Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 517: Who can you ask for questions about state-owned enterprises?

"Wang Weizhong, you are so presumptuous!"

In the Qianqing Palace, seeing Wang Hui actually impeaching the emperor, Yi Shiha immediately stood up and scolded him, but Zhu Gaoxu raised his hand to stop him from scolding.

At this moment, Li Mian and Yan Yan were stunned by Wang Hui's operation. Zhu Zhanhe, who was standing next to Zhu Gaoxu, also took a new look at Wang Hui.

He still doesn't understand what Wang Hui is doing. In his opinion, Wang Hui's approach is completely a way to die.

This is not surprising. After all, he is only twenty-six years old, while Wang Hui has already entered his forties.

Twenty years of ups and downs in officialdom, coupled with Wang Hui's own abilities and talents, there were not many people who could compete with him, otherwise Yang Rong and Yang Pu would not be suppressed by Wang Hui in the cabinet.

After Zhu Gaoxu raised his hand to stop him and failed, the palace instantly fell into a dead silence, and everyone's minds were running rapidly, constantly guessing the reason for Wang Hui's actions.

An hour later, Yan Yan, Li Mian, and Zhu Zhanhe still hadn't figured it out, and Yi Shiha frowned. Only Zhu Gaoxu understood Wang Hui's thoughts after a moment of astonishment.

Wang Hui's original idea was to let the emperor keep him by relying on his ability to clean up the corrupt officials in Jiangnan. However, as Yan Yan and Li Mian fought back against him, and when Zhu Gaoxu showed that he wanted to abandon him, he immediately revealed his trump card. coming.

"This slave takes orders..."

An honest official who knew the darkness of the officialdom sold his property to bribe corrupt officials. He remained clean while enduring under the corrupt officials for more than ten years. Finally, he stood up and dealt a heavy blow to a corrupt force, taking away tens of thousands of corrupt officials. Leaving the country tens of millions of money and food...

"You said I failed to supervise. I want to hear how I failed to supervise."

His answer made everyone except the two of them tremble, and Zhu Zhanhe even counted the time until Yi Shiha left.

When Zhu Gaoxu began to question, Wang Hui knew that his life had a way out, but this way was not stable.

"Since it has become a fact, it is useless for me to answer..."

Therefore, facing Zhu Gaoxu's questioning, Wang Hui bowed his hands in a neither humble nor overbearing manner, with a solemn expression on his face:
"Since His Majesty took control of Yu, local corruption cases have been investigated repeatedly. Although there are such feats as the "Guimao Jing Investigation", this is not caused by His Majesty's negligence."

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu narrowed his eyes slightly, feeling that he had underestimated this king, but even so it was okay.

He is not afraid that the emperor will question him or check the evidence, because he is not afraid of investigation, he is afraid that the emperor will kill him when he is angry.

"Yishuha, go and check his house yourself. I want to see if he is really as honest as he says."

For a person with such a story, once he kills him, there will be too many disadvantages. Maybe his reputation will be comparable to that of the Baozong.

As the footsteps got farther and farther, Wang Hui's breath that he had been holding for a long time relaxed.

Even if an official has no political achievements, as long as he is honest enough, the people will praise him. If Wang Hui is as honest as he said, then his bribery will not only not become a stain on him, but will become a stain on him. Advantages worthy of special mention by the National People’s Congress.

"Jiuzhou is extremely vast. Although I monitor hundreds of officials, the news is always slow. If I notice it, I will deal with it."

In his opinion, the current emperor is magnanimous, extremely confident in his various policies, and is perfect in both ability and character.

Zhu Gaoxu wanted to expose it, but Wang Hui interrupted him and forced him to nod in agreement.

"I would like to ask Your Majesty whether what I said is true?"

Facing his cold gaze, Wang Hui did not shy away, and continued to speak sharply while meeting his eyes:

In order to stabilize this way of life, he must let the emperor step into his own trap.

Such a move made even Zhu Zhanhe, who had been in charge of politics for a long time, almost scold him, but before he could speak, he heard Zhu Gaoxu's dull voice: "It's true..."

Fortunately, my judgment was correct. Today's His Majesty is a magnanimous and talented emperor. He will not become angry because of his few words, let alone doubt himself because of his own few words.

Of course, the premise of all this is that what he said is true.

