Chapter 791: Ministry of Revenue
"In that case, I will wait for good news."
Outside the east hall of the Ministry of Revenue, Sun Shaozong bowed and saluted. After receiving a response from the Minister of Revenue Zhao Hong, he bowed and took two steps back before being led out of the courtyard by the yamen runners.
Seeing that the bailiff was leading him towards the main gate of the Ministry of Revenue, Sun Shaozong hurriedly stopped him and said that he still wanted to visit Yu Qian, the chief secretary of the Ministry of Revenue.
The yamen runner obviously knew about his relationship with Yu Qian, and did not go in first to pass the message and then lead Sun Shaozong in as he had done before. Instead, he took him directly to a secluded courtyard in the northeast corner of the yamen.
The courtyard was not big, but there was a side door about ten feet wide in the corner, which vaguely indicated the superior status of the Censor-in-Chief.
He threw a piece of silver to the bailiff who was leading the way, and amid the other party's profuse thanks, he stepped into the main hall in the middle of the room. He saw an empty desk in front of him, which was placed diagonally opposite the door.
"Huh?"
Yu Qian, who heard the noise, came in from the inner room, and when he saw that it was Sun Shaozong, he couldn't help but ask in surprise, "Why is my uncle here?"
But he immediately realized: "Are you here to ask for money?"
"Just came out from Minister Zhao."
Sun Shaozong said this, tapping the case with his chin, and asked curiously, "It's been decided so quickly?"
This sounded incoherent, but Yu Qian immediately understood what he meant and shook his head, saying, "It was only said that he would take office before the end of the month, and the specific candidate has not been decided yet."
It turned out that Sun Shaozong saw that the table was polished to a shine and was empty without any debris on it, so he guessed that a new Jieshi Zhong was about to take office.
Yu Qian led Sun Shaozong into the inner room and poured tea for him personally before the host and guest sat down.
Since they were relatives, there was no need to worry about serving tea or seeing the guests off. Sun Shaozong had just uttered a lot of saliva, so he picked up the teacup and drank most of it without waiting to speak again.
"Wufeng Maojian, a tribute from Huguang? A reward from the palace?"
If it were any other tea, Sun Shaozong might not be able to taste it, but he was used to drinking Wufeng Maojian.
However, after this thing was sent to the capital, it became much more valuable. Except for those with connections in the palace, ordinary officials could not enjoy it.
"I asked for a prize in front of His Majesty a few days ago."
Yu Qian smiled slightly, then leaned forward and asked seriously, "Did Minister Zhao specify when the funds will be allocated?"
"Three days later."
Sun Shaozong raised three fingers, but his face showed a puzzled look, and he asked in surprise: "How come? Could it be that Tingyi did not participate in the Ministry of Revenue's self-examination this time?"
Seeing Yu Qian nodded silently, Sun Shaozong couldn't help but frown.
Just now, the Minister of Revenue Zhao Hong told Sun Shaozong that the Ministry of Revenue’s self-inspection had not yet been completed, so it was not convenient to transfer funds for the time being.
But since it is a self-examination, how can we get rid of the Du Shizhong who has the important responsibility of supervision?
This is not only unreasonable, it is even illegal.
Suddenly, Sun Shaozong suddenly remembered something and asked hurriedly, "Did Tingyi report to the court about being excluded?"
"Both memorials were kept in the palace and not sent out."
It seems that it was really the emperor's order!
What Sun Shaozong just thought of was the scene on the day of the Emperor's Birthday when Emperor Guangde summoned him privately to inquire about Zhou Chang, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue.
Although there was no clear evidence, Sun Shaozong intuitively believed that there must be a connection between the two.
In addition, Yang Kui, the official in charge of the Office of Internal Affairs who poisoned Lu Mingsi, had also been transferred to the Northern Pacification Office. The involvement here is probably not small.
Thinking of this, Sun Shaozong hurriedly reminded him cryptically: "Just do your duty, it's best not to delve into this matter for now."
Yu Qian raised his eyebrows when he heard this, and opened his mouth as if he wanted to get to the bottom of things, but after a slight hesitation, he closed his mouth again.
