Chapter 1079: The Censorate Officials Also Have Their Own Flexibility

"Vice Minister of Rites, I have a doubt. Why is His Majesty so cautious about Baochao?" Shen Li felt somewhat strange.

From the Ministry of Revenue starting to persuade His Majesty to issue Baochao, from the analysis of the "Baochao Anchoring Memorial" of anchoring the currency to gold, silver, copper, iron, and various goods, it took five years just to persuade him, until the fifteenth year of Wanli, when His Majesty issued the currency for the first time.

And every time he issued currency, His Majesty was very cautious.

Although the system design required gold storage as an anchor, in reality, almost all ministers and powerful families knew that the gold was simply not enough.

The "Baochao Anchoring Memorial" was written by Wang Guoguang. He wrote it for a long time. It was a ten-thousand-word book and the general outline of the Ming's currency law. Wang Guoguang ranked fourth among the meritorious ministers of the Wanli Reform. Apart from the "Dushu Pangtong," it was his institutional construction of the currency law.

Its influence could no longer be described as far-reaching. If this ten-thousand-word book could be executed in place, it could solve the problem of money shortage since ancient times.

Wang Guoguang had already passed away, but His Majesty was firmly advancing according to Wang Guoguang's ten-thousand-word book.

The "Baochao Anchoring Memorial" was very, very long, but in summary, it was asset anchoring. Besides the gold and silver imported from abroad, the court also had fifty-four official factories and over two hundred thousand qing of official Nanyang plantations. In addition, there were five Maritime Trade Offices, five Viceroy's Offices, and one Golden Mountain Country.

These heavy assets could also support the gold Baochao currency law.

But His Majesty's caution was even somewhat careful.

Shen Li's understanding of His Majesty was not as good as Gao Qiyu's.

Or rather, Gao Qiyu was too smart. If he were not smart, he would not have made mistakes. It was just like all treacherous ministers were not incompetent people. The guys who caused trouble were often because they were too smart, thought too much, and caused huge trouble.

And Shen Li felt that he was not smart enough relatively speaking. He thought less and recognized the dead logic, so he walked straight. He bumped into His Majesty with four memorials, and His Majesty refused to let him retire. His Majesty doing this was to maintain the bone-stiff upright spirit in the court, but Shen Li had some problems that he could not figure out himself, so he had to ask Gao Qiyu.

Gao Qiyu pondered solemnly for a long time before saying: "I will say it for now, you listen for now, just treat it as one person's words."

"I feel that the reasons for this are intricate and complicated. For example, our Ming is a big court, His Majesty is the father of the world, the court manages widely, and there are many responsibilities to bear; for example, the Hongwu Baochao was corrupted, and the Wanli Baochao cannot afford to be lost, etc. There are many such reasons, but I am not in the Ministry of Revenue, and the contradictions in these institutional constructions are handled very well by the Ministry of Revenue."

"But I personally think that the main reason is that our Ming's humanities, ritual laws, order, morality, etc., simply do not accept the way of thinking of speculation."

"Take the destruction of Baochao by the Wuqing Earl's Mansion as an example."

Gao Qiyu carefully deliberated before continuing: "Look, the people of the Wuqing Earl's Mansion blocked the Baochao Bureau, the Baoyuan Bureau, and the Huitong Hall Station that cashed the Baochao, and used this as an opportunity to hoard Baochao at a low price and cash it in at a high price at the court, seeking huge profits."

"The Baoyuan Bureau, the Baochao Bureau, the Huitong Hall Station, the powerful families and rich merchants using Baochao were all waiting for His Majesty's handling method. As long as this matter was put aside, and the price of Baochao dropped rapidly, attracting His Majesty's attention, His Majesty would definitely handle it."

"Everyone was waiting. In fact, for His Majesty's handling expectation, everyone's was not high. Almost everyone thought His Majesty would handle it leniently."

"As imperial relatives, as the biological father and brothers of Empress Dowager Li, they were the top ruling class of the Ming, just relying on Baochao to earn some silver to spend. The court and the Ming were all the old Zhu family's; what's wrong with earning some money?"

