Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 547 Confession! The Curtain is Lifted!

"Since you've confessed, then tell the truth."

Zhu Yunwen's tone remained calm and even, yet it was filled with murderous intent.

He glanced at Wu Dezhang, who was slumped on the ground, and said in a cold voice, "How much silver you embezzled, how many bribes you accepted, how many innocent people you preyed on, and how you flattered and fawned on your superiors to climb to this position today... all of these must be explained in detail."

"This way you can suffer less physical pain."

"Don't be delusional and think that anyone can protect you or take care of your family."

"So, we keep it hidden and keep these people's secrets."

"Thinking about what kind of future I should leave for myself and my family."

"I am telling you plainly, no one can protect you, nor can anyone take care of you and your family!"

"Tell me all your crimes, and I may grant you a quick death!"

Wu Dezhang's face was ashen, and his eyes were filled with endless fear.

"I confess! I confess everything! Your Majesty has instructed me to speak, and I would never dare to conceal anything!" Wu Dezhang said, his voice trembling.

At this moment, he was not only limp on the ground, but his crotch was also soaked.

I was so scared I peed my pants.

In the eyes of Wu Dezhang and other officials, Emperor Zhu Yunwen was not only a sovereign and father, but also a god-like figure.

The worship and fear of the emperor were deeply ingrained in their very being.

Unable to suppress their inner greed, they became corrupt officials.

But in front of the emperor, he was terrified.

Zhu Yunwen immediately ordered his guards to take a statement, and the on-site trial began right there in the simple tent in the disaster area.

Wu Dezhang began to recount the story in detail.

"Your subject is a Jinshi (successful candidate in the highest imperial examination) of the 25th year of the Ming Dynasty

"After more than a decade of hard study, I finally passed the imperial examination with flying colors. I was overjoyed and thought my future was bright."

"By the grace of the Supreme Emperor, I have been appointed as a clerk in the Ministry of Justice in the capital."

"Although his official rank is not high, only a minor eighth-rank official, he has at least officially entered the officialdom and is working in a big government office like the Ministry of Justice. It is respectable to talk about it."

Wu Dezhang sighed and lamented the helplessness of officialdom: "The officials of the Ming Dynasty suffer so much."

"The government's salary was pitifully small, only a few taels of silver a month, barely enough for a family to make a living and have enough to eat and wear."

"But once you become an official, how can you avoid social interactions and favors?"

"When it comes to a boss's birthday banquet or a colleague's wedding or funeral, you always have to give money as a gift; you can't lose face."

“There are also gatherings of literati and scholars on weekdays, all of which cost money.”

"With that meager salary, it's barely enough to cover the daily expenses of my family, let alone social obligations."

"The Ministry of Justice's 'Review Office' is mainly responsible for managing documents and files. It's an absolutely clean department. Even if you wanted to make money, you wouldn't be able to. There's simply no way to make money there."

"I can only live a life of poverty and barely make ends meet."

Wu Dezhang appeared dazed as he recalled those "hard days": "Because of the extreme poverty and hardship, I even considered resigning from my post several times."

"It wasn't until Your Majesty became the Crown Prince, took control of the government, and significantly increased the salaries and benefits of officials that my life finally started to improve and I was able to escape my predicament."

"But the ensuing wave of reforms quickly made life even more difficult."

"After all, although the salary has increased, we can buy more grain and cloth, so life is indeed a bit better."

"But for us officials, the most important expense is not food and clothing, but social interactions. This is the most important thing in officialdom!"

He listed them off, complaining: "This includes not only giving and receiving gifts, but also dressing smartly and elegantly; one must travel by carriage or hire someone to carry one in a sedan chair in order not to lose the status and dignity of an official."

Wu Dezhang spread his hands, revealing a hint of grievance: "These expenses are shockingly high!"

"The slight increase in salary quickly became insufficient to cover expenses, and income could not cover expenditures."

"The city of Jinling is becoming more and more prosperous, but the price of a banquet in a restaurant and the rent of a house are also rising accordingly!"

"Many times, I have emptied my family's coffers to entertain others. People outside think we eat lavishly every day, but when we go home, we can only drink thin porridge, eat steamed buns and pickled vegetables. We have to eat secretly, for fear of being seen by outsiders and being ridiculed."

“We lower-ranking officials not only cannot afford to buy a house in Nanjing, but we can’t even afford to rent a decent place to live.”

