The Cabinet.
Duke Liu, Duke Xie, and Duke Li looked at each other.
Just now, the East Hall had sent word that this bloodbath and corruption storm must be suppressed. No one must leak the news.
This meant that the new Emperor was going to start a bloodbath of the exhausted officials within the Ming Dynasty.
This wasn't terrifying. Almost every new emperor would do this.
It was a terrifying thing. No one knew how much Zhu Youtang's knife would kill.
The young emperor, who had ascended the throne at the age of seventeen, had such boldness. The three cabinet elders shuddered.
They did not dare to stay in the cabinet any longer. The Third Pavilion Elder lifted his robe and walked toward the East Intelligence Bureau.
……
The East Bureau was brightly lit, and the foreigners shuttled back and forth, sending letters to Huai 'en's case one after another.
Two hours ago, midnight.
Pugu Huaien arrested Wan An, Liu Ji, Liu Wei and other former cabinet paper paste three cabinet elders with lightning speed.
There was no need for the East Hall to find people to bite them one by one. It was more efficient to capture a few key figures and let them bite out their colleagues.
Edict prison.
In the early days of the establishment of the East Chamber, there was no imperial prison. Those who were arrested were sent to the Jinyiwei. However, during the Chenghua years, the East Chamber's own imperial prison was also established.
And in terms of reputation, the imperial prison in the East Chamber was even more terrifying.
In front of the bonfire, Wan An was tied to a wooden stake.
A foreigner from the East Chamber sneered,""Grand Secretary Wan, the six ministers have already given their orders. Are you still going to carry on?”
Wan An was silent. As the former chief of the cabinet, he was still somewhat proud.
The man from the East Chamber was not surprised. He tied Wan An's fingers and toes with cotton thread and pulled them apart.
At this moment, he looked like a zither that was suspended in the air, and the rope tied to it was the zither string.
This was one of the notorious punishments of the East Chamber, the rat playing the zither.
No one could withstand such torture.
"Grand Secretary Wan, don't be so shameless.”The eunuch of the East Chamber roared sharply. Seeing that Wan An was unmoved, he became ruthless and hit the taut rope with his stick.
The first time he struck, Wan An broke out in a cold sweat, and his face was as pale as a sheet.
After the second knock, Wan An bit his lips hard, causing blood and flesh to fly everywhere.
After the third strike, a howl like a wolf's howl and a ghost's cry rang out in the East Chamber's prison.
"Say…confess, confess, I confess…"
" The Left Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Works, Liu Wei, the Chief of the Hejian Yamen in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Lin Yi, the Doctor of the Ministry of Works in Southern Zhili, Deng Wei…"
One by one, Wan An listed out the names, how much he had embezzled, and how much he had embezzled.
"Ancestor, the list is all here.”
The East Chamber natives gave the name list to Huai 'en.
"Good!"
Huai 'en was overjoyed." We've done a good job. I'll ask the Emperor for credit."”
As they spoke.
Liu Jian, Xie Qian, and Li Dongyang had already arrived at the Eastern Intelligence Bureau.
This was the first time the cabinet and the East Chamber had jointly organized a mission.
To be honest, the civil officials in the cabinet looked down on eunuchs the most, but now they felt how great the East Chamber's foreigners were.
By the time the Third Pavilion Elder arrived, Huai En had already given Liu Jian the corruption list.
Even the Third Pavilion Elder clicked his tongue when he saw this efficiency.
Liu Jian slowly opened the name list. As he read through it, his brows gradually furrowed and his face turned extremely pale.
"In Bei Zhi Li, there are actually five corrupt officials in the Ministry of Works and Ministry of Personnel. Five people embezzled six hundred thousand taels of silver! Alright, alright!"
Liu Jian's voice was trembling as he said this. He gritted his teeth and his eyes cracked!
With this group of scum around, how could the national treasury have any surplus silver?
Big Ming was dragged down step by step by this group of bastards!
The Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Personnel were the most prone to corruption. Although Liu Jian had expected it, he never thought that they would be so greedy!
600,000 taels, half a year's worth of military expenses!
He deserved to be killed!
In fact, Liu Jian did not continue to read the list. The list of names in the East Chamber covered almost half of the Ming Dynasty. Some were greedy, some were greedy, and everything was listed.
Zhu Youtang had a huge appetite and wanted six million taels of silver in half a month.
