This time, the entire hall had completely turned into a pig farm. Cries and cries, as well as pleas for mercy, could be heard without end.
"Wait!"
At this moment, Zhu Budian, who had been silent and aloof, finally couldn't help but speak.
He had no choice but to open his mouth because some of these people had already been recruited by him and agreed to support him. He couldn't just watch them die.
Secondly, if he could use this opportunity to save everyone, then these people would definitely support him in the future.
"Emperor, this minister has something to say!" That was why Zhu Budian spoke.
"Imperial Uncle, if you're pleading for them, then don't speak.”Zhu Houzhao said indifferently.
Zhu Budian was furious. Zhu Houzhao was not giving him any face. Sometimes, when he thought about it, he really wanted to strike Zhu Houzhao with his palm.
However, he was not ready yet. If Zhu Houzhao died, he was not confident that he could become the emperor.
One had to know that the members of the Great Ming Imperial Family were not just him, but also an extremely large number. He had to ensure that Zhu Houzhao would have enough power to suppress the other members of the royal family after his death.
Moreover, he also needed to have the ability to quell the unrest in various places. Therefore, he chose to continue enduring.
"Emperor, this official doesn't dare to plead for them. But without them, how would the Emperor govern the world?”Zhu Bujue thought that he had asked a question that Zhu Houzhao had to face.
Indeed, Zhu Houzhao had no choice but to face this problem. This was also a problem that many emperors had to face.
Because of this problem, many emperors were very tolerant of officials. Or rather, he had to be tolerant. He turned a blind eye to many things.
But Zhu Houzhao was different!
"Imperial Uncle, do you mean that I can't rule the world without them? Hmph, Imperial Uncle thinks too highly of them.”Zhu Houzhao coldly snorted and then looked at Eunuch Sun.
"Go, let the Nanjing cabinet and the officials of the six departments go to the palace! Let Imperial Uncle and the ministers see if I can't govern the world without them.”Zhu Houzhao said in high spirits.
This was what made the Ming Dynasty different. It had two cabinet teams. Even if one set was completely destroyed, there would be another set to replenish at any time.
Logically speaking, the Emperor should not have been forced by the civil officials in such a situation. Unfortunately, the Ming Dynasty had two sets of cabinets, but not two sets of officials.
If all the officials in the world resigned, the Imperial Court would not be able to immediately fill in the gaps. This was the reason why the Emperor tolerated the civil officials.
Zhu Houzhao ordered the expansion of the imperial examination this time to fill the gaps.
This also caused the power of the civil officials in the Ming Dynasty to grow larger and larger, beyond the control of the emperor. This was also the reason why there were so many eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty. It was because the emperor wanted to use eunuchs to check and balance civil officials.
"Greetings, Emperor!" Soon, the Nanjing Cabinet and the officials of the six ministries arrived at the main hall.
"From today onwards, you will be officials of the Beijing Cabinet and the six ministries.”Zhu Houzhao waved his hand and gave the order.
"Thank you, Emperor!"
They had long known that this was the case, so they were not surprised. However, he was very happy in his heart.
Although they were also officials of the cabinet and the six ministries in Nanjing, the cabinet and the six ministries were just decorations and did not have any real power. It was equivalent to reserve duty!
Now, he was considered to have become a full-time employee. Since they had decided not to stand on the side of the civil servants, how could they not be happy now that they had been promoted?
"What does Imperial Uncle think?" Zhu Houzhao smiled and said.
The civil officials had been looking forward to it when Zhu Bujue pleaded for mercy. After all, as Zhu Bujue had said, the Emperor still needed them to govern the world.
However, when the Nanjing Cabinet and the six departments appeared, they knew that the Emperor was going to eradicate them completely.
"Emperor, please spare my life. This minister will not dare to do it again. This minister is willing to return all the money embezzled and bribed. I beg the emperor to spare my life!”Many ministers begged for mercy in fear.
Of course, there were also those who were tough and unyielding. For example, Minister of Works Zeng Jian was one of them!
"The Emperor killed a minister for no reason and attacked the scholars of the world. This is cutting himself off from the scholars and country gentlemen of the world. From now on, no one will be an official to govern the world for you. Even the squires in the world would not work for you. If you do this, you are ruining the Ming Dynasty. Without us, Da Ming will soon become a fleeting cloud!”Zeng Jian said disdainfully.
"Haha…you think too highly of yourselves and the scholars in the world. They don't have as much backbone as you think. If you don't want to be an official, there are many people in the world who are willing to be an official. As long as I let the word out, there will be people who will break their heads to squeeze in. Even if all the officials in the world resign, I am not afraid that no one will be an official. Emperor Taizu Gao had killed more than 150,000 corrupt officials in his life, but didn't he still have officials?”Zhu Houzhao said disdainfully.
That's right, if one were to say that the punishment for corrupt officials was the harshest, it would definitely be Zhu Yuanzhang.
Zhu Yuanzhang came from a humble background and was very clear about the hardships of the people at the bottom of the social ladder. Therefore, he loved the people very much.
At the same time, Zhu Yuanzhang also knew the dangers of corrupt officials to the people. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang had zero tolerance for corruption. No matter who it was, no matter what official it was, no matter what status it was.
As long as they were corrupt, they would be killed without mercy.
Even Zhu Yuanzhang's nephew was killed by him for corruption, let alone others.
During the thirty-one years of Zhu Yuanzhang's reign, he had carried out six large-scale anti-corruption campaigns, killing more than 150,000 corrupt officials.
It could be said that Zhu Yuanzhang was cruel, but he was cruel to the officials. He was unbelievably merciful to the commoners. In order to reduce the taxes of the common people, he even tightened his clothes and food.
But even if Zhu Yuanzhang killed so many corrupt officials, didn't there still be people who wanted to be officials? Therefore, Zhu Houzhao was not afraid that no one would become an official.
Besides, it wasn't like he wasn't prepared!
"As for the squire you mentioned? I am even less afraid because I have already decided that from now on, the squires will no longer be in charge of collecting taxes. Whoever dares to mess around, I will cut him down. I want to see if their necks are harder or my blade is harder! What does Minister Zeng think?"
"Take him down immediately and peel off his skin!”Zhu Houzhao waved his hand and no longer listened to anyone's advice.
"Spare me, emperor…spare me, emperor!”
"Please give me a quick death…"
At this time, Zeng Jian was silent. He did not beg for mercy, but looked deeply at Zhu Houzhao. Only now did he realize that he could not see through Zhu Houzhao at all.
He knew that the days when civil officials could lord it over others were gone forever. No matter who became an official in the future, they had to behave with their tails between their legs. In front of Zhu Houzhao, no one could force the Emperor.
Moreover, he knew that begging for mercy was useless. This time, Zhu Houzhao was determined to kill them. He wanted to punish corruption and the civil servants.
Only now did he understand that the Criminal Investigation Regulations that he and the others had pushed forward were digging their own graves. Zhu Houzhao was not the Hongzhi Emperor, so he was not that easy to fool.
The Regulations on Interrogation and Punishment had completely infuriated Zhu Houzhao!
However, Zhu Houzhao's actions would definitely cause chaos in the world. However, he did not know how he was going to pacify the chaos in the world!
The officials begged for mercy and were dragged out in tears. He lost his life in a wail.
Zhu Budian closed his eyes when he saw this scene!
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