In the first year of Zhao Changheng's reign, the previous emperor had just passed away.
As the new emperor, facing a group of veteran officials, he needed to maintain stability and preserve the status quo, and dared not make any drastic moves.
Countless eyes were on him; he couldn't afford to make a mistake.
At the end of the second year after Zhao Changheng ascended the throne, he finally enjoyed a prosperous year.
This year was a bad one, with frequent reports of disasters from various places.
There are snow disasters, floods, insect plagues...
The imperial court was also very busy.
With disaster relief efforts and tax exemptions, the national treasury's revenue is rather poor.
Taxes have decreased, but expenses have increased.
However, the ministers did not expect that Zhao Changheng would suddenly seem to have a breakthrough after leaving the palace.
Upon returning, he immediately summoned the chief ministers, grand secretaries, vice ministers of state affairs, and relevant officials from the Ministry of Personnel and the Censorate.
After several days of intensive meetings, several detailed action plans were discussed and agreed upon.
First, investigate any place that has asked the imperial court for money this year, regardless of whether it was under the pretext of natural disaster or man-made disaster!
They secretly dispatched an inspector with his men to investigate those places incognito.
These officials, suddenly dispatched on official business, inevitably complained inwardly.
With the year-end approaching, I couldn't stay in the capital to enjoy the New Year peacefully. Instead, I had to go out and do errands in the dead of winter, which was quite a hardship.
well!
Your Majesty, you're only starting to get busy at the end of the year. What were you doing all this time?
However, since this was the first time the new emperor had held such a grand event since taking office, they dared not voice their grievances, even if they had them.
Not only can they not complain, they also have to achieve something to impress the new emperor.
Second, for all lucrative positions, investigate corruption and, if evidence of wrongdoing is found, take severe action.
This task must be carried out secretly with a large number of personnel.
Once we have the evidence, we will take them down in one fell swoop.
The first to be implicated was the family of Li, the commander guarding the south gate.
Evidence shows that he not only accepted bribes from traveling merchants, but also allegedly extorted money from them.
In fact, these small vendors often underreport or fail to report taxes in order to pay less tax.
Li Qianhu then took the opportunity to extort money from them.
They exaggerate minor mistakes into major ones, and employ a variety of intimidation and threats.
They've extorted countless people using these methods.
The undercover agents interviewed the victims who had been extorted, obtained their confessions, and confirmed Li Qianhu's evil deeds.
In addition to lording it over everyone at the city gates, Commander Li also collected exorbitant protection fees from nearby shops and gambling dens.
Especially gambling dens.
Because many of their businesses operate in a gray area, casino operators often operate on the fringes of the law.
Li Qianhu had a good grasp of their abilities and took the opportunity to amass a large sum of money from the gambling den.
The search of Li Qianhu's family alone yielded hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, along with countless antiques, paintings, jewelry, farmland, and shops.
Within the capital's city defense system, seven or eight officials like Li Qianhu were investigated and punished in succession.
Zhao Changheng had instructed beforehand that this time they should first catch a big fish to make an example of someone.
Don't scoop them all out.
First, with the year-end approaching, city defense work is extremely important, and it is essential to ensure the stability of personnel.
Secondly, other small fish and shrimp have little meat and are not very satisfying to eat, so let them be raised first and then caught when they are fattened up.
In He Youyou's words, to eradicate corruption, one must employ strategy.
Zhao Changheng: What strategy?
He Youyou: Sustainable Development Strategy.
Zhao Changheng: What is a sustainable development strategy?
He Youyou: It means meeting the needs of both the present generation and future generations.
Zhao Changheng thought to himself: That's right, I can't keep it all for myself; I have to leave some for the Crown Prince.
When the ten-year-old Crown Prince Zhao Wenyi heard this theory in the restaurant, he was so shocked that his worldview was shattered.
The young yet mature mind suffered severe trauma.
He was taught by great Confucian scholars from a young age, who taught him how to be a wise ruler and a good emperor who brings blessings to the world.
This is the first time I've ever heard of someone fattening up corrupt officials, killing them, and leaving it for their descendants to kill.
He Youyou expressed her understanding: "The things you learn when you're young are all innocent. When you grow up and come into contact with the dark side of society, you'll naturally develop a patina after being exposed to the filth and corruption around you."
More than half a month later, the inspectors who went to the local areas also began to send back news.
Jeju Island was the first to be affected.
Sure enough, there was something fishy about the floods in Jeju.
The dispatched personnel interviewed local villagers and officials, and also conducted on-site inspections of the irrigation canals and waterways.
It was eventually discovered that someone had secretly tampered with the water conservancy facilities this summer.
This caused the canal water to suddenly go out of control, flooding large areas of farmland.
These people were several large landowners in the area.
They colluded with government officials to conceal the fact that the imperial court had exempted them from taxes.
Taking advantage of the fact that the people could not pay their taxes, they seized a large amount of fertile land at low prices.
Upon receiving the news, the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Justice joined forces and rounded up all the local landowners, gentry, and officials in Jeju.
Following Jeju, evidence of corruption has also emerged from other places.
The imperial court immediately launched a powerful counterattack and reaped a heavy harvest.
It must be said that as the year draws to a close, the officials investigating cases are all unusually efficient.
Everyone was thinking about finishing their business as soon as possible so they could go home for the New Year.
With everyone working together and taking swift and decisive action, all cases that needed to be closed were closed, all those that needed to be seized were seized, all those that needed to be detained were detained, and all those that needed to be deposited into the national treasury were deposited before the 20th of the twelfth lunar month.
The Minister of Revenue was overjoyed as he looked at the increasing sums of money flowing into the national treasury.
Last month I was worried that the accounts would be in the red when we reconciled them at the end of the year.
Unexpectedly, in just over half a month, the accounts suddenly looked much better.
hey-hey.
The neat, tiny characters on this ledger are really beautiful.
Zhao Changheng was also overjoyed.
After he finished his work, he went for a stroll on the street that He Youyou often went to, and sure enough, he saw her figure outside the ironware shop.
He Youyou, wearing a fox fur coat, stood outside the shop and peered inside.
Zhao Changheng walked towards her, pretending to bump into her by chance: "Madam, we meet again. Are you here to buy ironware?"
He Youyou turned around, saw it was him, and smiled, "Oh, it's Young Master Huang. I'm not buying ironware, I just want to see how this Prince Qi is ruining such a good hand."
(Suddenly realized my level allows me to insert images, let me try inserting one)
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