Speaking of this, he suddenly remembered something. He asked the Ministry of Works to repair the burned West Market and East Market in Chang 'an City. He wondered how they were doing. Thinking of this, he glanced at the officials. "Where is the Minister of Works?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a man in his fifties stood up. He was the Minister of Works, Duan Lun.
Duan Lun stepped forward and bowed. "Your Majesty, I am here."
Li Shimin nodded slightly and said seriously, "Minister Duan, I suddenly remembered something. How is the West Market and East Market that I asked you to repair?"
The corner of Duan Lun's mouth twitched.
Last time when the West Market and East Market of Chang 'an City were burned, His Majesty did order the Ministry of Works to repair them. But how could the Ministry of Works have the money to repair them?
So it had been delayed until now. Why did His Majesty suddenly think of this?
It was all because of the Grand Scribe. If he had not reported, why would His Majesty suddenly think of this?
Thinking of this, he turned around and glared at the Grand Scribe.
The poor Grand Scribe was confused. He did not know what had happened. He had only reported some military matters. Why was the Minister of Works glaring at him?
Although he was confused, he did not dare to say anything. Because Duan Lun's position was higher than his, he could only put on a smiling face.
Duan Lun was even angrier. He thought the Grand Scribe was laughing at him. He was so angry that he could guarantee that if it were not for the court, he would have beaten this guy up.
But at this moment, Li Shimin's dignified voice sounded again. "Minister Duan, why are you not saying a word?"
Duan Lun was shocked. He slowly turned his head and looked at Li Shimin with trembling eyes. He did not know what to say.
Li Shimin seemed to have noticed something. He frowned and said with dissatisfaction, "Minister Duan, have you not repaired them?"
Hearing this, Duan Lun's legs went weak. He did not care about anything else. He quickly knelt on the ground and shouted, "Your Majesty, please forgive me."
Seeing this, the other Ministry of Works officials behind him did not dare to hesitate. They quickly knelt on the ground and begged for forgiveness.
As expected.
Li Shimin sneered.
These bastards really did not repair them.
No wonder he dallied for so long.
He snorted and said, "Why wasn't it repaired?"
Duan Lun didn't reply immediately. Instead, he secretly glanced at Dai Zhou.
Dai Ren shuddered, feeling a bad premonition, but he couldn't put his finger on it, so he coughed twice and pretended to be calm.
On the other hand, Duan Lun trembled as he raised his head to look at Li Shimin. He said softly, "Your Majesty, it's not that the Ministry of Works doesn't want to repair it. It's just that we don't have the money or the workers."
"No money? No workers? "
Li Shimin's mouth twitched. He felt that his intelligence had been insulted. He could believe that the Ministry of Works did not have money, but how could they not have workers? Then what was the use of such a large Ministry of Works? He suddenly stood up and glared at Duan Lun. "Duan Lun, do you think I'm easy to fool? How could the Ministry of Works not have money? What was even more ridiculous was that there were no workers. Do you know what the crime of deceiving the monarch is? "
"This subject doesn't dare to deceive the monarch."
Duan Lun broke out in cold sweat and his legs began to tremble. "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Works has been repairing the inside and outside of the palace, as well as the barracks, the residences of the emperors and ministers. Normally, they should receive a lot of money, but there are still many debts that haven't been settled. This is why they can't make ends meet. The Ministry of Works has long run out of money to repair the west and east markets."
Li Shimin was startled.
He didn't think that there would be such a thing.
Indeed, other than repairing the inside and outside of the palace, the Ministry of Works would also repair the barracks for the ministers. This way, they could earn some money and wouldn't empty the national treasury. The wages of the Ministry of Works' workers would also increase.
But he didn't think that the Ministry of Works still had debts that hadn't been collected.
If that was the case, did he blame this fellow wrongly?
He deliberately coughed twice to cover up his embarrassment and said, "Then why didn't you borrow money from the Minister of Revenue, Dai Zhou?"
Here it came?
Dai Zhou trembled and felt a chill run down his spine.
He faintly remembered something. Duan Lun had once come to him to borrow money, but he didn't lend him any. Now that the Emperor suddenly asked, this old fellow wouldn't reveal it, right?
No wonder this old fellow looked at him strangely just now.
So it was here.
With that thought, he narrowed his eyes and turned to look at Duan Lun.
Duan Lun spoke again, "Your Majesty, this subject went to Minister Dai last time, but Minister Dai said that he didn't have any money."
Li Shimin frowned slightly and turned to look at Dai Zhou. He asked with a puzzled expression, "Beloved Official Dai, the Ministry of Revenue doesn't have any money?"
Dai Zhou was slightly taken aback and hurriedly stepped forward. He bowed and said, "Your Majesty, it's not that this subject doesn't want to lend money to Minister Duan, but the Ministry of Revenue doesn't have much savings. Moreover, Minister Duan didn't explain clearly last time, so this subject thought that he was joking, so …"
As he spoke, he smiled awkwardly, "This subject is also powerless."
Hearing this, Li Shimin understood.
Duan Lun probably really didn't have any extra money, so he went to borrow money from Dai Zhou. Dai Zhou didn't lend him money for various reasons. It could be that he didn't have enough money, or he deliberately didn't lend him money.
But none of this was important. Since Dai Zhou didn't lend him money, he naturally had his own reasons.
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