"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"
"My beloved subjects, rise!"
As the civil and military officials knelt and paid their respects, Emperor Jianyuan waved for them to rise.
This grand court assembly thus began.
Just as Emperor Jianyuan was about to say something, he saw the white-bearded Imperial Censor step forward.
"Your Majesty, I request that you remove the seat next to the dragon throne. How can I allow someone else to snore beside my bed?"
"Although Marquis Anping has rendered meritorious service to the country, this action is highly inappropriate!"
Emperor Jianyuan looked at him and spoke.
"Minister Yin Wei, where are you?!"
"Originally, it was out of consideration for Yan Song, that villain, being old and frail, that I had a chair placed there so he could sit and hold the grand court assembly!"
"But how did he treat me? Three hundred million taels of silver! This major case involves three hundred million taels of silver!"
"These were all confiscated from the residences of those officials, whom the common people called 'parent officials'."
"So I had Mr. Li sit there in the hope that I would remember the many crimes committed by Yan Song."
Upon hearing this, Yin Wei opened his mouth but dared not argue.
They were afraid that Emperor Jianyuan would use the Yan family's case to implicate other officials again.
As he stepped down, Wang Zhongxian stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, the Eastern Depot has been ordered to investigate the case of Chief Minister Yan, and the results are in."
Emperor Jianyuan waved his hand and gestured, "Read it!"
"yes!"
Wang Zhongxian took out a memorial and began to read it aloud.
"It has now been found that former Grand Secretary Yan Song was corrupt and lawless, colluded with the Liao people, sold official positions and titles, formed cliques for personal gain, and even secretly held human flesh banquets in an attempt to achieve immortality."
"After Anping Marquis investigated, Yan Song's villainous face was exposed, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard took over the case."
"Investigation revealed that 724 accomplices of the Yan family were arrested, implicating 1,214 local officials and wealthy merchants. A total of 358.24 million taels of silver and countless paintings and treasures were seized!"
"Whoosh!"
Upon hearing this number, the civil and military officials were in an uproar.
They knew Yan Song was greedy, but they really didn't know that Yan Song and his gang were this greedy.
Three hundred million taels of silver.
This is more than enough to support the border region for decades.
Thinking about this, countless officials began to make calculations in their minds.
This money will definitely go into the national treasury, but how to spend it is the question.
Zhang Jiadi stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, now that so much silver has been confiscated, I believe we should first make up for the overdue rations and pay owed to the border troops."
"Moreover, the city walls at the border have been in a state of disrepair for many years. We should hire some laborers to repair the city walls at the border."
"The weapons and armor of those soldiers also need to be remade. I request Your Majesty to allocate funds to improve the treatment of the soldiers on the border!"
Upon hearing this, the military officers couldn't help but cast grateful glances at Zhang Jiadi.
"You're talking nonsense!"
A minister jumped out, pointed at Zhang Jiadi, and cursed, "You don't even mention the Yellow River floods!"
"Your Majesty, I believe that funds should first be allocated to the Ministry of Works so that they can gather laborers to address the Yellow River flooding problem."
"The rainy season is coming soon. If we don't take measures soon, I'm afraid the Yellow River will overflow again like it did last year, and the situation will become uncontrollable!"
As soon as he finished speaking, another minister stepped forward: "Your Majesty, the Yellow River's flooding cannot be resolved overnight, and the rainy season will last for some time."
"However, the White Lotus Sect in Jiangnan West Road has rebelled again. I request Your Majesty to allocate funds and mobilize troops to take down the rebels before they become too powerful."
"If the spring planting in Jiangnan is affected by these rebels, then grain prices will definitely rise."
And so, one after another, they began to ask the imperial court for money.
Moreover, each reason they gave was more and more high-sounding than the last.
It was as if the Ming Dynasty would perish if this money wasn't distributed.
In an instant, the court was filled with arguments, and everyone was arguing heatedly.
Just as they were arguing, Li Chang'an stood up.
"Enough!"
A roar silenced the officials, who all turned to look at the Marquis of Anping.
"The case of Yan Song has just been closed, and the stolen silver has not yet been transported back. You gentlemen are already thinking about how to distribute it. Isn't that a bit too hasty?"
Upon hearing this, the officials exchanged bewildered glances.
Only the white-bearded Lord Yin stepped forward: "Lord Anping, among all the ministers present, which one doesn't have graying temples, which one isn't a pillar of the court? I don't quite understand the meaning behind your words."
"Heh~"
Li Chang'an looked at him and laughed, "Lord Yin, are you unable to understand, or are you getting senile?"
"When that scoundrel Yan Song was embezzling and breaking the law, you gentlemen didn't see it."
"Now that we have money, sirs, we see things more clearly than anyone else!"
Li Chang'an went downstairs, took the memorial from Wang Zhongxian, and began to read it.
"Tsk tsk tsk!"
"Look at this memorial. There are five Grand Secretaries in the court, and four of them are implicated in Yan Song's case!"
"Three of the six ministers have been dismissed!"
“These people, aren’t they all like you, with graying temples, aren’t they all claiming to be pillars of the court!”
"They're rotten! The people's hearts are breaking!"
"The ancestors of the Han people entrusted this world to you, but you have made such a mess of it. Aren't you heartbroken and remorseful?"
Li Chang'an looked at Yin Wei and said, "Lord Yin, don't you feel ashamed before your ancestors and before heaven and earth?"
"And you too!" he said, pointing to the ministers below. "Although you all stand regally in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, talking about serving the country and its people, are you really so clean?"
"I know that some people are even more corrupt than the officials in Yan Song's case, but I advise you all to lay your hearts and lungs out in the open, expose them to the light, and clean them up!"
Upon hearing this, all the civil and military officials lowered their heads and dared not utter a sound.
Li Chang'an continued, "Since I entered the human world, I initially thought that the biggest threat to the Ming Dynasty was Lingnan, so I went to Lingnan. Later, I thought it was the Liao people, so I killed 140,000 Liao soldiers."
"Later, when I arrived in the capital, I realized that the greatest hidden danger of the Ming Dynasty was not elsewhere, but right here in the court, in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, right among you, the pillars of the court."
"If your area is even slightly rotten, the entire Ming Dynasty will be rotten. If you are completely rotten, uprisings will break out all over the Ming Dynasty, and countless people will die without a burial place!"
"Think about it, how many years has the Ming Dynasty enjoyed peace and stability? Have you all forgotten? You've all forgotten!"
"The founding emperor, and those soldiers who died on the battlefield, are watching you from the heavens! They are watching you!"
Li Chang'an glared angrily at the group of civil and military officials, and slowly exhaled.
"I haven't had a good night's sleep these past few days. I feel like I have to say something at this grand court assembly."
"But after thinking it over and over, there's only one sentence that comes to mind."
"That is, those who embezzle and accept bribes, and who prey on the people, I will kill as many as I see."
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