Zhou Jing stood in front of the dressing mirror more than one person tall and tidied up his clothes again, looking at the purple robe and jade goldfish bag on his body, he showed a satisfied look on his face.

He is a Jinshi in the forty-first year of Wanli and the first place in the second class. He is in the same department as Zhou Yanru, who was the first assistant twice in the previous dynasty, Zhou Yanru and he are both from Jiangnan, that list, Zhou Yanru is the first leader, the champion. He is the first place in the second class, the first place and the fourth place, but the fate of life is very different.

Zhou Yanru served as the first assistant twice, and he was also in the limelight. And Zhou Jing's career is not brilliant, step by step, after winning the Jinshi, and then the examination of the Jishi, into the Hanlin, and then into the science of the road, and then the place for the county, and then step by step promotion, prefect, politics, and then back to the Beijing Division.

In the Chongzhen Dynasty for more than ten years, he has been working as a waiter in the Ministry of Industry, and he has stayed for more than ten years, and he has never moved his nest. Seeing that he was full of gray hair and sideburns, he was ready to say goodbye to his hometown and return to his hometown.

In the new dynasty and new atmosphere, he finally left the Yamen of the Ministry of Industry not long ago and became the secretary of the newly established Department of Transportation appointed by the emperor.

Pull open the door, and there are already attendants waiting outside.

After being promoted to the third rank, especially when he was still the newly established chief officer of the Department of Transportation, Zhou Jing also enjoyed the eight guards assigned to him by the imperial court, as well as a full-time coachman, and even the carriage was issued by the imperial court.

"My lord, the carriage is ready."

Zhou Jing took out the pocket watch from the pocket of his shirt, and as soon as he pressed the spring with his hand, he had already deftly flicked up the gold cover, revealing the crystal inlaid mirror, through the crystal mirror, the watch hand inside was constantly moving.

It was eight o'clock in the morning.

"It's still early, so there's no hurry." Zhou Jing asked the housekeeper to prepare breakfast for him and brought today's newspaper.

has been an official of the Ming Dynasty for decades, and what Zhou Jing dislikes the most is that when he is an official of the Ming Dynasty, he has to go to court early every day. Although the Wanli Emperor did not like to go to the early dynasty, the emperor did not go to the court. Baiguan still had to go to bed early every day, and rushed to the noon gate to wait for the palace gate to open.

The emperor did not go to court, and they worshipped the empty chair under the leadership of Shousuke. Then Shousuke presided over the morning court proceedings of the day, which was quite a toss-up thing. It didn't matter when he was young, and when Chongzhen succeeded to the throne, he began to restore the early dynasty, and the emperor even often listened to the government at the imperial gate, regardless of spring, summer, autumn and winter, and often met outside the palace.

In the event of a big winter. It's cold and shivering.

It's better to have a new dynasty, at least you don't have to get up early every day to go to the court.

The emperor only holds a court meeting on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and occasionally holds a large court meeting every five and ten days, but under normal circumstances, there is no need to hold an early court. Everyone has long been accustomed to the habits of the new dynasty, and knows that the emperor's major events are small meetings, and the emperor's general court affairs are held by the prime minister's meeting. If it is military-related, a meeting of military aircraft is convened. If it is related to finance and taxation, a fiscal and taxation meeting will be held.

In short, they are all looking for special people, and they will not gather all the officials to discuss the matter.

Even if it's the Great Dynasty. In fact, it's just a formality. Basically, the things to be discussed at the court meeting are the contents that the emperor has agreed with a group of cabinet ministers and the nine secretaries, and it is not so much a court meeting as a notification meeting.

Zhou Jing is old. In his thirties, he has been up and down in his career for more than 20 years, and he is almost 60 years old in a blink of an eye.

That's good now. 9 to 5. Everyone can finally sleep until they wake up naturally, and even sleep until the sun basks their buttocks, which is a comfort that was unimaginable before. There are still two days of rest time a week, and the price has also been improved, and it has not been folded, and it is full of silver dollar coupons that are issued on time.

After Zhou Jing was transferred from the Ministry of Industry to the Department of Transportation, his salary rose a lot, especially as the chief officer of the First Division, he also had a 10,000 yuan of incorruptible silver. Not to mention, there are many subsidies, including the imperial court with guards, coachmen, etc., Zhou Jing is very satisfied with his current life.

He no longer even thinks about returning to his hometown, but is ready to work for another ten or eight years. Maybe when he is about to retire, he can still mix a book or even a pavilion elder.

"Dad, have you read today's newspaper?"

The eldest son came with an anxious face, still holding a new newspaper that had been delivered this morning. The son's face was not very good-looking, "Dad, something happened, look at it." ”

Zhou looked at his son with some dissatisfaction, "What kind of system did you become in a panic early in the morning, you are also a Beijing official of the seventh grade now, why can't you change this problem." ”

"There is really a big incident, the director of the Department of Communications asked for a bribe to His Majesty yesterday, you see, the newspapers have published this matter in detail."

