First-rank palace maid Su Jixiang

Chapter 504: Clearing Xie Yingfeng's Name

If he had been calculating and dictatorial all the time, so many people would not have gathered around him to help him rebel.

But after he got to this position, he had to think about a lot more things.

Xie Yingfeng hurriedly stood up, bowed, and said with a smile, "Your Majesty's strictness towards me is a blessing for me!"

"I originally exempted the northern region from taxes and told the Marquis of Zhenbei that their taxes needed to be used to reinforce the city walls. My treasury is limited, and I may not be able to afford to rebuild the city walls," Emperor Longchang said. "I thought you would find a way to repair the city walls, but I didn't expect you to build such a solid one. I believe the Turks haven't come south to harass our border in recent years. While the Marquis of Zhenbei's reputation is certainly influential in the north, the construction of your city walls is probably a major factor."

"This is what we, your subjects, should do for Your Majesty and the people of the border town." Xie Yingfeng said modestly.

Emperor Longchang looked at Xie Yingfeng for a long while, then sighed, "My Daxie has suffered disasters year after year. The dikes have collapsed and been built again. Over the past few years, whenever there is a flood, there will be a dike burst. I sent people to check, and almost every dike project has termites. I took out 100,000 taels of silver from the national treasury, but only more than 30,000 taels of silver can be used to build the dike. I understand all this, and I have killed people before." When Emperor Longchang said this, a helpless expression inadvertently appeared on his face.

Starting from the Ministry of Works, plucking feathers from passing geese has become a bad habit and rule.

It's not that he, as the emperor, doesn't want to care, nor is it that he doesn't know about it, but this customary practice has been in operation in Daxie for many years. When he was fighting for the throne, he would kill such termites when he encountered them, but now that he is on the throne, these people have complicated relationships behind them. If he holds them tighter, they will be less greedy. If he holds them loosely, they will naturally be more greedy.

Behind these officials lies the power of the aristocratic families.

Even though Daxie would select new clean and humble people, after they became officials, they were basically taken away by various forces.

So even though Emperor Longchang was extremely wary of Wei Ling and Xue Ziyi, it had to be said that these two people really did not dare to allow any powerful clans to cause trouble for them.

But the two of them have no desires or demands, so they can be so strong. But Emperor Longchang is different. He has to win over those powerful clans.

Prince Chenliu has always had good relations with these people. If he is too harsh on his side, these people will inevitably tend to side with Prince Chenliu. Now it is fine for Prince Chenliu to be his vassal king quietly, but if Prince Chenliu really rebels against him in the future, if he offends these aristocratic families, then once those people turn against him and surrender to Prince Chenliu, his kingdom will be gone.

After all, he had his own agenda and wasn't strong enough.

He had been on the throne for too short a time. Although the deposed emperor was dead, many cancers and old illnesses remained in the officialdom. He had no time to rectify them one by one and could only go with the flow for the time being.

So when he looked at Xie Yingfeng, there was inevitably a bit of longing in his eyes.

If his rule could be as peaceful and prosperous as that in the north, what a peaceful and prosperous Daxie would be!

No matter how much he suspected Wei Ling and Xie Yingfeng in his heart, the accounts that Xie Yingfeng brought from the North today were enough to prove that they really managed the North very well.

He deserves a reward for such political achievements!

Emperor Longchang couldn't help but feel a headache when he thought of this.

He had originally wanted to take back the government affairs concerning the Northern Territory from Wei Ling, but he had done it perfectly, and he couldn't use any trumped-up charges to forcibly take back the government affairs. After all, he couldn't provoke Wei Ling.

Xie Yingfeng is still too outstanding!

He looked at Cui Yushan, and when he saw him kneeling on the side in such an unpresentable manner, Emperor Longchang felt angry.

He had said such great things at the time that as long as he went to the north, he would definitely be able to catch Wei Ling and Xie Yingfeng's mistakes!

He doesn't even know what kind of people Wei Ling and Xie Yingfeng are!

"Your Majesty." Xie Yingfeng saw Emperor Longchang glance at Cui Yushan, so he bowed again and said, "Your Majesty, I have been acting as the prefect of Mangcheng for five years now. It's not that I want to ask Your Majesty for an official position, but the Daxie Dynasty has never had an acting governor for so many years. If Your Majesty would grant me such permission, could I remove the word "acting governor" from my title?"

Emperor Longchang was stunned. He obviously didn't expect that Xie Yingfeng would trick him here.

If you say he did not do a good job, these things alone are enough to prove that no one can manage the North better than Xie Yingfeng. But if you say he did a good job, but still let him take charge, it is indeed unreasonable.

Emperor Longchang's gaze fell back on the files, "Your name can indeed be removed."

As soon as Emperor Longchang finished speaking, Cui Yushan was stunned. He didn't care that His Majesty had just told him to shut up, and quickly raised his head, "Your Majesty! You absolutely cannot do that!"

"Then tell me what's wrong with it!" Emperor Longchang was furious when he heard what he said.

He was asked to manage the iron mine and keep an eye on Wei Ling and Xie Yingfeng. The mine's production has been declining year after year, and Wei Ling and Xie Yingfeng don't care about him at all! He is not good at anything and even the complaints he makes are not answered!

Emperor Longchang glared at Cui Yushan. If he could point out Xie Yingfeng's faults now, it would be considered that he had made amends!

Cui Yushan was instantly stumped by the question!

He moved his lips and looked at Xie Yingfeng unwillingly, but in the end he didn't say anything wrong.

"Even you can't find anything wrong with Xie Yingfeng." Emperor Longchang couldn't help but sigh, "My dear Xie, you can indeed remove the word 'dai' from your name!"

He had no choice but to give Xie Yingfeng the job.

He has already looked at the accounts.

Mangcheng produces so much silver every year, and Xie Yingfeng and Wei Ling are able to use this money clearly, not a penny less, and use it all for the people and the construction of Mangcheng. But what if someone else went?

Wouldn’t this money really flow into that person’s pocket as Cui Yushan said?

Emperor Longchang asked himself, in Daxie, apart from Wei Ling and Xie Yingfeng, there was probably no one who would not be tempted by such a large sum of money.

Moreover, Xie Yingfeng has done so many things in Mangcheng, and the people of Mangcheng are probably extremely supportive and loving of Xie Yingfeng. If he is dismissed at will, there will be resentment among the people in the north. In addition, Wei Ling has military power, so it will be difficult to resolve the situation.

If Cui Yushan hadn't caused any trouble today, he could have pretended to have forgotten about the issue of Xie Yingfeng being the acting prefect, but Cui Yushan happened to bring it up today, and Xie Yingfeng followed suit.

I'm afraid it's imperative to clear Xie Yingfeng's name today!