"I understand your Majesty's intentions, and I also understand that if the administration of officials is unclear, nothing can be accomplished. I support your majesty in vigorously rectifying the administration of officials."
Wen Tiren first expressed his support for Emperor Chongzhen's intentions, and then changed his tone: "But official corruption is not new. It has existed since the founding of the People's Republic of China, even during the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors period. This chronic disease cannot be cured with a strong dose of medicine."
The meaning of these words, what Emperor Chongzhen heard from Wen Tiren last time, was that he wanted to stop himself and let other moths go.
Wen Tiren saw that Emperor Chongzhen did not express his position immediately after listening to his words, so he continued: "I know that your majesty takes Taizu as an example, so your majesty should know Taizu's determination to fight corruption. If you embezzle sixty taels of silver, you will be skinned to warn the next round.
Officials, there have even been several major anti-corruption cases involving a large number of officials, but even so, is there no official corruption?"
"Even if there are still, there aren't many left." Emperor Chongzhen originally wanted to express his concerns, but when Wen Tiren asked this question, he couldn't help but ask directly in line with Wen Tiren's topic.[
"Yes, Your Majesty, but the situation in the court during Taizu's time was different from what it is now. During Taizu's time, not long after the founding of the country, people's hearts were upward, both in the court and in the military. Most people were ashamed of corruption, and a small number of people were considered corrupt.
It was also secretly. But now, Your Majesty should have some understanding." Wen Tiren patiently analyzed it for Emperor Chongzhen.
Emperor Chongzhen frowned and said to Wen Tiren: "You say."
Wen Tiren had no choice but to open the sky and speak out: "Your Majesty, as far as I know, when a superior officer goes out to inspect the place, the local government must give gifts. This is the rule. If anyone does not give gifts, it will be difficult to gain a foothold in the officialdom. How much gifts does an official of any grade receive?
, there is a number, if it is lower than this number, you will be laughed at by others. Even when some officials meet, the first greeting is, have you accepted it?"
Wen Tiren said this, allowing Emperor Chongzhen to digest it for a while, and then said: "The tax money collected by the imperial court will be reduced by one point every time it passes through the hands of an official; the local or military silver taels issued by the imperial court will be reduced by one point every time it passes through a department.
It will be less than a few percent. This is a public matter, and no one thinks there is a problem."
The incoming and outgoing of hundreds of thousands of silver taels is a huge amount of money.
Emperor Chongzhen couldn't stand hearing it anymore. He slapped the imperial case and shouted angrily: "Can they eat so much silver?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Emperor Chongzhen remembered that a censor in the previous confession had directly embezzled two hundred thousand taels of silver for himself. He thought sadly that these morons could really do it.
"Your Majesty, I am not excusing them. Most of the money they greedily gained must be given away. Otherwise, without this income, it will be difficult for them to maintain their relationship in the officialdom."
Emperor Chongzhen was a little dissatisfied after hearing this, and said to Wen Tiren: "Why didn't the chief minister tell me earlier?"
"If I had said these things before, would Your Majesty have believed it?" Wen Tiren asked.
Emperor Chongzhen was startled after hearing this, and then he remembered the time before when the former Ministry of Household Affairs gave him something that Han Yiliang hesitated to say but did not dare to say. It turned out that everyone knew about the corruption in the officialdom, so they hid it from me alone.
Han Yiliang was afraid that if he spoke out, he would offend everyone in the officialdom, and he would not be able to gain my trust, and would become a human being both inside and outside.
Emperor Chongzhen thought of this, leaned hard on the back of the imperial chair, and began to be in a daze.
Suddenly, he was like an ordinary person who found a piece of silver in his pocket when packing up his old clothes, and said to Wen Tiren: "Isn't there still Wen Qing in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty?"
"Your Majesty, this is your duty as a minister, and I dare not forget it." Wen Tiren replied seriously.
"That means there should be some people who remember their duty as ministers, right?" Emperor Chongzhen asked with hope.
"Your Majesty, yes, but not much." After Wen Tiren finished his answer, he realized that the topic seemed to have gone too far, so he said again: "Your Majesty, do you think this case should end here?"
Emperor Chongzhen listened to Wen Tiren repeating the old talk, and was silent for a while, then asked: "What should we do with so many people who have been arrested? What if they involve others?"
