Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 380: A major purge of the Ministry of Rites, forcing me to conduct a thorough investigation into the deficit!

"Your Majesty, it seems that there is great resistance to finding out the specific situation of the royal family. It is obvious that no one wants us to find out the situation of the royal family."

"I am worried that Prince Consort Shen and Deputy Chief Censor Gui E will also be killed next."

Yang Yiqing asked Zhu Houcong, "So, should we recall Shen, Gui and others first?"

"No recall!"

"First, arrest the Minister of Rites and the two Vice Ministers, as well as the Minister, Deputy Minister, and Director of the Ceremonial Department, and all the clerks of the department, and put them in jail. If anyone dies suddenly, it will be regarded as malicious resistance to the court's investigation of this matter. Their bones will be crushed and their ashes will be scattered, and their entire family will be beheaded! All officials will be present to watch the execution!"

"In addition, all the officials from the places where the accidents happened, from the governors to the provincial governors, the provincial procuratorates, the military governors, and the prefectural and county officials, will be brought to the capital! If there is a sudden death, it will be directly regarded as a malicious act against the court. The person's bones will be crushed and scattered, and the whole family will be beheaded!"

"In addition, in the prefecture where the accident occurred, the county, prefecture, and academy examinations will be suspended for three years, the next provincial examination will be suspended, and no candidates from that area will be admitted to the next metropolitan examination!"

"Order the Yongwei Battalion to dispatch the Imperial Guards to the scene of the incident, block the city gates and all land and water checkpoints, and no one is allowed to enter or leave until the commissioner comes to investigate and the truth is revealed. Violators will be killed without mercy! If there are any wealthy people who suddenly die, it will be regarded as malicious resistance to the court's investigation of this matter. The person will be crushed to ashes and the entire family will be beheaded! All officials will be present to watch the execution!"

"If any more imperial envoys or soldiers are killed, the county, prefecture, and academy examinations will be suspended for nine years, the provincial provincial examinations will be suspended for three sessions, and no candidates from the province will be admitted to the metropolitan examinations for three sessions. All officials and gentry will be stripped of their official positions and titles!"

"Send a quick edict to these local officials and tell them that if they are dissatisfied, they can directly rebel!"

When Zhu Houcong got to this point, he said in a deep voice: "I just don't believe it. I have money and soldiers now, and they can still turn the tables!"

Yang Yiqing and others were shocked, but they all bowed in agreement.

The Minister of Rites Wu Yipeng and the left and right vice ministers of the Ministry of Rites had also heard about these things.

They were also very surprised.

Wu Yipeng was so frightened that he turned pale. He summoned all the officials of the Ministry of Rites and asked, "Did you have any involvement in obstructing the court from investigating the situation of the royal family?"

No one answered.

"say!"

"The imperial envoy is dead, did you know that?"

"This matter will most likely be blamed on our Ministry of Rites!"

Liu Long couldn't help but let out a roar of anger.

"The imperial envoy died?"

Lu Yinglong, the Langzhong of the Ministry of Rites, who was directly in charge of the affairs of the royal family and vassal states, fainted on the spot after hearing this.

After hearing this, Yi Ke, the deputy director of the department, suddenly stuffed a pill into his mouth with a smile on his face.

At the same time, Yu Mi, a clerk of the department, was laughing secretly.

However, at this time, the Jinyiwei had rushed in and read out the imperial edict.

"For those who died suddenly, their bones will be crushed and their ashes will be scattered, and their entire clan will be killed?"

When Yi Ke heard this, he knelt down on the spot and cried out, "Your Majesty, please have mercy!"

Afterwards, Yi Ke fell to the ground with a look of regret on his face because he had taken poison beforehand, and died by vomiting blood.

Wu Yipeng and others looked at Yi Ke, and then fainted on the ground.

Liu Long did not faint, but when he was taken away by the Jinyiwei, he could not help but shout: "I want to see your majesty! Let me see your majesty! Your majesty, I don't have the courage to do this!"

"Your Majesty, I don't have the courage to do that!"

Zhai Luan also shouted when he was being taken away.

But now, it was useless for them to shout. The emperor was so furious that he would rather arrest three thousand people by mistake than let any one go.

Therefore, except for Yi Ke who committed suicide by taking poison, all the officials in the Ministry of Rites were taken to the imperial prison. Yi Ke was even more miserable because of this. His family members in Beijing were first taken to the vegetable market, and the Jinyiwei went to his hometown.