"That's right."
Sun Shaozong took the opportunity to state his purpose: "I have a memorial here, and I would like to ask Tingyi to help review and polish it."
As he spoke, he told Yu Qian his general idea of submitting a letter to the imperial court and carrying out legal education activities in rural areas with the Dali Temple as the lead.
After listening to this, Yu Qian's already frowned brows became even tighter.
He pondered for a while before speaking, "Uncle, a few days ago, the Minister of Personnel, Lord Wang, submitted a memorial saying that the situation of redundant officials and staff in our court is becoming increasingly serious. He hopes that he can be temporarily postponed from entering the cabinet so as to eliminate the pros and cons for the court."
Why is Xue Pan, the father-in-law, crazy?
He is unwilling to join the cabinet as prime minister, but instead takes the initiative to take on this tough task?
The drawbacks of redundant officials and redundant staff are difficult to eliminate even in later generations, let alone the even more complicated ancient officialdom?
Seeing Sun Shaozong's puzzled expression, even forgetting to respond to his words, Yu Qian had to further explain: "From my guess, Minister Wang probably wants to 'take the real and discard the fake' - now that he has been appointed to the cabinet, he must resign from the position of Minister of Personnel and then take up another position. Unfortunately, there are only a few idle positions in the court."
I see.
Among the six ministries of the Zhou Dynasty, the Shangshu of Revenue, Rites, War, Works, and Punishments could all be concurrently held by the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet. The only exception was the Tianguan of the Ministry of Personnel, who according to the rules could not be held concurrently.
This is naturally to prevent a certain minister from becoming too powerful.
When Wang Zhe entered the cabinet, he was already at the bottom of the list. If he were to take up an unnecessary position, his actual power would be greatly reduced.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have done this trick of retreating to advance.
After understanding the cause and effect, Sun Shaozong responded to Yu Qian's concerns: "Tingyi can rest assured. I don't expect the court to appoint new officials to promote the plan of spreading Buddhism."
"Uncle, do you want local officials to take on the role?"
Yu Qian's frown did not relax at all after hearing this, but instead tightened: "I'm afraid it's not feasible. Most local officials will only pretend to obey but secretly disobey, and in the end it will be a mess."
"I certainly won't count on them."
Sun Shaozong shook his head and said, "According to my opinion, I want to let the students from the prefectures and counties take turns to serve concurrently. Firstly, this will not take up official positions, and secondly, it will allow these scholars to truly understand the sufferings of the people."
After a pause, he added: "As for the reward, just calculate it within the 'four tributes' - plus a small amount of salary."
The so-called prefectural and county students refer to the scholars who study in prefectural and county public schools.
As for the "four tributes", they refer to "excellent tribute", "graceful tribute", "special tribute" and "annual tribute".
To put it simply, it means to select the best students from the prefectures and counties through various means and transfer them to become students of the Imperial Academy.
This is still very attractive to many students.
A small amount of material rewards can also attract many poor students.
"As long as this method is effective, I will continue to suggest to the court that the strength and effect of popularizing the law be added to the 'education and examination', and officials specially sent by the Dali Temple should be evaluated."
Hearing this, Yu Qian finally understood and blurted out: "It turns out that my uncle's real intention is not to drink, but to revitalize the Dali Temple!"
"No."
Sun Shaozong shook his head and said, "It should be said that it is killing two birds with one stone."
At this point, he sighed helplessly: "At first, I just wanted to find a way out, so that I wouldn't be a figurehead in the Dali Temple, but later when I saw the statistics, I realized that this matter had reached the point where it could shake the foundation of the country."
Yu Qian seemed a little disapproving after hearing this.
Sun Shaozong added: "You were born in the wealthy area of Jiangnan, so you don't think it's a big deal. But in the northwest and southwest, this trend is getting worse and worse - and this is not counting the local government's concealment of the news."
"If this continues, the villagers will each form their own faction, only knowing their uncles and brothers, and not knowing the laws of the court. If there is a famine, the White Lotus incident will happen again, and the harm may be even worse."