"According to past experience, the Wuqing Earl's Mansion should first be filed and investigated by the Northern Town Faction, the Emperor should issue an edict in a rage to put them in prison, and the Wuqing Earl's Mansion should be confiscated. At this time, the Empress Dowager would come forward to plead for mercy, the Emperor would say, 'The country governs the world with filial piety,' and convene a court discussion with the Empress Dowager's edict. After the discussion, the Wuqing Earl would pay money to buy peace, handing over all illegal gains to the inner treasury to seek leniency."

"After the Wuqing Earl's family came out of prison, they would shout 'Long live' three times, shouting 'Holy grace is vast'."

The reason the Wuqing Earl ended up in such a situation was that Empress Dowager Li did not plead for mercy at all, and the Emperor could not even find a reason for leniency.

As soon as Shen Li heard this, he immediately shook his head and said: "In this way, even if more gold is stored, no one will recognize the value of gold Baochao. It won't even take three or five years before it is thoroughly corrupted."

Gao Qiyu immediately revealed a look of understanding and said with a smile: "Look, this is not just His Majesty being a wise and sagely monarch and handling it justly, but the Ming's humanities, ritual laws, order, morality, and consensus do not accept the atmosphere of financial speculation."

"The Wuqing Earl's Mansion dared to do this, which is typical of speculators. They were speculating, they were gambling, gambling on whether His Majesty would be lenient for the sake of relatives, gambling on whether Empress Dowager Li would plead for mercy, gambling on whether the Ming could accept them seeking such huge profits. They lost the gamble, but refused to admit defeat."

"Those brokers and buyers at the Yanxing Building Trading House do not recommend the gold and silver market at all, because the volatility of the gold and silver market is extremely large, and with His Majesty as the banker, this gold and silver market exists entirely to maintain the orderly exchange ratio of gold and silver."

"Our Ming people, going to the Yanxing Building to speculate in silver, gold, and valuable tickets, simply do not have the heart to admit defeat. Once they lose the gamble, they will blame the court, blame His Majesty, blame the Ming, and in short, not blame themselves."

"It is precisely this consensus of not accepting speculation that leads the court to be conservative not only in gold, silver, and currency, but also in any financial policy."

Money shops, insurance, currency, and the Yanxing Building Trading House all belong to the financial category. The Ming's policy on finance is very conservative.

Shen Li understood what Gao Qiyu meant, and he remembered an old matter.

When the Yongding Woolen Official Factory was first built, at that time, the Yanxing Building traded in large cloth currency, which was fine-spun wool. His Majesty, as the biggest crocodile in this cloth currency market, when someone came up with "crowdfunding" to speculate in cloth currency, His Majesty directly smashed the cloth currency market.

At that time, the court was still poor, and the court could completely rely on large cloth currency to continue to seek huge profits. But when His Majesty smashed it, he did not hesitate at all.

Just as Gao Qiyu said, the Ming dynasty, from the Emperor down to the common people, indeed does not accept speculation, and there is no thinking of admitting defeat.

Those Genoese merchants who bought Felipe's gold bonds admitted defeat. After Felipe dissolved the parliament and let the gold bonds go bankrupt, these Genoese merchants could only accept that the gold bonds in their hands were waste paper. Felipe just defaulted on the debt like this.

But the Ming cannot default, and even the Ming people feel that if they take out silver to engage in investment, they must earn, and cannot accept losing money.

Slightly more aggressive currency and financial policies will lead to an increase in systemic risk.

"I will go to the Tonghe Palace for an audience." After Shen Li clarified his train of thought, he went to the Imperial Study of the Tonghe Palace, stated the Ministry of Rites' decision, and the posthumous title "Wenjing" for Ling Yunyi was recognized by the Ministry of Rites, and he repeated the reasons Gao Qiyu said.

