In the early morning of the second day, Ye Chang handed over a booklet tracing the whereabouts of the household funds for ten years.
Among them, three major cases of corruption and perversion of the law and the crime of deceiving the emperor were involved.
One is the case of three million taels of silver that was lost due to the severe drought in Qingchuan ten years ago; But the embankment broke again the following year; one was three years ago, when a fire broke out in Peicheng, three granaries in the government office were burned down, and hundreds of households were burned down, and five million taels of silver were donated for relief. case.
These three major cases, Ye Chang presented the memorial in court, and the emperor wanted to vomit blood after reading it.
The emperor's hand holding the memorial trembled a few times, and then he threw the memorial down the golden hall with a "snap", stood up, pointed at the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty standing in the court hall, and was furious, "Three major cases, tens of thousands of dollars!" Baiyin, and those countless small cases, nearly 15 million taels of silver in ten years, it turns out that this is how my treasury was defeated."
The officials were shocked. They didn't expect that Ye Shizi would uncover such three major cases just a few days after he arrived at the Ministry of Household Affairs.
For a while, many people were terrified, and some people were scared out of their wits. As an official in the court, except for officials from the poor family of the Qingliu, it can be said that not many civil and military officials in the Manchu Dynasty are really clean.
But some people are ruthless and daring and have a lot of corruption, while others are not too daring and not too daring, and they are less corrupt.
Some people are clean, one is because they come from a poor family, they come from a clean family, and they disdain corruption. Some people are equally clean, so there is no need to be greedy, because the family that has been prosperous for generations has accumulated countless wealth and shops occupying countless land, so they don’t need to eat this disaster relief money.
Therefore, when this case came out, some people were calm and at ease, such as Sun Chengxiang, Wang Dashi, Xu Yunchu, Minister of the Ministry of War, etc.; Prince Ping and others.
Ye Chang looked calm, standing in the middle of the hall, after the emperor threw out his memorial, he bent over to pick it up.
The emperor looked at the civil and military affairs of the Manchu Dynasty, his body trembled for a while, and he said angrily, "Come here, drag the minister of the Ministry of Industry and Prince Heping County out of the Meridian Gate and behead him!"
The minister of the Ministry of Industry, Prince Heping, was so frightened that he knelt down on the ground with a "plop", begging for mercy repeatedly, "Your Majesty, please forgive me, I know I was wrong."
The emperor was furious, "Drag it out!"
A guard rushed in from outside, took off their official hats, and dragged them out of the hall.
Some people were so frightened that their legs softened and they could barely stand.
Prime Minister Sun and Master Wang glanced at each other, but did not intercede on their behalf. Xu Yunchu glanced at Ye Chang, but also stood still.
After dragging the two of them out, the emperor still couldn't calm down, and shouted, "Who else? Don't let me name them all, let me come out."
He yelled loudly, and someone who couldn't bear it immediately knelt on the ground and shouted, "The emperor spare me!"
"Drag out!" the emperor shouted angrily.
Another guard rushed in, took off the official hats of the three of them, and dragged them out.
The emperor shouted angrily again, "What else is there? Who else hasn't come out? If no one comes out, I will call my name, and if I call my name, I will punish the Nine Clans!"
As soon as the words fell, another seven or eight people knelt on the ground and begged for mercy.
The emperor was so angry that his face turned blue, "Drag them all out! Drag them out!"
In the blink of an eye, seven more people were stripped of their official hats and dragged out of the hall by the guards.
In a short time, twelve court officials were pushed out of the Meridian Gate.
All the officials held their breaths, and most of the remaining people were pale and trembling.
The emperor looked at the frightened officials, shook his body, and coughed violently.
Koizumi hurried forward, supported the emperor, and said hastily, "Your Majesty, take care of the dragon's body!"
The emperor raised his hand and waved Koizumi away, pointed at those ministers, and said angrily, "For many years, I have treated my ministers kindly and kindly, but I never expected that you would destroy my country behind your back. Today, I just..." He paused, He said angrily, "Xiaoquanzi, read it to me, who else is involved in the case! Don't come out, right? Then, I won't wait to kill you, but I will also punish the nine clans!"
After the emperor's words fell, more than a dozen people knelt on the ground, "Your Majesty, please spare me!"
The emperor pointed at these people and said angrily, "Everyone who comes, drag them out, drag them out! Behead them immediately!"
The guards took off the official hats of more than a dozen people, pushed them out of the main hall, and pushed them outside the Meridian Gate.
All of a sudden, there were more than 20 people, and a corner of the entire court was empty.
The emperor trembled with anger when he saw the large corner vacated by civil and military officials. He boasted that he had been an emperor with no achievements for many years, but he did not expect that there were two old cases twelve years ago and four years ago. , Then there was the big case of the noble concubine Yue, and then there was the big unsolved bloodbath case of Qiufeng Mountain in the Hejian Post Station, and now there is the case of tens of millions of taels of silver uncovered by the household department.
One after another, one after another, they all prove that he has failed in a country ruled by an emperor.
