hiss……
Listening to Zhou Tingru's words, the people were full of horror.
If one family has given away so much, how much will the rich merchants, gentry and foreign merchants in the city have together?
The prison chief is only a ninth-grade official, but he has already embezzled tens of thousands of taels. How much should the prefect and governor have embezzled?
Where do wealthy businessmen get their money? Aren't you making huge profits by raising the prices of goods, enriching yourself and feeding corrupt officials?
"Come here, read the evidence of these officials' crimes to them one by one, and ask them to check it and sign it!"
A military attache named Yanshan Wei came forward, took a copy of the evidence provided by the wealthy businessmen, and read it in a low voice in front of the corresponding official.
It took nearly two-quarters of an hour to check all the evidence. At this moment, no official refused to plead guilty.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, spare your life, we were wrong!"
"Your Majesty, we also want to be good officials, but we are also forced to do so."
"Yes, yes, in the beginning we all had the passion to serve as officials and benefit the country, but these wealthy businessmen were all-inclusive.
If they can't deal with us, they can deal with our families, such as imitating our handwriting and sending gifts, money, and fertile land to our families in our hometown. By the time we know it, it's already too late! "
"Your Majesty, giving gifts to your family is nothing. These wealthy businessmen are nothing. They teamed up to set a trap for us, asked us to talk about things, got drunk with us, knocked us out, and then threw us into a brothel as a blackmail!"
"Your Majesty, it is impossible to guard against it. There is no way to guard against it. The wealthy businessmen and gentry are doing business in various ways to give away money. The superiors are putting pressure and threatening us with assessments and so on. The subordinates are also making things difficult for us. The execution of government orders is not smooth. We, We are helpless!"
"Woooo..."
After the officials signed and stamped their names, they cried loudly.
But he sneered in his heart: You are unkind, don’t blame us for being unjust. Even if we die, you won’t have an easy time either.
The sad cries made even the common people feel that the lives of these officials were not easy.
The already pale faces of the gentry and wealthy businessmen turned even paler now, like dead faces, and they were all trembling.
After today, even if the emperor does not settle the scores, few people will dare to interact with them.
If it were you, would you dare to associate with a person who kills without showing blood and eats without spitting out the bones?
"Oh my god, there are so many ways in between? I thought it was the officials themselves who wanted to be corrupt!"
"It is undeniable that there are still some officials who want to do something practical for the people, but they can't stand up to the wolves around them!"
"Humph, you've been enjoying it all these years, and now you're being caught and accused of injustice?"
"What an injustice. I'm tired of eating all the delicacies from the mountains and the sea. The beauty is playing with me. Not to mention that it's been so many years. I'm allowed to enjoy it for three months. I'm so late that I don't even bother to snort!"
…
Chongzhen's face on the city gate tower was full of complex expressions.
He could understand the situation of the following officials.
There are several classic TV dramas in later generations, such as a rural child becoming a high official, and all the dogs raised in the village being staffed;
There is also that very classic saying, if you don’t take it and I don’t take it, how can the higher authorities take it? If they don’t take it, how can we make progress?
When you are not caught, you are a fucking honest official. After you are caught, you are fucking regretful and self-blame.
If you are an honest and dishonest official, it depends on whether someone wants to mess with you.
As an official, I couldn't help myself and fell into it accidentally.
But this is no reason for you to join in the evil!
The incident in Suzhou also gave Chongzhen a warning. The top and bottom are collaborating and deceiving. The middle level cannot be independent and stick to their true intentions. In addition to severe punishments and severe laws, multiple mechanisms are needed to ensure this.
"Fellow folks, how do you think I should deal with them?"
"kill!"
"Cut them!"
"They must be killed, along with their families!"
"Your Majesty, a dog can't change its habit of eating shit. If you are soft-hearted today, tomorrow they will change places and take over again, causing trouble for one party again!"
"Your Majesty, the ancients said that it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality. They have already enjoyed the glory and wealth, and are used to living a life of luxury, delicacies, and delicacies.
Spare them and even if they no longer become officials, they will do whatever it takes to make money and satisfy their selfish desires! "
"Kill, must kill. Even if there is no corruption, don't they have other mistakes? Dereliction of duty? Lynching..."
…
The crowd was so angry that they all wanted to kill them. Their voices joined together and went straight into the sky.
Some of the officials kneeling on the high platform were so frightened that they fell asleep on the ground.
Chongzhen stretched out his hand and touched the void, and looked at Liang Yu, the Minister of War and Hu Yingtai, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel of Nanjing: "Two beloved ministers, you have also seen the attitude of the people, they all want to kill them.
Did you just say that killing them all would harm my holiness? I just want to ask you, what is holiness? Holiness means forgiving those who break the law?
It is said that human life is greater than heaven. When these corrupt officials protect each other, deceive superiors and subordinates, and oppress the people, have they ever thought that human life is greater than heaven? Do you think the life of an official is more noble than the life of a common person?
If I can be recorded as a tyrant in history books by following the public opinion and eliminating harm for the people, then I will issue an edict before my death to kill all such historians who do not distinguish between right and wrong and confuse right and wrong! "
Although Chongzhen's voice was calm, the anger and murderous intent in his words made all the officials tremble.
"Zhou Tingru, continue according to the procedure, I will be in charge personally!"
"I accept the decree!"
After Zhou Tingru finished his response, he returned to the public case table and began to pronounce sentences one by one according to the death penalty procedure.
"Sun Youzhi, the governor of Yingtian, has committed several crimes including cheating, private iron smelting, stealing official land, corruption, dishonesty, and indulgence... he must be executed!"
"Zhong Zigui, the former prefect of Suzhou, committed corruption, cover-up, injustice, dishonesty, and collusion with evil cults... he committed multiple crimes. He must be executed!"
"cut!"
"cut!"
"cut!"
…
Words of slashing came out from the high platform one after another, echoing among the crowd.
The crowd was full of excitement at first, talking about the corrupt official who was about to be executed, but then it gradually became quiet, and in the end they just felt chilled by the transformation.
"Come here, verify your identity!"
"Execution!"
"Drink...huh..."
After the examination was completed, behind them, the sergeants of the Warrior Battalion in charge of the execution were twisting their bodies with the ghost-headed sword. Under the gaze of countless pairs of eyes, the held-up ghost-headed sword flashed a cold light and then slid down.
As they fell, there were human heads and spurting blood.
In just a moment, more than a hundred heads fell to the ground, with anger, regret, fear, and nostalgia in their eyes... But it was all too late.
"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"
A loud shout interrupted the silence of the scene, and before the people could join in the cheers, the voice continued: "Your Majesty, students believe that if there is a cause, there must be an effect, and if there is a fault, there must be a cause.
The officials were at fault, but the ultimate culprits were these wealthy merchants and gentry.
The students dare to ask His Majesty to issue an order to execute these culprits! "
