Chapter 823: People can be bullied, but God cannot be bullied
Young Master Liu smashed the rice paper in his hand on Zhou Guangming's head and snorted with anger in his eyes.
"Huh, sin deserves death, sin deserves death.
Do you think that you just want to pay off the evil deeds you have committed just because you deserve death?"
"The guilty minister dare not, the guilty minister dare not."
"Don't you dare? I see how brave you are!
You can do things such as bending the law for personal gain and caring about human lives, but what else in this world can you not dare to do?"
Young Master Liu ignored Zhou Guangming, who kept kowtowing, and walked unhurriedly to the middle-aged official on the far left.
"Hezhou Governor Hou Changbin."
"The guilty minister is here."
Young Master Liu picked up a piece of rice paper and turned to look at a middle-aged man sitting in the corner of the hall.
"Where is Zheng Kuo from Hezhou Farewell?"
The middle-aged man who was looked at by Young Master Liu looked stunned. After reacting, he hurriedly ran towards Young Master Liu.
"The guilty minister is going to Hezhou to leave Zheng Kuo to see your Majesty, long live my emperor."
"No gift."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
"Zheng Aiqing."
"The old minister is here."
"You are Dalong's court official and my subject.
I have neither punished you nor dismissed you from your post, so why did you come to Hezhou to tell me about it?"
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Young Master Liu pinched the rice paper in his hand, looked at the contents again, and then threw it directly in front of Hezhou Governor Hou Changbin.
"Being corrupt and perverting the law, he secretly resold the government's grain and grass, and secretly increased taxes under clever pretexts.
When you served as a state official in Hezhou, in just two and a half years, all the things you embezzled amounted to more than 500,000 taels of silver.
More than five hundred thousand taels of silver, this is all the blessings of the people of Hezhou!
Hou Changbin, you have such a big appetite!
What a big appetite!
I really want to cut open your stomach with a knife and take a good look at how big your stomach is."
Hou Changbin looked at the confession in front of him with trembling eyes. After hearing what Liu Dashao said, he collapsed on the ground.
"The guilty minister knows his guilt."
"Zheng Aiqing."
"I'm here."
"You have meritorious deeds in writing a report to expose Shangguan Hou Changbin's corruption and perversion of the law. I will remember your merits in my heart."
"Reporting to your Majesty, this is the duty of the veteran, and I dare not accept the reward."
Young Master Liu waved his hand with a smile on his face, and took out a piece of folded rice paper from his sleeve.
"Any meritorious deeds must be rewarded, and any delinquent must be punished. This is the rule of the imperial court.
You have done great service to me and the court, so why don't you dare to be rewarded?"
"Old sir, thank you very much, Your Majesty. Long live our Emperor."
Young Master Liu shook his head happily and handed the rice paper in his hand to Hezhou Bijia Zheng Kuo.
"I love you, you have made such great contributions to the imperial court.
I have drafted a reward letter in advance, please read it first."
A flash of joy flashed in Zheng Kuo's eyes, and he took the rice paper from Young Master Liu's hand respectfully.
"Thank you, Sir, Your Majesty."
"Hey, you deserve this.
First, take a look at the reward I have given you, Zheng Aiqing. If you are dissatisfied with anything, please report it to me directly."
"I don't dare, I don't dare."
Zheng Kuo was humble and pretended to be calm as he opened the rice paper in his hand.
After seeing the content on the rice paper, the hidden joy in Zheng Kuo's eyes suddenly disappeared, replaced by a strong sense of fear.
Young Master Liu glanced at Zheng Kuo calmly, with a hint of sarcasm in his eyes.
"Zheng Aiqing, how are you? Are you satisfied with your reward?"
Hearing Young Master Liu's question, Zheng Kuo's body trembled suddenly, and the rice paper in his hand quietly slipped from his fingertips.
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty."
"Hehehe, it seems that Zheng Aiqing is very satisfied with my reward!
If that's the case, then you should keep it well."
Zheng Kuo's legs went weak and he collapsed directly on the ground.
"Zheng Kuo, Zheng Kuo, even I have to sigh for the things you have done.
He used the court's sword to get rid of his superior, and took this opportunity to cover up his crime.
Tsk, tsk, tsk, it’s really a good plan to kill two birds with one stone!”
"His Majesty!"
"Although Hou Changbin is greedy for money, he has never directly harmed the lives of others.
But you, you piece of shit, not only took bribes, but also took care of people's lives."
"Hou Changbin."
"The guilty minister is here, the guilty minister is here."
"Do you really think that the son of the wealthy businessman Lin family died young because of you?"
"ah?"
Young Master Liu looked at Hou Changbin's astonished expression and raised his foot to kick the rice paper that had fallen to the ground from Zheng Kuo's hand.
"Take a good look at it for yourself and see how your good colleague, who has been with you for three years, treats your superior officer secretly."
Hou Changbin came to his senses and subconsciously picked up the rice paper on the ground.
When he saw the content on the rice paper, Hou Changbin glared angrily at Zheng Kuo, who was sitting next to him.
"That bitch, it's you, it's actually you."
Young Master Liu ignored the two men and looked sideways at an official kneeling in the second row.
