After Zhu Cihong returned to the palace, he immediately summoned Zhao Xin, the commander of the Jinyi Guard, and Liu Chuanzong, the commander of the East Factory, to meet him.

When he ordered the two of them to investigate dirt and corruption, he had already made up his mind. Now Daming is terminally ill, and the most fatal of them is official corruption. If the government is not rectified, it will be impossible for the Ming Dynasty to curb corruption.

After the two saluted and kowtowed, Zhu Cihong asked, "How is the matter investigated?" Are these courtiers of my public and loyal country all rich and rich enough to rival the country? ”

Zhao Xin and Liu Chuanzong glanced at each other, and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, after investigation by Weichen, among the ministers, Xincheng Bo Zhao Zhilong is the most greedy for ink, and his family wealth exceeds 1.3 million taels. There are countless calligraphy, paintings, and treasures. The rest of the nobles are also about the same, the family wealth of Xu Wenjue, the Duke of Wei, is 900,000 taels, the family wealth of Zhang Guobi, the Duke of Baoguo, is 700,000 taels, and the family wealth of Zhang Gongri, Marquis of Longping, is 600,000 taels. The rest of the nobles with a wealth of more than 200,000 taels include Li Zushu, Marquis of Linhuai, Marquis Sun Weicheng of Huaining, Marquis Tang Guozuo of Lingbi, Marquis Liu Zuochang of Anyuan, Marquis Xu Hongjue of Yongchang, Marquis Deng Wenyu of Dingyuan, Bo Chang Yingjun of Xiangcheng, Zou Cunyi of Daxingbo, Liu Yunji of Ningjinbo, Yiyuan of Nanhe Bo, Jiao Mengxiong of Dongning Bo, Zhang Guocai of Anchengbo, Huang Jiuding of Luozhongbo, and ...... of Chenganbo Guo Zuoyong"

Zhao Xin finished the long list of names in one breath, and subconsciously lowered his head. In his opinion, the Son of Heaven would be furious when he learned that there were so many corrupt nobles in the Ming Dynasty.

But he waited for a long time and didn't wait for Zhu Cihong's roar.

"At the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Taizu and Chengzu were vassals to reward their contributions to the country. Who knows that after more than 200 years, these lords did not be as loyal to the state as their ancestors, but scrambled to dig the corner of the Ming Dynasty. As everyone knows, there are eggs under the nest, they dug down Daming, and they can still enjoy the current glory? Looks like it's time for me to move my knife. ”

Zhu Cihong set his eyes on Liu Chuanzong again, and said lightly: "Liu Companion, it's time for you to speak." ”

Liu Chuanzong hurriedly replied; "The emperor, after the slave maid checked, among the civil officials, the most greedy for ink is the Zuodu Yushi Wang Duo, according to preliminary estimates there should be 500,000 taels, and the rest of the corrupt officials also have the squire Zhu Zhichen, Liang Yungou, Li Xuan, etc. In addition, another ......"

Zhu Cihong sneered; "What else? Say. ”

"The slave obeys." Liu Chuanzong took a deep breath, and then said: "According to the investigation of the slaves and maids, many officials who have been sent to the official and removed from their posts are particularly greedy for ink, among which Qian Qianyi, the former waiter of the Ministry of Rites, is the leader, and he is greedy for more than 4......00,000 taels of ink."

Qian Qianyi? It's a name that's not unfamiliar.

As a professor of Ming history in his previous life, Zhu Cihong certainly knew Qian Qianyi very well. The leader of the Donglin Party, who left 'the water is too cold' and 'the scalp is itchy', did not hesitate to sacrifice the city of Nanjing together with a cadre of lords, as a vote for the surrender of the Qing Dynasty, and his name was prominently listed in the "Biography of Erchen" compiled by the Manchu Dynasty, and even his Manchu masters looked down on him.

As for his greed for more than 400,000 taels of silver, Zhu Cihong didn't find it strange at all. As early as the early years of Chongzhen, Qian Qianyi took the Zhejiang exam, and the candidate Qian Qianqiu's fraud case shocked the government and the opposition. This guy wrote 'one move to the top of the clouds' as a code at the end of the article as a code, but it was discovered, and in the end, the directly responsible examination room officials Jin Baoyuan and Xu Shimin were severely punished, and Chongzhen personally questioned Qian Qianyi in the Wenhua Palace, and finally removed him.

