"Shilang Wen, you have done a good job! His Highness's man, the magistrate of Yan County, has been imprisoned by Dongchang because of you!"
"Needless to say, Mr. Cai Ge was convicted of treason! His own son had to publish a newspaper to sever ties with him and angrily denounced his father as a traitor to the country!"
"More than 20 officials from the Ministry of Revenue, and more than 100 officials from all provinces in total, were also implicated. They were dismissed from their posts and questioned because they and Mr. Cai Ge took bribes in the government of relocating large clans!"
"Six hundred gentry from over 600 clans were locked up and taken to the capital for this reason!"
"Many of these people support my eldest brother as the crown prince. Is it really okay for you to do this?"
When the seventh prince Zhu Cikai saw Wen Yuren coming to see him, he knew that Wen Yuren was showing kindness to him. Feeling proud, he also questioned Wen Yuren.
"Your Highness Mingjian! I have no choice but to do this!"
Wen Yuren replied.
"What a last resort. Tell me, how did you have no choice?!"
Zhu Cikai snorted and asked.
"If you don't do this, how can your Majesty dare to trust me, and what value do I have to your highnesses?"
Wen Yuren asked.
Zhu Cikai was stunned for a while after hearing this.
Then, he burst out laughing and pointed at Wen Yuren: "Okay, okay, you Wen Yuren! You are such a smart person, on par with your brother! How dare you do so unscrupulously for your own official career! Forget it! I underestimated you in the past!"
"Your Highness is ridiculous! As the saying goes, one general can achieve great success. There are so many governors in the world. Although I am the younger brother of an assistant minister, if I want to win His Majesty's favor and become His Highness's general, if I don't do something to impress the world, It’s impossible to succeed if something shocks people!”
Wen Yuren said: "Now, I, the Wen family, will be rich and noble for generations, and I am willing to be His Highness's pawn and be driven by Your Highness!"
"Very good! Very good! Minister Wen is indeed an extraordinary person!"
Zhu Cikai was very happy after hearing this, and thought that he was not at fault. Although his friend Cai Ge fell down, he got Wen Yuren, the younger brother of the second assistant Wen Tiren, to join the family. In this case, he could undoubtedly build a relationship with Wen Tiren. .
Of course, if an ambitious prince like Zhu Cikai wants to expand his power, he must use money to bribe courtiers, and he also needs to amass wealth.
Therefore, Zhu Cikai next talked about making money: "Now, we can't expect to make profits from the separation and relocation of the rich families. For the sake of clearing his name, the eldest brother has said that he will personally go to the prefectures and counties in the south of the Yangtze River to identify the rich families. List, you also know that my eldest brother is famous for being ruthless, we can’t expect him to let us take this opportunity to make a fortune!”
"Fortunately, Your Highness, Seventh Highness, can take care of things for His Highness, the eldest son of the Emperor, and win over people's hearts. Otherwise, to be honest, we really don't want to work for His Highness, the eldest son of the Emperor. In my opinion, why don't you, Your Highness, Seventh Highness, fight for that position yourself? Why do you have to fight for the Emperor's eldest son?" Your Highness, the eldest son, fights."
Wang Maofang, the left minister of the Ministry of War, couldn't help but say something at this time.
Wen Yuren glanced at him and said in his heart: "Well, Wang Jixi, I think you are too greedy. You actually fantasize about His Majesty the Seventh Prince becoming the emperor in the future. Little do you know that His Majesty the Seventh Prince is the bait that His Majesty placed in the court, just waiting. You took the bait. Not only did you take the bait, you also wanted to keep the bait of His Majesty Seventh Prince alive. You are truly stupid!"
"Alas! Don't mention this. After all, the eldest brother is the eldest son. This one is not something I can fight for! Now let's talk about getting rich. Right now, it happens that Minister Wen intends to work with us to work for the eldest brother's throne. That's it. There happens to be an opportunity to make a fortune. This opportunity is another political matter that the court is currently doing, which is to transfer the retired Southwest White Guards to various patrol stations and post stations as grassroots officials. This matter is managed by your Ministry of Civil Affairs and The Ministry of War is in charge together, and Shilang Wang and Shilang Wen are respective officials of the same department, so why not seize this opportunity to make money, and whoever gives more will be sent to the better place."
