After Zhu Cihong returned to the palace, he immediately called Zhao Xin, the commander of the Jinyi Guards, and Liu Chuanzong, the admiral of Dongchang, to have an audience.
He had already made up his mind when he ordered the two of them to investigate corruption.
Nowadays, the Ming Dynasty is in critical condition, the most serious of which is official corruption.
It would be impossible to revive the Ming Dynasty without purging the imperial court and curbing corruption.
After the two of them bowed and kowtowed, Zhu Cixi asked: "How is the investigation going?
These ministers of mine who are loyal to the country all have huge wealth, and are as rich as the enemy of the country."
Zhao Xin and Liu Chuanzong looked at each other and reported in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, after investigation by the ministers, among the distinguished ministers, Zhao Zhilong, the uncle of Xincheng, is the most greedy, and his family wealth exceeds 1.3 million taels.
There are countless paintings, calligraphy and treasures, and the same is true for other nobles.
Duke Xu Wenjue of Wei has a fortune of 900,000 taels, Duke Baoguo Zhang Guobi has a fortune of 700,000 taels, and Marquis Zhang Gongri of Longping has a fortune of 600,000 taels. 2.
The other nobles with wealth exceeding 200,000 taels include Linhuai Marquis Li Zushu, Huaining Marquis Sun Weicheng, Lingbi Marquis Tang Guozuo, Anyuan Marquis Liu Zuochang, Yongchang Marquis Xu Hongjue, and Dingyuan Marquis Deng Wen.
"Xiangcheng Bo Chang Yingjun, Daxing Bo Zou Cunyi, Ning Jin Bo Liu Yunji, Nanhe Bo Fang Yiyuan, Dongning Bo Jiao Mengxiong, Ancheng Bo Zhang Guocai, Luozhong Bo Huang Jiuding, Cheng An Bo Guo Zuoyong" Xin Zhao finished the long list of names in one breath and lowered his head subconsciously.
In his opinion, the emperor would be furious when he learned that there were so many corrupt nobles in the Ming Dynasty.
But he waited for a long time but didn't hear Zhu Cixiang's roar.
"At the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Taizu and Chengzu created great honorary ministers to reward their contributions to the country.
Who would have expected that after more than two hundred years, these honorary ministers did not serve the country as loyally as their ancestors, but instead competed for They dug the corners of Ming Dynasty.
Little did they know that there were intact eggs under the nest.
They dug Ming Dynasty down and still enjoyed the honor and favor.
It seems that I should use the knife. " Zhu Cixiang turned his attention to Liu Chuanzong again and said calmly: "Liu Banban, it's your turn."
Liu Chuanzong hurriedly replied: "I report to the emperor, and after investigation by the slaves, among the civil servants, the one who is most corrupt in ink is Wang Duo, the censor of Zuodu.
According to preliminary estimates, there are 500,000 taels.
The other corrupt officials include the minister Zhu Zhichen, Liang Yungou, and Li Chuo et al.
Another, another” Zhu Cixi sneered and said, "If you have any other questions, just tell me."
"My servant obeys your order."
Liu Chuanzong took a deep breath and then said: "After my servant's investigation, many officials who have served or resigned are particularly corrupt.
Among them, Qian Qianyi, the former minister of the Ministry of Rites, led by Qian Qianyi, has corrupted more than 400,000 taels of ink."
The name Qian Qianyi is really familiar to me.
As a professor of Ming history in his previous life, Zhu Cihong certainly knew Qian Qianyi very well.
The leader of the Donglin Party who left the water too cold and his scalp itchy, and a group of honorable ministers, did not hesitate to offer the city of Nanjing as a token of surrender to the Qing Dynasty.
His name was clearly listed in the biography of the two ministers compiled by the Manchu Qing Dynasty, including his All the Qing masters looked down upon him.
As for the fact that he had embezzled more than 400,000 taels of silver, Zhu Cihong didn't find it surprising at all.
As early as the early years of Chongzhen, Qian Qianyi took the examination in Zhejiang, and the case of examinee Qian Qianqiu's fraud shocked the government and the public.
This guy's move to the top was written as a secret code at the end of the article, but it was discovered.
