Daming: The most ruthless tyrant in history

Chapter 809 Big Turning Point

"The most important thing?"

Ok Hee Palace.

Zhu Youxiao smiled, glanced at the ministers in front of him, and then looked at Sun Ruyou, "Immigration to guard the border, the Ministry of Revenue investigation, the three courts to fight corruption, tell me, which one is not the top priority?"

"Tell the procuratorate to stop its inspections to prevent unrest in northern Zhili, which would affect the immigration to the border. How dare you say such a thing!!"

"What? With those corrupt officials and evil spirits in the local area, can we ensure the steady progress of immigration and border defense? Can we ensure the stability of local order?"

"Where did you get this perverted idea from?!"

"If we don't arrest all these treacherous people, then the immigration and border defense will be ruined. How come the people arrested by the procuratorate include your students and former officials?!!"

"That's not what I meant."

Sun Ruyou was startled and bowed quickly.

"What do you mean?!"

Zhu Youxiao grabbed the memorial and threw it hard at Sun Ruyou. "I did say that the ministers in the cabinet will not be dismissed or resign easily, but this does not mean that there will be no more!!"

The atmosphere in the hall became subtle.

Zhu Guozuo, Qian Qianyi and other ministers did not expect that the emperor would be so angry, which made many people glance at Sun Ruyou.

"The cabinet is my cabinet, the cabinet of the Ming Dynasty!!"

Zhu Youxiao sat on the throne and said in a cold tone: "It is not someone else's cabinet. If you can't even tell this, then in my opinion, there is no need for the cabinet to exist. Bi Ziyan and Wang Xiangqian stay, and everyone else leave."

"I'm waiting to retire."

"The minister obeys the order."

All the ministers, with different thoughts, bowed and said.

You really dare to think so. It seems like you can't sit still any longer.

Watching Sun Ruyou's departing back, Zhu Youxiao's eyes flashed with murderous intent. The reason why Sun Ruyou mentioned at this time that he wanted the procuratorate to delay the inspection and also under the banner of immigration to guard the border was not because he wanted to share his worries.

Zhu Youxiao saw through Sun Ruyou's thoughts at a glance.

This is to focus on the Integrity Institute in Zhejiang.

It seemed that Cui Chengxiu and his team had really found out something, and the situation along the Zhejiang coast became increasingly tense, with even civil unrest beginning to occur frequently in some places.

The events in the southeastern provinces may have spread to the capital, but they did not cause any major disturbance.

The current focus is on the investigation by the Ministry of Revenue, the inspection by the Procuratorate, and the inspection by the Censorate. These three government offices seem to have discussed it beforehand. As soon as you finish arresting someone, I will start arresting people.

People in the central and local areas were in a state of panic.

Although Bi Ziyan and Han Yiliang were happy to catch people, it was a tough time for the Minister of Personnel Cui Jingrong, as he was most worried about how to fill these vacancies.

There are many officials in the Ming Dynasty, but not all of them are suitable for promotion. Vacant official positions need to be weighed and screened by the Ministry of Personnel before a corresponding list can be drawn up.

"The Ministry of Revenue has arrested quite a few people in the commercial tax investigation in Northern Zhili, which has had a deterrent effect on other places." Zhu Youxiao calmed down and looked at Bi Ziyan.

"However, the Ministry of Revenue cannot just focus on commercial taxes. The relief and improvement of the central government's finances cannot be solved by commercial taxes alone. We need to continue to dig deeper."

"Your Majesty is wise!"

After hearing this, Bi Ziyan bowed and said, "The Ministry of Revenue has held several meetings before. In view of the current situation faced by the central government, we all agree that while expanding the investigation of commercial taxes, we can also conduct an investigation of temple properties." Sure.

Zhu Youxiao's eyes lit up, and the look he gave Bi Ziyan changed.

