eldest son of Ming dynasty

Although officialdom is a very complex system and has some deep-rooted problems, there is no doubt that officialdom will be affected by the core.

The negative example is Emperor Jiajing, because he was too smart and too selfish. Every time he used a chief minister to govern the country, he put a young man behind him, and then encouraged the young man to attack the person in front. In this way, he encouraged his ministers to interact with each other. Fighting to ensure their own transcendent status led to the rapid deterioration of the party and government in the middle and late Ming Dynasty in the past few decades.

Also because he practiced Taoism and liked Qing Ci, a group of ministers who were good at writing Qing Ci emerged.

Today's Zhu Houzhao's influence on officialdom is essentially the same as that of Jiajing. Because they both have great power, their preferences will have specific expressions.

The emperor asked about taxes, bandits, armaments, and commerce. After the natural evolution of the past few years, of course, such a group of ministers would emerge.

This was also the result of the emperor's independent selection, because key officials who did not give him positive feedback would not be able to get ahead at all, and the latter would simply be demoted.

For example, Chen Tai, the former governor of Fengyang.

In this process, there was only one troublesome thing, which was that the positive feedback Zhu Houzhao received was false.

After paying homage to Bai Shiweng, Zhang Li wanted to return to his home by Taihu Lake, but Bi Zhuo, the guard who had been following him before, came to report a troublesome matter to him.

After reading the note, Zhang Li had no intention of hanging around Suzhou again.

Two days later, Jiang Yong completed the handover and continued southward with the team.

After the Great Court Meeting, all the governors, chief envoys, and inspectors in Zhejiang were replaced. Now there is no one in charge. How can we not be anxious if something like that happens again?
From Suzhou to Hangzhou, you can take a boat via the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal. In the passenger ship's room, Bijie reported the information he had so far.
"...Chen Tai, the former governor of Fengyang, originally wanted to return to his hometown in Hangzhou, but when he arrived in Tongzhou, he was chased back by the Jin Yiwei."

Zhang Li said firmly: "Since it was Jin Yiwei who took action, it must be the intention of the Holy One. After we return to Hangzhou, we must immediately control the people of Chen Tai's clan and his relatives. Cooperate with the imperial court to thoroughly investigate Chen Tai."

This was the message he had received before, and Chen Tai was going to be thoroughly investigated.

Jiang Yong on the side was shocked when he heard this. After all, Governor Fengyang was already a relatively big official. In the past few years, the emperor rarely touched officials at this level.

"Last year, the official was aware of the affairs of the Huai'an Prefecture, and it was because of this that the official was transferred to Suzhou as the prefect. However, it was probably the former Huai'an prefect Tian Ruofu who made his own decisions, and became greedy. Fengyang Governor Chen Tai seemed to be unwilling to do so. No involvement?"

Zhang Li's face tightened, "The specific situation is not known yet. During this year's imperial meeting, the emperor adjusted the governors of various places. At first, some people left their old posts but there were no new ones. But then things gradually went wrong. Maybe there were signs at that time. .”

Bi Zhuo also nodded, "Except for the former Shuntian Governor Gu Renyi, there is no one who has not yet received a new position. Judging from the news in Beijing, Chen Tai should still be related to Tan Mo."

"Zhibai, you were a county magistrate in Zhejiang before. Do you know the Chen family in Hangzhou?" Zhang Li thought of this section.

Jiang Yong nodded slightly, "In my impression, Chen Tai was a capable minister for a while, and he was upright and honest. Now he only has a wife who is a loser. He has never heard of anything like buying a large amount of land. He is greedy and sincere. Why talk about it?"

There is no point in worrying about these things now. Someone will tell them when they return to Hangzhou.

But this matter is already a big deal in the capital, and the fact that it attracted the emperor's attention is circumstantial evidence.

In compliance with the imperial edict, the Ministry of Punishment has handed over all the case files to Jin Yiwei for processing.

Chen Tai was temporarily controlled for investigation.

Because this is not only a corruption case, Chen Tai's position as governor of Fengyang was only taken up by Zhu Houzhao when he nodded. Since Zhu Houzhao nodded, it means that Chen Tai had a good official reputation in the past.

In other words, someone deceived the emperor on this matter.

"... Chen Tai's hometown in Hangzhou in Zhejiang, as well as the central capitals of Fengyang, Huai'an, Yangzhou and Luzhou, have been sent there. According to the system, the governor will report to His Majesty the local land, population and tax situation every year. These The data from the Attendant's Room have been given to me, so I just need to go back and verify them one by one, and there should be clues."

For example, if you report 100 million acres of farmland, how did you come up with this number?If it was reported by the county, it would be traced back. Qingjiangpu County reported 20?So where did this 20 come from?You can also trace back.

The case has just begun, and Mao Yuwen has made these arrangements. Zhu Houzhao is still satisfied, "Pay attention to the focus. The main task of Jinyiwei this year is still Ma Bin. There is no need to rush the case of Chen Tai, but not being urgent does not mean that it is unimportant, but that it must be slow." Do some research, check carefully, and dig into what he did while in office."

"Yes. I obey the order!"

Having said that, Zhu Houzhao actually didn't quite understand, "According to preliminary news from Zhejiang, the Chen family doesn't have much land in Hangzhou, and he himself is relatively frugal. What did he do with all the money?"

Mao Yuwen did not dare to say that in fact, in the past few years, governors in various places have restrained themselves a lot. Of course, restraint does not mean that they do not do those things, but that they do not do those things openly.