Wang Hui started with the "Guimao" case, and this was indeed a very taboo topic for Zhu Gaoxu. Everyone in the hall trembled in their hearts and looked at him subconsciously.

Zhu Gaoxu became interested and simply questioned Wang Hui, wanting to see what else this man could say to make him look suspicious.

"The Guimao Jingchao mainly focuses on the corruption of honorable officials, while the current Jiangnan Jingchao mainly focuses on the corruption of civil servants."

Once this shortcoming is exposed, it will only take the emperor to break through the defense in the blink of an eye, and now I want to make the emperor break through the defense on the spot, and let the emperor fall into the trap of refuting himself.

Wang Hui not only flattered him, but also wanted Zhu Gaoxu to admit it.

"Since it is true, I would like to ask Your Majesty, do you admit the crime of negligence that I said!"

But even such a person has his own shortcomings. This shortcoming is that he attaches too much importance to his former veteran minister.

If it were a narrow-minded emperor, Wang Hui would probably have lost his head at this time, and the reason why he dared to say this was just to see what was served.

A wealthy businessman will not get angry because others say he is poor. He will only get angry because others say he is rich but has no power and acts like an ant in front of officials, because he really has no power.

For several years in the palace, Wang Hui had been observing the emperor almost all the time.

When passing Wang Hui, Yi Shiha stared at Wang Hui with cold eyes, but Wang Hui only looked at Zhu Gaoxu.

Wang Hui asked Zhu Gaoxu sternly. Zhu Gaoxu was no longer as calm as before this time, and his face became gloomy.

Under their gazes, Zhu Gaoxu's expression remained as usual, except for a hint of coldness in his eyes.

Integrity, no matter how important these two words are in any period, they can make people in different periods sympathize with them.

"Your Majesty, please answer!"

After a moment of silence, Zhu Gaoxu took the lead and ordered Yi Shiha to go check it out. Yi Shiha also clenched his fists and walked out of the hall.

There was a hint of anger in the voice, but he answered anyway.

If that's the case, even if his reputation after death can be compared to "Fan Wenzheng", after all, it is after death. What's the use of having a great reputation when everyone is dead?

"Among the corrupt villains, nearly 60% are officials from Shandong, Bohai, Liaodong, and Daning, and the main offenders are mainly 3,000 officials under the rule of the Bohai Palace."

"Whether it is the Guimao Jingchao or the Yisi Jingchao this time, they are my means of monitoring the world."

"Both the two Beijing inspections dealt with the villains involved. How can it be considered an oversight?"

Faced with Zhu Gaoxu's words, Wang Hui did not interrupt him this time, but waited for him to finish speaking before saying:
"As a ruler, your Majesty should know the temperament of your ministers. I don't believe that your Majesty is not familiar with these old ministers of yours!"

"Therefore, I want to impeach His Majesty for the second crime, which is the crime of arrogance and indulgence of evil ministers!"

"The Ming Dynasty did not have this crime!" Zhu Gaoxu interrupted Wang Hui.

Faced with Zhu Gaoxu's interruption, Wang Hui looked at Zhu Gaoxu who had not spoken for a long time. Zhu Gaoxu was slightly disappointed when he saw this: "What, you have nothing to say?"

"It's not that I have nothing to say, but that Your Majesty only listens to flattering words and cannot listen to direct speeches."

"The so-called "crime" is nothing more than the crime prescribed by His Majesty, the crime written on paper."

"If one copy of the "Da Ming Code" could cover all the crimes in the world, there wouldn't be so many people who would go unpunished."

"Your Majesty's previous remarks were just for excuse."

"As for whether Your Majesty is guilty of this crime, I'm afraid I already have the answer in my mind. It's useless for me to say more."

Wang Hui said what he had thought out word for word. Zhu Gaoxu clenched the armrests loudly when he heard this, but his tone remained calm.

"I give you permission to continue talking."

"Since His Majesty wants me to continue speaking, I will tell you everything that is in my heart."

Although Wang Hui was kneeling, he was taller than everyone present except Zhu Gaoxu.

Facing everyone's gaze, Wang Hui also started the topic just now.

"From the 33rd year of Hongwu to the present, for more than 20 years, His Majesty has been indulging his ministers. If it were not for the ministers' opening to the capital, and the national treasury is not enough to cope with the current huge project, His Majesty may continue to indulge them for who knows how much. Year."

