Next, it is the confession of Fan Ji Qian Bank's owner, Fan Yongzheng.

His confession also corroborates the confessions of Fan Fu, the shopkeeper of Fan Ji Qianzhuang, all of which are consistent. Even more surprising is the clarity of when and what to say. It was also because the factory guards had such specific details that they shocked Fan Fu and Fan Yongzheng and others, including other domestic slaves, that they had to confess.

Before the civil and military officials present had time to sigh, including Cao Huachun, the governor of Dongchang, they all came out to read out the confessions in their hands one by one.

So, a line was connected in series, and through Fan Fu, Liu Meicai, the imperial history, was drawn; Through Liu Meicai, two other imperial histories were brought out, Yang Zhiqi and Liao Guoxuan; What's even more shocking is that Yang Sichang was also involved.

At this point, it is already clear that none of these people can escape guilt.

Although these things are indeed shocking, when it comes to the crime of rebellion, most civil and military officials are still a little unconvinced.

Except for the imperial historian Liu Meicai, the other people's crimes are more corruption and party strife, but it is more precise.

If this kind of thing is characterized as a case of rebellion, many people are worried that after Chongzhen Dynasty has made this head, will there be charges of rebellion at every turn in the future?

Therefore, I saw Zhong Jiong, the imperial historian of Zuodu, playing to the emperor: "Your Majesty, I don't know if Yang Sichang has confessed?" ”

Yang Sichang's confession has not yet been read. And his confession is naturally the most concerned by all civil and military officials, and it is the most important thing. As a result, many officials followed suit and expressed their concern.

When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he just nodded lightly and said to Cao Huachun: "Read it!" ”

"Slave obeys!" After Cao Huachun bowed down to receive the decree, he began to read Yang Sichang's confession.

In his confession, he confessed to trying to bring down Lu Xiangsheng, and Sun Chuanting was also the object he wanted to take down. These things, when they are, including saying the original words, Yang Sichang can't admit his guilt if he wants to.

It was also from his confession that Chen Xinjia, the governor of Xuanda, was involved.

However, even after listening to these confessions, the ministers were actually a little unimpressed, because this kind of thing should not be too ordinary in the court. Let's just say that the Chongzhen Dynasty is good, so many Shoufu and Liubu Shangshu were withdrawn and killed, isn't that person involved in this kind of party struggle behind him?

Other dynasties, the same is. And they can believe that this kind of thing has existed before, and it is now, and even in the future, it will definitely exist.

It is a good thing that the emperor can distinguish between loyalty and treachery, and is not swayed by traitorous ministers. For the false ministers, it doesn't matter if they are convicted and sentenced to death, who let them be unlucky, and the party struggle has failed!

But if the emperor wants to characterize this kind of thing as rebellion, this is a serious crime of stealing the family and destroying the clan, and how many people can afford such consequences. At least for now, these civil and military officials all think that the emperor has punished too harshly. The word rebellion is too capricious. This kind of thing, they have an opinion!

Emperor Chongzhen was on the throne, and when Cao Huachun or Li Ruolian was reading the confession, he was scanning every courtier below, and naturally noticed the change in their faces. In this regard, it is all expected, and I don't care.

Cao Huachun continued to read, and at this time, he read about the corruption of who Yang Sichang accepted from him, and then he naturally brought out other officials who offered bribes. These officials who read it out did not read a small number of them, and they were generally relatively large in amount and the circumstances were relatively serious. And these people, obviously, have also been arrested. These things are like a melon on a vine, and a large number of corrupt officials have been touched along the vine.

After reading this part of the confession, Cao Huachun turned to read the confessions of the other officials who were arrested, among them, naturally he could not escape the most serious matter of buying and selling officials in the officialdom, so those things of Shang Shu Tian Weijia of the former Ministry of Officials were re-exposed.

When Cao Huachun read this, his mouth was already dry. So, Emperor Chongzhen interjected and said: "The reason why I severely punished Tian Weijia and punished him for the crime of bullying the monarch was not only because he deceived me, but also because he corrupted the court and used the official position of the court as a tool for him to accumulate wealth. Buying and selling official positions. Don't tell me, today's Shilin, you can pay money to buy officials and then serve the country and the people, right? If there is such a noble character, you should recommend it to me, and I will definitely use it! ”

Speaking of this, he suddenly became stern in his tone, and shouted loudly: "What has the Ming officialdom become corrupt now? Judging from the corruption situation in the land under my control now, has the goose plucked its feathers? ”

In the face of the emperor's anger, the military officials below didn't know why, but they were relieved.