In the past, the Ministry of Revenue did make adjustments to temple properties, but the results were limited. However, now, through the cooperation of the Direct Tax Police Corps, many people have been arrested through commercial tax inspections and a lot of taxes have been recovered.

Bi Ziyan and his men set their sights on the temple property. If this matter was handled well, it would be a major event that would benefit future generations. The temples during the Ming Dynasty were very different from those in later generations.

They own land and rent it out to tenants at high prices. It is even common for monks to commit evil and secretly marry wives and concubines.

They say that Buddha has mercy on us, but in reality, many of them do evil things.

"It may not be easy to check the temple property."

Wang Xiangqian frowned, looked at Bi Ziyan and said, "After all, the prestige of temples among the people is extremely high, especially since there are so many Buddhists. If the court rashly conducts an inventory of temple property, like it did with commercial taxes, it will probably cause a civil uprising."

Zhu Youxiao frowned. This was indeed something that needed to be considered.

"The Ministry of Revenue has already thought of the rules for this matter."

Bi Ziyan said, "The Ministry of Revenue plans to work with the Monks' Registration Office to first investigate all unregistered private temples in Northern Zhili. Once they are found, they will be sealed and all temple properties under their names will be confiscated. At the same time, the arrested monks will be interrogated, and anyone who dares to violate the law will be executed."

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"From what I know, there are many private temples in Northern Zhili. They use various names to deceive people and even harm the people. Your Majesty, this is a cancer that must be eradicated!"

Having said this, Bi Ziyan bowed to Zhu Youxiao.

"Now that we have the charter, let's do it."

Zhu Youxiao said calmly: "Investigate what needs to be investigated, arrest what needs to be arrested, confiscate what needs to be confiscated. All land under heaven belongs to the king, and all the people in the world are his subjects. Under the rule of our Great Ming, no one can usurp the laws of the Great Ming, and monks, Taoists, and Confucian scholars are no exception!!"

"The minister obeys the order!"

Bi Ziyan responded immediately.

For Bi Ziyan, the reason why he set his sights on temple properties was that the pressure on the national treasury was too great. As the Minister of Revenue, he had to raise money, and it would take a long time to check other things. But temple properties were different. Once problems were found, they would be sealed up first.

"How is the reform of the post system going?"

While Bi Ziyan was thinking, Zhu Youxiao looked at Wang Xiangqian and asked, "How are the trials in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Henan, Shandong and other places going?"

"Your Majesty, we are still making steady progress."

Wang Xiangqian bowed and said, "I have been keeping an eye on this matter. By the end of this year at the latest, the reform of the post stations in the above-mentioned places will have initial results."

"The laid-off postmen must be properly arranged."

Zhu Youxiao frowned and said, "We need to coordinate with the local officials to ensure that they have food to eat, money to take, and things to do. We need to arrange their whereabouts."

"I understand."

Wang Xiangqian responded.

This is an item of treasury expenditure.

Bi Ziyan couldn't help but sigh in his heart when he heard this. With the rapid implementation of the post system reform, many aspects need to allocate money and grain. If it were anything else, Bi Ziyan might object, but when it comes to the post, no matter how difficult it is, the money must be paid, especially the rectification of the express delivery shop, which is not only related to domestic affairs, but also to military affairs. If there is any mistake, it will have a great impact on the rule of the Ming Dynasty! !

It was also for this reason that Bi Ziyan understood why the emperor had to strictly enforce the administration of officials. He had no choice but to do so. Every sum of money and grain allocated would pass through countless hands.

If the central government is unaware of this, no one can say how much of it will be implemented. But if there is a deterrent, the people below will have to think carefully about how long they can keep the money and grain for themselves. If the court officials find out something, will they be arrested without any hesitation like those who were arrested before?
Zhu Youxiao knew that corruption could not be stopped, but he wanted to increase the cost of corruption. He wanted all officials in the Ming Dynasty to know what the consequences would be for anyone who dared to be corrupt.

(End of this chapter)