Chapter 77 Section 77. Investigate and deal with treasury meritorious services and be promoted to second-rank official again

At such an age, Zeng Guofan was the first time to expose his numb and cracked body in front of so many people.Although it was unnatural, but because it was on business, there was nothing they could do about it; although the accompanying people were all shocked when they saw the body, they quickly pretended to be indifferent, as if they had seen too much and had already become accustomed to it. As they continued to walk inside, the crowd intentionally or unintentionally kept a distance away from him, and stopped crowding around him.Although the silver vault does not see the sun, it is not considered dark because candles are lit all year round.

Ambassador Ku began to report the numbers in one letter and one letter, and Lao Nami, Laidamama, Zeng Guofan and the accompanying old masters each recorded the numbers.After ordering a cash box, the logo is posted, and a Braille is printed on the logo to show the difference.After all the silver boxes have been counted, they will be counted together. Hundreds of silver boxes and more than twenty gold boxes were checked until noon. When going out of the big iron gate, they still pass one by one, but there is a rule: everyone hold their breath and say "Ah..." loudly, and then the gate guard carefully checks each person's ID. Search the shorts again.This is the rule of entering and exiting the treasury, and no one can avoid it.Out of the bank is the changing room.

After changing clothes, he went back to the treasury's office, and Zeng Guofan asked the treasurer and the censor who inspected the treasury to give the accompanying old master the data recorded.The old master moved the beads of the big abacus with his hand, and muttered something in his mouth, and the abacus was dialed loudly.After a while, the data recorded by the three people at the same time was compiled together. As of now, the existing treasury silver of the Qing Dynasty is 16.14 million taels, and the existing treasury gold is 3.5 million taels.The data of the three abacus of the three people is not bad at all, which shows that the general ledger is correct.

Zeng Guofan was taken aback after hearing the numbers.He looked directly at the treasurer, Raunami, and asked, "According to the big account, the treasury should have 19 million taels of cash and 3.92 million taels of cash. How come the cash and cash don't match up now?" " When Treasurer Lao Nami heard this, his face changed suddenly, and he knelt down on the ground with a plop, kowtowed and said: "Please calm down, my lord, I will ask someone to investigate again immediately, I believe the reason will be found out." Zeng Guofan said word by word: "Master Lao, natural disasters and man-made disasters, the treasury has not seen a large amount of money for several years, our Qing finance has reached the point of stretching! The imperial court now uses one tael of silver for a hundred taels of silver! How can the difference be so big? The silver is 2.86 million taels, and the gold is 420,000 taels! The treasury check is a must-do once a year, didn’t it happen last year?” After finishing speaking, he turned his eyes to Shi Li On the side, the Metropolitan Procuratorate inspects the treasury and censor Lai Damama.

Lai Damama bowed his head and replied: "Returning to my lord, when I checked the national treasury last year, although there was a small deficit, the amount was not large. Your lord Treasurer has been looking for the reason." Zeng Guofan paused, and couldn't help talking to himself: "In two years, a huge hole has appeared, and I can't find the reason!" Suddenly he raised his voice: "Does the court know?" Lao Nami replied: "Returning to my lord, I have reported to Lord Du about the deficit of the treasury. Lord Du asked my subordinates to find out the reason for the deficit. Please learn from me."

The Master Du mentioned by Lao Nami is Du Shoutian, the master of the upper study who rewards the second-rank Dingdai Department of the Ministry of Finance, and the left deputy of the Department of the Procuratorate. Zeng Guofan suddenly sneered and said, "Master Du? I am about to ask Mr. Du a few questions!" Suddenly he raised his voice, "Come here!" Li Bao entered in response.Zeng Guofan said to Li Bao: "Take my post and go to the lobby of the household department to ask Mr. Du to go to the bank." Li Bao responded with "嗻", took the post from Zeng Guofan, and strode out.