"Chunyang County, Yuezhou..."
After half a day.
Liu Dashao glanced at the officials who were slumped on the ground, put his hands behind his back, and paced gently in front of the remaining officials with the corner of his mouth slightly raised.
"Lu Changsheng, the governor of Lingzhou, Han Gaoju, the governor of Yue, and the magistrate of Yushan County under the jurisdiction of Qianzhou..."
Young Master Liu read out the names of ten prisoners in succession.
"My dear friends, what's wrong? Did you really not hear my voice?"
As soon as Mr. Liu finished his questioning words, four or five of the officials among them trembled suddenly.
"King Wuyi, Mr. Xia Aiqing."
"I'm here."
"My dear friends, they are waiting for you two to save their lives. Why don't you two come over and say hello to them?"
"I obey."
Song Qing and Xia Gongming looked at each other, walked to Young Master Liu's side and stopped with playful expressions.
Xia Gongming put his hands in front of him and glanced sarcastically at the group of prisoners in front of him.
"Colleagues, I am here.
I wonder how much money you guys plan to give me as salary to buy your lives?"
Hearing Xia Gongming's sarcastic tone, except for a few insiders, other officials showed a look of doubt on their faces.
What money? What life?
The officials who were still a little confused at first came to their senses after hearing Xia Gongming's words.
Since the chief minister of the current cabinet dared to speak openly about what happened in Zhao Prison last night in front of the current emperor.
In this way, the so-called cousin of His Highness King Wuyi.
The so-called Mr. Yang.
His identity is self-evident.
His true identity was standing in front of him and others, this man wearing a flat crown on his head and a black dragon robe, exuding a majestic aura from head to toe.
His Majesty the current emperor, Liu Mingzhi.
Young Master Liu raised his eyebrows and looked coldly at the group of officials in front of him who were shaking like chaff.
"My dear friends, you are all smart people. I think you already understand your true identity."
"His Majesty!"
"His Majesty."
Young Master Liu took out the stack of rice paper filled with confessions written by Liu Chengzhi, Xiao Kaitai and his brother and sister from his sleeve, and threw it to the ground.
"My dear friends, please take a look at the confession you made last night.
If any of you feel that there is something wrong with your confession, I allow you to defend yourself at any time.
If not, just sign and pledge it."
After Master Liu finished speaking, he turned to look at the little cutie who was kneeling on one of the first seats.
"Yue'er."
"My son is here."
"Um."
"My son understands."
The little cutie immediately stood up, picked up the four treasures of the study and a box of ink pads that had been prepared, and walked towards Young Master Liu.
The little cutie stopped and directly placed the four treasures of the study and the ink pad on the ground.
"My lords, please."
A group of prisoners looked at the Four Treasures of the Study placed on the floor and kowtowed to Young Master Liu.
"I realize my mistake. Your Majesty, please forgive me. Your Majesty, please spare my life."
"Your Majesty, please forgive me. Please spare my life."
Young Master Liu casually put his hands behind his back and stared at the two youngest officials among the group of prisoners, with a hint of coldness flashing in his eyes.
"Yuan Fei, Chu Xuanran, you two bastards, get out of here."
Hearing Young Master Liu's scolding, the two youngest officials supported themselves and came to Young Master Liu with their whole bodies trembling.
"His Majesty."
"His Majesty."
Young Master Liu glanced down at the two of them and sighed with a complicated expression.
"Yuan Fei, Chu Xuanran, you two are the two of you who were the enemies of Dalong Chengping in the fourth year.
The second-level Jinshi that I personally appointed.
Alas, you two are really enough to make me proud!"
“I know the crime, I know the crime.
I have betrayed His Majesty's great kindness and great expectations. I really deserve to die.
I plead guilty,"
"I am ashamed of Your Majesty's grace, and I am willing to plead guilty."
"Your Majesty, if you are brave enough to offend me, I will give you another big salute."
"Your Majesty, the guilty minister has also saluted you."
After the two people kowtowed heavily, they turned around and picked up the pen in the tray, found their confession on the ground, and wrote down their names without hesitation.
Then, the two picked up the ink pads and pressed their fingerprints on the confession.
The other prisoners saw this.
Some people sighed heavily.
Some people raised their hands and slapped their faces hard several times.
Some people kowtowed heavily to Mr. Liu.
Then they also found their own confessions one after another, and began to sign and stamp them with a miserable expression.
“I am unworthy of His Majesty’s grace and deserve to die.
Please, Your Majesty, grant me death."
Young Master Liu looked sadly at the officials who were all willing to plead guilty, with a hint of melancholy in his eyes.
"You guys, if you had known this, why did you do it in the first place?"
"I know I was wrong."
Young Master Liu frowned slightly and was silent for a moment, looking around the hall calmly.
"Everyone, I have a question to ask you."
"Excuse me, Your Majesty, now that the matter is at this point, I will tell you everything I know and will tell you everything I want to say."
"I want to ask you, do I give you a very small salary? Have I treated you badly?"
"Reporting to your majesty, your majesty has given you a lot of salary for your ministers, and your majesty has never treated your returned ministers badly."
