Niao Ni
Chapter 385: Matters of the Ministry of Revenue (Part 1)
...Was it really necessary to investigate the Ministry of Revenue's deficit at this point? The silver from the Jiangnan Internal Treasury was more than enough to cover everything. And wouldn't investigating the Ministry of Revenue now seem like a slap in Fan Xian's face?
In truth, the courtiers knew very well that the Ministry of Revenue would eventually be investigated, as rumors of its deficit had been circulating for quite some time. Where there's smoke, there's fire, and the empty state of the national treasury around the turn of the year seemed to subtly confirm these rumors. If this matter wasn't clarified, the political foundation of Qing would remain unstable. But when to investigate required considerable wisdom.
Today, Fan Xian had just accomplished a great deed. Were these ministers to immediately jump out and impeach Fan Jian, it would seem… inappropriate. They wondered what the Emperor intended.
Whatever the matter, someone had to take the lead. So, after a brief moment of quiet in the court, a minister stepped forward, prostrated himself, and reported to the Emperor regarding the Ministry of Revenue's deficit. He spoke with such certainty, as if he had personally witnessed the amount missing from the national treasury. One couldn't help but wonder where this minister derived his confidence.
The Emperor's meaning was ambiguous. As he listened to the minister's words, he frowned and nodded. For a moment, the courtiers couldn't tell whether His Majesty wanted to investigate or not.
The courtiers didn't dare stare at the Emperor's expression, so they secretly glanced at Fan Jian, the Minister of Revenue, who stood in the ranks. Fan Jian's face remained composed, his solemnity tinged with a hint of serenity. They couldn't help but admire the Minister's cultivation of composure.
"The matter of the Ministry of Revenue... will be discussed in the Imperial Study. An edict will be issued later."
After coldly uttering these words, the Emperor announced the adjournment of the court session and, with a flick of his dragon robe, disappeared behind the screen.
The courtiers filed out of the hall, whispering among themselves, trying to guess what His Majesty was thinking.
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That afternoon, in the not-so-spacious Imperial Study, several embroidered stools were placed beneath the dragon couch. The Grand Secretaries of the Chancellery, the Minister of Personnel Yan Xingshu, the Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review, and the Minister of Public Works were all seated. Beside the dragon couch, the Crown Prince, the First Prince, and the Second Prince stood as they had in previous years, hands respectfully folded, utterly deferential.
The Emperor sat on the flat couch, calmly flipping through the memorials submitted by the officials. In truth, from the previous night, officials had been continuously submitting memorials impeaching the Ministry of Revenue's deficit and the officials' embezzlement of state funds. However, today, the silver notes sent by Fan Xian had quelled this strong momentum. The Emperor had not allowed the officials to debate the matter during the Grand Court session.
Grand Secretary Shu and Grand Secretary Hu exchanged a discreet glance, knowing that the Emperor had moved the discussion of the Ministry of Revenue's investigation to the Imperial Study to save some face for Minister of Revenue Fan Jian. But… why wasn't Minister Fan in the Imperial Study today? If His Majesty truly intended to protect the Fan household, he should have allowed him to defend himself here.
The two Grand Secretaries felt a slight sense of unease. This arrangement of His Majesty's seemed different from what they had imagined. The Ministry of Revenue's deficit… seemed to be real, not another of the Emperor's little games. It seemed that Minister Fan was truly about to be pushed into the eye of the storm.
"Fan Jian has pleaded illness."
As if sensing what the ministers were surmising, the Emperor spoke softly without raising his head, his voice barely suppressing a faint hint of annoyance.
The ministers smiled wryly, thinking that their great Qing Dynasty's steward was truly a remarkable man. Whenever someone in the court impeached him, he did nothing, bothered with no alliances or stratagems, and seemed even disinclined to enter the palace to defend himself… just a simple… escape through illness.
Minister Fan's courage… seemed greater than people had previously thought.
"Speak your minds." The Emperor tossed the memorials aside and said, "What are your opinions on the Ministry of Revenue matter?"
These central elders of the Qing court maintained calm expressions, their eyes focused on their noses and their minds focused on their hearts, unwilling to be the first to offend the Fan family. Although from the perspective of the court's interests, they all believed the Ministry of Revenue needed to be investigated, they were all on good terms with Fan Jian. Moreover, since the entire court suspected the Ministry of Revenue, someone would inevitably lose patience before they did.