"He spoke very well." Zhu Yijun smiled at Shen Li and said: "Confucian learning, when did it become Confucian religion? It started from the two Song dynasties not setting up land systems, and also from the second year of Zhizhi of the Northern Song when the Duke Yansheng was enfeoffed."

"Once there is a gate in the ground, it is a religion, and it does not allow a single voice of opposition."

Enfeoffing Confucius's descendants started from the twelfth year of Emperor Gaozu of Han. At that time, it was just a sacrificial official, but the Duke Yansheng title started from the second year of Zhizhi of the Northern Song.

The two Song dynasties did not set up land systems, and the court governed the world with the scholar-officials, needing to infinitely raise the status of Confucian scholars. The enfeoffment of the Duke Yansheng became a matter of course.

In fact, the two Song dynasties had the opportunity to establish a land system. Wang Anshi presided over the reform and engaged in the "Square Field and Equitable Tax Law," rectifying the inequality of land tax and clearing out hidden land to avoid taxes, which was a reform in land taxation.

If Shenzong had not died young, and if Wang Anshi had not lost his greatest supporter, perhaps Wang Anshi would have succeeded.

Once there was a temple on the ground, the Kong Mansion in Yanzhou became a temple in fact, and eventually Confucianism became Confucian learning.

"I am terrified, I didn't think through this matter." Shen Li's insistence all along was that he thought Ling Yunyi's posthumous title "Wenjing" did not match his virtue, which would eventually lead to the corruption of the posthumous title system. But after Gao Qiyu spoke, he finally understood some of the far-reaching influence of overturning the Kong Mansion.

Zhu Yijun revealed a sunny smile. Shen Li's opposition was not disobedience; he just recognized the dead logic. The court lacked nothing, just bone-stiff upright ministers.

Every bone-stiff upright minister must be cherished and maintained so that the court's ritual law would not collapse.

In fact, Gao Qiyu's explanation was already very deep, but not deep enough, because Gao Qiyu and Shen Li both had their own era limitations. They grew up, studied, and understood in Confucian religion. Gao Qiyu saw some changes, but he did not see the terrible harm of Confucian religion being conservative.

Just saying that there is no "Great Meaning" after the "Spring and Autumn Annals," and there is no need to read history books other than the "Spring and Autumn Annals," was infinitely harmful.

Zhu Yijun's vision was long-term because, as a later comer, he could jump out of the limitations of this era.

"Your Majesty, I am not young anymore. Should I arrange for Gao Qiyu to enter the cabinet to handle affairs?" Shen Li recommended Gao Qiyu to enter the cabinet, which was also the purpose of his coming to the Tonghe Palace.

Zhu Yijun shook his head and said: "Walking in the Western Study is the end. I don't mind, but the court ministers mind."

Besides the court ministers minding, the Ming's ritual law and order also mind very much. One must respect order; otherwise, one will suffer the punishment of order.

"Cannot go further. I can guarantee that he will not mess around." Shen Li felt that Gao Qiyu was doing a very good job as Minister of Rites, and he understood the ritual law very thoroughly.

Zhu Yijun sighed and said: "Grand Minister of Rites, I also want to guarantee him, but the Grand Minister of Rites also knows clearly that this is not a question of who guarantees."

"Sometimes, being too smart is not good. Being too smart means thinking too much. I am quite stupid and think less." Shen Li felt somewhat lost. He was old on one hand, and on the other hand, Gao Qiyu was very capable, and he, Shen Li, appeared somewhat too uninteresting, making the ritual law an inconvenient thing.

Shen Li wanted to retire, but could not. Walking in the Western Study was ultimately not a cabinet minister, and the name was not right and the words were not smooth.

"Grand Minister of Rites is joking. I have no prejudice against the Grand Minister of Rites, so don't take it to heart too much." Zhu Yijun felt that Shen Li was doing a good job as Grand Minister of Rites, and the court needed a bone-stiff upright minister in a high position.

Shen Li had a fun nickname called "Shen the Bold." This was not given to him by Zhu Yijun, but by others.