The emperor above is arresting him. How stupid can he be to commit a crime in spite of the wind?
"Your Majesty, regarding the land, we need to investigate not only Chen himself, but also many of his relatives. There are also many people occupying land in the name of relatives. Therefore, it is not certain whether there are more lands."

"Okay." Zhu Houzhao chuckled, "A few years have passed, and now my ministers have become smarter and are playing cat and mouse with me. It's interesting, it's really interesting. Yu Wen, you have to send a capable person to this case. I'm here to keep an eye on this person, and once it's found out that he lied about his political achievements to get promoted, I won't be able to spare him!"

Mao Yuwen had no sympathy in his heart, he was already used to it.

The key is how did the emperor learn that Chen Tai had embezzled 30 taels of silver?

If there is such news among the factory guards, it will usually not escape his eyes.

What Zhu Houzhao is concerned about is that an official who he also considers to be an honest and promising official is actually committing corruption in a place that he doesn't know about. He has emphasized countless times that the official who is in charge of a place is the most important. If this person is out of Question, are the public sentiments in the places under his jurisdiction all fake?This is violating the bottom line.

The reason for the strict investigation is that Chen Tai may have touched this bottom line.

If the reported public sentiments were relatively objective and realistic, Zhu Houzhao would have dealt with them leniently, because to be honest, official salaries are low and it is indeed common for officials to reach out and take a little.

Isn't there a Wang Qiong in front of me who is not honest?

But Wang Qiong was diligent and capable. Before going to Zhejiang, he managed the Cao River. He sorted out the main stream and tributaries of this river, its ancient and modern changes, and the cost of repairs.

After arriving in Zhejiang, he repaired and strengthened the Xin'an River in Zhejiang. Especially after the opening of the sea, Zhejiang was slightly chaotic and needed to quickly restore social order. Wang Qiong did a pretty good job.

Such a person would have no problem getting some money, and Zhu Houzhao himself knew this.

But Chen Tai exceeded his expectations, and now he is not sure what kind of person this guy is, so he can only ask Jin Yiwei to go to various places to verify whether he has lied about key issues such as public sentiment.

And once it is proven true, if Zhu Houzhao didn't peel off his skin, Chen Tai would have died early and in time!
The case is on the verge of breaking out.

The sudden occurrence of such a thing after the meeting still shocked the official circles.

Especially Fei Hong, who took over as governor of Fengyang, was the most embarrassed.

After arriving in Huai'an, when the prefects from various places and officials related to water transportation came to see him, they all had sad faces.

Fei Hong couldn't control Chen Tai. The emperor also had requirements for him as the governor. Later, he simply called all these people to his governor's office and set up two tables.

Among them was Lin Ting, the prefect of Huai'an.

"You have all heard more or less about the former governor, and I have also received the order." Fei Hong walked around the table and patted them on the shoulders one by one. "If the court wants to investigate, no one can stop it. You They are all officials responsible for their own government. When they return, they will instruct their subordinates and no one will try to stop them."

"Fei Bu Tang!"

In the middle of Fei Hong's words, an official burst out crying, "Bu Tang, we are all wronged! Please tell the emperor the truth and save us!"

"Yes! Please Fei Butang save us!"

……

When Chen Tai suddenly gets into trouble at this time, they are the ones who are most afraid, because they are direct subordinates. Whether they are Chen Tai's accomplices or not is probably not easy to tell clearly.

"If you abide by the law and benefit the people, why do you need me to save you? If not, how can I save you?"

"Fei Butang! I'm afraid that some villain will bite me then, and we will be hard-pressed to defend ourselves!"

Fei Hong felt pitiful when he heard what they said, but he had nothing to do, the Jin Yiwei had already arrived.

"The magistrates of the four prefectures of Huai'an, Yangzhou, Luzhou and Fengyang, as well as the magistrates of the three prefectures of Chuzhou, Xuzhou and Hezhou, the emperor sent Jin Yiwei to verify the historical data reported by Chen Tai, including land and population. .

Tomorrow you will each answer Jin Yiwei's questions. Jin Yiwei will also check from the government to the county. If the data is not very different, everyone will be fine.If the gap is huge..."

Fei Hong couldn't talk any more.

And he couldn't let these people leave lest they commit some fraud overnight.

Lin Ting stood up and saluted, and then asked: "Fei Butang, I am the magistrate of Huai'an Prefecture. May I ask if Chen Tai was in trouble this time, did he lie about these figures?"

Fei Hong had no comment, and he didn't know the main reason, but he could roughly grasp some logic. "Whether Chen Tai lied about it or not, there is no clear purpose, and I dare not say for sure. But since His Majesty came to the throne, he has paid special attention to the provinces, Most of you who are the chief government officials of prefectures and counties are from the county magistrate to the magistrate, so you should know this. Therefore, every time the court meets, you will definitely ask about civil affairs matters.

Now that Jinyiwei is checking these matters, he must have noticed some discrepancies among them. Perhaps, he really came here for this reason. "

After saying this, most of the officials present looked solemn.

This is true even for a clean official like Lin Ting.

Because even if he himself did not lie, it is possible that the people below will lie to them. If there are any omissions or errors in it, it will not be correct. For example, if he reported 15 acres, the result will be different across several counties. This number is troublesome.

The most important thing is that in order to get promoted, the people above will keep some numbers 'growing'. This growth should be the focus of verification.What if there is something in this?

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ah.I forgot to set up automatic updates and it was almost past 12 o'clock.One more chapter, wait.