Zhao Yan was also born in Yuanmasi Temple. He was recommended by the Ministry of War and promoted to the third rank of Shanxi Inspector.

But in just one year, because he did not do well in Shanxi and got a lower grade in the examination, he was demoted to Yuan Masi Qing again.

Later, he was demoted to the rank of Shaoqing of Yuanmasi Temple for violating the prohibition of harassing the delivery company - that is, public facilities taking over private business.

In the past few years, he has been working hard in the Ministry of War system, and has been promoted step by step back to the position of the third rank. He is in charge of the Taipu Temple affairs, which can be described as ups and downs.

Ren Kai was a low-level official, so his impression was much less.

Three years ago, I wrote a note stating four things about the grassland: It said that the open land should be inspected so that Du Yin could occupy it; it said that the officials should be assessed to punish those who were lazy; it said that the supervisors should be ordered to collect and release them in person; and that the number of merchants should be determined according to the amount of money and food - you can call out

The person who said this clearly had the ability to discern clues and the ambition to be a good official.

Last year, it was reported that there were many cheating practices in the purchase of grass by the household department. Merchants piled bright bundles of grass on the top, and piled the small and light bundles on the bottom to sell them at high prices. They even packed the grass with sand and earth to make it weigh more than a pound, etc.

These were all matters that had been discussed in court, and I had some impressions of them. As for his resume, Zhu Yijun didn't have the time to remember them.

The two people walked up to him and quickly bowed to the emperor.

"I, the minister of the imperial palace, Zhao Yin, pay my respects to your majesty."

"Ren Kai, the director of the grassland management department of the guilty minister, pays homage to your majesty."

If you put aside the fine sweat on your neck and forehead, both of them looked calm and composed, and their Qi-nurturing skills were considered to be of an excellent level.

The different self-proclaimed names of the two people are the natural gap between a sixth-grade official and a third-grade official.

As for whether he is guilty or not, it is hard to say.

The emperor did not immediately ask the two of them to stand up, but looked at the two of them without saying a word.

Time passes slowly.

The courtiers looked on with cold eyes.

It was not until the two of them were under pressure that sweat flowed down their cheeks to their chins that the emperor finally made some move.

Let the two of them maintain their bowing postures, Zhu Yijun's lips touched lightly, and Youyou said, "Do you have anything to say to me?"

Apart from a hint of coldness, no extra emotion could be heard in the voice.

But these words made the pressure on the two people increase sharply.

Zhao Yan lowered his head, blinked hard several times, and took a deep breath to relieve the fear in his heart.

As if he had rehearsed it countless times in his mind, he bowed down again and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, the pasture has caused serious harm, and Taipu Temple is fully responsible!"

"But the most urgent task now is to clean up the pastures and return the farmland to grassland. Please forgive me, Your Majesty, and allow me to accept my guilt and look at the matter!"

The tone was firm and sincere, without any intention of shirk.

Zhu Yijun shook his head: "You have been in Yuanma Temple and Taipu Temple for many years, and now you say you don't know anything. It's either shirk or incompetence."

"No matter how merciful I am, the most I can do is allow you to retire and return to your hometown."

He waved his hand: "Just say something else."

Zhao Yan felt a chill in his heart when he heard this.

Only by being merciful can one become an official, so what should one do if one is not merciful? The emperor's words are self-explanatory.

It really is the most ruthless imperial family.

But he also had troubles that he couldn't express.

When he was at Yuanma Temple, he had no foundation. He had no final say in temple affairs and was often interfered by Taipu Temple.

It was later that I followed the same trend and started some business using the post station, which led the temple to make some money. I submitted a certificate of investment to the superiors, and things improved.

Later, he was promoted to Taipusi, but because he was dissatisfied and lost interest in business, he delegated power to Yuanmasi Qing.

Now that something happened, all he could do was black out his eyes, and he had to be held accountable by the emperor, and he felt really depressed and angry.

Zhao Yan felt depressed and was about to speak.

On the side, Ren Kai, the director of the pasture management committee of the Ministry of Household Affairs, suddenly spoke up and took over the conversation: "Your Majesty, I have something to say!"

Zhu Yijun had a pretty good impression of the young master, so he nodded calmly and allowed him to transcend the dignity between him and the third-rank official and speak.

Ren Kai received permission and said loudly: "Your Majesty, this year at Jingwu Grassland, 940,000 bundles of horse grass were planned to be distributed, but only 290,000 bundles were actually distributed!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the eyes of everyone present suddenly focused on him.

Zhao Yan turned his head in shock and looked at Ren Kai who was meeting the saint together. Why didn't he know that this happened?

Chen Jingbang frowned and pulled He Luowen's shoulders, squeezing the latter painfully.

Zhu Yijun and Fan Yingqi, the Minister of Household Affairs, looked at each other, and surprise flashed across their eyes.

