Chapter 198 List of Bystanders
"Quickly tell me your method!" Not only Ji Yingying, but everyone else was also very eager to know what method she had.
The national treasury is really running out of steam.
"That is..." The pause suddenly ended, and everyone's heart jumped into their throat.
Ji Yingying, on the other hand, seemed rather calm, as if it didn't matter whether she spoke or not.
[That means we have a list. We can use the list to gossip, or use sketches to gossip. If someone is corrupt, we'll raid their home.]
[List of names and portraits, you really know how to come up with ideas.] She couldn't tell the Emperor about this, since nobody believed in such things, and she didn't want the Emperor to think of her as a monster.
"My dear minister, the national treasury has been empty these past two days. You should stay in the palace and handle things. I have some mistakes in the portrait lists. Please help me sort them out so that the lists match the portraits. I also need to discuss with the ministers how to enrich the national treasury."
"Yes, Lord Ji, I'll leave this matter to you. We need to discuss some things in the next couple of days."
"What the heck?" Ji Yingying didn't understand, but she still figured it out: the ministers and their portraits were all mixed up and she needed to fix them.
As for the empty national treasury, that's not her responsibility.
[Xiangxiang, I have a feeling they know something.]
"Ah...you don't know, do you? But it's so strange. We just said that having a list and portraits would be enough, and they arranged it. Did they hear me talking?"
Everyone's hearts were in their throats. It was terrifying. What if they found out? Wouldn't they have to see their great-grandmother?
The next second, Ji Yingying dismissed her concerns: "Impossible. If they really heard your voice, they would definitely think I was a monster and burn me to the ground. That's too terrifying."
Yes, this world is quite strange.
Yes, yes, I'm right.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness, things have turned out alright.
"Yingying, go check the list and the portraits. Once you've matched them up, go home."
"Yes, Your Majesty, I will go immediately." Ji Yingying went to the Hanlin Academy.
As soon as she left the imperial study, the emperor immediately sent people to stake out the area, ready to arrest any corrupt officials who were found.
Upon arriving at the Hanlin Academy, Ji Yingying had barely sat down when portraits and names of officials from various regions were delivered to her, requiring her to compare them one by one.
Ji Yingying first compared all the officials in the capital. The ministers of the six ministries were all in good standing, their family income was normal, and they had not embezzled.
There were no problems with the Dali Temple and the officials who attended court every day, but there were one or two newly arrived officials whose family fortunes were of dubious origin.
However, it was only a few tens of thousands of taels. When the emperor heard this news, he thought that as long as there were no corrupt officials, he would just take those tens of thousands of taels.
[Oh wow~ This guy is really handsome! Who is this? Oh, it's Lord Zheng! This guy... he looks rather hypocritical! Xiangxiang, investigate him.]
【You can prepare a memorial to the throne; that will allow you to search his house.】
Why? Because they embezzled so much.
[He's a local official, and he has connections with a certain department, the one that our Sister Ji Sasa lives in. He's in charge of making contacts. Although he doesn't get paid much, he really makes a lot of money. The confiscated wealth should last at least a month.]
[A big fish!]
[Yes, not only that, he was also involved in human trafficking in Jiangnan City. Your arrest was due to him tipping you off. Although he didn't make the arrest, he still has some connections.]
Very good, very good.
Ji Yingying smiled. Since they've already targeted her, she went straight for it and ransacked her home.
One memorial was sent directly to the Imperial Study, and then the authorities immediately ordered the confiscation of the family property. As for Lord Zheng, he was beheaded, and the rest of the Zheng family were exiled.
After all, the only person in the memorial Ji Yingying submitted was Lord Zheng who had committed a crime; the others were merely beneficiaries.
[Host, do you know about drugs?]
【I know, what's wrong? Did they find someone using drugs?】
Yes, but it's not about consumption, it's about selling.
Um, this one?
"Yes, Prefect Lu, he grows poppies and processes them into a kind of ointment for people to inhale. As a result, he has amassed a great fortune, and the people he sells to the most are from Linfeng Kingdom."
How much wealth does he have?
There are quite a few of them, all selling this kind of plaster, making a lot of money.
How much profit could he make from confiscating property? And did he sell any of it to the people of the Tianyou Dynasty?
Yes, but in small quantities.
【Hehe…】Ji Yingying wanted to curse. She hated drug dealers more than anything in her life. No one who was a drug dealer was innocent, not even their descendants.
She had a neighbor in modern times who was a policeman, though she didn't know exactly what kind of policeman. But one day, he never came back. He had two children.
The older one was taken away, but was returned after three months.
The child appeared uninjured, but his mental age was permanently stuck at that of a two-year-old; he could only talk and walk. The neighbor sought help from many doctors and even knelt down to beg, but to no avail.
Later, it was discovered that it was orchestrated by drug dealers as revenge against that policeman. Unfortunately, that policeman never returned, and he would never know that his child had been targeted in this revenge.
After she found out, she cried all night. At that moment, she felt helpless, and crying was a sign of weakness because she couldn't help at all.
Later, she actively participated in drug awareness campaigns, just so that more people could see it.
[Would this result in the death penalty for the entire family?]
[Absolutely, and the poppies must be destroyed; they are an unforgivable thing.]
"I remember we encountered poppies last time, didn't we? Did we burn them?" She vaguely remembered encountering poppies once before, but wondered if she had burned them.
No, it's at the Imperial Medical Academy; Chief Physician Liu is studying it.
Okay, I'll go back and take a look. I think I gave them a prescription.
I think I have it, but it's been too long, I don't remember.
[Last time was manageable, but this time it directly harmed society and is unforgivable.]
Because they had been discussing this for a long time, the Emperor also took a special look at it.
It was determined that this thing was not a good thing, and the memorial also wrote down the dangers and uses of poppies.
It all depends on how the Emperor handles it.
Ji Yingying looked at the next one, and it turned out to be a clerk. It seemed he had already left the capital, and they should be able to... you know... soon. She finished reading.
[This advisor's official position was bought, and his family was quite wealthy, but he earned that money by deceiving consumers—that is, selling the worst goods at the highest prices.]
"Then confiscate it to prevent the people from being exploited." Ji Yingying handed over another memorial.
The fact that a mere secretary could possess a million taels of gold shows just how difficult life must be for the poor.
The Emperor is waiting now, waiting for winter to pass and for spring to come. He will definitely let Ji Yingying lead everyone to have a good meal.
Ji Yingying drank a glass of water, and seeing that it was getting late, she quickly asked, "His Majesty asked me to watch over people here. Will meals be provided?"
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