And what is the Ministry of Works primarily responsible for nowadays? Military equipment.
The more they embezzle, the fewer military supplies are produced.
Why has Zhu Ci not issued a firm order for Zhang Huangyan to go on a campaign until now? Is it not because the number of submersibles and □□ is insufficient, making it impossible to ensure a foolproof victory?
If he wanted to ignore the ministers' opinions and force an expedition, he would have to ensure a victory, otherwise his prestige would be undermined.
So, he was just told that the reason progress was so slow was because the Minister of Works was leading a corruption ring?
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: It seems I haven't killed enough people lately, my temper has been too good, giving them the wrong idea. Evil kitty drags out a cat-head guillotine. jpg
Next update at noon~
Chapter 173
Zhu Ci was already too lazy to hand the case over to the Dali Temple again; all the evidence was logically clear, even the exact numbers had been laid out. What was the need to investigate further?
“Drag them away! The Minister of Works is guilty of heinous crimes and shall be executed in public in three days. The others are to be handed over to the Dali Temple for severe punishment.”
Everyone was startled. This.. he was to be beheaded just like that?
Hou Dongzeng immediately said, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger; the evidence presented by the Left Censor has not yet been verified.."
Are you implying that I am blind?
Your servant wouldn't dare.
Zhu Ci sat on the dragon throne with an expressionless face, his eyes sweeping across the room coldly as he said, "If you think this is inappropriate, then perhaps I should follow Taizu's example and have you skinned and stuffed as straw? Didn't you all say before that you wanted to uphold the ancestral regulations?"
The ministers??
Is it worth following such rules?
The Minister of Works' face was pale, yet no one dared to stand up and say anything more, for they feared that their Emperor would truly go through with it!
Zhu Ci gave a huff and stood up to leave, rarely failing to leave the Grand Secretary behind.
A group of people immediately crowded around Fu, Yan Yingyuan said in a low voice, "Grand Secretary Fu, please persuade His Majesty. Even if the Minister of Works has no merit, he has certainly put in a lot of hard work."
Where is his merit?" Fu asked with a cold face. "From the moment he took office, he only needed to do one thing: follow the Emperor's instructions. Whatever the Emperor told him to do, he did. The firearms were designed by the Emperor, the submersible was designed by the Emperor, the [redacted] was also designed by the Emperor. Now tell me, what merit does he have?
Yan Yingyuan faltered for a moment. Only then did he realize—it was true, this Minister of Works had done almost nothing; he only needed to follow the Emperor's orders.
It was no wonder His Majesty was so angry.
Thinking about it this way, Yan Yingyuan felt a bit of heartache for their Little Emperor again.
The Little Emperor is busy with major court affairs all day long, he even has to design firearms.
No matter how diligent the emperors of past dynasties were, they still had times for rest and entertainment, but it seemed as though His Majesty had never experienced any entertainment since the day he ascended the throne.
Whether it be music from various instruments or songs and dances celebrating peace, such things only appear at state banquets; I have never heard of His Majesty enjoying them alone.
Yan Yingyuan decisively shut his mouth, while Huang Chunyao, standing beside him, said in a low voice, "That may be so, but it is far too harsh. I fear that if this continues, we will run out of people first."
Corruption certainly deserves death, but where the water is too clear, no fish can live; if anyone who takes a bribe is executed.. there won't be enough people left in the entire court to execute.
Before Fu could speak, Zhu Ci walked over slowly and said, "Even now, with everything still in its infancy, people have already begun to embezzle. If we wait until later, how much worse will it be? His Majesty clearly intends to curb this unhealthy trend—and who has been the most corrupt, if not the Minister of Works?"
He looked around and said, "Everyone.. His Majesty is very angry this time and likely won't let this go easily. Instead of wasting your time circling Grand Secretary Fu here, you might as well go back and check if your own nine generations have committed any offenses."
After Zhu Ci finished speaking, he flicked his sleeves and left together with Zhu Yujian.
The ministers were left behind, each with a different expression.
Fu slowly put on his sunglasses and said, "His Highness Prince of Ning has already spoken very plainly. Take care, everyone."
Those final four words of his terrified everyone.
Take care? Take care of what? Is it not enough for the Emperor to kill one Minister of Works? Does he truly intend to show no mercy to the Six Ministries and the Nine Ministers?
Yan Yingyuan gave a huff and left without saying a word.
In any case, he had not embezzled anything, given his background, he had no relatives who could hold office. As for the others.. it would depend on their own luck.
Yan Yingyuan decided to no longer interfere in this matter; the Vice Minister of Works was not some rare talent, so if he was killed, he was killed.
Was this the only one who didn't see the Emperor personally pass judgment?
It was clearly a case of killing a chicken to scare the monkeys; next, we would see just how many monkeys there were.
After Zhu Yujian and Zhu Ci left the palace, they boarded a carriage. Zhu Ci looked at him with a smile and said, "Can our Grand Uncle now rest easy?"
Zhu Yujian said with emotion, "His Majesty truly has courage."
He felt somewhat hesitant when he investigated the corruption case in the Ministry of Works, as the importance of the Ministry of Works to the current Great Ming was beyond doubt.
Zhu Yujian chose to expose this matter because he wanted to see the Emperor's attitude, then judge whether the subsequent investigation into the corruption case should be strict or lenient.
In his mind, the best outcome would have been to have the Minister of Works arrested and handed over to the Dali Temple.
