Seeing that he was using the so-called ancestral methods as a reason for opposition, Zhu Youxiao immediately ordered the guards to bring Cao Jixiang over.
When it comes to bickering, Zhu Youxiao knows that he is not a match for these quarrels. The only thing he is good at is the long knife in his hand.
During Cao Jixiang's tenure as guard, he must have been complicit in their hypocritical talk.
As for Cao Jixiang's downfall, these officials don't know about it now. I really don't know what their expressions will be like when they see the scarred and half-dead Cao Jixiang.
"Don't use your ancestors to oppress me. My ancestors are always better than our ancestors. Do you have the qualifications?"
"I really don't know where you learned this from. It's only because of you that the unhealthy tendencies in the officialdom have become so serious!"
"I see that you can't recognize who your surname is. Do I need you ministers to make irresponsible remarks about what I want to do? The dynasty has been raising scholars for more than two hundred years, and yet it has raised such blind people as you." Mr. Jun, the unruly and unruly stinky Qiu Ba!"
Faced with the emperor's unabashed anger, the Shanxi governor did not give in, but became even more excited.
For them, the emperor's anger was not so terrible. On the contrary, they were very happy that the emperor was angry.
In the Ming Dynasty, there were many ways to gain power, but there was only one most effective and fastest way, which was to confront the emperor. It was best to scold the emperor, so that their reputation could be spread throughout the world. everywhere.
Especially among the literati, this is something worth being proud of for a lifetime. They will enjoy the envious eyes of others and the feeling of being praised.
Even if you were an unknown person before, you may be regarded as a leader because of your behavior and influence in criticizing the emperor. Even if you are not, your status in the circle of scholars will skyrocket.
The governor of Shanxi today probably had the same mentality. He might have thought that since he was not in the capital, the emperor had nothing to do with him.
But when Cao Jixiang was carried into the hall by the guards, all these officials looked panicked, especially the governor of Shanxi, whose eyes were wide open.
Maybe for him, all this was like a dream. The guarding eunuch who covered the sky with one hand in Taiyuan City and fought against him had been captured by the emperor.
A governor who is the top leader in Shanxi and a great eunuch who holds the real power in Taiyuan City, there is inevitably some connection between the two parties.
Although the two of them have little contact with each other on weekdays, and sometimes they may conflict due to overlapping interests and powers, they will also join forces because of their interests.
When Zhu Youxiao asked Cao Jixiang, the four officials who came to announce the edict were extremely nervous and their hearts were raised. At this moment, they could only hope that Cao Jixiang, the fat eunuch, would not betray them.
But Cao Jixiang disappointed them. As soon as the emperor asked him, he said hurriedly:
"Long live my life, please forgive me! Long live my life, please forgive me!"
"This slave is willing to die for Long Live Lord!"
In the face of the fear of death, it is obvious that the psychological defense line of Cao Jixiang, the fat eunuch, has been completely destroyed.
"As long as you recruit him truthfully, I can reduce the crime at my discretion, but you have to remember that you can't tell any lies, otherwise there won't be a second doctor to save you!"
Seeing the hope of survival, Cao Jixiang was so grateful that he danced with joy. His body while kneeling on the ground seemed out of control, and even his breathing became rapid.
Without waiting for the emperor to ask further questions, Cao Jixiang took the initiative and told everything he knew about the situation.
"Long live my Lord, in the forty-sixth year of Wanli, a large number of military households from the Four Guards of Taiyuan fled. The culprit was Zeng Shijin, the governor of Shanxi. In the name of the imperial court, he threatened to organize the military households of the Four Guards to perform corvee service like the common people. As a result, the families of military households were destroyed!"
"In the forty-seventh year of Wanli, when a locust plague broke out in Pingyang Prefecture, Lord Wanli issued an order to the Ministry of Household Affairs to allocate a total of 128,000 shi of grain relief and 35 taels of disaster relief silver!"
"At that time, the money and grain were transferred and stored through Taiyuan Prefecture, but before entering Pingyang Prefecture, less than half of the tens of millions of grain and silver were left. Among them, Shanxi Governor Zeng Shijin was involved in massive corruption!"
"With the governor taking the lead, officials of all sizes along the Shanxi Province are embezzling disaster relief food funds, turning the people who should not have starved to death into bones!"
