Chapter 289 Fury
"Your Highness, these accounts are not just from recent years, but accumulated over the past few decades. Many of the officials are still serving, and some have even passed away." Sima Guang said.
“Isn’t this the main reason?” Zhao Xing sneered and said, “I guess it’s because those people already had high official positions before they became official, right?”
No wonder it became a bad debt, no wonder Gao Bo I would rather reject him without telling him the reason.
Zhao Xing estimated that the money lent must be more than this, but part of it has been repaid, otherwise it would not have been a bad debt of more than 3 million yuan in decades.
Those who have not paid back are naturally the ones with higher and higher official positions.
The previous Duzhi envoys were unwilling to offend others. They neither wanted money nor dared to speak out.
As long as you fool around with it, others will naturally have a headache when you are transferred elsewhere or become an official.
I demoted Gao Bo. He looked ashen, but he was not sure why he was happy in his heart.
Zhao Xing even suspected that he deliberately refused to approve the application from the Ministry of Household Affairs.
Otherwise, he should try his best to cover it up.
How much money does the Ministry of Household Affairs apply for? Is it really impossible to squeeze out this little money?
I told Gao Bo personally, and Gao Bo still said there was nothing he could do. Didn’t he think he would investigate?
The more he thought about it, the more Zhao Xing felt that this possibility was very high.
These officials are really more selfish than the last.
Sima Guang fell silent when faced with Zhao Xing's words.
As Zhao Xing said, those people actually just don’t want to pay it back.
Not to mention anything else, just from the difference in price increase over the years, as long as they sell the house, they can make a fortune.
At first, those officials who borrowed money may just want to delay repaying it, but as their official positions become higher, no one dares to press for it, so they simply stop repaying it.
Some officials thought that the law should not be held accountable, and they followed the same example, which resulted in more than three million taels of bad debts.
"I don't want to know who is involved in this. I will give you half a month. Officials who owe money, whether they have retired or passed away, as long as they are still in Bianjing, must pay back the money with interest, otherwise they will directly Those who have left Bianjing must be taken back within two months.
"I obey the order!" Sima Guang responded.
"Go ahead." Zhao Xing waved his hand.
After sending Sima Guang away, the anger in Zhao Xing's heart was still in Nanping. He called Zhang Qingzhi over and asked him to draw up an order to send Gao Bo to the frontier. The adult men in the family would be sent together, and the women would be sent to the Jiaofang Division.
Zhang Qingzhi was horrified when he heard this decree: "Your Highness, I wonder what mistake Mr. Gao has made that warrants such a severe punishment?"
Zhao Xing told the story of the incident and said in a cold voice: "Do you still think the punishment for being alone is too severe?"
"Your Highness, Mr. Gao is indeed at fault, but the fault does not lie with Mr. Gao alone. Go away A scholar can be killed but not humiliated. His Highness can just assign him to Master Gao. Why bother involving his family?" Zhang Qingzhi said.
“The fault is not his alone, but he knew the problem. Not only did he not report the matter to Gu, but he also played tricks on Gu, treating Gu as a fool. Gu is now the prince of the prison country, and he is bullying Gu if he fools Gu. It’s your fault!” Zhao Xing said lightly.
Of course he knew that Gao Bo was not at fault. Sima Guang had already said that this bad debt was decades old. How many years had Gao Bo been the envoy?
But it is impossible for Gao Bo to be unaware of this matter.
What Zhao Xing was most angry about was not that Gao Bo was playing tricks on him, nor was he angry that he kept it secret.
But Gao Bo would rather fool him than find a way to get the money back.
What does this mean?
It shows that in Gao Bo's heart, he would rather fool him than offend those officials.
If Gao Bo is let go easily, he, the prince, will become a joke.
Zhao Xing wanted to change the minds of the officials in the DPRK and the Central Government and let them understand that fooling him would lead to worse consequences than offending those officials.
As for why it is not harming the family, it is simply a joke.
Even though Gao Bo has never been greedy for money, he just wants to protect himself wisely.
But if he takes the emperor's salary but cannot do anything loyal to the emperor, it is dereliction of duty.
Didn’t his salary support his family?