As a result, he unexpectedly faced a death sentence on the spot, almost met a gruesome end by being flayed and stuffed with straw with the help of his colleagues.
Before he exposed the matter, he had sought out Zhu Ci; after all, they were both members of the imperial clan, now that so many members of the Great Ming imperial clan had been slaughtered, only the two of them remained to serve in the court.
As for that Zongzheng of the Clan Management Office.. well, let's just pretend he doesn't exist.
Zhu Ci told him at that time that even if it was reported, the Emperor would not show any leniency.
Zhu Ci said earnestly, "Actually, His Majesty is the most soft-hearted of all. As long as you do not cross his bottom line, he will forgive everything. Even if you point at his nose and curse him, as long as your curses are justified, he will not hold a grudge against you."
As for Zhu Ci's bottom line, it was far too easy to read.
Zhu Yujian knew it clearly without Zhu Ci even having to say it.
After finishing the morning court session, Zhu Ci returned to the Imperial Study and was immediately served a bowl of silver fungus and lotus seed soup.
Upon seeing it, he couldn't help but laugh. "I don't really need to clear any internal heat."
Wu Xia said softly, "Winter is dry, so consider it as nourishing the Yin and moisturizing the lungs."
Zhu Ci said nothing more, only remarking with a sigh, "These people are truly short-sighted."
Even if they were to embezzle, they would have to wait until the empire was finally at peace. The imperial court has so little money right now; even after all that effort, the Minister of Works only managed to embezzle twenty thousand taels of silver.
Of course, this amount was actually quite large, but if it were placed in the context of Great Ming back then, it probably wouldn't have been considered much at all.
Jiang Xueyan said, "Your Majesty is still too soft-hearted. If it were me, I would kill everyone who dared to commit corruption!"
Zhu Ci immediately shook his head. "That is not necessary."
Jiang Xueyan said in confusion, "But isn't that exactly what Taizu did back then?"
Zhu Ci's mouth twitched. "What was the situation like for Taizu back then? The world was at peace, the country had stabilized. But what is the situation now? If things were truly enforced that strictly, Great Ming would fall apart in the blink of an eye."
Wu Xia said, "One cannot be too indiscriminate; it's also unacceptable if someone should lose their life just for taking a little bit of small money."
Jiang Xueyan pursed her lips and said, "But human greed can be nurtured; if they are allowed to be greedy for a little now, they will be able to be greedy for much more in the future."
Therefore, what needs to be rectified is the atmosphere of the imperial court, rather than direct killings. Killing the Minister of Works is to demonstrate my attitude. To truly curb this corrupt trend, one must address the root cause.
How could one address the root of the problem? That would be to record all the various pretexts used for giving gifts.
Things like ice, charcoal, such should all be listed as crimes of corruption, there must also be certain restrictions on the exchange of gifts between officials.
Even grand banquets must be strictly inspected, as for bride prices and dowries.. let's let that slide for now.
Anyway, I've never heard of anyone building a fortune based on bride prices and dowries, besides, even if a family has many members, they couldn't possibly get married every single day, right?
As for whether someone might feel that being an official means they can't enjoy themselves.. it doesn't matter, you can just resign.
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: You like money, don't you? Once you're all dead, I won't even burn any spirit money for you! An evil kitty stomps hard on the corrupt official's grave. jpg
Next update at 6:00 PM~
Chapter 174
In the beginning, everyone thought the corruption case was merely an ordinary case, just one where the punishments were somewhat more severe.
This was only natural; the Little Emperor was at an age that still carried a hint of innocence. Children of this age view the world in extremes, seeing everything as right or wrong, black or white, feeling the need to distinguish between them clearly.
The Little Emperor was a bit more mature than his peers, but he could still be stubborn at times.
However, no one expected that this case would actually be just the beginning.
Next, it seemed the Left Censor had forgotten his other duties; he handed over most of the official business to the Right Censor and focused all his energy on leading the Dali Temple to investigate official corruption.
As a result, the more they investigated, the more they found; aside from a few with prestigious backgrounds and wealthy families, almost everyone else had taken bribes to some extent.
There was no other way; he had a whole large family to support.
Some officials might not have been given important roles before, or perhaps their positions were never even filled; now that they have finally managed to become officials, their poor relatives are flocking to them in droves.
Some ask for help with tasks, some ask for relief for their relatives, others come to act as matchmakers.. in short, there was nothing they wouldn't dare to do.
It is not like the later generations; if a young person doesn't want to help, they won't. In this era, family ties are extremely strong; unless one breaks away from their clan, they are expected to help in one way or another.
But human desires are endless; how could one possibly help everyone?
In the course of things, those who abuse their authority and those who use connections have all appeared.
The most outrageous part was that Zhu Ci had actually discovered people selling official positions!
The offices being sold were not high-ranking positions either; most were petty officials, the kind without any official rank.
In the traditional sense, they were considered low-level officials, but after Zhu Ci ascended the throne, he gave these petty officials a bit of a boost.
Although they lacked official ranks, they had already been included in the official hierarchy, meaning they had been brought into the system.
Moreover, the lack of rank is only temporary; when the time comes, he will establish ranks for low-level civil servants alongside the imperial examination reforms.
So in reality, these were already legitimate government officials, if they performed well, they could also receive promotions in the future.
Because of this very reason, even petty officials are in high demand nowadays.
However, perhaps some people have not yet realized, perhaps some feel that since these are grassroots officials, those above will not notice.