I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 227 Breaking
The officialdom of the capital was greatly disturbed.

The resumption of financial rights, the Enke examination, the expansion of the cabinet, the relocation of land in the capital and the equalization of land, etc., made the officials very anxious and gave Zhu Youxiao a headache and even felt exhausted mentally and physically.

"Wang Yingjiao is quite efficient at what he does, and the results have been achieved so quickly."

Zhu Youxiao looked at Wang Yingjiao's question book and thought that there were still many people in the court who did practical things.

It had only been more than 20 days since the last Wenhua Palace report, and Wang Yingjiao had figured out the general situation of the storage banks of other departments and agencies.

According to his inventory, the five ministries in the capital, plus the various departments of Jiuqing, currently have a total of more than 260 million taels, not counting the various ministries in Nanjing and many materials paid.

And he estimated that as long as all the account books can be sorted out by the end of April, the Account Department will have nearly 300 million taels of extra treasury silver and more than 200 million taels of extra income every year.

Although this will also cause the future expenditures of other ministries to fall on the Ministry of Household Affairs, it can be regarded as improving efficiency and income.

"Your Majesty, Ye Ge is old."

He Ning's report interrupted Zhu Youxiao's thinking, and Zhu Youxiao put down the question book after hearing this.

"Let him in."

"The guilty minister Ye Xianggao bows to Your Majesty."

Ye Xianggao bowed and walked in. Staying at home for the past few days had made his hair whiter and more tired.

"Get up and give me your seat."

Seeing Ye Xianggao sitting down tremblingly, Zhu Youxiao was very emotional. He had long wanted to remove Ye Xianggao since the Wenhua Palace edict, but after thinking about it, it still wasn't appropriate.

After taking the throne, he has done many things very effectively, but he has also made many enemies. Not only nobles, eunuchs, and civil servants are dissatisfied with him as a little emperor.

He has a clear conscience in doing things, does not need to please others, and does not care about these dissatisfactions in his heart.

But the reality is that he still relies on civil servants, so even if he is dissatisfied with Ye Xianggao and his like, he still has to use it, because he represents the opinions of a large number of civil servants in the court and has to be taken seriously. If he is dismissed rashly, it will appear that he, the emperor, cannot tolerate it. people.

So Zhu Youxiao thought over and over again and decided to give him a chance.

"Although you have been punished at home for a few days, Dongchang found out that it was Han Xu who accepted a bribe of 5 taels. I have dismissed him and will never use him again. As for you, you really have nothing to do with Li Sancai, so I I won’t care about it any more. During this period, you will continue to work in the cabinet and assist Liu Yishen in drafting the votes."

Seeing that the emperor was straight to the point, Ye Xianggao also knew that he needed to express his position.

"Thank you, Your Majesty. I am indeed guilty. I did have evil thoughts in my mind before. It is your Majesty's fault that you noticed it and asked me to think about it at home and wake up in time. Otherwise, it would be too late to regret. I thank you for still caring about me."

"Well, you are an old minister of Emperor Shenzong and a cabinet minister who was left to me by the imperial examination, so I have great expectations for you. Since taking the throne, I have been hoping that you can come to the capital as soon as possible and assist me in handling court affairs.

But I didn't expect that after you came, you not only failed to concentrate on your work, but instead sought personal gain again and again. First you made things difficult for Xiong Tingbi, then you targeted Liu Yishen, and finally you couldn't understand the court's difficulties. You spoke for the tax-evading gentry in Jiangnan and defended Li Sancai. Really I am so disappointed. "

Seeing that Ye Xianggao took the initiative to admit his mistake, Zhu Youxiao was not polite and scolded him directly.

When he heard these words from the emperor, he knew that his little actions were clearly seen by the emperor without him realizing it. Everything he did before showed that he was extremely stupid.At this moment, he was so ashamed that he just wanted to find a crack in the ground and crawl into it.

"I am ashamed that I have betrayed the trust of the late emperor, and even more so the trust of His Majesty. I really deserve death."

Zhu Youxiao looked at Ye Xianggao who knelt down and bowed his head to apologize, nodded, then waved his hand and asked He Ning and others to help Ye Xianggao up.

"Get up. Zuo Zhuan said: There is no greater good than knowing a mistake and being able to correct it. Although there is a lot of criticism about this matter both inside and outside the court this time, I still want to give you a chance. I hope you will not let me down again this time."

Ye Xianggao stood up with difficulty with the help of He Ning.

"Your Majesty, please rest assured. I will do my best this time to repay Your Majesty."

Zhu Youxiao nodded silently, he never believed these words.

As the saying goes, listen to his words and watch his actions. Whether Ye Xianggao can do it depends on his performance.So he took out a question book from the document and handed it to Ye Xianggao.

"This is the record of the interrogation of Li Sancai's steward by the Sanfa Division and Dongchang. Please read it."

Upon hearing this, Ye Xianggao took the question book and opened it carefully.

It turned out that according to interrogation, Li Sancai's housekeeper took 30 yuan and planned to bribe Ye Xianggao, but Ye Xianggao did not ask for it.So he asked Han Xu, who took [-], and then asked Sun Ruyou, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, who also took [-], Zhou Jiamo, the Minister of Rites, took [-], Huang Jiashan, the Minister of the Ministry of War, took [-], and finally gave Yang Changkui, the left minister of the Ministry of War, received [-] yuan, and other ministers and officials of the other ministries also received more or less.

