Prince Yi knelt from noon to dusk, kneeling so numb that he was barely conscious.

In this afternoon, only a small chamberlain came to Shen Shi, saying that the emperor was checking the inner transport warehouse, and after that, no one paid attention to him.

The people of the Inner Chamberlain who passed by all ignored him, and didn't even look at him, as if he didn't exist at all, as if they knew that he had no chance to turn over.

Prince Yi has never been treated and ignored like this in his life, and his heart sank to the bottom little by little.

Although the weather was so hot, he felt that his limbs were cold, as if he was trapped in a bottomless quagmire, and the cold quagmire water had spread to his nose, and he was about to suffer a catastrophe.

At the beginning, when the queen made such a fuss, Prince Yi was not worried at all, and even planned to teach the queen a lesson with this, and even add a concubine to the new emperor, so that the little queen would know what the sky is high and the earth is thick.

After all, every dynasty and every generation has wanted to Cha Nei Tingsi, either it just doesn't work, or the person who proposed Cha Nei Tingsi is unlucky, and the result is that Nei Tingsi has been stable for hundreds of years, and there is nothing to do, and he feels that this time it will be no exception.

Why did things turn out like this on his hands?

His princess was convicted of theft by Kyung Zhao Yin and sentenced to three years in prison, and he would soon be left with nothing and even imprisoned......

In just two days, his life has changed dramatically, like a nightmare that suddenly falls, and he can't react!

Prince Yi still can't figure out how things came to this point.

He is a clan, with military exploits, and Cen Zhenxing's help, he has always been smooth sailing in the past half of his life.

When his father, Emperor Xuanhe and Emperor Chongming, the eldest brother of the emperor, were in power, because he was the fifth among his brothers, there was no hope of winning the heir anyway, so he did not stand in line, and made a faction of pure ministers, and gained a foothold in the court with real military exploits.

In that year, the king of the king led the army to force the palace to seize the throne, he happened to be far away in Liaodong, so he avoided this round of power overlap, and later, he was afraid that the king of the king would think that he was self-respecting in Liaodong, so he invited himself to return to the court and handed back the military power.

Sure enough, his choice was correct, and in order to appease him, King Er made him the head of the Inner Court Division, and he was very relieved of him.

Moreover, in the past ten years, he has been in the palm of his hand, and no one has eaten alone, and he has not forgotten to give the clan benefits, and the clan has reciprocated the favor, with the help of the clan and Cen Zhenxing, he has been smooth sailing over the years, it can be said that he has experienced four dynasties, and he has also stood in the court without a leaf......

Unexpectedly, less than half a year after the new emperor ascended the throne, he suddenly fell from heaven and fell into this situation, and his reputation was ruined!

Prince Yi was still unwilling in his heart.

Obviously, the queen deliberately framed herself and the princess, and she did it so grandly and blatantly, but from the people, to the students, to the courtiers, no one dared to question her, and even those clans were crushed to death by the emperor!

Last night, Prince Li personally went to Prince Yi's mansion and persuaded him:

"Jianhui, you go and ask the emperor for guilt."

"What have you done over the years, you know very well in your own heart, you have done it."

"Now that the emperor has made up his mind, his arms can't reach his thighs......"

At that time, Prince Yi should respond, in fact, there was still a trace of luck in his heart, thinking if he could try to lobby among the courtiers, promising benefits, maybe he could also reverse the disadvantages......

Who would have thought, it's only been a night, and the sky has changed again.

Early this morning, the chief steward came to report that the new emperor was going to check the inner library, and at that time, Prince Yi immediately realized that, as Prince Li said, the new emperor had made up his mind, and he did not leave any affection for himself.

There is no other way to go, obviously, the queen doesn't care that her "planting" will end up in people's hands and be criticized by all the people, the new emperor doesn't care what means the queen uses to rectify herself and the inner court, let alone care about the ugliness of the family, which damages the prestige of the royal family.

Prince Yi thought about it, and his heart became colder and colder.

He has been driven to a dead end, one more wrong step, and he will never recover, he really has no other way but to enter the palace to admit his mistake.

However, the new emperor did not see him.

He had been kneeling for three hours, and the new emperor still hadn't seen him.

Up to now, Prince Yi can't go, so he can only kneel like this, kneeling until he sweats profusely, kneeling makes his knees hurt, kneeling makes him weak, and he still doesn't dare to move.

As the sun sets, night falls, and a faint silver moon can be seen in the dark sky.

Seeing that the palace door was about to be closed, Prince Yi could only get up and go back in despair, limping with a limp, and his back was even more stiff like an old man in his twilight years.

This night, for Prince Yi's mansion, was extraordinarily long and tormenting.

