Chapter 450: The dead Taoist friend is not dead but the poor Taoist
Wang Zaijin was in bad luck this time. The yellow mud had already stained his butt. It was either feces or feces.
He himself was stunned. He couldn't believe it when he stared at the extremely dazzling high-quality gold.
He just admitted in front of so many people that this box was given to him by Yang Hong's people, and it was indeed him who received it.
Now there are dozens of taels of gold in it. No matter what, the crime of corruption and bribery has been hung on his head.
No wonder Liu Neng dared to go to the Metropolitan Procuratorate to report with his real name. It seemed that he already knew what he was doing, so he dared to insist on it.
Zhu Youxiao is still willing to believe Wang Zaijin at this time. If he was really corrupt, he would never confess it in front of him with your firm tone and attitude just now.
Wang Xiangqian, Xu Guangqi and other ministers were also a little at a loss at this time.
Although my friendship with Wang Zaijin is not that advanced, we have worked together for such a long time, and we basically understand his personality.
Therefore, they also believed that someone was falsely accusing Wang Zaijin.
But now that the evidence is conclusive, even if Zhu Youxiao wanted to defend Wang Zaijin, he didn't know how to speak.
"Have you seen everything? Everything the villain said is true."
"What I hate most in my life is corrupt officials. If it weren't for these corrupt officials, why would the Ming Dynasty be like this?"
"Although this villain wants to kill relatives out of righteousness, he is not doing it for rewards or fame. He just wants His Majesty and other officials to act in accordance with the law."
"Your Majesty is an eternal sage. I believe he will not disappoint the people of the world this time. I also hope that your Majesty can set an example for the king in the Jin and Ming Dynasties and shock the government and the public."
After Liu Neng finished speaking, he kowtowed to Zhu Youxiao.
At this time, Wang Zaijin was extremely angry.
You really know people but don't know their hearts. I didn't expect that the domestic slave who had been raised for more than ten years would have such a vicious heart. He wanted to punish himself to death.
"Liu Neng, you are an ungrateful and despicable person. I have spent so many years raising your family in vain. You never thought you would frame me like this. You will die a good death."
Liu Neng saw Wang Zaijin's expression and tone that were almost cannibalistic, and immediately squatted down a few steps. It seemed that he was really afraid of what Wang Zaijin would do to him.
Wang Zaijin had not yet been overwhelmed by anger, so nothing really happened.
Liu Neng's combination of punches caught Zhu Youxiao and other ministers who were still in a dazed state by surprise.
But Liu Neng's words confirmed Zhu Youxiao's suspicions.
He had long realized that this matter was not simple, but he did not expect that it was actually a conspiracy.
What Liu Neng said just now was impossible for an uneducated and uncultured domestic servant like him to say.
His words very much seemed to come from the mouth of a scholar or official.
Most likely someone taught him to say this. It seemed like this was a trap. They wanted to get Wang Zaijin off by themselves.
This matter was not directed at Wang Zaijin, but at himself.
The officials of the imperial court had figured out some clues about Zhu Youxiao's character at this time, and of course he himself knew it.
There is no room for sand in the eyes of the emperor, especially for corrupt officials and officials who have interests tied to collusion. There is basically zero tolerance.
And the people of the entire capital also knew that the current emperor was a jealous and fierce-blooded monarch.
Zhu Youxiao also knew in his heart that it would not be long before the entire capital would know that the Minister of War colluded with the generals in corruption and bribery.
And it was he, the emperor, who brought six ministers of the cabinet to interrogate him in the palace.
Once word spreads in the city at this time, based on his past style of doing things and the wishes of the people, he will definitely kill him quickly.
At that time, the person behind the conspiracy will not have to come forward to expose himself.
The public opinion of hundreds of thousands of people in the capital will force him to punish Wang Zaijin.
As for his punishment, everyone in the world knows that the lightest punishment is beheading.
There was nothing he could do. When he was asked to kill corrupt officials in the early stage, the killing was too violent and public, and the newspaper publicity reached its limit.
Every time a group of corrupt officials are killed, it is a day of carnival for the common people.
If he wants to protect Wang Zaijin this time and cannot do anything, then the image he has finally established in the hearts of the people will collapse.
Moreover, his control and suppression of the court and officials will be reduced a lot invisibly, and it will even have a rebound effect.
Even the officials who are on his side will follow the trend, and when the time comes, corruption will become commonplace and will arise again.
And if you deal with Wang Zaijin by yourself, it will be equivalent to cutting off your own arms and weakening your own strength.
After all, except for Wang Zaijin, there was no official in the imperial court whose ability could compare with him.
There is no official who will work as hard as Wang Zaijin to implement his ideas and policies for the army to the end.
In particular, the position of Minister of the Ministry of War is a top priority.
Military power is no joke. For some people, as long as the position of Minister of War is not occupied by the king, then their battle will be considered a victory.
This is a dilemma, because no matter what, it will only be him who loses, and those who are the thorns in his side will gain.
This move is really poisonous. I didn't expect it to force myself into this rare situation.
It seemed that I had underestimated them, or that my precautions were not rigorous enough.
After some weighing, Zhu Youxiao finally made a choice.
"The decree is drawn up to remove Wang from the post of Grand Scholar and Minister of the Ministry of War in the Jin Cabinet, and all titles will be withdrawn."
"Wang Zaijin colluded with his generals to commit corruption, accept bribes, and abuse his power. He was thrown into Jinyi Guard Prison and interrogated severely."
At this time, he could only choose to push Wang Zaijin out. There was no other way.
It is impossible for me, the emperor, to offend the people of the world for his sake and protect him under the infamy.
The truth of the matter has not been investigated yet, so we can only make a show first.
Perhaps Xu Guangqi guessed what he was thinking through the changes in his tangled expression, so he said:
"Your Majesty, I believe that this matter needs to be thoroughly investigated. After all, many things are just Liu Neng's words, and not all of them may be true."
"I think that in order to truly find out the whole process of the matter, we need Yang Hong and his servant to see if there is any difference in what they said."
Although Wang Xiangqian was old, his brain was still flexible. As soon as Xu Guangqi opened his mouth, he immediately realized that the emperor did not want to punish Wang Zaijin.
He quickly spoke:
"What Zi Xian said is extremely true, and I also deeply believe it."
"Moreover, this is a troubled time. The civil unrest in Fujian has not yet been quelled, and Mongolia has invaded Datong on a large scale."
"My Ming Dynasty is about to deploy troops and generals and plan strategies to deal with the enemy, but the Ministry of War has no chief officer at this time. I'm afraid there will be more chaos."
"I suggest that the king be allowed to stay in Jin for the time being to take charge of the crime. After the civil unrest has been quelled and the invasion of the Tartars has been repelled, we can then make long-term plans."