After the rebirth, the queen took the Meiqiang tragedy script

"So many? How is it possible?" Ye Qinghuai asked in shock.

If, as Lin Yuxiu said, Yang Bocheng confiscated 800 million taels from his house, the gift he gave to the emperor was actually twice that amount.

"I have seen the accounts of the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Accounts. After all the festivals in a year, the palace received only 300-600 million taels of silver. If you follow what you say, Yang Bocheng would have given away [-]-[-] million taels of silver a year. Come on, how is this possible?" Ye Qinghuai shook his head.

"Not all of the money went into the palace. In fact, every time Yang Bocheng came to Beijing to pay tribute, he had to go to the house of Yan Wenshan, the then chief minister. Yan Wenshan would use various reasons-for example, the emperor didn't like this- - Keep some. And the rest will be handed over to the Ministry of Etiquette for inspection, and the Ministry of Etiquette will withhold a few items from it, and finally the rest will be sent to the palace. If his gift is for the queen, then in addition to In addition, he will have to be harassed by the inner court." Lin Yuxiu concluded, "In other words, if His Majesty saw him sending a gift to congratulate him, then it is very likely that he brought more than a dozen when he came to Beijing."

Ye Qinghuai frowned.

"Not only that, according to Yang Bocheng's own confession, it is common for officials from various places to compete with each other in the gifts they send. If the things they send are not as good as other state capitals, it will easily make the emperor and the adults in Beijing think that his state capital will It’s not managed well.”

Ye Qinghuai laughed in disbelief and said: "How is it possible? Don't you care about taxes and harvests?"

"Because taxes and poor harvests may be due to geographical reasons, or it may be due to historical reasons. But if you can't even get a decent gift, it means that the local area is really in extreme poverty."

After Lin Yuxiu finished talking about old things, he returned to the present: "Wei Chen still remembers that when your Majesty and Wei Chen were discussing the new policy, he mentioned officials' corruption and examination success. Your Majesty should know that the Ministry of Rites enriches himself in major celebrations, and you should also know why the Ministry of Rites We must do our best to facilitate such a grand birthday banquet.”

Ye Qinghuai was a little impatient: "I know. Not only do I know this, I also know that the Ministry of Rites takes benefits from the dancers and piano players who perform in the palace, and the inner court also takes a cut from the meals and rituals. I just didn't expect them to be so greedy. How can I eat so much from being so jaded and crazy!"

Lin Yuxiu paused for a moment, his expression turned cold, and he asked: "So your Majesty agreed to hold the Wanshou Festival according to the old system because he thought they would get less out of it?"

Sensing the aggression in Lin Yuxiu's tone, Ye Qinghuai asked, "What do you want to say?"

"If they were less greedy, would His Majesty acquiesce to their behavior?" Lin Yuxiu asked.

His voice was as cold as his eyes.

"Of course not..." Ye Qinghuai replied subconsciously, but her voice was as light as a mosquito and there was no confidence.

Then, she sighed helplessly and said: "Lin Qing, you don't know that hosting these banquets is very laborious. The Ministry of Rites has to take care of every guest's food, clothing, housing and transportation, and often stays up for half a month. The inner court is even more so. If not How can we get them to perform their duties conscientiously with some sweeteners? This is just the New Deal’s failure to implement the previous rights and interests policy.”

"Your Majesty thinks they have worked hard, so you can reward them." Lin Yuxiu refused, "Your Majesty is making excuses for his behavior."

Ye Qinghuai said irritably: "If I reward them, the other officials and soldiers will come out and say that they are also working hard, saying that it is unfair that I only reward the punishment department. More importantly, if I reward them, they will be able to clean up." Don't you want the land?" Ye Qinghuai snorted coldly, "Not only the Ministry of Rites, but also the six departments are probably not clean. Not only the six departments, but even the petty officials far away in the border are not clean!" Ye Qinghuai said Huai was already a little excited when he finished speaking.

"Did you know? I saw two children who had escaped from Yunzhou on the streets of Shengjing a few days ago. Their father and brother were arrested, and the land at home was expropriated for farming. The order issued by the imperial court was clearly three The imperial court also issued an order prohibiting the forced expropriation of people's land, but when it was implemented at the local level, it completely changed. This kind of thing didn't just happen in one or two towns and counties, but They are everywhere! During the Northern March, Mr. Lu saw many refugees whose land was forcibly expropriated. Some of them were robbed of their land by the army, some by the government, and even more outrageous, some were robbed of their land by the gentry. This battle For them, it seems like an opportunity to make a fortune!"

After Ye Qinghuai finished speaking, he knocked on the desk hard.

"As I sit here today, I am thinking, even if I simply organize the Wanshou Festival, where will the money saved be used? I am afraid that even if the money cannot enter the pockets of the Ministry of Rites, it will not be used on the battlefield in the end. And It went into someone’s pocket!”

Lin Yuxiu had been listening silently until Ye Qinghuai stopped.

"Your Majesty, do you still remember what you said outside Chengtian Gate?" Lin Yuxiu looked at Ye Qinghuai, his cold eyes gradually became warmer, "Your Majesty said, if it is a human problem, you will get rid of such people. If If it’s a problem with the system, you abolish the system. If it’s a problem with the policy, you have to revise the policy. Has Your Majesty forgotten his ambitions at that time?”

This is indeed what Ye Qinghuai said at that time. Now, only more than half a year has passed, but it still makes her feel as if she is in another world.

"Of course I remember. It's just..." Ye Qinghuai sighed deeply, "I thought this road would be difficult, but I never thought it would be so difficult. It's so difficult that I even doubt whether I did something wrong."

She lowered her eyes, and her voice was full of fatigue.

Lin Yuxiu seemed to see an invisible mountain pressing down on her, making the young emperor look old.

"Your Majesty, everything in this world is difficult." Lin Yuxiu tried to encourage her.

Ye Qinghuai seemed not to have heard what he said, her expression was a little dazed, and she said to herself: "'If it's a human problem, I will get rid of such people.' However, if the problem is many people, or even almost all of them, Everyone, can I really get rid of so many people? Even if I replace them all and replace them with a new group of people, will the new ones be able to have no problems? "

Ye Qinghuai shook his head helplessly and said: "I have never thought that my court would be like this. The hearts of each of my ministers feel like they have been rinsed in the smelly swamp mud. Same. Lin Qing, why do you think this is? Is it because power is dirty, or is the human heart dirty? "

"Your Majesty, although people's hearts are kind, they cannot stand the test. So don't give it a chance to stand the test." Lin Yuxiu knelt down, made a big salute, and said, "I would like to ask your Majesty to cancel the Wanshou Festival foreign ministers' palace banquet and pay tribute. At this stage, only the congratulations are given."

After speaking, he looked up at Ye Qinghuai and said: "Your Majesty, although you may lose a million taels of silver as a birthday gift, for the people and ministers in the world, you may be able to avoid ten or a hundred times this amount. A heavy burden. Perhaps because of your one thought, tens of thousands of hungry people will be able to avoid being exploited and survive."