"We were on the verge of having no way out."

"But at that moment, I unexpectedly discovered something!"

Wu Dezhang's tone changed, and he said excitedly, "The 'meeting fee' that the local clerks who send case files and documents to the Ministry of Justice's procurement office are taking is getting higher and higher!"

“In the past, they would give some, but it was very little, just a pittance, not worth mentioning at all.”

"But later he gradually became more generous and lavish."

"It turns out that His Majesty's ascension to the throne and the implementation of various reforms have led to a rapid increase in the wealth of the Ming Dynasty, and the funds of the provincial judicial commissioners' offices have become extremely abundant."

"Furthermore, with the opening up of commerce, there are more and more wealthy merchants in the private sector. When they have money in hand and get into legal trouble, they are willing to give large sums of money to the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner's Office to smooth things over!"

"As a result, the provincial judicial commissioners' offices gradually became extremely wealthy and powerful."

"In order to get the documents and case files sent to the Ministry of Justice approved and stored as soon as possible, and to avoid being deliberately obstructed, they are willing to spend more money to bribe us clerks in the Bureau of Censors and smooth things over!"

He paused, then began to complain: "Being an official in the capital is just too bitter!"

“The ministers and high-ranking officials, as well as vice ministers and above, are naturally very powerful and influential. They have power and money, and enjoy great prestige.”

"The heads of the various departments and offices under each department also received a steady stream of tributes from the local people, in many different forms."

Wu Dezhang counted on his fingers: "There are ice gifts, charcoal gifts, farewell gifts, festival gifts, congratulatory gifts, birthday gifts, student gifts, departmental fees, procurement fees, and assistance fees, etc. Although not everyone can receive them, most people can receive a lot of money and amass a fortune."

"Furthermore, the operating expenses of each department are extremely generous. As the head of the department, it's easy for him to skim off a little bit!" "It's just that we low-level officials suffer."

"Local officials generally don't offer us special favors, and we can't make much money in our own offices. We can only live on our meager salaries and barely make ends meet."

Wu Dezhang curled his lip in disdain: "Don't look at those local people. They gave us clerks in the yamen a little tribute, and they were more generous than before, but it was still just a drop in the ocean. Officials from other government offices couldn't compare."

"Seeing other officials making a fortune and those merchants making a living, I feel extremely unbalanced and insanely jealous!"

He suddenly demanded sharply, "On what grounds?"

"Why is it that those of us who have studied diligently for twenty years and are well-versed in the classics are not as good as a mere businessman?"

"Why are they richer and living better lives than us?"

After a moment of contemplation, Wu Dezhang began to explain his 'understanding': "I have been thinking that since ancient times, 'promotion and wealth' have always been intertwined. The purpose of becoming an official is to get rich and bring honor to one's ancestors!"

"But if you really want to get rich, it's absolutely not enough to stay in the capital as an official. You have to be sent to a local area to really make your mark!"

"But posting to a public institution is not such an easy thing."

Wu Dezhang gave a wry smile: "There's not much else in the capital, but there are too many officials!"

“There are at least eight thousand, if not ten thousand, minor officials like me. They are as numerous as hairs on a cow.”

Everyone is eagerly anticipating being transferred to another post.

"That's a chance for the carp to leap over the dragon gate!"

"Many of them are running around, racking their brains to find connections and opportunities, just for a chance to be transferred to a different area."

"I have no high-ranking relatives in the court to rely on, so how could I possibly be eligible for such a great opportunity as being transferred to a remote post?"

"Later on, I finally found a wealthy merchant who, upon learning of my plight, offered to lend me money."

A smug glint flashed in Wu Dezhang's eyes. "I borrowed tens of thousands of taels of silver from him to make connections with officials at all levels, smooth things over, and make connections."

He spoke hurriedly, as if recounting a hard-won success story: "Finally, when His Majesty issued an edict to establish governors and inspectors in each province to oversee the affairs of the province, I received the strong recommendation of the newly appointed governor of Henan, Lord Zheng."

"I already possessed extensive experience working in the Ministry of Justice and was well-versed in criminal matters. With the recommendation of the Governor, and after a thorough examination of my qualifications and abilities by the Ministry of Personnel, I was quickly promoted beyond the usual ranks and sent to Henan along with the newly appointed Governor of Henan. My official position also rose rapidly, from a minor clerk in the Ministry of Justice's Bureau of Investigation and Statistics to the Vice Commissioner of the Provincial Surveillance Commission!"

