"The entire Ministry of War has embezzled nearly two million taels of ink, and I myself have embezzled more than half a million taels in total. I don't know exactly how many governors there are below, but I have told them not to go too far, so as not to cause the soldiers to mutiny. I am willing to return all the money and ask Eunuch Wei to let your majesty spare my life!"
Zhang Heming trembled his lips as he spoke, and knelt down and kowtowed to Wei Zhongxian.
Wei Zhongxian said with a cold face: "This money belongs to the imperial court, do you still need to return it?"
After saying that, Wei Zhongxian ordered: "I'm asking him why he dared to do ink even after the emperor explicitly prohibited it! After all, he is also a minister, so why don't he think about his own affairs?!"
"yes!"
So Jin Yiwei whipped Zhang Heming with a whip dipped in salt water.
Zhang Heming, who had enjoyed great honor for a long time, had never experienced such a beating in his life. For a while, his skin and tender flesh were beaten with blood and flesh splattering, and he kept screaming: "Ah! It hurts!"
"Why do you dare to indulge in ink even after His Majesty's express prohibition? You are still a minister after all, but you don't think about what will happen behind you?"
Jin Yiwei asked as he was told.
Zhang Heming could only bear the pain and replied: "Everyone does this. Civil and military officials all love money and are greedy for luxury. Wherever people's greed stops, it's not like I haven't thought about the aftermath, but the evaluation after the death is also It is the scholar-bureaucrat who evaluates himself, and he will cover up his mistakes. This is normal. Why do you ask more? I did not expect that His Majesty would be so serious this time. Even if the emperors of the past generations knew about it, they would leave it alone! Besides, you guys Don’t the factory guards like money?!”
"Our family also likes silver, but our family knows what silver should be taken and what silver should not be taken! The biggest difference between our family and yours, Zhang Heming, is that our family has always taken the emperor to heart, unlike hypocrites like you, Zhang Heming, who keep saying We serve the country and the people, but in the end, we dare to embezzle the emperor’s money and swallow the money of the soldiers below who fought bloody battles for the Ming Dynasty!”
Wei Zhongxian asked himself that he was not a good person, but he didn't know why he suddenly had a strong sense of justice. He secretly felt that he seemed to have done a good thing for the world and dealt with such a big corrupt official.
For a moment, Wei Zhongxian ordered him sternly: "Take him down and imprison him first!"
Then, Wei Zhongxian added: "Continue to interrogate other officials suspected of corruption."
So the people from the Dongchang interrogated a doctor from the Ministry of War: "To tell you the truth, how much military salary have you embezzled and how did you embezzle it."
The doctor from the Ministry of War denied it at first: "I didn't embezzle, I didn't embezzle!"
"You can't shed tears without seeing the coffin. You're going to be tortured directly. I, Dongchang, have been doing research for months and have your evidence in hand, and yet you are so stubborn! Is it possible that you really think that someone can save you now?"
Wei Zhongxian couldn't help but curse.
then.
The doctor from the Ministry of War was also tortured, and he began to shout and scream in an extremely miserable manner, like a ghost crying or a wolf howling.
The other corrupt officials who were detained were trembling and sitting on pins and needles when they saw this.
But because of this, these civil servants basically confessed their crimes obediently and explained all the money they had embezzled.
Therefore, Wei Zhongxian came to Zhu Youxiao with a large stack of confessions: "Your Majesty, the Ministry of War has confessed!"
Zhu Youxiao started to look at it, and after looking at it for a while, he couldn't help but be stunned.
Although Zhu Youxiao knew that corruption in the Ming Dynasty was serious, he did not expect that it would be so serious. Some officials from the Ministry of War not only embezzled military salaries, but also clearly marked prices for various military attache positions, blatantly selling their officials and titles, and even some civilian officials from the Ministry of War Some have the power to harm subordinate military attaches, deliberately tampering with the military pay figures received by subordinate military attaches, and then falsely accuse these military attaches of taking empty pay and falsely claiming military pay, forcing these military attaches to be filial to them. There are also some who collude with military attaches or force military attaches to take empty pay and take credit for their merits.
"The military attachés of the Ming Dynasty are becoming more and more incompetent. There are more and more people who are paying empty wages or even killing good people and taking credit for their merits. The root cause lies in the civil servants who are in charge of them! It is passed down to the cabinet ministers."
After Zhu Youxiao said this, he threw the confessions of these military officials on the ground.
At that time, Fang Congzhe, Han Xu, and Wang Xiangqian all came to Qianqing Palace.
After these people arrived, Zhu Youxiao directly threw the confessions of these civilian officials of the Ministry of War to Fang Congzhe and others: "Look carefully! How can I trust you civilian officials in the future?!"
Fang Congzhe and others quickly looked at it carefully.
Although the three cabinet ministers have long been aware of this kind of thing, they still have to show their horror.
"Your Majesty, this is too appalling. How can these people be so shameless!"
Han Xu even spoke first with the most excitement.
"Your Majesty, this fact is unbelievable. I have never heard of it! I never thought that some of my civil servants could fall to such an extent!"
Fang Congzhe also said something.
"Your Majesty, I have to say, if this continues, the military and political affairs will not be ruined!"
Wang Xiangqian also sighed with emotion.
…
"Corruption in the administration of officials is too serious, and we have to repay it! We should reaffirm Taizu's law, and even make it aggravated, and draw up a decree. Anyone who embezzles more than sixty taels of silver will be cut in half, stripped of the grass, and loses his family property! Anyone who embezzles less than sixty taels will be executed immediately. ! No family property! This is how all corrupt officials will deal with it this time."
Zhu Youxiao started talking at this time.
The three cabinet ministers were very surprised after hearing this.
Fang Congzhe had to admit that His Majesty was too cruel, so he asked: "Your Majesty, almost most of the officials of the Ministry of War are suspected of corruption this time. As I know from the confession just now, except for Xu Guangqi, the left minister of the Ministry of War, and Gang Gang The head of the Ministry of War, Sun Chuan, who was transferred to the capital from the county magistrate's post, is all corrupt outside the court. This is undoubtedly a false accusation. If we really want to kill them all, there will be almost no one left in the Ministry of War."
"It is precisely because it is a hidden case that we must deal with it strictly! If a person in a bureau is so corrupt and corrupt, if we don't punish him, will other bureaus also think that as long as they get involved in corruption, everything will be fine? We can't let this happen. People in other ministries are lucky and must set an example! Kill them all! If there is no one in the Ministry of War, they will immediately arrange people. I don’t believe that there is still a shortage of officials in the world. In addition, giving part of the powers of the Ministry of War is too much power. Got it!"
Zhu Youxiao gritted his teeth and then said: "Not only is he in charge of the selection and promotion of the world's military attachés, but he is also in charge of military pay allocation and military command. There is no check and balance, so corruption is unscrupulous! Immediately draft a decree to reaffirm the ancestral law, The functions of military attaché selection, promotion and command, as well as military attachés' selection and promotion, as well as command, are vested in the Fifth Army Governor's Office. Under the Fifth Army's Governor's Office, there is a Military Selection Department and a Military Aircraft Department. The Ministry of War only retains two departments: Vehicle Driving and Arsenal, and adds a Treasury Department responsible for the distribution of military pay. A training and missionary department, responsible for military and horse training and border defense missionary work!"
None of the cabinet ministers expected that His Majesty the Emperor would take this opportunity to seize the power of the Ministry of War.
