Chapter 288 They are all actors
When the morning session ended, it was still dark.
After dawn, the news that the officials wanted to give the throne to the prince quickly spread throughout Bianjing.
For a time, this matter became a hot topic in Bianjing.
Zhao Xing has been the governor of Kaifeng for less than two years. Although the time is short, he has done a lot of practical things.
It seems that the people did not get any real benefits from the inventory of fields.
In fact, this is not the case. Many common people’s fields have been occupied by landlords and gentry.
Some people have more than ten acres of land under their names, but the actual land may only be six or seven acres, and the rest has been occupied by landlords and gentry using various means.
The land was occupied and they had to bear the land tax.
They are afraid of the power of their opponents and dare not resist.
This part of the land was returned to the people by Zhao Xing after it was inventoried.
Building water conservancy projects is also a good thing that benefits the people.
Last year there was actually some drought in Kaifeng Prefecture. Although it was not serious, it would lead to some reduction in production.
But because Zhao Xing built water conservancy projects and built reservoirs in some suitable places to divert water for irrigation during droughts, the drought had no impact 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 wins the world.
In fact, people's support is very good, as long as the people get actual benefits.
Therefore, when people talk about the idea that the official family should be placed in the crown prince's position, they are all in favor of it.
But for those officials, the news was too sudden, and they were not prepared at all.
The officials asked Si Tianjian to choose an auspicious day to ascend the throne. As a result, after dawn, Si Tianjian informed the Ministry of Rites of the chosen date.
May 15th.
It will be less than four months by all means.
Obviously the official family has long had the intention of taking the Zen position.
Otherwise, the date of the new emperor's accession to the throne could not have been decided so quickly, and the time was so short.
Once the emperor and his courtiers become kings, what impact will it have on them if the prince ascends the throne?
No matter what the outside world thinks, it is a foregone conclusion that Zhao Xing will succeed to the throne of the official family.
Ascension to the throne cannot be rushed. Even if the time seems to be rushed, the process cannot be rushed.
Otherwise, it will give people a feeling of impatient succession, which is against filial piety.
Historically, Li Shimin launched the Xuanwumen Revolution and forced Li Yuan to abdicate the throne. He did not ascend the throne immediately, but served as the crown prince for a period of time.
Even before some emperors succeeded to the throne, they would give three invitations and three resignations, showing that they did not care about power. They had to accept it only because the voices of the people in the world were too loud.
Zhao Xing also needs to do this kind of face-saving project.
There is no way, after all, the father dies and the son succeeds.
The ancient filial piety was actually a bit pathological.
Logically speaking, the official family wants to give the Zen throne to Zhao Xing. As a son, Zhao Xing cannot refuse. He must obey his father's orders, which is called filial piety.
But in this kind of matter, you have to decline and wait for the officials to come.
He caught up on his sleep at his father's place, had breakfast with him, and headed to Longtuge.
When he arrived at Longtuge, Zhao Xing ordered Zha Zi to be sent to the Zhizheng Hall, which he had already written to refuse the succession.
To be honest, Zhao Xing felt very embarrassed doing such a thing.
The reason why I sent it to Zhizhengtang instead of to my father was to tell the officials that I refused and that you should come and invite me.
How can this kind of thing that is both important and established not be awkward?
But Zhao Xing had to do this, otherwise his filial piety would be in vain.
Zhao Xing has always felt that ancient filial piety was so strict that it was pathological, because those in power needed it.
But now I have a new understanding.
Those in power link loyalty and filial piety and attach great importance to filial piety. Their biggest purpose is to maintain their rule.
Let the people of the world obey the concept of king, king, minister, father, father and son.
But what about those ministers?
The ministers also used what their ancestors did and said to restrict the emperor.
Or filial piety is so strict that it is pathological. It is not only the credit of those in power, but also the contributions of those ministers.
Those in power want to put a curse on the world, but don’t they know that they have also put a curse on themselves?
“Your Highness!”
Eunuch Liu interrupted Zhao Xing's random thoughts.
"What's the matter?" Zhao Xing asked.
"The Grand Prime Minister, together with the Six Ministers, Ministers, Deputy Envoys of the Privy Council, and the Envoys of the Three Departments... are looking for an audience outside!" Eunuch Liu said.
Zhao Xing sighed, knowing that he was acting and it was embarrassing, he had to continue acting.
I got up and walked out of Longtuge, and saw a large crowd of people outside Longtuge.
The people outside are not all the officials, but the chief and adjutants of each department.
There is also a difference between the three invitations. The first invitation is for officials of the fourth rank or above in the court, and the second invitation is for civil and military officials.
The three invitations are invited by all the subjects. At that time, not only the officials will "force the palace", but also the common people will petition at the gate of the palace.
Seeing Zhao Xing come out, the officials outside the palace saluted and impassionedly persuaded Zhao Xing to accept the throne and ascend the throne as emperor.
Zhao Xing was extremely embarrassed, but the officials looked upright and showed no embarrassment at all.
I really agree with that sentence. As long as I am not embarrassed, others will be embarrassed.
Zhao Xing sighed secretly, he was still not thick-skinned enough.