"What?" As soon as Zhou Jing heard that something had happened to the Traffic Division, he couldn't help but feel nervous, he hurriedly snatched the newspaper from his son's hand and began to read it at a glance.

Zhou Jing's face was discouraged.

"Dad, this matter has nothing to do with you, right?" The son asked in a whisper.

"Of course, this matter has something to do with me, and I am at least a royal and not strict. Director Wang is a subordinate of the Department of Communications, and now that he has an accident, how can I get out of it. ”

"This king is really bold, he openly asks for bribes, but he still has no eyes to ask for the emperor's head." Zhou Jing's eldest son felt that the sky had fallen. My father has just been awarded the Secretary of Communications, which is a great thing for Zhou Jing. But who knows, my father has not been the secretary of traffic for a few days, and this incident will happen soon.

Zhou Jing didn't have the appetite to eat breakfast anymore, he ignored his new habit of reading the newspaper while eating breakfast every morning, put down the newspaper, and hurried out.

Something so big has happened, he has to explain it to His Majesty.

Although Zhou Jing was flustered, he quickly sorted things out in his heart while walking out. The current situation is that the subordinates of the Department of Communications openly solicited bribes, and they were also arrested by the Son of Heaven. Fortunately, Zhou Jing himself cares a lot about his career, and he is also from a big family in Jiangnan, so he doesn't attach much importance to money.

In addition to some gifts of personal exchange, there are also some gifts with unspoken rules of custom, and Zhou Jing did not give or accept bribes. This is a very important one, as long as the king's affairs are personal behaviors, then this matter can still be controlled.

Along the way, he kept urging the coachman to hurry up.

But when he rushed to the yamen of the Communications Division, he was shocked to find that the Yamen of the Transportation Division, which had been extremely busy these days at the end of the year, was actually surrounded by soldiers.

And that's not an ordinary soldier, it's a factory guard.

Jinyiwei and Dongchang jointly guard the Department of Transportation.

As soon as he saw the factory guard, Zhou Jing, who was quite calm in his heart, was completely panicked, and his legs were a little weak. There are three divisions of the imperial court. Dali Temple, the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Criminal Department. But in addition to the three law divisions, there is also the internal law division, that is, the factory guard of the Tianzi Eagle Dog.

If the Three Law Divisions are dispatched, it is still a normal procedure, but once the factory guards are dispatched, it means that the case has been heard by the heavens, and even the Son of Heaven has personally interrogated.

"I'm Zhou Jing, Secretary of Transportation."

Zhou Jing stepped forward, but several brocade guards stopped him.

A brocade-clothed guard looked at him twice, and then said, "I've seen Lord Zhou." At the behest of His Majesty, Jinyiwei and Dongchang have launched an investigation into the Department of Transportation, and we ask you to cooperate with our work. ”

Zhou Jing was stunned, he also has to be investigated? Seeing the serious expressions on the faces of these hundred households, Zhou Jing had to keep his anger in his heart, and followed Jinyiwei into the traffic division that had been surrounded very cooperatively.

As soon as he entered the yamen, Zhou Jing found that the entire transportation department yamen. It has been completely controlled by the factory guards, and it is full of factory guards, and it is very rare for the two yamen to jointly handle the case.

Officials of the Department of Transportation, files, official documents, various reports, etc. All have been taken over by the factory guard.

All of the Communications Agency's accounts are subject to a detailed review, and each official is subject to a separate questioning review. During this period, no one is allowed to leave the Yamen of the Department of Transportation, nor is it allowed to communicate with the outside.

A dignified high-ranking official. was treated as a suspect, but Zhou Jing didn't even dare to say a word.

After all, the head of the six products of their transportation department openly asked for a bribe on the emperor's head. When such a thing happens, the emperor will definitely censor them.

Yesterday, Liu Jun directly sent the bold Wang into the Jinyi Wei Prison, interrogated him strictly, and then sealed the accounts of the Yamen of the Communications Division in the middle of the night. This morning, the officials of the Department of Communications came to try one and tried the other, and there was no entry or exit.

What happened in the Department of Communications spread throughout the capital like a newspaper this morning.

At the beginning, the officials of other ministries were still a little happy, but it was someone else who had the accident.

"This Wang San is really bold."

"I think they're blind, and they can't even recognize His Majesty."

"The appetite is too big, and I dare to ask for 10,000 yuan directly. That's just a small project approval, and if they do it, how much will they have to charge at the end of the year? ”

"There are more than a million, but the Department of Transportation is now a rich yamen, with both money and power, managing the world's roads, bridges, canals, sea navigation, road construction, canal dredging, and transportation, etc., which are all grasped by them."

