It's a new day.

In the early days, Yang Feiyuan, the head of the household department, finally informed His Majesty of the statistical results of the granaries of the country, totaling 4,296,560,000 stones, which was the result of the inventory of all the official grain depots in the country, whether they were under the control of the household department of the central court or the local granaries.

After getting this result, the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty first talked about it, and at first they heard a lot, but then they were silent, and the civil and military officials remained silent, because His Majesty's face was expressionless, and there was no joy at all.

This shows that Your Majesty is not happy, and Your Majesty is not happy, and the officials will be stunned.

Xiao Rui glanced at Yang Feiyuan, who was standing in the hall, sneered in his heart, and after glancing at Li Mingchong next to him, he immediately sat upright.

Emperor Xia made great efforts to govern the country, and in the middle ten years of governing the country, he rectified the rule of officials, land reform, etc., and the heavens were beautiful, and there were no special natural disasters in the country, so the people had a bumper harvest every year.

As the saying goes, there is no panic when there is grain at home, and in the case of a bumper grain harvest, His Majesty naturally ordered the storage of grain for emergencies, so all state capitals and counties have built four local grain storage silos, and the central household department is naturally the same.

Therefore, according to Emperor Xia's estimate, how can the grain reserves in Great Xia be enough for the people of Great Xia to consume for ten years! This is the foundation of the country!

But now, the figures reported by the household department are not enough for ten years, at most six years!

The population of Great Xia is 116.63 million, and if you add slaves, homeless people, newborn babies, etc., it is estimated that there will actually be more than 200 million, and it will be quickly calculated that there is enough to eat for a few years.

For a long time, Emperor Xia has not focused on grain storage, after all, this is a reserve role, and it will not be used at all if it does not encounter a major disaster. But this is also the basis for ensuring the fortunes of the country, once there is really a long-term, large-scale disaster, the unfavorable consequences of the passing year is a large-scale reduction in production or even no harvest, or a large-scale war, there may be a cliff-like disaster, when the time comes these grains are the anchor to stabilize the country.

It's just that I didn't expect that Emperor Xia's lack of attention actually caused corruption and bribery inside!

In the report submitted by the Ministry of Households, the major grain warehouses under the personal jurisdiction of the Ministry of Households are acceptable, and the actual quantities counted are consistent with the accounts. However, there are very few granaries in the state capitals and counties, and there are discrepancies between the accounts and the actual grain storage.

For example, there are only more than 1.8 million grain reserves in the granary of Yangzhou Mansion, you must know that Yangzhou Mansion belongs to the top ten Shangshang Mansion among the more than 300 mansions in Great Xia, so what about the grain storage in the granary?

This is the case in one Yangzhou capital, and the same is true in ten or hundreds of state capitals, and the shortage of grain reserves has converged into an astonishing number.

Moreover, it is not known whether the situation of these grain stores is good or bad, and many local officials will mix old beams that have rotted out of age, and even chaff and stones, and then collude with the officials of the household department and the metropolitan procuratorate to turn a blind eye. The same is true for the local officials at the higher levels, so there are a lot of sermons in it.

"Yang Aiqing, this is the result of the household department governing for me?" Xia Huang's voice suddenly raised, and he shouted loudly.

Yang Feiyuan immediately knelt on the ground and said respectfully: "Weichen is guilty, and please punish Your Majesty!" ”

Emperor Xia said coldly: "You are the head of the household, the fault is not to be observed, the employment is unknown, there are so many state officials and granaries in Great Xia, it is not up to you to manage them one by one." Where is the imperial history of the left capital? ”

Du Shao immediately came out: "Weichen is here!" ”

Xia Huang continued: "According to the list provided by the household department, investigate thoroughly!" No toleration! Whoever eats it will spit it out! Dongchang and Jinyiwei fully cooperate with the Metropolitan Inspection Institute! No toleration! ”

"Weichen Command!" Du Shao answered.

Your Majesty is furious, Daxia seems to be incorruptible and I don't know how many moths are hidden under the court, and now let Dongchang and Jinyiwei cooperate with the investigation of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, those corrupt officials are enough to drink a pot.

Then the hundred officials retreated.

On the way back to the Heart Cultivation Palace, Emperor Xia suddenly smiled and asked, "Do you know why I know that the stored grain is greasy, but I haven't checked it for a long time?" ”

Xiao Rui thought for a while and said, "Does my father want to use the matter of grain storage to rectify the rule of officials?" ”

Xia Huang smiled: "This is one of them! There are no longer a few officials who secretly embezzle grain storage in the state capitals of the world, I am the emperor of Great Xia, how can I have so much energy to urge the Metropolitan Procuratorate to investigate corrupt officials, since this is the case, then I will not investigate. Now that the time is ripe, we should take advantage of the deterrence of the Yasukuni public decision to rectify the rule of officials. On the other hand, in order to make up for the grain reserves, corrupt officials and corrupt officials are bound to do everything possible to make up for the shortfall, and the fastest way is to buy from the merchants, who are bound to sell the grain in their hands when they see the price of grain rising. This price increase is due to the investigation of corrupt officials and not other reasons, so it will not last long, will not cause grain prices to remain too high, and will not cause large-scale grain stockpiling ...... merchants."

Xiao Rui's eyes lit up, and he immediately understood His Majesty's plan.

In order to make up for the vacancy in the granary and reduce their criminal responsibility, the fastest way for corrupt officials and corrupt officials is to replenish the lack of grain, and the corrupt officials have to exchange the silver earned from embezzling grain for grain and return it to the imperial court. Merchants could not afford to make a profit, so they sold their grain to corrupt officials and corrupt officials for silver, and those who had money promoted other commercial developments.

