In the Golden Palace, the wind and the crane were trembling.
The Minister of Justice, Yu Maojian, had already left the Forbidden City. He had led the bailiffs of the Ministry of Justice to Yan Song and Yan Shifan's residences. The imperial edict had been issued to execute Yan Song's three families.
Letting one person go was a dereliction of duty by the Ministry of Justice.
After Zhu Zaihou punished all the cabinet members, he looked at the thirteen people who had been to the directorate and had entered the court without going through the imperial examination. His face was gloomy.
Killing one Yan Shifan was not enough to intimidate the court, nor was it enough to make all the civil and military officials fear him.
He also had to continue punishing those who had malfeasance and those who had bought official positions!
If he didn't make a name for himself, how could he stabilize the Ming Dynasty?
"You haven't passed the imperial examination. Who allowed you to enter the court as officials?”
Zhu Zaihou looked at these imperial court officials and asked.
"Yan Shifan was also a student of the directorate. He had never gone through the imperial examinations and became the minister of Taichang Temple. At that time, I was no longer there! Now that I am here, I will punish this buying of official positions! I'd rather kill the wrong person than let him off!"
As soon as Zhu Zaihou finished speaking, the Minister of Personnel Affairs had already checked the official records of all the officials in the court and reported to Zhu Zaihou,"There are twenty-seven people in the Imperial Court who are students of the directorate. They did not participate in the imperial examinations and entered the Imperial Court as officials!”
Zhu Zaihou looked at the thirteen directorates and said,""Since you dare to come out, you have some responsibility. I can forgive you easily!”
Zhu Zaihou said sternly,""Minister of Personnel!"
"Your subject is here!"
"Investigate! I want to see who these people have bribed and how much money they have bribed to be able to take this shortcut to become an official in the court! Those who accept bribes of ten taels of silver will be punished with thirty sticks! Those who accept bribes of 100 taels of silver will be beheaded, and those who accept bribes of 1,000 taels of silver will be skinned and cut into grass!”
In the court, the other fourteen directorates couldn't hold it in any longer. They stepped forward and kowtowed, begging for His Majesty's forgiveness!
The imperial court was in a state of panic!
Tian Zi was furious! Everyone was in danger!
They all knew that when the emperor was angry, millions of corpses would fall and blood would flow thousands of miles, but they had never seen it before!
Today, they finally saw the wrath of the Son of Heaven!
When Tian Zi was enraged, the heavens would collapse and the earth would split!
Mortals couldn't use their flesh and blood to resist the majesty of the Son of Heaven!
……
"Before I investigate!"
"All officials are not allowed to step out of the Forbidden City!”
"Today, I will investigate thoroughly!"
"Kill them!"
"You should be judged!"
"Don't take any chances!"
Zhu Zaihou waved his sleeves and left the Golden Palace, leaving behind a group of civil and military officials to wait for the interrogation!
The Emperor had already issued a decree to thoroughly investigate all the officials!
All the civil and military officials in the court could not stay out of it!
Zhu Zaihou was not Jiajing, and he did not want to check and balance the ministers. If the future generations judged him as a tyrant, then he would bear the name of a tyrant!
Since I can bear the dignity of the Nine and Five, I can bear the eternal infamy!
……
Zhu Zaihou returned to the Palace of Heavenly Purity.
The civil and military officials were confined to the Golden Palace by the imperial guards.
After examining one person, he would let the other person leave.
The Ministry of Justice had already confiscated Yan Song's property. Yan Song did not have much property, about ten thousand taels of silver. Other than this silver, there were more ancient books and paintings.
When Yan Shifan's property was confiscated, the Ministry of Justice was shocked. The Ministry of Justice confiscated 400,000 taels of silver from Yan Shifan's residence. Other than this silver, there were also all kinds of precious gold and jade artifacts.
Other than these gold, silver, and jade items, there were also various land contracts.
Yan Song is greedy for power, Yan Shifan is greedy for money!
Yan Song's three clans were all arrested, and Yan Shifan's son naturally did not escape.
If they had not intercepted the memorial, Zhu Zaihou might not have been so angry. Perhaps he could have considered Emperor Jiajing's last words and left Yan Song alive.
However, from the moment the cabinet intercepted the memorial, it meant that the imperial power and the cabinet were like fire and water!
