Zhu Ji slowly spit out two words: "Rebellion!"

The air suddenly became quiet, as if the cold wind outside penetrated the wall and blew into the Wenhua Hall.

Since the Nanjing Mutiny began, urgent reports have been sent back to the capital one after another.

Looking at the emergency reports one after another, Zhu Qiyu, Cao Nai and others were shocked and unbelievable at the beginning, but slowly became... accustomed to it.

Gao Hub, a cabinet scholar, was detained in Huai'an Mansion and was shocked.

The three thousand battalions wiped out the main force of more than 20,000 Japanese pirates. Well, I was shocked.

Prince Jianwen suddenly appeared in Nanjing, shocked!

The White Lotus Rebellion...continues to shock!

The emperor personally led the troops to suppress the rebellion, and ordered the execution of 120 main culprits and the exile of more than 3,000 people. Immediately afterwards, he arrested smugglers who went out to sea, starting from dozens, hundreds, thousands...

Now, tens of thousands of people have been implicated in this case. Everyone in Jiangnan is in danger, and half of the officials in the yamen have been reduced. Well...

When I saw the news, I felt less shocked.

However, Gao Zhu’s home was ransacked and millions of taels of stolen silver were found, which shocked people again.

Moreover, this case is probably not a simple corruption case. Jiangnan officials have definitely laid out the plan for rebellion long ago. In other words, there must be someone in the capital who they bribed.

This means that the fire in Jiangnan will soon reach the capital.

As a member of the Zhu family royal family, Zhu Qiyu will naturally not protect these people, but the problem is... there are too many!

In the four major Hongwu cases of that year, the total number of people implicated was approximately 70,000 to 80,000.

The number of people now exceeds the number already, and it exceeds a lot!

In other words, this one case alone has overshadowed the four major Hongwu cases in the early Ming Dynasty.

What’s even more frightening is that this number is still increasing day by day!

It is conceivable that from then on, the evaluation of the orthodox emperor among the world's population, and even in the history books of later generations, would inevitably include the word "violent".

No matter what the reason is, no matter what the truth is, people will only remember the result, that is, you killed too many people.

After being silent for a long time, Zhu Qiyu slowly came back to his senses.

His face began to soften and he said: "You are right, this matter will never be that simple. We must follow the clues and dig out the people behind these stolen money. Five million taels of white money can be given away at any time. Bribery

There is definitely something going on behind the cabinet minister’s back, let’s continue to investigate.”

Zhu Ji replied: "Your Highness, please rest assured, the Jinyi Guards will investigate thoroughly!"

When I returned to Beizhen Fusi, someone immediately brought over the interrogation results.

"Your Excellency, the steward surnamed Li has all been recruited. The two brothers Gao Zidong and Gao Ziliang refuse to speak. Should I use torture?"

"Use!"

Zhu Ji had no expression on his face and said coldly: "In addition, during these days, we should pay special attention to the residences of the officials in the capital, as well as their nearby residences, to see if there is anything unusual. Maybe there are people like the Gao family.

, they also hid gold and silver in this way. When they saw the fate of the Gao family, they must have a guilty conscience. They were busy trying to move and kept a close eye on the people. Maybe they could catch a few big fish."

"Yes!"

In Zhao Prison, several captains took off Gao Zidong's coat and began to torture him.

In less than half an hour, Gao Zidong couldn't stand it any longer and shouted for mercy.

Afterwards, he was taken to the interrogation room.

Zhu Ji was already waiting here, looking at Gao Zidong who was covered with bruises, and said slowly: "Your father is a cabinet scholar, a very popular minister, and everyone in the world respects him. He is a shining lintel and is enviable. It's a pity that he is so unlucky.

If you want to be a thief, there are mountains of gold, silver and jewels in the warehouse, but your family is eating rice bran. I am very curious, how many taels of stolen money have been spent on corruption over the years?"

Gao Zidong was shackled, lying on the ground breathing heavily, with a miserable expression on his face.

Zhu Ji stood up with his hands behind his back and continued: "As of now, your Gao family is finished. You should have received the news. How many people did the emperor arrest and kill in Nanjing? All the stewards of your family have been recruited.

Now I need to ask you a few questions. If you tell me, I can talk about it. If you don’t tell me..."

Gao Zidong cried: "That's all I said, what do you want to ask?"

Zhu Ji said calmly: "You are a smart man. Don't you know what I am going to do? Does this money come out of thin air? The person who delivers money to your house car by car is definitely not

Because they admire you, the Gao family, this is a deal, how much you pay will determine how big the job will be, am I right?"

Gao Zidong turned pale, choked and nodded.

"Who gave you the money? What are their demands? Let me make it clear. Although I can't save you from death, I can at least make it easier for you to die. I can guarantee that as long as you tell the truth, I will give it to you.

