The legitimate daughter becomes cannon fodder? Rebirth to overthrow the system's fatality

Having gathered together the money over the past few days and cut off Chu Ze's source of income, the prince became visibly more proud.

Now it's Chu Ze's turn to have a headache.

The Minister of Revenue was very concerned about the silver, and began to dig deep when he arrived in Nanli Province.

He refused to attend any welcoming banquets arranged by local officials, and no gifts or attempts to mediate would work.

But no matter how he checked, he was always one step late.

Any insider who has just been found will be silenced, and any evidence that has just been found will be destroyed.

Mu Zhuo is just upright but not a fool. A series of coincidences are not coincidences.

He had a big quarrel with Zhou Qun, the Minister of Justice, but there was no evidence to prove that Zhou Qun was the one behind it.

Fortunately, although the person behind the scenes was not found out, Jiang Zhizhou and his gang, who disguised themselves as pirates and smuggled salt, were arrested. There was also evidence that Deputy Envoy Ding Fan of the Xuanwei Division concealed the gold mine.

Since they could not recruit any more people by staying in Nanli Province, Mu Zhuo and Zhou Qun set off to return to the capital to report.

When they came, the two of them were brothers and shared the same ideals.

On the way back, the two of them looked at each other with disgust and sullen faces.

One thinks the other party does not understand the ways of officialdom and is too aloof, and is certain that the other party will suffer a great loss in the future.

One hated himself for having made a mistake and angrily scolded the other for fawning on the powerful and being a parasite to the country.

In this contest between the Crown Prince and Chu Ze, both suffered losses, but the one who benefited the most was Emperor Zhaolie.

Emperor Zhaolie sat at the top, read the memorial presented by Chu Heng, listened to Mu Zhuo's report, and the corners of his mouth raised slightly.

It was not that he was unaware that the Crown Prince and the Third Prince were forming cliques for personal gain, but he just turned a blind eye and let the two of them check and balance each other.

He did not think that this incident was an accident. He was able to make the crown prince and the third brother suffer such a big loss at the same time, and made both sides think that it was the other party who made the move. Seeing these two gangs fighting each other like fighting cocks, Emperor Zhaolie was very satisfied.

He glanced at Chu Heng who had a calm expression on his face below. This kid was fine if he didn't move, but he was so ruthless when he moved, and he hit both sides with a stick. He was not wrong.

"I never thought that the Ministry of Works had embezzled so much money under my nose all these years! Nearly 500 million taels of silver! Equivalent to Dongling's tax revenue for ten years! How bold!"

Emperor Zhaolie was furious, and all the court officials knelt on the ground.

His cold gaze fell on the prince through the crown. There was not a trace of father-son affection in his eyes. Instead, it was like looking at an enemy, the kind of enemy that he wanted to get rid of as soon as possible.

"Zhou Qun."

"The minister is here."

"Sentence the Minister of Works Liang Yi and his family to death, and exterminate their entire clan! The rest of the officials involved will have their property confiscated and their heads cut off."

"Yes!"

The prince fell to the ground, clenching his fists, his back already soaked with sweat.

He breathed a sigh of relief only after hearing Emperor Zhaolie's verdict.

He turned his head fiercely and looked at Chu Ze.

He is really penniless now.

"The officials of Dongling are really eye-opening. Every year they ask the court for money to suppress bandits. In the end, the bandit is himself!"

Knowing that it was his faction's turn, Chu Ze didn't even dare to breathe.

"A small local official actually confiscated 100 million silver coins, which is more than my private treasury!"

"Is this Nanli Province a den of thieves? Seven years ago, they just impeached a county magistrate, and now there are two more. It's rotten from top to bottom!"

"Luan An, Nanli Province is in your hands. Execute those who should be executed and sack those who should be executed. Make sure to wipe out this den of thieves!"

"Yes!"

Chu Ze was stunned. He had already informed Zhou Qun, but he didn't expect that the case would be handed over to Luan An.

However, Luan An is Zhou Qun's subordinate, so there shouldn't be any major problems.

After a fit of rage, Emperor Zhaolie looked at the silver in the treasury and said, "The treasury was empty a while ago, and there was no money to build the dike in Loudong. Now that we have the silver, we can start."

"Ye Rong, you are responsible for this matter."

Minister Ye, who had just been promoted to the position of Minister of Works, bowed his head to the ground and said, "Yes."

This is when the corruption incident happened, and no one dared to do anything small at this critical juncture.

After these two incidents, Emperor Zhaolie ordered the Dali Temple and the Censorate to revise the laws on corruption and increase the severity of punishment.

At Emperor Zhaolie's order, the court became busy.

If you are greedy, wipe it clean immediately.

Just when he was about to be greedy, he gave up and stopped.

Those who are not greedy just fold their hands and watch the show.

The Censorate was staring at the court officials like crazy, and every court official felt insecure, fearing that they would be caught and impeached.

A wave of anti-corruption swept the court, and for a time all the court officials were incorruptible.

In the Yangxin Palace, Emperor Zhaolie was drinking wine happily.

"happy."

Eunuch Quan stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, even if you are happy, please drink less."

"Xiao Quanzi, tell me, who does Zhou Qun from the Ministry of Justice belong to?"

"Your Majesty, of course it's yours."

"Hmph, my people?" Emperor Zhaolie threw the wine glass on the table.

This time he asked the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Justice to go to Nanli Province together just to test the situation. Unexpectedly, the third brother did not disappoint him.

"Tell me, I'll find a reason to take Zhou Qun down, who should I put in place?"

"Your Majesty, please let me handle the affairs of the court..."

"Just bring Luan An up here. This Luan An is most likely Lao Wu's man."

"It's time for Lao Wu to move. He has already figured out the Shenji Camp. There's little point in staying there any longer. Where should I send him? I think the Minister of Personnel is getting old. It's time for him to retire and return home."

Eunuch Quan agreed with a smile, saying that His Majesty has really put a lot of effort into His Highness's welfare.

The Ministry of Personnel is in charge of the appointment and dismissal, examination, promotion, demotion, and transfer of officials, and is the target of everyone's efforts to win over. If your Highness goes there, he can quickly expand his power.

In this way, the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Personnel are all under your Highness' control.

Mu Zhuo from the Ministry of Revenue is an upright person.

Of the six ministries, only the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Rites were left for the Crown Prince and the Third Prince.

These two are of paramount importance in the fight for the throne.

This is like hanging a piece of fat meat between two wolves, letting them fight each other until they are bloody. But he didn't know that His Majesty had already brought the whole pot of meat to His Highness the Fifth Prince.

Your Majesty is truly partial.