The wealthy businessmen and gentry of Suzhou stayed in the magistrate's office for half an hour and came out with expressionless faces.
This makes people who are paying attention to the news in Suzhou City a little confused.
But they smelled an aura of imminent rain.
Each of these wealthy businessmen acted in different ways. Some returned to their homes and wrote furiously in their studies;
Some entered a small courtyard in a certain alley and stayed for a full quarter of an hour before going out, but when they came out, they obviously brought a small package;
Some are digging something somewhere in their garden and carrying small boxes back to the study one by one;
…
Although each person's actions are different, what they have in common is that they burn the midnight oil and cover their desks with sheets of paper.
At noon the next day, everyone arrived at the prefect's Yamen in unison and handed over the prepared evidence of collusion with the government.
"Let's start summarizing!"
The subordinate staff in the official office, ceremonial office, and household office under the prefect's yamen started to work, because the evidence provided by the wealthy businessmen were all based on the names of the officials, and they were compiled very quickly!
In less than two quarters of an hour, everything was compiled. Looking at the stacks of evidence and the summary results, Zhou Tingru secretly took a breath.
Suzhou Prefecture and the entire Jiangnan area were much worse than he imagined.
"Excuse me, please stay here for a while. I'll come back when I go!"
After Zhou Tingru finished speaking, he called a few guards, loaded several large boxes of evidence into the carriage, and left in a hurry.
In the lobby of Xingyuan, Chongzhen picked up a piece of evidence and looked through it slowly.
Zhou Tingru said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, there are 117 counties in the Eighteen Prefectures of Nanzhili, excluding the military attachés of the guards. There are 1,196 civil servants, of which 968 are There are varying degrees of corruption, ranging from hundreds of thousands to thousands of taels, and the rest are either newly transferred or those who stick to their original intentions;
Among them, the most serious corruption was Yu Shaocheng, the governor of water transportation. Only the wealthy businessmen in Suzhou City provided evidence and collected as much as 190,000 taels of silver, followed by the Fengyang eunuch Yang Ze, who had about 160,000 taels of silver..."
"Your Majesty, if we look at the evidence compiled by Suzhou City, the Governor of Water Transport estimates that he has embezzled at least one million taels. It is estimated that among the top ten corrupt officials, the Water Transport Yamen account for at least five!"
"Why are there so many?"
Listening to Cao Bianjiao's surprise, Zhou Tingru explained: "Cao is in charge of the envoy. The general name of the Governor of Water Transport is the Governor of Water Transport and the Admiral of Military Affairs. He is also in charge of Fengyang and other places. He is not only in charge of the thousands of miles of canals, but also in charge of local administrative affairs. ,
Currently, the Governor of Water Transport and the Governor of Lufeng are in charge of the four prefectures of Fengyang, Huai'an, Yangzhou, and Luzhou, as well as the three Zhili prefectures of Xuzhou, Hezhou, and Chuzhou.
All water vessels in South Zhili must go through the water transport yamen for inspection. Although Shandong and Henan do not pass through the canal, they are far away from it.
There are storage warehouses, shipyards, military arsenals, and more than a hundred places below. There is oil and water everywhere.
The Water Transport Yamen located in Huai'an covers an area of more than 50 acres, with nearly 300 officials and more than 20,000 soldiers;
In terms of power, except for the cabinet, the six ministries are slightly inferior. Who among the wealthy merchants and gentry who rely on the canal for their livelihood would not fawn over such a person?
You may not believe it, but not only the wealthy businessmen along the river were made things difficult by the water transportation yamen, but also the chief secretaries or governors of the provinces were made things difficult. Therefore, the grain gangs and governments along the river set up guilds in Tongzhou to manage their money.
Therefore, embezzling a million taels is nothing. "
Chongzhen's face was calm, but in fact, there was a huge wave of shock in his heart. Even though he had been on the throne for two years and experienced countless storms, he was still horrified when he looked at the evidence of guilt.
