Daming: Apocalypse of Longevity

Chapter 52 Bribery?bribery?
Thinking of this, the two of them felt relieved. Anyway, they were not afraid of shadows. They worked sincerely, so why should they be afraid of rumors?

"My lord, thank you for your trust!"

When both of them stood up, Zhu Tianqi waved his hands and said: "You don't need to worry about these trivial matters, let's talk about the real business, the two lovers should have already arranged the decree. Okay, you haven’t been delayed by these trivial matters these days, have you?”

The two men hurriedly replied: "I have made arrangements, and the imperial envoys sent to various places to deliver orders have also left Beijing one after another!"

After answering Zhu Tianqi's question, Sun Chengzong said with a wry smile: "Recently, there have been too many colleagues who have come to visit me. It would be false to say that it has no impact at all. I am doing fine in other aspects. Whenever you go in or out of your house, you have to take a detour to the back door, because the door is blocked from morning to night, like a group of debt collectors!"

After listening to Sun Chengzong's words, Xu Guangqi couldn't help but shake his head and smile bitterly. It was obvious that his situation should be similar!

Zhu Tianqi couldn't help but smile, and then said: "Actually, you don't need to avoid them deliberately. You are busy and don't have time to see them. You can arrange for a servant like a housekeeper to receive them. It's hard for these people to come to visit you. As for you going empty-handed, you still have to accept the gift!”

Sun Chengzong and Xu Guangqi couldn't help being taken aback when they heard this. They thought the emperor was warning them not to "take bribes", but when they saw the malicious smile on the emperor's face, they immediately understood.

Sun Chengzong immediately smiled in understanding, saluted, and said: "Since the Emperor has given permission, I can no longer flatter my colleagues' kindness!"

After the two returned from Qianqing Palace, they changed their previous behavior. They opened the door of the mansion wide and no longer closed the door to thank guests. Although they still could not see them in person, they could be received by the housekeeper, and they were treated well by the visitors. Gifts are not rejected, and they are accepted together.

Sun Chengzong and Xu Guangqi suddenly changed from "not letting in oil and salt" to "not rejecting anyone who comes", which made all the officials feel surprised and puzzled. However, they didn't bother to think about this matter in detail, so they still took the opportunity to curry favor. It's just flattering. If you go too late, you might not have a chance.

Everyone just thought that what Sun Chengzong and Xu Guangqi did before was just pretending to be clean and honest. Now this is their true nature exposed, so it is inevitable that they will curse a few words like "fake innocence" behind their backs.

However, what Sun Chengzong and Xu Guangqi did next confused everyone.

A few days later, all the gifts sent by the officials were loaded into the carts intact by Sun Chengzong and Xu Guang, and then the two of them pulled several large carts of gifts into the Forbidden City with great fanfare.

Needless to say, they must have been sent to the emperor. Thinking of this, all the officials who had given gifts to Sun Chengzong and Xu Guangqi were frightened. Sun Chengzong and Xu Guangqi took the initiative to hand over these gifts, which can prove their own Being honest and honest might even get praise from the emperor, but what about being a gift giver?You can't escape the responsibility of bribing important officials of the imperial court!
As a result, there was a sudden outcry among the officials in the capital. Naturally, they scolded Sun Chengzong and Xu Guangqi for being too "treacherous". In order to prove their innocence, they even went so far as to trick their colleagues.However, some people soon expressed different opinions, thinking that this matter might not be Sun Chengzong and Xu Guangqi's idea, but maybe it was the emperor's idea. After all, the changes in Sun Chengzong and Xu Guangqi's before and after were too strange, and it happened to be after they entered the palace to face the Holy Spirit. .

Thinking of this, all the officials were silent for a moment, and no one dared to curse. They were no longer angry, only frightened, not knowing what kind of punishment would be waiting for them next.

However, Zhu Tianqi did not punish anyone for this. Although Sun Chengzong and Xu Guangqi both presented gift lists with the gifts, Zhu Tianqi could not only know who sent gifts, but also knew who sent what gifts. , but he just silently accepted the list and said nothing further. Instead, he happily put these gifts into his internal funds.

Zhu Tianqi did not pursue the matter and the officials involved, so he naturally had his own plans. Through the previous debate on tax and labor reform, Zhu Tianqi discovered that these ministers in the court were difficult to deal with, so he must not fight with them face to face. If you want to be tough in the front, you still need to use some special means.

The reason why North Korean and Chinese officials were able to agree to the tax and labor reform plan they proposed was not because they had control over them and were forced to agree.

Therefore, Zhu Tianqi believes that if he wants these ministers to be obedient, he must have some handle on them. Only then will they know how to be afraid and be honest. And now the two lists in his hand are their handles. , whoever dares to disagree with me in the future, then I will settle old scores with him!
Furthermore, even if Zhu Tianqi wanted to pursue this matter, I am afraid it would be fruitless in the end. After all, according to the "Da Ming Law", bribery is a dismissal at best, and there are too many officials involved this time, and the law will not be held responsible. The public and officials shielded each other, and in the end it was just a mild demotion for everyone!
It is no longer possible to imitate the great ancestor Zhu Yuanzhang, who acted vigorously and decisively. Now that the current situation is turbulent, so many officials were dismissed at once, and the court came to a standstill. Although Zhu Tianqi looked down on these ministers and thought that their His ability and character are not up to standard, and he even plans to make a major change of officials in the court when the time comes.

But that is a thing for later, and even a blood exchange has to be done step by step, and the bones and muscles cannot be injured all at once. At least for now, the court cannot withstand the torment and cannot do without these officials.

So instead of taking action against them and forcing them to pick up Tuan'er to fight against him, it is better to hold this handle in his hand and make them fearful and restrained!

Therefore, even though a large group of officials involved were "restless to eat and restless" during this period and were trembling with fear every day, there was indeed no movement in the palace, as if this incident had never happened.

Zhu Tianqi had indeed put this matter behind him a long time ago, and now his mind was entirely focused on the two major matters at hand.

One is the new news that Zhang Guoji and Sun Yuanhua came back from their trip south. The two have arrived in Yangzhou Prefecture and are looking for suitable buyers in the surrounding area.

Secondly, the confessions of confessions from officials in the provincial capitals, prefectures, counties and health centers near the capital have been brought back to the capital one after another. Zhu Tianqi is busy summoning Sun Chengzong, Xu Tianqi and officials from the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War to review these memorials. Review the above situation.

(End of this chapter)