Now we have to see whether the future Prime Minister is responsible enough. The eyes of the Minister of Civil Affairs are darker. He is the head of the six departments and the Heavenly Official of the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the imperial court. Naturally, he also has his own ambitions.
At his level, even in front of the prime minister, he would not bow down. In the final analysis, it was just a political alliance. If either Hu Weiyong or Wang Guangyang fell, he would have the opportunity to make up for it.
The current situation is that most of the six officials who can stand in the imperial court know that Li Shaotian has a problem, but they don't know whether the censor named Zhao is chasing rumors or has real evidence.
Hu Weiyong turned his head slightly and glanced at Li Shaotian on the ground, then turned back and bowed and said: "Wei Chen's thoughts are the same as those of the left prime minister. This matter should be investigated thoroughly."
As soon as he said this, Li Shaotian on the ground shook violently, as if his body was out of control. He knew very well that if Hu Weiyong hadn't covered it up, the Ministry of Punishment and Dali Temple would not give him face, and they would definitely find him out. The problem is, according to today's temper, it will be a good thing if the capital is beheaded.
There was even more cold sweat on the face of the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance. How dare Li Shaotian not give him a big share of the corruption gains? Now this kid has no way to survive, so he won't bite back.
Zhu Yuanzhang was not in a hurry to issue an order, and his eyes were scanning aimlessly. This group of powerful officials in red clothes and purple ribbons were all a little frightened. They seemed to have sensed the signs of the coming storm.
Zhu Biao watched all this with great interest. How many of these people will still be standing here in a few years? It's quite interesting to think about it this way. This feeling of overriding everything is really intoxicating. Zhu Biao saw that they were frightened, but he himself suddenly felt at ease.
They, father and son, are the players in this big game of chess, and they are also the makers of the rules. They must be the final winners!
Zhu Yuanzhang finally turned his attention to the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue: "If an honest and capable official makes a mistake, we can still forgive him, but the corrupt official must be severely punished no matter how small the crime is. What does the Minister think?"
The Minister of Hubu knelt down and put his head on the ground and said: "Your Majesty is wise, I surrender!"
At this time, everyone could see that this was not the impeachment of the censor Zhongcheng named Zhao. It was clearly that the Holy Emperor was preparing to use the Ministry of Household Affairs to clean up the officials. It seemed that their cold and summer season was coming again, but they didn’t know how long it would take this time. To get through.
At this time, Li Shaotian, the left servant of the household department, whose knees were numb, suddenly laughed a few times, but it did not scare anyone. They all knew that this person's whole family would inevitably go to hell together, and it was understandable that he would go crazy at this time. of.
The rest of the people did not dare to speak. Zhu Biao scolded him coldly: "If you have something to say, just say it. What's the use of pretending to be crazy now? If I had known today, why would I do it in the first place!"
Li Shaotian took a few heavy breaths, then shook his head and said: "I, Li Shaotian, have been studying poetry and books since I was a child. I was born as a Jinshi in the former Yuan Dynasty. I have come step by step to where I am today. Didn't I suffer enough when I was a child? Why did I become an official?" Are you still going to be poor and cold?”
Zhu Yuanzhang said in a deep voice: "The low salary of the imperial court is due to the national conditions. Moreover, I think of the prince to explain clearly to you that since the beginning of this year, the palace expenditure has been reduced to increase your salary. You are still ungrateful and are simply greedy and shameless!"
Li Shaotian laughed and said, "I won't even come if you don't get rich as an official. Who will be willing to serve the Ming Dynasty after His Majesty treats his ministers so harshly? If you continue to blame others for details and treat yourself with integrity, I'm afraid Ming Dynasty will return to Qin Dynasty again." To deal with the disaster of the Sui Dynasty, Your Majesty should pass it on to the crown prince as soon as possible."
As soon as these words came out, the court seemed to explode. Everyone seemed to want to tear Li Shaotian alive. The nobles who were still watching the excitement suddenly became murderous. This is going to destroy our jobs. !
With red eyes, Li Wenzhong led a group of marquises and kicked away a group of officials from the Sixth Ministry. He went up and lifted Li Shaotian up from the ground. He punched Li Shaotian a few times. There was a muffled sound on Li Shaotian's body, and blood spurted out of his mouth as if he wanted no money. The civil servants were also there. There was constant scolding from the sidelines.
The only ones in the entire hall who looked calm were the Zhu family father and son who were on the imperial steps, but their heart-wrenching words could not hurt them. Hu Weiyong, who was watching them from the corner of his eye, seemed to feel a lot heavier suddenly.
Zhu Biao looked at it and said in a deep voice: "Stop, everyone, how can you be so arrogant in front of the emperor!"
After hearing His Highness the Crown Prince's words, everyone had a backbone. Li Shaotian knew that he was facing a dead end and dared to curse the fate of the country and wanted to plant a nail between the Emperor and the Crown Prince. Naturally, they had to be extremely angry, otherwise there would be endless troubles.
Zhu Yuanzhang disagreed. He had never seen anything in his life. A few curses on a person who was about to die would not matter. But since he was going to be the first to eliminate officials, he would naturally chop him down severely.
Zhu Yuanzhang leaned on the dragon chair and said: "Li Shaotian, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, and Wu Xuan, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, embezzled, accepted bribes and resold court supplies. The crime was unforgivable. They sentenced his entire family to be executed. Li Shaotian and Wu Xuanbo were the chief culprits and should be severely punished. They were executed in Lingchi three days later." !”
Li Shaotian was speechless. He just slumped to the ground. Tears fell across the blood on his face. Wu Xuanbo, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, struggled and shouted: "I am guilty of corruption and perverting the law. It is unforgivable. How will your Majesty deal with me?" , I all admit it, but our little family is innocent, please have mercy on the Lord and spare their lives, please have mercy on the Lord!"
Zhu Yuanzhang said indifferently without any fluctuation in his expression: "When you were embezzling money and bending the law, your wife, children, and children shared your power and privilege. Did anyone come out to persuade you to report you?"
Wu Xuanbo just kept begging for mercy, and Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hands and the soldiers in front of the palace immediately dragged them out like dead dogs, especially Li Shaotian, leaving a lot of blood stains on the Fengtian Palace.
Li Wenzhong led a group of nobles and knelt down: "I have violated the rules before the emperor, please punish me."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said: "We have said that even if an honest and capable official makes some mistakes, we can forgive them, but we just have to remember them and not make them again in the future."
Li Wenzhong kowtowed and accepted the promise, and then led the people to step aside. The nobles behind him seemed to have won a battle, and they were all very proud.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the remaining officials: "We are from the common people, and we truly know that the people are in difficulty. It is no lie to corrupt the government and harm the people. We will never show mercy to corrupt officials. From today onwards, we will purge officials from the imperial court to the local governments." Let a corrupt official go, I hope you will cherish and love yourself, and don’t wake up until death is imminent!”
All the officials knelt down and said, "I respectfully listen to the Holy Instructions and will never dare to take bribes!"
Zhu Yuanzhang's expression became colder again: "You are all scholars, so you should understand the truth better than me, a commoner. Even we have heard that if the people cannot live, the country will perish. If the country perishes to you, what good will it do? ?”
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