Early the next morning, Mu Yan issued an order to investigate the corruption case of the Inner Court Division, which stirred up a thousand waves with one stone.

Before the other courtiers could react, Prince Yi, as the head of the Inner Court Division, was taken down with lightning speed that morning and sent to the prison of the Criminal Department.

In addition to Prince Yi, at least more than 50 officials from the upper and lower levels of the Inner Court Division were involved.

As soon as the holy decree was issued, the forbidden army took all the people away mercilessly, and all the mansions were sealed and sealed, which made the people of all the prefectures in Beijing panic and rumors.

In this holy decree, it was also clearly ordered that the household department would check the account books of the Inner Court Division for nearly ten years, and Mu Yan did not have the idea of "family ugliness should not be publicized", and made public the results of yesterday's household department's inventory of the inner treasury.

For a while, the people in the capital were boiling, and the streets and alleys, after tea and dinner, were discussing this matter.

In a teahouse in the south of the city, the seats were full, and a storyteller recounted the interrogation process of the Jingzhao Mansion court yesterday until Prince Yi was convicted of theft by Jingzhaoyin.

"I kind of understand," a middle-aged businessman said with a flushed face and righteous indignation, "It's no wonder that Prince Yi stole so many things from the queen mother after only entering the palace to drink a cup of tea, it turns out that this family is a habitual offender!" ”

"yes, yes. Prince Yi has almost moved half of the emperor's inner library back to his house over the years, how could Prince Yi not know! A young tea guest at the next table chimed in.

"What pot with what lid, they are all chickens and dogs!"

"I've heard for a long time that those officials of the Inner Court Division are not good things! As the saying goes, three years of Qing Governor's Mansion, 100,000 snowflakes of silver. When it comes to the Inner Court Division, it is 'One Year Inner Court Division, 100,000 snowflakes of silver'! ”

“……”

The more the tea guests talked, the more lively they became, and they condemned the officials of the Inner Court Division.

"Smack!"

A young student in Tsing Yi slammed the table and shouted, "Good job!" ”

Many tea customers looked at the Tsing Yi student, only to see him say in a righteous and awe-inspiring manner: "Clean corruption, positive atmosphere, this is what Mingjun did!" ”

His words not only attracted the echo of the students at the same table, but also attracted the echoes of other tea guests around him.

"Not bad. The emperor is really the desire of the people! ”

"With such a Ming Jun, I will be able to prosper and be peaceful in the four seas."

"Yes, it will be able to reproduce the prosperity of the world!"

“……”

The more the tea guests talked, the more lively they became, all of them were proud, and their faces were full of expectations for the future.

In the following days, this matter not only did not subside in Beijing, but also intensified, from those noble courtiers in Beijing, to peddlers and pawns, to literati and students, everyone was paying attention to this matter, wanting to see how much silver the Inner Court Division embezzled, and how the emperor would deal with these corrupt officials.

In this noisy atmosphere, May passed all at once, and the weather in June became hotter and hotter, and the capital was like a big furnace.

On June 24, after more than a month of checking the accounts, the household department finally checked these old accounts, and Duanmuxian personally folded them, indicating that the Inner Court Division had embezzled a total of 50 million silver in the past ten years by purchasing and paying tribute for the palace.

A total of 52 officials at all levels of the Inner Court were involved in this case.

In the imperial study, the air is slightly condensed.

This matter is too involved, and several cabinet ministers have solemn faces and solemn expressions.

"Your Majesty," Duanmu Xian looked at Mu Yan behind the imperial case, maintaining a pretentious posture, and said with a straight face, "If you want to investigate thoroughly, I'm afraid that this court is going to turn the sky upside down, especially the clan, every year, 500,000 taels of corrupt silver flows from Prince Yi's hands to the pockets of those clans." ”

Duanmuxian meant that it was enough to deal with the offenders Prince Yi and a few people from the Inner Court Division, after all, those clan princes and some other officials only accepted the silver from the Inner Court Division, and did not "help" corruption.

This matter is too big, and too many officials are pulled off, I am afraid that it will cause turmoil in the court.

There is also the clan, the clan is the emperor's clan after all, and everyone at the time attaches great importance to blood, especially their own family and clan. For example, even in the law, if the murderer and the victim are related, the sentence will be different, often a few points less.

If the new emperor is too strict with the clan, at best, he is iron-faced and selfless, and it is the Son of Heaven who violates the law and commits the same crime as the common people, but at the same time, the new emperor will inevitably be condemned by some people for being too ruthless, and he doesn't even care about the affection of blood relatives, I am afraid that it will damage the emperor's prestige.