Zhu Cikai said.
"You don't need to remind me about this, Your Highness. The Ministry of War knows what to do, but they don't know about the Ministry of Personnel."
Wang Maofang looked at Wen Yuren.
Wen Yuren replied: "The patrol agencies in various places were originally integrated with the provincial command departments of the imperial court and the patrol departments in various places. Since the responsibilities have been changed to local security, the appointment of officials is still recommended by the Ministry of War and appointed by the Ministry of Personnel. I have been favored by His Majesty and promoted to the right minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, so I can indeed handle this matter."
"Okay! When the time comes, the Ministry of War will give the Ministry of Personnel a list of people recommended to serve as officials in various places. Please don't use it, Minister Wen."
Zhu Cikai said.
"Don't dare!"
Wen Yuren replied.
"Very good. When the time comes, your officials and soldiers will each get 30% of the profits. I will ask the people in the West Factory to pay the taxes to the Ministry of Revenue first, and someone from the Ministry of Revenue will deliver it to you. "
Zhu Cikai said.
But a few months later, after Wen Yuren got the recommendation list from the Ministry of War and received the money from the Ministry of Revenue, he directly reported to the Ministry of Personnel that there was a sum of money from unknown sources. In addition, the place chosen by the Ministry of War There were more new officers in the governor's office than the actual number of patrol officers in the governor's office. The Ministry of War was deprived of their salaries, so the court was asked to investigate closely.
Then, Wen Yuren introduced a white-armed soldier who came to Beijing to complain to Chen Que, who had been promoted to the imperial censor, and then asked Chen Que to explain the local officials' request for bribes from him.
After receiving these memorials, Zhu Youxiao also understood the real purpose of Wen Yuren's sudden association with the seventh prince, and therefore glanced at Wen Tiren:
"Your brother is a good official! The Ministry of War and the Ministry of Personnel conspired to get some salary and even sell some positions of grassroots officials. It must be an unspoken rule that has been tacitly accepted by these two ministries. He is very good and actually took the initiative to expose it. "
Zhu Youxiao said: "Invite the officials of the Third Department of Law, and then the officials of the Second Department of Li and Bing to the Political Affairs Hall, and interrogate them in front of the imperial court! In addition, Dongchang will investigate whether they have committed any other violations."
"My younger brother has always been unreasonable. Only His Majesty, Shengming Zhuzhao, can he be ranked among the ministers. Otherwise, with his temperament, he would not be able to reach the official position he is now."
Wen Tiren replied with a smile.
…
Soon.
Officials from the Ministry of Punishment, Marble, and the Procuratorate all arrived.
And the officials from the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War have arrived.
Zhu Youxiao therefore asked: "Who is Wen Yuren?"
At this time, Wen Yuren hurriedly came out of the queue and replied: "Your Majesty, Wen Yuren, has met!"
"Tell them what you discovered. I'm afraid they still don't know clearly, especially the Minister and Zuo Shilang in your ministry!"
Zhu Youxiao said.
"yes!"
Wen Yuren said casually: "I suspect that there are officials in the Ministry of War who are collaborating with local officials to sell their positions and get titles! They even have more officials in the Ministry of Personnel and get paid in vain!"
Wang Maofang, the left minister of the Ministry of War, trembled after hearing this and looked at Wen Yuren in shock.
"Whoever in your Ministry of War did such a thing should come forward. I have already asked Dongchang to investigate. Do you really want Dongchang to investigate and come back?"
Zhu Youxiao asked.
Everyone knows that Dongchang is investigating in name, but it is just a frame-up! And it was directly framed for rebellion! Therefore, if you don't confess at this time, you will undoubtedly end up with a worse outcome, and you will be directly charged with treason.
Therefore, Wang Maofang still trembled and admitted: "I am guilty! But I was also forced by His Highness Seventh Prince, woo woo!"
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