It's no wonder that Wei Zhongxian's tax collection in Jiangnan was just a formality, and it's no wonder that Nanming did little in Jiangnan.
"Your Majesty, please give me your instructions!"
"You go and deal with the officials of Suzhou Prefecture first. After that, you can deal with Songjiang Prefecture and Changzhou Prefecture. I will make my own arrangements for the other prefectures!"
"I obey the decree!"
After Zhou Tingru left, Chongzhen walked to the map hanging on the side and looked at it for a while: "A decree was sent to Han Huang of Henan, asking him to travel to Chizhou at night and starry to deal with the four prefectures of Chizhou, Anqing, Taiping and Luzhou;
An order was sent to the Minister of Rites in Nanjing, asking him to deal with Huizhou, Ningguo and Guangde Zhili Prefecture;
A decree was sent to Huang Daozhou, who was accompanying the yellow boat, and asked him to deal with the four prefectures of Yingtian, Huai'an, Fengyang and Yangzhou;
An order was sent to Cao Wenzhao, asking him to go to Huai'an in person and capture officials of the fourth rank and above of the Caoyun Yamen. At the same time, Tengxiang Zuowei sent five thousand elite troops to station in Huai'an;
Send someone to Zhenjiang and tell the Cao Gang and other gang leaders that if there is even the slightest problem with the canal, I will kill all nine of them! "
"I obey the decree!"
After Li Ruolian left, Chongzhen looked at the Fang family: "Tell me about the transfer situation?"
"Your Majesty, the Chief Secretary of Shandong has transferred thirty-six people, 24 of whom have entered the counties under Huai'an Prefecture, and the remaining twelve and the Chief Secretary of Henan have transferred thirteen people and are heading to Fengyang Prefecture;"
"The Chief Secretary of Zhejiang has transferred 21 people to the counties under Songjiang and Guangzhou; the 63 people transferred from Jiangxi and Huguang provinces are slightly slower. It is estimated that they will be able to reach Anqing, Huizhou and other prefectures in three to five days!"
Chongzhen said nothing, his eyes flashed.
There are a total of 120 people in the five provinces. According to Zhou Tingru's report just now, there are still... 228 people in Jiangnan today. They are considered innocent, plus the 120 people transferred by the cabinet, and the 100 people transferred by the cabinet from the Imperial Academy in Beijing. There are still more than 100 Gongsheng students of Nanjing Imperial College with acceptable moral character, an average of four in each county.
Calculated, there are 500 vacancies in the entire Jiangnan Eighteen Prefectures, but it is not impossible to solve the problem.
"Severe diseases require harsh medicines to treat. Either don't do it, or get it right at once, and I'll go crazy!"
Chongzhen rubbed his swollen temples, muttered to himself, and then stared at the map and fell into deep thought.
One day later, the whole Suzhou Prefecture became lively. Teams of Yanshan Guards shuttled through the entire Suzhou City, rushing into various government offices and mansions. Amid the discussions among the people, officials were arrested one by one.
The people followed the prison car until they arrived in front of Helv Gate. Ninety percent of the hundreds of officials in Suzhou City were present, and even Sun Youzhi, the governor of Yingtian, was tied up.
Everyone was shocked when they looked at the dozen or so big men on the high platform, who were carrying stern tiger-head swords.
"Zhou Tingru, what are you going to do? Let me go!"
"Prefect Zhou, what are you doing? Why have you kidnapped all the officials in Suzhou City?"
"Master Zhou, even though you have the power to take advantage, you can't treat your colleagues like this!"
At this moment, Liang Yu, the Minister of War in Nanjing, and Hu Yingtai, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, no longer cared about hiding, and stood up helplessly. If they didn't come out, there would be big problems.
Zhou Tingru looked at the two Nanjing Ministers of the Ministry of War and sneered: "Two ministers, you two still don't understand this formation? Of course I will kill them!"
