Standing back in the queue, Ren Zhen felt a little heavy.Yuan Chonghuan dared to fight back strongly, which did not exceed his expectations.After all, his meddling in the selection of the coach is tantamount to harming the interests of the East and West parties, and it is reasonable for the other party to jump out to fight.Bustling and profitable, he wants to condense a third-party group of Confucian and sword practitioners, which is bound to break the existing balance of interests, and collisions and confrontations are inevitable.The next time we play again, it won't be so easy.He was able to suppress Yuan Chonghuan's arrogance just now because he pretended to use the power of Confucianism to lead the other party into a trap, so that he would not dare to argue any further.However, on the other hand, he also has huge hidden dangers of his own."
It won't be long before Dong Zhongshu will know the news that I came to Chang'an, and for the sake of the true understanding of the Spring and Autumn Period, he may come to me in person regardless of the danger of the Vermilion Bird Array.When the time comes, how to explain his series of actions, it's really nerve-wracking" When he was in Taoshan, he did tell Dong Zhongshu that he was a fellow Confucian sword practitioner, which was true.But the problem is that he never mentioned that he wanted to form his own faction in the court and promote Confucian sword practitioners, let alone ask Dong Zhongshu's consent.Once the two meet, how should he explain his thinking about this matter, and another minister will go out of the court to do something, this time it is the head of the household Shangshu Liu Chengyan.The household department is in charge of a series of finances such as the state treasury, taxes, and acres, and Liu Chengyan is in power, which can be described as the god of wealth of the imperial court.Not only that, he had a friendship with Yuan Chonghuan in his early years, and he was also one of the core figures of the Xiling Party.Seeing that Yuan Chonghuan returned in vain, he stood up and tried to save some face."
Your Majesty, if you insist on appointing General Xiahou as the commander-in-chief, the ministers have nothing to say, and they are willing to act according to the order.However, there is a matter that the minister does not dare to agree with, and I hope that His Majesty will think twice. ”The empress said lightly: "Say it." ”"According to the legal system of the imperial court, the collection of grain and grass during wartime has always been in charge of the household department, and the expenditure is allocated from the state treasury.However, before this great army marched south, you sent General Xiahou to supervise it.This move violates the ancestral system and exceeds the duties of the household department, which is really inappropriate" As soon as this remark came out, it immediately caused the ministers to discuss, and the uproar rose again.After Liu Chengyan straightened his waist, he looked sideways at Ren Zhen, and his eyes showed a provocative meaning.In his opinion, since he can't shake Xiahou Chun's handsome position, then give a blow from other aspects, which can not only defend the power and majesty of the household department, but also bring out the evil anger just now, so that Ren Zhen realizes that the Xiling Party is by no means easy to mess with.He was very confident, this time Ren Zhen could no longer use his power to suppress people, revealing the domineering spirit just now.The household department supervises the transportation of grain and grass, this is the law formulated by the ancestors, there is no doubt, he protested according to the rules, which is completely in line with common sense.Even if it is a little gentleman, it is impossible to move out of Confucianism and use strong words.Hearing his words, some ministers echoed and asked the empress to follow the ancestral system and return the right to supervise grain and grass to the household department.Seeing this, the empress frowned slightly, and said bitterly: "What Zhongqing said is indeed the truth, but now is an extraordinary time, catching up with natural and man-made disasters, no more than in previous years, it is necessary to practice extraordinary methods, and Liu Shangshu has to understand the difficulties of the imperial court." ”She didn't say any more.The subordinates fell silent, and they all understood the empress's helplessness.If in previous years, the state treasury had sufficient grain reserves to supply military supplies, and supervising the matter of grain and grass was nothing more than being responsible for supervising the escort along the road.However, this year is different, the grain in northern Hunan has been burned, making the treasury empty, and the drought has added frost to the snow, and the Northern Tang Dynasty is facing an unprecedentedly severe grain shortage, and it is still difficult to prepare grain and grass.Not only that, the Southern Jin Dynasty invaded on a large scale, and had already crossed the Lijiang River, encroaching on the coastal cities, and the hinterland of the Northern Tang Dynasty was exposed