Chen Xi went out of the city to seek medical treatment and treat illnesses. Because he had asked Zhu Houzhao for instructions in advance, he did not need to say hello to others, nor did he need to explain anything to Xie Qian.

Chen Xi was not alone when she left the city, but also brought her family with her family. Because she had to do housework, Xie Yun'er did not go out of the city with him, and the pregnant Yin Wen did not follow her. Xie Hengnu and Lin Dai were fortunately with her. It sounded very nice in name, and it was said that Chen Xi needed family care when she was sick.

Zhu Houzhao allowed Chen Xi to leave the city and recuperate for a period of time, and the holiday ended at the end of March.

In this way, Chen Xi can do whatever she wants in the past two months, but no one interferes. Apart from the eunuch sent by Zhu Houzhao to contact, no one knows what Chen Xi wants to do.

On the ninth day of the second month, Chen Xi took his family out of the city in a carriage early in the morning. When Xie Qian got the situation, the budget audit meeting organized by the cabinet began.

Xie Qian was in the office of the Ministry of Revenue. Among the six ministries, only the Minister of Rites Bai Yue and the Minister of War Chen Xi did not come. The Ministry of War came to attend the meeting. Lu Wan seemed to be alone among a group of bigwigs.

Xie Qian didn't want people to think that he was organizing a small court meeting. In order to avoid misunderstanding, he specially sent someone to notify Zhang Yuan. However, Xie Qian was careful and knew that it was not convenient for Zhang Yuan to visit a yamen like the Ministry of Revenue during the day. After all, without Zhu Hou's permission, the internal officials could not meet with the ministers in public outside the palace.

In this way, the budget audit meeting was led by Xie Qian.

The meeting time was up, but Chen Xi did not come. Xie Qian was very angry and presided over the meeting with a dark face. Without any accident, Xie Qian took out the budget of the Ministry of War and cut off half of it directly. At the same time, the yamen involved in the Ministry of War were also deducted. Especially the Ministry of Works represented by Li Li, many military expenses were stuck by Xie Qian. The reason was very simple. The court lacked silver and could save as much as possible. All yamen need to increase revenue and reduce expenditure. The Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works should set an example.

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Although Li Wu had a very slight remark on this, but Chen Xi was not here, he dared not contradict Xie Qian, so he could only force himself to hold it in. Lu Wan, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War, did not say a word, as if the affairs of the Ministry of War had nothing to do with him.

Xie Qian knew that he was in a loss, and the meeting ended in a hurry. Several ministers were still unsatisfied and were about to talk to Xie Qian, the chief minister stood up in advance and took the excuse that he had something to do and quickly walked into the inner hall of the Ministry of Revenue.

The other four departments basically got the budget for the new year in full. There was no problem and they each dispersed. Yang Tinghe, who accompanied Xie Qian to attend the meeting, also said goodbye and returned to Wenyuan Pavilion to make a vote.

Lu Wan and Li Jue left with a little depressed expression. He Jian, the Minister of Personnel, wanted to say a few words to Lu Wan, but when Lu Wan tried to speed up his pace, he seemed not to want to talk to the ministers, so he could only shake his head and watch Lu Wan and Li Jue leave. Then he sighed quietly and called Yang Yiqing, the Minister of Revenue and Zhang Yu, the Right Minister of Revenue, to come in and talk together.

The three of them entered the inner hall and saw Xie Qian sitting there depressedly.

He Jian asked: "Why are you still so worried when Yu Qiao sets the annual budgets of the central government offices today?"

Xie Qian looked up at the people present, especially when he saw Zhang Yu, he frowned slightly and said, "I am worried about the lack of the court. Your Majesty intends to send troops to the grassland this year, but now he has no preparations. The treasury in the court is not enough to make ends meet. Can I not worry?"

When Yang Yiqing heard this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly. He, the Minister of Revenue, knew the situation the most. How could the Ministry of Revenue's granary be in short supply now? It was completely full, and no year was more sufficient than this year's grain reserves.