"The locust plague in Pingyang Prefecture was not very serious at first. As long as this batch of disaster relief grains could be delivered to the people smoothly, everything would be fine. But it was because of these corrupt officials that the population of Pingyang Prefecture was reduced by nearly 100,000. !”
"Countless people have become homeless and beggars, and some of the young and strong men, organized and seduced by thoughtful people, have moved into the mountains and forests to become horse bandits."
"Although two years have passed, the people of Binh Duong Prefecture are still suffering from it. The people of Binh Duong Prefecture have neither rice seedlings nor farm tools to cultivate, resulting in countless deserted fields. The people can only sigh as weeds grow in the fields."
"Due to the last man-made disaster caused by the locust plague, there are more and more thieves and horse bandits in Pingyang Mansion. The people who are already living in extreme poverty are even worse. They have to be on guard against these bandits at any time, which is extremely miserable."
"Your Majesty, all this is caused by this corrupt official Zeng Shijin!"
"At that time, he also intended to join forces with the slave to join him, but the slave refused righteously!"
Zhu Youxiao almost couldn't help laughing when he heard this, and he refused righteously. He really thought that everyone else was fools and he was the only smart one.
"During his tenure as governor, he kept it secret and colluded with the local gentry and powerful people to steal the people's fertile land. He also sold official land privately. He forced the people to rent and buy the wasteland and wild fields at high prices, while the best fertile land was sold to the gentry at low prices!"
"The powerful gentry mainly bribe these corrupt officials with gold, silver, antique calligraphy and paintings in private. Of course, they also sometimes solicit beautiful women as gifts!"
"Long live my Lord, I must be severely punished!"
Cao Jixiang shouted the last sentence almost with a cry. He wanted to draw the emperor's attention and anger to Zeng Shijin.
Zeng Shijin almost spit out a mouthful of old blood. He didn't expect that the usually domineering person would turn into a coward at such a critical moment. He was really disappointed.
He really regrets now that he was caught by this dead eunuch because of an oversight. Under the threat of irrefutable evidence, he had to take a piece of this dead eunuch's pie.
As a result, now, after a lot of random fabrication, he has become a clean person who is neither corrupt nor corrupt.
His psychological quality is also excellent. If there is no evidence of guilt, he will not admit what this dead eunuch said even if he is beaten to death.
He immediately retorted angrily:
"Eunuch, you stop spouting nonsense here. You dare to slander important ministers of the imperial court in front of His Majesty, relying on your mortality, and trying to confuse black and white facts. Your intentions are really to be punished!"
"Since I was entrusted by Emperor Shenzong to patrol Shanxi, although I dare not say what achievements I have made, I believe that I have not made any mistakes. I work hard every day just so that the people can live a stable life!"
"How can you, a eunuch, know how difficult this is?"
"You relied on the power given to you by the late emperor to do all kinds of evil in the local area. You only cared about enjoying yourself all day long. You didn't even spare the people's livelihood and food. You will definitely die a good death!"
"Your Majesty, I have here the evidence of the eunuch's crime. During the Wanli period, when Emperor Shenzong introduced mining taxes, he used the mining taxes to collect excessive amounts of money, which caused the people to complain and almost led to a civil commotion."
"This is ruining the reputation of the late emperor. They are using the reputation of the late emperor to do whatever they want!"
"But even so, this eunuch is not satisfied. He embezzles nearly half of the mining tax every year, bullying the emperor and harming the people."
Regarding the mining tax, there is no official who is not jealous of this huge profit, not to mention people like Zeng Shijin who regard wealth as life.
Moreover, the weight of this matter is too great. This is robbing the emperor's money, and it is an aboveboard kind. The emperor and the eunuchs who collect taxes are originally on the shareholding system.
Although he is only responsible for Taiyuan's mining tax, it adds up to a large amount of money over time, not to mention that this is an extremely profitable business.
But to his surprise, the emperor was not angry because of this incident, and still looked at the two of them calmly.
Zhu Youxiao was naturally able to distinguish between some of the truth and falsehood. Zeng Shijin was corrupt, harmed the people, and forcibly annexed people's fields. He completely believed that this was just the basic behavior of civil servants in this era.
As for the eunuchs grabbing money from the emperor, Zhu Youxiao already knew it without him having to say anything. In later generations, anyone who has a little knowledge will know what the eunuchs in the late Ming Dynasty were like.