"Your Majesty is so indulgent. I have hundreds of thousands of officials in the Ming Dynasty, but no one dares to speak to Your Majesty. I know that I will die today. If I don't speak today, no one will dare to speak to Your Majesty in the future."

"Therefore, I say that those who attack and impeach weak officials are all traitors..."

After Wang answered, he bowed respectfully to Zhu Gaoxu five times and kowtowed three times. His tone was sad and his movements were slow and standard.

"According to what you said, then I am a foolish king?"

Zhu Gaoxu looked straight at Wang Hui, but Wang Hui shook his head gently: "Your Majesty is not a foolish king in my heart, but a wise king who has never been seen in thousands of years."

"Since he is a virtuous king for thousands of years, why is he guilty?" Zhu Gaoxu asked.

"People are not saints, and kings are not sacred. How can anyone be without fault?"

With a simple sentence, Wang Hui responded to Zhu Gaoxu's question, and at the same time used this sentence to excuse himself.

Even an emperor can be guilty of oversight, so it is normal for a minister to make mistakes.

"What you said is just to excuse me."

After all, Zhu Gaoxu was able to render Xie Jin speechless. It was really unreasonable for Wang Hui to want to refute him so easily.

"I am not excusing myself, and what I just said is not false."

"Since I have committed the crime of bribery, I am nothing more than subduing the law."

"If Your Majesty feels that I need to be punished more, it will be nothing more than death."

"If one of my subjects dies, in exchange for your father listening to his good words, I...will be willing to be executed!"

"Oh!"

The armrest broke with a sound, and everyone except the monarch and his ministers were so frightened that they broke into cold sweats. Wang Hui still looked like he didn't care about life and death, which made Zhu Zhanhe next to him a little unable to hold his nerve.

Jie Jin was afraid of death and Yang Shiqi was afraid of his son's death. They both had weaknesses, but Wang Hui now showed no weaknesses, which made Zhu Zhanhe not know how to deal with it for a while.

Now, he only admired his father for being able to argue with Wang Hui for so long. If it were him, he would have been furious by Wang Hui's argument.

Without waiting for their reaction, Zhu Gaoxu casually threw the broken armrest in front of the hall, pretending to be calm and calm:
"According to what you said...except for you, are there no good ministers in the Ming Dynasty?"

"Yes..." Wang Hui affirmed at first, and then said: "But they all fell into the starting point of needing to pay bribes."

"If there is no bribery, you will have to suffer in the local area for many years before you can put your name before His Majesty's case."

"Even so, His Majesty only glanced at it briefly, then disposed of and closed the memorial without even looking at it again."

"Most of the people who can appear in front of Your Majesty are sycophants. I feel sorry for Your Majesty..." "According to what you said, there is something wrong with the system promoted by the Ming Dynasty?" Zhu Gaoxu asked coldly. Wang Hui shook his head first, and then nodded. .

"There is no problem with the system, there is a problem with the people who can implement the system, and there is a problem with the people who select the officials who implement the system."

Wang Hui said in a roundabout way that Zhu Gaoxu had made an oversight and that there was something wrong with the person who chose to implement the system, and the person currently serving as the Minister of Staff was Xia Yuanji.

"Haha... Do you dare to say that there is something wrong with Xia Yuanji?"

Zhu Gaoxu laughed angrily. If Xia Yuanji had problems, then there would be no upright officials in the Ming Dynasty.

"Xia Shangshu has no problem, the person with the problem is His Majesty."

Wang Hui spoke boldly again, but Zhu Gaoxu said in a deep voice: "Since he has no problem, what problem do I have?"

"Although Shangshu Xia is the Shangshu of the Ministry of Personnel, he needs to take on many affairs of the Ministry of Household Affairs for His Majesty. When he is too busy, he will naturally make some omissions."

"Since His Majesty has promoted him to be the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, he should be allowed to pursue political affairs in his position instead of holding multiple posts."

"We have hundreds of thousands of officials in the Ming Dynasty, but we can't choose anyone who can serve as a good minister. Is this a crime of oversight by His Majesty?"

Wang Hui went back to the circle again, which made Zhu Gaoxu look unhappy.

But before he could speak, Wang Hui continued:

"Isn't it their fault that the ministers don't help His Majesty in recommending talented ministers?"

"People say that kings and ministers complement each other, but most of the ministers chosen by your majesty are flatterers, so this was an oversight."