Although the Department of Communications is not a veteran No. 6 Department, it is also a new upstart yamen in the DPRK and China. The left hand holds the road traffic, and the right hand controls the transportation, holding both the power to approve road construction and the road construction funds.

Speaking of which, it is the same fragrant and sweet yamen as the departments and offices established in the new dynasty such as the post office, and everyone is envious on weekdays. Now that something has happened to them, everyone is secretly happy.

In fact, they are no better than the Department of Transportation.

In the eyes of the Beijing officials, this time the local officials entered the Beijing Dynasty and gathered, which was a good opportunity to make a fortune. With the power of auditing and disbursing funds in their hands, many officials want to use this as capital to make a good profit and have a fat year ahead of schedule.

In the past, in the Ming Dynasty, the taxes on the ground were all discharged into the central government, but the local government imposed additional taxes and fire consumption by itself, so the local finance was solved by itself and did not rely on the imperial court. However, when it is necessary to rely on the imperial court to draw money, the central ministry will deduct it as usual, and at least 30% will be deducted before leaving Beijing.

When you get to the place, there will be drifting, in short, you have to deduct a sum of money.

In the past, the favorite of the Beijing officials in the Ming Dynasty was the Jingcha, and the triennial Jingcha plan, the Beijing officials and local officials had to go through the assessment, and the parties in the DPRK and China took advantage of the opportunity of the Jingcha and the big plan, and the party was the same and excluded differences. On the other hand, he took this opportunity to accept gifts and bribes on a large scale.

Now many officials regard the entry of local officials of the Han Dynasty into Beijing as an opportunity to make a fortune.

The head of the Department of Transportation, Mr. Wang, was the first to be caught, but neither the first nor the last.

Liu Jun had already grasped these signs through the factory guard, and at this time, seeing that there was a trend of getting more and more intense, he simply took advantage of the matter of Wang in charge and began to set off a storm.

It didn't take long for the ministries to rejoice, and they couldn't laugh.

Because at noon that day, the factory guards began to send soldiers and officials to the ministries one after another, and began to seal the accounts and examine the officials one by one.

Even the three law divisions, the Metropolitan Procuratorate, Dali Temple, and the Criminal Department were no exceptions, and they were first checked by the factory guards, and then they were included in the joint investigation and reviewed the ministries together.

On the first day, the factory guards and the three law divisions arrested more than 100 people from the various departments and offices of the Beijing Division, as well as those local officials who entered Beijing.

The next day, the number of officials arrested and imprisoned increased to more than 300.

On the third day, the incident continued to expand, and more than 1,000 officials were taken away and imprisoned.

On the fourth day, the number of prisoners reached three thousand.

On the fifth day, it reached more than 5,000 people.

By this time, a huge storm had formed, and there was a tendency to sweep everything and destroy everything.

From Yuan Jixian, the first assistant, to the official of Kedaoyan, they were all shocked by this huge storm, and they played one after another, asking to stop here and not expand any more.

In short, according to the emperor's method, all the officials will have to go in, and whoever will be the official will be the official and who will govern the world.

Liu Jun continued to follow the progress of the matter.

By this time, many of the surviving officials were already in danger, and they began to attack Jinyiwei and Dongchang en masse.

Liu Jun asked the factory guards to stop arresting people, but they didn't release them immediately, so another two days passed.

This week is simply a black week for all Han officials.

The more than 5,000 officials were taken to the edict prison, but they were not tortured at all, but they were locked up, and then given a pen and a notebook, so that they could explain honestly.

These people have more or less received gifts and gifts, some have received larger amounts, some are only some unspoken gray income, and some are even just gifts.

However, Liu Jun invited all of them to prison and let them eat for a week, just to let them have a profound lesson. Liu Jun knew that he could not really raise a prison edict and lock up all the officials involved in corruption.

These officials have all been on Liu Jun's blacklist, but before the new officials are trained, Liu Jun will not be able to replace them all at once, at most take out a few more serious people to make an example.

After the seventh day, Liu Jun finally made a ruling on the incident.

In the end, Liu Jun personally convicted more than 100 criminal officials who had taken bribes and offered relatively serious bribes and relatively large amounts, and sentenced them to different punishments, such as recovering stolen money, confiscating property, exile to the frontier for reclamation, and distributing them to mines for labor reform.

The rest of the thousands of officials and officials were mostly given lighter punishments such as warnings, fines, demotions, and demotions.

Before being released, the more than 5,000 officials who had entered Jinyiwei to drink tea were required to report their personal property and explain the source of their legal income. If the source cannot be explained and the amount is relatively large, it will be regarded as illegal income confiscated and confiscated.

"Next time, when they pay bribes again, they will probably think about today first!" (To be continued.) )

PS: Severe insomnia, I couldn't fall asleep for two days, and now I'm very sleepy, but I can't sleep, it's too torturous. I can't write it today, so forgive me, I'll get some medicine to eat and count the stars!