In the Xuanzheng Palace, there was silence at this time, and everyone was frightened, did Emperor Han realize something about his abnormal behavior today? Or is it going to do something?

Prince Liu Yan has a special identity compared to others, and he is still young, so he is more courageous, and when he was about to go out of class to ask, it happened that Prime Minister Li Shizhi turned around, stared at the prince standing on the right hand, and signaled him not to go out of class to speak, Prince Liu Yan understood, and quickly withdrew his hand and went back.

After a long time, Emperor Han's slightly closed eyes slowly opened, he slowly sat up straight, his face was slightly tired, but the expression on his face still couldn't tell whether he was happy or angry, and suddenly he asked indifferently: "Where is the Hubu Shangshu Xia Jingying?" ”

Xia Jingying's body was shocked, and everyone unconsciously turned their eyes to him, and they couldn't help but wonder in their hearts, the emperor actually called Xia Shangshu by his name, and suddenly felt that he had committed something and the emperor knew about it.

"The minister is here!" Xia Jingying held the wat in both hands, and his hands trembled uncontrollably.

"You've been in charge of the household department for some days, do you still know some of the situation in the household department?"

Xia Jingying saw that the saint's tone was flat and he didn't mean to blame, and his originally nervous mood instantly calmed down a lot, "Back to Your Majesty, the ministers will naturally understand it for a long time!" ”

Emperor Han said and suddenly changed his tone, and asked: "Now that it's the end of the year, how many times has the treasury of the household department been inventoried?" ”

Xia Jingying had already heard some clues at this time, and it seemed that the emperor was going to check the deficit of the treasury, "Back to Your Majesty, the treasury inventory is carried out twice a year, and this month is the last one this year." ”

After hearing this, the officials also knew it, and they all bowed their heads and said nothing, only the prince Liu Yan had a smug look on his face.

Emperor Han continued: "Have you found anything? ”

"This ......" Xia Jingying is not stupid, if he really said that the treasury is empty, and the amount of money owed by the officials is huge, then it will be many officials in the DPRK who will be offended, "The treasury ...... ...... still "

"What else?" Emperor Han said sharply.

Xia Jingying didn't dare to say any more, and knelt on the ground with a "poof", "Your Majesty ......"

Emperor Han knew that he didn't dare to offend others, "When he sent troops to Shanzhou in the first half of the year, there were only more than 10 million taels of silver left in the treasury. As far as I know, many of you often borrow money from the treasury, but you haven't repaid it for years, Xia Aiqing, is there such a thing? ”

Suddenly lying down silently, the treasury of the silver up to the princes and nobles, down to the treasury officials and small clerks will often borrow silver in various names, the high position or to the official power of the persecution, the low position or to accumulate the disadvantages of the extortion, so all kinds, the household treasury officials are helpless, will also be different from person to person, since the identity of the person respect the size of the official position for the size of the loan basis, one-time loan as small as a few taels, as large as thousands of taels, over the years the creditor owes two different amounts of silver, some tens of taels, some tens of thousands of taels. Since most of the officials in the court have borrowed money, in the matter of the household department, whether it is King Ning's party or the prince's side, they have tacitly concealed the emperor. And the reason why the emperor learned about this is precisely because he found out that the treasury was empty when he sent troops to Shanzhou half a year ago, because it was in the midst of external strife, so it was not easy to rectify, and now the border affairs are calm, and it is just after the autumn to settle the accounts, so the Han Emperor will start to let the old senior Xia Jingying take charge of the household department, and he will rectify this matter.

Xia Jingying had actually been prepared, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had already informed him before, but he still pretended to be at a loss, and said: "The matter is serious, the minister has just taken office, and it is too late to investigate this matter!" ”

Emperor Han stood up slowly, Zhang Cen, the inner supervisor next to him, hurriedly stepped forward to help, Emperor Han shook his hand, broke free, and signaled Zhang Cen to retreat. The elderly Emperor Han seemed to feel a little physically exhausted, but he still stood up straight, looking still tall and majestic, he smiled coldly and said: "I know that many of you have borrowed money from the treasury, but it is natural to repay debts, now that the New Year is approaching, you should think of a way to repay debts, if you can't pay back the money within two months, you will wait to be dismissed and raided!" Xia Aiqing, this matter is up to you, within two months, you must find out about this matter, and after two months, if someone has not returned the accounts owed, they will be sent to prison......"

The cold wind was howling, the clouds on the horizon were surging, and the sky was gradually darkening, and the chill that penetrated the bones made people bow down and shrink their backs. In the courtyard of the Prince's Mansion, many cold plums have been competing to open, and sometimes the cold wind blows, the petals fall with the wind, and a few wisps of dark fragrance come to the nose. Under the verandah, the crown prince Liu Yan was looking up at the sky, muttering, "It looks like it's going to snow tonight......"

"Your Highness, Lord Tobe Shangshu Xia asks to see you."

"Bring him here!"

Suddenly, the housekeeper led Xia Jingying through the courtyard to the verandah. Xia Jingying saw that the prince was leaning on the corridor to enjoy the plums, so he said: "Student Xia Jingying has asked His Royal Highness the prince to say goodbye!" ”

Liu Yan didn't look back, continued to look at the four or five plum blossoms in the yard, pretending to be focused, and only reacted after a while, "Oh! It's Lord Xia! ”

"It's the students!" Xia Jingying smiled a little awkwardly.

Liu Yan waved his hand and said: "Master Xia doesn't have to be polite, I have said it, you and I have a huge age difference, and it is really against the law of etiquette to be commensurate with teachers and students!" ”

"Your Highness's grace of recreation, the students are unforgettable, and they deserve it."

Liu Yan was a little impatient, "It's better not to, now the emperor's grandfather is most worried about colluding with friends, and you are too blatant to do this." ”

Xia Jingying saw that the prince was not polite to him, so he nodded and smiled: "Since Your Highness said so, the lower officials should keep it in mind." ”

"Is there anything you have come for this time?"

"The lower official is here to ask His Royal Highness for your advice, today the emperor has handed over the errand to me, and the deadline is only two months, what do you think the lower official should do?"

Liu Yan turned around, patted Xia Jingying's shoulder meaningfully, and said with a smile: "There is no need to say this matter, I guess you should also know how to deal with it!" ”

"What Your Highness said is true, but at present, as far as the lower officials know, the person who owes the most money is your father-in-law, that is, Lord Xu, the secretary of the Ministry of War."

Liu Yan asked disapprenously: "Oh! How much do you owe? ”

Xia Jingying paused for a moment and said, "Nine hundred thousand taels!" ”

"What?" Liu Yan didn't seem to hear clearly.

Xia Jingying cleared his throat and said, "Lord Xu has borrowed a total of 900,000 taels, which is not a lot!" ”

Liu Yan originally thought that it was normal to owe the household department some silver, but what he didn't expect was that his father-in-law would borrow so much silver from the household department, "How could he borrow so much?" ”