Zhu Su responded eagerly to Tian because he did not want to get too involved with these criminals, which would make people think that he was trying to attract influence. Although Fang Xiaoru was a fool in politics, one thing he said was true. Mao Xiang did have the ability to look at the wolf as an eagle and as a wolf.
Although Zhu Su believed that even if Mao Xiang was resurrected by Sima Yi, he would never be able to escape Zhu Yuanzhang's hands, and he would definitely end up being cooked by a rabbit to death.
But we must also be careful not to slander him in front of Lao Zhu or even Zhu Biao, saying that he is benevolent to officials and covets the big position.
No one paid much attention to the fact that the prisoners were sent to Liaodong, Yunnan Province. After all, what happened next was truly shocking: Emperor Hongwu ordered the prisoners involved in the air seal case to be interrogated. All officials involved in corruption who were involved in the Kongyin case were sentenced to canonical punishment.
Lao Zhu even invented a very creative punishment for this purpose. As long as the amount of gold and silver involved in the case exceeds sixty taels, we will directly peel off the skin and remove the grass!
What is peeling and weeding? The human skin is completely peeled off, made into a bag, filled with straw and hung for public display.
Within a few days, all the gates of Yingtian City were covered with creepy human skin puppets. A huge stone tablet was placed at the entrance of each major government office, with sixteen characters written on it:
Your salary is your salary, and the people are fat and the people are anointed.
The people below are easy to abuse, but God is hard to bully.
Behind the stone stele, there is placed a skinned and stuffed straw puppet of a corrupt official. When every official takes office, he must take a leisurely tour of these two "scenic spots" in his yamen, as a warning to himself.
This is customized by Ming Dynasty and will never be easy.
The batch-produced corrupt official straw puppets really frightened the surviving officials. They had to write suicide notes every day when they went to the Yamen for fear of being caught and used as raw materials by the Jin Yiwei. If An Ran arrives home from the yamen, he and his wife will hug each other and cry, and even step over a brazier to get rid of bad luck, which will become a scene in the Ming Dynasty.
Privately, officials also generally discussed that the emperor was a bit too cruel.
But unlike the officialdom, there is not much discussion among the people about torture such as skinning and pulling grass. The reason is that before each batch of officials who were skinned and stripped were executed, they would conduct a public trial according to the method used by Zhu Di before, and all the insults done by those officials would be put under the sun and made public.
If the victim can be found, he should be brought face to face to make compensation.
This approach convinced the people that the emperor was not simply cruel. Although people rarely read, they are not stupid. Through repeated public trials, they also knew that the reason why the emperor skinned and removed the grass was to frighten the group of corrupt officials.
To put it bluntly, we are thinking about the people.
Therefore, unlike the censorship in the officialdom, the people gave extremely enthusiastic support to the imperial court's move. Even if some people could not bear it and shed tears of sympathy for those idiots, they would be scolded by the people passing by: "The bosses" The guy who was hanging was a corrupt official! There is nothing to sympathize with!
You shed tears for him, among those poor people who were forced to death by corrupt officials, have any corrupt officials ever shed a tear because of this?
After hearing this, public opinion suddenly surged like a mountain, drowning all the civil servants who were still trying to stir up public opinion.
The civil servants were extremely frightened. This was the first time that they, scholars, had lost control of the weapons of public opinion in the world.
Now they can only hope that something will happen to Chao Gang. After all, the empty seal case involves a lot, and there is a serious shortage of officials. Even if this causes the court to shut down, it is not impossible. If there is such a big problem, they can take advantage of the situation and advise the emperor to stop the execution for the sake of world affairs, and give them an officialdom that is good for everyone.
However, even if it is such a small extravagant hope, they are destined to be unable to realize it. At this time of appointment, the old prime minister Li Shanchang, who had retired from office, stepped forward and temporarily took over the household department that had been almost wiped out, maintaining the operation of the court.
Li Shanchang was a deputy examiner of the Enke Examination. It seems that he also has some connections with the newly established Taxation Department. Coupled with his prestige as the first minister of the founding of the country, even if he did nothing and just sat in the Ministry of Household Affairs, he could easily maintain the daily operations of the Ministry of Household Affairs.
Moreover, in the imperial edict, officials from the old Huaixi line who were innocently executed because of the Hu Weiyong case, and who escaped the catastrophe and were relegated to various places because of Prince Zhu Biao's life insurance, also revolted one after another, and gathered under the control of their old boss Li Shanchang. Under his command, he became the mainstay of government affairs.
The operation of the Ming Dynasty court, not only did not slow down due to the empty seal case, but it became more efficient than when the clean officials were in power.
…
"This is the end of the empty seal case." Zhu Su and the three brothers Zhu Biao and Zhu Di walked on the road to the palace. Zhu Biao smiled and said to Zhu Su. "This time dad took advantage of the situation and accomplished a lot in one go."
"Not only have we eliminated those old officials from the Yuan Dynasty, we have also cracked down on corrupt officials. Like a huge wave sweeping away sand, we have selected truly useful officials. At the same time, the authority of the cabinet has also increased, and the experience of the ministers in the cabinet has also increased. It seems that we must It is highly anticipated that we will completely replace the Zhongshu Ministry of Education.”
"Well, I hope that after this case, Ming Dynasty can really become a team." Zhu Su also sighed. It's not easy, killing so many people. These days, he feels that the entire Yingtian Mansion is filled with a ghostly atmosphere. Almost every few steps he takes, he can see a hanging human fur puppet.
When we first met, Zhu Su was vomiting, but later he got used to it.
However, after Lao Zhu killed him like this, the whole feeling of Yingtian was really different. The officials are conscientious and the people are happy and vigorous. They all say that with such a good emperor who makes decisions for the people, the people's lives will gradually get better.
The prosperous times of the Ming Dynasty can be expected!
"By the way, brother, do you know how much profit dad made this time?" Zhu Su suddenly asked Zhu Biao. "The taxation department's commercial tax has been extended to all merchants in Yingtian, not just officials and their families. I read the financial report and found that in the commercial tax alone, hundreds of thousands of dollars have been made this quarter."
"There are also gold and silver treasures that were taken from the homes of those corrupt officials and rich men. Even if they are found by the owner and need to be returned, the bulk of them will definitely be eaten by the palace's inner treasury."
"How much money is there in the internal treasury now? Is it ten or twenty million?"
"Ten or twenty million?" Zhu Biao was startled. "You are so open-mouthed! Where did you get so much money? Besides, if you ask me this, is there something bad in your stomach?"
"What do you want to do with your father's money?"
"Hehe." Zhu Su laughed sarcastically and cried out: "How can this be called coveting? Doesn't it cost a lot of money to build a newspaper, promote new learning, and the Imperial College?"
"There is also the mass-produced steel that Third Brother is researching, the new artillery that Mu Ying is researching, as well as shipbuilding and troop training. Which of them does not require money? I am also helping them get it..."
"Brother, you don't know. These days, my brother and I have been using my own money to fill these big holes. It rained a few days ago, and my brother's bedroom leaked!"
"I don't even have money to repair the tiles! Do you think there has ever been a prince like me?" Zhu Su cried out.
"And me, the Xiuchun knife in my hand had a curled blade when I was executed on South Street last time!" Zhu Di also took advantage of every opportunity and joined the ranks of those who cried poor.
"I want to ask dad for a hundred and eighty weapons and armor. Isn't this too much?"
"These days, I have been moving money from outside the womb to the inner treasury every day. Dad must have the money!"
Zhu Laosi has been guarding the palace every day recently, and with one mouthful, he betrayed Lao Zhu's current situation of being very rich.
(End of chapter)
