Chapter 441: Get Out If You Don’t Accept It
Zhao Yulin went on to say: For example, in terms of official administration, in the past, the previous emperor set up transportation, water transport and several judges in order to restrain and supervise the abuse of power by local rulers. Strictly speaking, they were responsible for supervising the work of the officials.
If the judge believes that something does not conform to the court's regulations, or has a grudge against his superior, he can negate his superior's decision, causing the matter to fail to be done.
For example, our transportation, water transport, and the Ministry of Revenue each have their own responsibilities and act independently. If they don't get along with me, they can refuse to cooperate or even submit a memorial to impeach me.
This makes it even more difficult for local supervisors to get anything done.
These people looked at each other in surprise and thought: Damn, Zhao Qier is teaching his colleagues a lesson. He is really a vicious and evil demon as the rumors say.
The transport envoy had long been dissatisfied with him and asked in a cold voice: What does Commander Zhao mean?
Are you teaching me a lesson?
Zhao Yulin smiled faintly and said: How dare I, how dare I, I just want to chat with you guys.
Here, he wanted to set three rules: First, everyone must obey the dispatch arrangements in the future, and each of them must complete their respective tasks without any mistakes.
The transport envoy immediately asked in a deep voice: Commander Zhao, do you want us to obey your orders?
Zhao Yulin asked with a smile, didn’t he explain it clearly enough?
The grain transport envoy then retorted that this was against the ancestral system of the court, and that we were appointed by heaven and were all working for the court.
He completely understood what the grain transport envoy meant. They were all officials appointed by the emperor himself, so of course they were all responsible to the court and the emperor. If anyone did a bad job, they could find some reasons to refuse, and they could write a memorial to impeach the other party. They were equal colleagues.
Zhao Yulin didn't want to argue with this person anymore. There were still a lot of things to do and he didn't have the time to spare.
He knocked on the table and said: Mr. Yu told him that the Jiangdong Army failed to counterattack the Mongolian Army in Huai'an the year before last. The reason was that the grain transport delayed the supply of military food and baggage. Later, you all wrote memorials to Lin'an to report this. Is this true?
The canal transport envoy was stunned immediately.
Soon, this fellow screamed like a cat whose tail was stepped on: "That was Yu Jie's fault in command, what has it got to do with me? Jiangdong has been in war for years, and there are not enough ships and military rations. It's not that I didn't do my best."
Zhao Yulin glanced at the gentlemen angrily and said: To me, everything related to the anti-Mongol war is not a trivial matter, and delaying military affairs is a capital crime punishable by death.
Whoever dares to interfere with military affairs will be executed without prior notice and will not let any of them escape.
After saying that, he waved his hand and told everyone to disperse.
Damn it, are they going to rebel? Zhao Yulin was a little depressed, thinking that he didn't have enough patience and couldn't do the ideological work of these officials.
This is because he overlooked an important factor. The imperial aura of Jinling City was strong and there were naturally many emperor admirers and people who were willing to kowtow to the emperor as slaves.
When the atmosphere of the government offices he had passed through in the past few days flashed through his mind, and when all the officials he had met had kowtowed and knelt before him in obedience, he laughed at himself and seemed to understand.
Zhao Yulin sorted out his thoughts and asked Ke Zhenxie to find the inspector for him.
In Lin'an Prefecture in Jiangnan, our envoy is talking to Xie Lingyun, the envoy he sent to Chengdu.
Xie Lingyun tactfully told him that Cheng had changed the location of the meeting to Jiankang Prefecture across the river, so that they could talk at any time. When he came back, he went to see Commander Zhao, and Jiankang Prefecture also paid for his travel expenses to and from Chengdu.
After Xie Lingyun withheld a thousand strings of cash, he handed over the rest to the government treasury. This fellow knew how to use his power to deceive others, and he must have planted a lot of secret agents on the other side. Commander Zhao, who had just arrived, must not know about it. He used the money from the government treasury. How could he hide it from the old fox in front of him?
After thinking all this through, Xie Lingyun naturally told the whole story of his mission without hiding anything, and honestly explained the silver, money and gifts he had received.
Shi's son was very satisfied with Xie Gong's work this time, and smiled and told Xie Gong to go back and rest first.
As soon as this man left, several of his lackeys immediately came out from behind the screen.
Yang Daquan said enviously that Xie Gong had gained a lot from his trip to Chengdu, and Zhao Yulin even gave him 5,000 strings of cash for the sake of Princess Feiyan.
Shi's son laughed and praised Xie Gong for being upright and honest in doing things, and for taking whatever he got without deducting a single penny.
Yang Daquan felt aggrieved and swore in front of Shi's son, saying word by word that he had not received a penny for travel expenses or gifts in Sichuan and Jiankang.
Shi's son smiled and asked him where the money was.
Didn’t you deduct a penny?
Yang Daquan felt embarrassed and said like a little wife that it was all the money given to him by the prime minister to spend.
Shi's son asked with a smile: "Then why do you say in front of you that I didn't give enough? I gave one thousand, and Mr. Yang deducted two hundred; I gave two thousand, and Mr. Yang deducted eight hundred. This is not what a real man does."
Yang Daquan immediately shut up and lowered his head. This fellow's character was obviously not the same as Xie Gong's. But Shi's son didn't care about it. He just regarded it as a warning to the naughty boy. He said with a smile that it was all in the past. Let's talk about it. What should we do now?
