Of course, this was just the beginning. Zhu Youxiao's more important artillery and cavalry courses would also begin soon, and more officers would be enrolled in the military academy.
"Minister of War Sun Chengzong, Minister of Revenue Li Qiyuan, and Minister of Personnel Tao Lang have previously reported: The incident of embezzlement and corruption has been thoroughly investigated, and numerous officials are implicated. Please direct how this should be handled."
Liu Ruoyu reported the three completed memorials to the emperor together and looked at him inquiringly.
"Confiscate all property, remove his official title, and exile him." The young emperor spoke without hesitation, speaking in a plain yet somewhat cold manner.
"Yes!" Liu Ruoyu responded with awe in his heart.
Zhu Youxiao was no stranger to the word "piao meo", having seen it many times in novels. He was deeply indignant at the shamelessness of those civil servants.
At that time, the Ming army stationed on the border had their pay and rations escorted by local superiors. Even armor and weapons were escorted by civilians, hence the term "drifting away."
Specifically, if you send 10 to 80, or 10 to 60, 20%, 30%, or 40% of that amount is interpreted by civil officials as "piaomo," meaning that these things have encountered an accident on the way and are gone.
In fact, the water just penetrated the ground and the officials embezzled the money at every level.
The same was true for grain and silver, as well as for armor and weapons. The shipping costs were paid by the court separately, and were not deducted from the "lost" amount.
It wasn't sea transport, so if the ship sank in a storm, no one would be able to do anything about the loss. Could all that silver, armor, and weapons have flown away along the way?
Historically, the amount of plunder in Dongjiang Town was "100,000 tons of transported goods per year, and only 60,000 to 70,000 tons were transported there, and the rest were reported as plundered." Who made you have no one in the court? This also shows the greed of the civil servants at that time.
When the civil officials were disgraced, the military generals had no choice but to embezzle money. The soldiers suffered terribly, resulting in low combat effectiveness and unwillingness to fight to the death. The source of the problem was the corruption of the civil officials.
Zhu Youxiao had already asked the Imperial Household Department to conduct a secret investigation, and handed over the evidence found and the list of officials involved to the three newly appointed ministers.
How could the three Shangshu not understand the emperor's intention and clean up their own house? This was the face given by the emperor and also an opportunity for them to establish their authority as new officials.
However, there were indeed quite a few officials involved, so Sun Chengzong and others wanted to be cautious and asked the emperor for instructions on whether to impose a lighter or heavier punishment.
For civil servants, demotion and dismissal were not a big deal, but stripping of official title was a very serious punishment.
First, they were stripped of their official and scholar status, becoming the same as ordinary people. Strictly speaking, they were not even allowed to wear scholar clothing.
This matter of face is not a big deal. The key point is that after being stripped of your nationality and becoming a commoner, all the privileges you enjoyed before will be gone.
Not to mention charging money for the cabin, even farming requires paying taxes normally, and serving in the military and paying taxes like ordinary people.
Therefore, for officials who have their official titles stripped, it is not just a matter of losing face and their jobs, but their future livelihood will also be seriously affected.
Outsiders think that Zhu Youxiao's punishment is very severe, but compared with Zhu Baba's skinning and strawing, Zhu Youxiao still thinks it is too lenient!
"Piaomo" was originally an unspoken rule, but in the late Ming Dynasty, it became a semi-public rule. Civil officials felt at ease taking it, and others thought it was normal.
Taking corruption for granted is simply horrible; it's the end of a dynasty!
Therefore, Zhu Youxiao believed that if he maintained the status quo and condoned the situation without governing with an iron fist, the Ming Dynasty would be doomed no matter how hard he tried.
Wang Tigan walked into the hall quietly, but still startled Zhu Youxiao. He signaled Liu Ruoyu to pause and turned his gaze to Wang Tigan.
"Your Majesty, His Royal Highness Prince Xin is waiting for an audience outside." Wang Tigan hurriedly bowed and reported.
Zhu Youxiao nodded and said, "Let him in!"
Not long after, the newly appointed Prince Xin Zhu Youjian entered the hall and bowed to his brother the emperor to express his gratitude.
After defeating Li Sancai and gaining both a house and money, Zhu Youxiao proceeded to confer the title of king and the house. Without any major renovations to the house, Zhu Youjian decided to move out of the palace and into it.
"My brother, there's no need to be so polite." Zhu Youxiao pointed and said with a smile, "Sit down and talk."
Zhu Youjian signed in and sat down, looking at his brother with a little respect.
"Even though you're leaving the palace to start your own household, you must come visit me often in the future," Zhu Youxiao said amiably, "and study hard, don't waste time playing around."
Zhu Youjian bowed and said, "I will remember your teachings, my brother."
Zhu Youxiao asked with a smile, "Have you read the court gazette and the Ming Forum these days?"
"My Royal Highness has instructed me to do this, and I dare not neglect it. I have read it all."
"What do you think about the dismissal of officials?" Zhu Youxiao pursed his lips slightly, with a testing look in his eyes.
Zhu Youjian thought for a moment and said, "My royal brother is wise. People like these who form cliques and spread false accusations are harming the country and the people. They should be dismissed."
Zhu Youxiao smiled slightly and said, "Xu Zhaokui, who was dismissed, and Zhao Nanxing, who had previously resigned, are said to be very upright people. Many people have spoken out for them. What do you think, my brother?"
Zhu Youjian couldn't help scratching his head. After all, he was still young and felt a little dizzy after being asked so many questions.
"They, they also formed a clique to defend the corrupt Li Sancai." Zhu Youjian finally figured out the reason and blinked at his brother.
Zhu Youxiao picked up the tea bowl, took a sip, and slowly said, "I did this on purpose, to drive out these useless officials who claim to be 'righteous' but are actually stuck in the old ways and just sit around and talk about things."
Oh, Zhu Youjian widened his eyes and looked a little surprised.
Although he also had a teacher, when it came to the emperor's schemes and tactics, the teacher could see through them but did not dare to explain them in detail.
"He's usually passionate, but when faced with a crisis, he's clueless. He's outspoken in his admonitions against greed, yet he's financially strapped and helpless, requiring the imperial treasury to bail him out." Zhu Youxiao sneered, "What's the point of selling reputation and honesty?"
Zhu Youjian seemed to understand but not quite, blinked his eyes, but still nodded.
Zhu Youxiao said, "I am not afraid of what will be written in history books. I want to be a responsible and capable ruler. Without the courage to shoulder the stigma and to treat the country as my own, how can I resist foreign aggression and ensure peace and prosperity for the people?"
"Your Majesty, what you said is absolutely right." Zhu Youjian seemed to understand something and said, "Let those people talk behind my back. If the country is governed well, Your Majesty will be a ruler like Yao and Shun."
My brother should be Yao and Shun!
Zhu Youxiao recalled the expectations that Emperor Tianqi had for Chongzhen before his death in history. When he heard these familiar words, he couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion.
Don't believe those "righteous" civil servants. You must be responsible and not be afraid of bearing the stigma. Zhu Youxiao felt that he had given the boy enough advice and education, so he gave him some more instructions before letting the young Zhu Youjian leave.
If, if I am harmed by someone, I will try my best to prevent you bastards from harming the rookie Zhu Youjian and hurting the country.
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