Very quickly, the unlucky Cabinet Elder Zhao received the Emperor's personal memorial in red, as well as the Emperor's furious verbal edict — take out a hundred thousand taels of silver for Xiao Ruxun to use for her troops. Otherwise, the entire cabinet can resign!
The Emperor's anger was so strong that all the officials in the Cabinet, including Zhang Wei, felt uneasy.
The Cabinet was different from the ordinary chancellors. Though they had great power, they were in an awkward position. It was because the assistants of the Cabinet were equivalent to the Emperor's private secretaries. The Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet were only of the fifth level. Strictly speaking, they were not qualified to hold such real power. However, this was the case in the Ming Dynasty.
The Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet were like this. If the Emperor wanted to dismiss other officials, other officials could still argue for it. However, the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet, like the Emperor's private secretaries, had to resign at the Emperor's command. Then, many imperial censors would come to impeach them.
Different from the other positions that were not profitable, the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet were supported by the Emperor and faced the chancellors. Their status was different from that of the ordinary chancellors. One had to step down before the other could step up. The other assistants in the Cabinet would also want to see the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet retire as soon as possible.
If the Emperor wanted the assistants of the Cabinet to resign, they had to submit a resignation form. In order to put on a show, the Emperor wouldn't allow it until he submitted a resignation form. In some cases, if the Emperor was extremely dissatisfied, the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet would submit a resignation form.
The Emperor couldn't control the other officials, but the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet had some control over them. It was because their positions were envied by others. If the Emperor was dissatisfied, a large group of people would immediately kick the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet.
However, Zhao Zhigao didn't do anything wrong, even though he didn't make any achievements. In the Cabinet, Zhao Zhigao was a rare upright person who followed the rule that only the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet should speak less and do less.
He had tried to rein in the deteriorating atmosphere of the court, but he was helpless. It had developed to the point where it could not be stopped. Even someone as valiant as Zhang Juzheng could not save the situation, let alone Zhao Zhigao.
He looked at the unprecedentedly strong tone of the Emperor's personal red comment and then at his three colleagues who were looking at each other. Lao Zhao let out a long sigh and opened his mouth to say, "Right now, Zhong Hua is sick and recuperating. Mingcheng, Yuanzhong, Jianwu, you three tell me, what do you plan to do with His Majesty's red comment?"
Zhang Wei, Emperor Chen Yudi, and Shen Yicheng looked at each other, and a helpless expression appeared on their faces.
"It seems that His Majesty is quite dissatisfied with the increasingly empty state treasury. If this continues, it is hard to say whether His Majesty will create a bloody storm. At that time, another batch of scapegoats will fall to the ground, and none of us will benefit. In my opinion, we should allocate 100,000 taels of silver from the Ministry of Works to Xiao Zhennan."
Zhang Wei looked at Shen Yicheng and made this suggestion.
Shen Yicheng was immediately dissatisfied, because the Ministry of Works was the department he was in charge of.
"I say, Minister Zhang, the Ministry of Works is the cheapest out of the six ministries in the court. This saying has been circulating inside and outside the court for many years. I won't argue about this. Let's talk about the silver for repairing the Yellow River's dikes. The Ministry of Works has been waiting for three years, and so has the Yellow River's dikes. If we allocate 100,000 taels of silver this time, you also know that it will only be halfway done.
Whether this half-completed Yellow River dyke can withstand the flood, you also have a measure in your heart. The silver that has been allocated will be exploited layer by layer, we all understand that, but no one can accompany this silver all the way to the Yellow River bank to control the flow of every tael of silver. We are helpless. "
Shen Yicheng said this, and Zhang Wei was speechless. In recent years, there had been many small floods of the Yellow River, but they were only small floods. If it was a large flood, the whole of North China would probably suffer. The last time the Yellow River's dikes were repaired was three years ago. This time, it would be a major repair. If it wasn't repaired, it would be hard to say.
So, Zhang Wei looked at Emperor Chen Yuxiang.
"Then we might as well give Xiao Ruxun a discount of 50,000 taels of silver each from Ji Town and Liaodong Town. These two towns are asking for too much, asking for 300,000 taels of silver, especially Liaodong Town. It's ridiculous. Li Chengliang is regressing as he ages, and Li Rusong is becoming more and more confused as he ages. Deduct another 50,000 taels of silver each and leave 100,000 for the national treasury!"
Emperor Chen Yuxiang immediately blew his beard and glared. The Ministry of War was the department he was in charge of, and he knew a little about the situation in Liaodong and Ji Town.
In recent years, the winter was getting colder and colder, and it came earlier and earlier. The northern grasslands seemed to have suffered a disaster as well. The Mongolians had tried to invade the south several times, but they were beaten back. This time, it seemed that something big was going to happen. It was reasonable for them to ask for more silver to repair their equipment.
"Minister Zhang, it's easy for you to say that. The winter has been getting colder and colder these years, and it came earlier and earlier. We are already like this here, and the grasslands are already suffering from a major snowstorm. Every time there is a snowstorm, the Mongolians will definitely invade the south. If we don't use the silver to ensure that the defense line is not destroyed, are we going to wait for them to invade the capital?!"
Emperor Chen Yuxiang's words were very tough, but it was true. If they did not use the silver in the Nine Regions, if one of them was breached, the imperial court would really spend ten or even a hundred times the amount of silver to compensate them. Everyone knew the situation in the Nine Regions. Except for Ningxia Town and Datong Town, which were slightly better, the rest were all rotten potatoes!
Now, it would be great if 100,000 of the 300,000 taels of silver could be used on the soldiers!
Zhang Wei was choked again. He said angrily, "Then what should we do? Where are we going to deduct the silver from? From your mouth? "
Emperor Chen Yuxiang wanted to quarrel with Zhang Wei. In any case, he had been unhappy with Zhang Wei for a long time, and he had long wanted to fight with him.
"Enough! Stop quarreling! I called you here to solve the problem, not to create it! We haven't talked much, and you want to quarrel? What should we do? This is the Cabinet, not a teahouse! If you want to quarrel, go outside and quarrel! "
Zhao Zhigao was the Cabinet Chief, and he was also the oldest and the most experienced. Even if Zhang Wei coveted his position, he was 14 years younger than him, so he had to respect him.
After a bout of anger, Zhao Zhigao calmed himself down and slowly said, "No matter what, in this matter, His Majesty is in the right. When the country fights a war, they don't use the national treasury and instead use the Emperor's palace treasury. This is a bit unreasonable. This has never happened in any other dynasty, but the Great Ming Dynasty is the first to do so.
If he really took the silver out to do proper things, no one would be able to say anything. It is true that the silver is not enough. It is not a big deal for the Emperor to take out some money from the palace treasury. However, whether the silver is used to eat, drink, gamble, or buy land, we all know very well. "
Zhao Zhigao glanced at the three auxiliary officials, and each of them had their own interesting expressions.
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