Zhu Biao led his younger brothers to the side courtyard, where many people were standing densely, and there was a faint sound of crying.

After Zhu Biao walked in, it was like water droplets falling into the hot oil pot, and a crackling sound sounded instantly.

The brows of several princes were neatly furrowed, and there was a lot of noise here, and these household officials began to kowtow and cry towards Zhu Biao.

"Your Highness, help, Your Highness, Weichen only took some grain, twenty stone of grain!"

"Your Highness, there are dozens of people up and down in Weichen's house, and the minister can't let them starve to death!"

"Your Highness's court is not enough at all, and the ministers are helpless, please be gracious, please be gracious, please be gracious!"

"His Royal Highness the Prince, Weichen wants to see the saint, the minister is an official of the Yuan Court, the saint forcibly forced the minister to take up the official position, why can't he even supply the food and clothing of the minister, is this how the saint treats me?"

Zhu Biao looked at them indifferently, some people were already crazy under pressure, especially the old ministers of the Yuan Court, Lu Chang was in prison, they knew that the backer had fallen, and the purge was just around the corner, so they naturally didn't care about it.

Some people rushed to a place a few meters away from Zhu Biao, but were stopped by the officials of the Criminal Department, who roared at Zhu Biao hoarsely.

The pro-soldiers behind Zhu Biao were eager to try, as long as they dared to break free from the shackles or a word from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, they would immediately slaughter these things that did not know whether they were alive or dead.

Hearing the movement, Shangshu of the Criminal Department hurried over, and watched as those people waved their hands, and the officials who stopped them raised their knives and fell, and in an instant, more than a dozen court officials fell to the ground, choked in pain and died.

Shangshu of the Criminal Department walked quickly in front of Zhu Biao and saluted: "Your Highness is frightened, these people know that their death is coming, and they dare to offend Tianwei, and they should be punished!" ”

Zhu Biao waved his hand, looked at the quiet and panicked crowd inside, and said: "Although the imperial court does not give you much, as long as you save it, it must be enough for an old snack to drink." What's more, as an official of the household department, don't you know how many of the people in the Ming Dynasty can't even eat? ”

Looking at the dejected officials below, Zhu Biao said slowly: "The harvest in the past two years has been good, and the palace has also applied to the emperor to raise the income of the officials from next year, and the emperor has also approved it, you won't have heard the news, right?" ”

With Zhu Biao's words, the smarter officials in the household department have already begun to react, what is the status of His Royal Highness the Prince, where does he have time to waste words with these people who have committed capital crimes, and they are obviously beating them.

As soon as the tense mind was relaxed, the originally confused mind immediately sobered up, and the imperial court was now short of manpower, especially the household department was about to reach the busiest time of the year, so they were not a dead end.

However, according to the character of the saint, in order to establish the majesty of the court and deter corrupt officials, it is inevitable to kill some people, so there is a way to live but it is relatively narrow, it depends on who eats less and reacts quickly enough, so as to have a chance to escape.

Zhao Jianxing, the head of the household department, stepped forward and kowtowed to Zhu Biao and cried: "The minister is guilty, the minister has lived up to the expectations of the saint, and wasted a piece of hard work of His Highness. ”

This cry immediately drove a group of people, and their positions were still relatively high, so those who could become officials were generally smart people.

Many of them began to sincerely repent, and some even hit their heads on the ground, and the heads were bleeding and shouting for Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao in the next life.

Zhu Biao is also very satisfied with this, but it is not that he behaves well at this time, he will definitely have a chance to live, and if he is greedy, he will have to be hung up as a model.

When the night gradually darkened, and the account books were almost verified, the officials of the household department actively cooperated, and they were eager to come out and calculate the amount of corruption for them in person.

Otherwise, don't think about such a complicated thing tomorrow night, the pro-army Governor's Mansion has already turned over the mansions of those household officials, and their family property has been counted.

In the end, the secretary of the criminal department handed over to Zhu Biao two account books, one of which clearly recorded the amount of embezzlement of the household officials, and after the calculation, it could be matched with the account books of the household department.

The other is to give an account of a larger shortfall, the amount far exceeds the income of the household embezzlement, there is no record of the individual, there is a clear record of the tax grain collected by the other five departments, and there are several individual taxes and grain drawn in a large circle, indicating that it is a high authority.

After handing it over, the criminal department Shangshu knelt on the ground, waiting for the results of His Royal Highness the Prince's processing, and the check account books were completed under the supervision of the pro-army Governor's Mansion, so it was impossible to be full of the Holy Lord and His Royal Highness the Prince, and Li Xiangguo and the Ministry of Officials Shangshu had already ordered not to deceive the prince, and everything was truthfully reported to have a chance to survive.

Zhu Biao looked at the record with a cold face, among the six departments, the most corrupt tax and grain was not the household department, but the officials department and the criminal department, and Zhu Biao had to guess who the few individual taxes and grain were in deficit, and there were only a few high-ranking and powerful people in the court.

Zhu Biao smashed the two account books on the bookcase, looked at the Shangshu of the Criminal Department and said, "What, you have no money to support your family?" Those who committed the crime didn't miss you, and they actually stretched out their hands to the household, which is really insatiable! ”

Shangshu of the Criminal Department kowtowed for a while before saying: "Your Highness, the minister said a heart-wrenching word, the court's salary is really a little low, how can the ministers and other old brothers who follow the saint to fight the world still have a family business, and they can't be hungry." ”

"Although we have collected a few of these grain taxes, they have basically been distributed to the officials of various ministries, just like a few cadres under the ministers, who are sick in the high hall at home, and they can't do without medicine every day, and that little money can be exchanged for a few days of medicine money, and there are .........many people like this in the rest of the ministries."

Zhu Biao waved his hand and interrupted him and said: "If you are greedy, there is always a reason, how many such people can there be, is it possible that the six departments add up to thousands of people who have a medicine jar in their homes?" Why don't you report the situation of these people, is it difficult for the imperial court to deliberately sow a sum of silver to treat the families of officials?

Zhu Biao snorted coldly and said: "It's not that you want to comfort yourself with these, and then pervert the law with peace of mind, your money is not enough to see a doctor, so the people who are oppressed by you will get sick?" ”

Shangshu of the Criminal Department did not speak, he was in charge of the Criminal Department, how could he not know what virtue people were greedy for, in the dim light, Shangshu of the Criminal Department looked at Zhu Biao and said: "How to deal with it, please make a decision on Your Highness." ”

Zhu Biao glanced at him, lit an account book with a candle, then threw it into the brazier, looked at the account book that gradually turned into ashes and said: "Forget it this time, but you don't have to be happy too early, if you continue to be greedy, you will have to pay it back sooner or later, and you also know that your father's personality is definitely not a next time." ”

After the criminal department Shang Shu promised, he said: "The minister will convey His Highness's words to others, and he will also go back to always be vigilant, and he will definitely not disappoint His Highness." ”

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