Chapter Thirty-two: Anti-Corruption

  The Chongzhen Emperor scowled and shouted at the foot of the hall: "Where is the Minister of Works?"

  The Minister of Works, Zhang Fengxiang, was calm and composed, thinking that today's events had nothing to do with him, so he just watched the commotion from the side. When Yuan Chonghuan was taken away, he thought it was just a dramatic show, but unexpectedly, Emperor Chongzhen suddenly called for him.

  "I am here." Zhang Fengxiang stepped forward.

  "What's going on with the collapse of the city wall in Beijing? I have allocated over 1.5 million taels to repair the city wall, do you know its specifications?"

  Zhang Fengxiang's face turned pale with cold sweat, when the city wall first collapsed, he was worried for a while, but unexpectedly there was no punishment, thinking that it would be over, but now they are starting to settle accounts.

  His legs went soft and he knelt down: "I beg your pardon, Your Majesty, I am guilty."

  "Do you know the rules?" The Chongzhen Emperor didn't care at all and asked in a heavier tone.

  "The wall is built with yellow earth and miscellaneous soil in layers; both the inner and outer walls are only paved with large bricks, the outer brick layer is about three feet thick, and the inner brick layer is about two feet thick. The city wall is 2 zhang high, the foundation is 2 zhang thick, and the top is 1 zhang 4 chi wide." Zhang Fengxiang had no choice but to answer.

  "How is it going?"

  "Some city walls were only built with rammed earth, and the inner and outer walls were only paved with one brick. The wall is 1.9 meters high." Zhang Fengxiang's voice became lower and lower, and his head bowed to the ground.

  The entire hall fell silent, as if the temperature inside had dropped by several degrees.

  "This wall is so strong that I almost became Emperor Gong of Song!" Chongzhen Emperor suddenly roared in anger.

  Seeing that none of his officials reacted below, Emperor Chongzhen took a deep breath and suppressed his anger: "Order the Imperial Guards to take him away."

  The Jin Yiwei officers waiting outside the palace rushed in, stripped Zhang Fengxiang of his court attire and dragged him away to keep company with Yuan Chonghuan.

  Several people wanted to plead for mercy, but when they heard that Emperor Song had already been taken out, they knew they were in a precarious situation and decided to wait and see.

  "Bring in those few people outside the hall." The Chongzhen Emperor ordered after seeing Zhang Fengxiang being taken away.

  Only three people were seen being pushed into the hall from outside, their hats had already been removed, and they still wore official robes, it could be seen that they were officials of the first rank.

  "Yingquan Si Lang Zhong Xu Guanji, Du Shui Si Lang Zhong Zhou Changying, Tuntian Si Lang Zhong Zhu Changsheng were brought along."

  The three of them knew that the thing they had been worried about for days had happened as soon as they met each other, and seeing Zhang Fengxiang being taken away by the Imperial Guards made their legs go weak.

  "Do you know what crime you have committed?" Emperor Chongzhen looked at the three people kneeling down in front of him and asked coldly.

  "We know we're guilty!" The three men didn't dare deny it.

  "The silver I scraped together from east and west to let you repair the capital city walls is a sign of my trust in you. To put it bluntly, I've entrusted you with my life, family, and ancestral heritage. And how do you repay me? If it weren't for Man Aiqing blocking Jian Xiu's way, I wouldn't be standing here today."

  Three people crouched on the ground, not daring to speak.

  "Wang Chengen." The Chongzhen Emperor was too lazy to talk to these corrupt officials anymore.

  "I'm here."

  "Take him out and give him eighty lashes with the heavy rod!"

  This thing, Ming dynasty officials all like to endure, to advise the monarch, to seek fame. But these three people were caned because of dereliction of duty, corruption and lawlessness, what kind of reputation is this, eighty canes, will their lives be spared?

  Xu Guanji knelt down and knocked his head on the ground, hastily shouting: "Your Majesty's subject has a memorial to present."

  Chongzhen Emperor listened and had a reason, suppressing his anger, he shouted: "Speak!"

  "Your Majesty, the 150,000 taels of silver allocated for repairing the city walls of the capital have only about 120,000 taels in our hands."

  "Twelve million taels of silver can only repair such city walls? Are you fooling me, not understanding?" Chongzhen Emperor listened, stunned for a moment, and asked again.