According to the official rules of the Qing Dynasty, Du Shoutian is not only the current minister of the household department, but also the current left deputy capital censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Not to mention the second rank of the official residence, he is also the master of the study. Zeng Guofan should also It is only right to go to the yamen to ask for advice. There is absolutely no reason for the guards to ask for advice with a post.In a rage, Zeng Guofan completely forgot about these rules.The entourage secretly sweated for Zeng Guofan. After calming down, Zeng Guofan realized that he had acted too abruptly in this matter. He was about to send his relatives to the lobby of the household department to make amends, but he saw Li Bao walking in crookedly.As soon as he entered the gate of the office, Li Bao turned over and knelt down, crying: "My lord, this slave doesn't know how to do things, so the people in the lobby of the household department forked him out, and he was crutched twice. It's not that the slave runs fast, he has to throw it away." Do not enter the prison!"

Hearing this, Zeng Guofan, who had just calmed down, was full of anger in an instant, and he shouted: "Come on! Take off Lao Nami's top-wearing flower feathers, and take me to the prison of the Metropolitan Procuratorate! The people in the bank are waiting for you!" Be optimistic about the treasury, and there must be no mistakes!" The two accompanying guards rushed in and took off the flower feathers on the crown of Treasurer Lao Nami. Lao Nami yelled anxiously: "Master Zeng, you have no right to take off the crown of the official's crown! You are only a fourth-rank palm seal censor. Now you are always doing errands according to your job, not according to your order!"

Zeng Guofan ignored him, squinted his triangular eyes and ordered: "Pass the sedan chair and go back to the Metropolitan Procuratorate." After speaking, he walked out of the office first. As soon as he entered the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Laidamama said in a low voice: "Sir, it is against the system that you keep doing this. Those who are less serious will be dismissed from office, and those who are more serious will be exiled! We are doing business according to our duties, not according to orders. I secretly Go and release Lao Nami? He made a mistake first, and the next official guarantees that he dare not sue the Lord."

Zeng Guofan suddenly narrowed his triangular eyes, slapped the desk with his hands, and shouted: "Come on Damama, you should be a good inspector of the treasury!" Lai Damama was taken aback for a while before saying: "My lord, I..." Zeng Guofan sneered and said, "You still don't take off your cap on your own initiative, what are you waiting for?...Come on! Take off Damama's cap with me, and put them in jail together!" Two guards came in and took off Lai Damama's hat, set it up and left. Lai Damama struggled and shouted: "Zeng Guofan, are you crazy? You are really crazy, you dare to take off the imperial censor's crown! Aren't you afraid that the emperor will destroy your nine clans?!"

