manynovel Chapter 673 You are such a cunning old man
Chapter 673 You are such a cunning old man
The officials who were already kneeling on the ground in the imperial study shouted, "Your Majesty, please calm down. I am guilty. Please punish me!"
The emperor looked at the officials kneeling on the ground below. He had no idea that so many people were implicated this time.
His eyes fell on the Prime Minister Lin Juhui, and the emperor was so angry that his chest heaved violently.
"Lin Juhui, as the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, you actually accepted bribes and formed a clique for personal gain. What crime should you be charged with?" The emperor looked at Lin Juhui with a look of deep sorrow.
In fact, who would not be greedy if they were in this position? If they were not greedy, they would not be able to keep this position.
What's more, in their view, collecting some favorite ornaments cannot be considered as corruption, but can only be regarded as a way of showing favor and returning the favor.
"Your Majesty, I am innocent! He gave it to me, so I couldn't refuse it, but I gave him a gift in return afterwards. How dare I accept a bribe? This is a complete slander!"
Lin Juhui sighed, "Your Majesty, although I am the chief minister of the cabinet, I cannot be a lone minister! These are all normal courtesy exchanges, and I dare not take advantage of them. You can take a look at the warehouse, where everything is registered."
As he spoke, he actually pulled out a booklet from his bosom, "Here are all the gifts sent by different families. I have returned all of them one by one and also recorded them in the book, just in case I missed anyone."
Everyone: ??? You are such a cunning old man.
The emperor was stunned, then asked Zhou Zhong to present the booklet.
When he opened it, he found that the first person to give a gift was the Minister of Revenue Du Yikun.
"A painted gold bowl with mandarin duck and lotus petal patterns, a Ru kiln celadon washbasin, and a revolving vase with the auspicious meaning of "Abundant Fortune"? Are they all antiques?" The emperor looked at Du Yikun sarcastically.
"You keep complaining that the Ministry of Revenue is poor and the national treasury is empty, but you didn't know that your Excellency, the Minister of Revenue, has such riches in your house! Such good things are not even in my private treasury, and you, the Minister of Revenue, just give them away casually. Tell me! It's all because of your embezzlement, right?" The emperor pointed at Du Yikun and was furious.
Du Yikun hurriedly crawled a few steps on his knees and crawled in front of the emperor. "Your Majesty, I am innocent! These are all treasures that I have collected with great difficulty to celebrate the birthday of the Prime Minister's mother. They are my savings over the years. Your Majesty is very observant. If you can't find any, you can search in the storehouse in my house."
"Your Majesty, I returned the gift, and it is recorded later!" Lin Juhui explained hurriedly.
Du Yikun cried bitterly, "Your Majesty, even if I have no merits over the years, I have worked hard! I have worked hard to fill the national treasury over the years. In the previous natural disaster, I donated most of my wealth. Don't you think I have no merits at all? Your Majesty, you are so suspicious of me because of the random accusations of that criminal. I am deeply distressed!"
He shook his head, tears streaming down his face.
The emperor couldn't help but feel soft-hearted when he saw the silver hair mixed in with his temples. He had been a veteran minister for many years.
The Fourth Prince watched coldly, watching the bribery of the guilty minister turn into a courtesy exchange between officials, and he did not say a word.
The emperor wanted to go easy on these people. After all, they just accepted bribes. They are all trusted ministers. He still has to take the government into consideration and not make drastic changes. Otherwise, who else can be used in the court? Won't they all be beheaded to apologize?
Anyway, these few people are not the most important, and it is impossible to bring them down in one go.
"You will be fined one year's salary and have to reflect on your mistakes in seclusion in the palace for a month." The emperor closed the book and pointed at Du Yikun.
Du Yikun quickly thanked him, "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty. In the future, I will be careful with my words and actions and help Your Majesty."
The emperor looked at the Prime Minister again and said, "You should have been more vigilant in the past. If you let those thieves take advantage of the opportunity,
"I thank my lord for his grace!" Lin Juhui knew that the matter was over.
He was not even punished, which shows the emperor's preference for the prime minister. Everyone is envious.
When the other officials saw that the emperor actually closed the book, they knew that the emperor intended to handle it with care this time. They wiped the sweat from their foreheads and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Everyone, leave!" the emperor gave an order, and the officials immediately left the imperial study.
They wished they could disappear from the emperor's sight immediately, lest he take his anger out on them if he was unhappy.
"Fourth brother, check the rest. If there is any corruption, report it to me. I will not let it go easily." The emperor suddenly said.
The Fourth Prince was a little surprised and quickly agreed.
He wondered in his heart, is the emperor going to punish him or not? He was suddenly unsure about how to strike the right balance.
Or is this a test from his father to see who his followers are?
He glanced at the emperor and cautiously asked, "Father? These ministers are all veterans of our court. If we conduct a thorough investigation just because of a word from a treacherous official, wouldn't it make us seem ungrateful?"
The emperor snorted coldly, "When discussing state affairs, everyone was hesitant. When accepting gifts, everyone was ruthless. They thought I was easy to fool. What kind of courtesy is this? How true is the enthronement in this book? It's just that I am thinking of the old friendship!"
"Your Majesty is a kind-hearted man. I'm sure they will restrain themselves in the future, otherwise they will let your Majesty down." The Fourth Prince immediately understood and said along.
"I'm afraid they still don't repent and won't cry until they see the coffin!" The emperor sighed.
The fourth prince immediately understood the meaning of the music, "I think that since they are related to the rebels this time, they must be still worried and will restrain themselves, but..."
"Hmm? What do you think? Just tell me what you want to say!" The emperor looked at the fourth son. Among his sons, he felt that the fourth son's temper was most like his.
"It's just that some people are bound to get lucky and then relapse. I think it would be better to catch one or two and punish them severely, which would have a deterrent effect."
The emperor's eyes flashed when he heard this, "Then I'll leave this matter to you!"
The fourth prince took the order and said, "Yes!"
"But father, these are nothing compared to the collusion with the rebels. They were just deceived and probably don't know much about the details. But how to investigate it later? There must be someone in the court who has the heart of rebellion and is really working for those people. This matter needs to be thoroughly investigated."
The emperor nodded, "Yes! This matter is of utmost importance."
He thought of Li Yanzheng. "Li Yanzheng is the heir of Marquis Jin'an. If he has the intention of treason, then everyone in the Marquis Jin'an Mansion will probably have other intentions."
"Father, the Marquis of Jin'an is an old minister who followed the late Emperor. He played an indispensable role in the palace turmoil. If he had any ulterior motives, he could have taken advantage of the situation. I think you should give the Marquis a chance and wait for me to thoroughly investigate the matter."
As soon as the Fourth Prince finished speaking, he saw his father's sharp eyes scanning him, and beads of sweat immediately broke out on his forehead.
He knew that Li Yanzheng would definitely not be saved, but the Jin'an Marquis Mansion still had to be protected.
He knew that his father would certainly be suspicious of him, but he had no choice but to plead.