Chapter 290 Rage
"Your Highness, these accounts are not just for recent years, but have been accumulated over the past few decades. Many of the officials are still retired, and some have even passed away," said Sima Guang.
"Isn't this the main reason?" Zhao Xing sneered, "I guess it's because those people had high official positions before they retired, right?"
No wonder it became a bad debt, no wonder Gao Bo would rather reject him than tell the reason.
Zhao Xing estimated that the amount of money he had lent out must be more than this, but part of it had been repaid, otherwise it would be impossible for there to be only more than three million in bad debts over several decades.
Those who have not repaid the money are naturally those who have been promoted to higher and higher official positions.
All the successive Duzhishisi were unwilling to offend anyone, so they neither wanted money nor dared to speak out.
As long as you fool around, when you are transferred somewhere else or retire, naturally someone else will give you a headache.
I demoted Gao Bo, and he looked as if he was dead. Who knows how happy he was inside.
Zhao Xing even suspected that he deliberately did not approve the Ministry of Revenue's application.
Otherwise he should have tried every possible way to cover it up.
How much money did the Ministry of Household Affairs apply for? Is it really hard to squeeze out such little money?
I talked to Gao Bo in person, but Gao Bo still said there was nothing he could do. Didn't he ever think of checking it out himself?
The more Zhao Xing thought about it, the more he felt that this possibility was very high.
These officials are more cunning than each other.
Sima Guang fell silent after hearing Zhao Xing's words.
It was just as Zhao Xing said, those people just didn't want to pay it back.
Apart from anything else, just the difference in the price increase of the houses over the years, as long as they sell the houses, they can make a profit.
At the beginning, those officials who borrowed money may just want to delay paying it back, but as their official positions became higher, no one dared to ask for the money, so they simply did not pay it back.
Some officials thought that the law did not hold everyone responsible, so they followed suit, which led to more than three million taels of bad debt.
"I don't want to know who is involved in this. I'll give you half a month. Officials who owe money, no matter they have retired or passed away, as long as they are still in Bianliang, must return the money with interest, otherwise they will be dismissed and their property will be confiscated. Those who have left Bianliang must get the money back within two months." Zhao Xing said.
"I obey your order!" Sima Guang replied.
"Go ahead." Zhao Xing waved his hand.
After sending Sima Guang away, Zhao Xing was still furious. He called Zhang Qingzhi over and asked him to draft an imperial decree to exile Gao Bo to the frontier. The adult men in his family would be exiled as well, and the women would be sent to the Jiaofangsi.
Zhang Qingzhi was shocked when he heard the decree and said, "Your Highness, I wonder what fault did Lord Gao commit that warrants such a severe punishment?"
Zhao Xing recounted the whole story and said coldly, "Do you still think my punishment is too severe?"
"Your Highness, Lord Gao did make a mistake, but the fault does not lie with Lord Gao alone. A scholar can be killed but not humiliated. Your Highness can just send Lord Gao to exile. Why implicate his family?" Zhang Qingzhi said.
"The fault is not his alone, but he knew the problem. Not only did he not report it to me, he also played tricks on me and fooled me like a fool. Now I am the crown prince regent, and his tricking me is a crime of deceiving the emperor!" Zhao Xing said calmly.
He naturally knew that the fault was not with Gao Bo. Sima Guang had said that this bad debt had been going on for decades. How many years had Gao Bo been in charge of the Ministry of Revenue?
But there is no way Gao Bo didn't know about this.
What made Zhao Xing most angry was not that Gao Bo was playing tricks on him, nor that he was angry at him for hiding the truth.
But Gao Bo would rather fool him than find a way to get the money back.
What does this mean?
This shows that in Gao Bo's heart, he would rather fool him than offend those officials.
If he let Gao Bo off easily, he, the prince, would become a joke.
Zhao Xing wanted to change the ideas of officials in the court and make them understand that fooling him would be more miserable than offending those officials.
As for the misfortune not affecting the family, it's simply a joke.
Even though Gao Bo had never been greedy for money, he just wanted to protect himself.
However, he was receiving salary from the emperor but was unable to act loyally to the emperor, which was a dereliction of duty.
