Chapter 183 Corrupt officials harm the country. Should we learn from Beizhili? (Please subscribe!!)
The epidemic in Guangdong Province has been basically resolved.
Zhu Yuanzhang immediately freed up his hands to deal with the unscrupulous officials in Guangdong Province.
Soon Zhu Yuanzhang's order was issued.
"The emperor is destined to carry the emperor, and the edict says: The governor of Guangdong Luo Rong, the commander of the capital Yongjiahou Zhu Liangzu, the inspector Zhao Jie and other officials concealed the truth from the court, bullied the people, were corrupt, perverted the law, and acted collusion. They should be imprisoned immediately and put on trial."
"Although Luo Rong, the chief minister of Guangdong, has been brought to justice, the people of Guangdong must be informed."
"Let the Censor of Zuodu and Li Shanchang, the Inspector of the Eight Prefectures, handle the matter!"
"Old Prime Minister Li, His Majesty has said that he must be investigated strictly. He would rather miss it than let it go!"
"Please, father-in-law, please report back to Your Majesty. I will investigate it strictly and never let Your Majesty down again!"
Li Shanchang stood up slowly and took the imperial edict from the eunuch who delivered the edict.
"Here comes someone! Please put Zhu Liangzu and Zhao Jie into my custody first! The rest of the officials are not allowed to leave without permission. Wait for my inquiry!"
"If someone voluntarily surrenders, I will be able to handle it as appropriate at that time."
brush-
Outside the hall, officers and soldiers rushed in and directly captured Zhu Liangzu and Zhao Jie.
"Li Xiangguo, I was wronged! Please explain to His Majesty for us! We will definitely remember your kindness!" Zhao Jie hurriedly begged.
"Prime Minister Li, you and I are both heroes of the founding of the country. You must help me at this time!" Zhu Liangzu also said.
"Hmph, Your Majesty and I have given you a chance. If it weren't for me, you two would have been chopped off and hung on the gate of Guangzhou City like Luo Rong!" Li Shanchang said in a deep voice: "I thought you two We will do our best to deal with the epidemic, but what will be the result? When a disaster is approaching, all you want to do is to plunder the people's wealth. If Ouyang Prince Consort hadn't taken action in time, I would have been dragged into the water by you this time!"
"You still want me to help you, do you think it's possible?"
"If I am you, then tell me the truth and maybe you can find a way out for your wife, children, and children!"
Li Shanchang was also very anxious during this period. As the inspector of the Eight Prefectures appointed by Zhu Yuanzhang, he should have been the first person in charge of dealing with the epidemic in Guangdong. Of course, he thought so at first, and he also believed that he had the ability to handle this matter. Take care of it.
But after arriving in Guangdong, he realized how deep the water was. The officialdom of Guangdong Province was rotten to the core. The key was that the manpower he brought was not enough to replace the original officials of Guangdong Province, so in the first place For the most important task of disaster relief, Li Shanchang still needs to rely on local officials in Guangdong Province.
But even though Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the execution of Luo Rong, the chief envoy of Guangdong Province, he still did not make these local officials take action. Instead, they became even more slack. Later, Li Shanchang also severely punished some negligent officials, but by that time, half of the people in Guangdong Province had already The state capital became an epidemic area, and more than 100 million people poured out of the epidemic area.
Just when Li Shanchang was about to despair, Zhu Yuanzhang called Ouyang Lun over.
Li Shanchang had a lot of contact with Ouyang Lun, especially after they washed their feet together several times. Although the two were quite different in age, they became close friends. Therefore, there was no objection at all to Ouyang Lun coming to Guangdong Province to take charge of disaster relief work. , but saw a savior.
After all, apart from Tang He, he was the only one who knew Ouyang Lun's abilities.
After Ouyang Lun arrived, Li Shanchang directly acted as his deputy. He almost did whatever Ouyang Lun said he would do, and he completed it to the letter.
Facts have proved that his choice of Li Shanchang was correct.
"I understand now why Tang and that guy have to live and die in Yong'an Mansion! It's me, too!"
"This time His Majesty has already issued a decree and asked me to handle it by name. If it is not handled well, Your Majesty will probably settle the score with me."
Li Shanchang has followed Zhu Yuanzhang for so many years and knows Zhu Yuanzhang quite well.
The epidemic in Guangdong has caused quite a stir. Almost all people in the Ming Dynasty know about it, and many people are watching!Now let's wait for Zhu Yuanzhang and the imperial court to give an explanation to the people of the world. If those illegal officials in Guangdong are not dealt with, or the results of the handling are not satisfactory to the people of the world, the people may not rebel immediately, but their trust and confidence in the imperial court will. decline, once something happens again in the future, there is no telling how the people will choose.
