In mid-March of the first year of Zhenguan of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty convened some cronies and high-ranking officials to hold a meeting in the Ganlu Palace. The people who participated in the meeting were not only high-ranking officials, but also all of them were close associates of Emperor Li Shimin, and none of them were lower than the fourth grade. However, the only exception is Jingwen, but the reason why he came here was not because the emperor attached importance to it, but only to serve as a briefing on the situation.

"Jingwen, you can say it!" Li Shimin said with a gloomy face.

Jingwen took out a report and began to read: "Your Majesty, I asked Miss Liu Qing to check the six departments, nine temples and five prisons of the imperial court during this time, and a total of 123 corrupt officials, large and small, were found. Among them, there is one in the fourth grade, ten in the fifth grade, twenty-eight in the sixth grade, and the rest are below the seventh grade. ”

After Li Shimin heard this, his face was even more gloomy and about to drip water, and anyone could see that Li Shimin was suppressing his anger. And those cronies and ministers didn't dare to take a breath, obviously scared. The current situation is truly shocking and frightening. It is astonishing that there are more than 100 corrupt officials in the central institutions alone.

"Enough for the capital offense? How many? Du Ruhui, the secretary of the ministry, asked.

"If you want to seriously follow the laws of the Tang Dynasty, each of them will die!" Jingwen said.

"So much?" Du Ruhui was also surprised.

Jingwen was also thinking in his heart: "It's not that there are too many people, it's that Datang's anti-corruption laws are too harsh." If you embezzle 20 yuan of money, you will be beheaded, and it will be only 7,000 or 8,000 yuan in the future generation. In this world, as long as you want to embezzle, who will just be willing to embezzle less than seven or eight thousand yuan? ”

"Shocking! Shocking! Li Shimin finally sighed and said.

Everyone didn't dare to answer, obviously Li Shimin was very angry. As the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin certainly knew how strict corruption was. Corruption is corrupt, but it can bury a dynasty! Li Shimin originally thought that he had not been in the Tang Dynasty for a long time, and there should not be much corruption. However, what is surprising is that now that the world has not been completely unified, some people have actually begun to engage in corruption. This is still the six departments, nine temples and five prisons of the imperial court, if this scope is expanded to the whole world, then I am afraid that corruption is even more surprising. If this continues, how many years can Datang last? The founding of the country was so corrupt, so won't it be even more corrupt in the future?

"Ladies and gentlemen, why do you say this is happening? These are the mainstays of my Tang Dynasty, and some of them I know. But why are they corrupt? Where did the original idea of serving the country and the people go? They didn't fight the world for the Tang Dynasty, they suffered everything? At that time, none of them thought about using power for personal gain. Could it be that now that the Tang Dynasty is sitting in the world, and the conditions in all aspects are much better, they are going to do this kind of thing that is pointed out by thousands of people? Li Shimin asked.

Those high-ranking officials obviously don't know why, when they fought the world, they were able to endure any hardship, and they didn't think about using power for personal gain to improve their lives. But now that the world is peaceful, the economic conditions, living conditions, and the welfare of officials in all aspects are very good, but they will become corrupt. This made them very puzzled, so they also answered Li Shimin's question.

"Don't you have an answer either? Say whatever you want, don't hide it! Li Shimin said.

But even Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui and they don't know why, why are they still corrupt when they have such good living conditions?

"Don't you all have any opinions?" Li Shimin asked.

And when those high-ranking figures couldn't answer, Jingwen took the initiative to say: "Your Majesty, can I say a few words?" ”

Li Shimin saw Jingwen's answer and said, "Say it! Today, I'm going to listen to you, a little cook, and see what theories you can come up with, maybe everyone will be able to refresh their eyes! ”

Jingwen was speechless, this Li Shimin still regarded himself as a chef, and the first impression of human beings was really very stubborn.

"Your Majesty, today the minister will analyze this corruption problem for the emperor and all the adults." Jingwen said.

"First, I will first speculate on why those officials have the idea of corruption, and if we want to prevent corruption, then we must study the reasons for the corruption of those officials."

"Oh? Tell me, I want to know, why are those guys corrupt? Li Shimin said.

This question is also something that many officials want to understand, why was it not corrupt in the first place, but it was corrupt when the world was too peaceful. None of these high-ranking officials are corrupt, but their subordinates are a large group of corrupt, which makes them very puzzled. Corruption is a very serious problem, and they are very concerned about it. They are all the founding heroes of the Tang Dynasty, people with knighthoods, equivalent to small shareholders of the Tang Empire. If nothing else, it can be said that they are in the same place as the country, and this country also has a small part of them, so they are also concerned about this corruption problem.

"The emperor may wonder why because of the war, it was very difficult in all aspects, and they were not corrupt, but now they are corrupt. That's because everyone was fighting the world back then, when they were starting a business, they were in a very passionate and impulsive time, for a future future, so they were able to endure hardships. But now that the world is about to be peaceful, even if there are some clowns who jump off the beam, it is not terrible, so they all think that the time has come to reap the fruits of victory. Aren't they fighting the world just for the sake of profit? Now that they are officials, they naturally think that the time has come for the emperor and the court to repay them. So, they naturally want to reap the benefits. The first thing they think about as officials is not to be loyal to the court and serve the people, but to think about their own interests. So, naturally, there is the idea of corruption. Jingwen said the first reason.

"Bastard! Did the court raise them so that they could be corrupt? They ate and clothed themselves with the people's fat and anointment. They eat the people's food and don't give back to the people, but they still want more? They followed the emperor to fight the world in order to give the people a peace, but they were all corrupt for their own benefit, which is really ***! Wei Zheng said angrily first.

"Your Majesty, this is only the first point, and the second point!" Jingwen said.

"Go on!" Li Shimin said.

Jingwen went on to talk about the corruption of officials, and he wanted to give a theoretical lesson on anti-corruption to the emperor's high-ranking officials of the Tang Dynasty today.