Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 516 Self-destruction
"Woo-"

On the twentieth day of the twelfth lunar month, before the severe cold, Wang Hui finally arrived in Beijing by train.

After arriving in Beijing, he quickly went home to bathe and change clothes, and rushed to the Forbidden City.

At the same time he got off the train, Yang Shiqi, Li Mian, Yan Yan and others had already received the news.

Yang Shiqi went to the Forbidden City with the evidence of Yan Yan's guilt that Wang Hui had deliberately spread to him. Although he was old and walked slowly, he still arrived at the Qianqing Gate before Wang Hui arrived at the Qianqing Gate.

Without taking a breath, he saw Wang Hui walking towards him, and there were hundreds of officials gathered at Qianqing Gate who had been impeaching Yang Shiqi and Wang Hui recently.

Seeing the two of them appearing, everyone rushed towards them with righteous indignation.

"Yang Shiqi, Wang Hui, you two have brought disaster to the country and the people. Today I will eliminate you two disasters for the country!"

A civil servant in his fifties rolled up his sleeves and was about to fuck him with a wat board. Upon seeing this, Wang Hui punched the man in the face, causing his nose to bleed instantly.

The civil servant covered his nose and leaned back, luckily he was supported by someone next to him, otherwise, considering his age, this punch would have been enough to kill him.

"Fart!" Wang Hui chose the simplest and most straightforward reply, which almost made the seventy-year-old minister angry.

Facing their summons, the Han generals at Qianqing Palace turned a blind eye, while they hesitated to take action.

"Do it!"

When they came to the palace gate, the eunuch on duty raised his hand to intercept them and said: "My lords, Your Majesty said that we only saw two ministers today, and now two of them have entered."

"Let's see who dares to touch him!"

While they were waiting, Yang Shiqi and Wang Hui had already entered the Qianqing Palace.

For a moment, the ministers were speechless by what Wang Hui said. Upon seeing this, Wang Hui directly pushed the ministers away and walked towards the gate of Qianqing Palace.

A group of civil servants were about to take action, but Wang Hui pushed away a Xichang warrior and walked out on his own initiative.

"Your Majesty has already given instructions. If you two are in charge, just go in directly."

Hu Ji, who was a step late, took several Xichang warriors and ran all the way to the gate of Qianqing Palace, protecting Wang Hui behind him.

Jian Yi, the Minister of Household Affairs in Nanjing with the highest official position in the south of the Yangtze River, only has more than 800 crowns per year, let alone the other officials.

After some probing between the two, Wang Hui saluted the eunuch on duty and said, "Please help me pass the news, please tell me that Wang Weizhong of the palace and Yang Shiqi of the Ministry of Rites want to see your majesty."

Indeed, if there are more than 30,000 honest officials, they will definitely not be able to spend more than 10 million yuan.

"Wang Gechen..." Yang Shiqi also bowed in return. There was no emotion on his face, as if nothing had happened just now.

He saw Yang Shiqi standing there and cursed the old fox in his heart, but he still bowed and smiled and said: "Yang Shangshu..."

"Today I will get rid of this great harm to our country!"

Wang Hui was not afraid of being surrounded by hundreds of people and directly argued with them: "The national treasury is empty. It was I who went to Jiangnan to sort out the finances and send tens of millions of money and food to the court."

Yang Shiqi took advantage of the officials to besiege Wang Hui and took a detour to the gate of Qianqing Palace.

The eunuch on duty turned sideways, and the two Han generals also opened the palace door.

If the amount reported by Wang Hui is true, then the average of these thirty thousand people has been greedy for at least three to four hundred yuan, which is much richer than many of them here.

"Without me, it's a question whether you can pay out your salary. How dare you tell me what to do for the country?"

Seeing Wang Hui knocking down one person with one punch, the ministers who were still aggressive in attacking Wang Hui stopped one after another and chose to scold Wang Hui and summon the Han general.

