In the Wuying Palace, Wang Dehua and Han Yiliang were reporting to Chongzhen the results of the trial of the household department's corruption of ink for disaster relief. Although the two of them were quite serious, the result was a little unsatisfactory to Chongzhen's mind.

Zhu Youzhen looked up at Wang Dehua, who bowed his head and was silent, and Han Yiliang, who had been sweating since he came in. He snapped the report in his hand and said to the two.

"Didn't I say before that it was better not to expand this case, and it was better to limit it to the disaster relief case itself? Now there are dozens of cases involved, and the number of corrupt officials has expanded from more than 40 to more than 100. ”

Han Yiliang was frightened and speechless for a while. However, Wang Dehua replied calmly: "Back to Your Majesty, it's not that the ministers don't want to obey Your Majesty's orders, but these officials either refuse to admit it, or they are climbing indiscriminately, or they are pretending to be crazy and stupid."

However, the confessions confessed by these officials, the ministers did not dare to conceal them privately, so they could only find out and hand them over to His Majesty for holy judgment. ”

"That's exactly what the prince said." Han Yiliang stammered at this time.

Unlike Wang Dehua, he does not have a special intimate relationship with Chongzhen. Because of a letter talking about officials, he was unexpectedly favored by the emperor and became the head of a newly established anti-corruption department.

Others thought he was lucky with shit, but Han Yiliang himself was a little flustered. He took the letter only out of impulse.

In fact, he was not ready to confront the ** officials of the DPRK and China, but the emperor suddenly promoted him to this position, and he had to bite the bullet.

However, the case of household corruption in charge of him is really very wide-ranging. After investigating for more than 1 month, the case was like a snowball, getting bigger and bigger, which really made him a little panicked.

And these household officials saw that they could not get rid of their crimes, and the officials who bit out were getting higher and higher. In the past two days, the names of the third and fourth high-ranking officials have begun to come out of their mouths, and Han Yiliang is really a little unable to judge.

He didn't think he could resist the revenge of the family behind these officials afterwards. Taking advantage of the emperor's inquiry, he couldn't wait to send all the case files over today, hoping that the emperor would notice the seriousness and stop continuing to ask the case.

After listening to Wang Dehua's explanation, Zhu Youzhen's original frowning brows relaxed. He now understands why emperors have always liked to be close to eunuchs. Because in this situation, only these eunuchs who have cultivated personal feelings with the emperor dare to say such things without scruples.

Zhu Youzhen's face finally eased, and although Wang Dehua's explanation did not solve his dissatisfaction, it was enough for him to accept it. Since the purpose of doing this is not to hide something from himself, then there is no need for him to hold it anymore.

Zhu Youzhen thought about it, picked up the report of the case file again and looked at it for a while, then tore off almost one-third of the front of the case file, and said after dividing the case file into two parts.

"The 47 officials involved in the household embezzlement case, have their family assets been counted?"

Wang Dehua immediately replied: "The property of these 47 officials has been counted and sealed, the highest one has an asset of about 360,000 taels, and the smallest one has more than 45,000 taels, and after all their assets are counted and registered, they are worth about 390 taels of silver, but the current silver is only more than 170 taels." ”

Zhu Youzhen stretched out his hand to support his chin and thought for a while before asking again: "Are these assets in their own name, or do they include the property of their relatives?" ”

Wang Dehua said without hesitation: "The minister has already reviewed, and all the seized properties are in the name of the sinner, and his clansmen and in-laws are not involved. ”

Han Yiliang's throat twitched, as if he wanted to say something to the emperor, but in the end he held back himself. Zhu Youzhen didn't notice his appearance, but continued to say to the two.

In addition to these 47 officials, the confessions of the other officials involved in the case will be filed and processed as archives, and the Metropolitan Governor and the Independent Commission Against Corruption will each keep a copy. For these officials, as long as they don't confront the imperial court, then they will not be dealt with for the time being, and after the admonition and conversation, let them go back.

And these 47 officials are the final number of people involved in the household embezzlement case. You must report the final conclusion of this case to the cabinet within three days, and prepare to send these 47 officials to Shaanxi for public trial in Xi'an.

All the family property in the names of these 47 officials was confiscated, and 1.7 million taels of cash were transferred to the household department as a reserve fund for disaster relief this year. The rest of the property was sold under the auspices of the Metropolitan Governor, and the proceeds were deposited into the inner treasury. ”

Wang Dehua was a little overjoyed by Chongzhen's decision, and it was obviously a lucrative task for him to dispose of and sell such a large amount of property. It's a little pity that the cash money was actually handed over to the household department.

He was thinking about how many of the houses and fields of these prisoners could be obtained under his name, but he heard Han Yiliang beside him actually raise an objection.

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that such a disposition is too harsh. Of the 47 officials, 7 did not participate in the embezzlement of disaster relief funds, and 13 only took a few bad rules according to the orders of the officials.

According to my practice, the highest amount of recovery for stolen money is only one, which is better than chasing three. And the family members have paid the fine, and the offender should be given a lenient sentence.

