activa-t Chapter 59 Renovating the West Garden and Expanding the Leopard House!
Chapter 59 Renovating the West Garden and Expanding the Leopard House!
Forbidden City.
Cining Palace.
At this moment, Zhu Houzhao was in the warm pavilion of Cining Palace, listening to the report from Zeng Jian, the Minister of Works.
After the Qianqing Palace and Kunning Palace were burned down, Zhu Houzhao ordered the Ministry of Works to rebuild the Qianqing Palace and Kunning Palace, and also decided to renovate the West Garden at the same time.
Meanwhile, Zeng Jian, the Minister of Works, was reporting to Zhu Houzhao how much silver would be needed for the reconstruction of the Qianqing Palace.
"Your Majesty, the Qianqing Palace and Kunning Palace have suffered severe damage, and the Western Garden is also very large."
"Your humble servant estimates... that at least three million taels of silver will be needed."
"How many?"
Three million taels of silver?!
Zhu Houzhao raised his head in dissatisfaction, frowning as he looked at Zeng Jian.
Three million taels of silver is no small sum. Just the cost of rebuilding the roofs of the Qianqing Palace and Kunning Palace, plus the cost of renovating the West Garden, makes the figure excessively high.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Zeng Jian lowered his head somewhat guiltily and rambled on, "Repairing the Qianqing Palace requires the best materials and the best craftsmanship, all of which cost money."
Zhu Houzhao stared intently at Zeng Jian, but his mind was preoccupied with whether the account was accurate or not.
Unfortunately, Zhu Houzhao had no talent for carpentry, and he didn't know how much of the three million taels of silver reported by the Ministry of Works was inflated.
In fact, if the officials under his command were capable and not greedy, Zhu Houzhao would not mind if they embezzled a little bit of silver.
After all, if the laws established by Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang were followed, even embezzling sixty taels of silver would result in being skinned alive and stuffed with straw.
Then every single official in the entire Ming Dynasty could go and pretend to be a scarecrow.
However, if they went too far in their greed, Zhu Houzhao would also let them taste the iron fist of feudal imperial power.
While Zhu Houzhao was pondering, Grand Secretary Li Dongyang and Second Grand Secretary Zhou Jing came to Cining Palace to request an audience with him.
"You've come at the right time. I ask you, does rebuilding the Qianqing Palace and the Kunning Palace, as well as renovating the West Garden, really require three million taels of silver?"
Zhu Houzhao asked Liu Dongyang and Zhou Jing, who had just entered the room.
Li Dongyang hesitated for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "Three million taels of silver is a huge sum. If it's just for rebuilding the Qianqing Palace and Kunning Palace, it shouldn't cost that much."
"But there's no fixed plan when it comes to building a garden. There are ways to build it depending on how much money you have, and there are ways to build it depending on how little money you have. It all depends on His Majesty's wishes."
Li Dongyang, that old fox, after all that beating around the bush, still managed to pass the buck back to Zhu Houzhao.
Zhu Houzhao then looked at Zhou Jing: "Minister Zhou, what do you think?"
Zhou Jing honestly shook his head: "Your Majesty, I don't know much about civil engineering, but I still think that three million taels of silver is too much no matter what."
"Why not repair the roofs of the Qianqing Palace and the Kunning Palace first? Six hundred thousand taels of silver would be enough to repair these two palaces."
"The renovation of Xiyuan can be carried out gradually."
"Furthermore, Your Majesty, the national treasury does not have much silver left. At most, we can only provide Your Majesty with another 500,000 taels of silver."
As the Minister of Revenue, Zhou Jing's primary concern was the amount of silver stored in the Ministry of Revenue.
His idea was to stop the renovation of the Western Garden, and then have the Ministry of Revenue spend 500,000 taels of silver to repair the roofs of the Qianqing Palace and the Kunning Palace.
Moreover, everything Zhou Jing said was true; the Ministry of Revenue indeed did not have that much silver.
Because all the tax silver that Zhu Houzhao had previously pursued and the confiscated silver had been sent into his own private treasury.
Only last year's tax revenue and the annual tribute from various vassal states were stored in the Imperial Treasury.
The salaries of officials, the military pay of border troops, and the expenditures of the imperial court were all allocated by the Ministry of Revenue, so the Ministry of Revenue had to maintain a healthy amount of silver reserves.
However, Zhu Houzhao would certainly not give up on renovating the West Garden. After these incidents, Zhu Houzhao had made up his mind not to live in the Forbidden City anymore.
Once the West Garden is renovated, he will move there as soon as possible.
Zhu Houzhao thought for a moment and then ordered, "Then the Ministry of Revenue shall allocate 500,000 taels of silver, and my private treasury shall allocate 2 million taels of silver to the Ministry of Works, so that the Ministry of Works may begin construction."
"Remember, expand the Leopard House in the Western Garden for me."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Although he didn't get three million taels, getting two and a half million taels was already a good amount, so Zeng Jian quickly agreed.
"Your Majesty, I will return to the Ministry of Works immediately to select personnel and organize the renovation work."
"Go."
Zhu Houzhao waved his hand, and Zeng Jian quickly bowed and left the Cining Palace.
"Speak, what do you want?"
After Zeng Jian left, Zhu Houzhao asked Li Dongyang and Zhou Jing.
Li Dongyang suddenly knelt before Zhu Houzhao and pleaded, "Your Majesty, I beg you to release Cao Zhengchun, the Director of the Eastern Depot, and Yu Huatian, the Director of the Western Depot!"
If other officials in the court were to witness this scene, they would surely stare in astonishment, and then curse Li Dongyang in their hearts as an absolute traitor!
Is it reasonable for a Grand Secretary to plead for two eunuchs?!
Not to mention the other officials who were shocked, even Zhu Houzhao raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"Are you... pleading for Cao Zhengchun and Yu Huatian?"
"As the supervisors of the Eastern and Western Depots, they had the responsibility of monitoring both inside and outside the palace, but they have greatly disappointed me!"
"Besides, haven't you civil officials always been at odds with eunuchs?"
"I had no idea you had such a good relationship with Cao Zhengchun and Yu Huatian."
Li Dongyang quickly explained, "Your Majesty misunderstands. I have no personal relationship with Cao Zhengchun or Yu Huatian."
"Your Majesty, I am only acting in the interest of the court and for the sake of official business. The most important thing now is to find out as soon as possible who was behind the attack on Your Majesty last night."
"As the two major supervisory agencies within the court, the Eastern Depot and the Western Depot have numerous eyes and ears and a wealth of methods. Your Majesty, please do not cripple your own arms."
"They should be allowed to atone for their crimes through meritorious service, and the mastermind behind this should be thoroughly investigated."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but look at Li Dongyang with newfound respect.
Li Dongyang's words are correct.
But Zhu Houzhao had his own plans: "I know. I have already ordered the Six Doors and the Embroidered Uniform Guard to investigate. As for Cao Zhengchun and Yu Huatian..."
"I have my own arrangements. You need not say anything more. You may leave."
"Yes, Your Majesty. This humble subject takes his leave."
Li Dongyang didn't linger and took his leave of Cining Palace.
Li Dongyang has achieved his goal this time.
The emperor always favors ministers who offer advice and take the lead in battle for the emperor's benefit.
Li Dongyang's plea for Cao Zhengchun and Yu Huatian was entirely for Zhu Houzhao's sake and had nothing to do with him personally.
He believed that his actions would both clear him of suspicion and leave a good impression on Zhu Houzhao.
Whether it succeeds or not is secondary.
In many things, success or failure is not important; what matters is that you make your attitude known to those above you.