In the thirty-second year of Jiajing, the Shi Shangzhao civil rebellion occurred in Guide Prefecture (now Shangqiu), Henan.

Shi Shangzhao led the uprising people to attack cities and seize land everywhere, and soon took down Yucheng. Shi Shangzhao tried his best to restrain his subordinates and not let the righteous army loot, but as soon as they entered the city, Shi Shangzhao's restraint immediately failed.

The righteous army was indeed a righteous army before entering Yucheng, but after entering Yucheng, they became thugs.

The righteous army paid a huge price in casualties to attack the city. Many people's relatives and friends died in the siege. After entering the city, they naturally had to take revenge and settle grudges. Not only that, in the process of taking revenge, it was often accompanied by seeking wealth.

Soon, under the alienation of killing and money, the thugs began to force the people of Yucheng to hand over all their wealth with knives.

Revenge, killing, seeking wealth, looting, eventually turned into a massacre of the city. Yucheng was looted clean.

Shen Li was a person from Guide Prefecture. At that time, he was observing mourning at home. The thieves who turned into thugs finished fighting Yucheng and headed for Guide Prefecture. Shen Li, as a wealthy family in Guide Prefecture and as a Jinshi, naturally had to go to the prefecture yamen to ask about the situation after learning the news.

As a result, as soon as Shen Li arrived at the prefecture yamen, he saw the prefect packing up his valuables and preparing to run away. Shen Li angrily rebuked: "If the thieves leave, they will definitely come back. If you flee, who will protect the people of the whole city? The people support you with flesh and blood. Abandoning the city and leaving, you should be abandoned by both humans and gods!"

The prefect was scolded until he could not lift his head, but he still had to run, and even said, "You do it if you can."

Shen Li really could. He opened his own granary, recruited three thousand local braves, and used this money and grain to recruit craftsmen in the city to manufacture defensive weapons. He sent postal couriers to urgently transmit information to the Henan Viceroy to pacify the thief disaster.

Shen Li also did a big thing: he lit the sky lanterns together with the powerful families and local gentry in the city who refused to donate grain and property to tide over the difficulties together, and even secretly contacted Shi Shangzhao, hanging them on the city wall to deter the small-minded people in the city.

Soon, the defense of the whole Guide Prefecture took on a new look. When Shi Shangzhao fought over, he found that rolling logs and stones were piled up like mountains, the bed crossbows were cold, and the armor was clear. Shi Shangzhao was beaten black and blue in Guide Prefecture and suffered a big loss, and was later pacified.

Since then, people in Shen Li's hometown all said that Shen Li's courage was bigger than his beard, and he had the nickname "Shen the Bold."

Shen Li once wrote a memorial based on the process of Shi Shangzhao's uprising, analyzing the reasons for Shi Shangzhao's final failure.

When Shi Shangzhao first started the uprising, he agreed with all the righteous armies not to kill, not to loot, to distribute grain to relieve the poor, to save the poor, to equalize fields, to level the rich and noble, etc. At that time, he could be said to be deeply popular, and wherever he went, the people welcomed him sincerely. Many prefectures and counties even opened the city gates spontaneously without attacking.

But after the Battle of Yucheng, Shi Shangzhao changed. He was dizzy from the continuous victories, felt that the Ming court was nothing more than this, felt that the Ming army was vulnerable, and his restraint on his subordinates became less and less.

The massacre of Yucheng was the turning point for Shi Shangzhao from righteousness to banditry.

Ever since Yucheng was massacred, Shi Shangzhao soon discovered that the army that was invincible and victorious in the past could not take down any city at all. The army simply had no morale, everyone avoided fighting, no longer competing to be first as before, and several internal strife and fire-fighting broke out. Not to mention attacking cities and seizing land, maintaining themselves was very difficult.

And the people who supported Shi Shangzhao in the past began to avoid Shi Shangzhao like snakes and scorpions. Shen Li was able to defend the city successfully at that time because the army and the people were of one heart and resisted the thieves together.

