However, before Emperor Chongzhen could do anything, Wang Dehua, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony and the governor of the East Factory, rushed over and asked to see him first.
"Long live my lord, I have verified Chen Yan's family wealth!" Wang Dehua immediately reported flatteringly when he saw Emperor Chongzhen.
After finishing speaking, he held a list in his hands with a very respectful attitude.
Emperor Chongzhen had no expression on his face after hearing this. He wanted to pass the list and immediately started reading it.
He had information from Wang Chengen, and he actually knew the situation on Wang Dehua's side very clearly.
At the beginning, when Wang Dehua checked Chen Yan's family fortune, he was relatively gentle and polite.
Emperor Chongzhen was well aware of this. Chen Yan's official position was still there. Wang Dehua didn't want to completely offend Chen Yan, or in other words, he didn't want to completely offend the civil servants, so he was slow to investigate.
However, Emperor Chongzhen changed the main eunuchs in the palace. As soon as such a big move was made, Wang Dehua rushed to Chen Yan's house and personally checked Chen Yan's family wealth!
No, less than half a day has passed, and the results are out. This work efficiency is definitely the highest in his history.
With this in mind, Emperor Chongzhen looked through the list and saw that Chen Yan had fifty thousand taels of silver alone, as well as many other gold, jade, and precious calligraphy and paintings. There were also properties outside the city, shops in the city, etc. If all were converted,
Chen Yan's family fortune in the capital alone amounted to more than 200,000 yuan.
Seeing Emperor Chongzhen flipping through the list, Wang Dehua quickly expressed his gratitude and said: "Long live Lord, that Chen Yan is very cunning. Before and after donating the money, the Chen family changed drastically, as if it suddenly became poorer..."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen looked up at him and asked calmly: "Then how did you find out?"
When Chen Yan donated money, he only donated five taels of silver. He also insisted that since he had nothing to offer and his family had no money, he must have hidden the money.
At present, Chen Yan has not lost his official position. He is the Minister of Household Affairs of the Ming Dynasty and a bachelor of Wuying Palace. As coward as Wang Dehua, he would never dare to torture Chen Yan.
Wang Dehua listened and quickly replied: "Long live my lord, I picked some male and female servants of the Chen family. After a little scare, they confessed one after another! It's just ridiculous that Chen Yan was still acting in front of the slave, saying that he didn't know at all.
These family assets are all made by family members!"
Emperor Chongzhen sneered after hearing this, and then stared at Wang Dehua and asked: "What crime do you think Chen Yan committed?"
Wang Dehua knew Emperor Chongzhen very well and had long sensed Emperor Chongzhen's dissatisfaction with him. If he did not satisfy Emperor Chongzhen, he would probably be captured by Xichang.
Therefore, at this time, he could still care about the outer court and be friendly to the civil servants. Of course, he had to protect himself first.
So, I heard him answer immediately: "I think this is Chen Yan's crime of deceiving the emperor!"
As far as this matter is concerned, the consequences are not serious. However, no matter what, this is deceiving the emperor and is a crime of deceiving the emperor. There is no such thing as deceiving the emperor.
Problem!
Moreover, the crime of deceiving the emperor can be serious or minor. It all depends on the emperor's will. If you are lucky and the emperor doesn't mind, then nothing will happen. If you are unlucky and the emperor is angry, it will be a minor matter if you lose your official position.
At this time, after hearing Wang Dehua's answer, Emperor Chongzhen stared at him and asked coldly: "Then how do you think I should punish him?"
"..." When Wang Dehua heard this, he immediately complained in his heart. How to punish him doesn't just depend on your own will. Why did you come to ask me?
Although he was thinking this in his heart, when Emperor Chongzhen stared at him, cold sweat started to fall on his back. He did not dare to neglect, gritted his teeth, and immediately replied: "I thought that Chen Yan was deeply favored by the emperor but deliberately committed the crime of deceiving the emperor."
The sin, the sin must not be forgiven, punish...kill the nine tribes, and serve as a warning to the officials!"
In the past, he felt that Emperor Chongzhen was easy to serve. As long as he followed Emperor Chongzhen's character and temper, he could lead Emperor Chongzhen by the nose.
But now, he felt like Emperor Chongzhen was a stranger, giving him an unpredictable feeling, as if he was a tiger in the forest that would eat him if he was not careful.
With such a mentality, he originally wanted to suggest that Chen Yan be dismissed from his official position, but under the cold gaze of Emperor Chongzhen, he gritted his teeth and changed his mind and said that the highest punishment would be to kill the nine tribes.
There is no other way. If you are a dead Taoist friend or a poor Taoist, you can only take care of yourself first.
Emperor Chongzhen did not speak after hearing this, but just stared at Wang Dehua.
This Wang Dehua had been in harmony with the civil servants in the past, receiving their filial piety, and was very harmonious. He did not take the ancestral precepts in his eyes, nor did he take him as the emperor seriously, and did anything to collude with the foreign court!
Just as he said to Liu Weichao, in their hearts, as the emperor, they may have lost their prestige long ago, so they actually don't regard themselves as the emperor's father at all!
Likewise, when crisis strikes, they only care about their own glory and wealth, and even open the door to welcome thieves!
Thinking of this, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but sneer in his heart!
When Wang Dehua saw that Emperor Chongzhen was silent, he couldn't guess what Emperor Chongzhen was thinking. Cold sweat suddenly broke out on his back.
He had already said that killing the nine tribes should be in line with the emperor's wishes, right? The tone and demeanor he showed just now showed that he was very dissatisfied with Chen Yan!
While he was thinking about it, he suddenly heard Emperor Chongzhen say: "Forget it, just kill the nine tribes, confiscate the homes, exile them to Qiongzhou, and serve as a warning to the officials. Go ahead and do this!"
"My slave obeys the order!" Wang Dehua was relieved when he heard that the emperor did not express any dissatisfaction with him. If he continued to use him, then he should be fine. He quickly agreed and quickly withdrew.
But what he didn't expect was that his conversation with Emperor Chongzhen would soon spread out of the palace.
Just when he left the Forbidden City to search Chen Yan's house, rumors of leaving the palace had already begun.
Obviously, at the moment when Emperor Chongzhen was reorganizing his inner palace, it was definitely what Emperor Chongzhen meant when word spread so quickly!
All the civil and military officials were shocked when they saw Dongchang going to Chen Yan's house to ransack his house. After hearing the rumors, they all immediately cursed Wang Dehua.
They all scolded Wang Dehua as a black-hearted person. Just because of this matter, he even suggested to the emperor to kill the nine tribes of Chen Yan!
It’s a shame that the emperor was so wise and powerful that he didn’t listen to Wang Dehua!
Unknowingly, all the civil and military officials directed their anger at Wang Dehua when dealing with Chen Yan, but they became grateful to Emperor Chongzhen.
As the saying goes, kindness comes from above, Emperor Chongzhen finally began to look like a real emperor. Instead of being like before, he got angry when his ministers instigated him and shouted to beat and kill his ministers!
And the reason for this is because during the communication with Liu Weichao, he finally recognized what kind of person his ministers were!