It is mainly because in the past few years, the north has begun to promote sweet potatoes and corn on a large scale, and grain output has increased greatly in a few years, while the population has not increased much in a short period of time, which has suddenly improved people's lives. At the same time, this is also related to the fact that local farming in the northwest is good, and the results of a series of reform measures implemented by Liu Jin have been effective.

Although Liu Jin was a powerful official, he was relatively pragmatic. He presided over the cleaning of the fields in the world, distributed the hidden fields to landless farmers to cultivate, restricted gentry and officers from occupying the fields, cleaned up military garrisons, imperial garrisons, granaries, grain, salt administrations and treasury allocations in the country, etc., which made the Ming Dynasty's finance much better than the last year of Hongzhi.

But now Xie Qian said this clearly that he did not support the use of military forces against the Tatars and artificially created contradictions and problems.

Even if Yang Yiqing understood it clearly, he could only pretend to be confused in front of others.

Xie Qian looked up at Zhang Yu and asked, "Does Mr. Zhang have checked the reserves of the Northwest Treasury recently? The Xuanfu may meet the military expenditure in the next few months? How is the grain and grass raising situation?"

Zhang Yu was over 60 years old and older than Xie Qian. He drooped his eyebrows at any time, his eyes narrowed into slits, and he seemed listless. Faced with the dispute between Xie Qian and Shen Xi, he also chose to pretend to be confused. In fact, the main job of the Right Minister of the Ministry of Revenue was to manage the military pay of the nine borders. Xie Qian deliberately found someone who liked to be responsible for it, just to embarrass Shen Xi.

Zhang Yu's tone was slow. After a while, his eyes were half-open and half-closed, saying, "The Xuanfu grain reserves... are not enough for the soldiers to spend a month... I heard that they have been transferred to another place... I don't know whether it is true or not..."

If someone said this at another time, Xie Qian would definitely scold him. You, the Minister of Revenue who manages the military pay of the nine borders, don’t even know where the money and food have been transferred?

But at this time, Xie Qian seemed to find resonance and slapped the table: "This situation is enough to show that the northwest is generally short of food, and it is simply unreasonable that Your Majesty insists on fighting!"

The sound made by Xie Qian scared Zhang Yu, his body shook suddenly, his eyes completely opened, but it took him a short while to squint again, looking sleepy.

Seeing Zhang Yu's reaction, He Jian thought to himself: "Bai Bingde said that he was old and sick, and he took the initiative to ask for retirement. In fact, Zhang Fengdao, an old man, should have retreated. He is completely a mediocre person who is in corpse and eats nothing!"

Even old ministers like He Jian who have little ability and have always adhered to the doctrine of the mean cannot stand Zhang Yu's lazy politics.

Yang Yiqing frowned and asked for instructions: "The Ministry of War has declared the amount of money and grain before, for example, the budget passed by the audit is too small. Do you need to add some additional items after the beginning of spring? To ensure the normal operation of the Ministry of War?"

"They are too lazy to ask, why are you anxious?"

When Xie Qian heard Yang Yiqing speak for the Ministry of War, he immediately spoke coldly, "I have notified before that the heads of the six ministries must come to attend the meeting to determine the final allocation of each ministries. Now that no one opposes the budget specified by the cabinet, it will not be changed until the end of the year... Moreover, the budget for the Ministry of War should be delayed until the second half of the year before allocation. Now there are constant disasters in the Ming Dynasty, and there are rioters everywhere. Use money and food first!"

Yang Yiqing couldn't help frowning: "But the budget of the Ministry of War has been approved at present is 40% less than last year. This is not counting the military expenditure of the northwest border. In the past, the food and wages of the northwest were collected from the local government treasury, but last year the grain treasury and Xuanda were empty. Should the Ministry of Revenue be filled?"