In the end, the directly responsible examination officials Jin Baoyuan and Xu Shimin were severely punished.
Chongzhen personally questioned Qian Qianyi in the Wenhua Hall, and finally had him Removal.
From another perspective, Qian Qianyi must also have a lot of money.
Otherwise, how could he have redeemed Liu Rushi, a famous prostitute at that time, and built the extremely gorgeous "Jiangyun Tower" and "Hongdou Pavilion" in Yushan?
In the original history, Qian Qianyi was worshiped as the Minister of Rites during the Hongguang Dynasty, but in this time and space, Zhu Cixiang did not revive him, so Qian Qianyi is still white now.
The biggest reason why Zhu Cixiang was so eager to let Zheng Chenggong leave the Imperial Academy and attend the Huangming Military Academy was to protect him from Qian Qianyi's influence.
After all, Qian Qianyi is the leader of the Donglin Party and is very famous.
He is also Zheng Chenggong's teacher.
As long as Zheng Chenggong stays in the Imperial College for a day, he will be influenced by Qian Qianyi to some extent.
"Xuzhou Commander-in-Chief Gao Jie is about to lead his troops to Shandong.
I will ask all my ministers to donate money at the meeting tomorrow."
Zhu Cixiang said word by word, his face as cold as ice.
The next day, Fengtian Palace.
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Zhu Cixiang announced in the court his decision to order Gao Jie, the commander-in-chief of Xuzhou, to lead his troops to garrison in Shandong.
As soon as the imperial edict was issued, it caused a huge stir.
Wang Duo, the imperial censor of Zuodu, came out of the class holding a wat tablet and said: "Your Majesty, this is absolutely impossible.
Shandong is now a land of tigers and wolves, with 40,000 to 50,000 troops in the general military area.
How can it be possible to garrison it if every government has to do it?"
Keeping troops stationed means leaving no defenses everywhere.
Your Majesty, please think twice."
Liang Yungou, the minister of the Ministry of War, also went out to report: "Your Majesty, as the saying goes, before the troops and horses are moved, food and grass go first.
Although Shandong is not far from Xuzhou, it is very expensive for 40,000 to 50,000 horses to eat horse chews a day.
The national treasury can allocate so much money."
"More military pay" The corners of Zhu Cixiang's lips slightly raised as he said: "The national inventory is less than one million taels, and we still have to maintain the daily training expenses of the Jianghuai garrison.
We must not touch it lightly.
Therefore, I have decided that the military salary of General Gao to reinforce the Shandong division will be paid by all of you.
Funded by donations.”
"this" As soon as Zhu Cixi said these words, the whole court immediately exploded.
A group of ministers who were usually loyal to the country began to complain.
Although the reasons were various, they boiled down to one sentence: lack of money.
Zhu Cixi watched all this with cold eyes and did not interrupt immediately.
When they were done making trouble, he cleared his throat and said: "I will take out one hundred thousand taels from my internal funds.
How much are you prepared to donate?"
In the Ming Dynasty, the internal funds and the national treasury were always separated.
Simply put, the national treasury is the country's reserve, and the internal funds are the emperor's small treasury.
But it's not a complete separation.
For example, during the Wanli Dynasty, Emperor Shenzong used a large amount of silver from the internal funds to reward meritorious soldiers.
During the Chongzhen Dynasty, the military pay for the Beijing camp also came from the internal funds.
But this is the emperor's private money after all.
Now that the emperor has made it clear that he will spend one hundred thousand taels of silver, it would be unreasonable if they, the pillars of the country, did not show any signs of it.
As the head of the Imperial Procuratorate, Wang Duo, the censor of Zuodu, could not avoid it.
He held a wat board and saluted Zhu Cixi, "I am willing to donate a thousand taels of silver to help pay for the army."
Zhu Cixiang's expression did not change and he said: "The General Constitution is loyal to the country, and I am very relieved to share your worries.
Come, please write it down."
With Wang Duo's first step, other civil and military officials also "generously" pledged donations.
"I donated five hundred taels of silver."
"I donated three hundred taels of silver" "I donated six hundred taels of silver."
"I donated three thousand taels of silver."
Xincheng Bo Zhao Zhilong took a step out of the class holding a wat board and said with great momentum
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