Li Shanchang tried his best. Even if the officials wanted to interfere with Enke's matter, they could not deal with Li Shanchang's methods. If they are foxes that have lived for thousands of years, then Li Shanchang is the turtle that has lived for ten thousand years. In terms of cultivation, he is still nine thousand years old.
Enke carried out the exam in an orderly manner. A total of tens of thousands of students participated in the exam, and 527 students finally passed. These people were given the title of sixth-grade tax envoy by Lao Zhu on the spot of the palace examination, and the tax department was directly announced at the court meeting the next day.
It is worth mentioning that the post of Taxation Secretary was actually held by Yan Xizhe, the former Minister of Household Affairs. It is said that Yan Xizhe took the initiative to go to Emperor Shu and requested to be transferred to the newly established "Tax Promotion Department" for promotion. This move really caught everyone's expectations. You must know that the title of Minister of the Ministry of Revenue is the second rank, and the temporary title of the Tax Promotion Department is the fourth rank. Yan Xizhe's letter of transfer is no different from asking to move to the left.
But Lao Zhu was extremely pleased with Yan Xizhe's move. Although Yan Xizhe had little qualifications and could not command the officials in the Ministry of Household Affairs, he was just right to be promoted to the position of tax secretary. After all, he was a dignified second-grade official, and it was more than enough to lead a tax department. Moreover, the functions of the Taxation Department were originally separated from the Ministry of Household Affairs. Yan Xizhe, the former Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, serves as the top leader, so he is familiar with the work.
As soon as Yan Xizhe took up his post in the Taxation Department, he sharpened his sword with a large group of new scholars who had just passed the exam, and the first blow was made at the old post of the household department. Although he was originally just a clay minister, he was well versed in the dirty deeds of the officials in the Ministry of Household Affairs. Many of the new scholars under him were former subordinates in the Ministry of Household Affairs. Now that the sword was cut off, the officials of the Ministry of Finance were unable to resist at all. In just one day, all the wealth of these officials' families was wiped out.
"How courageous!" Lao Zhu threw the latest memorial handed over by Yan Xizhe to the ground. "In a mere household department, the servants and court officials below can actually make millions in profits every year!"
"None of the royal houses and shops under our command are as rich as the big dogs like the Ministry of Household Affairs! How many people have they collected?"
"Does this world belong to our Zhu family or to officials like them?"
The emperor was furious, and Prince Zhu Biao also had an ugly look on his face. "The Ministry of Household Affairs, taking advantage of its control over the world's money and food, wantonly devoured people's interests and withheld wealth, and it ended up like this!"
"It has obviously become a problem for our Ming Dynasty. I beg your father to get to the bottom of it! We must eradicate this cancer for our Ming Dynasty!"
"Investigate! Of course we must investigate! Not only the Ministry of Household Affairs must be investigated, but also the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Punishment... all six departments, no, all officials must be thoroughly investigated!"
"We originally thought that the Ming Dynasty would not be that bad even after the founding of the People's Republic of China. Now it seems that the four major cases in history were initiated too late!"
"Now we regret that we should not have tolerated these dirty officials for so long... We should have pulled out these cancers from the beginning!"
"Even if a strong man cuts off his wrist, it is much better than letting these cancerous tumors crawl on my body and suck my blood for the past few years!"
Zhu Biao's face moved slightly, remembering that more than a year ago, when the Hu Weiyong case occurred, he had advised his father to put the stability of the court as the top priority. The Hu Weiyong case did not spread widely, partly because his father listened to his advice. Nowadays, these giant rats can be so fat, and I have a part of the "credit", and I can't help but feel a little ashamed.
"Everything is based on the interests of the country..." Zhu Biao muttered silently, completely suppressing the compassion of a woman in his heart, and then handed over his hands to Lao Zhu and said: "Father, my son I ask my father not to be merciful this time, but to root out the evil, to frighten future generations, and not to continue to poison the people."
"Haier please order me to lead a thorough investigation of all official matters. We must make sure that our country will be clear from the beginning and there will be no more corruption!"
"You are not needed for this matter!" Lao Zhu waved his hand. He turned to look at Zhu Biao, his eyes filled with satisfaction and relief. "Biao'er, if you think like this, you have grown up."
"However, we are still here as the father, so we haven't needed you yet."
"Just look at our methods. After a while, we will naturally arrange for you to come out and clean up the mess. At that time, it will be time for you, the prince, to show your talents."
As Lao Zhu spoke, an extremely dangerous and shrewd light flashed in his squinted tiger eyes.
Yan Xizhe completely became the emperor's minion. He led a group of Jinshi who were passed by Enke and took over the entire Household Department without any care. It can be said that not even the foundation was left to the Household Department. The long-dormant Jin Yiwei commander Mao Xiang reappeared in the sight of the officials in Yingtian. The Jin Yiwei Tiqi went out everywhere to capture household officials, including those who were not in the capital and were scattered throughout the Ming Dynasty. Officials, relatives, and royal guards were not spared either.
Zhu Di, the king of Yan who was temporarily assigned to the Jinyiwei Yamen, was busy checking the property of various officials. He led the Jinyiwei to travel around the Ming Dynasty and searched countless fertile fields and property. If the owner can be found, the illegal wealth will be returned to the owner on the spot. However, there are also many bad debts from the BC Yuan Dynasty, or the people concerned have long been silenced by these big officials. This part of the property can only be nationalized first. Just by searching these people's property, the national treasury made an unexpected windfall.
It is worth mentioning that when the Jinyiwei went out to do business in the capital, they were attacked by unknown people, and several Jinyiwei died as a result. There were even some local wealthy people who incited the ignorant common people to besiege the Jinyiwei. Zhu Di was furious about this matter and rushed to the scene in person with the newly formed King Yan Guards. He was not afraid to put himself in danger, and directly attacked several large households involved in the tax case with thunderous means, and killed them. Their heads were all hung on the local city gate.
He also used the method Zhu Su taught him to organize a public trial for the people, and made all the crimes of these wealthy families who relied on their families to serve as officials in Beijing to dominate the country, successfully restored the hearts of the people, and found the source of the crime. All the proceeds were returned to the people.
Because of this incident, King Zhu Di of Yan became famous and even surpassed King Zhu Su of Wu. As a result, the Jinyiwei gained a bit of a good reputation. Although everyone still talked about it among officials, their image among the common people has improved, and they are regarded by some people as the emperor's law enforcement guard specially used to punish corrupt officials. .
The household department was paralyzed, causing most of the officials to die. Many court officials jointly wrote a letter admonishing Lao Zhu not to be too involved. If this continues, the government will come to a standstill.
The implication is: It’s okay to forget the disaster to the Ministry of Finance. Don’t continue to implicate us. Without people like us working for you, how could your old Zhu family still rule the Ming Dynasty?
(End of chapter)