The emperor admitted it now, in the final analysis, it is still corruption, this is what you said yourself, and you will talk about it when you turn around, so that the crime of treason cannot be abused after all, right?

Corruption is corruption, rebellion is rebellion, and there must be no confusion!

When Emperor Chongzhen said that he was angry, he actually stood up from the throne, his face was full of anger, like a fierce tiger, as if he wanted to choose someone to devour, and continued to shout and ask: "Today's officials, whether they are local or court, whether they are official or general, only have a little power in their hands, and they have cheated the court to pay taxes out of nothing, is there any?" You yourself say that how many people have actually paid taxes according to the number of acres of tax-exempt fields? Is there any collusion between them to falsely declare tax-exempt acres and classify all the taxes that should be paid as tax-exempt, so as to avoid paying taxes? ”

The Ming Dynasty never said that as long as he became an official, all land and property were exempted from taxes, and there was no such thing at all. There are limits based on grades. It's just that, for the most part, this limit is a decoration. Especially at the end of the Ming Dynasty, this situation was even more serious.

This is a stubborn disease that involves all officials, and it is impossible to cure it radically. However, it is still necessary to take it out and beat it.

In the face of the emperor's wrath, no one spoke.

"Is there a thing about layers of exploitation and deduction? Just talk about the military salary, after the imperial court allocates it, how many people will reach out and deduct it, and when the military salary reaches the hands of the soldiers, there can be eleven numbers? And how much of the disaster relief money is actually used for disaster relief when it goes to the local level? Tell me, is there such a thing, is there much? ”

All officials are well aware of this, and no one objects.

"Also, is there any collusion between inside and outside for embezzlement? How much of the silver allocated by the imperial court for imperial court procurement fell into the pockets of imperial court officials and local merchants who colluded with each other? Is there such a thing, is there any, is there much? ”

It was still silent, but some officials looked at each other in private, and there was surprise in their eyes, as if they were surprised how the emperor knew so many things?

"Arbitrary and willful officials, regard the imperial court's taxes as private things, place a basket to the yamen, pay taxes or not, and use the court's taxes to win their official reputation of loving the people, is there such an official, how many are they?"

This kind of thing was mostly seen in the Ming Dynasty, and it was concentrated in the Jiangnan region. From the governor to the locality, there are such things. The example given by Emperor Chongzhen is one of the exceptions, and it has reached the point of being unscrupulous. Although other officials are not so obvious, they have done similar things. That is, to use the interests of the imperial court as a bargaining chip in exchange for his own reputation.

"How much of the people's fat and ointment did the officials who set up a name to ask for it loot from the people? As far as I know, most of the money paid by the people is like this. In the end, the people abandoned their fields and fled, and even took risks, and many of them were forced by such officials to endlessly demand. ”

"Also, when encountering things, if there are good things, they favor relatives and friends, things that have no interests, or things that need to be solved with energy, are just prevarication and difficulty, are there any such officials, are there many?"

“……”

Listening to Emperor Chongzhen listing detailed examples of corruption, the military officials below could only remain silent, and while being surprised, they thought to themselves, I don't know which official gave the emperor a secret recital. Otherwise, how would the emperor know all kinds of things in the local area when he was in Beijing?

Thinking of this time, many people turned their eyes to Xue Guoguan, the first assistant who was standing at the front. Obviously, they felt that nine times out of ten, it was Xue Manzi who stabbed these things up.

But at this time, many people are a little relieved by this. It's better to catch corruption than to fight rebellion, isn't it!

After Emperor Chongzhen summed up a bunch of corruption examples, he shouted and asked: "You say, is this officialdom corrupt to be cured?" If this kind of corruption is allowed to continue, can the Ming Dynasty be protected? ”

Hearing this, many people suddenly came back to their senses, could it be that the emperor felt that corruption would corrupt the Ming Dynasty, so he was given a crime of rebellion? The emperor actually said this? Doesn't that mean that if anyone is corrupt and charged with treason, then it will be over?

As a result, many people wanted to come out and correct this statement of the emperor.

However, at this moment, he saw Xue Guoguan taking the lead and said to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, the "Da Ming Law" revised by Taizu and the previous emperors of previous dynasties have regulations on corruption among hundreds of officials. Weichen thinks that if there is corruption, the crime will be punished according to the law. There are too many corrupt people, and the officialdom is corrupt, so the law is serious, and only if you violate the "Da Ming Law", you will be punished, and one will be punished, so that Weichen believes that the rule of officials should be improved! ”

Hearing this, many people couldn't help but look at Xue Guoguan with admiration. Today's sun has come out of the west. The emperor's dog leg even objected to the emperor's indiscriminate accusations, and he wanted to be convicted according to the "Da Ming Law"! Rare, rare!