Young Master Liu nodded slightly, turned around and glanced at Jiang Yuanming, the Minister of Household Affairs.
"Xia Lao Aiqing, Hu Bu."
"I'm here."
"You two, one is the chief minister of the current cabinet, and the other is the Minister of Household Affairs who is in charge of the world's money and food.
Therefore, you two should be very clear about the salaries of civil and military officials.
I ask you two, it has been more than six years, nearly seven years, since I ascended the throne and proclaimed myself emperor.
How many times have I increased your salary in total over the years?"
"Your Majesty, except for the first year of Taiping, your Majesty has raised the salaries of ministers five times in total."
"Old Xia loves you."
"His Majesty?"
"What's your annual salary now?"
"Your Majesty, not counting silk, tea, various grains and other items, the veteran's annual salary is three thousand two hundred taels in cash."
"Tobe, what about you?"
"Your Majesty, my current salary for one year is 2,800 taels of silver."
"When the new dynasty was first established, how much was the salary of a county magistrate?"
"Your Majesty, the current amount of silver is one hundred and eleven taels of silver. Including other items, it converts to about one hundred and fifty taels of silver."
"What now?"
"Your Majesty, if the annual salary of a county magistrate is converted into silver, it would be about three hundred and sixty taels."
Young Master Liu let out a silent sigh, turned around and looked around at all the people in the hall.
"People."
"The grassroots are here."
"How much does your family need for food and clothing for a year now?"
"Back to Your Majesty, it's hard to say. It depends on the situation.
If a common man's family wants to live a prosperous life, they will need about sixty taels to one hundred taels a year. If they want to live a more ordinary life, thirty taels or fifty taels will be enough.
The ordinary people don’t know about other people’s homes.”
"Your Majesty, there are a total of eight people in the house of the common woman. The annual expenses are about thirty to fifty taels of silver."
"Back to Your Majesty, Cao Min's home is a businessman. There are many people in the family, and his life is more prosperous. One year..."
After all the more courageous people finished telling their stories, Mr. Liu raised his head and sighed.
"I vaguely remember that twenty years ago, about ten or twenty taels of silver were enough to feed and clothe a family for a year.
At that time, the annual salary of a county magistrate was more than one hundred taels of silver.
Nowadays, people's annual expenditure on food and clothing is only about thirty to fifty taels of silver.
People from well-off families could only spend about a hundred taels of silver a year.
However, the annual salary of a county magistrate has grown to more than 300 taels of silver.
With more than three hundred taels of silver, even a family of twenty people can still live a very prosperous life.
County magistrates all have such salaries, not to mention state and provincial officials, government officials and capital officials.
Your current life is beyond the reach of 80% of the people in the world!
This is it, you are not satisfied with this!
"The guilty minister deserves death."
Young Master Liu sighed, turned around and walked towards the dragon platform.
Sitting on the dragon chair, Young Master Liu looked at Mianqi in front of him and quietly glanced at the civil and military officials in the hall.
"It has been more than six years since I became emperor.
In these six years, my imperial mausoleum has been repaired and suspended three times.
Hahaha, when the national treasury is tight, I would rather have my imperial mausoleum temporarily suspended.
I have never owed you a copper penny in salary.
But what about you? This is how you repay me.
The purpose of raising scholars in the imperial court is to help you govern and help me govern the world, and to be good shepherds of the people.
And you, as officials of the imperial court, are the parents of the common people.
Instead of being kind to the people, he committed countless evil deeds that are outrageous and resentful.
If I spare you, how will I face these people in the court? How will I face the people in the world?"
"I plead guilty and your Majesty will grant you death."
"Yue'er."
"My son is here."
"confession."
"yes."
The little cutie quickly ran to the dragon platform and placed a stack of rice paper in her hand on the dragon eucalyptus.
"Father."
Mr. Liu picked up the ink pen in his hand and scratched heavily on the rice paper.
"King Wuyi."
"I'm here."
"Take him out of the palace gate and execute him."
"I obey."
"Here comes someone."
"I'm waiting."
"You will follow my officer and escort the prisoners out of the palace gate."
"It's an order."
More than 20 prisoners did not struggle after being escorted by the Forbidden Army soldiers.
He looked up at Mr. Liu who was sitting on the dragon chair and bowed.
"Thank you so much, Your Majesty. Long live our Emperor."
Young Master Liu watched the crowd gradually go away and looked down at Xiao Chengzi.
"Little Chengzi."
"The old slave is here."
"Take a few people with you and bring the food on the ground to the prisoners so that they can eat and drink before they go on their way."
"Old slave, I obey."
"correct."
"His Majesty?"
"Bring a few more jars of fine wine and send them along.
Drink some wine and it won't hurt when you hit the road.
It is not in vain for me to fight with their kings and ministers."
"Old slave, I obey, I will leave first."
"My dear ministers, I love you all."
"I'm waiting here."
"Wait, have you seen what happened to these prisoners?
I don’t want their today to be your tomorrow.”
"I don't dare to wait for death."
"I will tell you one more thing today, and you will all remember it in my heart.
People can be bullied, but God cannot be bullied!"
"I will remember this in my heart and never forget it."