Beijing.
Ministry of War.
this day.
As soon as Shangshu Zhang Heming arrived at the Yamen of the Ministry of War, he heard the sound of footsteps like the sound of a dense drum coming from outside.
Zhang Heming's heart tightened, and when he looked back, he saw a large group of Dongchang servants coming with knives and surrounding the Yamen of the Ministry of War.
"What are you doing?"
Zhang Heming asked.
Yang Huan, the leader, saw that Zhang Heming was wearing a scarlet official robe with a second-grade official uniform, so he guessed Zhang Heming's identity: "You must be Zhang Heming, the Minister of War."
With that said, Yang Huan waved his hand and ordered: "Take it down!"
"You are brave!"
Zhang Heming shouted in a stern voice and looked around uneasily.
At this time, the guards around Zhang Heming also drew their swords and surrounded Zhang Heming cautiously.
Seeing this, Yang Huan directly took out the imperial edict: "We are handling the case according to the order! Do you guards dare to disturb the official business of the imperial court?"
After saying that, Yang Huan shouted loudly and asked: "Do you want to rebel?!"
"Get out of my way!"
Yang Huan shouted again.
These guards looked back at Zhang Heming, and then obediently stepped aside.
After all, they were also people who were paid by the imperial court, so how could they dare to rebel for Zhang Heming.
Zhang Heming looked at this scene with cold eyes and said: "I want to see your Majesty!"
At this time, Liangdongchang officers had already escorted Zhang Heming from the sedan rail on Yang Huan's order.
Zhang Heming still just shouted: "I want to see your Majesty! I want to see your Majesty!"
Yang Huan ignored Zhang Heming and only looked at the Yamen of the Ministry of War.
The civil servants from the Ministry of War yamen had gathered outside the door. Among them, a doctor named Xia Youqing, a doctor from the Ministry of War, shouted upon seeing this: "What are you people from the East Factory trying to do! You want to take advantage of me, the Chief Sima of the Ministry of War!"
Yang Huanze took out the imperial edict and said: "Not only will we take the chief commander of your military department, but also all the people in your military department. This is the holy decree. You dare to embezzle the internal funds allocated by your majesty in the name of ruin and destroy our Ming Dynasty. , The soldiers of the world are suffering, and the crime cannot be forgiven! Your Majesty demands that all of you be locked up and sent to prison!"
After saying that, Yang Huan said: "Come in, take the people, and follow the orders. Anyone who dares to disobey will be punished for treason, killed without mercy, and the nine tribes will be destroyed!"
Xia Youqing and other civil servants of the Ministry of War were shocked.
Of course, they also understood and knew that they were being arrested because their Ministry of War was embezzling His Majesty the Emperor's money.
At that moment, Xia Youqing was the first to shout: "Xia Youqing, a doctor in the Ministry of War, has revealed that the subordinate embezzled 160,000 taels of military resources! Zhang Heming, the Minister of War, forcibly asked the subordinate to embezzle money. Please ask Mr. Ju to report Your Majesty declares the truth!”
"I will also expose it! I embezzled 90,000 taels of ink, and it was Zhang Heming who forced us to embezzle ink."
For a while, these military officials all said that Zhang Heming forced them to get up.
Seeing this, Yang Huan was too lazy to pay attention and only ordered: "Take them all away!"
then.
These officials of the Ministry of War, including Zhang Heming, the Minister of War, were all taken to imperial prison.
…
Tongzhou.
Sun Yunhe was ordered to lead five hundred Jinyi guards and thousands of Dongchang officers to surround Tongzhou, and intercepted the first batch of silver-carrying carriages shipped out of Tongzhou. He took the imperial edict and said: "I have been ordered to inspect the payment silver!"
Zhao Liangbang, the head of the Ministry of War who was responsible for the money, felt uneasy when he saw this, but he still managed to hold on and asked: "The matter of military pay has always been investigated by the censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate. When will it be your turn to Dongchang? Are you going to Jizhou?" If something goes wrong with my military salary, can you afford it?"
Sun Yunhe sneered: "It's just because I'm afraid I can't handle it, so I have to check it carefully."
"How dare you!"
Zhao Liangbang shouted loudly, and then ordered: "Kill all these people!"
As a result, the sergeants who were guarding the grain drew their swords and confronted Sun Yunhe and other factory guards.
Sun Yunhe did not panic, and asked the sergeants: "Do you want to rebel and be punished by the nine tribes? Even the factory guards dare to stop me. Remember, what you are eating is the emperor's food, and you are the emperor's people, not these corrupt officials." running dog!"