  "This, this...". Xu Guanji heard it and thought that the remaining 120,000 taels were also shared among various gods, of course, he had also taken some for himself. Less than 20,000 taels were actually used on the city wall. But many of the gods who shared in the profits were standing on one side, and couldn't be mentioned, hoping they would save his life.

  The Chongzhen Emperor misunderstood Xu Guanji's meaning, thinking that he was speechless and silent, so he waved his hand.

  Three old men were shouting for mercy, but to no avail. The silent official who had been standing by the side earlier came out to plead on their behalf when he saw the three being dragged away. He said that these three men were already so old and might not be able to withstand a beating, and asked Emperor Chongzhen to show mercy.

  Chongzhen Emperor suddenly became angry, you want me to show mercy, who should show mercy to the great Ming dynasty?! The cannon fire of Huang Taiji is about to reach the Forbidden City! Being old doesn't make one superior, being old means one should cultivate their mind and nature, strictly demand oneself, set a good example. Their crime cannot be forgiven, I will kill one to warn a hundred. Whoever dares to plead again, I will follow Taizu's example, those who embezzle over 60 taels of silver will be flayed and stuffed with grass!

  The five cabinet ministers who sought favor saw that Emperor Chongzhen was in a state of frenzy and knew that the matter could not be avoided. They were afraid to speak further, fearing it would bring disaster upon themselves. Sixty taels, what a joke! Is there anyone still standing on the court? In fact, they didn't really care about the three old men's age, but rather the silver that was embezzled for the city wall repairs, which they had taken a large share of.

  Don't say that older people can't take it, even young people generally can't withstand eighty lashes. Langzhong of the Construction Bureau, Xu Guanjun, Langzhong of the Waterworks Bureau, Zhou Changying, and Langzhong of the Garrison Bureau, Zhu Changsheng, all died in the end, still thinking that their allies would save them until their death.

  Chongzhen Emperor finally vented his anger, but the repair of the city wall still had supervisors, and if the supervision was not in place, it would also be dealt with. The imperial edict was passed to the Ministry of Works, Wang Du, and the Censor-in-Chief, Gao Bingming.

  The two classes of officials in the hall couldn't help but feel a little worried when they heard this, and began to communicate with each other through eye contact.

  The Minister of Works, Wang Du, and the Censor, Gao Yingming, knelt down in the imperial court. The Chongzhen Emperor asked: "I ordered you to inspect the repair of the city walls of the capital, how did you spend over 1.5 million taels of silver but only gave out 1.2 million?"

  "The repair of the capital city wall is a major national affair. One thousand was issued, one hundred was issued, and 150,000 taels were given without any embezzlement or corruption. If Your Majesty does not believe me, we can confront each other on the spot."

  Chongzhen Emperor was taken aback, and his hands moved quickly. Is there no one to testify? Fortunately, there were still the standing officials present. He then hinted at the officials on the scene to prove it.

  Han Yu, the first assistant of the cabinet, stepped forward and said: "The words of Xu Guanji, a Langzhong in the Ministry of Rites, are indeed reasonable, but it is also possible that he is making excuses."

  At that time, all of you stood still and didn't remind me to investigate the origin of the silver. Now that someone is dead, what's the point of saying this?

  Cabinet minister Li Biao also knelt down and petitioned: "In fact, there is no such inferior rule as the 28% deduction, I hope Your Majesty will calm your anger."

  Another cabinet minister, Qian Longxi, also followed suit and knelt down to plead for mercy: "I hope Your Majesty will deal with it leniently."

  Can't let Emperor Chongzhen investigate like this, if he continues to investigate, one by one will be pulled out.

  Chongzhen Emperor saw that all these senior officials were opposed to it, some pleading for mercy, while the three main culprits had been killed by him in a moment of impulsiveness before they could be interrogated. This matter of embezzlement was probably going to be impossible to investigate further.

  Chongzhen Emperor suddenly felt very suffocated, he knew that these two people below him absolutely had a problem.

  After a moment of silence, Emperor Chongzhen said: "You two supervisors are incompetent, do you know your crime?"

  The Minister of Works Wang Du was given a task by the Emperor. When the Imperial Censor Gao Bingming heard this, he thought it was good and said nothing. The Emperor acknowledged: "I know my fault."

