One day later.
Zhu Houzhao changed into his court clothes with the help of the palace maids.
Three days a day was the rule that Zhu Houzhao had set for himself.
He warned himself that he had to be diligent in government affairs. Otherwise, he might not be able to sit firmly on the throne.
All the officials had already gathered outside the Meridian Gate.
Wuwuwu--
The horn sounded and the Meridian Gate opened.
All the civil and military officials entered the court and walked across the Golden Water Bridge. When they entered the palace, they were not allowed to make any noise or cough. There were special censors to record the conduct of the officials.
The civil and military officials ascended the Xuanzheng Hall and lined up in the court.
Pa!
Pa!
Pa!
Three clean whips resounded in the White Jade Square. Emperor Zheng De, who was dressed in a dragon robe, ascended the court!
"Greetings, Your Majesty. Long live the Emperor!"”
"Beloved ministers, please rise!"
Zhu Houzhao sat on the dragon throne and looked down at the civil and military officials in the hall.
The eunuch beside Zhu Houzhao shouted,"If you have a book, report it as soon as possible. If you don't, withdraw from court!"
As soon as the eunuch finished speaking, the Minister of Justice, Liu Jing, stepped forward and said,""Your Majesty, I have a report.”
Zhu Houzhao looked at the Minister of Justice, Liu Jing, and said,""Yes."
"Your Majesty, Liu Jin, the original third-grade eunuch of the ceremonial director, has been executed, but not all of the people who helped Liu Jin have been executed. The Ministry of Justice has confiscated seven of Liu Jin's mansions, eight hundred acres of fertile farmland, and thirteen concubines. A total of 980,000 taels of silver, 8,000 taels of gold, and more than a thousand pieces of antique calligraphy, painting, jewelry, and jewelry have been confiscated…Liu Jin has been a eunuch for eleven years and has committed forty-three major cases of corruption and murder.”
As soon as the Minister of Justice finished speaking, the entire court was stirred up, and many censors chimed in.
Zhu Houzhao's face darkened. He knew that Liu Jin would be greedy, but he never expected Liu Jin to be greedy for more than a million taels of silver, as well as many land properties, jewelry, calligraphy, and paintings!
One had to know that the Ming Empire ruled by Hongzhi Emperor Zhu Youtang only had an annual tax of four million taels. The silver that was finally deposited into the national treasury, after deducting the military pay and the construction of various places, only eight hundred thousand taels of silver ended up in the national treasury!
Liu Jin actually embezzled a quarter of the Ming Empire's tax revenue!
For an ordinary family of five, twenty taels of silver was enough to feed them for a year.
Most of the Ming people had never seen fifty taels of silver in their entire lives.
The one million taels of silver that Liu Jin had embezzled was enough to support the Great Ming soldiers in a war against the Tartars!
"His Majesty must severely punish Liu Jin and his people!”
All the officials in the court were agitated!
Zhu Houzhao raised his hand and the eunuch shouted,""Silence!"
The entire hall was silent.
"Hand over the memorial," Zhu Houzhao said.”
"Yes!"
The eunuch walked to the Minister of Justice, Liu Jing, and held Liu Jing's memorial in his hand, handing it over to the dragon table in front of Zhu Houzhao.
Zhu Houzhao opened the memorial submitted by Liu Jing. The shocking figures of corruption made Zhu Houzhao more and more furious.
The names of eunuchs appeared on the memorial one after another.
Pa!
Zhu Houzhao placed the memorial on the table.
"Where is the silver that Liu Jin embezzled?"
"Your Majesty, they are all sealed in the Ministry of Justice's treasury!" Liu Jing cupped his hands in the hall.”
"Good! Bring it to the main hall. I want to see how huge a million taels of silver is!”
"Yes!"
The Minister of Justice, Liu Jing, received the decree and left. Emperor Zheng De's face was gloomy and murderous!
All the officials in the hall were silent. Everyone felt a sense of oppression, as if a storm was coming.
Everyone was waiting. The hall was silent.
Zhu Houzhao was reading the memorials that he had not read yesterday. The officials in the court looked at each other.
If Zhu Houzhao did not raise his head, they would not dare to do so either.
Everyone was waiting, waiting for the storm to come.
Liu Jian and Li Dongyang felt as if their hearts were about to jump out of their throats. This time, the three of them had worked together to complete the memorial.
After Liu Jin was cut in half by the Emperor, the three of them saw that the Emperor had the intention to punish the eunuchs, so they wrote this memorial.
In their eyes, Emperor Zheng De was more courageous and decisive than Emperor Hongzhi. From the incident of cutting Liu Jin in half, they could tell that Emperor Zheng De was going to make great achievements!
They seemed to see that the Ming Empire would help the world in the generation of Emperor Zheng De and return the Ming Empire to a bright world!
The cabinet seemed to only see two words: "Eunuch party! Will die!"
Boxes of silver were carried into the Forbidden City by the Brocade Guard of Ming Dynasty and into the Xuanzheng Hall…
Outside the Forbidden City, Cao Zhengchun, who was dressed in a brocade robe, crossed his arms and smiled coldly."Do you really think that His Majesty only wants to punish the Imperial Attendants? Do you really think that His Majesty only punished the Imperial Attendants Supervisor according to your wishes?”
"Now that His Majesty has punished the Imperial Attendants Supervisor according to your wishes, if His Majesty finds out that your family property is much more than Liu Jin's, I wonder what kind of wonderful expression you will have when the Emperor questions you…I wonder if you will be able to speak eloquently when His Majesty questions you! Would he be as upright as he was now?”
In Cao Zhengchun's view, the more the Emperor punished the Imperial Attendants Supervisor, the more determined the Emperor was to purge the Imperial Court!
Now that His Majesty has punished the Imperial Attendants Supervisor according to the wishes of you ministers, how will you defend yourself when the Emperor's sword falls on your heads?
If His Majesty knows that your family's wealth far exceeds Liu Jin's, how will you explain it to His Majesty?
Humph…
You can laugh in court!
Just wait, the real storm had yet to come!
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。