Not only the name, but also the official position and place of birth are clearly marked.
There are many names that Liang Yi is familiar with.
Among them, those with the highest official positions were Lai Chenjun, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and Yan Zhishu, the Minister of the Ministry of Hubu, both of whom were first-rank officials in the dynasty.
The remaining people were distributed in various locations in the court.
Among the several doctors from the left minister of the Ministry of War, the right minister of the Ministry of Industry, the secretary of the Ministry of Punishments, and the Ministry of Rites, not a single one of the six ministries was left.
Even the young minister of Dali Temple and the censor of the Jiancha Yuan.
Even the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion and Jingzhao Mansion were not spared.
Looking at the densely packed names, Liang Yi frowned.
If these were tracked down, there would be a lot of killings in Beijing.
Now it seems that the imperial court can't touch the big fish here.
Sure enough, after Liang Yi returned the memorial to Emperor Zhou, Chu Mengde saluted to Emperor Zhou worriedly and said:
"Your Majesty, the scope of this corruption case is unheard of. If we want to dig deeper..."
Chu Mengde did not continue, but everyone present understood the meaning.
Basically all the departments that can be named in the court have people involved. If they were all investigated, the court would not be able to function for even a day.
This is why the law does not punish everyone.
Under the current situation, the most important thing for the court is to maintain stability.
First, only capture a few typical ones to knock the mountain and shake the tiger, and then slowly liquidate them after this difficult period has passed.
Emperor Zhou also understood this truth, but what those people were greedy for was not other things, but the two and a half million stones of disaster relief food.
Nowadays, natural disasters are everywhere and victims are everywhere. Without this food, I don’t know if we can survive until after the autumn harvest.
Even if it can survive until after the autumn harvest, judging from the current situation, several production areas such as Huainan and Central Plains may not have a single grain of rice this year.
Shu and Guanzhong alone cannot support so many people.
Wang Deshui was also very anxious.
Among the three men, he is the one who understands the suffering of the world most directly.
Nowadays, Shangjing has accepted 180,000 refugees, and has been relying on the Chen rice in the treasury to survive.
The porridge provided by the relief department is getting thinner and thinner, and it is about to become unbearable.
People die every day, and people cause trouble every day.
Now that they are still alive, few people are willing to make trouble. If one day their bowl of gruel is cut off, the consequences will be disastrous.
Now the court is in a dilemma.
Or if we get to the bottom of it, tens of thousands of people will be killed, the court will be shut down, and the country will be destroyed;
Or just take a few small shrimps to maintain the overall situation, while hundreds of thousands of hungry people are waiting to starve to death.
Emperor Zhou felt that his head began to hurt again.
He slowly turned his head to look at Liang Yi, with a look of helplessness on his face.
"Do you know why your policy in Chaoyang Palace cannot be implemented? You can't just raid a house."
"This world is not just a world for the few, but also a world for scholar-bureaucrats and wealthy families."
"The emperor can be replaced when he dies, and when the royal family is gone, the dynasty can be changed. Only these scholar-bureaucrats and wealthy families are the real rulers of this country."
Liang Yi nodded silently.
At this point, he really did not expect that the power of the imperial court was so intertwined that the removal of a fourth-rank general could affect the whole body, let alone the raids on the homes of two ministers.
Most of the officials in the court come from noble families. Even if they are not children of aristocratic families, there will be figures of wealthy families behind them to support them, except for San Gong.
Among the three princes, Chu Mengde was from a poor family, Wang Deshui's family was a farmer for a long time, and Ling Ziqi was born in the army. They were all personally promoted by Emperor Zhou and had assisted him for many years when Emperor Zhou was still a Qianlong.
Even these three people are helpless when facing the intricate court, otherwise the supervisory, political, and military would not be spared.
but……
Looking at Emperor Zhou, who was only in his fifties and had gray hair and a face like a dying man, Liang Yi sighed.
When the emperor took this responsibility, Emperor Zhou was really aggrieved.
Judging from the situation in Chaoyang Palace today, most people should know that Chu Mengde is investigating this matter.
But no one seemed to care.
They knew the emperor and the three princes very accurately.
no! We can't let this matter go by so lightly.
He is also thinking about opening up territories and colonizing the sea in the future!
From the very beginning, he was overpowered by a wealthy family. From now on, he would not be allowed to let others poop or piss on his head!
What is the difference between this and Emperor Wu of Jin?
If the emperor takes this responsibility, it would be better to revolt and overthrow him.
Overthrowing your own emperor will give the rebels more peace of mind.
After going through this matter in his mind, Liang Yi slowly bowed:
"Father, I have something to say. I don't know whether I should say it or not?"
Emperor Zhou frowned:
"Don't be pretentious, just tell me!"
Liang Yi straightened up and started talking:
"Now that the country is in crisis, all the ministers and ministers do not want to repay the kindness of the country and nourish the soldiers for hundreds of years. Instead, they are greedy for money and enrich their own pockets. They really deserve to be killed."
"The matters that my father, Mr. Chu and Mr. Wang are concerned about are too involved and cannot be brought to an end."
"If all these national thieves are killed, the imperial court will inevitably come to a standstill. If we do not kill them and continue to investigate and recover the food, the imperial city will sooner or later be overrun by the hungry victims."
Emperor Zhou nodded, with a slightly satisfied look in his eyes.
Although these are only at a relatively easy-to-understand level, as a prince who has not been exposed to government affairs for many years, this is already remarkable.
After looking around on several people's faces, Liang Yi continued:
"I guess the next plan of your two lords is to bring in a few innocuous but higher-ranking officials in the court to explain the official punishment."
He opened the memorial casually and pointed at a few names.
"I think these people are very suitable."
Chu Mengde and Wang Deshui leaned over to see Liang Yizhi's name.
"Prince of Taichang Temple, Yang Feng"
"Shaoqing of Guanglu Temple, Qiao Xuan"
"Guozijian offers wine, Zhao Guoliang"
"..."
Indeed, they are all positions with high positions but little power.
Chu Mengde and Wang Deshui were overjoyed. They didn't expect the prince to think clearly about what was going to happen next, and the punishment was just right, neither light nor heavy.
Looking at the two people who were still discussing secretly, Liang Yi continued:
"As for the problem of food shortage, the only option is to impose additional food taxes on the southern provinces."
"And we have to collect them quickly. The work of resettling the victims must be completed before autumn, otherwise the chaos in the country will give Beiliang an opportunity."
Emperor Zhou nodded, which coincided with what he said.
Just when he wanted to praise him, Liang Yi suddenly changed the subject.
"With all due respect to my son, this kind of plan can only solve urgent needs, not long-term, and it is unclear whether it will be successful or not."
The satisfaction on Emperor Zhou's face turned into surprise.
"Why do you see that? I think this is the most effective method at present."
Liang Yi shook his head repeatedly.
"Not to mention that the southern provinces rely on the Yangtze and Huaihe rivers for support, and they cannot harvest much grain."
"Besides, Jianghuai and Shandong will have no harvest this year. If we impose additional grain taxes, I am afraid that more people will not be able to survive the autumn harvest."