The latter couldn't help but disregard the etiquette and took a step forward to ask: "How much?"

When people are surprised, they often ask nonsense questions to make themselves respond better.

Ren Kai looked calm and repeated seriously: "The horse grass that was distributed in June this year, through my hands, was actually 293,734 bunches!"

Zhao Yan quickly said loudly: "The documents sent by Yuan Masi and your Ministry of Revenue clearly stated that 940,000 bundles of hair are enough!"

Ren Kai naturally had something to say, and he shook his head: "The remaining 640,000 bundles were not handed over to me, but were taken over by Gao Shi."

Gao Shi was a doctor and the chief officer of his deputy, so naturally there was no mistake in the document.

And the implication is that the chief officials who wrote the document, Yuan Masi Qing and Hu Bu Lang Zhong, both died suddenly, which further supports his words.

Zhao Yan reluctantly twitched the corner of his mouth and said in a relieved voice: "That doesn't mean that only what happened to Master Ren is the real thing."

Ren Kai pursed his lips: "He must not have sent it. Judging from the ruts made when leaving the warehouse, it must be an empty package."

"This matter can be found out by calling the treasurer at the time and asking!"

Zhao Yan finally fell silent after hearing this.

Only his uncertain expression revealed his mood at the moment.

Zhu Yijun listened attentively for a long time and understood the reason for Zhao Yan's appearance.

There are only 640,000 bundles of fodder and not much money, only about 20,000 taels. It is not even ranked in the corruption case.

That's not the crux of the matter.

Zhu Yijun pondered for a moment, but did not immediately ask someone to track down Yunyun. Instead, he confirmed to Fan Yingqi: "I remember that this autumn, the Ministry of Household Affairs only called for bundles of grass."

As a precautionary measure for autumn, it is customary to store horse grass in Jingwu Pasture, buying small quantities and selling large quantities.

Of course, it is still a familiar trend. Initially, there will be some overflow every year to subsidize Taipu Temple. After Hongzhi, it began to level off. After Jiajing, it was necessary to buy and supplement every year.

Although Fan Yingqi was not the Minister of Hubu at that time, the Minister of Guanglu Temple was at least one of the officials in the Hubu Yamen, and he at least had a passing glance at the affairs of this department, even if he did not handle them.

He solemnly raised his hands to the emperor and replied: "Your Majesty, this is indeed the case."

"On the twenty-seventh day of the first lunar month, the Ministry of Household Affairs decided to store 1.5 million bundles in the fifth grassland in Beijing, in addition to those that have been put away. This autumn, it is advisable to buy enough according to the number, and deliver them twelve years later, and buy them every other year.

Chen Yixin comes out once every three years, so there is no need to set up another stage name and leave it outside the door."

"Report to Chang Chao of Wenhua Hall, saying yes."

"The Ministry of Household Affairs transferred funds in February and purchased 970,000 bundles of fodder in April, replenishing the stock to 1.5 million."

Although Fan Shilang's status as the number one scholar is suspected of being a lucky one, his background as a scholar is still solid and his memory is excellent.

Zhu Yijun nodded, turned his head, and looked back and forth between Ren Kai and Zhao Yan: "So, there is no shortage of fodder in the pasture, but we really only need this much fodder to hand over to the camp guards."

"If this is true..."

Zhu Yijun paused, and his eyes fell on Zhao Yan, the minister of Taipusi Temple: "Qing Zhao, please tell me how many horses I have in the army now?"

When Zhao Yan heard this, his face suddenly turned pale!

This was the reason why he had to get entangled with Ren Kai just now.

This is not a question of how much you are greedy! It is a question of how much water the horses raised in the Ming Dynasty had!

There is a huge difference between the scale of horse breeding that eats 940,000 bunches of horse grass and the scale of horse breeding that eats 290,000 bunches of horse grass!

It’s impossible for soldiers to raise horses at their own expense!

So, where have all the horses gone over the years?

And, how much water did the cavalry of the Ming Dynasty have on paper?

Zhao Yan murmured for a long time, unable to answer the emperor's question. His knees softened, and he knelt on the ground and said sadly: "Your Majesty, I have been in office for half a year, and I really don't know anything about it."

It was a dereliction of duty on his part to invade the pasture, so he accepted it.

Ma Zheng, who is the foundation of the country, would really die if he was blamed.

Wang Zongyi, the Minister of Rites, who was watching the whole process, suddenly lowered his head and sighed when he saw this scene.

No wonder they dare to invade the grassland so unscrupulously, without any fear of using grass bundles.

No wonder an official fell to his death overnight over a trivial matter like occupying grassland.

It turns out there are not so many horses to feed...

Wang Zongyi glanced at Zhao Yan, took a deep breath, and pressed the tightness in his chest.
To be continued...