When Wen Tiren heard that Emperor Chongzhen no longer persisted, he felt happy and suggested: "Your Majesty, you can choose some officials who have committed huge amounts of money and serious cases to be punished. Others, etc., have to be allowed to go back to work, so that the attack area is narrowed."
If so, no one will be angry with each other. There will be plenty of opportunities to deal with them slowly in the future."[
When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he was not satisfied. After thinking for a long time, he still couldn't make up his mind, so he said to Wen Tiren: "Wen Qing should let me think about it again. You can do things first."
Seeing that Emperor Chongzhen's attitude was much better than last time, Wen Tiren stopped trying to persuade him, fearing that it would be counterproductive. So he went back to the cabinet to handle matters.
Besides, Luo Yangxing, the commander of Jinyiwei, was working in his yamen. When the Dongchang officers broke in and ordered to arrest someone, they couldn't help but be shocked and angry.
He was shocked that Jin Yiwei Yamen's illegal activities had been exposed by others. He was angry that he had already compromised with the civil servants and went to settle the matter, but he dared to involve Jin Yiwei's people.
The people of Dongchang have an imperial edict, and like them, he is a close minister of the emperor. He can do whatever the emperor says, and he does not dare to stop it.
As soon as the servants left, Luo Yangxing went to find his assistant minister Zhou Yanru to find out what was going on. Didn't he say that several parties had stopped at the same time?
Unexpectedly, when he went to see Zhou Yanru, Zhou Yanru did not see him and said that it was not convenient for cabinet ministers to have contact with the emperor's troops.
Luo Yangxing was really angry. He knew that he was afraid of being tricked by Zhou Yanru.
Okay, you have to reveal all the old things from a few years ago, so don’t blame me for being rude. And no one from Dongchang should run away. Since you have been caught on your own head, then just risk it and no one will.
Don't think about it.
Zhou Yanru watched in the dark as Commander Luo Yangxing of the Jin Yiwei stormed away, feeling secretly happy in his heart. This was the effect he wanted, dragging everyone down, and the law would not blame everyone.
Besides, Zhang Tongchang was supposed to leave Beijing to inspect the salt administration in various places and supervise the implementation of the New Deal. But when he went to the Ministry of Personnel and the Metropolitan Procuratorate to go through the relevant procedures, the relevant personnel were already in jail, and there were no other officials.
to take over these tasks.
Moreover, all the yamen are basically in a state of panic. They gather together all day long to discuss who will be arrested next, and everyone is focused on their work.
Zhang Tongchang was very helpless and had to go home until it was getting late.
He was in favor of the anti-corruption storm in the capital. He was young and passionate, and had long been dissatisfied with the practice of charging money for everything.
But now that the anti-corruption storm has affected the normal work, he feels that the government is doing something wrong. At least he can think of a complete solution and then catch all these corrupt officials without affecting the normal work. This would be perfect.
Little did he know that when the emperor decided to do this, he had no idea that there would be such a huge scale of corruption.
However, these are none of his business for the time being. His task is to implement the new salt policy. The emperor solemnly entrusted him to handle this matter well, so Zhang Tongchang devoted his whole mind to how to handle this new deal well.
Zhang Tongchang's family was not rich and his official position was small, so he walked home.
When he walked to the door of a restaurant called Zuixianlou, he happened to encounter two people coming towards him. They were swaggering and didn't give way. They brushed past him and walked towards the restaurant.
As he walked away, he spoke loudly, as if Zhang Tongchang couldn't hear him: "Brother, look at these officials, they usually receive money mercilessly, now they deserve retribution. I'm in a good mood. Today, brother, I
Please drink."
"Thank you, brother. I will have a few more drinks to celebrate, let them collect my money, and report them later." Another person also responded loudly.
"No, my brother advises you to just enjoy yourself. If you go to report it, be careful that the officials protect you." The man lowered his voice to persuade his brother.[
Zhang Tongchang heard their conversation, stopped and watched the two people enter the restaurant, thinking deeply in his heart: The emperor's anti-corruption campaign is in line with the people's wishes, but after all, the people are still afraid of officials and dare not support the emperor with practical actions.
Anti-corruption.
No matter how powerful the storm in the capital was, it did not affect Zhong Jinwei. At this time, he was playing hide and seek with Jianlu.