The big news that broke out from the salt affairs finally spread to the Ming Dynasty, Huaihe and Zhejiang. 80% of people related to the salt affairs were arrested.
There are people from the Ministry of Household Affairs, the Ministry of Personnel, and even the Ministry of Work and the Ministry of Punishment who are involved.
Zhu Yuanzhang's attitude towards corrupt officials has always been ruthless.
Cut the grass and roots and get to the bottom of it.
In the past, when Zhang Ximeng was in power, he could also direct the punishment of corrupt officials to the reform of the official system. For example, when trouble occurred in the Ministry of Revenue, the Department of Taxation was added. When trouble occurred in the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was separated to minimize involvement.
But others don't have Zhang Ximeng's ability, and they can't persuade Lao Zhu. However, this is not accurate. After all, Zhu Yuanzhang is not a stubborn person who doesn't listen to anything. In the past, Li Shanchang, Zhu Sheng and others could still be of some use.
But the strange thing is that this time the courtiers did not even have the courage to speak out and allowed Lao Zhu to arrest people.
Not to mention anything else, even Guo Ying of the Gongwei Department was frightened. He took down the ministers of the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of Personnel. Later, the Hangzhou prefect, Tongzhi, and several county magistrates below were also arrested.
What's even worse is that several thousand-household residences were actually affected, and not even the military could escape.
Guo Ying had to ask to see Zhu Yuanzhang and ask for Lao Zhu's orders.
But in the face of this result, Zhu Yuanzhang didn't care at all. On the contrary, Lao Zhu seemed to be very motivated. He killed Hu Sanshe because of the ban on alcohol, which shocked people's hearts.
After so many years, more and more people are taking credit and are proud of themselves, and more and more people dare to take bribes and bend the law.
Regardless of whether they are in the army or officials, if anyone is involved, they will be arrested and killed!
What else could Guo Ying say, he could only bite the bullet and do it.
He was also afraid that arresting people like this would not be unjust, and no one was alone. They were all related. This group of people did not dare to blame the emperor, but he, the executioner, could not escape his involvement.
Guo Ying began to worry about his own fate.
But what is surprising is that in this mess, there is one person who seems to be not afraid of anything and doesn't care about anything. That is Yao Guangxiao!
This person has a pot of tea and three large cakes every day. Other than that, he just concentrates on doing things without any distractions.
Anyway, here, no one can ask for mercy, and no one can talk to him. He is only responsible for investigating.
Yao Guangxiao has to meet with Li Shanchang once every day to report on the progress.
Every time he went there, Li Shanchang was frightened and restless.
When he said the names one by one, Li Shanchang breathed rapidly and almost fainted. Among these people, Li Shanchang was familiar with many people.
Fortunately, there were not many who could be called close confidants, otherwise Lao Li would have died directly.
But according to this investigation method, who knows whether it will be involved in anything.
Li Shanchang was also extremely frightened, but what could he do?
If he went to see Zhu Yuanzhang and asked to stop the investigation, he would immediately be suspected and thought to be involved. Li Shanchang estimated that he would be arrested if he could not get out of the Fengtian Hall.
There are not many people who can stop Lao Zhu from going crazy. Apart from Queen Ma, who is around him, it is Zhang Ximeng.
When such a big thing happens, can you really sit back and ignore it?
Mr. Zhang, please say something!
Li Shanchang lives in suffering every day and cannot extricate himself.
On this day, a decree suddenly came to Zhongshu Province. Zhu Yuanzhang issued an order to transfer Wang Guangyang, the chief envoy of Henan, to the court.
Li Shanchang was slightly surprised when he saw this decree.
Wang Guangyang was a close confidant of Zhang Ximeng. He stayed in the Central Plains and restored people's livelihood, and he also received Zhang Ximeng's full support. He has made outstanding political achievements in recent years.
If he enters the court at this time, he must be of great use.
The Ministry of Husbandry and the Ministry of Personnel are left vacant. Whether it is for him to rectify the Ministry of Husbandry or the Ministry of Personnel, it is a good choice. The most important thing is that this means that Zhang Ximeng's men have begun to come out to clean up the mess.
Maybe there is some sign of the end of this storm?
Li Shanchang did not dare to neglect and issued the order in a hurry. Wang Guangyang set off immediately after receiving the order. Instead of taking a boat, he rode a fast horse and rushed to Yangzhou in one breath. He arrived at Guazhou Ferry and stayed overnight before preparing to cross the river.
Wang Guangyang was exhausted from driving around day and night. The people below got him hot water to wash his feet, and he was ready to rest, have a good sleep, and regain some energy.
But just as he was about to lie down, someone knocked on the door.
"Who?"
"It's me!"
A very refreshing voice made Wang Guangyang slightly startled. He suddenly jumped up and rushed over with bare feet. When he opened the door, he found Zhang Ximeng standing at the door holding a pot of tea.
"Hey young! Mr. Zhang, come on, come on in!"
Wang Guangyang couldn't help being happy and quickly asked Zhang Ximeng to come in. Then he looked both ways, then closed the door and turned around and entered the house.
At this moment, Zhang Ximeng took the teacup and poured a cup of strong tea for Wang Guangyang, and also poured a cup for himself.
"I know you are very tired, but if I don't explain some things clearly, you will be in trouble when you go to Beijing... There is no other way. You can drink some tea first, cheer up, and don't doze off!" Zhang Ximeng said with a smile.
Wang Guangyang said to himself that I am not a child. When it is time to die, we can’t imitate children who become sleepy in class?
