The cabinet members quickly exchanged looks, you look at me, I look at you.
Apparently, they were all surprised by the emperor's sudden execution.
Especially Gao Gong, he knew that his student was a soft person from the bottom of his heart. When he was King Yu, he often helped the victims, was gentle to his servants, and even had a kind heart towards poultry and animals. heart of.
But now, he said lightly that he wanted to behead three people, without any expression on his face, as if he was just talking about easy things like eating, drinking, and defecating.
But Zhang Juzheng behind him was full of joy.
Because he himself is a hard-line person. Although he seems to be an honest person now, he is actually a tough person in his heart, and such a decisive emperor is more in line with his appetite.
"You don't have to be surprised. From the time they were taken to the East Factory yesterday, you should have expected that they would not end well!"
Zhang Juzheng said in his heart.
Zhu Zaijing observed the expressions on everyone's faces, among which Xu Jie's was the most intriguing.
Because the above three are his people.
The emperor wanted to kill three of his own people as soon as he came up. Although Xu Jie didn't feel bad (of course he wouldn't feel bad anymore), it made him doubt whether the emperor was targeting him.
"Mr. Xu Ge!" Zhu Zaijing said, "Dongchang has found the corruption evidence of these three people, and the embezzled money has also been found from their houses. What do you think of this verdict?"
"Your Majesty, if this is the case, these three people really deserve to be killed!"
Xu Jie was as stable as ever.
In fact, he knew very well that if Dongchang said the evidence was conclusive, then there must be no flaws. Even if there was no evidence, Dongchang could still create evidence for you, and there was nothing you could do.
Moreover, the emperor's slogan is anti-corruption, and it is difficult for others to protect him. If you oppose it, others will have their own imagination.
Moreover, there are only three seventh-grade minor officials. If they die, they will die without affecting Xu Jie's party members.
"His Majesty has just ascended the throne and the New Year is approaching. Killing three people at this time. Although they are corrupt officials and deserve to die, it may affect the New Year and the new dynasty!"
Zhu Zaijing looked at the owner of the voice. It was Li Chunfang who was speaking.
The ancients are not talking about feudal superstition, but the New Year represents new hopes and new beginnings for people, and the emperor will change his reign name on the first day of the new year, which is considered to be the official start of the new empire. At this time, blood is seen, after all. Not very auspicious.
"Hahaha! Mr. Li Ge, you may not have heard clearly during the meeting yesterday. Let me tell you about it again!"
"Dongchang has found out that the money they accepted as bribes was sent to their house a week ago. That was the day the late emperor just passed away!"
Li Chunfang was stunned for a moment.
Damn it! Indeed! How could I have forgotten this?
He immediately stood up and said, "Please forgive me, Your Majesty. I actually forgot this for a moment."
"You don't have to be like this!" Zhu Zaijing supported Li Chunfang who was about to kneel down, "I'm not blaming you, but I want to explain that fighting corruption and promoting integrity is a good thing in itself! Who cares about the New Year and the New Year?"
"When you discover a corrupt official, you reduce the number of people who feed him and reduce the harm he brings to the people and the court. Once discovered, as long as the evidence is conclusive, he should be beheaded immediately, and he should be exiled."
"If we talk about the treatment of other criminals, we can take into account the upcoming New Year and the new dynasty. But when dealing with corrupt officials, any day of execution is an auspicious day!"
"I respectfully obey His Majesty's teachings!"
"Tobe?"
"I'm here!" Zhang Juzheng stood up.
"Quickly seize the property of these three people and put it into the national treasury. Dongchang will cooperate with you!"
"yes!"
"Send a decree to the Ministry of Punishment that all criminals who want to be exiled from now on will be exiled to Liaodong!"
Liaodong, Liaodong!
Ever since he traveled through time, Zhu Zaijing has been subconsciously completely uneasy about this area.
The old slave is only a child of eight or nine years old now. In the third year of Longqing, his mother Xitala will pass away. In the second year of Wanli, Li Chengliang will attack Jianzhou Jurchen and destroy Wang Gao Village. Nurhachi and his younger brother Shuerhaqi were captured and kept under Li Chengliang's tent as young men.
The situation in Liaodong will not be changed for a few years. It is not the biggest problem for the time being. The real hidden danger in Liaodong has never been Li Chengliang or Nurhachi, but the imperial court's control of Liaodong.
The warlord family is also the product of the increasingly weakened control of Liaodong. As long as the central government always maintains control over there, one person or a group will not be a major concern at all.
Forget about this for now, just exile more criminals to Liaodong for the time being and increase its population.
"Yin Zhengmao and the others will be beheaded this afternoon. It has been announced that all civil and military officials of the fourth rank and above, as well as military officers and nobles, will go to watch the beheading! No one is allowed to ask for leave!"
