Emperor’s Battlefield: I, Zhu Houzhao, like to push horizontally

Chapter 97: There is nothing you cannot get without the right. If you do, it means your power is not strong enough.

In an officialdom where people always speak politely, Zhu Houzhao's words were enough to turn the table on his head.

The entire hall was audible. Whether they were worried about something or not, all the officials lowered their heads and did not dare to look directly into Zhu Houzhao's sharp eyes.

Compared to Zhu Youtang, all civil and military officials were actually more afraid of His Highness the Young Prince.

This Crown Prince is so mysterious. He has an extremely powerful army and incredible abilities. He can also communicate with ancient and modern emperors, making all civil and military officials extremely afraid.

"Ta Tata..."

The officials were silent, but Zhu Houzhao did not stop and walked towards the officials step by step.

Listening to the approaching footsteps, some people's hearts were in their throats, and large beads of sweat fell from their chins.

"As the saying goes, when you are a person or an official, you should be divided into seven parts for yourself, two parts for the court, and one part for thinking about others."

"The salary of our Ming Dynasty court is low. Regarding some of your private actions, it is not easy for you to support a large family. I just turn a blind eye."

"But some people are just shameless, taking the court's tolerance of them as the court's inability to live without them, and act unscrupulously."

"In a county or town, who can be admitted as a scholar depends on how much money is paid. It's ridiculous that a rough guy who can't read can take the title of head of a case."

"In order to expand their silk business, they increased the cultivation of mulberry fields, opened up rivers and left the people with no harvest, and forcibly harvested the fields and converted them from rice to mulberries."

"Eating soldiers' quotas, drinking soldiers' blood, officers and soldiers using them for personal use, treating the important weapons of the imperial court as their own private slaves..."

With every step he took, Zhu Houzhao told him something about the darkness of officialdom. By the time he reached an official, he had already told him seven or eight things that made all the civil and military officials tremble with concern.

"Shilang Chen!"

Arriving in front of an official, Zhu Houzhao looked coldly at the Minister of Tobe who was sweating profusely and his whole body was shaking because of the shaking of his calves.

"Chen...chen...chen..."

Zhu Houzhao's aura was so intimidating that the Minister of Household Affairs in front of him was so suppressed that he could not even speak a complete sentence.

He put his hand on the other person's shoulder, "I'm asking you, is the governor of Yangzhou your student, right?"

"Yes!"

The body of the Minister of Tobe visibly softened. His Highness the Prince mentioned his student. He knew that he was going to die, and he admitted the relationship between the two with a look of despair.

"There are a total of eight prefectures and counties that started the Divine Grace Tax first, and he is one of them. I want to ask you, do you know about this?"

"Chen...Chen..."

Without waiting for the other party to answer, Zhu Houzhao sneered, "You should know, right? Yangzhou thin horse tastes good, right?"

"You are almost 60 years old this year."

"Yes."

"Hahaha, at such an old age, you still have to share a courtyard as big as Yangzhou and so many beautiful wives and concubines for the imperial court. It's really hard on you."

"Your Highness, spare your life, I was just confused for a moment."

The body of the Minister of Hubei collapsed on the ground, kowtowing frantically, and loudly begging for mercy.

"Where is Jinyiwei!"

Zhu Houzhao didn't even look at him and shouted outside.

"Tap tap..."

A burst of dense footsteps, stepping on the heartstrings of civil and military officials, rushed into the hall.

"My lord, Zhang Lie, commander of the Jinyi Guards, is here to see His Majesty and to pay homage to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Zhang Lie, who rushed in with the Jin Yiwei, first saluted Zhu Youtang and Zhu Houzhao, and then stood quietly waiting for orders.

Zhu Houzhao pointed to the minister who was still kowtowing, "Take off his veil, take off his official robe, and escort him out of the palace to wait for the order."

"According to the order!"

Zhang Lie loudly accepted the order, raised his hand, and several royal guards stepped forward, directly pushed the Minister of Household Chen to the ground, took off his official hat, stripped off his official robe, and dragged him out of the palace.

"Your Majesty. Your Majesty, please spare your life, please spare your life..."

Chen Shilang, who was dragged away, begged for mercy loudly towards Zhu Youtang, who had his eyes closed and said nothing.

Zhang Lie, who was on the side, noticed Zhu Houzhao's slightly frowning brows, glared hard, and waved outside.

I saw one of the Jinyi guards who accompanied the escort, directly picked up the scabbard, and smashed it into the shouting mouth of Chen Shilang of the Ministry of Finance.

With a muffled howl, all the teeth in Chen Shilang's mouth were knocked out. Broken teeth and blood spurted out from his mouth, and he rolled his eyes and fainted.

Such a bloody scene made all civil and military officials feel chills in their hearts.

Jin Yiwei is still as terrifying as ever.

"The minister is guilty of death!"

As soon as Chen Shilang of the Ministry of Revenue was taken away, before Zhu Houzhao found the next person, an official stood up, took off his official hat, put it aside, and knelt on the ground.

Everyone looked at him from the corner of their eyes, Zuo Bi, the official doctor.

Zhu Houzhao walked up to him and looked at him calmly.

"Why do you deserve to die!"

Zuo Zuo kowtowed again, "The governor of Shanxi was in the same year as the guilty minister. He also had a share in the proposal of the divine grace tax. The guilty minister accepted his bribe and helped him hide it from the court."

Zhu Houzhao asked again: "Then why did you stand up again?"

"His Royal Highness, the Heavenly Patroller, is now taking action to rectify the situation. Naturally, the target has been determined. I just want to hide it for how long."

