Zhu Youzhen, who was observing the meeting of maritime representatives in the Jiale Palace, listened to the news from Wang Chengen, but just said a few words in his ear as if nothing had happened, and then sat back and continued to listen carefully to the discussion of the meeting.

Wang Chengen looked at Zhu Youzhen's side face, hesitated for a while, and retreated. In the Wulong Pavilion outside the palace, Wang Chengen personally summoned Tian Ergeng and conveyed the emperor's order to him.

Tian Ergeng rushed directly into the compound of the military department with a brigade of brocade guards, and Wang Zaijin hurriedly walked out after hearing the news and stopped in front of Tian Ergeng.

"Tian Ergeng, what do you want to do? Do you want to mess around with this military department? Wang Zaijin said with some irritation.

"Xiaguan is going to ask your lord for instructions." Tian Ergeng said and turned back to his subordinates and shouted, "Why are you still stunned? Don't bring things up yet. ”

With Tian Ergeng's shouting, several brocade guards walked up with a few knives, guns and armor.

Seeing Jin Yiwei standing in front of him with some weapons, Wang Zaijin and the subordinate officials behind him were a little stunned.

Tian Ergeng didn't give them time to think, and continued: "This is the weapon that the official army collected from the traitors when quelling the Wenxiang Sect rebellion, Lord Shangshu and the officials can take a look. ”

Before Wang Zaijin could react, the squire Li Jingbai had already stepped forward to observe it carefully, "These are official-made weapons, how can traitors have such weapons in their hands." ”

Tian Ergeng immediately continued: "Yes, Your Majesty also thinks it is strange, so he just asked the Governor's Office of the Five Armies to come over and take over the arsenal, and he wants to check the number of ordnance in the arsenal.

Unexpectedly, someone in the military department actually jumped out to prevent the handover of the arsenal, so His Majesty asked the subordinate to ask, is this military arsenal the Ming Dynasty's military arsenal, or the military arsenal of the Wenxiang Sect? ”

Wang Zaijin was held back in one breath, and he simply flicked his sleeves and returned to his room.

With the departure of Wang Zaijin, the officials from all parts of the military department also silently dispersed. After seeing that no one was stopping him anymore, Tian Ergeng smiled and commanded the Jinyi Guard to rush directly towards the Arsenal Clearance Division.

When Zhu Youzhen got Tian Ergeng's confession after interrogating the officials of the Arsenal Clearance Division, he only flipped it over slightly and put it down, and he asked Tian Ergeng: "How much are they willing to pay back?" ”

Tian Ergeng hesitated and said: "Your Majesty, the account books of the arsenal are in our hands, and the arsenal has also been seized by the subordinates, and now it can be said that the evidence is conclusive, as long as it is clear and exemplary, the family property of these officials will be owned by His Majesty, why do you need to negotiate with them for restitution?" ”

Zhu Youzhen asked angrily: "Arrest all the people up and down the arsenal, will you go to manage the arsenal for me?" The arsenal of the Ministry of War manages the weapons and equipment of the guards in the world, do you think that if you send someone to look at the account books, you can understand the weapons and equipment of these guards, and which armies should give priority to replenishing ordnance? ”

Tian Ergeng stopped talking for a while, and the account books of the arsenal of the Ministry of War, which were piled up with several houses, wanted to clean up the weapon replenishment situation of the guards in the world, and it was estimated that it would not be clear if it was not 3-5 months.

"From the day the royal brother ascended the throne, the number of arsenals that have been in deficit up to this day will be divided among them. For those who are fully refunded, only records will be made in the file and no punishment will be made;

if the compensation is more than ninety, the official shall be demoted by one level; Those who pay more than 80% of the compensation are not allowed to be promoted within three years, except for demotion; If seventy percent of the compensation is returned, the official shall be demoted by two levels, and shall not be promoted within three years; If the compensation is less than 70%, it will be handed over to the company for accountability. Zhu Youzhen thought about it and said to Tian Ergeng.

When Tian Ergeng listened attentively to Chongzhen's decision, Wang Chengen quietly walked to Chongzhen's side and said, "Your Majesty, Huang Liji, the first assistant, and the king of the military department are asking to see him in Jin. ”

Zhu Youzhen nodded, and continued: "Okay, you go back as soon as possible to close this case, and let the Governor's Office of the Five Armies take over the work of the arsenal as soon as possible." ”

When Huang Liji and Wang Zaijin walked to the door of the upper study under the leadership of Lu Qi, they happened to see Tian Ergeng withdrawing from the room.

Huang Liji secretly screamed in his heart, could it be that Chen Guoqi and these officials confessed to Jinyiwei so quickly, and he suddenly felt a little uneasy in his heart.

After Huang Liji and Wang Zaijin entered the room, they bowed to Chongzhen. Zhu Youzhen raised his left hand and said, "Two of you get up and talk, give me a seat." ”

Huang Liji didn't wait to sit down, so he hurriedly bowed his hand to Chongzhen and said: "Your Majesty, you have a reluctant request here, please Your Majesty must agree." ”

"Ao, if Mr. Huang has any requests, just say it, and I'll listen to you. Give tea to the two kings. Zhu Youzhen said casually.

"Your Majesty, there are too many implications in the arsenal fraud case, and now not only the Ministry of War, but also the relevant personnel of the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Household are panicked and unconcerned. The minister hopes that His Majesty will agree, and this case will end here, and it will not continue to expand. Huang Li said anxiously.

"That's all, no other requirements?" Zhu Youzhen drank tea and said gently.