The officials and gentry in Henan, Shandong and other areas with vassal states are still unaware of this.

Now some of them are extremely indignant about the royal family reform, some are feeling complacent about framing a few imperial envoys, and some are annoyed by an edict that was issued at the same time as the new "Royal Family and Vassal Regulations"!
The decree was that Emperor Jiajing required all provincial governments to make up all the unpaid rice within one year.

If the provincial government did not pay enough, the court would order the governor to check the local finances. If the governor still did not pay enough after the check, the court would send someone else to check again.

Since members of the royal family were allowed to send their retainers to Beijing to file complaints, these local officials had to find ways to make up the difference.

However, in places governed by officials with mediocre talents or who are only concerned with making money, the finances are essentially controlled by local wealthy families through their manipulation of local clerks, so these local officials have no choice but to ask for permission from the local wealthy families.

Xia Congshou, the Left Governor of Henan, and others met with Henan gentry Lu Lai and others, and asked with a smile: "The provincial treasury is in deficit, but the court is urging the officials to make up for the arrears, so only you wise men can lend a hand."

Xia Congshou said that the provincial treasury was in deficit, but in fact he was asking these wealthy families whether they would allow them to pay enough rice to the royal family.

After all, on the surface, he was still an official of the imperial court, and he couldn't really say, "My dear gentlemen, can you allow us to pay enough rice to the royal family members?"

"Please forgive me, Lord Fang. We can't help you. The imperial court has seized our profits. How can we have money and food?"

Lu Lai also understood what Xia Congshou meant, so he answered in an apologetic tone.

Xia Congshou was also very disappointed after hearing this. As the Left Provincial Government Commissioner, he also had some temper, so he asked: "Aren't you afraid that we will force you to make up for the rice subsidy?"

"How do you force it to be filled?"

Seeing that Xia Congshou was about to break up with him, Lu Lai also broke up with him, and asked with a sneer.

then.

Lu Lai added, "You and your relatives and friends ate and took things when you crossed the border. You wasted a lot of the government money that was kept in the provincial treasury!"

"For example, when your son came to see you last year, he spent a thousand silver dollars just to rest at the Kaifeng Prefecture Inn!"

"In addition, your relatives and friends have also borrowed a lot of money from us, and spent it lavishly in our place, and in the end, the clerks of various government offices were forced to sit back and watch your relatives and friends steal the official treasury to repay the debts. Aren't you afraid that the provincial treasury will be in deficit, and then the court will find out that you are not clean and loyal, and then confiscate your property to make up for the deficit?"

"you!"

Xia Congshou stood up angrily, but he could do nothing about Lu Lai and other wealthy gentry who were sneering at him.

Seeing this, the Right Governor Dong Chong had to smile and persuade: "If the rice is not enough, the court will come to investigate the deficit. Then it will not only be us who will suffer, but also the clerks you have planted in the government office will not be able to escape responsibility. I am afraid that it will prompt the court to replace the clerks in various places with the examination system in advance! At that time, how can you control the taxes and capitation money?"

Shao Huai followed up and said, "That's right. To put it bluntly, we are all in the same boat. Why should we just sit back and watch one side suffer?"

"The clerks we planted are nothing more than our running dogs. It's not that hard to kill a dog and silence him!"

"On the contrary, if the rice stipends of the royal family are really supplemented with your cooperation, it means that your majesty has really succeeded in reforming the royal family. Next, the complete transformation of clerks into officials throughout the country will be possible."

"So, now, you have no choice but to cooperate with us and submit a petition stating that the money and grain in the provincial treasury are seriously insufficient to pay out the rice salaries to all members of the royal family."

Lu Lai said.

After hearing this, Xia Congshou and others were helpless and finally had to explain the matter to the governor of Henan, asking him to report to the emperor that the provincial treasury was seriously deficit and could not afford to pay the rice salary.

Like Henan, officials in Shandong, Shanxi and other places also had to make similar reports.

Because Xia Congshou and other local officials in Henan, Shandong, Shanxi and other places were the first to report the matter, Zhu Houcong punished them after he learned that the imperial envoy sent to investigate the situation of the royal family had been killed.

Therefore, before learning that the court was going to arrest them, Zhu Houcong first learned that they could not afford to pay their salaries.

Zhu Houcong was furious and ordered:

"Okay, first of all, we need to make sure that all places provide enough rice for the royal family. All places are suffering from serious deficits. It seems that they really want to force me to conduct a strict investigation into the deficits in all places!"

(End of this chapter)