"Rather than let His Highness find out, it is better to admit it without hesitation." Zuo Suo said calmly: "The guilty minister only hopes that by doing this, he can gain favor from His Highness and save the lives of his whole family."

Zhu Houzhao looked at him and nodded, "Yes."

Zhu Houzhao was very willing to give him a chance to admit and take the lead in confessing his crime.

After waving his hand, Zuo Bi didn't wait for the Jinyi guards to come over and escort him. He kowtowed heavily to Zhu Youtang, took off his official robe, and strode out of the palace.

"Who else is willing to stand up on his own? We can just kill him, seize his family property, and let his family go."

After Zuo Pei left, Zhu Houzhao looked at the others and glanced at them emphatically.

However, after he asked for a long time, no one in the civil and military train came forward.

Zhu Houzhao understood that these people still had a trace of luck in their hearts, thinking that Zhu Houzhao did not know its existence.

This is just like a primary school student who hasn't done his homework. He always refuses to do his homework because the teacher doesn't check him, or because he doesn't check him.

"Haha, no one is there anymore?"

Zhu Houzhao sneered, and no one in the queue responded.

"Okay, I've given you the opportunity. If you don't cherish it, don't blame me for being ruthless."

He took out a small book and threw it to Zhang Lie, who was following behind to protect him, "Follow the list and arrest people."

"Yes."

Zhang Lie took the book, glanced at the civil and military officials ferociously, opened the first page and read it loudly.

"Wang Qian, the Minister of Punishment, accepted bribes from others to erase his guilt, and participated in the planning of the Divine Grace Tax..."

"Ministry of Industry."

Every time Zhang Lie read out a name and a crime, an official fell to the ground with a pale face.

The imperial guards who were standing by rushed forward and dragged him out of the crowd.

As the name reading continued, there were fewer and fewer people in the queue of civil and military officials.

When Zhang Lie closed the list, not to mention those outside the hall, the number of people who were qualified to enter the hall was reduced by 1/3.

Zhu Youtang, who was sitting at the top, felt chills in his heart when he saw the densely packed officials being pushed to the ground by the Jin Yiwei.

In his opinion, he personally selected the important ministers who could enter the hall, and at most one or two would be good.

But he didn't expect to be brushed down by 1/3, which made him feel painful in his heart.

This is his court, and these are the officials of the Ming Dynasty whom he has entrusted with important responsibilities.

What made him even more unexpected was that two of the six ministers were removed, namely the minister of rites and the minister of punishment.

Both of these two people have good reputations and are capable, but they did not expect to be involved in this matter.

In fact, if you think about it, you can understand it. Without the protection of such a top boss, how could such a thing be hidden?

The only thing that made him happy was that several important ministers in the cabinet were not among these people. Otherwise, Zhu Youtang would be in despair, and there would be no clean place in his Ming Dynasty.

"Your Highness, all the people on the list have been arrested and brought to justice."

Zhang Lie closed the book, knelt down respectfully, and returned to Zhu Houzhao.

Zhu Houzhao waved his hand, slowly stood up from his position, and looked at the dense crowd of officials kneeling below and outside the hall.

After closing his eyes and being silent for a while, Zhu Houzhao pointed with trembling fingers at the people kneeling on the ground, and said in a deep tone:
"Look at these people, which one is not handsome, who is not talented in literature, and which one is not a pillar of the imperial court."

"To establish a heart for heaven and earth, to establish a destiny for the living and the people, to carry forward the unique knowledge of the past saints, and to create peace for all generations, these are the magnificent ideals in the hearts of scholars."

Walking down the steps, Zhu Houzhao looked at the civil and military ministers.

"I believe that when everyone was taking the imperial examination, they thought about doing something grand for the Ming Dynasty and the people of the world, using their talents to govern the world and save the people, and be famous for thousands of years."

"But the temptation of officialdom is too great: beauty, power, money, and status."

"These are like five stones scattered, tempting you again and again."

"Some people persisted in their true intentions and resisted these temptations, but what about others." Zhu Houzhao pointed to the people kneeling on the ground, "But they fell into it and couldn't extricate themselves."

"Too."

"A little greed is death, and more is also death. Since both the left and the right are going to die, why not enjoy it before you die."

"At the very least, this life has not been in vain."

"I'm not sure. Fortunately, the court didn't find out. Not only can I enjoy happiness that ordinary people cannot enjoy, but I can also earn a good reputation after my death."

Everyone in the hall was silent. What Zhu Houzhao said was absolutely correct.

There is no such thing as small corruption or big corruption in the officialdom. If you are greedy, you are greedy. If you are less greedy, it can only prove that the official's work is not big enough and the value of being used by others is not high.

If you are caught, you will most likely die. Once you reach out, you will have no chance to take it back.

Since you know clearly that you are going to die, why are you afraid of this and that? Enjoy it and death will be worth it.

Standing in front of the Minister of Rites, Zhu Houzhao looked at the officials kneeling on the ground: "Since you have enjoyed your blessings and spent your money comfortably, it is time to pay off the debt."

After saying that, Zhu Houzhao turned around and waved his hand, "Take them all away and interrogate them strictly."

"Behead those who deserve to be beheaded, those who deserve to be Ling Chi, those who deserve to be confiscated, those who deserve to be exiled, and the names that come out after interrogation, whether they are royal relatives, ministers of the court, or even Gu's uncle, will be dealt with accordingly! "

Zhang Yanling and Zhang Heling, who were squatting in a corner and being supported by two eunuchs to attend the court meeting, rolled their eyes when they heard this and almost fainted again.

There was a burst of resentment in their hearts, wondering what evil they had done in their previous lives, and how could they meet such an unkind nephew in this life.

(End of this chapter)