The rest of the courtiers were all pale-faced, and even Prime Minister Sun and Grand Scholar Wang frowned. If all the twenty or so courtiers were killed, the government and the public would be left empty, but not to mention who would dare to become an official in the court in the future, but where to find a replacement official who can take up the important positions these people hold
The two looked at Ye Chang.
Ye Chang's face was expressionless, dull, and he couldn't see what was going on in his heart. He seemed indifferent to the emperor's sudden decision to behead so many people because of his memorial.
Xu Yunchu did not expect that the emperor would immediately push these people out of the Meridian Gate and behead them, not even giving them a chance to ease into the prison. He also looked at Ye Chang, and seeing that his face was normal, he didn't come forward to intercede, thinking to himself that he must have a plan.
Over the years, the national treasury has been in short supply, and the Ministry of Household Affairs, which is in charge of the keys to the national treasury, has become worse year by year. The emperor had long wanted to rectify the household department, but he was powerless. Now that Ye Shang was to supervise the household department on behalf of the emperor, what he wanted was to rectify the household department, pull out the weeds to bring out the silt, and open up the vanguard of clearing the Qing dynasty.
What Ye Chang is doing now is what the emperor needs and wants, this is the sword that governs the country on behalf of the emperor.
Now that the sword is out of its sheath, and the radish is pulled out to bring out the mud, just like the case of the noble concubine breaking the moon, the whole court will be shaken three times. He is the only one who can deal with civil and military affairs in the court, and find out such a big case. case, the emperor's sword for governing the country has been done.
Ye Chang's back is backed by the emperor, backed by the clan, with the backing of Wangfu, Sufu, Jiangnan Yejia, and even Yanbei Sujia, he is not afraid.
After dragging out more than twenty people in a row, the emperor sat down on the golden chair and closed his eyes.
The court was silent.
Not only Prime Minister Sun, Master Wang, and Xu Yunchu looked at Ye Chang, but everyone else including the Minister of Military Affairs and the Minister of Household also looked at Ye Chang. Ye Shizi didn't open his mouth to intercede for these people, none of them dared to come out and make trouble with the emperor at this time, otherwise they would get burned.
Ye Chang, as if he didn't see these people, took out a file from his sleeve and slowly flipped through it.
After two cups of tea, someone outside shouted loudly, "Report! The King of Jin is begging to see you!"
Xu Yunchu narrowed his eyes.
Prime Minister Sun and Senior Scholar Wang glanced at each other, and then at Ye Chang, both showing understanding. The ministers also showed signs of understanding. Everyone knows that the clan headed by the King of Jin has all their hearts to Ye Shizi, and now Ye Shizi has revealed three major cases in the past ten years in the memorial, and he must have secretly informed the King of Jin to intercede for these people.
Although the King of Jin has not been in court for a long time, the emperor respects this old uncle very much. If there is a need, he will still ask the King of Jin to help, such as the case of the sinking of the East Lake painting boat in Cha Lingyun Town half a year ago.
Now that King Jin is here, it seems that if not all of these people can be kept, half of them can be kept.
The emperor closed his eyes and said, "Xuan!"
The voice of "King Xuan Jin goes to the palace" came out one after another.
Not long after, King Jin went to the main hall and bowed to the emperor, "The old minister kowtowed to the emperor, long live my emperor, long live, long live!"
The emperor opened his eyes, glanced at King Jin, and said in a deep voice, "Uncle Wang, you are not staying in the mansion, why are you rushing to the palace?"
The King of Jin said, "Your Majesty, the old minister heard that the Emperor is going to kill more than 20 court officials. This... can't be done!"
"Huh? They are corrupt and violate the law, form cliques for private interests, steal the country and treasury, and seek personal gain. How can I not kill them?" The emperor said angrily, "If Uncle Wang went to the court to plead for their forgiveness for this matter, then there is no need to say more, go back !"
The King of Jin hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, throughout the ages, none of the emperors of all dynasties killed so many important officials in the palace. Although these people have committed serious crimes, they are not worthy of death!"
"The crime does not deserve death?" The emperor was furious. "Three major cases, 15 million treasuries of snowflakes and silver, were all embezzled. Is this not a crime not enough to die? Your Jin Palace has held court salaries for many years, In addition, there are shops and fertile land, how much silver can you get in and out in a year? Is there a hundred thousand?"
Upon hearing this, the King of Jin immediately said, "Old minister... the mansion... only earns this amount every year."
The emperor said angrily, "You gain these benefits every year, but how much do you spend? Can it exceed this amount? But what about my treasury? In ten years, I have lost 15 million taels of silver, enough to support 1,500 Jins. The prince's mansion is gone. Where did the money go, instead of being rescued? You won't let me kill them? You tell me the reason? You come to intercede today, and I will give Uncle Wang face, as long as you give enough reasons why you can't kill them , I just let them go."
"This..." King Jin looked at the emperor, "Your Majesty, since this year, many cases have been brought up. The old cases from twelve years ago and four years ago were uncovered earlier. Yu, now that I continue to kill so many important court officials, I am afraid that the country will be unstable, the country will be in turmoil, the government will be paralyzed, and the country will be ruined, Your Majesty. Don't kill!"