Daming: The most ruthless tyrant in history

Chapter 256 Parties (3)

The Integrity Agency is still brightly lit at night, which is different from other government agencies in Beijing. It is busy and has remained so since the initial establishment of the Integrity Agency.

Many officials of the Independent Commission Against Corruption did not even go home for a long time and stayed in the government office on errands.

"Lian Xian, what do you think His Majesty means?"

In the Shangshu Office of the Institute of Integrity, Li Kuilong frowned, put down the tea cup in his hand, and said with a serious expression: "The Fifth Highness went to the cabinet to make such a fuss, and even if the traitor record is not released, it will be released. This is definitely not a good thing for our Institute of Integrity. From now on, the Integrity Council may encounter more hostility.”

"Yes."

Wu Chunfu followed closely and said: "Originally, there were many people in both the government and the public who confused the Institute of Integrity with factory guards and made unpleasant remarks. Now that they have done this, the reputation of the Institute of Integrity cannot be maintained in the officialdom. I don’t know what will happen in the future.”

The atmosphere in the main hall of Shangshu Department is a bit subtle.

As officials of the central court, whether Li Kuilong, Wu Chunfu, or others, they have always been on the edge of power in the past. This also includes Cui Chengxiu, the Minister of the Institute of Integrity. If it were not specially appointed by the Institute of Integrity, they would have wanted to reach the height they are today. , without special opportunities, this is absolutely impossible.

In the Ming Dynasty officialdom, as long as there is no one behind you, no matter how outstanding your ability is, you have indeed done a lot of practical things, but in the end it is just making wedding clothes for others.

It is precisely this that leads to the continuous deterioration of the atmosphere, with more people taking advantage of opportunities and fewer people doing practical work, which ultimately intensifies official corruption.

"Is there little hostility towards the Integrity Institute? Does the Integrity Institute have a good reputation?"

Cui Chengxiu, who had been silent all the time, looked at Li Kuilong and Wu Chunfu, and said with a half-smile: "From the old Taicang, the shipping warehouse was burned, to the case of my official taking over the warehouse, haven't these always existed? It's just because of the dynasty. Some things in the media lead to more discussion and less discussion.

I have long said that it is not easy to be an official in the Institute of Integrity. If you want to be a good official in the eyes of other officials, don’t even think about staying in the Institute of Integrity.

Why was the Institute of Integrity specially established?The time you have been here is not short, haven’t you figured it out yet?I am serving the emperor as an official of the Institute of Integrity. Still don’t understand this? "

How can you not understand?
Li Kuilong, Wu Chunfu, Tian Ji, and Ni Wenhuan looked at me and me, with different expressions on their faces, and emotions arose in their hearts.

Starting from the time when they supervised the Cangchang case, they worked hard to investigate the case. During this period, the situation in the DPRK changed several times, which made them even more energetic and even cooperated with Jin Yiwei in order to be able to defeat the emperor. No matter how many people they offend by showing their face in front of others, as long as they can win the trust and reliance of the emperor, their official title will never fall off!

But the problem now is that without their knowledge, the emperor created a record of traitors and told the world, revealing all the evil deeds committed by corrupt officials caught by the Integrity Institute.

This is somewhat intriguing.

"Some things that were previously concealed were revealed by the emperor."

Cui Chengxiu leaned on the official hat chair and said with a frown: "Although His Majesty never mentioned this matter when he summoned me, I know what His Majesty meant."

This……

Li Kuilong and Wu Chunfu were shocked and looked at Cui Chengxiu in disbelief. They had previously limited the scope to the court and Beizhili. One of them was really scared. If they continued to investigate, there would be only one item. Cangchang may cause chaos everywhere. One is to take into account the current volatile situation of the DPRK and desperately shake everything out, fearing that the DPRK situation will become even more chaotic.

"I am thinking about something right now."

Cui Chengxiu's words made Li Kuilong and Wu Chunfu look serious, and their eyes were all focused on Cui Chengxiu.

"Why did the emperor remove Fang Congzhe from his position as first assistant and Liu Yishen from his position as second assistant?"

Cui Chengxiu narrowed his eyes slightly and said: "At the beginning, when the emperor was in power, under the influence of Emperor Guangzong, when Fang Congzhe was passive in the government, those Donglin Party members wanted to overturn him one by one. Isn't that what he did was to take the position of chief minister? Then The emperor's attitude was clearly to protect the country.

How much trouble happened during this period?

But without exception, they were all resolved by the emperor.

But now?Since before the emperor's wedding, the government and the public have been discussing the vacant positions of first and second assistants, but without exception, the emperor has put them aside.

There are various signs that the emperor did it intentionally, and this was a bait. Only in this way, the officials in Beijing would focus their attention on the court itself. "

"But why would the emperor do this?"

Tian Ji was puzzled.

"One is for taxes."