Doesn’t his salary support his family?
Since his family has spent the money, why should he stay out of it?
Upon hearing this, Zhang Qingzhi sighed inwardly and stopped trying to persuade him.
This is his personality. He says whatever he wants to say and doesn't care whether to listen or not. He won't argue.
…………
After Sima Guang returned to the Duzhisi, he summoned the officials and conveyed Zhao Xing's intention.
Upon hearing this order, the officials of the Ministry of Revenue were dumbfounded.
"Sir!" an official said, "This matter is not under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Revenue."
The money that the Jianxiu Treasury has lent out should be taken back by the Jianxiu Treasury. Even if it needs to be handed over to someone else, it should not be taken over by the Duzhisi.
The Duzhisi was responsible for the overall management of the national treasury's money and grain and planning its use, but it was not directly responsible for revenue and expenditure.
"Yes, sir, this matter is not our business." Others said after hearing this.
Naturally, no one wants to do this thankless job.
Officials have always liked to shirk their responsibilities. They like to push away matters within their own authority, let alone matters outside their authority.
"If you have any objections to the order issued by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, why don't you go and talk to Him? It happens that I don't want to do this either. If you can convince the Crown Prince to give this task to someone else, I would like to thank you." Sima Guang said lightly.
"Uh…"
All the officials in the Ministry of Revenue were speechless when they heard this.
How could they have the courage to look for Zhao Xing?
"Since you don't dare to go, then just obey the order. You don't have to think too much about it. This matter is an order issued by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. We are just doing our job. If anyone has any objections, let them talk to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince themselves." Sima Guang said.
Everyone smiled bitterly when they heard this. Things were not that simple.
Apart from anything else, what would they say if someone asked them to give them some extra time?
Wouldn't it offend people if I refused?
However, since Sima Guang has already said this, it means that there is no possibility of changing this matter.
Whether they are willing or not, they have to do it.
Sima Guang didn't care what these people thought and just arranged the work.
Zhao Xing said that he would pay both the principal and interest, so it was naturally not possible to just notify every household and be done with it.
Those officials who borrowed money through the Jianxiu Treasury had to pay interest.
Some people have borrowed money for 10 or 20 years and have not repaid it. If you want the money back, you must calculate the interest and tell them how much they should pay back.
What Sima Guang had to do now was to retrieve the account books for the unpaid part from the Jianxiu Treasury, and after calculating all the numbers, he would go door to door to notify each household to repay the money.
After assigning the tasks, Sima Guang ended the meeting and let everyone get back to work.
As soon as a group of people came out of the house, they learned the news that Zhao Xing had ordered the former Duzhi envoy Gao Bo to be exiled to the frontier.
Not only Gao Bo, but even his family was not spared.
This decree was sent to the Secretariat, and after several officials read it, they did not pass it and instead sent it to the Crown Prince.
Upon hearing the news, those officials who were originally somewhat reluctant were all shocked.
Regardless of whether those gentlemen can persuade His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to revoke his order, this decree shows how angry His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is about this matter.
If they dare to do things perfunctorily, they will surely end up in a miserable situation.
…………
Zhao Xing had no idea what the officials from the Ministry of Revenue were thinking, and at this moment he was listening to the persuasion of Han Zhang and others with a cold face.
He asked Zhang Qingzhi to draft such an edict, which must be approved by the Secretariat before it could take effect.
It is not like in some movies and TV dramas where the emperor’s every move is an imperial edict.
If the Secretariat disagrees with Zhao Xing's will, they can directly reject it.
In fact, the existence of the three provinces itself is a constraint on imperial power.
Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty abolished the prime minister system not only because of the issue of the prime minister's power, but more because he wanted to abolish this constraint.
If the prime minister's power is simply too great, we can find ways to reduce it. There is no need to abolish it directly.
Of course, this constraint is not impossible to deal with.
Otherwise, wouldn’t the emperor become a puppet?
The solution is simple: either convince them or replace them.
Otherwise, how could there be the saying that a new emperor appoints new ministers?
Zhao Xing's decree was sent to the Secretariat. Soon after, Han Zhang and several other ministers came together and asked Zhao Xing to revoke his order.
(End of this chapter)