"Exactly..."

They originally thought that Wang Hui was just a middle-aged man and should be easy to deal with, but they didn't expect that this guy would be so ruthless and punch to the flesh.

The two of them walked to the shade and sat on the ground, not caring about losing their composure. They could only wait for Wang Hui and Yang Shiqi to walk out of the palace.

"Is Yang Shangshu here too?"

"Where is the Han general? Why don't you arrest this arrogant and rebellious person!"

"Don't tell me that you guys don't even understand the basic arithmetic of the Imperial Examination!"

"This..." Li Mian looked at Yan Yan and found that Yan Yan also looked unhappy. The two of them did not dare to cause trouble. After all, the fear of the emperor had never disappeared in their hearts.

"That's right! Catch him!"

"You guys are worthy of telling me what to do for the country?"

Before the old minister could react, Wang Hui angrily said: "I arrested more than 30,000 people in Jiangnan, but found more than 10 million yuan of money and food. I would like to ask Li Yushi to tell me what kind of loyal and good people can To save so much money and food?”

Feeling the big Han general behind him, he felt a little more confident.

"Wang Hui, you actually dare to hit someone at the gate of Qianqing Palace!"

"How presumptuous!" A seventy-year-old minister who lived to this day during the Hongwu period was trembling with anger and pointed at the king with a wat board and replied:
"Wang Weizhong, the money and food you mentioned are just the money and food you got from beating up and falsely accusing loyal people!"

The two looked at each other in confusion after hearing this, and finally returned the greeting and walked towards the Qianqing Gate.

After years of living a pampered life, the two of them were out of breath even after jogging for a short distance.

Not long after they entered the Qianqing Gate, Li Mian and Yan Yan arrived belatedly.

"Wang Hui, you are so presumptuous!"

Upon seeing this, Wang Hui patted the non-existent dust on his body and looked at the group of guys in front of him with contempt.

The king replied and everyone was speechless.

Zhu Gaoxu sat on the golden platform in the main hall of Qianqing Palace, with Yi Shiha and Zhu Zhanhe standing next to him.

"Your Majesty, Yang Shiqi (Wang Hui), wishes to pay homage to your Majesty. May your Majesty live forever..."

The two of them entered the palace and bowed, and Zhu Gaoxu's voice came from five steps away: "Sit down."

"Thank you, Your Majesty..."

The two stood up slowly. Before they were mentally prepared, they heard Zhu Gaoxu say:

"Recently, there are many people who have impeached you in the temple. They all say that you are traitors and sycophants. What do you think..."

"Your Majesty, minister..." Before Yang Shiqi could think of what to say, Wang Hui next to him knelt down and kowtowed again;
"Your Majesty, this is nonsense. Anyone who impeaches an official should be regarded as traitors by Your Majesty!"

Wang Hui's words made people like Yang Shiqi, who had been an official for nearly thirty years, stunned, let alone Yi Shiha and Zhu Zhanhe.

At this time, they only felt that Wang Hui was simply stupid. According to what he said, wouldn't it mean that those who don't agree with him are sycophants?

If it had been in the past, Zhu Zhanhe would have scolded him on behalf of his father, but now he has learned to watch his words and correct his position.

Before his father speaks, he shouldn't take the initiative to show off his authority.

His hunch was right, because the next second Zhu Gaoxu looked at Wang Hui and said in a deep voice: "According to your statement, those who impeached you are all traitors, but you are the only one who is a loyal and good minister?"

"Back to Your Majesty, I grew up in a town under the jurisdiction of Andong Wei since I was a child. I have been tenant farmers for five generations. If it hadn't been for Your Majesty's new policy, I would not have had the opportunity to study and grow in Jilin. Therefore, I have made a promise since I was a child. Great ambition, we must serve His Majesty diligently!”

"I was your Majesty's Jinshi in the fifth year of Yongle reign. Your Majesty was the one who graded my papers back then. Naturally, I am your majesty's disciple."

