Zhenwu glanced at him, groaned slightly, and then said slowly: "This is a dilemma, how can there be a perfect solution?" The lesser of two evils, this matter does not need to be discussed, it is imperative to clean up the deficit in Shanxi and rectify the rule of officials. ”

Seeing that Zhenwu had made up his mind, Ma Qi didn't dare to say more, he had already said what he should say, and he had said what he shouldn't say, Zhenwu had already said the lesser of two evils, and then he didn't know how to advance or retreat, he hurriedly bowed down and said: "The slave obeys the order." ”

Seeing that Ma Qi no longer insisted on his own opinion, Zhenwu couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief, most of the officials in Shanxi were banner people, and Ma Qi was the head of the Manchu ministers, if he resolutely opposed it, he only relied on Wang Luo and Xu, I am afraid that it would be difficult to thoroughly investigate the deficit in Shanxi, and the ability of these banner people to dismantle the filth and pull the relationship can really not be underestimated.

After a little hesitation, he said: "Although he is very happy, he is not greedy for bribes, and his talent is also outstanding, you find an opportunity to beat him, everything must be from the overall situation, not confined to a corner, otherwise it will be difficult to become a big tool." ”

Ma Qi was overjoyed when he heard this, what did Zhenwu mean to beware of being greedy and seeking perfection? It can be seen that Zhenwu is also worried that the matter will get out of control, and after a slight groan, he spoke: "Your Majesty, now is the season of collecting summer grain, can the matter of Shanxi's cleaning up the deficit be postponed in the Beijing newspaper, so as not to be frightened by the local officials in the Jiangnan area and expropriate the tyrannical expropriation." ”

Zhenwu nodded slightly, and said approvingly: "This proposal is good, not only will the Beijing newspaper be suspended, but I will also immediately issue an order to send the Qin to the south to inspect." After a slight pause, he then asked, "What do you think about the deficit, and how are you going to clean it up?" ”

It seems that Zhenwu is still reassured of him, and after a moment of silence, Ma Qi said: "Back to the emperor, there has been a shortage of money and food for a long time, and it is not uncommon to clean up the deficit. But it has not worked repeatedly. The slaves secretly thought that this time they wanted to make every effort to clean up the deficit, they had to investigate to the end, thoroughly investigate the arrears over the years, and since Shanxi was the first province to clean up the deficit, it must be an example for all provinces. ”

This sounds good, but it is unrealistic. Thorough investigation, easier said than done, officialdom corruption and bribery have become a common practice, which official can do it cleanly? Whoever hasn't pulled down a little deficit in his hand, if he really wants to thoroughly investigate, he can't finish the investigation in the Year of the Monkey. Not to mention anything else, it is enough for a few officials to bite and bite people.

Thinking of this, Zhenwu couldn't help but glance at Ma Qi vigilantly, didn't this slave want to take advantage of the deficit in Shanxi Province to let himself retreat?

After being silent for a long time, he spoke: "The situation in Shanxi is relatively special, the former governor Kali is an agent who clears up the deficit, and has been praised by the emperor many times. This inventory. Only during Sukzi's tenure. There is indeed a deficit brought down by the previous three officials, and it is necessary to strictly guard against it. At most, it will be traced to three terms, and the rest will not be pursued, one is too long, and the accounts are difficult to check, and the other can also avoid everyone from being in danger and panicking.

On the other hand, it is not easy for the country to cultivate talents, and now Nanyang, Australia and other places are in urgent need of officials, for the deficit officials, I give the opportunity to make amends, can make up for the deficit officials in office, can be exempted from punishment, for those who ask for money and do not want to die, I also fulfill them, and exile the family to Ningguta and the armored people as slaves. ”

Ma Qi's heart was shocked when he heard this, this forced a group of officials to go bankrupt and fill the shortfall, but fortunately, only within three terms of office, most of the senior officials in the DPRK and Central China can breathe a sigh of relief.

After a slight pause, Zhenwu continued to say in a deep voice: "In order to prevent officials from borrowing money from local gentry to cover up their shortcomings, every time they check a place, they will first dismiss local officials on the spot, issue a notice and statement, and strictly order the local gentry to take back the money and grain lent to the government, otherwise they will be confiscated." ”

Speaking of this, he softened his tone and said: "One thing to note is that some of the local deficits are caused by the people's debts, and they must be strictly refined. ”

"Hey, the minion obeys." Ma Qi hurriedly bowed down, but he was secretly happy in his heart, with this, the officials had one more way to live.

Zhenwu raised his head and thought for a moment before he said, "You go and talk to Wang Yu about their specific charter first, and then come to the audience, kneel down first." ”

After Ma Qi bowed and withdrew, Zhenwu also stood up and paced slowly in the hall, at this time to vigorously clean up the deficit, it is not the best time, because he has no way to completely eliminate the root cause of the deficit at this time, if you want to eliminate the deficit, you must deprive the storage of grain to stabilize the price of grain, relief, and the comprehensive effect of loans, otherwise you will never be able to eliminate the deficit.

The role of relief and lending of stored grains can be gradually replaced by low-interest loans and interest-free disaster relief loans with ticket numbers, and I believe that it will not take a few years to achieve this with the development and growth of the ticket number and the sound management of the silver number.

As for the role of stabilizing grain prices, after taking over the vassal states of Nanyang, the Qing Dynasty added an additional Jiangnan, and in addition to the high-yielding and drought-resistant corn, sweet potatoes, and potatoes popularized by the northern provinces, the grain problem could be greatly improved in a few years, and the grain problem could be completely regulated and controlled by the market if there was a large amount of grain.

If he wants to reach this point, at least ten or eight years later, now that the government is corrupt, he simply can't wait for such a long time, and then he will be lenient for ten or eight years, and it will really be difficult to return.

Not to mention ten years and eight years, he doesn't want to wait for a year now, a big war in the northwest is now imminent, he is worried that the instability of the people in Shanxi is also this reason, the rectification of the rule of officials, especially the rectification of the northern provinces of the government is urgent, he does not want to try the taste of internal and external troubles, vigorously rectify once, can ensure ten years of political clarity, he is also content.

The news that Su Keji, the governor of Shanxi, was dismissed and imprisoned, Su Zhan, the political envoy of Shanxi, was dismissed and retained, and Zhao Fengzhao, the prefect of Taiyuan, was resigned to be investigated, soon spread in Taiyuan City, which caused quite a stir, and then there was news that Su Keji had embezzled disaster relief money and grain to fill the deficit, and the imperial court wanted to confiscate Su Keji's family property.

A group of wealthy businessmen who lent silver to the government were all panicked after hearing the news, and they all went around to listen to the news, and there were many officials from Daozhou and County who participated in the audience with Zhenwu, and the news was quickly confirmed.

In the face of the swarm of businessmen who only asked for the return of the principal bank, he did not hesitate, generously and generously returned the amount, and with Zhenwu opening his mouth, he could directly go to the 'Four Hengs' to get low-interest loans, which had only been borrowed for a few days, and he naturally wanted to think of returning them.

How did the businessmen know the inside story of this, and after getting the money, they were full of praise for the governor who was in office. (To be continued.) )