After a while, Lan Yu walked out of the backyard, followed by Wang Chengen who looked ugly.
When passing by Zhou Kui, Lan Yu patted Zhou Kui on the shoulder and said:
"You are truly worthy of being the queen's father. I admire him. He has more than 700,000 taels of silver, not counting those antiques."
"This little Jiading uncle's house is richer than this prince. The punishment for washing you up is really light."
While talking, boxes after boxes of silver were transported out of the backyard, and escorted by Chang Sheng and others, they were sent to the palace.
Zhou Kui seemed to have turned into a walking zombie, slumped on the ground, watching the silver being taken away, and murmured:
"My money!"
"It's all my money!"
Wang Chengen clutched the pen and paper tightly, wishing to eat Zhou Kui alive, and said angrily:
"Zhou Kui! You thief!"
"In the current national crisis, you actually embezzled more than 700,000 taels of silver!"
However, Wang Chengen felt very happy when he thought that Zhou Kui would be punished by grooming.
Those who were sentenced to be groomed would first have their clothes stripped off by the executioner, and then lie down on a wooden board.
Afterwards, the executioner would bring a large bucket of boiling water, pour it on the victim's back, and then use a special "comb" to comb the prisoner's body.
This comb looks similar to an ordinary comb, but is made entirely of iron. The executioner will use this brush to comb off all the flesh on the victim's back until even the bones are exposed.
Almost all prisoners who suffered this punishment could not survive to the end of the punishment, and were often scratched to death halfway through.
…
Later, Lan Yu and others went to the next minister's mansion and also found hundreds of thousands of taels of silver.
Looking at the silver piled up in the cellar, even Lan Yu couldn't help but secretly sighed and sighed:
"Master Wang, you ministers of the Chongzhen Dynasty really dare to be corrupt."
"In the Hongwu Dynasty, anyone who embezzled sixty taels of silver would be beheaded in public."
"Mao'er, go talk to Duke Wei about what's going on here and ask Duke Wei to come over with some help."
After searching two ministers, nearly two million taels of silver were found, and Lan Yu felt helpless.
Aren’t the officials of the Ming Dynasty in later generations afraid of death?
Your Majesty has many punishments for corrupt officials, including beheading in public and grooming.
…
Inside the palace.
Watching cart after cart of silver pile up in the open space in front of the main hall, almost forming a hill.
Zhu Youjian said angrily:
"Rebellious officials and traitors are all rebellious officials and traitors!"
"I must confiscate their homes and wipe out their families! Kill the nine tribes!"
"With so much money, if it had been taken out earlier, why would Ming Dynasty be where it is today!"
After Zhu Yuanzhang saw Zhu Youjian's reaction, he pulled him to sit on the steps and asked:
"Do you think we are a tyrant?"
Zhu Youjian couldn't help but be excited to sit on the steps with Emperor Taizu, whom he admired most.
After hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's inquiry, Zhu Youjian said honestly:
"Grandpa Taizu, how can you be a tyrant?"
"I work hard to restore the prosperous age of Hongwu!"
Zhu Yuanzhang showed a smile on his face and said slowly:
"We are not afraid that future generations will call us a tyrant! We are only afraid that the people will be wronged and not have enough to eat."
"We killed all the lawless nobles, corrupt officials, scholars, peasants, industrialists, and good people. We didn't kill any of them!"
"The Fengtian Palace is full of blood, but our world is prospering!"
"We won't be able to stay here for long, so you must watch and study hard!"
Listening to Zhu Yuanzhang's teachings, Zhu Youjian said movedly:
"Grandpa Taizu, why don't you let Grandpa Cheng come here to be the emperor?"
If Zhu Youjian knew that the leader of the Emperors of Heaven chat group was Taizu, he would definitely not have taken out the history books so early.
Therefore, instead of waiting until Grandfather Taizu returned to punish Grandfather Cheng, Zhu Youjian felt that it would be better for him to abdicate the throne and make way for others.
Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and said:
"The fourth child has not fallen into the position of grabbing the throne from a younger generation. You must remember that you must pay attention to the chat group. We feel that this is an opportunity for our Ming Dynasty!"
"It's the same with this kid Lao Si. He did so many things after he ascended the throne just to prove himself and become a Ming Taizong."
"In the end, he was changed to Ming Chengzu by Zhu Houcong."
…
Night falls.
After a busy day, Lan Yu looked at the boxes of silver being pulled away in front of her and sighed:
"Finally the search is over."
"Master Wang, you ministers of the Chongzhen Dynasty are really ruthless, you have over sixty million taels of silver!"
"This does not include those priceless antiques, calligraphy and paintings. I have never seen so much money in my life."
Wang Chengen opened his mouth, somewhat speechless.
Not to mention Lan Yu and others, even he has never seen so much money in his life!
After Chang Mao sent everyone in the mansion to the military camp outside the city, he rushed back and said:
"Uncle, I heard that the palace is running out of money? Is it true?"
"Today, Duke Wei mobilized tens of thousands of people to help and searched all the ministers' residences."
When Lan Yu saw that the matter was finally over and all that was left was the execution tomorrow, she led Chang Mao and others towards the palace, put her arm around Chang Mao's shoulders, and said with a smile:
"What? Could it be that Mao'er has no money?"
"I'm your biological uncle. You can't help but tell the truth. Tell me, are you fascinated by a girl from the Deanery?"
Hearing this, Chang Mao glanced around nervously, lowered his voice, and begged:
"No, no, no, uncle, don't talk nonsense."
"If this comes to my mother's ears, I will be in trouble."
Lan Yu shook her head. She really couldn't understand that her sister was not a scourge.
Whether it was the brother-in-law or the three nephews, when they saw their sister, they were like a mouse seeing a cat, so scared.
Thinking of this, Lan Yu felt that it was necessary to take her three nephews to the Jiaosi Square for a long experience. She looked at Wang Chengen aside and asked:
"Master Wang, where are my descendants? Have they gone on an expedition for your emperor?"
"I am going to ask them to borrow some money and go to the Jiaoshi Square for some shopping."
This morning Lan Yu thought that His Majesty's words about going to the Ming Dynasty to help him were just nonsense and he didn't bring any money.
Now I can only borrow it from future generations.
The corners of Wang Chengen's mouth twitched slightly, and he was so embarrassed that he didn't know what to say.
According to historical records, Lan Yu, the Marquis of Yongchang, had a domineering personality. Once he knew that his whole family was being punished and that no descendants would survive, he might chop off his head in anger.
Noticing Wang Chengen's expression, Lan Yu said with some dissatisfaction:
"What? Could it be that my descendants are not living up to expectations? The Ming Dynasty has become such a mess in later generations, and they don't even know how to be loyal to the country?"
"What a waste. What about the descendants of King Kaiping? I can borrow some money from them. I should be able to borrow it."
As soon as these words came out, Wang Chengen fell silent again.
Just when Lan Yu was about to get angry, Mao Xiang walked over quickly and said:
"Yongchang Hou, Your Majesty has summoned you."
When Lan Yu and others heard this, they didn't dare to delay any more and started running directly.
Mao Xiang came closer and said coldly:
"Master Wang, there are some things that His Majesty does not want to spread."
After saying that, Mao Xiang turned and left.
Wang Chengen stiffened and gave a wry smile, holding the thick piece of paper in his arms, which detailed the amount of corruption committed by the ministers.