Li Kuilong said at this moment: "I wonder if you have noticed that since the beginning of the price hike in grain in the capital, although there have been a lot of troubles, there is one thing that has always been done, and that is that the Chongwenmen Customs House has been directly controlled by the Ministry of Household Affairs. For the time being, After being taken away by Shuntian Prefecture and under the control of Sun Chuanting, the tax revenue of Chongwenmen customs office increased a lot. This reason was followed by the Ministry of Household Affairs' investigation of the deficit and the department's investigation of the deficit. However, the investigation of the deficit has not been done for a long time. Lots of movement.”

"It's really about taxes."

Cui Chengxiu nodded and said: "The incident at the Tianjin Port this time, including the emperor's secret summons to the capital to prepare for the establishment of the so-called Thirteen Banks of Tianjin, is also a continuation of this. The emperor has never forgotten the empty treasury, even though Bi Ziyan came to power. Later, the emperor rarely directly interfered with the affairs of the Ministry of Household Affairs, but on the surface, he did not interfere, which does not mean that he did not care."

"Then the other one is Liao Shi?"

Ni Wenhuan said a little uncertainly.

"It must be for the Liao Dynasty."

Cui Chengxiu said resolutely: "Think about the Battle of Sarhu, and think about how much food the court spent in the past few years because of the Liao Dynasty.

The emperor was obviously distracting himself.

In the past, it was an individual who could add a few words regardless of whether it was related to Liao affairs or not. Since Xiong Tingbi took office as the Liaodong manager, how many people have impeached him openly or covertly?

Since the war broke out in Liaozuo, have you discovered that no matter who brought it up, the emperor's attitude is very clear, that is, shelving it. What does this mean? "

"It means that the emperor has been paying attention to Liao affairs, and even supporting Xiong Tingbi secretly?"

Tian Ji thought of something, looked at Cui Chengxiu with a bit of shock on his brows and said.

"That's right!"

Cui Chengxiu narrowed his eyes slightly and said: "I have not paid attention to this matter in the past, but if you think about it carefully, when did Hong Chengchou, a doctor in the newly established Zhili Qing Li Division of the Ministry of Punishment, fade out of sight? When did he leave Beijing?"

yes! !
When Cui Chengxiu was reminded like this, everyone present was shocked. Hong Chengchou was not a simple person. It was this person who was appointed by the emperor to handle the two cases of Hongwan moving to the palace.

No ordinary person would dare to intervene in such a major case, but Hong Chengchou not only intervened, but he also handled it beautifully.

But since then, Hong Chengchou has disappeared.

"We were a little wrong."

Under this situation, Cui Chengxiu said quietly: "It's not what we think about the situation of the court, but what the emperor wants to do about the situation of the court. This is very important.

This time it’s a knock, but it’s also a reminder.

The Institute of Integrity is the Emperor's Institute of Integrity, not the Institute of Integrity of foreign dynasties. If we deviate from this, then whatever we did in the past, no matter how many things were right, would end up being wrong.

This was the attitude of the fifth prince when he went to the cabinet.

What the emperor wants is not only to open the sea to Tianjin, but also to assist the Ministry of Household Affairs in running errands. Don’t forget, the abolition of Liao pay and the never increase of taxes are all proposed by the emperor. This is to reduce the burden on the local people, but the money in the national treasury is also It needs to be sufficient. After all, the court’s current expenses are huge and taxes are needed to support them. We can’t rely on direct internal funds for everything, right? "

"Does Lian Xian mean to follow up on the Cangchang case and then investigate water transportation?"

Li Kuilong suppressed his surprise and looked at Cui Chengxiudao.

Ni Wenhuan followed closely and said: "But if something goes wrong with the water transportation, the consequences will not be borne by the Integrity Commission."

"Yes."

Tian Ji was also very worried and said: "After all, if there is any problem with water transportation, Northern Zhili will definitely be affected. If nothing else, if the grain needed by the capital is blocked, the consequences will be..."

"So we need to pay attention to methods and methods, and we also need to be able to assess the situation."

Cui Chengxiu said earnestly: "Even if it is necessary to investigate, the degree must be grasped well. It can not only pry open the water transportation to ensure that the Ministry of Revenue can intervene in the future, but also ensure that the impact of water transportation will not expand to other levels."

Li Kuilong and Tian Ji fell silent.

Isn't this just walking on a single-plank bridge over a cliff?
If you are not careful, you may fall into the abyss!
"That's just the way it is."

Cui Chengxiu lifted up the sleeves of his robe and said with cold eyes: "One warehouse and one water transport. If the Independent Commission Against Corruption can handle these two things, then the government will be secure in the future, and my official title will also be secure." Well, since we have chosen to join the Institute of Integrity, we don’t need to mention the retreat."

"No matter how the situation in the DPRK changes in the future, or how officials outside the DPRK move, we cannot be affected. We will even have to assess the situation to see if there is an opportunity for the Independent Commission Against Corruption to step in without any effort."

"These words are what I am telling you, and I am also telling them to myself. I just hope that you all can work together and do your job well, so as not to disappoint the emperor again, otherwise the government will be clean and honest. The hospital really has no chance.”

(End of this chapter)