You Junji and Fan Peizhong's cabinet ministers also felt the same way, and responded one by one:

"Shoufu is right, the emperor's case is still 'up to the point'."

"After all, the clan is not directly involved."

“……”

In the echo of the ministers, Mu Yan raised his eyebrows, the folding fan in his hand stopped, and hooked his lips with a smile, his phoenix eyes were bright.

Duanmu Xian thought that he already knew a little bit about Mu Yan, and he chuckled in his heart, always feeling that this grandson-in-law was going to make something out of it.

Sure enough—

Immediately afterwards, I heard Mu Yan propose with a smile: "It's simple, then let them spend money to atone for their sins!" ”

“……”

“……”

“……”

In the imperial study, there was silence.

The faces of several cabinet ministers, including Duanmu Xian, became very strange, and the corners of their eyes twitched.

Why is this new emperor still playing cards so unreasonably!

Mu Yan comfortably fanned the folding fan again, like an idle son, his mouth was not polite at all, and he gave a series of cold instructions in one go: "All the officials who have received the money from the Inner Court Division will be dismissed, and as for the clan, they will be demoted to one to three degrees according to their severity." ”

"Duanmu Shoufu, you ask the household department to draw up a charter as soon as possible, stating how much silver they want to take to redeem it, if they can't take it out, they will be directly punished."

Mu Yan took it for granted and was confident, but Duanmu Xian was speechless.

He had a throbbing pain in his forehead, and he wanted to ask, is this really good?

However, Duanmu Xian still wanted to maintain his prestige as the first assistant, so he swallowed this sentence and made a calm appearance.

The other elders present also looked at each other, and they were all a little suspicious of life.

There is no such thing in any dynasty or generation, right? Xindi, this is too whimsical!

Mu Yan didn't care what they thought, and reminded with a smile: "Duanmu Shousuke, remember that when you want to redeem your silver, don't be soft." ”

"......" Duanmu Xian looked at Mu Yan speechlessly.

Mu Yan made a serious look and patiently persuaded: "Think about it carefully, what has this Inner Court Division been arrogant all these years?" ”

"The queen worked so hard for this matter, and she looked at the accounts for more than a month a while ago."

Mu Yan was very distressed when he talked about it, and he just wanted to let those people in the sect also have a good pain, and only when it hurts will they remember the lesson!

I see! Duanmu Xian suddenly realized, and said secretly: No wonder the little granddaughter didn't go back to her parents' house for a few days last month, it turned out that she was busy with this.

Originally, Duanmuxian's handling of this case was a business matter, but now he is angry.

It's all because of the corruption of the Inner Court Division, so that the little granddaughter didn't have time to go back to see herself!

Can't let it go, never let go of the Cabinet Division!

Duanmu Xian made up his mind in his heart, and was about to agree, when he heard Mu Yan say again: "As for the ransom money of these people, it will all go to the treasury." ”

"Duanmu Shousuke, it's up to you how much silver the treasury can get into the account."

Mu Yan looked at Duanmu Xian with a smile, looking like he had high hopes.

"......" You Junji and Fan Pei twitched the corners of their eyes again, and exchanged glances with each other, and they both felt that the new emperor had simply grasped the key point of Shoufu.

Duanmu Xian's eyes lit up all of a sudden, and his gaze burned.

He said righteously: "What the emperor said is that corruption must not be tolerated!" Heavy fines must be imposed in order to set an example! ”

Duanmu Xian is worried that there is no silver in the treasury, and the summer tax will not be available until at least next month, but there are too many places to use silver everywhere, and now it is good, with the ransom silver handed over by the clan, you can solve the urgent need!

The more Duanmu Xian thought about it, the more impatient he became, and impassionedly denounced the harm of corruption, and praised the emperor again, saying that it would be beneficial for the country and the people to rectify corruption.

"......" Several other cabinet ministers were silent, played by the pair of monarchs and ministers.

On this day, when Duanmu Xian entered the imperial study, he still had a sad face, feeling that the court was afraid that it would be turbulent because of the case of the Inner Court Division, but when he came out, he was in high spirits and full of energy.

After leaving the palace, he did not return to the Yamen of the Ministry of Households, but personally went to Dongchang, urging Dongchang to hurry up and raid his home.

Dongchang didn't want to pay attention to Duanmuxian, although Duanmuxian was the first assistant, he was not qualified to call Dongchang, and their Dongchang was beyond the court.

However, this case is related to the queen, and everyone knows that the queen wants to rectify the inner court. For this alone, the East Factory must be on!

This trip to the house was not for the first assistant, but for the queen, of course, they had to work hard and work hard.

