Xu Duo, who was standing in the crowd, suddenly trembled like chaff.
Now that Ding Peng is caught, won't he also be doomed?
At that moment, Xu Duo wanted to run away.
But where can he escape in this heavily guarded palace?
Xu Duo had no choice but to suppress his fear and wait for the trial tremblingly.
At this time, Ding Peng also loudly told the truth: "Your Majesty, Xu Duo, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, asked me to handle this matter."
"The Liu family runs the largest charcoal shop in Yingtian City, and the Xu family has always been on good terms with the Liu family."
"The Liu family was afraid that Hu Shilang's briquettes would take away the charcoal business after it was launched, so they entrusted the Xu family to interfere with it and make Hu Changan's reputation plummet."
"As for why they were selected, it's because those officials have always been at odds with us, Your Excellency, and we, Your Excellency, want to take this opportunity to eradicate the root cause."
When Xu Duo heard this, his eyes suddenly went dark.
It's over, it's all over now!
I'm afraid he will spend the rest of his life in prison!
Xu Duo's feet went weak and he fainted on the spot.
But the guards on the side did not give Xu Duo a chance to fall.
Just when Xu Duo was about to fall, two guards rushed to his side and held him firmly.
At this time, Xu Duo's face was pale, as if he was crazy, and he looked absolutely miserable.
When Du Yan, a junior official from the Ministry of Revenue, heard this, he was also angry.
He never expected that Xu Duo would kill him just because he refused to agree to Xu Duo's conspiracy!
If Hu Changan hadn't saved him in time, Du Yan might never have been able to get out of that box again!
Thinking of this, Du Yan quickly stood up and walked out of the queue, saying to Zhu Yuanzhang: "Your Majesty, I may know why Mr. Xu wants to harm us."
"Oh, tell me." Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Du Yan with an expression neither sad nor happy.
When Du Yan heard this, he quickly continued: "I once heard that there is such an unwritten custom among lower-level officials."
"When collecting taxes, for every ten kilograms of grain collected, three kilograms have to be collected privately."
"Of the three jins that I have received, I keep two jins for myself and one jin to be handed over to the superior officials."
"As the superior of everyone, Mr. Xu naturally gets the most food."
"As a minor official in the Ministry of Household Affairs, the grain collected has to pass through my hands, so naturally I can find problems."
"Master Xu knew that I had discovered the problem, so he threatened and lured me and asked me to embezzle with him."
"I am an educated person, so naturally I didn't agree."
"But out of fear of Mr. Xu's power, I never told anyone about this matter."
"But now Master Xu can't win over us, and he actually wants to kill us!"
"I see that the officials in that private room are all officials who are not in cahoots with Mr. Xu!"
"This shows that Mr. Xu's murder was a long-planned murder!"
"He just wants to take this opportunity to kill those officials who don't obey his orders!"
"Since Mr. Xu is unjust, I have no choice but to make this matter public!"
When Hu Changan heard this, he also sighed secretly in his heart.
It seems that the collective corruption case in the Ministry of Household Affairs that shocked the government and the opposition has finally come to light.
When everyone in the court heard this, they were immediately in an uproar.
Everyone knows that Zhu Yuanzhang cannot tolerate sand in his eyes.
He was particularly angry about corruption.
Whenever you hear of corrupt officials, you must kill them all to serve as a warning to others.
If this incident comes to light, a large number of officials will definitely be killed!
Those who were not involved in the corruption did not feel much at all, while those who were involved in the corruption suddenly saw a black eye.
Unexpectedly, after going round and round, this matter finally fell on them.
It seems that their future life will not be easy either.
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, the veins on his head jumped.
He never expected that this simple little thing would be involved in such a big case!
He clearly gave these officials daily instructions not to be corrupt, but they continued to be corrupt as usual.
This is simply lawless, not taking him as the emperor seriously!
This matter must be investigated thoroughly!
Zhu Yuanzhang sent a chair and shouted aggressively: "Xuan Shen Punishment Secretary Wu Yong enters the palace!"
Hearing this, everyone took a deep breath.
It seems that Zhu Yuanzhang may come for real this time!
Wu Yong, the Secretary of Shenxing, who has never heard of his name?
This is simply the person who can stop children crying at night.
As the head of the Criminal Punishment Department, Wu Yong has a reputation for being vicious.
It is said that Wu Yong was extremely skilled in interrogation methods and was good at using various torture methods to torture prisoners.
Under his hands, even a tough guy who stands upright will be tortured to pieces.
In the eyes of everyone, Wu Yong is definitely a fierce god!
All the officials involved in this incident were all blinded and wished they could die on the spot.
It seems that they are in danger now!
However, at this moment of panic, a discordant voice came out: "Your Majesty, I think this is inappropriate."
What happened was none other than Hu Changan.
Zhu Yuanzhang was also shocked.
He never expected that Hu Changan would jump out at this time.
However, even after being shocked, Zhu Yuanzhang did not deprive Hu Changan of his right to speak: "What do you think is wrong?"
After all, apart from the person involved, Du Yan, Hu Changan is the person least likely to be involved.
This incident happened in his hotpot restaurant.
Seeing that Xu Duo was so quick to get rid of Hu Changan, it was obvious that Hu Changan would never side with Xu Duo and those corrupt officials.
Hearing this, Hu Chang'an also leaned over and bowed, and then spoke eloquently: "Your Majesty, I believe that if severe punishment is used in this matter, it will inevitably lead to a case of surrender and beating."
"This will not only unjustly accuse those good ministers, but will also be greatly detrimental to His Majesty's reputation."
In later generations, Zhu Yuanzhang was widely criticized for his indiscriminate killing of innocent people.
Although it was a good thing that Zhu Yuanzhang did not tolerate corruption, too many ministers were killed in order to investigate the case.
It is said that all six were killed in this case.
Even those officials who were handling the matter at the local level were not spared.
In the entire case, more than 30,000 people were killed.
According to rumors, many of them were killed accidentally.
After all, in the Ming Dynasty, the techniques for handling cases were single, except torture.
Especially Wu Yong, who tried and handled the case, is a master among masters.
Under torture, these officials will naturally give in and cling on randomly.
This also became a major failure in the history of Zhu Yuanzhang's governance.
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he also frowned and said to Hu Chang'an slightly unhappily: "Then Hu Aiqing, what do you think we should do?"
"Even if it is a wrongful death, I will never allow any corrupt official to be let off under my eyes!"