Daming Super Dimension Company, President Zhu Yuanzhang!

Chapter 106 Beat Zhu Houcong again!

"If we don't allow corruption anymore, aren't there still people who are corrupt?" Zhu Yuanzhang was a little unhappy. After all, as an emperor, it was wrong to be pointed out to his face the most important policy in his life. Even Zhu Yuanzhang He had always respected Xiao Ran, and was slightly silent at this time.

"In the eighteenth year of Hongwu, I remember that there was a case of embezzlement of autumn grain by Guo Huan, the Minister of Household Affairs, which involved many central and local officials."

"After this case occurred, uncle, you personally handled the case and severely punished it. You also ordered that 'all the ministers from the left and right of the six ministries to the following should die' and 'the stolen goods will be sent all over the world.'"

"Wang Zhi, the minister of the Ministry of War, received 200,000 taels of stolen goods in order to arrest the fleeing soldiers. Officials in the Ministry of War made more than 6.9 million taels of banknotes and hid more than 1.43 million taels of banknotes to enrich his own pockets. Even the central government The supervisory censors sent to various places also pretended to be censors, threatened the public, and indulged in wanton corruption."

"There are also local officials who are no less corrupt than central officials. They use opportunities such as collecting money and food to arbitrarily invade the people."

"There is a department in the west of Zhejiang. Anyone who collects traitors who harm the people is as good as tigers and wolves." Speaking of the names and reasons for these people to make money, Xiao Ran couldn't help but admire them. Thinking about the fact that taxes are everywhere in modern times, they can't compare with their variety.

"It's like discounting the autumn grain harvest, and the prefecture and county magistrates distribute it. Every stone of rice is two guan. But in order to embezzle money, those officials found various ways to charge more money, such as 100 cents for water, 100 cents for car, etc. Three hundred coins for foot money, one hundred coins for food and drinks. The treasury also needs to identify one hundred coins for money, one hundred coins for cattail baskets, one hundred coins for bamboo baskets, and one hundred coins for gods and Buddhas along the river."

Xiao Ran counted on his fingers: "The additional demand is as much as nine hundred, which is nearly double the regular tax."

"In this matter, there is a saying that when the water is clear, there will be no fish. Working as an official is risky, and you will not have enough food and clothing to keep warm. When you are an official, there is a risk of annihilating the nine tribes at every turn, or even... It doesn’t matter if things are done particularly well, there will be mistakes.”

"Think about it for yourself. We've already reached this point. Why don't you take advantage of the power in your hands and take risks? Let's unite to protect each other and make more money. Anyway, when it comes to upright officials, they have nothing but a useless name. Other benefits.”

Xiao Ran said it very straightforwardly. He actually didn't believe that there would be many honest officials in the world who cared about reputation. Besides, they were already officials and had a certain amount of power in their hands. How would they write about themselves in the history books? Officials can still make the decision.

"Whoever wants to be an official does not want to be successful. No matter how honest an official is, he still has to live. When he can no longer survive and starts the first step of corruption, even if it is only three to five taels of silver, then gradually it will only get worse and worse. The more he does, the more corruption he gets, the more he becomes greedy. If he does it the first time, he doesn’t have to worry about the second time, and the people around him will encourage him to become more and more greedy."

Xiao Ran saw this matter very clearly from a historical perspective, so he always believed that the most basic thing was to ensure the lives of low-level officials and officials.

But the salary of civil servants during the Zhu Yuanzhang period left Xiao Ran speechless.

In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang now also realizes the mistakes of his policies, but he just feels a little embarrassed about it.

Zhu Di, who was standing next to him, saw that his father had a wrong look on his face and quickly stepped forward to smooth things over.

"What needs to be resolved now is the corruption in the Chongzhen Dynasty. This cannot wait. We can go back and slowly adjust other issues."

"Oh, it seemed like the building was indeed crooked just now."

Now that Xiao Ran's attention had turned, the pressure was on Chongzhen, and cold sweat began to break out on Zhu Youjian's head.

Family members, who knows!
This young man dared to criticize Taizu in front of him, how could he be able to deal with it later?

But these three emperors did not expect that Zhu Youjian was not the only one who would suffer later.

It is true that Xiao Ran's combat power is too extensive.

"In fact, all kinds of corruption in the late Ming Dynasty gradually had historical traces. By the time of Zhu Qizhen, the Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty, his godfather Wang Zhen was the first eunuch to take power in the Ming Dynasty. At the same time, he also started the official promotion assessment , the first of its kind to see the amount of filial piety in a semi-public manner.”

