Liu Lishun sneered and said, "Party patronage and favoritism are nothing more than this. They don't care whether it's genuine corruption or fake corruption; our party will support and push it forward. Now they've lost face!"
"A traitor disguised as a loyal man, selling his integrity for fame—just the way it is!" Lu Xiangsheng lamented, "He earned the esteem of the literati for speaking out against the emperor, and the praise of the people for pleading for their cause, yet behind the scenes he is truly corrupt."
Liu Lishun said, "It's clear that we can't judge a person by his appearance or words, but rather by his actions. Those who are sanctimonious are the ones who describe people like Li Sancai."
Listening to the discussion and making comments, a few of them walked and looked. When they looked up, the boxes and cages were gone, and they had already walked out of the passage surrounded by soldiers.
There was a row of notice boards in front, and many people were watching and talking about it.
A few people walked over and took a look. The first notice board listed Li Sancai's real estate, properties, shops, and estimated prices.
He owns several properties in the capital alone, as well as shops and tens of thousands of acres of fertile land in various places.
Everyone clicked their tongues and shook their heads, but they didn't feel as surprised and shocked as if they had seen real gold and silver.
When they arrived at the second notice board, they took a closer look and found that it was the financial revenue statistics of the Ming Dynasty in the past two years.
On average, the Ming Dynasty's annual fiscal revenue was about three to four million taels of silver.
But this is not the total income, not including the grain tax. If converted into silver, the total annual income is about 20 million taels.
Of course, these do not need to be listed in great detail. Zhu Youxiao's purpose is to let the people know how shocking the amount of Li Sancai's corruption is, which is equivalent to the country's annual fiscal revenue!
The comparison worked surprisingly well. People initially thought four million was a lot, but when they saw the national fiscal revenue, their eyes widened in shock.
"If such a corrupt official is not executed, the law of the land will not be restored."
"The country's annual fiscal revenue, which could be used to support the army, provide disaster relief and aid the people, could be used to do so many great things, yet this beast embezzled it. He should be cut into pieces as a warning to others."
"Greedy, shameless, and heartless!"
Lu Xiangsheng and others couldn't help but gnashing their teeth and cursing as they came to the signboard below.
"Haha, it's ridiculous to defend such a fraud who has deceived the world and stolen his reputation!" Liu Lishun laughed out loud, pointing at the notice board covered with memorials supporting Li Sancai.
Lu Xiangsheng was also very contemptuous and said, "He is a spendthrift. To use this excuse to justify his extravagance, do you still have any sense of shame?"
Fu Guan sighed and shook his head, pointing to an article and saying, "Mr. Donglin is mistaken. He actually believes that this corrupt official is honest and upright, and his Confucian style can be compared with Confucius."
"Bah! Gu Xianzhi, who is in the opposition, actually had the nerve to write letters to the Prime Minister and high-ranking officials, trying to influence the appointment of court officials. How shameless." An unknown tribute scholar nearby cursed angrily and spat on the ground.
Fu Guan opened his mouth, then smiled wryly and shook his head. It was hard to argue for Gu Xiancheng. He had indeed gone too far, giving people a reason to criticize him. His reputation had plummeted and was irreparable.
With the concrete evidence of Li Sancai's corruption, the memorials defending him seem ridiculous. They all spoke with such conviction and righteousness, yet now they are seen as fools.
At this moment, there was a sudden commotion and the voice of "Long live, long live" rang in my ears.
Everyone looked intently and saw that the visitors who were closer to the Meridian Gate fell to their knees and shouted "Long live!"
"Your Majesty is on the Meridian Gate?!" Lu Xiangsheng was sharp-eyed. He looked up and saw several figures on the gatehouse in the middle of the Meridian Gate. He was immediately so excited that he could hardly control himself.
More and more people knelt down and kowtowed, shouting "Long live the king". Even the soldiers knelt on one knee with their weapons in hand.
Yeah! I'm getting closer, I've been spotted! It's probably because the golden-helmeted, silver-armored Imperial Guards around me are too conspicuous.
The young emperor put away the telescope. He originally wanted to secretly see how effective his arrangement was, but he didn't expect such a thing to happen.
Zhu Youxiao smiled and nodded, feeling really good. He was the ruler of the world, with millions of subjects, although the current level was far behind.
After a pause, the young emperor said, "I am just taking a leisurely look. All the people below the Meridian Gate, regardless of military or civilian status, may look up and observe. It is not a crime!"
"Your Majesty's oral order: Regardless of whether you are a soldier or a civilian, everyone can look up and observe without committing a crime!" Wang Tigan repeated loudly.
The imperial guards beside the emperor repeated loudly, and the guards under the Meridian Gate continued shouting, the sound so loud that it spread throughout the Meridian Gate Square.
"Long live, long live, long live!" Excited, thrilled and awed shouts came out from people's mouths. Even the brave ones did not dare to really look up.
Looking at the people kneeling below, Zhu Youxiao pursed his lips, shook his head helplessly, and said, "Let them continue to visit, I will return to the palace." With that, he turned and left.
Only after the emperor came down from the city wall did the Imperial Guards loudly notify the soldiers and civilians who were still kneeling on the ground.
After a while, people finally stood up and looked towards the city wall, but there was no one there, only a few imperial guards patrolling back and forth.
Fu Guan and others also stood up, their excitement taking a long time to subside, and left the Meridian Gate Square with the crowd.
"I saw it, it was very clear!" someone said with a hint of boasting and excitement.
"I saw it first," someone said, clearly wanting to grab the limelight. "There's a fairy holding a white rabbit next to Wansui!"
"Is this true? You're not making this up, are you?"
"Of course it's true, I swear to God."
Fu Guan and others smiled at each other, and were also very excited to see the emperor today.
If White Lady heard this, her eyes would probably widen and she would protest: "Rabbit? Your whole family is rabbits. Are you blind? You're humiliating me with a stupid thing with big ears. I'll scratch you."
……………..
People need face and trees need bark.
Li Sancai's exhibition of corrupt evidence and the publicized memorial of defense can be said to have severely slapped the faces of a group of civil servants who claimed to be righteous.
Not only did they slap him in the face, but they also made it public so that everyone knew about it, thus destroying the good reputation that had been built up over many years in one fell swoop.
What the Donglin Party lost was not a major financial backer, but the reputation they had built up over many years. Reputation was very important in ancient times, and many corrupt scholars valued it more than their lives.
This is not an exaggeration at all. Just look at the many people who "sacrificed their lives for fame" in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, and you will know how noble the so-called "righteousness" and "reputation" were in their hearts.
That’s right, Zhu Youxiao defined it as “dying for fame” rather than “dying for the country”.
For example, Liu Zongzhou decided to starve himself to death when rebellions against the Qing Dynasty began in various parts of Zhejiang.
During his hunger strike, he calmly stated, "I sit quietly in my little temple these days, my heart completely free of thoughts. I flow with the vastness of nature, one with the universe. Originally, there was nothing; all that existed was human desire."
The building is about to collapse and the people are suffering, but he says "there is nothing to worry about". Isn't it strange?
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