Chapter 198: Resigning from old age and returning home
Fang Chen has been busy all day.
Of course, I went to bed early in the evening.
Early the next morning, a large number of officials came to Dongchang!
They are all here to give gifts and congratulate Fang Chen on his promotion to the Commander of the Imperial Guard.
All the officials from the court, big and small, came, and even several ministers from the six ministries sent people to come and give gifts to Fang Chen.
Some princes and nobles were too embarrassed to show up, so they sent people to bring gifts!
Fang Chen was stunned!
When he learned about the gifts given by these people, he was even more shocked and eye-opening!
The gifts given by every official are priceless, and even some ordinary gifts contain a thick stack of banknotes!
These people are so blatant in offering and accepting bribes!
Fang Chen didn't see anyone and sent all these people away. However, he accepted all the gifts.
Moreover, whatever gifts the official gave were recorded in the register.
The people who gave the gifts were very happy after they returned. As long as Fang Chen's men received the gifts, they would not investigate them in the future.
However, what they didn't know was that Fang Chen immediately sent someone to deliver this registration list to Luo Ningxin.
Morning the next day.
Luo Ningxin took out the roster in her hand and asked Feng Gao to read it!
Down below, all the civil and military officials were as silent as cicadas!
They thought that everyone was happy after Fang Chen received the gift, but they didn't expect that Fang Chen would stab them in the back!
Fang Chen undoubtedly offended all the civil and military officials by doing this, but he is not afraid. With His Majesty's support, how can he be afraid of these people with his current power?
He must correct these bad habits in the court!
After Feng Gao finished reading, Luo Ningxin threw the roster to the ground!
It seemed to hit every official in the heart.
"You guys are all well-read in poetry and books, don't you know your shame? What on earth are you going to do? Where do you get so much money?"
"Do you know how much these items are worth together? More than five million taels of silver!!"
"At the beginning, when the disaster in the south asked you to contribute money for disaster relief, none of you had any money. Now it's better. In order to celebrate Mr. Fang, you actually spent so much money, the most is 300,000 taels, and the least is 30,000 taels!"
"I'm so disappointed in you!"
"All this money will be confiscated!"
"According to the amount of money you contribute, you will be exempted from your salary for one to five years respectively!"
Luo Ningxin trained all the officials, both civil and military, speechless!
No one dares to speak out. Whoever steps forward at this time will become the outlet for His Majesty's anger, and he will not let it go!
They all hate Fang Chen to the core!
"Shang Shu of the Ministry of Rites, come out here!"
Liang Guangshan, the Minister of Rites, immediately stepped forward and said, "The minister is here!"
"As the Minister of Etiquette, you specialize in humanistic etiquette and education for the imperial examination. You actually took the lead in giving gifts, and gave you two hundred thousand taels!"
"What do you do as a minister?"
"I will demote you from your position as Minister of Education and demote you to the rank of Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Rites!"
Liang Guangshan knelt on the ground and begged for mercy: "Your Majesty, when you get promoted and make a fortune, the etiquette of giving gifts has existed since ancient times. This is an unwritten rule."
"Your Majesty, you cannot demote a minor official."
It's okay not to say it, but when Liang Guangshan said it, Luo Ningxin became even more furious!
"The imperial court clearly stipulates that no one who is promoted can receive more than 200,000 taels of gifts! But you gave me 200,000 taels! I demoted you, which is already a light punishment, but you still disobey the order!"
"Come here, Liang Guangshan will be removed from all positions, retire and return to his hometown, and will never be allowed to enter the imperial capital. His family and dependents will be removed from all positions and punished together!"
Shoot the first bird!
Luo Ningxin is trying to scare the monkeys!
Giving gifts to officials in the DPRK and China has long been a bad habit and is something that everyone accepts by default.
And if this trend is allowed to continue, it will only lead to more officials giving and accepting bribes, leading to the decline of the court!
Therefore, Luo Ningxin seized on this plan and took good care of this kind of thing.
"Your Majesty!" Liang Guangshan begged for mercy: "Your Majesty, please have mercy, Your Majesty, please have mercy!"
However, no matter what he said, it was of no use. Two eunuchs came over, took off the hood on his head, took off his official robe, and took him away!
No one pleads for mercy. Now, whoever stands up will be in trouble!
Because they all gave gifts to Fang Chen!
Luo Ningxin said coldly: "From now on, all officials' actions must abide by laws and etiquette. No one is allowed to violate it. Otherwise, I will punish you severely!"
"Retreat!"
After this incident, Luo Ningxin felt the importance of Fang Chen even more.
She ordered Fang Chen to investigate those officials who gave gifts, starting with those with large funds. If there was corruption and abuse of law, the punishment would be decided based on the amount.
In short, Luo Ningxin must step by step replace the civil and military personnel of the court with his own people, with people who are loyal to the court and do practical things for the people!
There must not be any cancer left to harm the imperial court!
After leaving the court, Fang Chen went to Ma's house to check the progress of refugee resettlement.
Everything developed according to plan. The imperial court compensated all the Ma family's losses. Ma Shan was extremely grateful to Fang Chen and kept accelerating the construction of factories to ensure that all the victims could have jobs and a good life.
After having lunch at Ma's house, Fang Chen went to Yanghuafang.
He went there alone and asked Yang Zhuo to wait for him at the Bingma Division.
"Fang Chen!" Ye Xue'e was very worried after seeing Fang Chen.
The previous competition between Fang Chen and Tian Xuzi was extremely dangerous. Ye Xue'e and Hong Xiu were not allowed to go out or watch outside the palace. They must not be discovered by anyone who knew them.
When Ye Xue'e knew that Fang Chen had defeated Tian Xuzi in all three competitions, she was extremely shocked and excited.
She knew that her man was very strong, but she never thought that he would be so strong, so strong that he could even defeat the first saint of the Great Yan Dynasty.
In the past few days, Ye Xue'e couldn't sleep at night. Many times, she was thinking about a question, is she really worthy of Fang Chen?
She was really scared, afraid that one day Fang Chen would leave her and look for a woman who was as powerful as him. A woman who could advance and retreat together with Fang Chen and work hard together.
But now Ye Xue'e feels that she has nothing except her beauty.
The poetry, poetry, music, chess, calligraphy and painting she knew were incomparable to Fang Chen.
At this moment, Ye Xue'e was lying in Fang Chen's arms and asked quietly: "Fang Chen, tell me, will you leave me?"
Fang Chen didn't know what Ye Xue'e was thinking, so he said casually: "Silly girl, how could I leave you? No matter what happens, I will never leave you."
Ye Xue'e blinked her beautiful big eyes and asked very seriously and solemnly: "Really? You can't lie to me."
"Of course it's true. When have I ever lied to you? Silly girl." Fang Chen scratched Ye Xue'e's nose with his hand: "You are the one I love most. I will never leave you."
Ye Xue'e said again: "What if you meet a woman who is better and better than me in the future?"