Emperor Zhengde of Ming Dynasty

Chapter 77
Forbidden City.

Inside the Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Houzhao continued to question the three censors.

"Didn't you say to re-implement the sea ban policy? Well, I agree with your request. From tomorrow onwards, you will go to the coast of Guangdong to stay. But if the people there don't agree, you will never come back."

"By the way, it's time to go. Take off your clothes. I won't let you wear them until you come back again!"

According to Zhu Hou, he had already said it for this sake, so why did the censor not understand what he meant, and the censor also regretted it very much in his heart. Wasn't it good not to mention the policy of banning the sea?
His body seemed to have been drained of energy, and his kneeling body was changed to lying on his stomach, but he still had to thank Zhu Houzhao for his gratitude.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for obeying the order!"

However, he still had a little bit of luck. Maybe he felt that one day in the future, when His Majesty's anger subsided, he might bypass him and let him come back. After all, there are too few officials in the court who speak out like this.

Of course, this is Emperor Zhengde in front of him, and his temper is no better than that of Emperor Hongzhi. Moreover, this emperor is good at trying to figure out the thoughts of his subjects. He reckons that if he is demoted this time, he will never be in the capital again.

He even desperately thought about how to sell his family property and choose a place to stay in Guangdong and Guangxi in the future.

After a pause, Zhu Houzhao continued to point to the censor in the middle and said, "You said you want to restore the system of Emperor Taizu?"

"Yes, that's what I said, I think back then"

"Shut up!"

Zhu Houzhao's voice this time was much louder than before, and the official shut up in fright, and a needle could be heard in the entire hall.

"Chen, minister"

The censor couldn't say a word for a while. He could see clearly what happened to his companions just now. The distribution to the coastal areas of Guangdong is equivalent to cutting off their official careers. It is estimated that it will be more difficult than reaching the sky to make a difference in the capital.

These censors are not afraid of death, but they are afraid of being stigmatized for thousands of years.How great would it be if Zhu Houzhao stabbed them to death this time?At worst, it will lose a good reputation as a clean stream.

If this is also sent out, the consequences will be really unimaginable.

"Since you believe in the ancestral system so much, do you know why I want to change it?" Zhu Houzhao asked back.

"I don't know, I don't know!" The censor was also frightened and uneasy at this moment.

"Humph!"

Zhu Houzhao returned to the dragon chair again, and said with a gloomy face: "I'll tell you, I think it's right to do so. Think about it, it's okay to come here to go to court in spring, summer and autumn. If it's winter, All the ministers are so cold that they don't even want to stretch out their hands, how can I bear it?"

"Don't talk about you young people in the prime of life, just those old ministers, such as Liang Shangshu and Liu Gelao, who braved the freezing weather to come to the early court, can they bear it? ?”

"If all of them are frozen to death, those are the pillars of my great Ming. When the time comes, who else can I count on?"

Zhu Houzhao's tone was full of scolding.

Compared with Zhengde Silang, these Yushitai people can basically do nothing except file a complaint.

Zhu Houzhao's every word was like a sharp sword, hitting the vital point, and the kneeling censor was already planning to retreat.

Now under Zhu Houzhao's successive questions, he doesn't know how to answer at all.

In the end, after much deliberation, I could only say some superficial words, "I deserve death for my crimes, please forgive me, Your Majesty!"

Zhu Houzhao looked at him, raised the corner of his mouth slightly, shook his head and said: "Forget it if you die, you go back and think about your mistakes behind closed doors. Your position as a censor is temporarily suspended, and you can talk about it when you figure it out. Thanks to you After studying the sage books, it seems that I have become a nerd, and I don't know how to change things at all!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty, Long En, thank you, Your Majesty, Long En!" He escaped for a while, at least much better than the old man just now, and he didn't have to go to the border to work.

In the end, Zhu Houzhao turned his attention to the censor at the end. It just so happened that Zhu Houzhao had one more matter to argue with him at this time, and it would be best to settle the old and new ones together.

He impeached Liu Jian and Li Dongyang, and Liang Chu took bribes from businessmen before he led such a large-scale business reform. For now, let’s not say whether they took bribes or not. Now let’s count another matter.

Before that, Zhu Houzhao had received a secret letter from Cao Zhengchun, saying that the censor had collected 10 taels of silver, and the 10 taels of silver were divided into five parts and sent to his residence.

Obviously, this person made a small report in the court, framed Liu Jian and others, and hindered Zhu Houzhao's plan to reform the Ming Dynasty. There must be instructions behind this.

"I want to ask you one thing, what did those people ask you to do after the 10 taels of silver you accepted?"

Zhu Houzhao sat on the dragon chair, looked at the trembling censor with a half-smile, saw that he was silent, and continued to ask: "Also, can you hide the 10 taels of silver?"

The censor was sweating profusely from fright.

"You'd better hide it well, don't let me find the best one!"

thump!
The Yushitai, who had always regarded himself as noble and pure, was paralyzed on the ground at this moment. How could he not have imagined how powerful the Jinyiwei of the Ming Dynasty was?
Lesson learned!However, in the face of huge benefits, can people really not resist temptation?

"Chen, minister, Your Majesty, this old minister was confused for a while! I will never dare again!"

Snapped!
Zhu Houzhao patted the table heavily, and angrily said: "In the future? Do you think you will have a future? Do you think that the Zhenxiang Dongxi Factory is just a decoration?"

Zhu Houzhao's voice echoed throughout the hall, and all the civil and military officials in the court were terrified.

They looked at the censor with eyes that seemed to have thorns.

Someone really wanted to go up and beat him up immediately.

The censor naturally knew what Zhu Houzhao meant, and at this moment his body was naturally shaking, his face was ashen, and he could only kowtow to Zhu Houzhao to beg for mercy.

"Your Majesty, I deserve death for my crimes, and I deserve death for my crimes!"

"The money is not what I want at all, it's just them, they forcefully want to take the money, and I won't get it if I don't take it!"

"Hehe, you don't want to take it? Isn't it hot now? I see that your heart has softened after seeing these silver coins!"

Zhu Houzhao looked at the censor angrily, and said to Cao Zhengchun who was standing aside: "Cao Zhengchun, in front of all the officials, think about what he has done in the past few months."

"The minister obeys the order!"

Cao Zhengchun quickly took out a booklet from his sleeve, which densely recorded the actions of this censor named Li Du.

"Three months ago, someone filled Li Yushi's dung truck with [-] li of silver, and then it was secretly transported to Li's residence, and Li Du put it into the pond overnight. Two months ago, Li Yushi sent a housekeeper Go out secretly, go to Beishan"

After listening to Cao Zhengchun explain everything that Yushi had done in detail, the civil and military officials in the court immediately understood that just now Zhu Houzhao said whether he had hidden the silver, so he knew all about it when he was here. .

Endless disappointment appeared on Zhu Houzhao's face
Is this the incorruptibility of a speech official?He even accepts bribes himself, and impeaches others without shame every day.

I secretly support Liu Jian and Li Dongyang in the cabinet. I trust them, so I dare to authorize them to do it. But what about you speech officials?With the salary of the imperial court, and doing such unconscionable things, it is simply worse than a beast
(End of this chapter)