Emperor Zhengde of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 108
Zhu Houzhao looked at the civil and military officials kneeling below with a livid face. The reform of the cabinet was obviously promoted and supported by himself. Could it be that they gave up their lives just for the sake of a clean reputation?

Besides, the bandits made trouble this time. To put it bluntly, they just slapped themselves. This face, as the king of a country, must be won back. Even if there are internal thieves in the court, this time they must not be lightly forgiven.

This is a matter of principle, but Liu Jian and others have also considered problems.

Zhu Houzhao felt that this Ming Dynasty was originally their world, the worst would be to kill a group of officials and bring up another group. Anyway, this issue of principle cannot be touched.

Coincidentally, the imperial examination, which is about to start, will use this as the subject to recruit scholars from all over the world.

Zhu Houzhao thought so, but he didn't say so.

The Hubu Shangshu Liang Chu, who was kneeling below, was already dripping with cold sweat. He was worried that it was not the officials who impeached him. In such a high position, life and death had long been ignored. He thought that he could serve the court in his lifetime, Doing something for the common people will be worthy of this country.

On the contrary, what he was worried about was that Zhu Houzhao could not withstand the pressure of those Yushitai. If this was the case, then the reforms they implemented would fall short.

In this way, not only the hard work of more than half a year was in vain, but more importantly, Daming's treasury should be short-lived. If the country needs money urgently, I am afraid that it will not be able to spend so much money. This is a mistake on his job!
"Where is Jinyiwei?" Zhu Houzhao suddenly called out Jinyiwei, a right he rarely used in court.

Upon hearing this, Shen Lian hurried out of the queue, walked over, cupped her hands and said, "Your Majesty, I'm waiting for your Majesty's orders!"

"Well, you are reciting the situation you have seen in the past few days on this hall, let everyone listen, we will deal with it one by one!"

"According to the order!"

After Shen Lian finished speaking, he took out an account from his sleeve and began to read in the center of the hall: "Three days ago, at Zishi, Zhang Tianqing, the left censor of Yushitai, quietly came to the back door to take a black package, which contained 3 taels of silver notes. , 2000 taels of silver, all of which are hidden in the stove in his home."

"Two days ago, Wang Jie, the servant of Zhan Shifu at Yushitai, sent 3 taels of silver to the mansion in a dirty car under the guise of pumping manure. Now he is hiding in the backyard."

"."

As Shen Lian reported the accounts one by one, the officials of Yushitai turned pale one by one, and they knelt there tremblingly.

The arrogance filled with righteous indignation during the impeachment just now has long since dissipated.

What they didn't expect was that, on the surface, they looked flawless, but they really didn't expect to be closely watched by Jin Yiwei.

At the same time, some high-ranking ministers in the court also had angry expressions on their faces.

None of them expected that the dignified Yushitai civil servant would dare to do such shameful deeds.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, spare your life!"

"Your Majesty, please give me a chance, Your Majesty."

The three officials involved in the incident at Yushitai kowtowed to the ground one by one in fear, kowtow like pounding garlic.

At this moment, they were really scared.

Before, they relied on the Yushitai, and they were sure that His Majesty would not do anything to them. They didn't feel scared in their hearts until the bloody head was offered.

However, everyone has a fluke mentality, and they are lucky at this time.

The Ming court has always retained the habit of not killing civil servants who spoke uprightly. If Yushitai spoke uprightly and was ordered to be killed by the emperor, the emperor would bear the title of a faint king.

That's why they have no scruples, but it is precisely this that they can take advantage of this to make a name for themselves, and their names will last forever.

However, this matter of corruption and bribery, I am afraid that it will not be clear in a while.

Even if they can say it again, even if they say a hole in the sky, they still can't clear up their guilt.

"Hmph!" Zhu Houzhao sneered.

"My dear friends, do you know who gave them the money?"

Zhu Houzhao looked around the group of officials and saw that the group of officials were all kneeling there, no one looked up, and the entire Jinluan Hall seemed extremely quiet.

"I tell you, the ones who give them money are those merchants who drive up prices!"

"I let you do business in a serious manner, but you use it to do these silly things."

"Come on!"

"Drag them all out and beat them to death with a stick!"

Soon, several guards guarding the door came in and dragged the three civil servants from Yushitai out of the Golden Luan Hall.

When many Yushitai saw it, they immediately slumped on the ground.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me! Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty, for the sake of serving you for many years, bypass us!"

"His Majesty!"

No matter how they called, Zhu Houzhao never changed his words.

From time to time, bursts of screams came from outside the hall.
On the Golden Luan Hall, all civil and military officials knelt there tremblingly, and they couldn't even hear the sound of venting their anger.

In the main hall, the echoes of the screams of Yushitai's hog-killing screams echoed for a long time, and with every shout, the bodies of those ministers were trembling.

This time after the fall, Zhu Houzhao made up his mind. He knew that some ministers in the court were dissatisfied with him, because he was the only son and had not experienced the struggle for the throne, so he didn't know what the emperor should do.

In fact, the profession of the emperor seems to have a bright future, but in fact, the inner pressure is much higher than that of ordinary people. No wonder so many emperors are short-lived people, which has a certain relationship with the pressure of survival.

Especially for the emperors of the Ming Dynasty, according to Zhu Houzhao, one of the big reasons why they moved into the Hall of Mental Cultivation after ascending the throne was the problem of Feng Shui.

When all the ministers knelt down and waited for Zhu Houzhao to speak, they heard Zhu Houzhao standing near the eunuch standing in the golden hall and shouting loudly: "Xuan Cao Zhengchun enters the hall!"

Soon, several voices were transmitted, and a slightly vicissitudes figure appeared at the entrance of the Golden Luan Hall.

The officials knew that there must be no good things for Zhu Houzhao to use the people in the West Factory. They did not expect that this time after the fall, they would settle accounts so thoroughly.

Not long after, Cao Zhengchun walked into the hall, saluted Zhu Houzhao, and stood aside.

"Cao Zhengchun, I asked you to secretly investigate the price-gouging merchants, how is the progress?"

Cao Zhengchun hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty Qizuo, I have already investigated clearly." Then, he took out a memorial from his sleeve, bowed and said to Zhu Houzhao, "Your Majesty, a total of 250 merchants who raised prices were arrested this time. Now they have all been arrested and brought to justice, and they are being held in Xichang Prison."

After Cao Zhengchun finished speaking, some of the courtiers who knelt down began to be unable to kneel again, but now is the time to test their will, usually do not do anything wrong, and are not afraid of ghosts knocking on the door in the middle of the night.

However, cold sweat seeped from some people's backs, soaking their clothes.

After hearing this, Zhu Houzhao nodded with satisfaction and said: "Record all their confessions in a book, and then send them all to Caishikou for questioning without leaving any one behind."

"Where is Liang Chu, Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry?"

Liang Chu was already kneeling there, his legs were a little numb. Most of the affairs in the government today are related to him. I don't know if His Majesty called him at this time. What instructions do you have?
I saw him crawling over tremblingly, cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, minister Liang Chu is waiting for His Majesty's orders!"

"I order you to be the prisoner and beheader for this criminal. After the Xichang side handles it, you go to prisoner and behead the criminal!"

When Liang Chu heard this, his scalp felt a little numb. He had been a civil servant all his life. Although he had ordered to kill people, he had never supervised and beheaded any criminals. This was really embarrassing for himself.

But this is His Majesty's order, can you not obey?
"The minister obeys the order!"

After speaking, Liang Chu returned to court.

(End of this chapter)