These soldiers all took a step back for a moment.
Seeing this, Zhao Liangbang had no choice but to ask loudly: "How much money does this Mr. Jue need before he is willing to let us go? Tell us the number!"
Sun Yunhe grinned: "Do you think I, like you, dare to take the emperor's money? My whole family is in the capital, and you fucking want to harm me?"
As Sun Yunhe spoke, he shouted: "Call the people from the Qian Law Department of the Nei Shutang to come over immediately and check carefully. They should be compared with the numbers in the Jizhou Repayment Question Book of the Ministry of War's arrears archived by the Director of Ceremonies. Calculate carefully. If anyone has underestimated, A little, but you have to pay for it yourself!"
Suddenly, a group of eunuchs came over with abacus, pen and paper, and scales, and began to unbox and weigh the silver in an orderly manner.
Zhao Liangbang was greatly surprised when he saw this, and secretly sighed that these people in the inner court had even prepared so much for the accounting room. They were really well prepared.
At this time, Sun Yunhe pulled out his knife and put it on Zhao Liangbang's neck: "This civil servant of the Ministry of War, you don't really want to wait for us to finish weighing and find out the flaws before you are willing to recruit. Tell the truth." You and these people have learned the new accounting techniques taught by His Majesty himself, and you can't hide the accounts from them."
"What do you want to ask?"
Zhao Liangbang asked.
"Say, how much of this Jizhou's silver have you been greedy for? How much have you got? Has the other batch been shipped out of Tongzhou now? Where is it?"
Sun Yunhe asked.
After hearing this, Zhao Liangbang was secretly surprised, thinking that these people had been checking on himself for a long time, otherwise they would not have asked such detailed questions, so he had to answer truthfully: "According to the rules agreed by Da Sima and Ji Governor, the total number of goods shipped to Jizhou The military salary is 647,000 taels. In the name of being ruined, the Ministry of War embezzled 30%, and the Jidu Yamen embezzled 20%, a total of 50%. Now only half of it is shipped out of Tongzhou, which is given to the soldiers, and the other half belongs to the Ministry of War. and Jidu Yamen’s private banks are still in Tongzhou Caoyun Yamen.”
…
At this moment.
Zhang Heming has been taken to the imperial prison and detained all night.
After Wei Zhongxian obtained Zhao Liangbang's confession and edict, he came to the imperial prison and met Zhang Heming.
"Zhang Butang, we are here to ask you a question. You'd better answer honestly without telling a lie. Otherwise, it will constitute the crime of deceiving the emperor!"
As Wei Zhongxian spoke, he asked about Zhang Heming: "Yansui Councilor Zhao Ledao taught Shangshu that the military pay given to him was reduced by 30%. Didn't the emperor give you fire money and silver? He also strictly prohibited short-haired military pay in any name. Why is there still no military pay? If it is not enough, you should have told the emperor at that time, instead of privately cutting off the military pay! What is going on, please answer truthfully! In addition, Zhao Liangbang, the head of the Ministry of War, confessed that your Ministry of War was greedy and paid Ji Liao's military pay. There are more than two hundred thousand taels, what's going on, how much money have you embezzled from military pay from other places?"
After hearing this, Zhang Heming was naturally more certain that Zhu Youxiao was punishing him for his corruption. Otherwise, how could a military general dare to tell the court about his shortage of military pay without the support of the emperor, so that officials in his own yamen were interrogated first.
"Does Your Majesty really want to punish your ministers for this matter?"
But Zhang Heming asked Wei Zhongxian calmly.
Wei Zhongxian shouted: "Reply."
"Wei Zhongxian, you eunuch, tell His Majesty that he can't do this!"
Zhang Heming suddenly shouted loudly and said: "It is a common occurrence for people to drift away. The reason why the past emperors did not take responsibility for this is because they knew that if they did not let this matter go, the phenomenon of unworthy talent would become even more serious! The scholar-bureaucrats in the world would be harmed. The emperor is even more ungrateful."
When Wei Zhongxian saw Zhang Heming looking around and talking to him, he could only say: "Be punished! Give me extra black incense!"
So, Yi Jinyiwei held a red-hot iron and pressed it directly on Zhang Heming's fat belly, frying Zhang Heming's meat until white smoke came out and made a sizzling sound.
"ah!"
And Zhang Heming also screamed: "I admit it, I just admit it, why are you so cruel!"
