Daming: I am the most powerful emperor grandson, please abdicate the throne

Chapter 723 Must be severely punished
  The officials in the main hall continued to lower their heads and said nothing.

Those officials who felt guilty didn't even know what to say. They didn't dare to take a stand at all, for fear of being targeted, and they were still thinking about what they should do to remedy the situation.

When this matter is investigated, it is quite serious.

We must know that taxation is related to the people's livelihood of the country and is closely related to the development and stability of a country.

"what do y'all think?"

After Zhu Yuanzhang finished listening to Shen Qian's words, he looked back and asked slowly. His voice spread throughout the hall, and all the officials did not dare to respond for a while.

After Shen Qian finished speaking about the impeachment, she bowed and lowered her head without any other expression.

"Are they all mute?"

Zhu Yuanzhang's cold voice appeared again, and he continued to look at them.

Zhu Xuan said: "Grandpa Huang, they don't dare to speak. Could it be that they are actually colluding with the Buddhist temple, and now that this matter has been exposed, they are afraid that they will be punished?"

As soon as these words came out, all the officials in the hall knelt down one after another.

His Royal Highness the Emperor Taisun directly explained their current situation, and the fact was that most of the officials had a guilty conscience, and only a small number of officials had a clear conscience. But when they saw everyone kneeling, they also knelt down with them.

"It seems that our dear grandson is right!"

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted coldly and said: "You...have done a good job! As an official of the Ming Dynasty, he is powerful and greedy for money. He knows the law and breaks the law, colludes with Buddhist temples, hides land and taxes. In the past few years, have we done the right thing? Are you too tolerant? Have you forgotten that we also have the nickname Zhu Butcher?"

When the officials heard this, they just kowtowed and the ground shook.

They could feel the killing intent coming from Lao Zhu.

It is true that Butcher Zhu has not killed anyone for a long time, and they have indeed forgotten how terrifying Butcher Zhu is.

"His Majesty!"

The current Minister of the Ministry of Punishment suddenly revealed his voice and kneeled forward and said: "I believe that such behavior is definitely not uncommon in the Ming Dynasty. If found out, we must severely punish and severely punish them! No matter whether they are nobles, officials, or relatives of the emperor, they must be treated equally. Crack down hard and don’t let anyone go!”

He was the first official to express his approval.

Also a northern official.

There are actually differences between officials in the north and south of the Ming Dynasty.

The number of officials in the north is far less than that in the south. The reason is that the Yuan Dynasty gradually regretted its destruction in the north. In order to win over the people in the south, it spared many wealthy families from the south.

There are far fewer scholars in the north than in the south.

Most of the scholars in the south have family heritage and are very good at exams. Southern officials also represent the interests of a certain group of people. Behind them, relying on their families, they own a huge amount of land in the south.

If taxes were paid based on property, a huge expenditure would have to be made every year.

Among all the officials in the DPRK, southern officials accounted for the vast majority of the amount of hidden property and collusion with Buddhist temples. After all, no one wanted to have their interests taken away in vain.

As one of the northern officials, Bao Zhao has always been disdainful of such behavior in the south. He continued: "Your Majesty's new tax system has been in place for so many years. One can imagine how long the concealment of land has been going on. How much damage have they caused to Ming Dynasty?"

Seeing that someone was finally willing to speak, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly in appreciation to Bao Zhao, and then sneered again.

As soon as Bao Zhao opened his mouth, he could see that many officials from the Southern Department were looking at Bao Zhao with hateful eyes.

From this we can see how different the north and south are.

There are four hundred and eighty temples in the Southern Dynasty, and there are many towers in the mist.

The number of Buddhist temples in the south is also much greater than that in the north. Southern officials have to hide things, especially officials in the Jiangnan region, who are also much more relaxed than those in the north.

"You guys are really good!"

Zhu Yuanzhang said coldly.

"I also believe that it must be severely punished."

Shen Qian echoed that he was also a northern official, which was one of the reasons why he was selected by Zhu Xuan.

"The minister waits to die!"

The kneeling officials, who had guilty consciences, no longer explained, only kowtowed and admitted their mistakes. At this point, explanations are useless. As long as Jin Yiwei wants to check, they can find out how many bowls of rice they had last night.

Sophistry will only anger Lao Zhu and make him die faster.

But everyone was trembling.

"His Majesty!"

Zhang Yan, who was also an official from the north, stepped forward and echoed: "I believe that severe punishment is necessary, but..."

He raised his head, looked at the officials, and continued: "This matter involves too much and is too broad. If we punish them all, I am afraid it will delay the government. I am not interceding for them. It is really... Government affairs cannot be delayed!"

Zhu Xuan asked in return: "Don't you know the law and break it? As an official or a distinguished person, you take the lead in breaking the law and concealing property. Shouldn't you be punished?"

"should!"

Zhang Yan affirmed: "But we must punish him without delaying the government's affairs!"

This statement actually makes sense. The government affairs of the imperial court are always the focus and are related to the national economy and people's livelihood. Once it is delayed, it may cause a lot of trouble.

"My minister agrees!"

Bao Zhao agreed.

He was the first to advocate severe punishment, but not one that would knock them all down at once.

Otherwise, even if new officials are promoted now, it will be too late.

Zhu Yuanzhang's face was gloomy. He felt that there were too many restrictions to do this. Seeing the kneeling officials below secretly relieved, he felt even more unhappy.

"Then tell us, what should we do?"

Zhu Yuanzhang asked coldly.

Zhang Yan and the others were silent. These suggestions were considered the limit. If they put forward other ideas, I am afraid that they will be excluded and opposed by many southern officials in the DPRK in the future.

You must know that the number of officials in the south is far greater than that in the north.

As for the southern officials, they remained silent and did not want to punish themselves.

"Are you dumb again?"

"A bunch of people who only know how to be mute, what do we need from you?"

Zhu Yuanzhang's almost roaring voice echoed in the hall.

"Grandpa Huang, don't be angry!"

Zhu Xuan thought for a moment and said, "How about we let them go down? Let's go back and discuss what to do."

He was worried that Grandpa Huang would be too angry and cause damage to his body, which would be more than worth the loss.

"All get out!"

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand angrily.

The officials were relieved and quickly retreated.

Walking outside the main hall, Xu Huizu let out a long breath, but there was no need for him to be nervous, because the Xu family was very law-abiding and had never done anything like this.

According to the results of the self-examination, it is okay for the time being.

The Chang family members were pardoned, their officials were reinstated, and they could come to court. Chang Sheng and the others were relieved. The Chang family was also very content and self-examination. The result of the self-examination was that they were fine for the time being, but they would continue to investigate in depth in order to Just in case.

As for those officials who feel guilty, they are ready to go back and write suicide notes.

But they were thinking that even writing a suicide note would be useless. Once the punishment was imposed, the whole family might be hacked, leaving them crying without tears and their legs shaking when they walked.

In their hearts, they cursed the distinguished nobles of Dingyuan over and over again.

(End of this chapter)