Wang Hui said a lot, emphasizing only three things, and then he would emphasize other things.

"Since I joined the cabinet, I have worked hard for several years, not for promotion and wealth, but to live up to His Majesty's trust in me."

"In recent years, the implementation of the Jiangnan New Deal has been difficult. I have long been aware of it. However, there are treacherous ministers in the temple who have hindered it. This has led to my delay in solving the problem."

"I have already made up my mind to return the clear skies to the south of the Yangtze River during this inspection trip to the capital."

"Contrary to the minister's expectations, Jiangnan officials banded together to keep warm. They not only hindered the New Deal, but also became greedy in private and exploited the people."

"If your Majesty doesn't believe it, you can call Hu Ji from Xichang to come and ask. He has more than thirty account books given to him by the minister. These are enough to prove that what I said is true!"

"The corruption in the Jiangnan officialdom has reached a level that cannot be tolerated by nature. I would like to request your majesty to grant permission to behead first and report later, and expand the scope of Beijing inspection to include Fujian and Huguang within the scope of this inspection!"

Wang Hui first tried to build relationships, and then emphasized that what he wanted was not for himself, but for the court and the emperor. After what he said, even Zhu Gaoxu was almost impressed by this guy's acting skills.

He tapped his fingers on the armrest a few times, as if thinking. After a while, his fingers stopped tapping, and then he said:

"Hu Ji has already handed over the account books of Jiangnan to me. The officials in Jiangnan are indeed guilty, but don't you, Wang Weizhong, have some tricks?"

After the "Guimao Case", Zhu Gaoxu didn't believe that no cat would steal fish, so he started to beat Wang Hui.

He originally thought that Wang Hui would show weakness and admit it, but Wang Hui suddenly straightened up, looked at him and bowed.

"Your Majesty, I am loyal. If your Majesty feels that I am also a corrupt person, please immediately order the Jin Yiwei and the five departments of Xichang, Dali Temple, Criminal Ministry, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate to investigate my family background."

"If I am really corrupt, then I will naturally prepare a coffin, and it will be nothing more than death."

"But if I am not corrupt, then your majesty's words will become confidential words between the king and his ministers. I ask your majesty to take back these words!"

Listening to the familiar dialogue, Zhu Gaoxu really didn't expect that a figure who looked like a non-stick pan could appear under his hands.

At this moment, even he could not help but murmur. Although he did not believe that Wang Hui was an honest person, the investigation by the Fifth Division was no joke.

You must know that he gave Wang Huixichang, Jinyiwei, and the Three Divisions of the Metropolitan Procuratorate the power to investigate. They found more than 30,000 corrupt officials in Nanzhili, which shows how tough the investigation methods of the three divisions are.

Now that Wang Hui himself has requested a joint trial by the five divisions, is it possible that this guy is really so clean that he is not afraid of investigation?
Not only him, but also Yang Shiqi, Yi Shiha, Zhu Zhanhe and others couldn't help but look at Wang Hui, unable to say a word.

As the rightful owner, Zhu Gaoxu tapped his fingers on the armrest a few times, and then said: "I naturally know in my heart whether there is anything fishy. Since you, Wang Weizhong, keep saying that you serve the country and the people, then I ask you, will you inspect the Weaving Bureau and let the weaving The bureau has been suspended for nearly a month. Do you know how much this has harmed the interests of the court and the people? "

"I understand..." Wang Hui did not pursue him fiercely, but admitted directly without any argument.

"Of course I know that this harms the interests of the court and the people, but if we continue to allow this group of people to become corrupt, it will inevitably harm the interests of the court and the people even more."

After the words fell, the king bowed in salute and said: "Your Majesty, I impeach Yan Yan, the prime minister of Dali Temple, Li Mian, the right minister of the Ministry of Punishment, Yan Wei, the foreign minister of the Weaving Bureau, and others for embezzling national wealth, squeezing the people, and disrupting people's livelihood!"

