Chen Shun had served Empress Changsun for many years, so Empress Changsun couldn't bear to execute him.
But this time everyone in the palace has it. As a queen, if she can't lead by example, how can she convince the public?
"No, Queen, please spare your life!" Chen Shun kowtowed his head when he heard this.
Empress Changsun didn't look at him, she waved her hand, and the guards standing aside stepped forward and took Chen Shun out.
"Queen, please forgive me, please forgive me~"
"If you can't bear it, you can spare his life." Li Shimin said.
"Thank you for your mercy, Your Majesty, but the country has national laws, the family has family rules, and the concubine is not well controlled. He is already guilty. How can he be forgiven just because he has served the concubine for a long time." Empress Changsun shook her head and said.
Some of the eunuchs who were arrested just poured beans into their mouths when asked, and told them everything.
There are also some who are still taking chances and keep complaining that they are wronged.
But once he was sentenced, he confessed.
In ancient times, torture was allowed, not to mention that these eunuchs and maids were the royal domestic slaves and did not even use the law.
The law of the Tang Dynasty stipulates: Any master who kills his guilty slaves without first reporting it to the government will be punished with a hundred sticks; anyone who kills his innocent slaves without permission will be sentenced to one year in prison.
In other words, if a domestic slave commits a crime and reports it to the government, he can be executed.
Since Li Shimin was the emperor, he naturally did not need to report it to the government.
Those who committed a lot of corruption were directly killed, while those who committed a small amount of corruption were punished with different amounts of punishment according to the amount.
Eunuchs don't have to spend money in the palace, so they use all the embezzled money to buy property for their families outside the palace.
To recover the money, we need to search the house, which will take some time, let alone mentioning it for now.
More than a hundred people were arrested, and sixty or seventy were eventually killed.
The whole palace was in turmoil, and everyone was in danger.
With such a big commotion happening in the palace, it was natural that it could not be concealed.
The princes and nobles of Chang'an soon received the news.
Many people feel that it has nothing to do with them and don't care.
But some people thought of something else through this incident.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs is managed by the Queen, so even if there is a problem, it should be handled by the Queen.
The male leads the outside and the female leads the inside, which may be just a talk in future generations.
But in ancient times, this was strictly followed.
If a man interferes in internal affairs, he will be laughed at if word spreads.
Li Shimin suddenly conducted a thorough investigation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, will he also conduct a thorough investigation of the accounts of various ministries of the imperial court?
These people's concerns are not unreasonable.
Li Shimin really had this idea when he saw that there were so many people involved in corruption in the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
"Mr. Guanyin, I want Lin Xuan to check the accounts of the various ministries of the imperial court. The imperial court spends so much every year, so there must be corruption." Li Shimin said.
After investigating the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the people involved were just some palace maids and eunuchs. Even if it were leaked, the impact would not be big.
But a thorough investigation of all departments of the imperial court is different.
Once it is leaked, people will definitely be panicked.
Those officials were afraid that if they were found out, they might do something.
By then, I'm afraid the entire court will be in chaos.
Li Shimin was silent for a while and said: "I naturally know the truth that if the water is clear, there will be no fish. But I just want to know how many people are corrupt and how much they have corrupted. I don't want to be kept in the dark."
"Your Majesty, this is a political matter, and it is not convenient for me to say more. However, this matter is of great importance, and I hope that your Majesty will consider it carefully." Empress Changsun said.
Li Shimin nodded and said: "I know, I will consider this matter carefully."
Li Shimin didn't think about it for long. He made up his mind the next day and wanted to check it out.
He did not directly summon Lin Xuan to the palace, but found Li Lizhi and asked Li Lizhi to talk to Lin Xuan.
Li Lizhi couldn't refuse her father, and since she could see Lin Xuan, she agreed.
She was not married yet, so she couldn't go to Lin Xuan's house, so she had to ask Li Chengqian to come forward and invite Lin Xuan to the East Palace.
Lin Xuan came to the East Palace and was taken directly to the garden at the back.
Seeing Li Lizhi waiting for him there, Lin Xuan felt that Li Chengqian, his future brother-in-law, was quite kind.
After checking the accounts yesterday, I helped him make an appointment with Li Lizhi to meet him today.
"Li Zhi, I have been busy checking the accounts these days and almost forgot about the real thing. I need to go to Lingnan for something after the new year." Lin Xuan took Li Lizhi's hand and said.
"Can't you wait a few months before going?" Li Lizhi said.
There are still more than three months until her wedding to Lin Xuan, so she naturally doesn't want Lin Xuan to go to Lingnan at this time.
Lin Xuan joked: "Are you afraid that I will delay our wedding date?"
Li Lizhi's face turned slightly red and she did not dare to look at Lin Xuan.
Lin Xuan hugged Li Lizhi into his arms and said, "Don't worry, I will definitely come back and I won't miss the wedding date."
If Zhang Zhongjian had not returned home after the year, he would not have been in a hurry to go to Lingnan.
But he will definitely calculate the time, and he will come back whether things are done or not.
"Yeah." Li Lizhi was hugged by Lin Xuan, very shy.
"By the way, what happened next?" Lin Xuan asked.
Unlike those princes and nobles, he has channels to know the news in the palace.
He still doesn't know what happened next.
Although yesterday's incident was a big deal, there was no news at all outside.
"More than a hundred people were arrested and sixty or seventy were killed. My father has already sent people to ransack their homes to recover the money they embezzled." Li Lizhi told Lin Xuan what had happened.
"So many?" Lin Xuan secretly exclaimed, these people must be too courageous.
At the same time, I also gained a deeper understanding of the cruelty of ancient times.
"By the way, my father asked me to come to you this time. My father wants you to secretly calculate the accounts of various ministries in the imperial court." Li Lizhi said.
"No, there are so many people in the small Ministry of Internal Affairs who are corrupt. There are six departments in the imperial court. No, it's seven departments now. How can there be less corruption? The accounts of the seven departments not only involve the princes and nobles, but also the officials of the entire Tang Dynasty.
Come on. If a problem is found, how many people will lose their heads? Those people have military power and know that I check the accounts, so they can let me go? I'm afraid someone will assassinate me before I even start the investigation." Lin Xuan didn't even think about it.
Just refused.
Throughout the dynasties, no matter how wise the monarch is, corruption has always been a big problem.
Those people know that he is investigating and can do anything in a hurry.
"My father asked you to investigate secretly. He said that he didn't want to pursue the case, he just wanted to be a sensible person and didn't want to be kept in the dark." Li Lizhi said.
"How can such a thing be concealed? Your Majesty asked me to investigate, and you have to get the account books out after all, right? Do you think those officials are fools and can't think of it? The more secretly they investigate, the more panicked those officials become." Lin Xuan said.
Don't treat others as fools, only to find out in the end that you are the biggest fool.
As for Li Shimin's statement that he would not pursue the case, not to mention the corrupt people who didn't believe it, even Lin Xuan didn't believe it.
If the amount of corruption was small, Li Shimin might really not pursue it, but what if there was a lot?
This is the same as many men saying they don’t care if it’s a woman’s first time.
But do you really not care?
Sometimes it is better to be a little confused. There is an idiom that says it is rare to be confused.
"You're right. I'm going to tell my father and let him find someone else to settle the matter." Li Lizhi felt that what Lin Xuan said made sense. Compared to Li Shimin's explanation, she cared more about Lin Xuan's safety.
"You can't say that. You tell His Majesty that I've contracted the cold and can't worry about Your Majesty." Lin Xuan said.
Simply saying you won't do it will definitely not work.
Just get sick and get better. If I'm sick, you can't let me go to work, right?