Chongzhen became so easy to speak that Huang Liji couldn't help but say boldly: "If you can, please let go of the officials of the Arsenal Clearance Division." The longest tenure of these officials is only three years, but the deficit of the arsenal can be traced back to more than ten years of Wanli, and the minister thinks that it is a little unfair to let them be responsible. ”

Zhu Youzhen smiled and said, "Mr. Huang, let's not talk about how to deal with the arsenal first, let it go in advance." Let's talk about the problem of the accounts of the arsenal first, according to the results of the verification of several accounts transferred by Jinyiwei, the accounts of the arsenal are a confused account.

I thought about it, since there is a problem with the accounts of the arsenal of the military department. Wouldn't there be no problems with the accounts related to finance and warehouses in the six departments? ”

Zhu Youzhen's question suddenly made Huang Li a little difficult to answer, he opened his mouth, and finally said vaguely: "Maybe there is." ”

"Although I know that there is a folk proverb that says: Don't be deaf or dumb, don't be a family. But as the son of the Ming Dynasty, I have to know how much of this Ming's family is left, right? I can't snatch food from the mouths of the petty people here, and then turn around and fill the bottomless pit of those corrupt officials, right? Zhu Youzhen said slightly mockingly.

Huang Liji was suddenly a little restless, and he squirmed for a while before saying, "Then what does Your Majesty mean is to check the accounts?" ”

Zhu Youzhen's face did not change and said: "Let the ministries check themselves first, and after ten days, the cabinet will select a university scholar to take the lead, and the household department, the metropolitan procuratorate, and the criminal department will organize people to audit the accounts of each department, and only check the accounts within three years." ”

After listening to Chongzhen's words, Huang Liji and Wang Zaijin both breathed a sigh of relief. Without Jinyiwei's participation, then this audit will not be out of control.

Zhu Youzhen continued to add, "After checking the accounts, all the account books and documents of the six departments were handed over to the Hanlin Academy to send someone to take charge of sorting. Wang Chengen asked people to pack up a few houses in Chonghua Palace and use them to pile up and sort out these account books and documents, and the name is the Central Archives.

In the future, except for the unfinished project books, the books of the previous year must be deposited in the archives for collection. Those who want to access the account books and materials should apply to the heads of each department. ”

Huang Liji had no objection to this, and immediately agreed to Chongzhen. Wang Zaijin thought of something, but he couldn't stop it in front of the emperor.

Seeing that Huang Liji had no opinion on the confiscation of the six files, Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but feel relieved, so he said casually: "In the case of the arsenal of the Ministry of War, I am not prepared to make a big fuss. I have already instructed Tian Ergeng to relax the disposition, so Mr. Huang does not need to worry. ”

The three of them then exchanged for a while, and Zhu Youzhen signaled that the two could retreat. When Wang Zaijin got up, he remembered one thing, and hurriedly said to Chongzhen: "Huang Yuntai, the governor of Tianjin, sent a few people, saying that they were with the Dutch people who went to Beijing before, and the minister wants to ask Your Majesty, how should these people be handled?" ”

"Where are they now?" Zhu Youzhen was a little curious, who were these people who claimed to be Bill's companions.

"The minister placed them in the Beihuiguan on the east side of Qingfang Street, and arranged a team of soldiers to defend them." Wang Zaijin said simply.

"Very well done, I will arrange for Jinyiwei to take over." Zhu Youzhen nodded to Wang Zaijin and said.

After watching the two ministers leave, Zhu Youzhen immediately called Lu Jiude and ordered: "You ask Lian Shanxiang to arrange a team of people to go to the Huitong Pavilion to take over the escort work of the people sent by Huang Yuntai." In addition, let Xu Xinsu go and see who these people are and what they want to do when they come to Beijing..."

After walking out of the palace gate, as the little eunuch who led the way left, Wang Zaijin complained to Huang Liji: "Elder Huang Ge, how can you promise Your Majesty to hand over all the six account books?" ”

Huang Liji was a little confused and said, "Isn't what Your Majesty said very reasonable?" This is to prevent officials from tampering with the information of the old book after the change of officials? ”

Wang Zaijin looked at it a little speechlessly, this Shoufu, who had never experienced the magistrate, had to whisper: "Every year, the projects handled by various ministries have some deficits or surpluses, and they must be written off. Now that the accounts of previous years have been collected, if someone is interested in comparing the accounts of previous years, won't it be difficult to do the accounts of various ministries in the future? ”

Huang Li was a little impatient, but he still said, "Not really, right?" When I was in the Ministry of Rites, I never seemed to have this problem. ”

"This Ministry of War, Ministry of Industry, and Ministry of Household were originally different from the other three, and there were many matters related to money and food, therefore..."

Huang Liji suddenly waved his hand and said: "At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, you don't have to think about your own military department, you also have to think about the cabinet." What His Majesty just said, there is a sentence that the old man agrees with very much, as the head of the family, how can he not even know his own family background? ”

Huang Liji taught Wang Zaijin a few words and left, leaving behind the somewhat overwhelmed military department book.

Wang Zaijin thought about it carefully, and realized that Huang Liji, as the first assistant of the cabinet, was no longer assisting the emperor in managing the six ministries after the restructuring, but directly as the leader of the four ministries: officials, households, workers, and rites.

Therefore, any move to strengthen the management of the six ministries is essentially equivalent to strengthening the leadership power of the cabinet over the four ministries, no wonder Huang Li is extremely reluctant to accept his own reasons.