From another point of view, Qian Qianyi must also have a lot of money. Otherwise, how could he redeem Liu Ru, a famous prostitute at that time, and built the gorgeous "Qianyun Tower" and "Red Bean Pavilion" in Yushan?

In the original history, Qian Qianyi was worshiped as the secretary of the Ministry of Rites in the Hongguang Dynasty, but in this time and space, Zhu Cihong did not recover him, so Qian Qianyi is still white.

The reason why Zhu Cihong was so anxious to let Zheng Chenggong leave Guozijian to study at the Huangming Military Academy, in addition to attracting him as a descendant, was to protect him from the influence of Qian Qianyi. After all, Qian Qianyi is the leader of the Donglin Party, has a great reputation, and is Zheng Chenggong's teacher, as long as Zheng Chenggong is in Guozijian for a day, he will be somewhat affected by Qian Qianyi.

"Gao Jie, the chief soldier of Xuzhou, is about to lead the troops to Shandong. Tomorrow, I will ask all my ministers to donate money and help them. ”

Zhu Cihong said word by word, his face was as cold as ice.

......

......

The next day, Fengtian Temple.

Zhu Cihong announced the decision to order Gao Jie, the chief soldier of Xuzhou, to lead the army to Shandong to garrison.

As soon as the decree was issued, it caused a big wave of rendering.

Wang Duo of the Imperial History of Zuodu came out of the class with a wat board in his hand and said: "Your Majesty, this move must not be." Shandong is now a land of tigers and wolves, and how can Gao General Army have 40,000 or 50,000 horses, how can they be stationed here? If every government has to leave troops to garrison, it is equivalent to no defense everywhere. Your Majesty, please think again! ”

Liang Yungou, the squire of the military department, also came out of the squad and said: "Your Majesty, as the so-called soldiers and horses have not moved, the grain and grass go first. Although Shandong is not far from Xuzhou, it costs a lot to eat and chew horses for 40,000 or 50,000 people a day, and the national treasury can allocate so much military salary? ”

The corners of Zhu Cihong's mouth raised slightly: "The national treasury is less than one million taels of silver, and the daily training expenses of the Jianghuai defenders must not be moved lightly." Therefore, I have decided that the salary of General Gao's reinforcement of Shandong's division will be collected by the secretaries of the Qing family. ”

"This ......"

As soon as Zhu Cihong said this, the court immediately exploded.

A group of courtiers who are 'loyal to the country' on weekdays have complained, although the reasons are strange, but it boils down to one sentence, that is, 'no money'.

Zhu Cihong watched all this coldly and did not interrupt immediately. When they were almost in trouble, he cleared his throat and said, "I will take out 100,000 taels from the inner money, how much are you Aiqing going to donate?" ”

In the Ming Dynasty, the treasury and the treasury were always separated, simply put, the treasury was the country's reserve treasury, and the treasury was the emperor's small treasury.

But it's not a complete separation.

For example, during the Wanli Dynasty, Emperor Shenzong took out a large amount of silver taels from the internal treasury to reward meritorious soldiers, and the military salary of the Beijing camp during the Chongzhen Dynasty was also paid by the internal treasury.

But this is the emperor's private money after all, if today's son clearly said that he would take out 100,000 taels of silver, if they, the pillars of the country, did not express the slightest expression, it would be too much to say.

As the head of the Imperial Palace, Wang Duo of the Left Capital naturally couldn't avoid it, and he saluted Zhu Cihong with a wat board in his hand; "The old minister is willing to donate 1,000 taels of silver to help with the army's salary."

Zhu Cihong's face did not change: "The general constitution is loyal to the country, and I am very relieved to share my worries for the monarch." Someone, write it down. ”

With Wang Duo's first step, the rest of the civil and military officials also pledged "generously".

"The minister donated five hundred taels of silver..."

"The minister donated three hundred taels of silver..."

"The minister donated six hundred taels of silver..."

"The minister donated three thousand taels of silver!"

Xincheng Bo Zhao Zhilong took a step out of the class with a wat board in his hand and said with great momentum.

......

......