jing was still relatively good, but the salaries of the garrison troops and border troops in various places were often delayed for several months.
The Song Dynasty had an army of over one million. Even if we leave aside the troops near Bianliang, the border troops and local garrison troops totaled hundreds of thousands.
The delay of several months in paying military salaries was enough for them to temporarily fill holes in other places.
Wait until other income is collected, then make up the military pay.
Because Zhao Xing had issued an order that military pay should not be in arrears, they did not dare to embezzle military pay. In addition, the construction of the Great Wall required part of the funding from the national treasury. In order to maintain the original balance, the Duzhisi had to cut other expenses.
"What are those bad debts? How many are there in total?" Zhao Xing asked.
"Most of them are from the Jianxiu Treasury, with a total amount of more than three million taels," said Sima Guang.
"Jianxiu Treasury?" Zhao Xing was stunned at first, but soon understood what was going on. He asked in a cold voice, "But did any official borrow money from Jianxiu Treasury?"
The so-called inspector is an official who inspects the property of deceased male orphans, estimates their needs, and gives them money, entrusting them to relatives who can be trusted to raise them. When they are of age and meet the requirements, the official will return all the money.
This means that the property of the orphans must be checked by the government, and then managed on behalf of the orphans, and the orphans are entrusted to relatives for upbringing. The orphans are given the necessary expenses regularly, and all the property is returned to the orphans when they reach adulthood.
If the family is wiped out, the property will be nationalized.
Simply put, the Jianxiuku is a department that deals with cases where both parents have died and the children are young, in order to prevent collateral relatives from seizing their property.
However, the Jianxiuku also has the right to lend money and collect interest.
The Song Dynasty did not allow official lending, especially by local governments.
This was also an excuse used by many officials to oppose Zhao Xing's implementation of the Qingmiao Law.
The Jianxiufu was the only department in the imperial court that could lend money.
These days, only officials dare to owe the court money and not pay it back.
"Your Highness is wise!" Sima Guang said, "The price of houses in Bianjing has been rising year by year. Many officials cannot afford to buy houses, so they borrow money from the inspection treasury to buy houses, but they are unable to repay."
"Unable to repay? I guess you don't want to repay it? Notice everyone that all officials who borrowed money from the Jianxiu Treasury must return the principal and interest within half a month, otherwise their property will be confiscated and they will be punished!" Zhao Xing said.
The imperial court gave such high salaries to officials, yet these officials still dared to take advantage of the imperial court.
Zhao Xing admitted that housing prices in Bianjing were very expensive and many officials could not afford them.
But the imperial court does have low-rent housing. Can’t I rent one if I can’t afford to buy it?
It's just that I want to live in a bigger house.
(End of this chapter)