"After Emperor Jiajing Zhu Houcong came to the throne, because he needed a lot of money to build temples and refine the elixir of life, he allowed Yan Song's party to engage in corruption and plunder people's wealth."

"At this time, the unspoken rules of officialdom had actually developed to such a mature level that even if the famous official Hai Rui set an example and wanted to fight corruption, he was publicly hung on the wall for everyone to watch."

"After the failure of Hai Rui, the unspoken rules of officialdom in the Ming Dynasty were 'corrected' during Zhang Juzheng's reform, so they became more mature and stable."

"So by the time Emperor Chongzhen became emperor, he was actually seriously ill and could not be saved by gods."

Only Zhu Youjian listened with tears in his eyes. He really felt that it was not easy for him to get into such a mess, but as the emperor, he could only grit his teeth and carry it. He couldn't tell anyone about it. of.

But now, there is someone who understands his difficulties!

Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di remembered it.

"When you are free later, go over and beat up these two losers, Zhu Qizhen and Zhu Houcong."

Zhu Yuanzhang made his decision immediately.

As for Zhu Qizhen and Zhu Houcong, they had no idea that they had received another beating.

Xiao Ran also lit the wax for these two people silently. In fact, he really had no intention of causing harm to Chi Yu.

However, this does not mean talking out loud.

Xiao Ran thought for a moment: "Actually, before Jiajing and Longqing, scholar-bureaucrats respected honor and integrity, and when officials came and went from official tours, they would scold them if they asked about their baggage. It doesn't mean that they really meant what they said and were not corrupt. It's just that in Jialong, In the past, scholar-bureaucrats were still secretive about corruption, and they still had a sense of shame about corruption."

"It was only after the Zhengde period that corruption became widespread and semi-open, and scholar-bureaucrats were no longer secretly corrupt. At that time, the officialdom was like a trading market. If you had money, you would have official positions and opportunities for promotion. , so things like bribery, flattery and corruption are also endless."

"Anyway, during this period, a strange custom formed in the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty. Whoever was greedy proved to be capable, and made fun of the incompetence of honest officials. In this officialdom, even if there were honest officials, people could not survive. New Year's Eve during the Wanli Period During the season, the roads in Nanjing were crowded with people giving gifts from the army and horse divisions."

When he thought about how rich those officials were, even Xiao Ran felt like a lemon.

"Delicacies from the mountains and seas, abalone and oysters, bear paws, shark's fins, and mare's milk from the Western Regions. At a time when transportation and freshness were not developed, and eating these foods required a lot of manpower and material resources, these were only common on the tables of officials."

Xiao Ran was about to cry tears of bitterness to himself: "For so many years, I have only eaten farmed abalone in supermarkets and grilled oysters in barbecue restaurants."

To put it bluntly, these are things that ordinary people will still not be able to afford even after a thousand years.

Even though various conditions such as technology, breeding and transportation have made great progress, we still can't afford what we should not be able to afford. Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di had actually been to the ancient city of Jimo in person, so they naturally knew how advanced and developed the society Xiao Ran had lived in since he was a child was compared to the Ming Dynasty.

Seeing the sour expression on Xiao Ran's face now, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di could also imagine how extravagant those officials were. It was probably not just about food and drink, but also about food, clothing, housing and transportation. Not top luxury.

"As for the fate of people who were not corrupt at that time, I will also tell you that Sun Yiren embezzled more than a thousand taels of salt and silver. When the incident was discovered, he was dismissed from his post and investigated. When Yin Zhengmao was patrolling Guangxi as the censor of Qiandu, he received tens of thousands of gold from his subordinates every year ( He received tens of thousands of taels of filial piety from his subordinates in one year). Among them was Qingliu, who was particularly different. The official was assigned to Wei Dazhong. He reported anyone who gave him gifts, so no one dared to visit his door. The final outcome It’s miserable to die in prison.”

Hearing this amount, Zhu Yuanzhang was extremely angry.

But what made him even more angry was that the upright official's situation did not end well.

"With such an upright official, doesn't the emperor know how to take good care of him? Those censors hear about things every day. Since there are officials who report them, why don't they report them to the emperor?"

Xiao Ran spread his hands helplessly and said: "In the late Jiajing years, corruption among the censors and officials formed a cat-and-mouse situation. Huang Tingpin, the patrol censor, passed by Hengshan County. The county magistrate Chen Anzhi was dissatisfied with his arrogance and rudeness. Chen Anzhi opened the door in anger. I found Huang Tingpin’s luggage and found a large amount of gold and silver.”

"What's the result next?" Even Zhu Di couldn't help but ask first.