Wang Hui suddenly impeached the person behind him, which made Yang Shiqi narrow his eyes. Now he has guessed that the information he got was given to him by Wang Hui. What Wang Hui wanted was to overthrow Yan Yan and Li Mian, and then become the leader of the New Deal.

Yang Rong and Yang Pu were right. If such a person took the position of leader of the New Deal, it would be really difficult for them to deal with him.

Thinking of this, Yang Shiqi did not agree with Wang to come back to help bring down Li Mian and Yan Yan, but chose to wait and see what would happen.

"If you want to impeach them, do you have evidence?"

Zhu Gaoxu asked in a deep voice. Although he had known about this matter for a long time, he still pretended not to know it, and Yang Shiqi was just a chess piece he used to show the outside world that he was ignorant of it.

"The documents on the corruption and bribery of Yan Yan and Li Mian, as well as the confessions and account books of the officials of the Weaving Bureau are in the minister's house. Your Majesty can send people to investigate."

Wang Hui knew that this matter could not involve the emperor, so he said this deliberately.

"In that case, Yang Shiqi, you should go."

Zhu Gaoxu looked at Yang Shiqi. Yang Shiqi secretly thought it was bad, but he still had to bow in response: "I accept the order."

Obviously, the emperor planned to let him conduct a joint trial of Yan Yan and Li Mian in order to deepen the contradiction between the New Deal and Qingliu.

Although he knew it, he didn't have any means to deal with it, or he had means, but he couldn't use it because his eldest son was still in the hands of the emperor.

Now, he can only be manipulated as the emperor's pawn against the New Deal.

With a calm expression, Yang Shiqi exited the Qianqing Palace and walked out of the Qianqing Gate under the escort of the Han general.

Yang Shiqi took a deep look at Yan Yan and Li Mian. He didn't seem to say anything, but he seemed to have said everything.

After standing there and watching the two men for a long time, Yang Shiqi finally spoke to the eunuch on duty: "Your Majesty asked me to investigate the case. Please send some people to follow me."

"Guo Deng, take Yi Zongqi and Yang Shangshu to investigate the case." The eunuch on duty ordered a young man of seventeen or eighteen years old.

When the young man heard this, he immediately led the team and followed Yang Shiqi out of the palace.

Seeing this scene and Yang Shiqi's gaze on him, Yan Yan quickly noticed something, so he quickly said to the eunuch on duty:

"Father-in-law, please pass the news on your behalf!"

"If my father-in-law is willing to spread the word, in the future, whenever my father-in-law needs something, we will never shirk it!"

The promise of Yan Yan and Li Mian moved the eunuch on duty. At this moment, he didn't know that the two people in front of him were not far away from their downfall, so after thinking about it, he nodded and said, "I'll go ask for permission. You guys just wait here."

"Thank you, father-in-law!"

Seeing the eunuch on duty turning around and leaving, the two people quickly thanked them. The eunuch on duty also came to the gate of Qianqing Palace a moment later, bowed inward and said:
"Your Majesty, Yan Yan, the Prime Minister of Dali Temple, and Li Mian, the right minister of the Ministry of Punishment, have been kowtowing to ask for an audience. This servant has come to convey the news..."

The voice of the eunuch on duty came, and Zhu Gaoxu didn't think anything of it. He said that he only saw two ministers today just to refuse, just to see what Yan Yan and Li Mian would do.

If they know how to advance and retreat, they don't want to do anything wrong. But if they still don't know what to do, then they don't need to continue to be compassionate.

"Let them come in..."

As soon as Zhu Gaoxu spoke, Wang Hui's heart skipped a beat.

Just a moment's thought made Wang Hui think of the secret, and he couldn't help but think about how to put Yan Yan and Li Mian to death.

The eunuch on duty bowed in return, turned around and walked towards Qianqing Gate.

