In the Wuying Palace, Zhan Hui knelt on the ground and reported everything that had happened before to Zhu Yuanzhang.
Even when he had a big quarrel with Lan Yu, Zhan Hui reported all the details without any intention of hiding anything.
It's not that Zhan Hui is honest and sincere, it's just that he is under the emperor's feet and is closely monitored by the royal guards.
At the beginning, Qian Zai made a statement at home: "Sigu Dongdong is getting dressed, it's too late to meet at Meridian Gate." When will I have the joy of being in the countryside and sleep until the food in the world is ready?
This poem was not written down. Apparently Qian Zai also knew that complaining about going to court was not something that people would know about.
But when he went to court on the second day, Qian Zai was manipulated by Zhu Yuanzhang, and Qian Zai was so frightened that he knelt down and confessed.
If it hadn't been for that time, Zhu Yuanzhang would not have been so murderous, and Qian Zai was really old, otherwise Qian Zai would have had to prepare more than a dozen coffins.
A master who never forgets the past and the future, Zhan Hui did not play any small tricks and did such a small trick in front of His Majesty. It was really the longevity of the Duke who hanged himself because he thought he had a long life.
"Your Majesty, now that Zhao Mian's family has committed suicide out of fear of crime, Liang Guogong insists on peeling off his skin and making grass into grass to correct his official conduct. I think this is quite inappropriate and may cause criticism."
Death is a big deal, and although it cannot offset the guilt, Zhan Hui believes that since they are already dead, why bother bothering a dead person.
If Zhao Mian is still alive, no one can say anything about peeling off the real grass. Now that everyone is dead, if he continues to do this, it will make the court mean.
Spreading the word would have a considerable impact on the court's reputation. Duke Liang Lan Yu had not thought of this, but Zhan Hui felt that His Majesty should have thought of it.
"Lanyu didn't do anything wrong. For someone like Zhao Mian who is extremely greedy and evil, we will not be the first to bypass him. He is just out of fear. We want to ruin his reputation."
Zhu Yuanzhang's tone was a bit grim, but it wasn't that he disliked Zhao Mian so much. It was purely that Zhao Mian's actions would cause some trouble for him to transfer the national destiny.
If the amount of corruption and bribery is huge and arouses public resentment, it will inevitably affect the national destiny of this country.
If it affects the national destiny, it will undoubtedly affect Zhu Yuanzhang's physical condition, thus triggering a series of chain reactions.
He was very unhappy about this. Since Zhao Mian had violated his interests, what about peeling off the real grass?
Is it possible to end everything by dying?
But if there is no such good thing, not only Zhao Mian, but also his descendants will be nailed to the pillar of shame forever, and they will never be able to stand up!
Zhan Hui had cold sweat on his forehead. After holding it in for a long time, he said dryly: "Your Majesty is wise."
"Okay, stop making all this nonsense. Where do you think we should start investigating this case?"
Zhu Yuanzhang learned from Zhan Hui's story that Lan Yu had begun to act alone, so he ignored him because he couldn't find his Wuzhi Mountain anyway.
But Lan Yu had an extreme personality and didn't know what he would do. Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to listen to Zhan Hui's opinions and brainstorm ideas. Starting from other aspects would have different effects.
Zhan Hui had already made a plan in his mind, and said: "Wei Chen thought that Zhao Mian, as the Minister of the Household Department and in charge of the Household Department for many years, could not be discovered because of the collusion between the top and the bottom to conceal the truth. Therefore, there must be falsification in the account books and files of the Household Department. I think, as long as we check the account books and files of the Ministry of Accounts in the past six years, we can know how much Zhao Mian is corrupt."
The Ministry of Revenue is in charge of the country's territory, fields, household registration, taxes, salaries and wages, and all financial matters. It has a huge workload and numerous account books, which also gives Ministry of Revenue officials opportunities for corruption.
Zhao Mian was able to successfully engage in corruption and bribery for several years without being discovered. He obviously had a unique secret. Zhan Hui believed that more answers might be obtained from the account books of the Ministry of Accounts.
This plan seems to be Zhan Hui's attempt to dismantle the Household Department, but it is actually a way to protect the Household Department. Zhan Hui is also betting that Zhao Mian's fake accounts will look real.
After all, even if Zhan Hui didn't say anything, His Majesty would soon turn his attention to the account books of the Ministry of Accounts. Rather than wait until then, it would be better to take the initiative to take the initiative.
As long as things fall into his hands, Zhan Hui is still sure to protect some civil servants from harm. Sometimes when he is in a situation, many things are not under his control.
When the head of the household begins to rot and deteriorate first, how can the remaining parts remain healthy? It will definitely be affected.
