In the past, the impeachment of a censor was enough to make all the officials in the court feel upset. When the censor hears something, even a trivial matter can make hundreds of officials disgraced, and many officials have been fined for this.
When the two censor colleagues reported something, it was minimal, because this meant that what they reported was not hearsay, but had solid evidence.
"It's accurate." The old eunuch shouted loudly at Lao Zhu's signal.
"My ministers Yu Min and Ding Ting exposed that Guo Huan, the minister of the Ministry of Revenue, took advantage of his power and colluded with Li Yu, the envoy of Chengxuan in Beiping, Zhao Quande, the envoy of punishment and inspection, Hu Yi, Wang Daoheng and others, and colluded with officials in various provinces to cheat. , stealing and selling official rations. The amount is shocking. Please take a closer look, Your Majesty."
A huge storm erupted from Yu Min and the two of them, shocking all the officials present like clay sculptures and stone sculptures.
Even the old eunuch standing next to Lao Zhu was dumbfounded and didn't know what to do. Under Lao Zhu's successive gestures, the old eunuch suddenly came to his senses, walked down quickly, brought up the memorials of Yu Min, Ding Ting and others and presented them to Lao Zhu.
Lao Zhu opened the memorial and saw that Yu Min and Ding Ting had three crimes against Guo Huan. One is to embezzle taxes from Taiping Prefecture, Zhenjiang Prefecture and other prefectures to reduce the court's tax revenue. Secondly, he misappropriated the autumn grain in western Zhejiang. The autumn grain in western Zhejiang should have been handed over 4.5 million shi, but Guo Huan only turned over more than 2 million shi. Third, when collecting taxes, they use clever names to levy taxes on water, food, treasury, gods and Buddhas, etc., so as to line their own pockets.
After reading it, Lao Zhu suddenly slapped it on the imperial desk, making a loud noise that echoed in the extremely silent hall.
All the officials lowered their heads, not even daring to express their anger. People with ghosts in their hearts constantly pray to God and Buddha in their hearts, eager to overcome this difficult situation. Even people with an open heart trembled like frightened quails under Lao Zhu's power.
"Where is Guo Huan?" Lao Zhu asked angrily.
Guo Huan bravely stood up from the civil service, bowed his hands and said, "I am here."
Lao Zhu directly threw the memorial to Guo Huan and asked, "How do you explain it?"
Guo Huan picked up the memorial with a normal expression, opened it and saw that it was all about him.
All kinds of evidence of stealing and selling official grain. Guo Huan was flustered when he saw it. He didn't know how such a secret matter was known to two seventh-grade officials, Yu Min and Ding Ting.
Although he was panicking, Guo Huan knew that he had decided not to admit it, otherwise he would die without a burial place.
"Your Majesty, this is slander, Your Majesty." Guo Huan's expression suddenly became excited, and his hands holding the memorial were trembling greatly.
Lao Zhu glanced at Guo Huan and asked Yu Min and others: "He said that you are slandering. I ask you, is it slander?"
After Yu Min and Ding Ting heard this, they bowed again and said, "Everything that I have reported is true. Please give your Majesty a clear view."
"Nonsense," Guo Huan couldn't care about anything else and hurriedly retorted: "When have I ever offended you? Do you want the two of you to deliberately plot against me like this? What are your intentions?"
Faced with Guo Huan's sophistry, Yu Min sneered. Said: "Of course, Mr. Guo has not offended us, and we have never had any dealings with Mr. Guo before. But don't we know what Mr. Guo did?"
"What do I know? I don't know anything, and I have never done anything." Guo Huan immediately turned around, bowed to Lao Zhu, and said, "I have been wronged. These two people collaborated to falsely accuse me, and they have ulterior motives. Your Majesty, please take a closer look. "
The atmosphere in Fengtian Hall was audibly quiet. Lao Zhu did not speak, and no one dared to speak.
After a while, Lao Zhu suddenly smiled and said: "Yu Min and the other two want me to investigate clearly, and you also want me to investigate clearly. In this case, let's investigate. Come and lead the culprits."
"Bring the criminals Li Yu and Zhao Quande to the palace."
Two people wearing white prison uniforms were dragged into the main hall by the guards and thrown next to Guo Huan.
The huge fear instantly pinched Guo Huan's heart like a ghost's claws. Guo Huan was so frightened that he could only whisper to Li Yu and Zhao Quande: "I will treat you very well. Please don't bite me randomly."
Li Yu and Zhao Quande were dejected. At this point, what hope could they have? Li Yu pointed at Guo Huan with his shackled hands and said, "You treat us well, but you also said that nothing will happen."
Li Yu's expression of regret was overflowing with words
He almost jumped up and scolded Guo Huan. If he still had the strength, he might really want to jump up and scold Guo Huan. He was sad that Guo Huan had suffered such a misfortune. Not only was his head in danger, but his family was also in trouble.
"Guo Huan, what else do you have to say?" Lao Zhu's face turned to ice as he looked at Guo Huan with cold eyes.
Guo Huan knew that the big thing was over, his legs went weak and he knelt down on the ground in vain.
Lao Zhu couldn't help but shook his head with disappointment and sighed: "Guo Huan, I treat you well."
Looking at the Emperor Dan, Guo Huan couldn't help but said: "Your Majesty, it's too hard to be an upright official. The guilty ministers are from the second rank and have a monthly salary of fifteen dan. If they want to buy land, there will never be hope. Your Majesty, you have done it for us. Have you ever thought about it as a minister?"
Lao Zhu closed his eyes for a moment, then suddenly opened them, as if two butcher knives shot out of his eyes. He gritted his teeth and said, "I was just thinking, do you have to get rich if you are an official?"
As soon as Lao Zhu finished speaking, the entire hall fell silent.
When no one spoke, Lao Zhu continued: "I tell you, I have thought about it for you. With today's national power, what I can give you is only a farm of thirty to forty or forty to fifty acres." There is no way to increase income if you want. There is no way, the national power is limited. Therefore, I ask you to be diligent and thrifty, live within your means, and not waste. It is better to have a surplus than to have a shortage. Is this the first time I have said this to you since the founding of the country? ?”
"Your Majesty, who has served as an official for thousands of miles since ancient times, not just to make a fortune?" By now, Guo Huan was already broken. There was nothing he dared to say, "May I ask these people standing in this hall? , is half of it clean?”
As soon as these words came out, the entire Fengtian Hall was shaken. All the officials looked left and right, trying to see if they could see anything strange in the other person's expression. But who can stand here, who is not a human spirit? Even if there is something wrong in his heart, it will not be easy for people to see the clues. No matter what kind of officials they are, they always look at others with an innocent look on their face, as if there is something wrong with them.
Lao Zhu was also startled by Guo Huan's words, and anger suddenly emerged in his heart. Even Lao Zhu didn't believe that there was only one corrupt official in Fengtian Hall, Guo Huan, and all the others were honest officials.