Zhu Zaihou wanted to use the knife in his hand to tell the world!
I am the master of the Ming Empire!
If the cabinet was disobedient, so what if they slaughtered the cabinet?
I don't care what merits you have done for the former emperor, I only see that you have disobeyed me!
……
For fifteen days, nearly sixty court officials were imprisoned!
None of the officials who came from the directorate were spared. These officials who came in through the back door had more or less bribed high officials.
Otherwise, how could they avoid the imperial examinations?
So what if he was a student of the directorate?
So what if he was well-educated?
Without going through the imperial examinations, he was not allowed to enter the court!
Zhu Zaihou wanted to set a rule for all the students in the world!
No matter how strong your background is, no matter if you think you are talented or not, you must participate in the imperial examination!
The imperial examination was the only rule!
No one was allowed to disobey!
The students of aristocratic families were not allowed to disobey!
The son of a high official was the same!
……
Day 16!
Zhu Zaihou ascended the throne hall, and all the civil and military officials knelt in the main hall. This great purge had allowed all the civil and military officials to see the Emperor's ruthlessness!
Emperor Long Qing was not Emperor Jiajing!
Emperor Long Qing's eyes were not filled with sand!
Zhu Zaihou sat on the dragon throne and looked at the Minister of Personnel and the Minister of Justice. He said,""I gave you fifteen days. How is the investigation going?”
The Minister of Official Personnel and the Minister of Justice walked out of the court together and raised the ivory board in their hands." Your Majesty, we have thoroughly investigated the matter that Your Majesty asked us to investigate. There are thirty-one people who are corrupt and bribed, and forty-seven people who have bought and sold official positions..."
Zhu Zaihou looked at Li Mo and Yu Maojian. They had lost a lot of weight in the past 15 days. They had also gone through a lot of tests during the examination of the officials.
This was because many of these officials who were greedy for silver were officials of the same palace as them, and they were even very good friends.
Zhu Zaihou flipped through the memorials submitted by Li Mo and Yu Maojian, his expression calm!
In the past ten days, Zhu Zaihou had not rested. Cao Zhengchun had already reorganized the East Hall. Except for the Ming Brocade Guard, the East Hall had resumed its functions.
Zhu Zaihou knew everything that happened in the court and outside.
Zhu Zaihou also knew a thing or two about the officials accepting bribes and corruption.
The salaries of the officials of Great Ming were low, and it was difficult for them to maintain their integrity. According to the Great Ming law set by the Great Ancestor, if they were to take ten taels of skin and grass, none of the courtiers in the hall would be spared!
Zhu Zaihou had exterminated Yan Song's three clans because of the interception of the memorial. Yan Song was cut in half and Yan Shifan was cut to pieces. The other members of the cabinet were not spared either.
Xu Jie was demoted three levels in a row, and the position of Minister of Rites became vacant.
The entire cabinet was abolished by Zhu Zaihou!
All the civil and military officials in the court praised Emperor Long Qing's majesty and his decisiveness in killing.
At the same time, a similar scene in history appeared in the Longqing Dynasty!
A new emperor, a new courtier!
Emperor Long Qing dismissed these important ministers of the Jiajing Dynasty, so he must cultivate the power of the new monarch.
"Li Mo."
"Your subject is here."
"All Imperial College students will participate in the imperial examinations. Those who pass the examinations can enter the court as officials. Those who fail will be dismissed from the Imperial College. If the matter of buying and selling officials happens again, they will be cut in half!”
Zhu Zaihou presided over the court meeting in the Golden Palace.
The young emperor sat high in the temple, and the civil and military officials of the court were divided into classes to participate in politics.
In the first court meeting after Zhu Zaihou ascended the throne, the power of the cabinet was taken away and the culprits who intercepted the memorial were all killed.
Swift and decisive!
The Ming Empire was already boiling.
When the people of the Ming Dynasty heard that His Majesty had punished the corrupt officials in the court, they cheered and cheered for the wise ruler.
When the border generals and county officials heard that the Emperor was investigating corruption and fraud, they all became cautious, afraid that the Emperor would send an imperial envoy.
It was a small matter to lose his black veil hat!
If his head fell to the ground, the gains would not make up for the losses!
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