But he still quickly grabbed the teacup, drank the rich Longjing drink, and cheered up.
"Xiang Zhang, please hurry up and give the order. This official is really on tenterhooks, as if someone has covered him with a big vat. He can't touch the east, west, north, and south!"
Zhang Ximeng laughed and said, "Don't be too modest. It's not like you don't know anything about the affairs of the DPRK... So many people are afraid of the incident in the Salt Transport Department. You should have some idea of where they are afraid, right?"
Wang Guangyang hurriedly said: "Prime Minister Zhang, the salt profit is very important. In recent years, some people have been constantly promoting cronies and placing them among them. After checking the salt transport envoy's yamen, no one knows who will be implicated. All high-ranking officials in the court are in danger.
"
Zhang Ximeng nodded, "This is one of them, then do you know why you can recommend and promote close associates?"
Wang Guangyang was stunned for a moment, then said honestly: "Please give me some advice, Prime Minister Zhang."
Zhang Ximeng said with a smile: "This is the problem at the beginning of the country. Even if the imperial examinations were opened early, it would be difficult for young people who just read books about sages to quickly become familiar with the government. There are so many government affairs, and things are very complicated. We must rely on
With recommendations, we will arrange for some capable officials to handle important government affairs."
These few sentences actually explain Li Shanchang's situation.
Do you think Lao Li is really so guilty?
That's not the case. The problem is that as the prime minister, it is his duty to recommend and discover talents. These people are all recommended by Lao Li, and the kindness of knowing and meeting them is more important than anything else.
We must know that a few decades later, the chief examiner of the imperial examination will be able to gain a lot of loyal disciples just by writing the words "accepted" on the paper.
Li Shanchang didn't even need to take the imperial examination. He was assigned an important official position with just one sentence. Who has been blessed by this grace? Who dares not to regard Li Shanchang as his benefactor and father-in-law!
Li Shanchang does not need to form a clique for personal gain at all, because there are too many people surrounding Li Shanchang.
There is another interesting thing here. Is the person arranged by Li Shanchang a loser?
Really not, Li Shanchang arranged it. I can’t say that he is 100% competent as a minister and official, but at least he is competent at his job and can do government affairs very well.
Otherwise, all these years of conquering the world would not have been so smooth.
So this is where Wang Guangyang is troubled, "Xiang Zhang, I know that Fan Guang. During the war in the Central Plains, he gave away one million taels of silver to one of his yamen. In terms of ability, he can definitely be called an official. Naturally,
, he was greedy and he brought it upon himself. What is happening now in Xiaguanhu is that it is right to set up big prisons to punish corrupt officials. But if it affects the government and makes more mistakes, will there be further investigation and punishment?
What is the sin of others? Also, it has caused chaos in the government and many government affairs cannot be implemented. I am also afraid of endless troubles!"
Wang Guangyang thought carefully and said: "Prime Minister Zhang, if you have a thorough understanding of the situation, can you give me some advice on how to deal with this matter?"
Zhang Ximeng nodded slightly, "You are right. Prime Minister Li did not recommend many mediocre people. These people are very capable... But it is precisely because of their outstanding abilities and the fact that the country is just starting up that they are so bold and ambitious that they placed their own
My confidant, he is greedy and greedy, there is nothing he dare not do!"
Wang Guangyang was shocked again!
What does it mean to wake up the dreamer with just one word? Zhang Ximeng’s skill is definitely strong enough.
Li Shanchang can recommend hundreds of officials, and those ministers and ministers, Yan Yunshi, can naturally recommend their own people. Each of them has considerable power.
This is something that later Ming officials would not dare to imagine.
Even Zhang Juzheng, who is known as the regent, is simply not comparable. He still needs help from eunuchs. Does Li Shanchang need to care about eunuchs?
Strong, powerful, courageous and ambitious.
So when you are greedy for ink, you become unscrupulous.
And there are too many people who are eager to replace Li Shanchang and take a step up.
This is the complexity of the current political situation.
"If you ask me what I think of the current situation... we need to promote a group of officials who came from the imperial examination. They came out of the imperial examination and passed the examination. Naturally, they don't have to obey their benefactors. In their eyes, His Majesty's status is
It’s more important, and it pays more attention to national laws and regulations. This does not mean that people who passed the imperial examination are perfect, at least they are more disciplined than those today.”
Zhang Ximeng said with a smile: "When you come to Beijing this time, the most important thing to remember is that you are selecting talents for His Majesty and doing things for His Majesty. You are just a tool in His Majesty's hands. You want to take back the power for the Lord.
Establish rules for the officialdom. As long as this is done, there is nothing to worry about."
Wang Guangyang was silent for a long time, and finally understood what Zhang Ximeng meant. He nodded vigorously, remembering it in his heart, and even slept very sweetly in the second half of the night.
Early the next morning, Wang Guangyang boarded a boat, crossed the Yangtze River, and arrived at Yingtian calmly.
Zhu Yuanzhang immediately summoned Wang Guangyang, and the emperor and his ministers talked for almost an hour. It is said that during the conversation, there was laughter and joy. Zhu Yuanzhang smiled for the first time in many days. His Majesty the Emperor actually made an exception and stayed with Wang Guangyang to eat. He also praised him and worked in Henan.
Well done, it's a blessing.
Then Zhu Yuanzhang issued an edict and appointed Wang Guangyang as deputy prime minister, to participate in political affairs, to be the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, to rectify the administration of officials, and to take charge of salt affairs!