Xie Qian said: "Ying Ning, you have been entrusted by the court with important responsibilities, responsible for taxes, military supplies, salary, fiscal revenue and expenditure, etc. You should know what to do and what not to do. Is the northwest really short of food? In fact, just ensure that the officers and soldiers will drag their breath. Do you still have to take the initiative to prepare war materials? I have said that now the Ming Dynasty is short of money and food, and the war should be placed in a secondary position. The army and the people are not well fed or worn or warm, and they want to fight with others. Can they have a chance to win?"

"this……"

As the Minister of Revenue, Yang Yiqing felt that Xie Qian's words were very problematic, and he obviously did not allow him, the Minister of Revenue, to do his duty. If the border army mutiny in the future, the emperor would hold him accountable, and he, the Minister of Revenue, would not escape the responsibility.

Therefore, even though Yang Yiqing was usually accommodating to Xie Qian, he was resistant and even dissatisfied at this time.

Yang Yiqing looked at He Jian with a look of help, hoping that the Heavenly Official of the Ministry of Personnel would help and say something to the Ministry of War and the soldiers of the Northwest Frontier Army.

Unexpectedly, He Jian didn't notice Yang Yiqing's reaction at all. His whole mental state was similar to Zhang Yu. He stood there with his eyebrows lowered and his eyes shook his head, shaking his head, not knowing what he said.

Xie Qian suddenly stood up and said, "The Ministry of Revenue does not need to be responsible for the Northwest money and grain consumption. Just leave it to the Ministry of War for disposal. If the court holds it accountable in the future, it will be said that this is the order issued by me. If anyone asks me in the future, I will push it to the Ministry of War. Whenever someone asks me about it, I will not attend this budget review meeting. I still want me to allocate money and grain to him? I heard that he went out of the city, do you know why he left the city?"

No one answered the answer. When Xie Qian looked at Zhang Yu with a cold face, Zhang Yu looked confused: "Just February, although the grass in the south of the Yangtze River has grown, the north is still cold, who has left the city?"

Xie Qian did not answer Zhang Yu's words and said: "Before the New Year, Wang Dehua, the general manager of the three sides, had to go back to Beijing to eat once, and the Ministry of Revenue allocated a batch, which should be enough... Yingning, you don't have to worry about this, and you are not allowed to memorialize Your Majesty. If there are any problems in the future, I will bear all of them."

Yang Yiqing said with a bitter face: "But I heard that Xuan Dahe and the three sides seem to be interested in reporting this matter."

"All the songs from the northwest will be suppressed by me."

Xie Qian said confidently, "No one is allowed to mention this matter. Your Majesty has not asked him about it. Do you have to make fun of yourself? Mr. Zhang, go back and sort out the accounts carefully, and don't make any mistakes!"

After saying that, Xie Qian stopped stopping, got up and shook his sleeves and left.

After Xie moved away, Yang Yiqing had the opportunity to ask He Jian for his opinion. However, as soon as he walked to He Jian, he had already reached out to him, and before he could speak, He Jian had reached out to interrupt him, "Ying Ning, Master Xie is right. You should learn to be flexible in some things. Your Majesty has long known that the northwest is short of food and the court is also in trouble. What is the result? It's not that the Ministry of War will raise money and grain on its own... This is what Shen Zhihou promised before."

Yang Yiqing said anxiously: "This is not a problem of food shortage in the northwest, but the daily expenses of the Ministry of War have been suppressed. If there is civil unrest in the local area or the northern border problems occur, there may be a big chaos."

He Jian persuaded him earnestly: "The sky fell and there was a tall man holding him over. Didn't Mr. Xie say he would be responsible? Just put your heart back in your stomach... I won't say much today, Ying Ning, and Brother Feng Dao, we have the opportunity to get together again and leave."

He Jian didn't want to wade into the muddy water between Xie Qian and Shen Xi. If he could, he hid and quickly left the back hall of the Ministry of Revenue.

After the people here left, Zhang Yu finally reacted and asked, "Shangshu Yang, why have everyone left? When did they leave?"

Yang Yiqing sighed, too lazy to pay attention to Zhang Yu, so he quickly walked to the office.