Yang Daquan had just suffered a setback, and he carefully said that he was just a vanguard, and he only followed the orders of the generals.
Shi's son was happy, but he sighed and said that he had to think about it carefully.
Zhao Yulin from Jiangbei does not have as much time as Shi's son and can make long-term plans.
He called the inspector to his side and asked, "There is so much chaos in Jiankang City. What are the inspectors doing?"
Tell us all about it.
The inspector was panicked when he heard that he had denied everything the inspector had done. This guy had received messages from many acquaintances in Chengdu. Commander Zhao would not get angry easily, but once he got angry, he would kill people. You had to be careful with him.
The inspector immediately knelt down to review his mistakes, but was pulled up by Ke Zhenxie beside him. Zhao Yulin said that kneeling was not a custom in the New Song Dynasty, and he only cared about the results, not the person.
The inspector immediately reviewed his own failure to supervise with trepidation, and made further arrangements when he returned. He personally went to the streets to inspect order and ensure that all the hooligans who were parading in the streets were put in jail.
Zhao Yulin nodded and said that the garrison had been replaced. He asked him to ask the garrison commander to allocate a thousand men to form teams to assist in patrolling. He also asked him to clean up the city within two days. If he did a good job, he would be rewarded. If he did not, he would be told not to do it.
The inspector was so frightened that he was sweating all over. He uttered "yes" three times in a row and backed out of the gate of the government office.
He called Ke Zhenxie to his side and told him that there would be a meeting at the government office tomorrow, and he had to ask his brothers to put down their swords and pick up their brushes. After Zhao Yulin gave these instructions, Ke Zhenxie immediately went to discuss with Zhen Debin.
In the afternoon, Jiankang Prefecture issued a notice for all officials to discuss the matter.
The next morning, Zhao Yulin personally stood at the door and watched the guards register the officials entering the meeting room, under the pretext of getting to know them.
To be honest, there were hundreds or even thousands of people in Jiankang Prefecture, but he really didn't know many of them.
At nine o'clock, it was time for the meeting. Zhao Yulin entered the hall and ordered the guards to close the door.
Today's meeting hall has changed from the past ritual of standing meetings. The hall is filled with rows of tables and chairs. The names of officials are posted on the tables in order according to their ranks. Twenty young students from the prefectural school are standing on the left and right sides to observe the service.
However, these officials had not yet taken their seats. Instead, they were standing in groups of three or five, watching the novelty and chatting.
Zhao Yulin sat in the center of the podium and asked for the meeting to begin. Zhen Debin immediately shouted loudly that the meeting was about to begin, and everyone took their seats immediately.
Some people immediately walked towards their seats, some began to look around for a seat, and some still stood arrogantly in the aisle, shouting loudly, "What are you doing?"
Is the commander going to be a teacher and give lectures?
Damn it, Zhao Yulin was unhappy, and said to Ke Zhen in a loud and evil voice: Those who disrespect their superiors should be punished, dragged to the side hall to register, stripped of their official uniforms, and dismissed from their posts for investigation.
Ke Zhenxie immediately called the guards to drag the man away. A fat official was very dissatisfied and shouted that he was an official appointed by the court and a commander, so how could he arrest people at will?
Zhao Yulin said in a deep voice: Break his legs and drag him away. If you don't shut up, I'll chop this good-for-nothing off.
Damn, Zhao Qier is serious now, he’s really a devil.
The remaining officials were already dumbfounded, sitting or standing there like wooden chickens. The transport officials, water transport officials, censors, and judges around Zhao Yulin were all trembling.
Then, he called Zhen Debin to collect the seating lists of officials from the empty seats and go out to call the roll. Those who came would be fined three months' salary, and those who had not yet arrived would be dismissed from their posts.
After a while, more than 20 people came in from outside the door. He said there were no seats left and everyone should stand and obey him.
These people didn't know what had just happened inside, and they huddled together, muttering to themselves.
Zhao Yulin asked harshly what were you yelling about?
I have set the rules. You knowingly arrive late for meetings, are clearly showing disrespect for your superiors and should be punished. Remember, you will be fined three months' salary and will not be promoted within two years.
Everyone, remember this: if anyone is late and causes trouble again , I will punish them severely.
The transport officer beside him spoke up and asked Zhao Yulin sternly what he meant.
You are all officials in the same dynasty. You were just a little late for work. Why did you ignore the brotherhood and kill him? Is there no law in the New Song Dynasty?
Zhao Yulin chuckled and told him not to worry, that none of the people Zhao had punished were innocent , and none of them refused to obey.
He stared at Xie Wuhui, the chief steward of Shunfeng, who was sitting below, and asked: "Great Chief Steward Xie, two years ago, General Yu was stationed in Huai'an to fight against the Mongolian army. When the military situation was urgent, he ordered Jiankang Prefecture to transport food and military equipment to provide support. However, the military food and supplies could not be transported to the Huai'an front line for a long time, which led to General Yu's defeat. Is this true?"
Xie Wuhui had already stood up. After listening to Zhao Yulin's question, she hesitated for a moment and then bowed and replied: It is true. She had no way of knowing whether General Yu's defeat was related to military rations and military equipment, but the food and fodder that General Yu urged for were indeed not sent to Huai'an.
Zhao Yulin slammed the table and said, "That's enough. Take down the grain transport envoy and have him investigate the grain transport for delaying the war and causing harm to the country and the people."
