The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 545: Corrupt Officials Are in a Panic
The drama of confiscation of property and execution that the people of the capital had been looking forward to finally took place.

Just after the noon hour, the Jinyiwei Yamen suddenly sent out cavalrymen.

Immediately afterwards, teams of Jinyiwei quickly gathered in the streets and alleys of the capital, forming one group after another, and soon surrounded the residences of more than a dozen Ministry of Revenue officials.

Officials from the Ministry of Justice followed soon after, read the official document, and then started copying it.

The people of the capital city rushed to tell each other, and soon more than ten densely packed black spots were formed.

The cheers and applause came one after another, just like watching a big show.

Ordinary people hate corrupt officials, it's like an innate instinct.

As for why, it is probably because there have been too many corrupt officials in all dynasties, making life miserable for the people.

This hatred towards corrupt officials may really be hereditary.

When ordinary people see corrupt officials being punished, they become inexplicably excited and applaud.

At this time, little Zhu Changxun was also inexplicably excited.

He was standing above Chengtian Gate in the south of the imperial city, scanning the area with a telescope.

These corrupt officials seem to have an instinct: when they have money, they want to buy mansions near East Chang'an Avenue and West Chang'an Avenue.

As for why, it was probably to make it convenient to attend the morning court.

When corrupt officials have money, they will enjoy wealth and glory. After enjoying wealth and glory for a long time, they will gradually become lazy, too lazy to get up early, and even too lazy to take a few more steps.

East Chang'an Avenue and West Chang'an Avenue are right next to the imperial city. Living near these two streets makes it very convenient to attend the morning court.

Officials who lived far away might have to get up around Chou time to prepare for the morning court session, while those who lived near East Chang'an Avenue and West Chang'an Avenue would still have time to get up a quarter to an hour before Yin time.

Although Wanli no longer held court meetings in the morning, these corrupt officials had already formed a habit. After they got the money, they bought most of their mansions near East Chang'an Street and West Chang'an Street.

To the north of East Chang'an Street and West Chang'an Street is the city wall of the imperial city, and beyond that is the imperial city. They certainly cannot buy houses, so most of their mansions are in the area of ​​Dashiyongfang and Nanxunfang south of East Chang'an Street and West Chang'an Street.

This also made it convenient for little Zhu Changxun to watch the fun.

Dashiyongfang and Nanxunfang are just on both sides of Chengtian Gate, very close to each other, so he just needs to scan with a small telescope.

The house search was really lively. Not only was there chaos inside, but there were also a lot of people watching outside.

He was enjoying the scene so much that he forgot who was holding him.

At this moment he is in Li Xuancheng's arms.

He didn't know how long he had been watching, but suddenly he turned to Li Xuancheng and said, "Father, why are these people cheering so hard? Do they have a grudge against these corrupt officials?"

Upon hearing this, Li Xuancheng couldn't help but look at Wanli behind him awkwardly.

Wanli was sitting there looking at a map.

Once the confiscation of property began, he would have money, and the plan to encircle and suppress the Jiannu would naturally begin to be implemented.

He was not only looking at the map of Nurgan Regional Command, but also the map of the nine frontiers of the Ming Dynasty and even the world map, which were placed on the large table in front of him.

It would be difficult for the Jiannu to feel at ease unless they get rid of him.

The problem was that the Jiannu used the vast territory of Nurgandusi to deal with them and did not fight them at all.

He knew very well that Nurhaci would not fight them head-on unless he was sure of his victory.

This guy is best at ambushing in the mountains, so they have to be extremely careful.

He was just thinking about the plan to encircle and suppress the Jiannu, when little Zhu Changxun started asking questions again.

This question is very important, and he has to make the little guy understand it clearly.

He thought for a moment, then explained in detail: "Ordinary people do have a grudge against corrupt officials, or rather, they are inherently opposed to them.

The demands of ordinary people are actually not high. They just want to live and work in peace and have enough food and clothing.

Corrupt officials are the main culprits that prevent them from living and working in peace and contentment.

Because corrupt officials just want to enjoy wealth and luxury and even live a life of extravagance, which requires a lot of money.

Where does corrupt officials get their money from?

To put it bluntly, it is squeezed from the common people.

Corrupt officials find all kinds of ways to squeeze money from ordinary people, so that they can live better and better, while ordinary people's lives will become worse and worse.

In the end, the rich will have wine and meat, while the poor will freeze to death on the streets.

Corrupt officials have so much money that they can't spend it all, but ordinary people have no money to buy clothes or food, and eventually starve to death or freeze to death.

These guys only care about their own enjoyment and don't care about the lives of ordinary people. Do you think ordinary people can not hate corrupt officials?"

The rich are feasting and drinking?
The road is freezing to death!
Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhu Changxun thought about it carefully, and still asked in confusion: "Father, the people in the capital seem to be living quite well now, right?

Haven't we seen it with our own eyes? Now they are almost all living and working in peace and contentment, with enough food and clothing.

Why do they still hate corrupt officials so much?"

It seems you really need to read more history books.

We can learn from history to understand the rise and fall of a country. When a country rises, the people suffer.