"If your Majesty can listen to my words today, I will smile even if I die."

"But before I die, please Your Majesty to deal with the two traitors after my death according to law..."

"Absurd!" After hearing Wang Hui's words, Yan Yan, who had been silent for a long time, immediately kowtowed:

"Your Majesty, this person has lost his mind and everything he says is wildly contrary to what is said above. Please don't listen to me!"

"Your Majesty, this man has committed a treasonous act. I request him to be punished for a serious crime and to be executed immediately!" Li Mian also spoke in agreement.

The two of them spoke, but Wang Hui did not reply. He just looked at his nose with his eyes and his heart with his nose, put his hands on his forehead, and kowtowed.

"Haha..." Zhu Gaoxu laughed, and the laughter echoed in the hall, and Zhu Zhanhe also understood what his father meant.

He stood up and scolded sternly: "Come here, take these three people to prison and wait for Yang Shangshu to investigate and find out!"

"Your Majesty! We were wronged!"

"Your Majesty, the two of us regard you as our king and father. How could we knowingly commit a crime? Your Majesty, please enlighten us!"

"His Majesty……"

The three of them were escorted out by the Jing army. Compared with Yan Yan and Li Mian's self-defense, Wang Hui remained silent.

Seeing the three of them being escorted out, Zhu Zhanhe turned around and bowed to his father: "The king is rebellious. I ask my father not to be angry. Don't get hurt by such a person."

In Zhu Zhanhe's view, his father had been angered by Wang Hui, but when he was nervously admonishing him, a calm voice came from in front of him.

"Who told you that I was offended..."

Zhu Gaoxu's voice was unhurried. Zhu Zhanhe was startled when he heard the sound, and slowly raised his head. Only then did he see his father's calm expression as usual, completely different from before.

"Father, you..."

Zhu Zhanhe hesitated to speak, but Zhu Gaoxu stood up from his position and walked towards the Palace of Nourishing Heart in the palace.

"As a king, your emotions and sorrows cannot be predicted by your ministers, otherwise you will lose the opportunity."

"Your Qi nourishing skills are not good enough yet, you should practice them..."

After the words fell, Zhu Zhanhe realized that everything his father had just done was just pretending, so he quickly followed him: "My son, I will teach you."

The father and son walked into the Yangxin Hall. Zhu Gaoxu sat down first, while Zhu Zhanhe served him tea and water.

Zhu Gaoxu took the tea and took a sip, moistened his throat before speaking:

"I underestimated Wang Hui. Xu Shuo is no match for him."

After he finished speaking, he looked at Zhu Zhanhe: "Are you his opponent?"

"My son..." Zhu Zhanhe hesitated, and this moment of hesitation made him realize that as a prince, he hesitated when facing a minister.

"You can't deal with him." Zhu Gaoxu commented, obviously asking questions with answers.

"I am ashamed." Zhu Zhanhe lowered his head, and Zhu Gaoxu put down the tea cup and said calmly:
"This man is indeed talented, and he is even more talented than I thought. Think about the conversation he had with me just now when you go back."

"If Yang Shiqi and Yi Shiha find out the results, they will be dealt with according to the results."

"Yes!" Zhu Zhanhe responded, but Zhu Gaoxu said:

"The Ming Dynasty still needs him, at least while I am still alive, the Ming Dynasty needs him."

"If I want to leave and no one in the government or the public can control him, what should you do?"

He was taking the school exam, and Zhu Zhanhe also gave him an answer that satisfied him: "If there is evidence of guilt, he will be executed. If there is evidence of innocence, he will be sent back to his hometown."

Obviously, Zhu Zhanhe also knew that killing Wang Hui was not a good idea. Since he could insist on not being corrupt for twenty years, it would be difficult for him to become corrupt in the future.

If he can't be killed, then returning home is the best outcome.

Of course, if he made the same mistake as Yang Shiqi, that would be a different matter.

"Let the food be passed around."

"Yes……"

Zhu Gaoxu ordered the meal to be passed on, which showed that he was indeed not angry, and his ability to nourish qi was much higher than Wang Hui thought.

Zhu Gaoxu was just acting with Wang Hui. Ever since Wang Hui exposed his corruption, Zhu Gaoxu had already had the idea of ​​​​keeping him.