  "Alright, having confessed, you will be dismissed from your position."

  Two people were stunned, and he was dismissed from his post. How can they get rich now?!

  Those assistant ministers and elder officials also felt that the punishment was too severe, and they came out to plead for leniency, saying that the emperor's punishment was too harsh and hoped for a lighter sentence.

  The Chongzhen Emperor flatly refused: "You don't have to plead for mercy."

  "Get up and get moving!"

  Then he turned and left.

  Chongzhen Emperor returned to the imperial study, dismissing all attendants and leaving only one trusted aide, Wang Cheng'en. He then began to vent his grievances, feeling that he had been bullied due to his youth and inexperience, and that others had colluded against him.

  On the screen on one side, it was a picture of the wise and virtuous officials of past dynasties that I had commissioned someone to paint, with the inscription "Admonition on Being True to One's Heart and Intention". I couldn't help but feel a bit bewildered. I want to be a wise ruler, but where are my virtuous officials? Why do I always end up using those corrupt and greedy officials like Kong Fang?

  Wang Chengen looked at the Chongzhen Emperor, who was both angry and bewildered, and felt a little sympathy for him. He said: "Your Majesty, isn't Mr. Zhong from a later generation? Which ministers are virtuous and which are treacherous should be well-known to him."

  Chongzhen Emperor nodded involuntarily as soon as he heard Wang Chengen's words, and the idea of waking up Zhong Jingwei as soon as possible became even stronger.

  Wang Chengen took the opportunity to speak again: "Your Majesty, I remember that Mr. Zhong previously praised Wen Tianren as a clean and honest official."

  Chongzhen Emperor nodded again, indicating that he remembered, there were too many things, and this one was forgotten. In fact, it wasn't really forgotten, but some things wouldn't be deeply believed without profound lessons. Today's incident made him feel the urgency of being a clean official.

  I want to reuse Wen Tianren, Emperor Chongzhen secretly said in his heart.

  Let's talk about Zu Dashou again. After observing for a day, he didn't find any signs of the imperial court pardoning Yuan Chonghuan. It seemed that they were going to pursue the matter further, and it might even affect himself. His heart was racing with anxiety, so he secretly spread rumors in the military camp that the imperial court suspected the Loyal and Brave Army of having ulterior motives. Now that they had dealt with Commander Yuan Chonghuan, their next step would be to prepare to attack the military camp and wipe them all out.

  He did this, actually never thought of using He Keqing's method. Nonsense, if I use He Keqing's method, what if the soldiers are gone? Can I still be the general? Die with honor, not die in poverty.

  The ordinary soldiers of the Guanning Army couldn't tell whether this was a rumor or not, and as a result, people's minds became increasingly panicked. Moreover, the Imperial Army was getting more and more numerous, with some stationed near the Guanning Army, which made the ordinary soldiers think that the court not only wanted to bombard them but also surround them, sparing no one, so they became even more panicked.

  Zhu Dashou took a look at the timing and said, "Brothers, don't be afraid. Since the imperial court wants to take action against us, we have two legs on our bodies, can't we run? Let's go back to Liaodong."

  He Kegan didn't quite believe this level of thing and ran over to question Zu Dashou.

  Zhu Dashou said, "Aren't you trying to save your benefactor? Now is the opportunity. Let's go back first and let the imperial court recognize the importance of our Ningxia Army. In this way, the imperial court will not dare to make things difficult for the governor."

  He Kexin listened and agreed that this could save Yuan Chonghuan, so he said "Alright, I'll follow you."

  That night, Zu Dashou took the Guanning Army and slipped away secretly, only passing on a message saying that he was no longer participating, the risk was too great, staying here would either be killed by Jian Wokou or killed by the imperial court, it's better to return to Ningyuan.

  When this news reached the Chongzhen Emperor, it struck another blow to him. Is this still my army? The great enemy has not gone far, and you have run away by yourself?

  All the other loyalist armies are infantry, and this is the only elite cavalry force. If Jian Yu comes back again, won't we be missing an important trump card? I have been frugal and thrifty, how did I end up raising such a pack of useless wolves?

  Chongzhen Emperor was shocked, frightened and angry. These people have run away privately, can they come back? What to do, he couldn't help but feel a great headache!