Not long after, Zhu Gaoxu saw two figures walking quickly towards Qianqing Palace. After entering the palace, they walked quickly and knelt down. They even slid a short distance because the gold bricks were smooth.

"Your Majesty, Yan Yan, the Prime Minister of Dali Temple (Li Mian, the right minister of the Ministry of Punishment), is here to pay homage to Your Majesty!"

"Pingshen..."

Zhu Gaoxu opened his mouth and motioned to get down, but the two of them knelt on the ground like Wang Hui, but straightened their backs.

"Your Majesty, I am impeaching the treacherous minister Wang Hui for corruption, accepting bribes, and persecuting the loyal and good. Please remove him from office and investigate!"

"Your Majesty, I second the proposal!"

When Yan Yan came up, he impeached Wang Hui, and Li Mian followed suit. The two of them had clear goals, but Zhu Zhanhe and Yi Shiha had weird expressions.

You must know that just now Wang Hui used the five-division joint investigation to force Zhu Gaoxu to change his tone. He clearly showed the image of an honest and loyal minister, but now Yan Yan is impeaching Wang Hui for corruption and accepting bribes.

The relationship between Yan Yan and Wang Hui is clear to both of them. If Yan Yan impeaches Wang Hui for corruption and bribery, then Wang Hui obviously has some problems, and it was just his disguise.

Thinking of this, the two of them couldn't help but be speechless, thinking that they had almost been deceived by Wang Hui.

Not only them, but even Zhu Gaoxu himself frowned.

He had an insight into people's hearts. There was nothing wrong with Wang Hui's words and deeds just now. If his butt was really dirty, he would definitely not dare to ask for a joint investigation by the five divisions.

Of course, it's also possible that he saw the wrong person, and even he was deceived by Wang Hui's acting skills.

Although this was unlikely, Zhu Gaoxu still said after thinking about it: "You said that, do you have any real evidence?"

"Of course! We have physical evidence!" Yan Yan replied immediately. This scene made Li Mian almost couldn't help but pull him.

The two of them naturally have evidence of Wang Hui's crime, but all their evidence is mainly evidence of Wang Hui's bribery to them.

If this evidence of crime is exposed, then the two of them will bring it upon themselves.

Just facing Li Mian's eyes, Yan Yan said without being humble or arrogant:

"Your Majesty, in his early years, this king was an imperial examination scholar and served as a county magistrate in Sichuan. He bribed officials in the Department of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Civil Affairs, amounting to hundreds of dollars."

"At that time, he was only a seventh-grade county official. His salary plus the frontier subsidy at that time was only fifty or sixty guan. Even if he served as an official for three years without food or water, he would not be able to earn hundreds of guan."

"If it weren't for corruption, I really can't think of where this guy got the hundreds of strings from."

"Besides, even if these hundreds of dollars are legitimate wealth, the fact that he bribed the officials is a fact. According to the "Law of the Ming Dynasty", he should be sent to the frontier!"

When Yan Yan spoke about the official department and the official department without being humble or arrogant, Li Mian realized what Yan Yan was thinking.

Obviously, he found two scapegoats from the official department and the official department.

It was the eighth year of Yongle when Wang Hui bribed them. It was precisely because of his bribery and his good political performance that the two of them signaled for Wang Hui to be promoted from a border official to a capital official.

There were no banks at that time, and all transactions were cash. Even if you wanted to check, it was not that easy.

As long as the officials of the Ministry of Personnel and the Department of Personnel are willing to identify Wang Hui, and they bribe some officials from the county where Wang Hui was, they are not afraid that Wang Hui will not be moved.

Of course, because it was too far in time, if the emperor wanted to protect Wang Hui, Wang Hui might not necessarily fall, but at least for the sake of peace, the emperor would no longer be obsessed with the affairs between the two of him. This was Yan Yan's purpose.

It has to be said that if they met ordinary people with this approach, they might really get along because they cherish their talents, but the person sitting on the golden platform now is Zhu Gaoxu.

