In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang also wanted to use more precise methods.
However, in ancient times, there were basically no reliable methods of torture.
In addition to torture to extract confessions, torture is still necessary to extract confessions.
Even in Zhu Yuanzhang's mind, a thinking pattern has been formed.
If a decision is not made, they will be tortured directly to extract a confession.
Although Zhu Yuanzhang did think that the fingerprint issue proposed by Hu Changan was magical, Zhu Yuanzhang did not think that Hu Changan could put forward any constructive suggestions this time.
After all, this is not like an ordinary criminal investigation case, where a conclusion can be drawn with just a little investigation.
However, when Hu Changan heard Zhu Yuanzhang's serious words, he did not shrink back. He just smiled slightly and said: "Your Majesty, I think we can find the corruptors directly by auditing the accounts."
Check accounts?
Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang almost laughed out of anger: "Hu Aiqing, do you know what you are going to say?"
"With so many accounts, how can you possibly check them all?"
It's no small thing to know.
Judging from Du Yan's words, this matter probably involved almost all officials in various provinces and cities.
The Ming Dynasty was a vast land with abundant resources. Just one Yingtian Prefecture had eight counties below it.
In the entire Ming Dynasty, there were more than 140 prefectures.
There are more than a thousand prefectures and counties in the entire Ming Dynasty!
The annual account books of more than a thousand states and counties have to be checked one by one. This is definitely not a small amount!
In modern times, there are also auxiliary tools such as computers.
But in ancient times, there was nothing!
With so many ledgers, I'm afraid I won't be able to check them all until next year.
What's more important is that these account books are all half true and false!
It is easy to make true accounts, and it is also easy to make false statements, but it is extremely difficult to find false accounts among the true accounts!
After all, fake accounts can't speak for themselves.
To find out the false accounts, we can only send experienced accountants to check them bit by bit. The amount of manpower and material resources required is definitely not a small amount.
And sometimes just checking the accounts is not enough, you also have to check the accounts with the physical objects.
In ancient times, transportation was inconvenient, and it would take months at least to go back and forth.
Therefore, if we simply check the accounts, I am afraid that even if we check the accounts for another ten years, we may not be able to complete them.
Even the ministers standing around were snickering.
If the atmosphere hadn't been serious now, they would have laughed out loud on the spot.
Does Hu Changan know common sense?
Can he check so many accounts?
I'm afraid that even if we send dozens more people, we still won't be able to find it!
However, in the face of Zhu Yuanzhang's questioning, Hu Changan remained calm: "Your Majesty, I am not saying that I want to check the accounts of each state government. What I am saying is that I want to check the account books of each minister's house."
"There should be nothing to check on the account books of various state capitals."
"I believe that since Mr. Xu dares to do such an arrogant act, it means that he has at least done it openly, and others can't see any big flaws."
"As long as the top and bottom are colluding with each other about fraud, the fake can become true."
"But the family accounts of various ministers cannot be falsified."
"After all, the money embezzled by various ministers can only be spent in Yingtian City."
"And once the money is spent, it will inevitably leave traces."
"Whether it's eaten or bought, we can all check it out."
"Just find out how much money each family spends a year, and then check with the ministers' salaries."
"Once there is property in your home for which you cannot explain the reason, it is most likely obtained through corruption."
"The source of these properties acquired through corruption must be clearly explained!"
"Next, all we need to do is check the source of the property these adults have explained with the account books in the treasury."
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he couldn't help but nodded.
Listening to what Hu Changan said, it seems that this method is feasible.
But there was one more thing that made Zhu Yuanzhang uneasy: "Hu Aiqing, I think not only the household department will be investigated this time, but the entire six departments will also be investigated."
"There are at least hundreds of people in the entire six departments."
“With so many people checking one by one, I don’t know how long it will take!”
When Hu Changan heard this, he smiled slightly and said: "Your Majesty, don't worry, I have advanced accounting technology at my disposal."
"It's just a few hundred people, nothing to worry about."
"According to my speed, it only takes two months to check all the accounts clearly!"
This is actually Hu Changan's humble statement.
In the Ming Dynasty, people today still use methods such as arithmetic to calculate addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.
These people also know nothing about some basic mathematical knowledge.
As an experienced modern social beast, Hu Changan is absolutely confident in defeating these ancients.
Hu Changan's statement was still conservative. If he had been more aggressive, he estimated that it would only take half a month to finish.
Upon hearing this, all the ministers took a deep breath.
This is too arrogant!
It only takes two months to check the accounts of hundreds of people?
This is simply incredible!
No one thinks that Hu Changan can handle this situation well.
Zhu Yuanzhang was also a little surprised when he heard this.
This Hu Changan is too full of words.
But when he thought of Hu Changan's previous great achievements, Zhu Yuanzhang hesitated again.
The amazing things Hu Changan did before were not just one or two.
Maybe this time he is really sure that he can do it well?
At this moment, Hu Changan continued to add fuel to the fire and admonished Zhu Yuanzhang: "Your Majesty, I know that you hate evil and want to arrest all those corrupt ministers."
"But when you do this, you must also consider the impact!"
"If all the ministers in the imperial court are killed indiscriminately, who will dare to become an official in the imperial court in the future?"
"More importantly, killing people cannot stop corruption. Only by looking at the root causes can we effectively stop corruption!"
When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he also said in a deep voice: "You said that corruption should be stopped at the root. How to stop it?"
In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang took great pains to stop the corruption of this official.
The punishment for corrupt officials in the early Ming Dynasty was not harsh.
As long as an official is found to have accepted a bribe of more than eight taels of silver, he will be hanged.
Those who embezzle more than sixty taels of silver will be punished by the torture of peeling off the skin and making the grass.
Peeling the human skin with straw means peeling off the human skin completely, then filling it with straw and hanging it for public display.
No matter which dynasty it was in, this was the torture among tortures.
However, even if this is the case, there are still people who risk losing their heads and are extremely corrupt.
In Zhu Yuanzhang's view, this was indeed puzzling.
In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang was also confused at this time.
Because he doesn't know if there is any way other than torture to make these rats stop being corrupt. This chapter has been completed!