My Wife is Unbeatable in the Whole World, Touch Me If You Dare!-Chapter 340 - 216: The New Official Ignites Three Fires

The Minister of Revenue had just arrived at the Ministry of Revenue and was preparing to summon several key officials to discuss the budget allocation for the Princess's grand wedding.

The Princess's dowry was prepared by the Royal Family.

However, other expenses for the wedding needed to be covered by the Ministry of Revenue.

With so many departments in the court asking for money today and tomorrow, the silver in the National Treasury was accounted for, and every penny had to be carefully calculated.

Before entering his government office, he said to a Lingshi, "Summon the Left and Right Assistant Ministers and the Left and Right Ministers of Revenue to my office."

A moment later, the Lingshi came in and said, "Reporting to the Chief of Staff Lord, all four officials are not in the office."

The Minister of Revenue frowned; they were occasionally late or left early, and he didn't bother with them for that.

It had already been two hours since work began, and none of the four main officials had arrived.

It seemed he had been too lenient with them on normal days.

With displeasure in his heart, he said solemnly, "When they arrive, have them come to see me immediately."

He didn't wait for the four key officials of the Ministry of Revenue, but instead, he received a decree issued by the Ministry of Supervision.

The Left Assistant Minister of Revenue was suspended for half a month for excessive celebration at a ceremonial event.

The Right Assistant Minister of Revenue was suspended for half a month for maintaining a concubine house.

The Left Minister of Revenue was suspended for half a month for favoring a concubine over his wife.

The Right Minister of Revenue was suspended for a month for ignoring his mother due to his wife.

The entire Ministry of Revenue, his left and right arms, even their deputies, were all punished by the three provinces.

The Minister of Revenue furrowed his brows deeply; the offenses they committed were not serious crimes, merely breaches of ceremonial laws, not punishable by law, at most, they could be morally condemned.

The punishment by the three provinces was reasoned and regular.

But something was not normal.

The ceremonial laws were very strict; if everyone strictly adhered to them, the world would already be in great harmony, and everyone would be saintly.

Officials, as long as they did not commit principal errors, would not be punished by the three provinces for these issues.

The simultaneous punishment of the four key officials of the Ministry of Revenue definitely had some underlying reason.

Moments later, he left the Ministry of Revenue and headed towards the Secretariat.

Ministry of Rites.

Li Nuo was flipping through a thick registry in his hands.

The Spiegel Bureau, as Daxia's premier espionage agency, knew everything about the court's officials, large or small, even the affairs within their inner houses.

Which official's wives and concubines were at odds, which official was unfilial to their parents, which official kept a concubine house, which official habitually arrived late or left early, which official liked to secretly visit brothels—everything was clearly recorded in this registry.

Compared to those officials who engaged in corruption and murder, these were obviously minor issues, not worthy of action by the Ministry of Justice and Spiegel Bureau.

But these matters fell precisely within the purview of the Ministry of Rites.

As Assistant Minister of Rites, his important duty was to uphold ceremonial laws, supervising if the private morals of Chang'an's officials were compromised.

Li Nuo rubbed his wrist and picked up a new petition to start writing.

The table in front of him was already stacked with a thick pile of petitions.

Having finished this one and preparing to pick up the next, he realized there were no blank petitions left.

"Someone!"

Following Li Nuo's call, a Junior Official quickly ran in and asked, "What do you command, my lord?"

Li Nuo said, "Bring some more blank petitions."

The Junior Official looked distressed and said, "Lord Li, all the blank petitions of the Ministry of Rites are already here…"

Li Nuo asked in surprise, "Are the Ministry's petitions so few?"

The Junior Official didn't dare reply; it wasn't that the petitions of the Ministry were few, but the petitions Li Nuo wrote in three days were already the amount the Ministry used in a year, and even the blank petitions from the Assistant Minister and Chief of Staff were brought to him.

This new Assistant Minister was truly intolerant of any fault; having been in the Ministry for decades, it was his first time seeing such a scene.

Li Nuo set down his pen and said, "If that's the case, let us stop here for today. Remember to order more, as I will need them tomorrow. Also, have Lord Lu deliver these petitions, and be careful not to miss any…"

Moments later, the Junior Official, carrying a stack of petitions, entered Lu Sheng's office and with a swoosh, dumped the petitions onto the table.

Lu Sheng, looking at these petitions, rubbed his temples with a headache.

Though it's said that a new official should assert authority thrice, the Prince Consort's vigor was indeed overwhelming…

Especially since every petition he wrote was based on the ceremonial laws.

Lu Sheng didn't even look, he said, "I won't look at these anymore, send all these memorials to the Secretariat..."

Secretariat.

It was almost time to end the work, and Du Yu stretched lazily, his body making a series of creaking sounds.