Li Shanchang knew very well that if he had to choose between officials and the people, Zhu Yuanzhang would choose the people without hesitation. Although Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor and his imperial methods were very smooth, he preferred the people in his thinking, not only because Zhu Yuanzhang himself was Ordinary people were born. What's more important is that Zhu Yuanzhang knew that the people were the cornerstone of the dynasty. Once the people were in chaos, the Ming Dynasty would follow. But if officials killed them, and the ones they killed were lawless officials, not only would there be no harm, but it would also purify the officialdom.
So what to do next is clear.
"Who said many of you are former colleagues, but if you don't die, more people will die, and even I will be implicated. Don't blame me for being cruel."
Li Shanchang's kind and elegant face showed a fierce look.
Inside the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
Zhu Yuanzhang also quickly received a memorial from Li Shanchang from Guangdong.
After reading the contents of the memorial, Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry that he threw the memorial in his hand and roared: "How audacious! What these people did is simply outrageous!"
"Father, please calm down and don't get so angry."
Prince Zhu Biao quickly picked up the memorial from the ground and comforted him.
Zhu Yuanzhang pointed to the memorial in Zhu Biao's hand and said, "Biao'er, take a look at the contents of this memorial for yourself. I originally thought that Luo Rong, Zhu Liangzu, Zhao Jie and others were just hiding things from superiors and bullying, even if they were greedy for some money. , the amount should not be much, but in fact they used blank documents and books, stamped them with blank seals, and made more than [-] taels of silver in a few years. This was only in Guangdong Province, not the entire Ming Dynasty or the entire country. Beizhili.”
"There are a total of 300 million people in Guangdong Province. Except for the old, young, women and children, there are only 100 million people who really make money to support their families. This is equivalent to exploiting 68 taels of silver from each person. In Guangdong, an ordinary adult cannot earn more in a month. One tael of silver, 68 taels, is enough for them to work for three or four years in vain!"
"Not only that, these illegal and corrupt officials also allow the rich and powerful gentry to annex the people's land. The people's harvest income has been reduced year by year, and they can't even afford to eat. They can endure it for so many years. It shows how much the people of Guangdong have suffered. How disgusting these illegal and corrupt officials are." !”
"Corrupt officials are harming the country! Corrupt officials are harming the country!"
The more Zhu Yuanzhang talked, the angrier he became. His face became ferocious with anger, his heart and liver trembled, and his chest heaved Biao, who comforted Zhu Yuanzhang in the whole book, was frightened after reading the contents of the memorial. His face was terrifyingly gloomy, and he held the memorial tightly with his hands, "These people really deserve to die!"
Li Shanchang's investigation results revealed the most rotten side of Guangdong Province, which is incredible.
"Father, due to Li Shanchang's investigation, it can be said that the officialdom of Guangdong Province is rotten to the core. Judging from the list and scope of involvement recorded above, once it is cleared, I am afraid that few officials in Guangdong Province will be alive. The provincial government may be paralyzed in an instant."
"Fortunately, the epidemic in Guangdong has now been resolved. I think that only a few leading officials need to be severely punished to give an explanation to the people. Other officials can be punished by demoting, reprimanding, etc."
Prince Zhu Biao thought for a moment and then expressed his thoughts.
Zhu Yuanzhang did not respond immediately, but began to think deeply.
The main reason why things like this happened in Guangdong is that the system is not perfect. Local officials use blank documents to stamp blank documents, and the content is naturally filled in at will. As long as there is a blank document with a blank stamp in hand, even a blank document can be filled in at will. Ordinary people can also have authority.
If it hadn't been for an epidemic, the Guangdong incident would have been hidden for who knows how long before it was exposed, and by then the people would have really rebelled.
Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang must kill those unscrupulous officials, and he will never let one go. Failure to kill them is not enough to deter other officials, and failure to kill them is not enough to let the people know the court's determination.
Zhu Yuanzhang raised his head and looked at Prince Zhu Biao, "Biao'er, you are right. Both the court and you should be more merciful."
Hearing this, Zhu Biao immediately became happy, but Zhu Yuanzhang's next words made him dumbfounded.
"Sooner or later, the country of the Ming Dynasty will be yours. My father cannot bear to leave those unscrupulous officials to you. You can't do it now, and you will definitely not do it in the future. Let my father help you clean up these bad things. Don’t worry. My father will definitely leave you a clean and prosperous Ming Dynasty!”
"Well" upon hearing this, Zhu Biao understood that his father was going to go on a killing spree again this time.
"Biao'er, you said that in addition to Guangdong Province, there are other provinces that abuse blank documents with blank seals and expired documents?" Zhu Yuanzhang said solemnly: "I wasn't too clear about the routine here before, but now I see It’s probably not going to be any better if you come to other provinces!”
