After sending away Wang Guoxing, who was full of fighting spirit, Lao Zhu called Wang Chengen to tell him to clear the harem during this time.

The maidservants and eunuchs in the harem, all those who were involved with the ministers and nobles, were all removed from the palace.

If there are really spies planted by those guys among these people, Lao Zhu is really worried that they will jump over the wall.

After Wang Chengen went down to make arrangements, Chongzhen, who had been watching from the sidelines, appeared in front of Lao Zhu.

"Grandpa Tai, since you know that Wang Dehua and Luo Yang have problems, why do you ......?"

Chongzhen, who was a little puzzled in his heart, considered the words in his heart before he continued to speak: "Why don't you deal with them? ”

In Chongzhen's impression, Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang should be a domineering person, not to mention that he got rid of those heroes, just to say that in the Hongwu years, he would be killed if he embezzled sixty taels of silver.

For example, the most famous Guo Huan case in the Hongwu period, Guo Huan, who was the head of the household department at that time, was corrupt and took bribes, and climbed out a large number of officials, most of whom were involved in the local and even the six ministries.

This situation is undoubtedly a difficult problem for the emperor, after all, there are so many criminal officials, you have to kill them all, who will work for you.

But Taizu did not have the slightest mercy on this matter, and cut down these corrupt officials in one go.

From the six departments downwards, one by one, the officials involved in the case and the county magistrates were all uprooted, and at least more than 30,000 people were implicated in this case.

It is said that when the officials of the six ministries went to court afterwards, they found that the remaining people of the six ministries added up to less than twenty people, which shows how ruthless Lao Zhu was that time.

Such an iron-blooded and ruthless emperor, it stands to reason that when he knew that Luo Yanghe and Wang Dehua had embezzled tens of thousands of taels of silver, it would not be too much to cut them with a thousand knives.

But at this time, Zhu Yuanzhang chose to lift it up gently and let them go, which made Chongzhen unable to understand it, and even wondered if the one in front of him was Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Do you think we should cut them down and raid the house?"

"Then think about why we didn't do it."

Lao Zhu saw what Chongzhen was thinking at a glance, and after saying this, he didn't pay attention to Chongzhen, but first sent Wang Chengen over for supper and ate them all.

Should I say it or not, the young body is good, not only the body is good, but even the amount of food is much larger than before.

After eating, Lao Zhu looked at Chongzhen, who seemed to have some clues, and did not let him answer, but said directly: "Killing people is a means, not an end." ”

"During the Hongwu period, we killed whoever we wanted, even if all the officials of the six ministries were killed, we didn't care, do you know why?"

"Just because we have military power in our hands and the general trend, whoever dares to move will kill whoever we want, and after killing this batch, the next batch will still sharpen their heads and squeeze into the court, what do we have to worry about."

Speaking of this, Lao Zhu glanced at Chongzhen, and said with some disgust: "But what does the Ming Dynasty under your rule have, if you want soldiers or not, if you want no people, you look at the civil and military forces of this Manchu Dynasty, how many of them are really with you." ”

"If we kill Wang Dehua and them, who can do things for you?"

"Moreover, the officials of the Ming Dynasty are corrupt to such an extent, and there are several officials who are not greedy."

"If you kill them, the officials who replace them are still corrupt people, and there is no point in replacing them."

"If nothing else, let's just say how many people have been killed since you took office, and the problem has been solved?"

"Instead of solving the problem, the situation is getting worse and worse, is it useful for you to kill people?"

Speaking of this, Lao Zhu taught earnestly: "Today's Daming, the problem cannot be solved by killing people alone, and it must be rectified from the root." ”

"If you really want to do it, you must not only kill these corrupt people, but also directly pull out their foundation."

"But now, there are Jiannu in the north, Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong in the south, and it is not the time to move them at all."

"If you kill them regardless of it, if those wealthy gentry who collude with their interests have no way to live, if they incite the people to rebel, they who have money, food and foundation will be much more difficult to deal with than Li Zicheng."

"That's why we are so tolerant of them, and we didn't choose to move them, because they can be used by me."

Lao Zhu was originally a generation of heroes, and now he has experienced more than 200 years of history in the history books, as if he has lived for more than 200 years.

So at this moment, his vision and thinking are unprecedentedly broad, and when he looks at things, he can point to the essence.

"I see."

Chongzhen nodded a little abruptly, and then said in a somewhat firm tone: "Grandpa Tai, you mean that anyone who can be used by me can not be killed, and then not killed, right?" ”

"That's pretty much what it means."

Lao Zhu nodded, and then continued to teach: "It's just that the specific situation must be analyzed in detail, nothing can be rigidly changed, and you still need to make your own decisions in the end." ”

"That's right."

Lao Zhu suddenly remembered something, and said casually: "We're going to cut down all your father-in-law's family when we go back, and I'll tell you in advance." ”

“？？？”

Chongzhen was a little confused, didn't he just say that if he could not kill, he would not kill, why would he kill his father-in-law's family with his backhand.

Although he already had a faint bad premonition from when Lao Zhu asked Wang Guoxing to collect evidence of his father-in-law's corruption just now, he still felt a little embarrassed when he heard Lao Zhu say it directly, "Grandpa, can you not kill him?" ”

To tell the truth, Guozhang Zhou Kui does not know how to restrain himself, and Chongzhen is not unaware of his corruption.

But the problem is that Empress Zhou is virtuous, virtuous, diligent and thrifty, and when he first ascended the throne in the early years, because he was worried that Wei Zhongxian would poison his diet, the diet in the palace was handled by Empress Zhou herself, and the two were deeply affectionate.

Therefore, it is precisely for the sake of Queen Zhou's face that Chongzhen has always indulged Zhou Kui and has not done anything to him.

And Lao Zhu looked at Chongzhen who interceded for Zhou Kui, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart, faintly feeling worthless for Chongzhen.

According to the course of history, Chongzhen borrowed money from the minister two years later, but Zhou Kui said that the family had no money and did not pull out a dime.

Later, after being reprimanded, he had no choice but to take out five thousand taels of silver.

Queen Zhou, who really couldn't stand it, finally sold her gold and silver jewelry, made up 5,000 taels for Zhou Kui, and wanted him to donate it, but when the 5,000 taels came to him, he directly gave 2,000 taels to him, and finally only handed over 3,000 taels of silver to Chongzhen.

In the end, Li Zicheng entered Beijing and copied silver in the entire city of Beijing, and after beating Zhou Kui half to death, Zhou Kui finally took out 500,000 taels of silver, which is really ironic.

And it is precisely because of this that Zhu Yuanzhang decided to be the first to do it to Zhou Kui.

After all, in the entire capital, where can someone as rich and the weakest as Zhou Kui go.

Now that Daming is short of money, like this pig who only knows how to collect money, Zhu Yuanzhang will not kill him.

"Let's talk about it after we get caught, maybe you'll beg us to kill him then."