Here, Zeng Guofan spread out eight lines of paper, and began to write the ginseng little by little.After finishing writing, he didn't bother to go to the dining room to eat, so he went straight to Qianqing Palace with his sleeves folded.He said to the eunuch guarding the gate: "I'm sorry to trouble you, please report to me. The six divisions of the Metropolitan Procuratorate will give you the seal of Zeng Guofan's request to see the emperor." The eunuch recognized Zeng Guofan, so he smiled and said, "Master Zeng, the emperor is having lunch at this hour, why do you always come to see the emperor at this time?" Zeng Guofan said: "The matter is so important that I dare not delay." It was too listening, so I went in to report.After a long pause, the eunuch who went in came out and said, "Master Zeng, you should always go in." As soon as Emperor Daoguang sat down, Zeng Guofan hurried in. After Zeng Guofan gave the gift, Emperor Daoguang asked with a smile: "Zeng Guofan, it's against the rules to see me while I'm eating, don't you know?" Zeng Guofan prostrated himself in the tunnel and said: "Report to the emperor, there is more than one thing that I have violated the rules, and I have come to plead guilty to the emperor." As he said, he raised Zhezi's hands above his head.Eunuch Cao took it again and presented it to the emperor with both hands. Emperor Daoguang opened the notebook suspiciously and read it slowly.As he was reading, Emperor Daoguang suddenly threw down the booklet and said, "I'm so angry! I'm so angry! Come, pass on my oral order, first take off the hat and wear the bank treasurer, Lao Nami, and take him to the Ministry of punishment. !" Zeng Guofan hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, because of a moment of anger, I risked my life to take off the hat and wear Naomi, and put the lock in the prison of the Metropolitan Procuratorate!" As he said, he took off his official hat with both hands, and held it high above his head. Said: "The minister is guilty, please punish the emperor." Emperor Daoguang was stunned for a moment. Zeng Guofan went on to say: "The minister missed Damama because of the inspection of the imperial censor of the treasury, and his crown was also taken off by the minister. How the emperor punishes the crime, the minister is willing!" Emperor Daoguang said three "you" in a row before he let out a long sigh and said, "Zeng Guofan, you search for relief in Shandong, you really know that I am short of money! The treasury has not received any silver for a year, and I am devastated. Zeng Guofan , put your hat on." Zeng Guofan put the hat on his head respectfully and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness!" Emperor Daoguang said: "Making you wear a hat does not mean that your crime will not be punished." Zeng Guofan hastily said: "I have violated the rules, and I am guilty." Emperor Daoguang paused, and sighed again: "Zeng Guofan! It's hard for you to be dismissed and investigated. You are so brave! I can be like you as an official in the Qing Dynasty at any time, and I will be the emperor. I want you now So I took the army to search Raunami’s property, and all the people in Raunami’s family were locked up in the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Affairs! If there is even the slightest difference, I only ask you! I know you didn’t eat lunch, even if I violated the rules against you A treatment!" Zeng Guofan kowtowed and withdrew, only to find that his clothes were soaked with sweat. He asked his relatives to surround Lao's Mansion first, and then strode in, conveying the Holy Master's oral order: Qing Dynasty copied the property of Lao's Mansion, and locked up all the people in Lao's Mansion. Everyone in the Lao Mansion was captured, and no one escaped; the property of the Lao Mansion was recorded one by one by the bookkeeper who accompanied him. After searching all afternoon, a total of 1.2 million taels of silver, 90,000 taels of gold, and countless jewels, treasures, and luxurious clothes were confiscated. A total of more than 100 people from Lao's house were taken to the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice on the same day. The author of Zeng Guofan registered the sealed Raunami property in detail and presented it to Emperor Daoguang overnight.The next day, as soon as Zeng Guofan sat down in the office of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the imperial edict was issued later. The decree said: "The six departments of the Metropolitan Procuratorate gave the palm seal to Zeng Guofan. Since he lived in the capital, he has been diligent and thrifty, dedicated to the public, and devoted himself to seeking the country. From now on, he will be promoted to the right minister of the Ministry of Rites and the left deputy capital censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Zeng Guofan left the capital. The palm prints of the six departments of the court were given to Shizhong, and the official department of the Metropolitan Procuratorate temporarily gave it to the king of Shizhong and was promoted to the office. This is it." Zeng Guofan had just received the decree to thank Enbi, and the second imperial decree arrived again. The decree said: "The co-organizer of the University's Office of Criminal Affairs Shangshu Qi Yuzao, the co-organizer of the University's scholar and Minister of Military Aircraft Wen Qing, the right servant of the Ministry of Rites and the left deputy capital of the Metropolitan Procuratorate Zeng Guofan, will jointly try the case of the deficit of the household department's bank treasury. All in Beijing Senior officials of the third grade or above should attend the side trial. Du Shoutian, the minister of the household department, should avoid the case. I respect this." After the imperial decree was spread, there was a sensation in the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty.Du Shoutian quietly tore up the papers that he had written to participate in "Zeng Guofan's Violation of the System and Should Be Beheaded". One of the reasons for the sensation was Zeng Guofan's jump from the fourth rank to the second rank; Mu Zhang'a, as a scholar of the first auxiliary university and the chief minister of military aircraft, did not participate in the trial of the bank deficit case, which was the second reason for the sensation; Li pointed out that Du Shoutian's evasion was the third reason for the sensation.