Since his family is so rich, why can he stay out of it?
Hearing this, Zhang Qingzhi sighed inwardly and gave no further advice.
His temperament is like this. He will say whatever he wants and listen or not. He will not argue with reason.
…………
After Sima Guang returned to Duzhi Division, he summoned officials and conveyed Zhao Xing’s meaning.
Upon hearing this order, the officials of Duzhi Division were dumbfounded.
"Sir!" said an official: "This kind of thing is not under the control of the branch office."
The money released by the inspection and inspection treasury should be recovered by the inspection and inspection treasury. . Even if it has to be left to someone else, it should not be taken over by Duzhisi.
The duties of the Du Branch Office are to integrate the money and food from the treasury and plan its uses. It is not directly responsible for revenue and expenditure.
"Yes, sir, this kind of thing is not our business." Others said after hearing this.
Of course no one wants to do such a thankless job.
Officials have always liked to push the envelope, and they like to push things outside their scope of authority, let alone matters outside their scope of authority.
“If you have any objections to His Highness the Crown Prince’s decree, why not go and talk to His Highness the Crown Prince? It just so happens that I don’t want to do this. If you can persuade the Crown Prince to hand over this job to others, I will still I have to thank you." Sima Guang said lightly.
“Uh…”
All the officials in the Duzhi Division were speechless when they heard this.
How could they have the courage to go to Zhao Xing.
"Since you don't dare to go, then just obey the order. You don't need to think too much. This matter is the order of His Highness the Crown Prince. We are just acting according to the order. If anyone has any opinions, let them find it themselves. His Royal Highness said. "Sima Guang said.
Everyone smiled bitterly upon hearing this, how could things be so simple.
If nothing else, if someone asks them to give them some time off, what do they say?
Wouldn't it offend someone if he refused?
But Sima Guang has already said this, which means there is no possibility of changing this matter.
Whether they are willing or unwilling, this has to be done.
Sima Guang didn’t care what these people thought and directly arranged the work.
Zhao Xing said that the capital will be paid with interest, so naturally it is not just a matter of notifying everyone.
Those officials who borrow money through the school inspection treasury must calculate interest.
Some people have borrowed money for ten or twenty years but have not repaid it. If they want money, they must calculate the interest and tell them how much they should pay back.
What Sima Guang needs to do now is to transfer the unpaid account books from the inspection warehouse. After calculating them all, he will go door to door to notify them to pay back the money.
After allocating matters, Sima Guang ended the meeting and let everyone go about their work.
As soon as a group of people came out of the house, they learned that Zhao Xing had ordered Si Gaobo, the former envoy to the border, to be sent to the frontier.
Not only Gao Bo, but also his family members were spared.
This edict was sent to Zhongshu Province. After being read by several ministers, they did not approve it and went to the Crown Prince.
Hearing this news, those officials who were still a little reluctant were shocked in their hearts.
Regardless of whether those ministers can persuade His Highness the Crown Prince to take back his life, this decree shows how angry His Highness the Crown Prince is about this matter.
If they dare to be perfunctory, the end will be miserable.
.........
Zhao Xing did not know what the officials at Duzhi Division were thinking, and was listening to the persuasion of Han Zhang and others with a cold face.
He asked Zhang Qingzhi to draw up such a decree, which must be approved by Zhongshu Province before it can take effect.
It is not like in some movies and TV dramas, where the emperor's mouth is an imperial edict.
If the Zhongshu Province disagrees with Zhao Xing’s will, they can directly deny it.
In fact, the existence of the three provinces itself was a restriction on imperial power.
In the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the prime minister system not only because of the power of the prime minister, but also because he wanted to abolish this restriction.
If the power of the prime minister is simply too great, we can find ways to reduce it. There is no need to abolish it directly.
Of course, this kind of restriction is not impossible to deal with.
Otherwise, wouldn’t the emperor become a puppet?
It's easy to deal with it, either convince them or replace them.
Otherwise, how could there be a saying that there is one emperor and one courtier?
Zhao Xing's decree was sent to Zhongshu Province. Soon Han Zhang and several other ministers came hand in hand and asked Zhao Xing to take back his order.
(End of this chapter)