Unexpectedly… the adults' cultivation of composure was truly remarkable. After a long while, no one had spoken, and the Imperial Study fell into an extremely awkward silence.
The Crown Prince, observing this strange scene, couldn't help but find it amusing. He thought that while the ministers were only seeking stability, their behavior might make the Emperor even more displeased.
Now was his time to ingratiate himself. He quickly cleared his throat and looked at Grand Secretary Shu.
Grand Secretary Shu was startled, realizing that things were becoming delicate. The Emperor had asked a question, but none of the ministers dared to respond. How could they allow His Majesty to lose face? He quickly said, "Your Majesty..."
He only managed to utter two words before the Emperor's suppressed anger erupted. He scolded, "You are the ones who submitted the memorials calling for an investigation of the Ministry of Revenue!"
He waved the memorials beside him, angrily rebuking, "And now you all stand before me looking like dead birds! What use are you silent gourds to the court?"
The adults in the Imperial Study were frightened and quickly left their seats to acknowledge their guilt, smiling wryly.
The Emperor drank a bowl of white fungus soup to soothe his anger, let out a cold snort, and waved for them to sit down.
Now that the Emperor had vented his anger, the direction of the wind was clear.
Grand Secretary Shu, who was on good terms with the Fan household, felt that he was acting solely for the public good and had no personal animosity towards Minister Fan. Furthermore, he didn't want anyone to use the investigation of the Ministry of Revenue to attack the Fan household. He took the lead and said, "The matter of the Ministry of Revenue is of great importance, as it concerns the court's finances. All annual expenses are drawn from the Ministry of Revenue's treasury. Although we don't know where the recent rumors came from, or how the censors of the Censorate learned that the Ministry of Revenue was in such deficit, now that there's a reason, we need to investigate. It depends on how Your Majesty intends to investigate."
Grand Secretary Shu carefully considered his words and said with a smile, "Minister Fan has been managing the Ministry of Revenue for many years. Although he was a Vice Minister in previous years, the affairs of the Ministry of Revenue were under his overall control because the old Minister was ill in bed. You should know that the Ministry of Revenue's affairs are the most trivial, so court officials often overlook their importance. It's difficult to achieve merit in managing the Ministry of Revenue, but it's too easy to get into trouble… in the end, it's just a bitter, thankless job. Minister Fan has been in charge of the Ministry of Revenue for many years. Although he has no merit, he has never made a mistake, which is actually a great achievement for the court. I hope Your Majesty will understand Minister Fan's hard work and show leniency to his subordinates. Even if we investigate, we must not be too careless."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone knew Shu Wu's position: the Ministry of Revenue needed to be investigated, but it shouldn't be turned into a mess. The Crown Prince sneered inwardly, thinking that Grand Secretary Shu's two paragraphs were beautifully delivered. Since they didn't know where the rumors came from, they implied that even if the Ministry of Revenue was in deficit, perhaps someone in the court was trying to take the opportunity to do something.
Grand Secretary Hu also nodded in agreement, "An investigation is definitely necessary."
The Emperor maintained a calm expression and asked the Minister of Public Works, "What are your thoughts?"
The Minister of Public Works felt a cold sweat run down his back and said with a wry smile, "In the past two years, the Ministry of Public Works has been acting according to Your Majesty's instructions and the regulations of the Chancellery. When requesting silver from the Ministry of Revenue, it has often been difficult… But official duties do not preclude private discussions. I don't believe that the Ministry of Revenue is deliberately making things difficult for this Ministry. Perhaps the Ministry of Revenue really has some difficulties in transferring funds."
This was a harsh judgment. If the Ministry of Revenue wasn't in deficit, how could there be difficulties in transferring funds?
Immediately afterward, the Minister of Personnel, Yan Xingshu, also clearly stated his position. As he was in charge of the assessment and appointment of officials, he naturally suggested that the Emperor should thoroughly investigate the Ministry of Revenue. If there were problems, they should be punished. If there were no problems, it would also reduce the pressure on the Ministry of Revenue.
The Emperor, listening to these ministers' veiled words, felt somewhat annoyed. He frowned and tapped the short table on the flat couch with his fingers, pointing to the thin memorials on the table and saying, "Take a look at the memorials from Jiangnan."
Eunuch Yao quietly stepped forward, took the memorials, and distributed them to the adults.
For a moment, the only sounds in the Imperial Study were the rustling of the adults flipping through the memorials and their gradually heavy breathing.