But in retrospect, think about it. You Xue Guoguan is also a courtier, if you evil the emperor one day and are also charged with treason, wouldn't it also harm the nine clans?

Thinking of this, many officials came out one after another, and all echoed Xue Guoguan's words. Roughly speaking, it means that there must be laws to be followed, law enforcement must be strict, and violations must be prosecuted. As for the crime of indiscriminately, especially the crime of treason, then do not want it.

Emperor Chongzhen seemed to be moved, and after a moment of silence, he nodded and said, "Zhuqing is right. However, now that the Metropolitan Procuratorate is a serious disaster area for corruption, I want to rebuild the Metropolitan Procuratorate and strictly supervise the mechanism to prevent corruption in officialdom. ”

There is no guarantee that these officials who remain are not corrupt, but the severity of their corruption is much lighter than that of those who have been caught. At this time, when they heard the emperor's words, they couldn't help but have doubts in their minds: Rebuild the Metropolitan Procuratorate? Serious monitoring mechanism?

For a moment, they didn't know what the emperor wanted to do? However, the corruption of the Metropolitan Procuratorate is indeed an indisputable fact, as long as there is no talk of rebellion, then everything else can be discussed.

So, some courtiers asked, what is the law for the reconstruction of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and what is the serious law for the serious supervision mechanism?

In this regard, Emperor Chongzhen had been waiting for a long time, so he immediately said to them: "I want to expand the Imperial Procuratorate, not only in Jingshi and Yingtianfu, but also in other provinces, at least at the prefectural level. The duty of the local prosecutor's office is to supervise local officials, strictly enforce the law, and clean up the local officialdom. It's not just a temporary patrol to inspect the place! ”

This is to give power to the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and for the officials under supervision, they are naturally unhappy. But at this time, the corruption of local officials has just been enumerated, and if anyone is against it, won't they have the feeling that there are no three hundred taels of silver here?

As a result, for a while, no official spoke out about this and responded with silence.

However, if he doesn't make a sound, he will be scolded to death by the imperial historian in the future. Besides, he was also happy to increase the power of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, so he immediately came out and said: "Your Majesty's law is very good, and Weichen seconded it!" ”

The only few remaining Metropolitan Inspectorates also followed suit. Although the momentum is a little smaller. But after all, some people echoed one after another. Emperor Chongzhen nodded, looked at the other officials and said, "What do you think?" Or is there a better way to supervise me? ”

Hearing this, the civil and military officials had not yet said anything, but Cao Huachun, the governor of Dongchang, came out and said: "Your Majesty, it is also possible for the factory guard to supervise the place." ”

Compared with the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the factory guard has a lot more power. Law enforcement is also more violent, as long as civilian officials can choose, it is naturally impossible to choose factory guards to supervise.

Therefore, after hearing Cao Huachun's words, other civil officials had to come out and agree with the measures to establish a local metropolitan procuratorate.

"Well, if that's the case, then the matter is settled. Turning around, Zhong Qing took out a charter. Emperor Chongzhen looked at Zuodu Yushi and instructed him.

When Zhong Wei heard this, he hurriedly received the order and said: "Weichen obeys the order!" ”

It's really a blessing and a curse, in the blink of an eye, the remaining imperial historians must be promoted, and their power will be much greater.

But at this moment, Shoufu Xue Guoguan suddenly said: "Your Majesty, the Metropolitan Procuratorate has been delegated to the locality, and Weichen thinks that it is no longer possible to hear about it." If a place is far away, it is too late to reach the heavens, and it is not very convenient for His Majesty to ruling; Second, if it is just rumors and the like, and there is no substantiated evidence, it will have a great impact on the local area and be detrimental to the stability of the local area! ”

As soon as they heard this, the civil servants were surprised again. This Xue Manzi, it's okay to speak today!

As a result, many officials immediately came out and echoed Xue Guoguan's views. Even if Zhong Wei proposed that the right to hear about the matter was determined by Taizu, he was also scolded back. It's not, you've all been restructured, and you still want to use the old one, no way!