It is also because this incident was started by investigating corrupt officials, and it is not a natural disaster or a war, so it will not cause the bad behavior of storing grain in a large area in the market, and the interests of the people will be guaranteed. doll

By the way, you can also rectify the rule of officials, the water in the pool of officialdom is never clear water, and the water cannot be cleared, so it is the best way to come to the rectification activities for a period of time.

"How's the matter going for you to check?" Emperor Xia asked.

Xiao Rui knew that His Majesty was referring to Yang Feiyuan.

Xiao Rui said: "Back to my father, my sons haven't started to investigate carefully. ”

Emperor Xia nodded and said, "To rectify the rule of officials, you need to find a few big fish to form a deterrent to reap the rewards." ”

"Erchen understands." Xiao Rui smiled, from the beginning, it was not Xiao Rui who wanted to rectify Yang Feiyuan, but His Majesty's intention.

After lunch, Xiao Rui went to the Metropolitan Inspection Academy.

Hearing the news, the young man Du came out of the official office to greet him, and respectfully invited Xiao Rui to move to the tea hall.

"Lord Du, Your Majesty has entrusted you with the important task of rectifying the rule of officials, and even let Dongchang and Jinyiwei admire it with full power, it can be seen that Your Majesty trusts you, which state is Young Du going to start from?" Xiao Rui asked.

When Du Shao heard the words "rectify the rule of officials", his heart was settled. As early as the dynasty, Du Shao suspected that His Majesty was going to start a new round of rectification of the officials, and the granary inventory was just the beginning, and now Xiao Rui said straight to the point, which not only made him feel at ease, but also knew what he should do.

"Your Highness, your subordinates want to start from Chang'an and check what you are tired of there, what does Your Highness think?" Du Shao replied.

Xiao Rui suddenly smiled, nodded and said: "Chang'an is good, Xijingcang is in Chang'an, maybe we can use Xijingcang as a breakthrough to find out some big problems." Your Majesty said that you must catch a few big fish in this rectification of the bureaucracy, so I don't know who the big fish is first! It shouldn't be Lord Du! ”

Du Shao hurriedly waved his hand and shook his head, and said: "Your Highness must be joking, since the lower official has been serving as the left capital of the Imperial Palace, he has kept in mind the mission of the Imperial Inspectorate, he is absolutely not greedy for a stitch and a thread, absolutely not favoritism, absolutely no clique and personal gain, the lower official is loyal to the court, to His Majesty, and to His Royal Highness, the sun and the moon can show it!" ”

Xiao Rui laughed and said: "Daxia needs a clean official like Lord Du, by the way, where did Lord Yang invite Young Du to eat?" ”

Du Shao replied: "Back to Your Highness, it's a meal in Tianxiang Building!" are all delicacies from the mountains and seas, such as bear paws, deer antlers, snow lotus, and ginseng. Don't hide it from Your Highness, Xia Guan has never eaten such a rich delicacy, and now think about it. ”

"Lord Yang is really generous, as the saying goes, people who eat people have soft mouths, what is Lord Yang's intention for this meal, and what do you need Lord Du to help with?" Xiao Rui asked.

Who knows, Du Shao smiled and said: "Your Highness, Lord Yang didn't say it explicitly, he only said that he missed Xijing's family, and the well-being of his family was his greatest wish." ”

Yang Feiyuan didn't say it directly, in his opinion, Du Shao is a smart person, he has discovered the problem of Xijing Cang, and he set up a banquet for him this time, Du Shao must know how to measure, turn a blind eye. Offending a cabinet scholar and household secretary is a thankless task, will Du Shao do it?

"What did Master Du say?" Xiao Rui asked.

Du Shao said with a smile: "The lower official only cares about eating, he doesn't listen to the things around him, he just nods, and he completely forgets what Lord Yang said, it's really ashamed, I think Lord Yang won't say anything big." ”

Sure enough, it is a little fox, second only to Li Mingchong's existence, this time Yang Feiyuan not only lost a meal, but also proved that the Xijingcang problem is inseparable from the Yang family!

"Lord Du chose to start the investigation in Chang'an, and this palace thinks it is very appropriate, and it just so happens that this palace has some important information at hand, and will order someone to send it to you." Xiao Rui said.

Du Shao got up and arched his hand: "Xiaguan understands, please rest assured that Your Majesty and Your Highness will definitely do things beautifully." ”

Xiao Rui nodded, and then left here without staying in the Metropolitan Procuratorate for a long time.

After going to Zhan Shifu for a turn, Zhang Liang and Xiao He were packing their bags and preparing to leave in two days.

Today's Zhang Liang is an honorary Kyoto, and he jumped to the position of the envoy of the Anxi Festival in less than a year, which is a great reward to have such an honor, and because His Majesty can hold the court, plus the Anxi Festival Envoy is a newly established official, and the jurisdiction is also fourteen states, and the original cake is not shared, so although the official department Shangshu called a few words, he was frightened by His Majesty's eyes and shut up.

Everyone thinks that Zhang Liang has such an achievement, not because of how high his own talent is, but because he chose the right person to follow!

Following the crown prince, I have the current achievements, Your Majesty's trust and favor for the prince really makes the prince of the enemy country jealous!

And this result is that the recruitment hall set up by Xiao Rui is overcrowded, and countless people want to follow Xiao Rui, hoping to ascend to the sky in one step, so as to soar.

Nowadays, following His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has become a faster way to enter the official career than the imperial examination, fortunately, Xiao Rui lives in the East Palace, otherwise there will be as many worships in the palace as snowflakes.