Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 96 Reprimanding the Officials
at this time.

The Forbidden City in the sunset.

Inside Zuoshun Gate.

It was also a golden light.

Zhu Houcong also looked solemnly at the Minister of Revenue Yang Tan and others who were kneeling on the ground, just like Wang Yangming.

And also showed a look of pity.

Because there were too many important officials arrested this time.

Except for a few ministers in Beijing.

Tao Yan, Minister of Finance of Nanjing.

Liao Ji, Minister of War in Nanjing.

Li Chongsi, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing and the governor of grain storage.

These high-ranking officials who were captured from Nanjing were also taken to the capital, where they knelt before the emperor together with the nine important officials of the capital, including Yang Tan, the Minister of Revenue, Li Sui, the Minister of Works, and Yu Lin, the Minister of the Supreme Court.

In prison clothes.

His hair was in disarray and his body was shaking.

Haggard.

This can be said to be a major earthquake in the officialdom.

In the Ming Dynasty, such scenes only appeared during the reigns of Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di.

The officials who were still standing in the court were all trembling with fear and dared not say much.

Because they didn't expect that such a big case would be uncovered not long after the emperor ascended the throne.

To them.

This is quite a show of force.

Zhu Houcong, who was sitting at the imperial desk, looked at these people and said:

"These days, I have been thinking about saying something to you all. After all, I have been on the throne for almost half a year."

"In the past six months, I and you have done a lot."

"Clear the fields and pacify the people, arrange the grand ceremony, bury the late emperor, and welcome the Holy Mother to the capital."

"I see all your hard work."

"But a lot of things have happened these days, some of them horrifying, and I have no choice but to kill a lot of people!"

"I don't like killing people."

"I just want to govern this country with you all, and I am willing to believe that you all will work with me to govern this country well."

"So, you say that Jiang Bin and other generals are traitors who are harming the country and have deceived the late emperor."

"I will skin Jiang Bin alive!"

"You ministers also said that the imperial store was competing with the people for profits and was of no benefit to business."

"I will sell the imperial store!"

"You ministers also say that the eunuchs who guard the various places are harmful to the people and undermine the virtue of the emperor."

"I will remove the eunuch!"

"Therefore, I have entrusted the affairs of maintaining the peace and stability of the country to you, the civil officials."

"But how did you repay me?"

"They set a great gift in an attempt to blackmail the emperor; now, they are giving relief to the Huai River region, and they are swallowing up most of the money that the victims used to save their lives."

When Zhu Houcong said this, many of the court officials present lowered their heads.

Zhu Houcong stood up and pointed at Yang Tan and his men who were kneeling: "Look at these people."

"Which one is not a senior minister?"

"Which one has not worked hard and made great contributions?"

"Who is not someone I rely on as my right hand?"

When Zhu Houcong said this, he looked down at the court officials and said, "Do you know what they have done?"

"Let me talk about your Ministry of Revenue first."

"The Minister of Revenue Yang Tan, the Minister of Revenue and the Governor of the Granary Zheng Benren, the Nanjing Minister of Revenue Tao Yan, the Nanjing Right Vice Minister of Revenue and the Governor of the Grain Storage Li Chongsi."

"I asked you to allocate grain for disaster relief, but you all said that there was no extra grain in the warehouse except for the military grain and grain used in the two capitals."

"But according to the recently seized accounts, it was discovered that the saved 1.5 million dan of grain in Tongzhou is still in the warehouse. It was just concealed by you, Minister Yang, Minister Zheng and others under the pretext of making up for the grain owed by the transport troops, in order to secretly sell it to border merchants. For this reason, your children have already withdrawn nearly 30,000 taels of silver from the border merchants in advance for expenses."

"And you in Nanjing clearly still have more than 2 million shi of grain left, but you fabricated the story that it was moldy and sold it at a reduced price. You even said that the money you earned had been used to make up for the deficit in Suzhou's water conservancy project."

"But the confiscated accounts revealed that the two million dan were still in the warehouse, ready to be used to offset the grain tax for next year. To this end, you, Nanjing Revenue Minister Tao Yan, Nanjing Revenue Minister Li Chongsi, and the sons of Nanjing Personnel Minister Liao Ji had already borrowed more than 20,000 taels of silver from local wealthy families in advance."

"Besides, you, the Censorate and the Ministry of Works, deliberately asked the censor to conceal the truth when they checked the warehouses. The Ministry of Works also deliberately concealed the fact that the grain was not used. The Supreme Court Minister Yu Lin also deliberately concealed the fact that you had more than 500,000 dan of grain left over from the border when you were the governor of Xuanda."