He smiled smugly, seemingly quite proud of his "achievement": "A fourth-rank official might not be considered a high-ranking official in Nanjing."

"But in Henan, far from the capital, they truly held high positions and wielded real power!"

"Although there is the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner above us, that Chen Suming is actually a corrupt official who is just like me."

"But the imperial court's control was still very strict, and the rules were numerous and complicated."

"Many things cannot be accomplished by one person alone; they will only be limited in every way."

"Therefore, my two ministers and I put our heads together and colluded with other officials of the Provincial Surveillance Commission to do the same. This made it easier for us to carry out our plans and we came up with many ways to make money, using various pretexts to line our own pockets."

"The merchants who lent me money to buy an official position have also made a fortune."

"This disaster, in particular, is a godsend, a golden opportunity for us to make a fortune!"

Wu Dezhang poured out his heart, revealing everything about his rise from a lowly clerk to a high-ranking official, how he was promoted and given important positions, how he used various pretexts to amass ill-gotten gains after taking office, and all his crimes, including which officials he colluded with.

"How exactly did Li Jichuan, the former prefect of Guide Prefecture, die?" Zhu Yunwen asked.

After his northern tour and his personal visit to Henan, the fact that someone dared to kill the dignified prefect in prison naturally remained a deep grudge for Zhu Yunwen.

“Your Majesty, this matter… this humble subject truly knows nothing about it.” Wu Dezhang slammed his forehead heavily onto the cold ground. “When Li Jichuan was imprisoned in the Kaifeng Prefecture prison, this humble subject had already rushed to the disaster area and was not in Kaifeng Prefecture.”

"Therefore, I have no idea what happened to Li Jichuan in prison or how he died."

"Your Majesty, I have committed numerous crimes. According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, even death by a thousand cuts would not be excessive."

"At this point, whether I commit one more crime or one less crime makes no difference to me."

"Therefore, I have absolutely no need to deceive Your Majesty in this matter."

That's true; for someone like him who was destined to die, many things were indeed meaningless to hide.

However, Zhu Yunwen continued to press, "Even if you were not personally involved and knew nothing about the details, did you really not hear a single word about it?"

“You corrupt officials, you are all scheming and despicable, with noses more sensitive than hunting dogs, able to sniff out the slightest disturbance.”

"I refuse to believe that you would be completely unaware of such a momentous event, and wouldn't even bother to gather information!"

Upon hearing the emperor's question, Wu Dezhang's prostrate body trembled even more violently. After a moment of silence, he spoke with difficulty: "Your Majesty is wise... I have indeed heard some rumors."

"I have heard that the Yellow River dike in Guide Prefecture, under the jurisdiction of Li Jichuan, was originally repaired and reinforced with a huge sum of money allocated by the court. In reality, it was just a superficial effort to cover it up."

"This is the root cause of the Yellow River's breach, which led to this catastrophic disaster."

"However, the matter of repairing dikes and building dams is under the jurisdiction of the Provincial Administration Commission, with the Guide Prefecture and the River Conservancy Office handling the specific work. I am the Deputy Commissioner of the Provincial Surveillance Commission and cannot interfere in such matters."

"Therefore, I am not entirely clear about the specific flow of funds and the details of how the spoils were distributed."

"I only heard rumors that the reason why the dike reinforcement project in Guide Prefecture was falsified was certainly related to the corruption of local officials, but the real money actually flowed into the pockets of several bigwigs in the province."

"This involves the Provincial Administration Commissioner's Office, and even the Governor's and Provincial Inspector's Offices."

"After the Yellow River breached its banks, the raging flood swept across thousands of miles. The officials in the province, fearing the wrath of the imperial court, conducted a thorough investigation, intending to force Li Jichuan to take all the blame."

"But Li Jichuan, though greedy, was also fiercely independent, and he refused to comply even at the cost of his life."

"It is said that Li Jichuan shouted day and night in prison, saying that he received the least share of the profits, so why should he be made to take the blame for this terrible disaster?"

"He also boasted that if the imperial court sent an imperial envoy to investigate the case, he would expose all the inside stories in detail, even if it meant mutual destruction, he would tear down the roof of the Henan officialdom!"

"This is all that I have heard."

"Later, what reached my ears was the news that Li Jichuan... had committed suicide in prison out of fear of punishment."

……

(End of this chapter)