After these people finished speaking, Zhao Xing angrily scolded everyone, saying that they wanted to trap him into being unfilial, and then walked away angrily.
The three invitations must also be spaced out. Zhao Xing left in anger. Even after the first invitation was over, all the officials left.
It will take a while before the second invitation comes.
…………
After this period of adaptation, Zhao Xing gradually adapted. Basically every evening in the evening, he could finish all his official duties and then go visit his father. The emperor left the palace.
When having dinner with Zhang Guifen in the evening, Zhang Guifen complained to her that many officials and family members came to the East Palace today to ask for an audience, which made her very tired.
In addition, people from the natal families of the concubines in the harem visited the palace in the name of visiting.
Zhao Xing had nothing to do about this. When he ascended the throne, Zhang Guifen became the queen.
It is normal for the official family members to come around and fawn over them, and they cannot be turned away.
The visits from the concubines’ natal families are nothing more than to inquire about news, or to let them blow the whistle and seek some benefits for their respective families.
A few days passed and before the second invitation came, Sima Guang came to see him.
Since Sima Guang took over as Duzhi Envoy, he has not come to see Zhao Xing.
Zhao Xing is not in a hurry. If there is a problem with the Third Division, it cannot be found out in a day or two.
Now that a few days have passed, it seems that Sima Guang has gained something.
"I pay my respects to His Highness the Crown Prince!" Sima Guang saluted.
"No courtesy!" Zhao Xing waved his hand and went straight to the point, saying: "It has been a few days since you took office. What problems have you found?"
"Back to Your Highness, I found some problems. ." Sima Guang said with a serious expression: "The reason why the Du Branch did not agree to the application of the Ministry of Revenue was because the treasury was out of money."
"Where did the money go?" Zhao Xing frowned.
Since Sima Guang said that he had found the problem, he also said that the branch office did not agree with the application of the household department, so he really had no money.
This means that the treasury should have money, but it has no money due to some reasons.
"The Third Division has a lot of bad debts that have not been collected. They have always been misappropriating them in advance, so nothing happened. However, His Highness requires that the military pay should be paid on time and not be delayed in arrears, so the Third Division dare not use this part of the money. "The construction of the Great Wall in the north also requires some funds from the treasury, so Duzhisi has been reducing some unnecessary expenses during this period," Sima Guang said.
"So the reason why the branch office did not approve the application from the household department is partly responsible." Zhao Xing sneered.
He finally understood that Du Branch had a lot of bad debts, and it could still maintain operations by demolishing the east wall to make up for the west wall.
And the east wall they demolished was military pay.
No wonder his investigation found that it was normal for the army to be in arrears with military pay.
The army near Bianjing is not bad. The military pay of the Xiang army and frontier army in various places is often in arrears for several months.
The Song Dynasty had more than one million troops. Even leaving aside the troops near Bianjing, there were hundreds of thousands of border troops and troops from various regions.
The arrears of military pay for several months are enough for them to temporarily make up for the holes in other places.
When other income comes in, we will make up for the military pay.
Because Zhao Xing issued an order not to default on military pay, they did not dare to misappropriate military pay. In addition, the construction of the Great Wall required a part of the national treasury. In order to maintain the original balance, the Duzhi Division could only reduce other expenses.
"What are those bad debts? How many are there in total?" Zhao Xing asked.
"They are basically from the inspection warehouse, and the total amount is more than three million taels." Sima Guang said.
"Inspection bank?" Zhao Xing was stunned at first when he heard this, but soon understood and said coldly: "But there are officials borrowing money from the school inspection bank?"
The so-called school inspectors cover the dead male orphans. , the official inspects the school property, pays for what is needed, provides orphans and children, and is responsible for raising them by relatives who can be entrusted with them. After passing the exam, the official will return all the money.
It means that the property of the orphan must be inspected by the government, and then the property can be managed on his behalf, while the orphan must be entrusted to relatives to raise him. And regularly provide the orphan with the necessary expenses, and then return all the property to the orphan when he reaches adulthood.
If the family is extinct, the property will be owned by the state.
To put it simply, the inspection department is a department that handles cases where both parents have died and the children are young, in order to prevent side relatives from trying to seize property.
However, the inspection bank also has the right to lend money and collect interest.
The Song Dynasty did not allow official lending, especially local governments.
This was also an excuse that many officials opposed when Zhao Xing implemented the Green Crops Law.
The Inspectorate is the only department in the imperial court that can lend money.
These days, only officials dare not repay the money they owe the court.
"Your Highness is wise!" Sima Guang said: "The price of houses in Bianjing has been increasing year by year. Many officials simply cannot afford to buy houses, so they borrow money from the inspection treasury to buy houses, but they are unable to repay them."
"Can't repay? You don’t want to pay it back, right? Please inform all officials who borrow money from the school inspection treasury to pay back the money with interest within half a month, otherwise their homes will be confiscated and they will be prosecuted!” Zhao Xing said.
The imperial court gave officials such high salaries, but these officials dared to take advantage of the imperial court.
Zhao Xing admitted that housing prices in Bianjing are very expensive and many officials cannot afford them.
But the imperial court has low-rent housing. If you can’t afford it, why can’t you rent it?
It's just that I want to live in a bigger house.
(End of this chapter)