Duanmuxian was not idle, and pulled the cabinet elders to work overtime in the Wenhua Palace, and when it came to the fourth watch, the hall was still brightly lit.

Several cabinet elders had to give Shoufu face, and with heavy eyelids, they discussed with Duanmu Xian about redeeming the silver.

"Lord Duanmu, King Shun has taken 800,000 taels over the years, why don't you let him spit out all the 800,000 taels, and then add 200,000 taels as a fine, what do you think?" Fan Peizhong, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, thought for a while and proposed.

Fan Peizhong felt that this number was already a lot, who wanted Duanmu Xian shook his head without hesitation, and only gave two words: "Too little." ”

Huang Siren, the secretary of the Ministry of War, said: "How about a fine of 400,000 taels of silver?" ”

He estimated that 1.2 million taels should make King Shun pay a lot of blood, and if he didn't sell some houses and fields, he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to fill this hole. This is also a helpless thing, who asked them to dig out the money bag of the new emperor.

"It's still too little." Duanmu Xian still shook his head.

"Five hundred thousand taels?" Fan Peizhong added another 100,000 taels, and he was already trembling.

"Too little."

was vetoed by Duanmu Xian three times in a row, and several pavilion elders all had complicated expressions.

800,000 taels plus 500,000 taels, that's a full 1,300,000 taels of silver!

Since Duanmu Xian had been dissatisfied, Fan Peizhong didn't bother to mention it anymore, and asked straightforwardly: "Lord Duanmu, why don't you say a number yourself!" ”

The other elders also thought so, so don't let them guess there.

Duanmuxian slowly stroked his beard and gestured with his hand to "eight".

The others were all dumbfounded, not knowing whether to be too frightened or too frightened.

You Junji stammered slightly: "Eight...... 800,000 taels?! ”

Fan Peizhong and Huang Siren exchanged a look with each other.

Duanmu Xian suddenly increased from 500,000 taels to 800,000 taels, which is simply a lion's big mouth, more ruthless than Mu Yan!

Fan Peizhong pondered and persuaded: "Lord Duanmu, this redemption silver must be taken out by them. If they can't take it out, it's useless to set it too high. ”

800,000 greedy silver plus 800,000 fine silver, a full 1.6 million silver, King Shun is afraid that he will smash the pot and sell iron.

When it comes to counting money, others can't compare with Duanmu Xian, Duanmu Xian confidently reasoned with them one by one: "King Shun has collected 800,000 taels of silver over the years, but this silver can give birth to silver." ”

"Princess Shun has quietly put a lot of money in the past ten years, and in recent years, she has invested some silver in the sea trade, which is a huge profit. In addition, the fields and shops that are bought with these greedy silver can also have revenue, and it is about 800,000 taels. ”

Duanmuxian felt that he was still too little, if it was him, for so many years, there would be too much business that could be done with these 800,000 taels, and it would not be a problem to earn four or five million taels.

“……”

The other pavilion elders were gagged by Duanmu Xian, and they were speechless for a while.

In the Wenhua Palace, there was silence for a moment, and only the sound of the candle flame burning was extremely loud.

Fan Pei and several pavilion elders silently exchanged glances.

After a while, Huang Siren cleared his throat and proposed: "Lord Duanmu, 800,000 taels is still too much, I think it's better to compromise, how about 600,000 taels?" ”

"Nope."

“……”

A few pavilion elders, you and I said a word, and it was enough to "discuss" for a night, and the five of them didn't say anything about Duanmuxian after all.

Duanmu Xian is a master of arithmetic, and he is also a scholar of the household department, dealing with silver money and numbers every day, how can he calculate an account for them to show that the fine he listed for each prince is reasonable.

The next morning, several pavilion elders who had not slept all night appeared on time on the Jinluan Treasure Palace, and when the emperor ascended to the throne, Duanmu Xian was the first to stand out of the queue and submit the specific regulations of "Redeem the Silver".

"Your Majesty, this is the charter that the ministers and several cabinet elders drafted overnight last night."

"The Son of Heaven is guilty of the same crime as the common people, and the clan is no exception, in the case of the Inner Court Division, although the clan did not directly participate in corruption, it is difficult to escape the blame for accepting bribes and has to be punished."

"In order to avoid someone prevaricating and deliberately not paying the fine, I also asked the emperor to allow the household department to confiscate his shop, Zhuangzi, fields, etc., so as to pay off the debt."

Duanmuxian spoke righteously and impassionedly, but the other courtiers heard about the "ransom silver" for the first time, and they were dumbfounded.

The whole court is in an uproar!

Tomorrow, the plot will be in Ah Yin.

Continue to ask for a monthly pass~

(End of chapter)