"Oh! A smuggling case turned out to be a Japanese connection, and then the customs brought out more than 40 anti-smuggling officials for inspection."
"It also involves the Ningbo magistrate, three doctors under the Chief Secretary, six local prominent families, more than 30 distinguished gentry, and 72 powerful officials from various yamen!"
"The total amount of money involved in the case is 8.76 million!"
In the Fengtian Palace, Zhu Yunxi took the Eight Hundred Miles Urgent Secret Memorial sent by Tie Xuan and read it out loud in front of all the ministers.
Suddenly, the ministers of the Six Ministries of the Ming Dynasty who were sitting in front of him could not sit still. Fu Youwen, the Minister of Household Affairs, Baozhao, the Inspector-General, and others stood up directly.
"Your Majesty, this...?" Ling Han, the veteran minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, asked, "What kind of case is this?"
This is what the ministers want to ask.
Such a major case actually broke out without any warning. There were so many people involved, the money involved was so huge, and there was also the crime of having liaison with Japanese people?
What happened over there in land Z?
Zhu Yunxi looked at the memorial in his hand. The expression on his face was unpredictable. He only smiled faintly and said, "The first major case in the first year of Yongchang!"
Suddenly, all the ministers were shocked again.
Judging from the emperor's tone, he immediately gave a verdict to this suddenly exposed case!
"Grandpa Huang once lamented in private before, how come the corrupt officials in the world are endlessly killed!" Zhu Yunxi still said with a face as deep as water, and his voice was slow, "Today, I only know how helpless Grandpa Huang was back then!"
The first thing to send Tie Xuan to Z is to implement the New Deal, and the second is to rectify the powerful and prominent families in Z. When doing important things, you should use an iron fist. But I didn’t expect that Tie Xuan would dig out so many pests under Tie Xuan’s iron fist!
Moreover, what Zhu Yunxi just read was only part of the memorial.
The money involved was more than 8 million yuan, which was based on the profits from smuggling in the past few years based on the review of the maritime merchants. It did not include their family property, land, real estate, and shops.
It does not include the property of the officials involved, and more powerful people will be involved in the future.
There are also those officials involved in the case. The list presented is just the beginning. In addition to these officials, there are also these officials and businessmen, those brokers with great reputations!
Corruption is never an individual act. It happens up and down, in groups!
"Your Majesty!" Inspector Yushi Baozhao said, "Did the central government send someone to handle such a shocking case...?"
"No need!" Zhu Yunxi put down the memorial and placed it on the mezzanine of the imperial case. "The Jinyi Guards are at Z, and there are also Tie Xuan and Jing Qing in charge. I can trust them!"
Hearing this, the ministers were suddenly horrified.
The emperor does not use the Criminal Department, the inspectors, and the three divisions of Dali Temple to try this major case, but uses the Jinyi Guards. What does this mean?
Many people's expressions have changed.
Because when the old man was in power, corruption cases like this were also arrested and investigated by Jin Yiwei. Then more and more people would be involved in the case, and more and more people would be killed.
"Your Majesty!" Liu Sanwu, a bachelor and member of Zhongshushe, stood up and saluted, "This is the first year of His Majesty's ascension to the throne. If you kill too many people, it may violate the peace!"
"All the subjects of the world are enjoying the rain and dew of the emperor. If the emperor..."
"You mean that in my first year as emperor, I shouldn't kill people, but should pamper them?" Zhu Yunxi interrupted the other party directly and reprimanded sternly, "Let me be merciful? Why don't they think that this is my first year?
When you ascend the throne, do you want to give me some face?"
"I don't mean that!" Liu Sanwu said hurriedly. He was an official who had experienced several major cases in the Hongwu Dynasty. He naturally knew the temper of the emperor of the Zhu family. He was afraid that Zhu Yunxi would be like the old man, killing people and unable to hold back his sword.
"I will not wrong good people, nor let bad people go!" Zhu Yunxi looked at him and said something that made all the ministers feel relieved.
Deep down in everyone's heart, what they fear most is that the current emperor is like the old man, and will get involved!
But what Zhu Yunxi said the next second immediately made them fearful again.
"The case at Z is just the beginning, not the end!" Zhu Yunxi looked around at the ministers, "The whole country is implementing the New Deal, but that side has repeatedly shied away from it. From the officialdom to the local level, it is the powerful gentry who make the decision! In a place like this, nothing can be done until it is broken.
Suddenly, Zhu Yunxi discovered that among the ministers, Fu Youwen, the Minister of Household Affairs, was frowning in deep thought.
"What is Fu Aiqing thinking about?" Zhu Yunxi asked.
Fu Youwen paused, "Your Majesty, when will these stolen funds be deported to Beijing?" He said, then paused, "The Treasury of the Ministry of Revenue was quite empty due to the Liaodong War last year!"
"Haha!" Zhu Yunxi laughed, "You money maniac! Don't worry, after a few days, he will be escorted to Beijing and put into the treasury. Then you just wait to check the money! And I also tell you that the money involved in the case is not from my Ming Dynasty.
It’s a silver dollar! It’s pure silver!”
"Ah!" Fu Youwen was suddenly startled, and then muttered the calculation, "If you calculate it this way, more than 8 million taels of coins will be 30% more, and there will be interest on the coins, adding up to more than 10 million?"
More than 10 million?
It’s just Ningbo!
Zhu Yunxi again thought of Tie Xuan's words in the memorial, a sentence that shocked him.
"The powerful and powerful gentry in z land are so intertwined that they can be suppressed for a while but not for a lifetime. I believe that after everything is over, those with bad deeds among the gentry and prominent families should be forcibly relocated to the capital to serve the people! In this way, the officialdom and people's livelihood in z land will be affected.
Brand new!"
"Historically, it seems that this is how the old man dealt with the powerful people over there in his later years! Kill some and relocate others!"
After thinking about it, Zhu Yunxi spoke to the ministers again, "You don't need to ask any more questions about this case, I will make my own decision!
At this time, the great scholar Liu Sanwu said again, "Your Majesty, next month is the imperial examination of Jinke, which involves the country's selection of scholars. I don't dare to do it myself. Please give me your Majesty's permission!"
"Recruiting scholars is a top priority for the country, and it is still in the Wenhua Hall!" Zhu Yunxi said, "Zheng Yi, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Liu Aiqing, and Fang Xiaoru, a Hanlin scholar, are the reviewers!"
"I obey the order!"
"What are the topics for Jinke's imperial examination?" Liu Sanwu asked again.
Zhu Yunxi thought about it, "Don't stick to Neo-Confucianism, don't talk empty talk. In addition to stereotyped writing, add some policies and theories on people's livelihood and economics! The country cannot recruit a bunch of scholars. Those who only know the basics are just nerds, right?"
"In addition to these, the wars on the border and how the barbarians in Yunnan and Guizhou are managed are all included!"
"This..." Liu Sanwu was a little embarrassed for a moment, but he didn't dare to disobey, "I will think about it carefully when I get back and submit the test questions to the emperor tomorrow!"
"No!" Zhu Yunxi nodded.
At this moment, Pu Wuyong, the head eunuch of Fengtian Palace, came in in a low voice, walked to Zhu Yunxi, and said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, King Yan is only a hundred miles away from the capital!"
Zhu Di is here!
In the end, he came anyway!
Zhu Yunxi thought about it and said, "The Duke of Wei, Xu Huizu, and the Crown Prince of Yan, Zhu Gaochi, came out of the city to greet them. Pass the decree, and after the King of Yan has settled down, I will give you a banquet in Jinshen Hall!"