to their attack vision.Intercepting the Tang army's grain route has become feasible and has become a very powerful combat plan for the enemy.Therefore, both raising and transporting grain is too arduous and requires the military to spend a lot of energy on planning, and cannot rely solely on the strength of the household department.In addition, there is a deep-seated reason, which the ministers may not be able to imagine, but it is the biggest scruple in the empress's heart.Self-theft has always been one of the important reasons for the deficit of the national treasury, and it has been repeatedly prohibited.The household department is in charge of money and grain, and the officials are all veterans, and if they want to do something in the process of raising and transporting grain, they are simply familiar with the road and are as easy as a hand.From the book downwards, it is difficult to discern innocence.If in the past, the country and the people were safe, as long as they were not unscrupulous, the emperor would turn a blind eye and tolerate the existence of a few grain rats.But now is a difficult time, and there is an extraordinary shortage of food, which is about to reach the point of worrying about it.If there are still people who refuse to focus on the overall situation and continue to enrich themselves, this will completely anger the empress.The suspect doesn't need it, in fact, she can't trust the household.Liu Chengyan obviously didn't think about this most critical layer, and insisted on saying: "The difficulties of the imperial court, the ministers are naturally clear.It is precisely because of this that the minister has the courage to ask His Majesty to entrust me with this important task.After all, supervising the grain and grass is the specialty of the household department, and it is more convenient to go to the market to buy grain than the military. ”What he was thinking about in his heart was still his own selfish interests, thinking that he could win this power and make a lot of money from it.Hearing the word "buy grain", someone in the class quickly came out of the queue, and Lang Ran said: "Lord Liu's words are wrong.If it is said that the purchase of grain, although the military does not have access to the market, is it possible that the household department is good at doing business with the people, since it is the official procurement of the imperial court, it should be our procurement department to come forward to "speak", the person who speaks is the head of the procurement department, Cao Yin.There were three major organizations in the Northern Tang Dynasty, which were directly under the jurisdiction of the emperor, namely Langya Pavilion, Snow Shadow Guard, and Purchasing Division.The Procurement Department is equivalent to the department now responsible for government procurement, which specializes in the purchase of various materials for the palace to meet the needs of the royal court.From the landscape of flowers and trees, to rouge gouache, and even the empress's personal habits, they all had to be solved through the purchase of the purchasing company.Due to the huge consumption of the palace and the need to ensure that the supply will not be interrupted, the purchasing department has close contacts with some private merchants and has established a stable and large procurement system.Those merchants are often called imperial merchants, and the purchasing department is the intermediate bridge between the royal family and the imperial merchants.For purchasing materials, Cao Yin is undoubtedly the most knowledgeable one in the imperial court.His merchant had a keen sense of smell, and at this time he quickly realized that since His Majesty was unwilling to buy grain through the household department, why didn't he take the initiative to stand up and snatch this fat Liu Chengyan turned around, and after seeing Cao Yin's fat face, his face suddenly became ugly.He was arguing on the basis of reason, but he didn't expect to attract the purchasing department to it.The Cao family behind Cao Yin is one of the most wealthy families in Dongwu, and it can be said that it is a rich party.When it comes to political positions, of course they will side with the Donglin Party and become the enemies of Xiling.At this time, it is not only Xiahou Chun who is competing for power with the household department, but it has become a three-legged stand.Ren Zhen looked at the rich Cao Yin, slightly surprised, and didn't expect to kill a purchasing company halfway.According to his original idea, he planned to help the Cui family become an imperial merchant in the future, connect with the purchasing company, and then choke the throat of the palace.This Cao Yin can't be offended casually.The empress's eyes were as wise as torches, and she could naturally see through the flowery intestines of these two sides, and said quietly: "Blowing Shuihou, what do you think of this matter" She concocted it in the same way, and threw this mess to Ren Zhen.Ren Zhen was speechless, tired and didn't love.Meow a mi, you obviously can't believe them, just veto it, why do you have to let me offend people: