surnamed Wang

Chapter 368 Slow Stew
Ever since Emperor Shun began to attack prefectures and counties in various places, the courts in the capital city have also become lively.

Those important ministers who are at the foot of the emperor and dare not be blatantly greedy have their own unique ways of making money, and most of these ways rely on the operation of small officials all over the dynasty.

For example, Wu Tong, the deputy capital censor, relied on his younger brother to maintain his expenses in the capital, but he was unlucky and was investigated first.

Compared to him, other people who have not been involved are now suffering slowly.

……

The first month does not come out, and the Holy Majesty does not discuss politics. This will be left to the previous years, and everyone can hear it. If there is an urgent matter, you must enter the palace and you must enter the palace. It's not far to be called a faint king.

If the emperor is fatuous, the ministers can remonstrate with death, or they can collectively dismiss from office, and in the end they can leave a good reputation that will be recorded in the history.

But now it is not the emperor who is wrong, but them, and Emperor Shun has been prepared from the beginning. Every time an official is dismissed, he will write down his crimes one by one and post them at the gate of the palace. You can go to check it out, it won't wait until it expires.

Since it was implemented, the gate of the palace has become a vegetable market. Some people have a guilty conscience and are afraid that when they check the notice, they will be dragged to the Meridian Gate by the guards and beheaded on the spot. Their own deeds will be posted on the palace gate the next day, so they have dispatched the mansion The servant went to check.

After coming and going, the entire gate of the palace became more and more crowded, and finally the guards simply closed the south gate, posted notices every morning, and took them off after the curfew at night, repeating the cycle.

Gradually, someone was not afraid of death to set up a stall at the gate of the palace. The stall owner was a young man in his 25s, with a fair face and no beard.

At first no one cared, only thought that he was bold, and there would be guards chasing him away, unexpectedly he stayed for several days, not only was no one chasing him away, but after a few days, another fortune teller appeared next to him.

……

Young people, like veteran fortune tellers, rely on one mouth to eat. The old ones talk about good and bad luck, while the young people talk about the trend of the court, and their accuracy is much higher than the old ones who are full of nonsense. Every time they predict who will be unlucky, it will take less than three days , The man's notice must be posted at the gate of the palace.

Those housekeepers told their adults what they saw and heard, and the officials were also very curious, so they asked the servants to inquire again the next day, but the guy started charging the next day, and when he came up, the lion opened his mouth, one thousand taels of silver information.

No matter how expensive the news was, there were still people who were willing to spend a lot of money. Not long afterward, some officials came to inquire about it in disguise, but after just one glance, their calves were almost terrified.

Isn't the one talking among the crowd not far ahead the Eighth Prince?
……

"My lord, where did you get the news, tell the poor Taoist."

The Taoist priest in a purple and gold Taoist robe begged for nothing to beg Wang Quanquan next to him. After a few days, the other party began to carry money in sacks, but the front of his stall became more and more deserted.

Wang Gangquan smiled and threw the silver into the bag next to him, and replied directly:
"Don't you know how to count?"

"Isn't that a discount on lifespan? Is there a way to earn money without discounting one's lifespan?" The old man smiled awkwardly.

"Yes." Wang Gingquan nodded with certainty, then pointed to a middle-aged man in front of him, "Master Cui is well versed in this method, you can learn from him."

The official surnamed Cui who came to inquire about the news broke down in a cold sweat, and quickly waved his hands and said:

"Don't dare, don't dare."

Wang Gangquan didn't bother to talk to Zhou Laodao, so he turned his head and whispered:
"Master Cui, how dare you ask how high you are as an official?"

"My lord's words can really hurt a villain. I'm a fourth-rank official and I don't care about Zhan."

As soon as the middle-aged man in plain clothes finished speaking, Wang Gangquan slapped him on the shoulder abruptly, and said in a low voice:
"My lord's official position has already explained everything. If you have a clear conscience, you won't find anything wrong with you. If it is not clean, then there is not much time left. What do you want to eat?" Just eat something."

Wang Gangquan's words were no different from nonsense, but he successfully bluffed the other party. Just by looking at the expression on the fourth-rank official's face, he knew that he must have done something wrong.

Thinking about it, those fifth-rank magistrates were posted on the palace gate one by one. After the posting was over, wouldn't it be their turn for the fourth-rank prefects?
……

Except for the fact that Wang Gingquan got the information from Emperor Shun slavishly at the beginning, the rest was all based on deceit. The old Taoist at the side swallowed his saliva looking at the white money, but there was nothing he could do.

When all the people around had dispersed, it was already dark, Wang Gangquan glanced at the old Taoist who had been sitting beside him for a day, he showed mercy once in a while, patted the sack and said:
"Zhou Shensuan, please go to Yanque Tower for a drink?"

Zhou Jiuer is also a master who breaks other people's corn when he can't catch fish. He nodded cheerfully and said:

"Let the prince spend money."

"But let's talk about it first, this wine is not for nothing, I will give my child an auspicious name later, and you will be indispensable for the red envelope."

The old Taoist was stunned for a moment when he heard the words, then stood up with a smile and cupped his hands and said:
"Congratulations, my lord. At first I thought that it was a blessing for the royal family to have a happy queen, but I never imagined that this would be double happiness."

Wang Qingquan waved his hands and said:
"Don't mention it. At that time, Emperor Shun almost gave me a beating. Don't talk to me. He felt sorry for me and only revealed a little information. I don't have your ability to pinch and count."

……

In the imperial garden of the harem, it was rare for Emperor Shun not to go to the imperial study, but chose to stay beside the pregnant queen.

The woman asked with a smile on her face:

"I heard that he set up a stall at the gate of the city to earn money from corrupt officials?"

Emperor Shun smiled helplessly, handed the peeled apple to the other party and said:
"I was really impulsive at the time. I couldn't understand what he said he wanted to earn for milk powder, so I just let him go.

However, the method of posting notices is really effective. Not only have many big fish hidden in the dark been caught, but until now no one has proposed to enter the palace to face the saint, presumably because of a guilty conscience. "

The woman smiled lightly:

"They naturally know what they have done, and anyone with a discerning eye can see the truth clearly, if they still have the cheek to call for injustice, it is nothing but self-deception.

But if you don't discuss politics in the first month, you have blocked their way out. Now even if you want to plead guilty, you will have to suffer for a while.

Having said that, do you really intend to replace most of the court officials? "

Emperor Shun shook his head when he heard the words, and said thoughtfully:

"Before I went to Ankang Palace, I met Jiang Xiuye, who is known as the unparalleled counselor, and he meant that he had used it but not worked hard.

These ex-officials are certainly abominable, but they haven't reached the point where they must be exterminated. It would be better to catch them like this. Whether or not I make a move depends entirely on their performance. Presumably this group of old foxes who have been in officialdom for many years can catch them.

If you blindly use heroic officials, it will make them feel confident, and in the end it will breed a group of powerful officials who are even more lawless. "

When Emperor Shun said this, he couldn't help but sigh a long time:
"The so-called art of controlling people by the emperor is not as easy as I thought.

……

Seeing that the other party rarely felt the difficulty of governing, the woman couldn't help laughing and said:
"Otherwise, if you want that counselor here, it would be a waste of money to put it in the Ankang Palace anyway."

Emperor Shun shook his head and said bluntly:
"If I want someone from him, I can imagine his face as a villain. I really don't want to encourage his arrogance anymore."

The woman smiled and said nothing, even the emperor could not escape the man's whim after all.

……

(End of this chapter)