Death, the people suffer!
Why do the people suffer when prosperity comes?
That is because these corrupt officials are not human beings. When times of peace and prosperity come, they desperately exploit the common people so that they can enjoy wealth and glory and even live in extravagance!
Wanli shook his head and sighed, then patiently taught: "You can't just look at the present, you have to look more at history.

If you don’t read history, you won’t know how terrible corrupt officials are. Let me not talk about the distant past, but let your father tell you about the Jiajing Dynasty.

When the late Emperor Jiajing first ascended the throne, he worked hard to govern the country and happened to have a group of obedient ministers. Therefore, there were signs of prosperity in the early days of the Jiajing Dynasty.

At that time, the people in the capital and even the people in the surrounding areas were almost all well-fed and well-clothed.

Later, the late Emperor Jiajing wanted to cultivate immortality, and the Qingliu took the opportunity to seize the imperial power.

Having said that, Father is not disrespecting the late emperor. Father is just telling you to remember the lessons of history.

Because the Qingliu wanted to take the opportunity to seize the imperial power, the late Emperor Jiajing made a stupid move.

He actually used Yan Song, a famous corrupt official at that time, to clean up the mess!
Regardless of whether this is right or wrong, it is not that he cannot reuse Yan Song, but he has to warn Yan Song not to be wildly corrupt. At least, on the surface, he has to warn Yan Song from time to time.

However, he did not do so. Instead, he simply condoned the rampant corruption of Yan Song and even Yan Shifan.

As a result, Yan Song and his son caused corrupt officials to run rampant throughout the court, the national treasury was emptied, and the people were almost squeezed dry.

The people in the capital, who had originally had enough food and clothing, were not only ravaged by the northern barbarians, but they even had no money to buy clothes or eat.

At that time, a natural disaster happened and it was extremely cold. The capital was full of starving people. I don’t know how many people froze to death or starved to death.

Do you know how many years it took for the people in the capital at that time to go from having enough food and clothing to starving and freezing to death?

In the 27th year of Jiajing's reign, they were still well-fed and well-clothed, but in the 44th year of Jiajing's reign, countless of them froze to death or starved to death!

In other words, it took corrupt officials only more than ten years to make the people in the capital, who used to have enough food and clothing, have no money to eat or buy clothes.

How long ago was the Jiajing Dynasty?
Can the people of Beijing forget what happened during the Jiajing period?
They are well-fed and well-clothed now, but if corrupt officials run rampant, they might freeze to death or starve to death within twenty years!"

Corrupt officials are so terrible.

No wonder ordinary people hate corrupt officials so much.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhu Changxun slowly nodded and said, "Corrupt officials should have their homes confiscated and beheaded."

At this moment, it's just a house search, and no execution has been carried out yet.

The reason why Wanli did not rush to execute him was that he wanted to see the result of the property confiscation.

He was about to be beheaded because he refused to confess even under severe torture but was confessed by many of his colleagues.

However, no matter what, we have to wait until the results of the house search come out.

This is called having both human and physical evidence. A confession is only human evidence. Human evidence alone is not enough because others may make false accusations.

Only after all the evidence is gathered can the execution be carried out. This is governing the country according to laws.

As expected, those Ministry of Revenue officials who refused to confess even under torture but were confessed by many of their colleagues were all corrupt officials.

Moreover, these guys are more greedy than others. The wealth and property they have speculated in their homes are worth at least several thousand or tens of thousands of taels.

Since there is both human and material evidence, there is nothing more to say. Just execute him directly.

At about noon on the third day, the West Market execution ground was crowded with people again.

The corrupt officials were finally executed.

The common people clapped and cheered.

Those corrupt officials who have not been caught are in a state of panic and fear all day long.

The Ministry of Justice is still arresting and interrogating people non-stop.

The Jinyiwei did not stop raiding houses, and they raided at least ten houses every day.

If this continues, they will be caught sooner or later.

To be honest, there are so many corrupt officials in the court right now that it's terrifying.

Emperor Jiajing clearly promoted the corrupt official Yan Song, which completely ruined the atmosphere in the court.

Let’s not talk about Yan Song’s loyalty, treachery, good or evil.

It does not say whether Jiajing was incompetent or not.

But let’s just imagine what other officials would think when they saw Jiajing favoring Yan Song.

Most officials in the court had the same idea: Yan Song was corrupt and nothing happened, and he was still reused and served as the prime minister for more than ten years. Why shouldn't they be corrupt?
What Emperor Jiajing did was tantamount to cultivating corrupt officials.

With this going on, it would be strange if there weren't many corrupt officials in the Ming Dynasty court.

Seventy to eighty percent of the officials in the Ministry of Revenue were corrupt officials. Li Dai, the Vice Minister of Revenue and Governor of the Granaries, alone confessed the names of hundreds of corrupt officials.

This is not the end yet. Who knows how many more corrupt officials these hundreds of corrupt officials will confess.

This time, Wanli was determined to thoroughly investigate corrupt officials.

It would be strange if he wasn't afraid of the corrupt officials in the court.

(End of this chapter)