Ye Xianggao knew more or less about these people taking money, but he was also wondering what the emperor meant by showing him this. "So many people are corrupt, and they are all important officials of the imperial court. It really chills me. The important officials of the imperial court can collude and disobey the imperial court for the sake of financial gain. How about the governor's office and county below?"

Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but sigh, and as he spoke, he took out a question book from the document and handed it to Ye Xianggao.

Ye Xianggao quickly held it up with both hands and took it. It turned out to be the title book written by Bi Ziyan.

It turned out that although he had been impeached by officials and gentry in Southern Zhili, he did not sit still and wait for death. While he continued to press for tax arrears, he had people secretly investigate evidence of collusion between these tax arrears and local officials.

Now the results were finally reported to Zhu Youxiao. Looking at the detailed items inside, Ye Xianggao became more and more frightened. It recorded many of his colleagues who had bribed, tax evaded, bought land by force, loan sharking and even mutilated. The irrefutable facts of slaves being kept until death are too numerous to list.

Every incident reported was no small matter, but these people paid the local officials to smooth things over.If Bi Ziyan hadn't secretly visited and investigated with the help of Jin Yiwei, there would never have been so much evidence to expose the evil deeds and faces of these people.

"The gentry of the country are extremely corrupt. Seeing these things really makes me feel chilled and even I can't sleep at night. This is still in the south of the Yangtze River. This is the case in the richest places in the world. Then other poor places will be even more serious. If this continues, the court will definitely If I lose my heart to the people, I will lose the people of the world."

Seeing what the emperor said, Ye Xianggao felt the same way. He knew these things very well. He thought it was nothing before, but now it seems that these matters are serious problems and he needs to express his position.

"There are some things that are not worth weighing four ounces, and even weighing a thousand pounds can't stop them. These officials and gentry enjoy the favor of the court, but they are wanton and greedy. In the land of fish and meat, it is really an unpardonable crime, but I don't do it either." My dear, can you teach me how to do it?"

Ye Xianggao already knew in his heart that this was the emperor's real test. Most of the people in the two question books knew him, and some were familiar with him. Now that the emperor asked him to take action against them, he was obviously asking him to take sides and express his stance.

Zhu Youxiao looked at Ye Xianggao who was hesitant to speak, and sneered secretly in his heart. He was not in a hurry to rush him, and drank tea while waiting.

After a while, Ye Xianggao finally made up his mind and slowly stood up and bowed to Zhu Youxiao.

"Since your Majesty came to the throne, you have revitalized the imperial court and vigorously promoted the country. The results have been remarkable. However, the ministers of the imperial court failed to understand your majesty's painstaking efforts, and even hindered everything one after another, making everything go wrong. Therefore, I believe that it is said that to govern the country, you must first govern the people.

All the princes in the court are setting examples for the world. They are so greedy. As your Majesty said, if the superiors follow the example, the government will inevitably collapse.Therefore, I feel that not only cannot we tolerate these people, but we must severely punish them to serve as a warning to the officials and people in the world. "

Zhu Youxiao showed a pleased smile, and as expected, the veteran Ye Xianggao came forward.

"Then how do you think it should be punished?"

Ye Xianggao shrugged slightly, then secretly took a deep breath, feeling inexplicably determined in his heart.

"Your Majesty, Han Xu, Yang Changkui and others have been dealt with. There is no need for me to say more. Now Sun Ruyou, Zhou Jiamo and others are honored as ministers. Previously, the Wenhua Palace edict was angrily reprimanded by your majesty for forming a party with the guilty minister, but in the end your majesty still went to open the palace. On the one hand, I asked them to blame the family, but I didn't expect them to be greedy, so that would be an extra level of sin."

At this point, Ye Xianggao hesitated to speak. After a pause, he finally made up his mind and made a strong effort.

"I believe that like Han Xu, they should be charged with forming a party and accepting bribes, and should be ordered to hand over the stolen money, be fined, and serve in official positions."

After Ye Xianggao said these words, he suddenly felt a lot more relaxed.

He knew the consequences of letting these words go out. People like Han Xu and Zhou Jiamo would probably break his spine and call him a traitor.

But he knew in his heart that from the moment he walked into the Forbidden City today, he knew that this would be the result.

He was originally a person who was greedy for power. His seven years as the first assistant made him extremely obsessed with the feeling of being at the top of power.

Otherwise, he would not have officially retired but still accepted Guangzong's order.Nor would they secretly encourage the Donglin Party members to unseat Liu Yishen.The purpose of doing this is to return to the position of first assistant and continue the past glory.

It turned out that after the Wenhua Palace edict was issued, he was already disheartened and felt that everything was over. The so-called success was the king and the defeat was the bandit. He had no choice but to accept his fate.

But after learning that the emperor's edict had arrived yesterday, his original despair rekindled, although some people had advised him to refuse and go home after becoming an official.

But he couldn't do it, and he couldn't refuse. He felt that he still had energy and wanted to work for a few more years.

But everything has a price, and he knows in his heart that the price for his return to the cabinet is that he must break with his previous words, deeds, and allies.

Just like Liu Yishen and Shen Guan, they broke away from the past and completely sided with the emperor. Only in this way can they regain the emperor's appreciation and use.

Zhu Youxiao looked at Ye Xianggao expressionlessly. Although Ye Xianggao had proved his attitude with actions, in his opinion it was not enough.

"Alas, I don't want to be like this, but in order to revive Chao Gang, I have no choice but to do what Mr. Ye Ge said."

"The matter of the courtiers has been settled. Now, I would like to ask Mr. Ye Ge again how we should deal with the Jiangnan gentry who violated laws and disciplines mentioned by Bi Ziyan."

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(End of this chapter)