Liu Jian needed to weigh the pros and cons. If he killed too many at once, the bottom level officials of Ming would not be replenished. Their foundation would be unstable and it would shake the foundation of the country.
The cabinet had to come up with a plan for those who could be killed and those who could not be moved for the time being.
On this night, not only was the East Chamber brightly lit, but the cabinet was also ablaze.
The Third Pavilion Elder didn't dare to rest. He covered each of the memorials in red. The East Chamber's people came in from outside. They took the memorials and didn't say anything. They immediately rushed out and led the East Chamber's people to arrest people and confiscate their property.
Who would have known that on the night of the twelfth day of the third month of the first year of Hongzhi, the sky of Bei Zhili would be filled with red clouds!
It was Zhu Youtang's murderous blade, cleaving the filthy sky!
That night, some people were still immersed in their dreams, while others had their families destroyed.
This was only the beginning.
Zhu Youtang's knife had not stopped!
……
The next day.
Zhu Youtang did not go to the morning court.
The Ming Dynasty had a workaholic like Zhu Yuanzhang, who went to court almost every morning. His descendants could do it every three days, which was already considered diligent.
"Emperor, the stolen money from the Ministry of Works has been found to be one million taels.”
Zhang Min carefully told Zhu Youtang about the situation outside.
One day!
In just one day, the money embezzled from the Ministry of Works 'yamen for various fortifications, river embankment repairs, palace repairs, and so on had already reached a million taels!
When Zhang Min heard this, he was furious. He was deeply afraid that Zhu Youtang would be angry and curse.
However, what surprised Zhang Min was that Zhu Youtang did not seem to mind.
"Let's go to Renshou Palace to see Imperial Grandmother.”Zhu Youtang said lightly.
"Yes."
……
Renshou Palace.
Empress Dowager Zhou had protected the little emperor as he grew up.
At that time Imperial Consort Wan was in power, if Zhu Youtang had not been living with Empress Dowager Zhou, he would have already died.
To this royal grandmother, Zhu Youtang was grateful from the bottom of his heart.
"Imperial Grandmother, Sun Chen has come to pay his respects to you.”
Zhu You Tang waved his hand and let the servant girls serving Empress Dowager Zhou go down. He personally scooped a bowl of porridge for Empress Dowager Zhou.
"Good, good, good grandson."
Empress Dowager Zhou's eyes were filled with tears.
After taking care of Zhu Youtang for seventeen years, he knew Zhu Youtang's character the best. This child was a little timid in his bones, and she was afraid that she would not be able to defeat Imperial Concubine Wan.
But who would have known that this child had only ascended the throne for less than a month before Empress Dowager Wan was executed and she took control of the inner palace and outer court!
Empress Dowager Zhou was too happy with this method.
" Emperor, I heard that there's an investigation into corruption outside…"
Empress Dowager Zhou had her own selfish motives. Her two younger brothers were not good people and they were also members of the imperial clan. Although they did not have the authority to take bribes, they still did many things like occupying fertile land.
"Imperial Grandmother, have some porridge."
Zhu Youtang didn't answer her and handed her the thick porridge.
Empress Dowager Zhou said sadly,"Aijia's two brothers……"
Zhu Youtang's hand holding the porridge paused slightly." Imperial Grandmother, have some porridge."”
This time, his voice was much deeper.
Empress Dowager Zhou raised her eyes and found that Zhu Youtang's expression had become indifferent, becoming unfamiliar and terrifying.
She was stunned. Then, she changed the topic and said with a smile,"Yes, yes, let's eat porridge."
……
He left the Palace of Benevolence and Longevity.
Zhu Youtang asked Zhang Min,"Do you know why the emperor calls himself 'lonely'?"”
Zhang Min shook her head.
It was unknown what Zhu Youtang was thinking, but his expression was slightly desolate as he said indifferently,"Since you're the emperor, some emotions should be restrained. Therefore, as time passed, the people around me would become unfamiliar with me. As time passes, I will be alone.”
Even if he had deep feelings for Empress Dowager Zhou, Zhu You Tang could not let anyone in the harem have a chance to interfere in politics!
[PS: I'm looking for data support. I don't have any data. I'm panicking.]
This chapter had 2500 words. The author would not deliberately control the number of words. The chapter would definitely be the fullest and most sincere!
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