After a long while, the adults finally finished reading and exchanged glances. Their faces were somewhat shocked. Shu Wu and Grand Secretary Hu exchanged glances, then quickly turned their heads away, unable to conceal the deep worry in their hearts. If the matters mentioned in the memorials were true, Minister Fan's courage… was truly too great!
"The Jiangnan Circuit Censor Guo Zheng has reported that in the Internal Treasury bidding, Fan Xian manipulated a puppet named Xia, providing large sums of silver to allow Xia to enter the Internal Treasury. On the one hand, he allowed Xia to win six of the Northern Route's goods bids, and on the other hand, he allowed Xia to clash with the imperial merchants, forcibly raising this year's bid silver."
The Emperor's calm voice rang out again, as if he were discussing a topic completely unrelated to himself.
"Guo Zheng suspects where Fan Xian got such large sums of silver."
The Emperor looked at the ministers and said with a cold smile, "I… also suspect. I won't mention the fact that Fan Xian allowed his subordinates to compete with the imperial merchants for profit, but which minister can tell me, where did he get so much silver?"
Shu Wu's throat was dry, and he could hardly speak. Only now did he understand why so many court officials were convinced that the Ministry of Revenue's deficit must be enormous, because of the problem in Jiangnan. The Emperor's meaning was also clear: Fan Xian was able to fully control the situation of the Internal Treasury bidding and secretly controlled six of the Northern Route's bids through his subordinates. The huge sums of silver involved in this matter… were probably transferred from the Ministry of Revenue, from his father's hands.
The ministers were silent. At this moment, they weren't afraid of offending Minister Fan, but were still immersed in shock. Judging from the date on the memorials, they should have arrived at the palace last night. The Emperor should have known about the unscrupulous methods Fan Xian used in the Internal Treasury bidding a long time ago. But the Emperor's joyful expression at the previous court session wasn't fake… The Emperor's forbearance, the Emperor's deep plans, were indeed not something that his ministers could arbitrarily guess. Or rather, the Emperor liked Fan Xian earning silver for him, but he didn't like… Fan Xian using the court's silver to earn silver for him?
Only the Emperor could move the court's silver. No one else could do so without permission. It seemed that the Fan family had truly touched the Emperor's sore spot this time.
In the midst of silence, the Second Prince, who had only recently been allowed to attend court hearings in the Imperial Study again in February, said with a smile, "Father, I have something to say."
"Speak," the Emperor said coldly.
A calm smile appeared on the Second Prince's delicate face. He bowed to the ministers and said softly, "I have some grievances with Deputy Director Fan, but I dare not refrain from expressing my opinion because of this. I believe that since Fan Xian is far away in Jiangnan, with the status of an imperial envoy, he is naturally unconstrained. And if he allows his subordinates to steal the court's silver for his own use, it is a great crime. The Ministry of Revenue privately transferring national funds to Jiangnan is even close to treason."
He was setting the tone. Clearly, everyone knew he was targeting the Fan family, but no one could refute him.
The First Prince, who had been silent all along, suddenly said, "The Jiangnan Circuit Censor Guo Zheng has an old feud with Fan Xian. He was almost punched by Fan Xian in the Xing Ministry hall that year."
After saying this, he said nothing more.
Grand Secretary Shu, sitting on his stool, thought, "That's right. This is an opportunity that must be seized. Otherwise, if things really go according to what Guo Zheng said in his memorial, not only will the Ministry of Revenue be in chaos, but Fan Xian in Jiangnan will also have no good end. If both sides are in chaos, who knows how many heads will fall. The Qing court can't withstand such a big upheaval right now."
He quickly followed the First Prince's words and said with a smile, "Your Majesty, I'm not afraid of speaking recklessly, but I must say a few more words about Guo Zheng. This person is fond of boasting and often makes absurd remarks. He was demoted to Jiangnan by Your Majesty last year. It's hard to guarantee that he won't deliberately exaggerate things and frame others because of his old feud with Little Fan."
As soon as the words "old feud" were spoken, everyone couldn't help but glance at the Second Prince, who had the deepest old feud with Fan Xian. Although the Second Prince still maintained his beautiful smile, his face was actually starting to heat up. He gave the First Prince a resentful look. He had been close to the First Prince since childhood, and he couldn't understand why his older brother had to stand on the side of that bastard!
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(I have some things to do today and in the next few days.)