Apart from those who actively engage in corruption and bribery, there are many who are actually coerced by the general trend and have no choice but to participate.
Zhan Hui knew in his heart that human nature is self-interested and expecting officials to be saints is purely a daydream.
Many times, being able to remain silent amidst the turmoil is the limit that many people can achieve.
Now that Zhan Hui has made this matter clear, the search for problems in the account books of the Household Department will most likely fall on him.
This is not a simple matter. The account books are vast and extremely difficult to identify. When the time comes, all you have to do is push out the conspicuous ones who are obviously accomplices.
As for whether these guys' mouths will bite aggressively, this is another method. Zhan Hui is still very sure about this.
As expected by Zhan Hui, after he pointed it out, Zhu Yuanzhang handed the matter over to him for investigation.
The investigation location was arranged in the Wenhua Palace. Now the prince Zhu Di was pretending to be ill. In the Wenhua Palace, a group of officials, led by Zhan Hui, began to check the account books and files of the Ministry of Revenue over the years.
This is bound to not be a simple matter. The number of account books in the household department is really jaw-dropping.
The floor of Wenhua Hall is filled with various account books and data, like a small mountain, which makes people feel scalp numb just by looking at it.
Zhan Hui bit the bullet and opened the account books of the account department, searching them carefully one by one. He didn't know how many kinds of data were spinning in his mind.
As one of the few people at the peak of power in the Ming Dynasty, Zhan Hui's intelligence far exceeded that of his contemporaries, but even so, he had a headache when faced with such a large number of account books.
It is nothing more than that throughout the dynasties, it has always been difficult to find the false accounts. It is really difficult to find the problems in these account books after they have passed through the hands of caring people.
What's more, the person who made the falsified accounts was Zhao Mian, the Minister of Accounts at the time. This man had a good head and obviously wouldn't reveal his flaws easily.
Zhan Hui led a group of officials to carefully check the accounts. For a whole afternoon, everyone was dizzy and almost fainted.
What's more, he couldn't help but vomited it out, obviously he couldn't bear such high-frequency work.
Soon, many officials were defeated, and only Zhan Hui was left with red eyes, looking at the account books, and white smoke seemed to be rising above his head.
Facing these meticulously arranged account books, Zhan Hui had to sigh with emotion. Zhao Mian was indeed a good accountant. He was able to make so many account books seamlessly. It was really a clever method.
At least he saw that now, after looking through the account books of the household department for almost a whole year, he still couldn't find any clues.
Late at night, the lights in the Wenhua Hall should have been turned off, but they were still brightly lit at this moment. Zhan Hui, with red eyes, stayed on the front line.
Zhu Yuanzhang walked slowly into the Wenhua Hall. Seeing Zhan Hui still checking the account books, he coughed lightly and said, "You haven't seen the flaw yet?"
Zhan Hui suddenly woke up. Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang was coming, he immediately stood up from his seat. Suddenly he felt his head was dark and he almost fell to the ground.
After finally regaining his balance, he walked out of the pile of books, knelt down on the ground and said, "I didn't know that Your Majesty was coming, so I failed to greet you in time and ask Your Majesty to punish you."
"Get well! You have worked hard all day. Why should we punish you? There are so many account books. It is really difficult for you to deal with them alone."
"I dare not say how hard it is, but I am incompetent. I wasted a whole day and got nothing. I am really ashamed."
Zhu Yuanzhang casually picked up a thick account book, opened it and scanned it very quickly. His reading speed was much faster than Zhan Hui's.
After all, he was the reincarnation of Daxiu. No matter how weak and old his body was, it did not affect the nobility of his soul. Although most of his abilities were restrained by himself, the remaining small part was not a difficult problem to solve these account books.
In just half a cup of tea, Zhu Yuanzhang flipped through the entire account book, calculated in his mind, and soon had the result.
Zhan Hui looked at the account books that were quickly read, and after thinking about it for a moment, he did not say anything. This account book was the account book of the Account Department in the 21st year of Hongwu, when Zhao Mian had not yet taken office.
The account books of the 21st year of Hongwu were brought here mainly to compare them with subsequent account books in the hope of obtaining useful information.
Now that His Majesty has finished looking through the account books, Zhan Hui does not think that His Majesty can get anything from it. Account books have always involved professional knowledge. Although His Majesty is wise and powerful, how can he understand this?
But Zhu Yuanzhang just thought for a moment, picked up a pen and paper from the side, wrote down a few lines, and then handed it to Zhan Hui.
Zhan Hui was confused, but did not dare to hesitate. He looked at the paper. After a moment, he was shocked and said, "Is what your Majesty wrote true?"
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