After saying that, Zhu Zaijing waved his sleeves and walked out.
Everyone was left kneeling on the spot with frightened faces...
Afternoon, West Market.
The execution ground of the Ming Dynasty was in the West Market, located near Xisi in later Beijing, and was specially used for the execution of officials.
The execution ground has been set up, and people are watching curiously. There are officers and soldiers at the scene, and there are guards in uniforms to maintain order and prevent people from crowding.
On the left side of the execution ground, officials of the fourth rank and above in Beijing, led by the cabinet, had lined up and stood neatly.
On the right, the nobles in Beijing, as well as the governors of various capital camps, also stood in panic.
After a while, the emperor, supported by a group of royal guards and eunuchs, arrived at the execution place in a dragon chariot.
Zhu Zaijing came down and looked at the people around him.
"Kneel down!" a guard in uniform shouted.
"Long live my emperor!" Everyone present knelt down in unison.
Zhu Zaijing waved his hand, and the Jin Yiwei understood the idea and shouted again, "Get up!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Everyone stood up again.
Zhu Zaijing slowly walked up to Xingtai, and under the surprised eyes of everyone, he took a loudspeaker from Feng Bao, which was like a trumpet made by himself.
Originally, all the civil and military officials were exclaimed when they saw the emperor going to Xingtai. Now the emperor has brought out such a thing. What is this like?
It's not etiquette!
Hope is not like a human king!
Zhu Zaijing cleared his throat and shouted with a loudspeaker, "Fathers and fellow villagers!"
The sound spread so far that people a hundred steps away heard the emperor's voice.
The people were amazed that the emperor actually called them such a friendly title!
Moreover, the emperor is just like a human being, and his voice is also a human voice, not a dragon’s roar!
"I am your new emperor! Zhu Zaijing!"
"Today, we will behead these three dog officials in this execution ground!"
The civil servants below were already livid.
Zhu Zaijing knew that the cabinet would receive dozens or even hundreds of memorials every day, and many people would say that the emperor's actions today were unreasonable and illegal.
who cares!
After all, labor and management don’t read those memorials!
"Corrupt officials! They are the worms of the country! They are the public enemies of all of us!"
"Do you know, folks? The state treasury is almost out of money now! The officials are almost unable to pay their salaries. Do you know why?"
The people all focused on the emperor's words, and their thoughts followed the emperor's thoughts.
"Fellow soldiers in the capital camp, how long has it been since you saw snow-white silver?"
The listless soldiers below also had light in their eyes, and they all raised their heads and looked at the emperor.
The emperor actually cares about Qiu Ba like him?
"Common people, do you know why the money you earn is never enough to pay the government taxes?"
The civil servants could no longer stand, and many people simply stopped lining up and walked directly up to the cabinet members, saying something and looking ferocious.
"I'm here to tell you, it's not that I am rich, it's not that you don't work hard enough, it's not that the country has no wealth! It's that all this money has gone into the pockets of these fucking dog officials!"
"The treasury has no money, the officials have no salaries, the people have no money, and the soldiers have no money, so where does the money go? It's all been corrupted by these bad officials!"
"Do you think I should kill these sons of bitches?"
The scene suddenly fell into silence.
Almost everyone was shocked. Today they not only saw the living emperor, but also saw his face, heard his voice, and even heard him say dirty words?
What day is today?
On the other side, the nobles and civil servants could no longer sit still, and even a few Hanlin Academy bachelors fainted in surprise.
The emperor actually said these insulting words in public!
Foolish king! What a fool!
"Should!"
Suddenly, the immature voice of a little boy broke the dead silence.
Zhu Zaijing looked over and saw that the little boy, only seven or eight years old, was sitting on his father's back, holding his father's head with both hands and looking at him with fiery eyes.
"Long live my emperor, he deserves to be killed!"
"Yes...Your Majesty did the right thing!"
"Kill...corrupt officials should be killed..."
The voices of the people slowly increased, and eventually they gathered together and turned into a huge wave.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
"Long live my emperor! Long live my emperor!"
Zhu Zaijing spread his arms and immersed himself in these sounds, listening to the voices of the people.
These are his people. This is the confidence that he dares to reform and the backing that will never give up.
So what if I offend the world for them?
The people at the bottom are always the cutest, kindest, and simplest! They are like children, full of hope and happiness.
The imperial court was so frightened that the officials had never seen the power of these people.
Zhu Zaijing signaled the people to calm down. After everyone became silent, Zhu Zaijing walked to the side of the execution platform and announced the charges and official positions of these people, as well as the specific amount of corruption.
Then, he motioned to the executioners to come forward and prepare.
"cut!"
Zhu Zaijing made a chopping gesture, and the executioners' knives raised high came down...
Three heads fell to the ground, and blood sprayed on the execution platform, unable to stop for a long time...
