"Fan'er, is the punishment too severe for doing this?"
Emperor Chongzhen said in a deep voice.
He originally thought that Lin Fan would severely punish these officials, but he did not expect that he would immediately destroy the nine tribes. Once such a thing spreads, all the officials will definitely be dissatisfied!
Although the Ming Dynasty belongs to the Zhu family, the emperor also relies on hundreds of officials to handle government affairs. What if the officials are afraid and all submit their resignations? What will happen?
"Father, do you also feel that the punishment for this matter is too severe?
Have you ever thought that if it weren’t for these people’s pedantic ideas, they would wantonly amass money and withhold military expenditures!”
"In our Ming Dynasty, will there be someone like Chuang Wang?
Would you let someone like that almost hit the capital?
Will the Jiannu invade the hinterland of our Ming Dynasty?"
"You think the current punishment is too severe, but if it is something like this, just a small punishment is not enough to shock people's hearts. Among hundreds of officials, there are still people who dare to do this!"
Lin Fan said coldly.
this……
Emperor Chongzhen had nothing to say, because everyone knew that King Chuang and Jiannu were able to invade the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty because the soldiers in the army could not get money, resulting in extremely poor combat effectiveness of the army.
Now, something like this has happened again. It can be seen that these officials are all evil-minded. They can only see money in their eyes and completely fail to see the suffering of the people and the importance of armaments.
"Pull it down!"
Emperor Chongzhen said in a deep voice.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty, please spare your life!"
The officials begged, but they were still pulled down by the Jin Yiwei. At Caishikou, dozens of heads fell to the ground, and the entire capital was shaken.
Ni Yuanlu knelt on the ground, trembling. Previously, he had made the most money, but he was only blackmailed severely by the prince, and he had no intention of murder!
This incident obviously touched the prince's bottom line, and Ni Yuanlu was seriously worried that his head would have to be moved.
"Your Highness, I know that I am guilty, so you can chop off my head. I also ask Your Highness to let my family go. I am willing to give up all my belongings!"
Ni Yuanlu cried bitterly.
"Ni Yuanlu, why do you think this prince is so angry today?"
Lin Fan asked.
"Because, because I didn't equip the armored ship with cannonballs, I don't want to give up the money?"
Ni Yuanlu asked.
"You are wrong! It's because you don't have this world in your eyes, and you don't have a big picture view. You have to understand that everything you use now is not obtained because you are the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, but because the Ming Dynasty became powerful!
"
"Looking at all historical dynasties, the demise of a dynasty was due to rampant corrupt officials and a lack of attention to military development!"
"You have to remember that no matter how rich you are, as long as you are not protected by a strong army, your money is not yours. I am strong and I can take it away from you at any time!"
Lin Fan said in a deep voice.
"Woo! Your Highness, I know you are wrong. That armored ship is a sharp weapon for our Ming Dynasty, but I don't equip it with cannonballs. This is a disregard for the safety of our Ming Dynasty!"
Ni Yuanlu cried and said.
"I am very pleased that you can understand this. From now on, you must allocate funds to allow people in the gunpowder mill to quickly manufacture cannonballs for ironclad ships. The number must not be less than a thousand!"
"Although this cost is 100 million Ming coins, the supplies I brought back when I conquered Wo Country are definitely more than this. Moreover, I will make the people of Wo Country slaves for generations to come!"
"From now on, the land in Woguo will be the place where we grow food and mine mineral deposits for our Ming Dynasty. Do you know how much benefit we can get?"
Lin Fan said in a deep voice.
"If there is a country that produces food for our Ming Dynasty, it can feed at least one million people! Your Highness, I have realized it at this moment!"
Ni Yuanlu said in a deep voice.
"In that case, I will spare your life. You, the Minister of the Ministry of Finance, will be demoted to the rank of Minister of the Ministry of Finance. If you continue to do things poorly, you will be killed!"
Lin Fan said coldly.
"Thank you, Your Highness, for your great love for me. I will never be able to repay you even if I die!"
Ni Yuanlu cried bitterly and said.
Lin Fan rolled his eyes at him coldly, turned around and left. Ni Yuanlu also hurriedly got up and followed out. When she returned to the Ministry of Household Affairs, she quickly allocated funds to ask the gunpowder mill to speed up the production of cannonballs for ironclad ships.
At the same time, Lin Fan also considered that the other battleships would also be in short supply of cannonballs, so he asked them to produce another 100,000 shells, which would consume over 100 million Ming coins.
The successive big moves shocked the civil and military officials of the entire court. His Highness the Crown Prince made so much effort to build artillery shells. What was he going to do?
"Kill officials! Make artillery shells. Is His Royal Highness going to start a war?"
"Don't he know what will happen to the people of the Ming Dynasty if they get involved in war again?"
"Alas! It is best for us officials to keep silent about this matter. You have all seen the fate of those who speak out and remonstrate."
"Alas! It's so miserable. Not only are their heads on the ground, but nine tribes have also been wiped out!"
"Everyone, let's think about our options. Why don't we just hand in our resignation? In fact, we can save our own lives!"
The officials said one after another.
All of a sudden, all the officials in the capital were ready to resign and appeared outside the palace, unable to kneel down. When Lin Fan learned about it, he had them all announced.
"Everyone, are you resigning and returning home?"
Lin Fan asked.
"Going back to Your Highness the Crown Prince, I know that my talents are limited and I am afraid that I will not be able to serve the Ming Dynasty, so I submit my resignation and want to return to my hometown to live in peace and prosperity!"
One person said.
"Your Royal Highness, all of you want to go home and take care of yourself!"
All the officials said one after another.
So many people submitted their resignations, obviously to force Lin Fan to admit his mistakes, because if so many officials left, the court would not be able to operate normally.
If Emperor Chongzhen were here, he would definitely not dare to agree, but Lin Fan knew the weaknesses of these officials.
"My dear friends, if you really want to retire and return to your hometown, I will never let you stay, but you must think carefully!"
"After all, people's hearts are unpredictable!"
"You people have been in office for many years and have offended many people. You don't need me to list them all for you. You are court officials. Those people dare not do anything to you. If you resign, you will not have the protection of the court.
Got it!"
"Alas! Speaking of which, you people are also stupid. You helped those people make money, and you only took a small part of it. They became nobles of aristocratic families, but you are just ordinary officials!"
"When you resign, you lose your power, but they lose nothing at all. Think about it, what stupid things you have done."
Lin Fan said in a deep voice.
After he said that, he sat there drinking tea. The officials kneeling on the ground looked at each other with shock in their eyes. His Highness the Crown Prince was really trying to control them!
At the same time, they also knew that what the prince said was true. They were indeed the ones who brought the nobles together, and they were also their biggest threat.