"Father, I think the situation in other provinces must be better than that in Guangdong Province." Zhu Biao said quickly that the officials in Guangdong Province were basically hopeless, but he still didn't want Zhu Yuanzhang to expand the scope and let more officials Disaster.
"Biao'er, ask the people from the Ministry of Accounts to bring me all the accounts of all provinces in recent years!"
Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand.
"Yes." Zhu Biao reluctantly agreed.
Soon, Zhu Biao got the account book from the Ministry of Accounts. After reading it, Zhu Yuanzhang's face turned gloomy again, "As I guessed, there are also problems in the accounts of other provinces, but not as serious as Guangdong Province! But since I have already Once you discover this problem, you can’t let anyone go!”
"Marker."
"My son is here."
"Li Shanchang is in charge of Guangdong Province, so you will be in charge of other provinces except Guangdong Province. You don't have to do it yourself. My father will let the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Ministry of Punishment, and the Dali Temple do it. You just have to watch it carefully! Remember not to Be kind-hearted and soft-handed!" Zhu Yuanzhang said solemnly.
"Yes, Father." Zhu Biao nodded.
"By the way, why are there no accounts for Beizhili last year and this year in the accounts you brought? Is it possible that they haven't handed them in yet?" Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly thought of something and asked.
Zhu Biao immediately replied: "Returning to my father, I also discovered this when I was checking the accounts. After asking the officials of the Ministry of Accounts, they told me that starting from last year, the accounts of Zhibei Zhili have been transferred directly to "Kaiping Silver Cabinet", everything is recorded clearly and clearly in the accounts of "Kaiping Silver Cabinet", the accounts department only needs to go to Kaiping Silver Cabinet for a certain period of time to check the accounts, and they will be able to understand clearly! "
"What's more important is that Beizhili doesn't need to send people all the way to the capital, because all these taxes are directly paid to the accounts of the Ministry of Accounts through 'Kaiping Yingui', so regarding Beizhili's accounts The Ministry of Accounts has not sealed it, but they have already gone to the Kaiping Bank in the capital to obtain the account details of Beizhili, and I believe they will be sent to them soon."
Transfer money directly through "Kaiping Bank"?Directly converted into silver?No need to send someone for transportation at all? After getting this information, Zhu Yuanzhang was also surprised. This method sounds like a good one! At this time, Guo Zi, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, came in and said, "Your Majesty, these are the account details of the Ministry of Revenue, the Kaiping Silver Cabinet, and the Chief Secretary of North Zhili. Please take a look!"
Zhu Yuanzhang took the account book and looked at it carefully.
There was nothing Hao could see in the accounts of the Ministry of Revenue and the Chief Secretary of North Zhili Province. Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the account forms pulled out by the Kaiping Bank.
It is clearly written in this book how each amount of money comes from, and it is reported and paid once every month, which is very convenient and fast.
After Zhu Yuanzhang read it, he couldn't find any flaws at all. It can be said that with the Kaiping Silver Cabinet, the officials in Beizhili didn't even bother to use any blank documents! Originally, he thought the world was as dark as crows, but after reading Beizhili's accounts, Zhu Yuanzhang was completely angry.
"Look at the accounts of Beizhili. People in other provinces are not ashamed!"
"Why can Beizhili eliminate empty seals!"
"Guo Zi! It's such a good idea in Beizhili. Why didn't you come up with it earlier and promote it in all provinces across the country?! Could it be that you also received the benefits?"
Hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's question, Guo Zi quickly said: "Your Majesty, you are wronged! In fact, I have mentioned the Kaiping Silver Cabinet to you many times, but every time you thought that the Kaiping Silver Cabinet belonged to Ouyang Lun, so you refused to use it. , I don’t have much to say.”
Forehead. Zhu Yuanzhang was immediately embarrassed, because what Guo Zi said was true. He had been very wary of Ouyang Lun before and did not want Ouyang Lun's Kaiping Bank to get too involved in the government affairs of the court. Therefore, every time Guo Zi opened his mouth, he was Zhu Yuanzhang retorted, and this time he really slapped himself in the face.
"I just refuse, but you can say it!"
"Next time, no matter what your questions or suggestions are, regardless of whether I agree or not, you must make it clear to me!"
"The minister obeys the order!"
Guo Zi quickly agreed.
"Your Ministry of Revenue will go and study it to see if the North Zhili method can be promoted nationwide. If it can, come up with a detailed plan. In this way, won't the abuse of empty seals be solved!"
Zhu Yuanzhang had a headache before to put an end to the abuse of empty seals, but now the solution is in front of him. (End of this chapter)