A decent one."

Gao Zidong stared hard at Zhu Ji's cold eyes, and after a while, he slowly said: "If I had told you, I would definitely die without a burial place."

Zhu Ji smiled: "I can let you die without a burial place right now. Don't waste any more time, my patience is very limited."

Gao Zidong still looked a little hesitant, but thinking about the torture instruments just now, he couldn't help but tremble all over.

Zhu Ji stood in front of him, looked at him condescendingly, and said: "You are also a Jinshi on the golden list. Maybe when you were studying, you also thought about it, as mentioned in the book, to cultivate yourself, manage your family, govern your country, and bring peace to the world.

.Now that things have reached this point, isn’t this lesson painful enough? Those who sent gold and silver to your family are not your friends. You are in a relationship of mutual use. In this case, you should seize the opportunity.

Use them to relieve yourself of some guilt."

Gao Zidong's face twitched. He originally glared at Zhu Ji hatefully, but now, his face softened slightly.

"Your guess is correct. There is only one person who sends money to my family, and that is Mei Linrong from Nanjing."

Zhu Ji smiled and said: "I have known this for a long time. What I want to ask now is why he gave the money and what was his purpose?"

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!

Gao Zidong sighed and said truthfully: "Mei Linrong will send a large sum of money every winter and summer. On weekdays, he doesn't ask my father to do anything, but..."

At this point, he hesitated for a moment and continued: "This person will send one or two notes every now and then, sometimes to speak for some people in the court, sometimes to promote an official."

"Which officials should be promoted?"

Gao Zidong looked up at Zhu Ji, was silent for a while, and then said: "South Zhili, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Guangdong and Guangxi, down to the prefects, county magistrates, in addition to military attachés."

Zhu Ji took a breath and asked: "So many? How many people are there in total?"

Gao Zidong thought for a while and said: "I can't remember clearly, at least there were more than a hundred people."

Zhu Ji roughly understood that Mei Linrong spent five million taels of silver just to buy an official position.

Moreover, most of them are concentrated in the coastal areas south of the Yangtze River.

Zhu Ji pondered for a moment and then continued to ask: "Your father is only a cabinet bachelor. How can he determine the fate of so many local officials?"

Gao Zidong gave a wry smile and then said: "As a bachelor, my father is really not able to deal with these matters in detail, but there are court regulations for appointments and removals. All you need to do is follow the regulations and make some small moves as my father.

Isn’t it easy?”

"What kind of charter law? What role does your father play in it?"

Gao Zidong explained: "For example, there is a vacancy in the magistrate of a certain county in Guangzhou Prefecture. At this level, only one chief of the Ministry of Civil Affairs can decide, and it is easy to bribe a chief."

Zhu Ji nodded. The person in charge was indeed not an important minister and could easily be bribed.

Gao Zidong added: "The candidates who have already been drafted can easily enter the candidate list. After the candidate is selected, as long as someone speaks for him, for example, my father will write a note, and the officials will not be embarrassed when they see it. After all, it is just a mere

A magistrate."

Zhu Ji frowned and said: "Every time, are you sending a note?"

Gao Zidong shook his head and said: "In fact, not necessarily. After all, there are alternatives that cannot be underestimated. However, as long as a censor is allowed to impeach other candidates at this time, no matter whether they are guilty or not, these people will

You will definitely have to take a back seat."

Zhu Ji asked again: "Even if your father goes to say hello every time, the officials will agree every time?"

Gao Zidong said: "It's just a local official, it's no big deal. There is no need for the Ministry of Personnel to go against my father. Besides, even the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel has requests from my father."

"What do you want from your father?"

Gao Zidong replied: "For officials below the fifth rank, the Ministry of Personnel can decide on their own, but for officials above the fifth rank, they need to be recommended by the court. Most of the people recommended by my father are local officials, and the Ministry of Personnel can make the decision. At the same time, if the Minister of Personnel is under his own sect,

, some students and former officials want to move up, but if my father stands up to oppose it during the court recommendation, it will never be possible. Therefore, all the officials are willing to sell my father's favor."

The Ming Dynasty did have a set of procedures for selecting officials.

And this process, in a sense, is closely related to the cabinet and the Ministry of Personnel.

It is indeed very easy for a person like Gao Hub to install a large number of party members.

The reason is very simple, because he is a cabinet bachelor.

As long as he is willing to let go of his old face, the officials are eager to sell him this small favor.

This is actually understandable. If there is a cabinet scholar who wants to do something that is easy to do, the first thought of most people is not to do it, but to think, does the cabinet boss actually think so highly of me?<

/p>

On weekdays, you can't even be ranked as a flatterer. Now when someone asks you to do something, how can you refuse?

One favor may determine your future.
To be continued...