Xia Yuanji and Huang Fu are already old, but Wang Hui is only forty years old. He can still be used by himself for more than ten years.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu closed his eyes and began to rest his mind. At this time, the Qianqing Gate opened, and several Jingjun soldiers led Yan Yan, Li Mian and Wang Hui out.

This scene shocked the ministers, but after they came to their senses, they all stepped forward and cursed Wang Hui.

Wang Hui just kept silent and looked around at everyone with sharp eyes.

The ministers were frightened by his eyes, but when they thought of his virtuous behavior, they immediately reacted with fists and kicks.

Although he was protected by the Jing Army, Wang Hui still received a few punches, but at this moment he was not angry, but happy.

Yan Yan and Li Mian must die, but at most he will be dismissed, or even exempted from punishment because of his integrity.

In Wang Hui's opinion, his outcome is likely to be the latter, because the inspections in Jiangxi and Zhejiang have not yet been completed, and the gold, silver, money and food currently seized are not enough to solve the problem of the national treasury.

But before that, I'm afraid I won't be able to get out of prison...

"Is there really nothing extra?"

"Godfather, there really isn't..."

In an alley on East Chang'an Street, the place is now surrounded by Jin Yiwei and Xichang warriors. Every household has closed its doors and windows. Only a small courtyard has its door open, and there are many Xichang warriors standing at the door. .

This small courtyard only covers an area of ​​​​mu, and the price in Beijing is only sixty or seventy yuan.

Even for ordinary people, this courtyard is only slightly expensive, but it is still within the acceptable range, not to mention those powerful and wealthy households.

As a bachelor of the palace, Wang Hui was considered frugal to live in such a place, and Yi Shiha didn't think anything of it. After all, many officials pretended to be honest and lived in small courtyards like this.

But he didn't expect that Wang Hui was not pretending to be incorruptible, but was actually incorruptible.

Sitting in the main hall of the courtyard, Yi Shiha looked at the dozen coins, a box of account books, and the clean IOUs that were placed in front of him after the search. Even if he didn't believe it, there was nothing he could do.

Beside him, Yang Shiqi was flipping through the books in the box, looking at the dozens of coins on the table from time to time, with a bit of surprise in his eyes.

In front of the two of them, a delicate-looking woman was followed by two young men in their thirties and forties, wearing silk clothes. Although a set of five or six hundred yuan, Wang Hui, who had already paid off his debt, said: It's not that expensive.

No one who saw this scene would believe that Wang Hui, who was written by the people as a villain who brought disaster to the country and the people, actually lived like this.

Yi Shiha couldn't hold himself tight, so Yang Shiqi handed over the account book in his hand, indicating that Yi Shiha could read it.

Yi Shiha took it and looked through it, and sure enough he found that in the account that recorded the evidence of Yan Yan and Li Mian's crimes, it was clearly written that they had received 400 guan and 500 guan from Wang Hui respectively.

This nine hundred dollars was the bribe money that Wang Hui emptied his family and borrowed from his relatives.

"Father, at present, only his hometown has not been investigated. Why not start the investigation with Wang Weizhong's third server?"

Yang Shiqi asked Yi Shiha, but Yi Shiha could only nod his head when he heard the words:
"Check, I will send people to Jilin City now to check his parents and parents-in-law. If there is not enough evidence that he is clean, then the officials in the government and the public will not be able to shut their mouths."

After the words fell, Yishiha stood up and bowed to Wang Hui's wife and son, and then left the courtyard with the Xichang warriors.

After he left, Yang Shiqi stood up and took a look at the dozen coins, but he didn't think Wang Hui was really honest, he only felt fear.

The card of incorruptibility has probably been prepared since Wang Hui entered officialdom.

He had been preparing for twenty years, and now he was using it to bring down Yan Yan and Li Mian.

Although he may be deposed afterwards, as long as the treasury matter is not resolved for one day, he will always come back.

After silently walking out of Wang Hui's mansion, Yang Shiqi glanced at the cloudy sky, and then looked at Wang Hui's wife and son in the courtyard.

Although he can't detect his own children, he still has a keen eye for other people's children.

In terms of means and thoughts, he is on par with Wang Hui, but when it comes to raising children, he is not as good as Wang Hui.

Thinking of his eldest son who was under house arrest, Yang Shiqi sighed, and then got into the carriage in which he came.

"Let's go back to the palace to announce something..."

(End of this chapter)