Chapter 239: Stormy Weather (Father Rong)
In the fourth year of Jianwu, the second month after the imperial examination came to an end, Rong Pingyuan was transferred to the Censorate.

He became the only sixth-rank official who could face His Majesty directly without attending court meetings.

Rong Pingyuan’s writing skills are very powerful, just as powerful as the swords of military commanders.

All of a sudden, in addition to the elders in the court, Lord Rong of the Censorate has also become a popular figure.

Don’t underestimate Lord Rong because he is young. He can decide the life and death of court officials with just a pen!
Everyone in the court now knows that His Majesty has given Lord Rong special preferential treatment.

Every day, different horse-drawn carriages block the alley leading to Rong Pingyuan’s small house.

The landlord knew that the tenant was an official, so he didn’t dare to evict him directly. He could only go to the tenant’s house and say that he wanted to take the house back and that the children in the family had started their own families and needed to separate and live separately.

This is even more outrageous. In addition to those who give money, there are also those who give houses, beautiful women, and everything else.

Rong Pingyuan changed his usual aloof demeanor and accepted all the requests in one breath with a smile on his face.

On the second day, a report about Rong Pingyuan’s huge bribery arrived at His Majesty’s desk.

When His Majesty took out the memorial in the court and asked him what was going on.

Rong Pingyuan took out a thick list from his arms.

“Your Majesty, according to our laws, the size of the house you buy must be determined by the amount of tax you pay.”

“I have collected a bunch of deeds to houses of varying sizes, so I checked them out and found something very interesting. Not only did all of these houses not pay taxes.”

“All of them are in the names of their elderly parents, and many of the owners have actually passed away for many years.”

“It’s all because of the preferential policies when Yanjing was founded as the capital. Originally, these were good policies to help the people settle down, but now they are being exploited by officials.”

“Now the houses in Yanjing have been resold several times by them, and the prices have become ridiculously high!”

“For a house with a courtyard, I would have to work as a censor for sixty years without eating or drinking to be able to afford it!”

As he spoke, he raised his head slightly and glanced at the courtiers on both sides.

“But we, the grown men, not only have big houses to live in, but we also have quite a few houses.”

“If they were all bought with their own wealth, I would have nothing to say, but these houses have changed hands many times since the founding of the country. The two houses with two entrances in Guihua Alley in South City have been bought and sold seven times. What’s interesting is that the buyer and seller are the same person.”

“Behind the high housing prices are people taking advantage of the opportunity to make money and shaking the foundation!”

After being given several big hats, the officials who had delivered the gifts felt a little uneasy.

Many of them don’t really want to give gifts, but they want to drag down someone they can’t bring into their camp!

But unexpectedly, this person did not follow the usual path. He did not think about how to avoid taking bribes, but instead investigated the relationships behind the bribes!
He has such a thick stack of things in his hand, it is probably not just a simple house. I guess all the relationships behind it are exposed.

How could Lord Qin and Prime Minister Zhuang not know that Rong Pingyuan, a young man who had just arrived in Beijing, had no chance to find out so many things.

It was all because of Your Majesty that Rong Pingyuan was able to find them easily.

Your Majesty has found a useful knife.

Meng Zhicheng couldn’t help but raise the smile at the corners of his lips. This new number one scholar was not only smart, but also very sensible. He was very willing to help such a person towards the position of prime minister.

He looked at him in surprise, “Is that so?”

Eunuch Cao immediately half-bent his waist and trotted down the stairs, taking the list from Rong Pingyuan’s hand.

Eunuch Cao quickly glanced at the young man who was bowing his head in respect.

Like he said, opportunities are fleeting.

This young top scholar has caught it. A smart person is a smart person. Your Majesty should be very happy.

The officials below all raised their heads quietly, watching His Majesty slowly unfold the list. In fact, such a matter could be big or small, and it could be resolved by confiscating the bribes and deducting the salary for one and a half years.

It depends on whether Your Majesty wants to let them go.

Meng Zhicheng looked at the list. He had witnessed the struggles between his brothers since he was a child and knew that none of these court officials were clean.

Even Qin Xiang, whom he disliked the most, was not the greediest one. He just accepted most of the filial piety from his subordinates. As the saying goes, there are no fish in clear water. Qin Xiang has reached his current position, and he cannot get away with many things, even if he did not want to do them.

He had experienced assassinations in the struggle for power. Now that Da Qi has reached a point where the power of the prime minister is able to rival the power of the emperor.

If he does nothing, he won’t know when he will die on the throne.

Therefore, the first thing he did after taking over the throne from the previous emperor was to use the power of others to split the forces in the court.

Now that the split was complete, he needed a good knife.

What a coincidence that the first imperial examination brought him such a talent.

Speaking of which, these good-for-nothings down there can be of some use sometimes.

“You all are old ministers from the previous emperor’s time.”

There was a hint of nostalgia in Meng Zhicheng’s tone.

“Gentlemen love money, and you are not saints either. I understand your thoughts.”

The court officials below gasped. What does His Majesty mean by this?
Lift it high and put it down gently?
The Minister of Rites gritted his teeth, glanced at Rong Pingyuan, who had a calm expression on his face, and stepped out holding the court tablet.

“Your Majesty, I am guilty.”

Almost everyone looked secretly at the Minister of Rites.

What is he doing? !

His Majesty hasn’t said anything yet, but he ran up to confess his guilt so quickly. Is he tired of living? !
Meng Zhicheng looked at the Minister of Rites with a half-smile, “What crime do you plead guilty to, sir?”

The Minister of Rites bowed his head and said, “I admire Mr. Rong’s talent as much as Your Majesty does.”

“So, when I learned that Lord Rong had no place to live, I had someone send Lord Rong a house with two entrances to temporarily stay in.”

“This house was bought by my father with borrowed money after the sage issued the decree.”

Once these words were spoken, Rong Pingyuan was turned into a person who did not know what was good for him.

Rong Pingyuan curled his lips and took out a memorial from his bosom, “Your Majesty, since the Minister has already begun to plead guilty, there is no need to wait until the end of the court to give you this memorial.”

“Although this memorial has little to do with the Shangshu’s house, it is still somewhat related.”

As he said this, he glanced at the Minister of Rites whose face had begun to turn pale.

“Fan Heng, the Minister of Rites, took advantage of his position to embezzle money and replace the materials originally used in the imperial mausoleum and the temporary palace when they were first built.”

“So the imperial mausoleum and the imperial palace have to be repaired every year after the rainy season. Over the years, the money from the repairs could have been used to build a new one!”

“And the person who lent money to the Shangshu’s father, Mr. Fan, seems to be the same person as the chief craftsman who built the imperial mausoleum and the temporary palace.”

The Minister of Rites suddenly raised his head, then reacted in an instant and immediately lowered his head.

His voice trembled slightly. “Your Majesty, I was still young when things happened back then. My father made the decision on all these matters. I, I didn’t know…”

Rong Pingyuan’s slightly cold voice was heard beside him.

“I don’t know? I don’t know why the Lord married Tian Shifeng’s eldest daughter, Tian, ​​as his second wife.”