It's impossible for him to take sides just because of one-sided remarks. Both of them are blaming each other, and you can tell a small story.
"You two each say different things, how can I believe it? How about using the simplest and most transparent method to investigate the case and collect evidence?"
Before the two of them could respond, Zhu Youxiao had already targeted the Taiyuan prefect. The Taiyuan prefect was panicked and immediately wrote a warrant to let the army enter the city.
When Governor Zeng Shijin saw this scene and was about to stop him, he saw two guards standing in front of him, ready to draw their swords.
He sighed secretly in his heart, everything was over, the army had entered the city, they could only pray that the emperor would not make a big move, otherwise they would all die without a burial place.
After Xu Xianchun led his army to successfully enter the city, he immediately followed the emperor's instructions and sent sergeants to each city gate to take over the defense and take control of the gate.
Another two thousand sergeants were assigned to control all the military camps and government offices to ensure that no one in Taiyuan City could give orders.
Then he took the remaining sergeants and went straight to the Jin Palace.
Zhu Youxiao heard the rustling sound of armor clashing in the palace and knew that what happened today was done.
He handed over all the warrants written by King Jin to General Qian, and asked him to immediately take people to take over the various mansions in King Jin's palace.
Then recruit young men and women in the city, and first transport the money and grain to the Jin Palace.
Time waits for no one, and he cannot stay in Taiyuan for too long, so he must seize any moment to settle everything.
In order to avoid unnecessary conflicts and obstacles, Zhu Youxiao also specifically asked King Jin to select his own guides, and let these guides take his soldiers to various warehouses to take over.
He also asked the left and right chief envoys and the Taiyuan prefect to jointly issue several warrants to ensure that the Yulin army could move unimpeded in Taiyuan.
With the support of the army, Zhu Youxiao became arrogant and bold in both his tone and actions.
He did not ask the opinions of these officials and Cao Jixiang at all, and directly ordered Xu Xianchun to take people to visit these officials' homes one by one, and Cao Jixiang was no exception.
Now is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. These people are unprepared. Whether they want to collect evidence or investigate their assets to prepare for home confiscation, they are the easiest to succeed.
Although the emperor did not say it clearly, as one of his most trusted confidants, Xu Xianchun could certainly guess the emperor's true intention.
In the past year, he has raided as many as 80 homes, if not a hundred, and arrested countless officials. He can be said to be the number one person in this generation.
Zhu Youxiao then summoned all the young eunuchs to come and confront them face to face. He was going to purge the top officials in Taiyuan tonight.
For a whole night, lights were brightly lit everywhere in the Jin Palace, and soldiers in armor and swords were guarding every corner.
In the Jin Palace, for more than two hundred years since it was built, Jinyi guards or Yulin guards would come in and out from time to time carrying some people.
In the main hall of the palace, there were several times more people kneeling on the ground than before.
Zhu Youxiao's impromptu idea had a great effect this time. Compared with remote control command in the palace of the capital, this personal experience is really different.
From the towering tree in Taiyuan City, through the two main trunks of Cao Jixiang and Zeng Shijin, Zhu Youxiao dug out a large number of officials and some generals who needed to be cleaned up from top to bottom.
Zeng Shijin, who had been righteously and angrily criticizing the emperor not long ago, was now completely silent.
His charges and crimes have been fully investigated and all are true.
Cao Jixiang is not much better. He is even worse than Zeng Shijin, but his mentality is very good, and you can even see a smile on his face.
Because of the emperor's previous promise, he had a glimmer of hope in his heart that he might be punished, but he would not lose his life.
Although the Taiyuan magistrate was not of high rank among the first five people he met, he had considerable power, so he was involved in many things.
Moreover, he slightly shocked Zhu Youxiao. As a middle-level civil servant with real power and the top leader in the Shanxi capital, he was actually the godson of the eunuch Cao Jixiang.
For Zhu Youxiao, this was really a new thing. It was normal for civil servants to follow others' influence, but it was unprecedented for a dignified prefect to worship a eunuch as his adoptive father.
Zhu Youxiao inquired carefully with curiosity and found out that he was just born with the same Jinshi, and he was the last one.
He is self-aware and knows that without talent or background, it is very likely that he will not be able to stay in the officialdom. Even if he does stay, he will always be a low-ranking official.
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