"I don't understand why you don't take my people seriously!"

"I would rather watch them starve and eat each other than give them food just to eat it myself."

When Zhu Houcong said this, he looked at Jiang Mian and said, "Lord Jiang!"

Jiang Mian stood up at this time and said, "I am here!" "I still remember the tragic situation of the famine victims in Huaibei and Lianghuai that you mentioned to me in the past."

"But you saw it."

"I have to help the people, but they are embezzling my food and are unwilling to help the people."

After Zhu Houcong said this.

Jiang Mian was silent for a while, and finally knelt down and said: "The corrupt officials have harmed the country and deceived the emperor. Their crimes are extremely serious!"

"I originally thought that you were all old ministers left behind by the previous emperor."

"After all, he is my subject!"

"I am also saddened by your harsh treatment."

"So, I want to save your dignity as much as possible and try my best to let you retire in a dignified manner."

"Therefore, when you said with various reasons that there was no grain in stock, I chose to believe you and only asked Zhang Fujing to take 3 million taels of silver to Lianghuai to buy grain to help the people."

"The cabinet, the six ministries, and even the whole world know about this."

"But what about you?"

"He even embezzled a large portion of the three million taels of silver!"

Zhu Houcong said and looked at Yang Tan and others again: "I don't understand why you do this?"

"Do those people who were affected by the disaster have a grudge against you? Are you unwilling to let a large number of them starve to death?"

"Or do you have a grudge against the Ming Dynasty?"

"Are you still thinking about Qian Yuan?!"

Zhu Houcong asked sternly.

"We are so sorry to your majesty and the people. We deserve to die!"

Yang Tan and others started crying.

In their opinion, Zhu Houcong's question was really hurtful to them.

After all, they essentially just wanted to make some money and laugh at the jokes of the reformists. They didn't think too much about it. They just wanted the Ming Dynasty to perish sooner and for all the people in the world to starve to death.

“You all suck.”

"Their butt is crooked, and they are willing to be running dogs of the tycoons and wealthy businessmen."

"My heart is broken."

Zhu Houcong sighed a few more times, then touched his chest and looked at the courtiers and others: "What about you? Although you are standing on the dry shore, are you also so clean?"

The court officials couldn't help but lower their heads even lower.

"Can I still trust you?"

Zhu Houcong asked again.

"His Majesty!"

The cabinet chief Liang Chu could not help but kneel down immediately, tears streaming down his face.

The Minister of Personnel Shi Yan also knelt down with tears in his eyes.

then.

Other court officials also knelt down one after another.

Some of them also began to cry.

After all, the emperor has already expressed a crisis of trust in these civil officials.

"I have sworn before the spirit of the late emperor, and also sworn before the spirits of the other emperors in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, that I will work hard to govern the country and will not let the foundation of our ancestors decay in my hands."

"to this end."

"I am determined to launch a new policy and reform old malpractices. I have devoted all my energy to this and often talk with the prime minister and other ministers until late at night."

"But the actions of many of your ministers have really disappointed me!"

"I didn't want to expose you like this. After all, exposing too much will eventually damage the virtue of the late emperor. But I changed my mind and thought that if I let you continue to be so rotten, I would be even more sorry to the late emperor. Moreover, if I don't expose the crimes of some of you who have brought disaster to the country and the people, people all over the world will blame the mistakes of the previous dynasty on the late emperor."

"That's why I want to bring them all to Zuoshun Gate and let me deal with them personally in front of you."

"At the same time, this is also a warning to you."

"Those of you who are not implicated, don't be complacent. Think carefully about whether you have such thoughts and have long forgotten your original intention of entering the government!"

After Zhu Houcong said this, Liang Chu and others all said: "Your Majesty has good intentions, and we will obey your instructions!"

"Of course!"

"I will still trust you."

"Because even though there are disloyal ministers like them, there are still loyal ministers like Liang Chu, Wang Yangming, and Zhang Fujing who are dedicated to their work."

"But precisely because I still trust you, I must be stricter with them, so that it can serve as a punishment."

"Those who should be killed should be killed, and those who should be exiled should be exiled!"

Zhu Houcong said, and then looked at Yang Tan and others: "You are beyond help!"

Zhu Houcong stood up and said solemnly, "Listen to my order!"

(End of this chapter)