Emperor Xie Yu had been having a headache recently.
The country was currently in the hot mid-summer, but the long-awaited rain had not fallen on the Central Plains for an unfortunately long time. Agricultural problems, such as drought and locust plagues, have been reported from one place to another, so the relief of grain and silver was indispensable. Yet, the Ministry of Revenue sadly reported that the treasury was nearly seeing its bottom. With the national debt yet to be repaid in full, Emperor Xie Yu’s anger was pushed to the brim. Moreover, even if he forced all of the nobles who ‘borrowed’ from the national treasure to return their mountainous debts, the aid would still come too slow to be of any help for the relief for disaster could not be delayed.
Because of Chu Dahai’s convenient appearance, Shen Zhen had come up with a new plan that would surely kill two birds with one stone. He secretly met up with the Holy Emperor and quickly reported this to him. Emperor Xie Yu excitedly slapped the table and applauded in amazement, immediately calling in a few more of his trusted aides to discuss the plan more carefully. They all waited till today when Gongsun Mu had finally naively bitten the bait.
Because Shen Zhen was the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Appointments, he was responsible for almost all the appointments and dismissals of officials, but appointing a close relative to an official position using his power was an outright dereliction of his duty. According to the law, the heaviest punishment that could be imposed would be the execution of his relatives while the lightest punishment would be removing him from his post.
“Official Shen! What’s going on?”
Emperor Xie Yu fiercely slammed his palm against his dragon seat, his face carrying a solemn look as though dark clouds had rushed forth, signaling a brewing heavy storm.
All the ministers attending court lowered their eyebrows and pretended to be unconcerned, however, on the inside, they all uttered the same thing in their hearts, ‘Shen Zhen was doomed this time.’
On the other hand, Gongsun Mu’s face carried sheer bliss as though he could already see Shen Zhen’s beaten body being dragged away by the inner guards, cutting a sorry figure and losing his official position.
Shen Zhen calmly stepped out of the orderly line of ministers and quietly stood beside Gongsun Mu.
He gestured a respectful salute, but the words that came out of his mouth made Gongsun Mu’s heart drop down with a loud ‘clunk.’
“Reporting to the Holy Emperor, this official did not abuse his power. This matter also doesn’t concern whether that man is this official’s relative or not. This official only wants to ease the emperor’s burden. Moreover, there is already a precedent for this matter!”
“Oh?” Emperor Xie Yu jovially played along and further inquired, “How can zhen be involved in this matter of arranging official positions? And how does Official Shen plan to ease my burden with this?”
“Reporting to the Holy Emperor, due to the onslaught of successive droughts and several plagues of locusts, the people have no way to make a living and this widespread famine has run rampant. The most important matter at hand is to make sure that relief from disaster is given. However, the national treasury’s funds have been stretched too thin and the sizable debts of silver remain unpaid. When this official saw all of these factors, this official couldn’t help but feel even more anxious.”
“Hmph!” At the mention of the troublesome debts, Emperor Xie Yu seemed even more furious. Sweeping a cold glance at the silent officials in the hall, everybody appeared to be scared witless. “Silver. Zhen really wants to ask my beloved officials, where is the silver!? Ministry of Revenue! Where are the people who borrowed them!? What use are all of you to zhen!?”
The Ministry of Revenue’s Grand Minister and Assistant Minister hurriedly stepped out of the line and pitifully kneeled on the ground as fast as they could, repeatedly calling out that they had committed a severe crime.
Once Gongsun Mu saw the topic running the other way, he quickly wanted to pull Emperor Xie Yu’s attention back to the current matter.
“Emperor, Lord Shen’s dereliction of duty, has nothing to do with this matter…”
“Hehe,” Shen Zhen responded to Gongsun Mu with a smile, “Lord Gongsun, why are you in such a hurry? Wasn’t I just about to continue my explanation…” Following this, he then turned to the Assistant Minister of Revenue Zhang Feng and the two exchanged glances. Shen Zhen took the lead and spoke with confidence, “As the saying goes, ‘Take history as a mirror and you will know how the country rises and falls.’ Not long ago, this official went to the Imperial Hanlin Academy to refer to the historical records regarding the current problem and had coincidentally bumped into Lord Zhang.”
Zhang Feng bowed towards Shen Zhen and continued, “That is true, Holy Emperor. At that time, this official was concerned about the matter of the disaster relief and had discussed it extensively with Lord Shen, coincidentally reaching the topic of an action taken in the previous dynasty. This official wanted to enlighten you with great wisdom and found the perfect way to solve the matter of utter urgency!”
“This official has already prepared a memorial to the emperor and is preparing to report too, but didn’t expect that Lord Gongsun was a step faster than this official in discovering this measure. Hehe.”
Gongsun Mu appeared stupefied at this moment. He did not understand how the matter of Shen Zhen’s dereliction of duty involved the Ministry of Revenue’s disaster relief.
Zhang Feng said slowly, “In the first year of Emperor Wu De’s reign in the previous dynasty, after the “Donglin Incident,” the treasury was left completely empty, and Emperor Wu De had implemented a policy that only carried out for three months.”
“It was called ‘Donate to Become an Official’!”
‘Donate to Become an Official,’ as the name implied, was a policy that allowed people to become officials
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