Wang Hui is indeed very good, and Zhu Gaoxu is very easy to use, but this does not mean that he is willing to let Yan Yan and Li Mian go for Wang Hui.

Although Yang Shiqi and Wang Huidang investigated the case and found more than 20 million yuan of money and food in the world, this would at most extend the Ming Dynasty's finances for two more years, far from the amount Zhu Gaoxu wanted.

Moreover, he was already disappointed with Yan Yan and Li Mian. If they had chosen to become officials when they entered the palace, Zhu Gaoxu would have given them a way to survive.

But their current approach clearly showed that they were still unwilling to give up power, so in his thoughts, Zhu Gaoxu had already made a decision.

It's worth exchanging one Wang Hui for Yan Yan and Li Mian...

"Wang Hui, what else do you have to say?"

As soon as Zhu Gaoxu spoke, not only Yan Yan and Li Mian were stunned, but also Yi Shiha and Zhu Zhanhe.

They didn't expect that Wang Hui's sharp knife would be abandoned after not even holding on for a year.

"Your Majesty, I plead guilty!"

If Zhu Gaoxu's question surprised everyone, then Wang Hui's answer shocked everyone.

After all, so many years have passed since Wang Hui paid bribes, but it is not easy to trace it. If Wang Hui insists that he did not pay bribes, then even if Zhu Gaoxu wants to trace it, it will take a lot of effort.

But now, Wang Hui's direct confession made Zhu Gaoxu feel that he had punched cotton.

Before everyone could react, Wang Hui continued:
"I plead guilty, but I did not bribe officials from the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Civil Affairs, but bribed two treacherous officials."

"Now these two traitorous ministers have jumped out on their own initiative. One is Yan Yan, the prime minister of Dali Temple, and the other is Li Mian, the right minister of the Ministry of Punishment!"

Wang Hui bowed his hands, ignoring the shock caused by his self-destruction: "I had enough political achievements back then, so I should be able to serve as magistrate in other places. However, the officialdom was dim at that time, and I was determined to clean up the officialdom, so I had no choice but to bribe these two treacherous ministers. He came to the capital to take up a post and began to investigate the criminal evidence of these two people and their accomplices."

"I just said that the evidence of the crimes of these two people and their accomplices is in my house, which also includes the fact that I bribed them."

"Your Majesty wants to punish me, and I have no regrets. However, these two thieves say that I have been corrupt and accepted bribes, but I will never admit it!"

"None of the bribes I paid back then were obtained from the people's anointing. In addition to the salary of the three years since I served as the county magistrate, the hundreds of dollars came from the sale of the land in my hometown in Jilin, the money accumulated by my father for many years, and the money I had with him. Money borrowed from folks and neighbors.”

"Over the years that I have been an official, the money I borrowed has basically been repaid with my salary, and I have never been corrupted at all."

"If Your Majesty wants to kill me, I am willing to submit to the law, but before doing so, I have one more thing to impeach!"

No one expected that Wang Hui would not only blow himself up, but also blow himself up clearly, and even impeach someone after the self-exposure.

Of course, no one believed what he said.

They knew what the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty was like. If Wang Hui's hundreds of strings were really raised as he said, then he could definitely be regarded as the most upright official of the Ming Dynasty.

As for what he wanted to impeach before his death, it has also become the focus of everyone's attention.

"allow……"

Zhu Gaoxu wanted to see what else Wang Hui wanted to impeach, as did Zhu Zhanhe and Yi Shiha, while Li Mian and Yan Yan felt a chill in their hearts, only feeling that Wang Hui was definitely going to kill them both.

Under the gaze of everyone in the hall, Wang Hui bowed his hands and knelt on the ground respectfully. After five bows and three kowtows, he slowly raised his head and looked at Zhu Gaoxu.

"I want to impeach His Majesty for the crime of...negligence!"

(End of this chapter)