The other Scheeren, a two-hour period earlier, had already been drinking tea and chatting, discussing where to meet up after work.

Only he had been busy until now, just finishing the last memorial.

These past two days, the memorials from the Ministry of Rites had been especially numerous.

Yet these memorials of accusation and impeachment all had their valid reasons, he couldn't ignore or dismiss them, otherwise, he would be neglecting his duty.

Originally, placing Li Nuo in the Ministry of Rites was everyone's decision, just to keep him from causing trouble, but unexpectedly, after he entered the Ministry of Rites, he was still causing trouble.

Du Yu had just sipped some tea when he saw a clerk walk in, holding a stack of memorials higher than his head, he blinked slightly and asked, "These…"

The clerk said, "These are the memorials just sent from the Ministry of Rites…"

Du Yu felt a wave of dizziness and then gritted his teeth and said, "Make me a cup of strong tea!"

Song Residence.

It had completely darkened outside, and Su Qing waited anxiously in the courtyard. After a long while, a weary figure finally walked in from outside.

She immediately went up and held Song Zhe's hand, asking, "Why are you so late today?"

Song Zhe sighed and said, "Don't even mention it, the Ministry of Personnel has been a mess these past two days, even the Chief of Staff is at his wits' end, today all officials from the Ministry of Personnel were self-examining…"

Both the Left and Right Assistant Ministers and Ministers of Revenue, due to personal ethics failures, had been suspended.

The officials from the Ministry of Personnel hadn't been reported to the three provinces for personal ethics, but the Ministry of Rites had questioned their public positions.

The Examination Bureau's assessment of the officials' performances was questioned for data falsification, the Imperial Censorate had gotten involved, and after the investigation confirmed it to be true, all officials from the Examination Bureau were under investigation.

The Ministry of Personnel's situation wasn't much better.

Half a year ago, a Lingshi from the Ministry of Personnel, needing to return to his hometown to care for his aging mother, voluntarily resigned, and the Ministry of Personnel agreed to his resignation.

Yesterday, the Ministry of Rites submitted a memorial stating, "An official from the Ministry of Personnel resigned to care for his mother—has filial piety become a mistake?" pushing the entire Ministry of Personnel to the forefront of criticism.

Earlier, the Right Minister of Revenue condoned his wife and neglected his mother, and later, a junior official from the Ministry of Personnel resigned to care for his mother.

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Comparing the two, the quality was clear.

Filial piety is highly revered in every country across the continent.

Being human, this is the most basic moral.

Because of this incident, the Chief of Staff and two Assistant Ministers were summoned to the palace, where they were scolded by the officials from the Imperial Censorate.

Everyone has a mother, and everyone's mother ages. The Ministry of Personnel, holding the power to appoint and dismiss officials across the land, promoted those who neglected their mothers to the Standard Fifth Rank, yet dismissed the filial son who resigned to care for his mother. What kind of values was the Ministry of Personnel conveying?

The three lords suffered indignity in the palace and returned to the Ministry of Personnel, where naturally they berated the officials of the Ministry from top to bottom.

The Ministry of Personnel immediately reinstated that Lingshi and promoted him by two ranks. They also sent for his mother to be brought to Chang'an for proper care.

Only then did the Imperial Censorate relent.

Today, the entire Ministry of Personnel was reviewing past files to see if similar issues had occurred, which is why Song Zhe came back so late.

Su Qing, not understanding these matters, held Song Zhe's hand and said, "Let's move out and live on our own, it's too boring here, and your mother doesn't like me anyway, let's buy a new house outside…"

Song Zhe sighed and gently patted her hand, saying, "It's not possible at this time, just endure a little longer…"

Song Zhe actually had this intention.

Mother and wife, in fact, shared similar personalities.

Both had strong desires to control the younger generation.

One wanted to control, the other didn't want to be controlled, hence the current situation had arisen.

Neither of them was wrong, or perhaps both were wrong.

Moving out under these circumstances would be best.

But the court's current political climate was precarious, and for them to just move out could easily cause gossip.

If the Ministry of Rites reported him for filial impiety, he too would have to be suspended and fined.

He looked at Su Qing and said, "If you're feeling bored, why don't you go find Jiaren and Yiren? Have them accompany you around Chang'an."

Su Qing thought of her two daughters and felt a mix of emotions.

It's hard to keep teenage daughters close; her two daughters were closer to others than to her, their own mother, and wouldn't listen to her words. Seeing them all around Li Xuanjing's son made her even more upset.

Only her husband's return could bring her a bit of comfort.

Holding Song Zhe's arm, she said, "Let's go to our room, I've simmered deer antler black chicken soup for you all day, tomorrow I'll teach you a set of Health Care Skill to strengthen the body…"