Seeing the courtiers arguing, Emperor Chongzhen immediately decided: "The right to hear about things is indeed not in line with the Ming officialdom in the future, so it will be canceled." However, I have sent additional personnel to the Metropolitan Procuratorate, so that the local Metropolitan Procuratorate has the ability to investigate. In addition, people are allowed to report in real names. Luckily? ”

As soon as Zhong Wei heard it, you and I have the authority of the procuratorate, yes, the emperor now has compensation, he didn't wait for the ministers to speak, and preemptively said: "Your Majesty Mingjian, Weichen thinks it is feasible, and he should be able to clean up the local officialdom!" ”

When many officials heard this, they also let the people sue the officials? How can this be?

In the past, of course, there might have been things that people sued officials, but they could only be complained to higher-level officials, and generally speaking, this kind of thing was easy to handle. But now he is specifically complaining to the yamen who is in charge of the officials, which is professional, and people make a living from it, so isn't it to investigate the problem?

Naturally, many people are not happy with this kind of thing. So, Xue Guoguan began to steal the show again, and took the lead in playing: "Your Majesty, who can control the power of the local capital procuratorate?" If you act recklessly, it will have a great impact on local officialdom, how can it be good? ”

When he said this, he once again attracted the support of other officials. questioned the Metropolitan Procuratorate one by one, and some people even shouted that the people were suing the officials, which was not appropriate.

In this regard, Emperor Chongzhen said with a serious face: "In the past, when Taizu was the emperor, he was also the people who could sue the officials, this is the ancestral system, I think it can be!" As for the excessive power of the local procuratorate, it's not a big deal, isn't there still my factory guard? In the future, I will send them more to investigate the people's situation. If the local prosecutor's office abuses its power, I can also know about it. ”

In addition, the local prosecutor's office only has the power to supervise. The trial below the seventh grade will be tried by the three divisions at the provincial level, and the provincial capital procuratorate will be jurified, and when necessary, the factory guard will also be present to observe. As for the seven grades and above, they will be escorted to Beijing and interrogated by the three legal divisions of the Beijing Division. In this way, it can also prevent the local metropolitan procuratorate from having too much power. ”

Speaking of this, Emperor Chongzhen suddenly raised his voice a little and said: "From now on, all official corruption will be done in this way, is it okay?" ”

Before, these officials were still thinking about the series of things that the emperor said, but when they heard this, they were all stunned. What does the emperor mean that the corrupt officials who have been arrested now will also be dealt with in the same way? Coming from the rebellion? That is to say, the emperor will not indiscriminately buckle the hat of rebellion, and everyone can rest assured?

When they thought so, it was Xue Guoguan who came out and said, "Your Majesty, are those corrupt officials who have been arrested now also subject to this law?" ”

Hearing Xue Guoguan ask the question in their hearts, all of them were very concerned, staring at Emperor Chongzhen to see how he answered?

Seeing that Emperor Chongzhen nodded and agreed with Xue Guoguan's proposal, everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. So, the ministers had no objections, and the matter was decided.

Emperor Chongzhen's face also relaxed a little, and he said to everyone below: "Okay, the matter of corruption has been decided, Cao Qing, Li Qing?" ”

"The slave is here!" Cao Huachun immediately bowed down and waited for the order.

"The last general!" Li Ruolian also waited for the decree at the same time.

Emperor Chongzhen looked at them and said: "Those corrupt officials will all be transferred to the Criminal Department, and the files will be handed over to the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the Qing and others will send people to observe." ”

"Yes!"

When the civil and military officials heard this, they thought that the matter was over, and that the result was over, and they should be able to disperse, but they heard Emperor Chongzhen suddenly shout coldly: "Now, let's talk about the case of rebellion!" ”

"......" Hearing this, all the officials couldn't help but be stupid: Your Majesty, you are unreasonable!

Didn't you just say that you don't count it as a rebellion, why did you come again?

Lin Xiangji, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, immediately came out of the queue and said to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, didn't it have been decided just now, and corruption will be transferred from the Metropolitan Procuratorate to the Three Law Divisions for trial?" ”

"That's right!" Emperor Chongzhen nodded and said, "But what is related to Jin Shang is a case of rebellion." Wait and listen! ”

Hearing this, the military officials at the bottom were a little relieved, after all, it was only related to Jin Shang. But this is not appropriate, no matter what, Yang Sichang and others should not rebel, right?

Just looking at this way, it seems that the emperor still has evidence that has not been released. And the emperor's appearance seems to be very confident.

Thinking that what the emperor said just now was also organized, there was no such feeling of chaos. So, they were all a little curious, but they wanted to see what evidence the emperor had to prove that they were traitors!

Called heaven said

Recommendation tickets are counted from the beginning of the book, be kind!

This is a big change of more than 5,000 words, there will be no more at night, today is Mother's Day, everyone is busy! Well, I'm going to be busy too!