Now that we want to confiscate the family property of these criminals, I ask Your Majesty to be merciful and give lenient punishment to all the accomplices in this case. ”

Regarding Chongzhen's handling method, Han Yiliang finally cringed a little. He was afraid that after the case was announced, he would become a cool official like Zhou Xing and Lai Junchen in the eyes of everyone. As a serious scholar, he naturally knew that the fate of these cool officials was not very good.

Zhu Youzhen tilted his head and looked at Han Yiliang, whose face was a little red, he looked at it for a while before he said mockingly: "Da Ming's convention? I want to act in accordance with the practice of the Ming Dynasty in everything, and what do I do when I set up the Independent Commission Against Corruption?

Han Yushi, you are good at everything, but this is not good, when you do things, you always want to be good to people everywhere. Is this ICAC a place to be kind to others?

Could it be that Han Yushi thinks that after you find out the crimes of these officials, and then you take it lightly, these officials will be grateful to you and not jealous of you? ”

Han Yiliang felt that his face was hot, his eyes dodged the gaze of avoiding Chongzhen, and he stammered: "The minister didn't mean this, but the minister hopes that Your Majesty can understand, this officialdom did not start today, please Your Majesty give them a chance to reform themselves." ”

Zhu Youzhen suddenly sneered a few times, "Heh, heh, I understand them, will the victims of Shaanxi be considerate of me?" Han Yushi, you yourself are from Shaanxi, do you know how serious the drought in Shaanxi is this year? ”

The emperor suddenly changed the topic to the issue of drought in Shaanxi, so that Han Yiliang did not react for a while, and after a while, he stammered: "The minister heard the news from his family from his hometown, and the drought in Shaanxi this year should be similar to last year."

Under the order of His Majesty, the imperial court has continuously allocated funds for disaster relief, and implemented various disaster relief measures, and the scale of Shaanxi's official disaster relief far exceeds that of last year. ”

Zhu Youzhen didn't care about Han Yiliang's little praise for himself in his words, he said unceremoniously: "Han Yushi's idea is really optimistic, but I don't dare to be so optimistic.

Compared with last year, the drought in Shaanxi this year is indeed more serious and limited, but last year the people of Shaanxi still had some savings in their families, and even if the scale of the government's disaster relief was not large, they could barely survive it.

However, even so, at the beginning of the year, many local officials in Shaanxi Province reported to the imperial court that bandits are now rampant outside the county towns in various parts of Shaanxi, and merchants do not dare to go on the road unless they are in groups, and in some areas where the situation is serious, the trade routes are simply cut off.

In addition to the severe impact on business in Shaanxi, the number of missing children in the affected areas has also increased, and it is reported that these missing children are not abducted and sold as slaves in large families, but are sent to the market to be sold as tender mutton.

Han Yushi, as a native of Shaanxi, haven't you heard of it? ”

Han Yiliang's face changed suddenly, he left his seat, and after bowing to Chongzhen, he said in a panic: "The minister is stupid, please punish Your Majesty..."

Zhu Youzhen did not stop because of Han Yiliang's accusation, and he said in a more serious tone: "According to the preliminary statistics of the drought situation in Shaanxi, the affected areas in Shaanxi this year account for more than half of Shaanxi, and the affected population is about 300,000.

Shaanxi is a vast area, under the jurisdiction of Gansu, Ningxia, northern Shaanxi, Shaanxi, Hanzhong, the area of about one-fifth of the land of our Ming Dynasty. The hardest-hit areas are highlands and mountainous areas with inaccessibility.

Even if the imperial court allocated funds for disaster relief and formulated so many policies, limited by the transportation conditions and the ability of these local officials and gentry, one-third of the victims of the disaster in Shaanxi could be relieved, and that was already the life of the local officials.

It would be a miracle if half of the people were to be helped. Those who have been relieved may be grateful for the kindness of the imperial court and will not disturb the place. But will those who have not received relief behave obediently at home and starve to death? ”

Regarding the emperor's questioning, Han Yiliang really had nothing to say, he stuck his head tightly on the floor tiles, and did not dare to defend himself.

Seeing him like this, Zhu Youzhen's tone softened a little and said, "Reform yourself, haven't I given them a chance?" At the beginning of the New Year, I had already warned officials in the world to be honest and self-disciplined and loyal to state affairs.

I gave them a chance, they didn't know how to cherish it, and they dared to put their hands into the disaster relief funds, this is not an act of contempt for me, what else is an act of contempt for me? ”

Chongzhen's anger finally made Han Yiliang calm his mind of interceding for these prisoners. At this time, he finally understood that even if he resigned now and returned to his hometown, the name of this cool official would not be able to escape.

Instead of retreating and losing power and being retaliated against, it is better to hug the emperor's thigh first and keep his own house safe.

However, his plea was not fruitless, as he said, the ICAC acted too harshly, but the monarch should still make his subordinates feel the mercy of extrajudicial mercy.

In the end, Chongzhen reluctantly instructed Wang Dehua to leave a house and part of the land for the families of these prisoners, with no more than 5,000 taels as the standard, and allowed the wives of the prisoners to take away their dowry, and their families could take away their belongings.