Xiao Ran was silent: "Although this result was unexpected, it is also reasonable. I reported it to the court. In the end, Huang Tingpin was punished with a crown belt, but he kept the black hat."

"There was also a censor named Chen Zhixian. After he inspected Jiangxi, he lost four pieces of luggage when he came back. After local officials seized them, they found that they were full of gold ingots. There was also a detailed list of his bribes, which recorded in detail that he had accepted bribes of no less than tens of thousands. , Chen Zhixian was also dismissed from his post and lived idle."

"There is also an acquaintance of yours. Yan Shifan was killed. After Yan Song was dismissed, his family property was confiscated, and he obtained 300,000 taels of gold, 2 million taels of silver, and dozens of fertile lands and beautiful houses. After Yan Song's fall, the imperial court There were so many treasures and foreign objects confiscated by the Yan family that even the list could be compiled into a book called "Tianshui Bingshan Record"."

"The situation of corruption and bribery gradually became more serious in Chongzhen. This is also a good foundation laid by Jiajing before. If it was the previous Jiajing that we had changed, maybe it could still be saved, but in this dynasty now , has nothing to do with Jiajing, who issued the mission before."

Thinking of the current situation, Xiao Ran himself felt very headache.

"So that's it now. I can only try my best. There is no other way."

"Okay, Xiao Ran, you are ready to sign up. Our sword is ready. When the time comes, we will kill the people one by one according to the names you mentioned."

As soon as Zhu Yuanzhang said these words, Xiao Ran fell silent for a moment.

"This, I can only tell you what I know so far. The list may not be completely accurate, so I still need to verify it as soon as possible."

Zhu Di waved his hand: "This is not simple. Ask Zhu Youjian about what you said. If there is such a thing, just go and deal with it directly. The relevant personnel you did not mention will also be asked to do it themselves." Come and add it.”

"But the imperial court is full of moths. It doesn't matter even if we kill them all." Zhu Yuanzhang said this even more harshly.

Next to him, Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youjian, sweating profusely, began to pick up paper and pen in his hand, ready to record.

Now that Taizu and Chengzu were backing him, Chongzhen naturally wanted to seize this opportunity.

The eyes of the three people were now fixed on Xiao Ran.

"After Chen Xinjia, the Minister of War during the Chongzhen period, was imprisoned for leaking secrets, the officials wrote letters requesting severe punishment for Chen Xinjia. Chen Xinjia quickly asked his family to bribe the officials. After the officials got the money, they wrote letters asking Chongzhen to spare Chen Xinjia's life. "

The first one, Zhu Di was already hard-fisted upon hearing it.

As an emperor who likes to fight, the last thing he can tolerate is something happening to the Ministry of War.

But there is something even more explosive later.

Xiao Ran continued: "Xiong Tingbi, the Liaodong manager, lost hundreds of miles of land and dozens of cities because of the defeat in the Liaodong war. He was imprisoned. Xiong Tingbi promised Wei Zhongxian 40,000 taels of silver, and with the help of Wei Zhongxian, he finally sentenced him to a suspended death sentence. Execution. But Xiong Tingbi was later unable to produce 40,000 taels, so Wei Zhongxian naturally added insult to injury and Xiong Tingbi was beheaded."

"How can war be treated as a child's play? If the city is lost, there is no reason to relax!"

"Okay, okay, that Wei Zhongxian, this court has really become his fault. He alone has the final say in our Ming Dynasty, whether the general is dead or alive!"

Zhu Di and Zhu Yuanzhang shouted angrily almost in unison, but now that Wei Zhongxian was dead, they could not do anything about it.

I can only suppress my anger and continue listening.

"Then there is Chen Yan, the chief minister of the cabinet. He has no real talent or knowledge. He paid a lot of money to bribe the eunuchs around Chongzhen. He learned about Chongzhen's daily thoughts and made preparations in advance. When Chongzhen asked him, he answered fluently, thus sitting on the throne. But because he really has little ability and is afraid of taking responsibility, when he really encounters a big problem, his only response is to remain silent."

At this moment, Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di's eyes fell on Chongzhen.

Emperor Chongzhen Zhu Youjian suddenly felt sweaty.

His hands were shaking a little, and he said tremblingly: "I don't know about this either..."

"Then he will be taciturn when something happens. He will imitate you and say he doesn't know about it. Do you know it?"

Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry with Chongzhen that he took off his shoes and whipped Chongzhen towards him.

"I don't know, I don't know! Just know how to reuse those who cater to you!"

"When he encounters a big problem and can't come up with a solution, don't you have some ideas in mind?"

Zhu Youjian screamed in pain but did not dare to run.

(End of this chapter)