Chapter 150: Zongzheng Temple is under investigation, Zhao Sicheng is rarely on duty

Song Yizhan was ordered to come to the capital, and it was reasonable for Zhao Qi’an to meet him.

However, he had something to do in the afternoon and was not in a hurry to see Song Yizhan. After packing up, he left the princess’s mansion in a carriage.

Today is the day when the renovation of the Zongzheng Temple’s main hall is completed. Zhao Sicheng, who has been absent from work for many days, suddenly remembered that he still has an official position and prepared to go to the Zongzheng Temple to take a look.

……

When Zhao Qi’an arrived in front of the government office of Zongzheng Temple, he stood at the door and looked for a while.

The entire Zongzheng Temple has been completely renewed. The original clay courtyard wall has been replaced with a high wall made of bricks and stones. The two stone sculptures at the entrance of the yamen, which were more like pigs than lions due to their age and rough carvings, have also been replaced. The carvings are more delicate and the materials are better.

The vermilion gate stood on the steps, and above the gate was a plaque with three large characters “Zongzheng Temple” inscribed from top to bottom.

Among all the government offices along the Qianbu Corridor, there is no more imposing gate than that of the Zongzheng Temple.

Zhao Qi’an climbed the stairs and entered the gate of the government office. There were not many changes in the courtyard, but the ground was paved with bluestone bricks.

In this way, the yard would at least not be as muddy as before when it rained, and the short distance from the gate to the hall would make your boots covered in mud.

The door of the ministry was open, and colleagues from the Zongzheng Temple gathered at the door, looking inside but not going in. A group of people blocked the door and no one knew what they were doing.

Someone shouted, “Zhao Sicheng is here.”

Everyone then turned around and many of them greeted Zhao Qi’an in a friendly manner.

No one dared to blame Zhao Qi’an for slacking off these days. After all, they had been working in the mansion prepared by the Zhao family and it was very comfortable.

Today, this beautiful and imposing new government office is also the result of the efforts of the God of Wealth before us.

What’s more, Zhao Qi’an himself is not arrogant and is seen by everyone as being very easy to get along with. Naturally, no one wants to jump out and oppose Zhao Qi’an.

Xin Ningbo, who used to be at odds with Zhao Sicheng, probably has grass growing on his grave now.

Zhao Qi’an then went over and greeted his colleagues, asking, “Are you not satisfied with the renovation of this hall? Why don’t you go in?”

“There’s nothing to be dissatisfied about.”

“Zhao Sicheng is worrying too much.”

Everyone started talking, and then someone lowered his voice and said to Zhao Qian’an, “Zhao Sicheng doesn’t know yet. The people from the Astronomical Observatory came and kicked us all out. Only the Duke is still inside.”

Zhao Qi’an understood why the people from the Astronomical Observatory came to the Zongzheng Temple, but other people might not know it. After all, the news that the Astronomical Observatory went to the Gao family to arrest someone had not yet spread.

Just at this time, the black-armored guards of the Astronomical Observatory came out of the hall, led by a silver-armored captain who was talking to Ji Liyuan, the Duke of Yingguo.

The crowd gathered at the entrance of the ministry made way and watched the people from the Astronomical Observatory leave.

Duke Yingguo Ji Liyuan personally escorted the people out of the government office gate, and then came back. The others immediately surrounded him, asking questions in a flurry:

“My Lord, what are the people from the Astronomical Observatory doing in our Zongzheng Temple?”

“Is it a corruption investigation? I saw them taking some official documents from the library. Will they lead us to this?”

“It’s all because of that damn Ji Hengyi.”

Everyone looked worried and nervous about the arrival of the Astronomical Observatory. Some even couldn’t help cursing Ji Hengyi.

It’s no wonder they reacted so strongly. After all, one of the duties of the Xuntianjian is to “inspect all officials.” Not to mention the Zongzheng Temple, even if the five ministries and six departments were targeted by the Xuntianjian, which official would not be scared? The Zongzheng Temple was originally on the edge of the court, and it was also linked to the royal family. Neither the Xuntianjian nor the Duchayuan cared much about the Zongzheng Temple, which led to more serious corruption in the Zongzheng Temple than in other ministries.

If they really want to investigate, it will definitely not stand up to scrutiny.

Because of this, many people hated Ji Hengyi. If it weren’t for Ji Hengyi’s death, how could the Zongzheng Temple be targeted by the Xuntianjian?

Ji Liyuan was already in a bad mood, and being surrounded by people asking questions like this made him even more upset. He waved his hand and said, “Okay, everyone go about your own business. Don’t think too much. It has nothing to do with us.”

When everyone heard this, they could not hide their worries, but seeing the Duke’s slightly unhappy attitude, they had no choice but to disperse and go back to the ministry to do their work.

Ji Liyuan noticed Zhao Qi’an in the crowd at this time and was stunned for a moment. He didn’t expect that Zhao Qi’an would come to the hall to work today.

However, it came at just the right time.

“Zhao Sicheng, please come with me for a moment.”

He gave an instruction to Zhao Qian’an and then went into the hall first.

Zhao Qi’an followed him all the way to Ji Liyuan’s public housing.

In the original ministry, even as a temple minister, Ji Liyuan did not have his own independent public housing.

But this time, after the Zhao family renovated the hall, they were considerate enough to build him a separate public house, in which the four treasures of the study were all the best available on the market.

When Ji Liyuan came in the morning, he looked around his public housing carefully, and the more he looked, the happier he became.

But at this moment, he didn’t feel happy anymore. As soon as he entered the public housing, his face drooped and he frowned: “Zhao Sicheng, do you know that the Astronomical Observatory went to the Gao family to arrest people? The mansion in the outer city was completely destroyed. There were hundreds of people. There were more than a dozen prisoner vans, and it took two trips to transport the people to the prison of the Astronomical Observatory.”

It seems that this matter has spread in Kyoto City, and any official who is well-informed has probably received the news.

Zhao Qi’an pretended to be confused and said, “The Gao family secretly instigated the hooligans in the city to occupy the royal family’s pension land. Now they have been caught by the Astronomical Survey. Isn’t this a good thing?”

Ji Liyuan smiled bitterly and said, “If we only investigate the Gao family, then that would be a good thing. But does Zhao Sicheng know what those people from the Astronomical Observatory were doing in our government office?”

“doing what?”

“He took the fish-scale atlas of the imperial lands belonging to the temple, saying that he wanted to clarify the ownership of the imperial lands acre by acre, but this… this affects more than just the Gao family.”

Zhao Qi’an looked at Ji Liyuan, who seemed to be hesitant and unable to speak, and he immediately understood what was going on.

Emperor Tenmu took out imperial fields and farms from the treasury and gave them to Soshoji Temple in order to accommodate the royal relatives in Kyoto.

But the annual distribution, who gets more and who gets less, is all decided by the Zongzheng Temple.

The Duke of England has been the Chancellor for so many years, working hard and unwilling to step down at this age, so he must have taken a lot of money from this job.

Zhao Qian’an had Gou Xiangxi check out the accounts of Zongzheng Temple these days, and he had a rough idea of ​​how much the old Duke had embezzled.

In fact, it’s not just the old Duke.

Except for a chief clerk named Ji Weirui, all the officials in the Zongzheng Temple were corrupt. They all put some money into their own pockets from the public account.

For this reason, when the Astronomical Inspection Commissioner who was “inspecting all officials” came to the Zongzheng Temple, all the officials in the temple, except Zhao Qian’an, were scared like quails, for they were afraid that the fire would burn them.

(End of this chapter)