Zhang Yu smiled coldly, got up and patted the dust on his body, sat on the chair, and said, "Everyone is drunk and I am alone. No matter how you fight, it has nothing to do with me... I can just have a good drink with the young children in Wei and sing another song."

The "only children" that Zhang Yu said was his favorite disciple, Yan Song, a treacherous minister who left a brilliant reputation in the history of the Ming Dynasty.

...

...

The imperial palace, the Sili Supervisor is in charge of the printing room.

On that day, Zhang Yuan did not leave the palace to attend the budget audit meeting held at the Ministry of Revenue. In his opinion, this was Xie Qian's "failure". He did not want to participate in it, and even planned to use this matter as a means of threatening.

"...No matter how stupid old man Xie is, he should have thought that His Majesty does not want to see the ministers below secretly connect. What meeting do you organize and call several ministries here? Do you want to avoid the emperor opening a small court by himself? See if I don't impeach you, so that you can know the consequences of fooling me..."

Zhang Yuan was not very concerned about court affairs, so he basically handed over the review of memorials to Dai Yi and several eunuchs such as the ritual supervisor. At about dusk in the afternoon, Zhang Yuan drank tea and leisurely listened to Dai Yi's detailed report on his work. After that, he could leave the palace and go home.

Today, Silijian has not handled many things. The most critical budget audit was not allowed to go to Silijian, which means that Xie Qian bypassed Zhang Yuan and made full decisions.

Zhang Yuan was very dissatisfied, but he did not get angry on the spot.

After talking about the affairs that day, Dai Yi mentioned: "...I heard that Shen Shangshu of the Ministry of War did not go to the Ministry of Revenue today, so he left the city after a while. It seemed that he was going to seek medical treatment and to recuperate with the disease."

Zhang Yuan didn't know about this at all. After hearing this, he put down the teacup and asked seriously: "Who did you hear? It's not that people outside spread rumors, right?"

"How dare you talk nonsense?"

Dai Yidao, "This matter is absolutely true. I heard that it was the emperor's emperor's criticism, but it was the message from the Leopard Room. Otherwise, I wouldn't know if this happened... Is Eunuch Zhang not?"

Zhang Yuan said angrily: "Your Majesty's approval? Why didn't the Silijian get notice? Could it be that someone from the Hanlin Academy approved it on his behalf?"

"Well……"

Dai Yi's expression flashed, "I heard that Mr. Shen went to the Leopard Room to meet His Majesty in person yesterday and handed over the memorial. His Majesty immediately approved and agreed. The matter had not passed, and we did not go to another yamen. We have not heard any rumors outside yet. We just said that Mr. Shen has gone out of the city, and no one knows where he went. I wondered if he had any important things to handle, such as... preparing to start a war in advance?"

Zhang Yuan slapped the table: "If you want to start a war with the Tartars in advance, how could Your Majesty not say hello to the court officials? After the war begins, Your Majesty will come to the northwest in person, and you can't avoid the court officials... Shen Zhihou will do this kind of sneaky means in his work. Is he trying to rebel?"

Dai Yi thought for a while, shook his head and said, "The crime that Eunuch Zhang said is a bit serious. Lord Shen is loyal to the country, so how could he rebel?"

Zhang Yuan said with a dark face: "Although our family doesn't know about Shen Zhihou's departure from the city, we know very well that he has recruited Shandong Governor Hu Lian. At the same time, a large number of generals he promoted personally gathered in the capital. Now the troops he brought in when fighting in the south are also close to the capital. At this time, if we leave the city, what should we do if we discuss rebellion with our subordinates?"

"This... I don't know. There are other things here. Eunuch Zhang, please leave..." Dai Yi heard Zhang Yuan tuck the shit basin on Chen Xi, but he didn't want to leave it to pollute his ears, so he quickly resigned.

Zhang Yuan originally wanted to pull Dai Yi over and ask in detail, but then he thought: "I haven't seen Zang Xian today and I don't know what's going on outside. It's better to ask myself when I go back than to ask Dai Yi, an old man."
Chapter completed!