If at this time, there are still people who have not understood the purpose of Li Xianbo standing up just now, they are not worthy to stand in today's court.
Of course, it is impossible for His Majesty to put all the corrupt officials in the court into prison or take them out and behead them. In this way, not only the court will collapse, but the entire official system of Jingguo will also collapse.
However, corruption is real, and it is impossible for His Majesty to pretend that he has not seen it. If he exposes it lightly, I am afraid that this phenomenon will become more serious in the future.
His Majesty needs a step, and some officials in the court also need a step, or a chance to forgive sins.
Now this opportunity presents itself.
After an official from the Ministry of Finance came out, another official stood up and said with a straight face: "Your Majesty, the students of the School of Mathematical Sciences are the future pillars of the imperial court. I am willing to donate five thousand taels to the School of Mathematical Sciences."
As soon as the words fell, a person followed: "I am willing to donate 8,000 taels to the Women's College."
"I donated 10,000 taels to the Academy of Sciences."
"Your Majesty has worked hard for the country and spared no effort to reduce the expenses of the inner government. I am deeply ashamed and willing to donate half of the family property..."
…
…
Officials of the Manchu Dynasty have never been so patriotic and loyal to the emperor for a moment. If they "share the worries for the emperor", they will donate tens of thousands of taels at every turn. In the future, it will definitely be a highlight in the history books.
During the Jinghe period, the emperor was kind enough to reduce or exempt the taxes of several disaster-stricken state capitals, resulting in an empty treasury. Donating half of the family wealth is indeed a model among officials, and was used by many kings in later generations to spur the officials...
On the golden palace, Emperor Jing sat firmly on the dragon chair, the expression on his face was much more relaxed than before.
At some point in front of them, a table case had been moved in. Yushitai Ma Zhongcheng was sitting there, taking notes with a pen, while the courtiers lined up one by one, vying to donate their family wealth.
For them, it's not about losing money, it's about earning their lives.
The officials here have already left their records with His Majesty, and His Majesty seems not to want to pursue it at this time, but under such circumstances, if someone pretends to be stupid, the end will not be much better than those who were dragged out just now.
Even some officials don't know how much they have been greedy at all, so they have to roughly estimate a figure at this moment, which can only be more or less. After comparing, His Majesty found that the number was wrong, and might use their official positions or heads to make up the number.
It is really impossible to get it together, and the only way to donate most of the family wealth is to influence His Majesty with sincerity.
Ma Zhongcheng was sitting in front of the table, writing in regular script in one hand, looked up at the officials who came over, and said with a smile, "Master Xu, how many taels?"
"Twenty thousand."
"Master Zhou?"
"Ten thousand..."
"Wei..."
"Five thousand."
…
…
"Boy, tell me honestly, did you come up with this idea?" General Xue asked standing behind the pillar, looking at Li Yi.
"Mr. Xue's words are wrong. There is a kid who can participate in this kind of thing." Li Yi waved his hand and shook his head.
Old General Xue had a look of disbelief. If you say that this kid didn't collude with His Majesty..., if you say that this kid didn't collude with His Majesty, why did you remind them to seize the opportunity just now
Li Xuan was about to walk over there, but Li Yi grabbed him, looked at him and asked, "Why are you going?"
"Donate money..." Li Xuan looked puzzled and asked, "So many people have donated, don't you plan to donate some?"
Old General Xue shook his head, Li Mingzhu glanced at him, but did not speak.
Li Yi sighed, waved his hands and said, "Go, go..."
Li Xuan looked at his expression, stood still immediately, and said, "No, is there something I haven't thought of?"
Li Yi pointed to dozens of officials who were chatting aside, and asked, "Why don't they donate?"
Now he really began to wonder if this guy really has no brains and no political sensitivity at all. In this respect, Her Royal Highness the Princess is better than him as a woman.
After a while, Li Xuan finally realized, "Gao, it's really Gao. Who the hell came up with this method? If those corrupt officials know about it, why don't they hate him to death?"
"Thank you Li Xianbo." When a strange official came over, he stopped beside Li Yi for a moment, cupped his hands, and said in a low voice.
Under Li Xuan's surprised eyes, another person came over and said in a low voice: "Master Li's kindness, I will always remember it in my heart."
…
"I'll give you a suggestion." After dealing with a few people, Li Yi looked back at Li Xuan and said, "When you get back, eat more walnuts, and remember not to use the door clamp..."
Her Royal Highness the Princess walked over from there, frowned slightly, and said: "Unexpectedly, there are so many moths in the imperial court, even the fifth-rank and sixth-rank officials are like this. If it goes up a little bit, wouldn't it be even more daring?"
Li Yi shook his head and said, "Small officials are very greedy. The higher you go, the less common this phenomenon will be."
The higher the official rank, the more attention will be paid to reputation, and countless people will stare at every move, not to mention, tens of thousands of taels of silver, for them, it is disdainful. A huge family and power, delaying one's official career for money, how stupid a person would do it.
The cleansing in the court this time targeted mostly middle-level officials, and those above the third rank were not involved. On the one hand, these officials could not be easily moved; Other than that, the rest are relatively minor and innocuous.
After all, Jingguo's annual tax revenue does not exceed ten million taels, and the old emperor is not blind, so he disappeared so much at once, it is impossible not to see it.
Of course, this is Kyoto, under the foot of the emperor, the situation outside of Kyoto must be much more serious than here.
The old emperor really got into the eyes of money, and today's morning court took a long time to leave.
Today's morning court was beyond everyone's expectations. There was also thunder, but it didn't last long. It was more of a breeze and drizzle. The difference was that if someone didn't understand, there might be thunder after the drizzle.
I still have a good idea of how much I have been greedy. This time, His Majesty's extrajudicial favor was only to deal with a few typical people. If the rest of the people donate money, they will not be held accountable, but it is only this time.
If I escaped this time, I may not be able to escape the next time. Some people in the court, from now on, I am afraid that they will have to do things carefully.
Of course, in the eyes of those officials who have not been affected, His Majesty's move is really extremely clever.
After today, the situation in the entire court has changed drastically, and all the forces have been reshuffled, especially the King of Shu family, which suffered heavy losses. Among them, the Qin family, the Chen family, the Cui family and other big families suffered a lot. But it can't shake the foundation, but for those officials whose foundation is still shallow, if His Majesty takes the handle, they can only ask for good luck in the future...
It is foreseeable that His Majesty's control over the entire court will reach its peak in the future, and even reach the peak that the emperors of Jingguo have not reached...
…
…
"Your Majesty, that counts as the college building the lake..." In the back hall, Li Yi looked at Emperor Jing and asked tentatively.
"Thirty thousand taels." Emperor Jing looked in a good mood, waved his hand and said, "I only give thirty thousand taels, and you can figure out the rest yourself."
After Li Yi was stunned, he immediately cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, I will take my leave first!"
Seeing his decisive action, Emperor Jing's expression froze, and he asked, "How much money did you plan to ask Zhen?"
Li Yi had already stepped out of the palace gate with one foot, turned his head and said, "Return to Your Majesty, I originally planned to ask for 50,000 taels, but the treasury is tight, so I should figure out a way for the remaining 20,000 taels."
"Should I say ten thousand taels just now?" After Li Yi's figure disappeared, Emperor Jing touched his chin and said regretfully.
Chang De thought for a while and said, "Looking at Li Xianbo's straightforward and decisive look just now, five thousand taels is probably okay."