If the righteous army is a fish, then the people are water. Losing the support of the people, losing the hearts of the people, when the thugs began to loot and slaughter the people, it was the time when Shi Shangzhao was bound to fail.

Shen Li's previous memorial was about Shi Shangzhao, but in fact, it was also about the Ming court, because when the Ming first set out, it was also a righteous army. The support of the people has always been so concrete and direct.

Shen Li might not be able to guess His Majesty's mind, but in terms of ritual law, Shen Li was still very professional.

Ling Yunyi's posthumous title was set as "Wenjing." In fact, many officials in the court were waiting for the result of the dispute between the Emperor and the Ministry of Rites. After the Emperor won a complete victory, the Censorate officials began.

Ling Yunyi, this kind of killer star, the heretic who overturned the Kong Mansion, actually got the posthumous title "Wenjing"!

The Censorate officials prepared to launch a verbal and written attack on Ling Yunyi and the Ministry of Rites. You, Shen Li, are also worthy of being called a bone-stiff upright minister?!

But the Censorate officials soon discovered a very terrifying problem: they lacked sufficient evidence to support the specific killing sins Ling Yunyi had committed. To be precise, these Censorate officials almost searched all the old files and did not find a clear record of Ling Yunyi killing people.

The Censorate officials turned over the Six Offices, the Censorate, and the archives of the Six Ministries, but they simply did not find a sentence of Ling Yunyi killing people. There were only records of him killing enemies. Killing enemies was not a killing sin, and killing Japanese pirates was not killing people; it was killing animals.

If the Censorate officials wanted to attack Ling Yunyi, they needed true evidence; otherwise, they would fall into the predicament of "false accusation and counter-punishment." But now there was no record in the archives. After so long, without the record of documents, how could they quarrel with His Majesty?

Zhu Yijun had been waiting, waiting for this offensive from the Censorate officials. He also had the Embroidered Uniform Guard prepare the court sticks. This time he wanted to show off his power severely!

But the Emperor waited left and right, waited front and back, until Ling Yunyi was already buried in the Golden Mountain Mausoleum, ranking among the meritorious ministers of the Reform. Not to mention the "Fuque" (kneeling at the Meridian Gate) at the Imperial Gate, he did not even wait for a memorial.

"Strange. Are our Ming Censorate officials so honest?" Zhu Yijun felt that things were a bit strange. He had dealt with the Censorate officials for so many years; how could these Censorate officials let go of such a good opportunity so easily?

Zhang Hong also shook his head and said: "If they were honest, old sows could climb trees. Eight out of ten, they are holding back, planning a big one. Eunuch Feng also asked two days ago, saying that if His Majesty needs it, he can take these unloyal guys and cook them all in one pot."

Feng Bao wanted to exchange pieces. He had already retired. Now he was just waiting for an extreme curtain call. Regarding the examination of eunuchs and posthumous reputation, first look at whether they are loyal or not. Not loyal is treacherous, and loyal is virtuous. Feng Bao wanted to leave a loyal and beautiful name for himself at the end.

Zhu Yijun thought about it and said: "Strange. Call Xu Chengchu and Fan Yuanshan. I have to ask what these Censorate officials are planning."

Xu Chengchu and Fan Yuanshan were in the Anti-Corruption Division, and they soon arrived at the Tonghe Palace. After the audience, the two heard His Majesty's doubts and were somewhat crying and laughing. Xu Chengchu explained the reason inside: it was not that they did not want to, but that they could not do it. If they were determined to be "false accusation and counter-punishment," no one could withstand it.

"Gone?" Zhu Yijun was very surprised and said: "It shouldn't be. I'll look for it."

Zhu Yijun stood up, walked to the bookshelf in the Imperial Study, found a few memorials of Ling Yunyi based on his memory, looked at them carefully, and said: "Isn't this very clear?"

There were six books in total, all of which were memorials submitted by Ling Yunyi himself, personally admitting that just in Guangzhou Prefecture, he killed 123 household heads, and the charges were all colluding with Japanese pirates. Shandong, Henan, and Korea had only more, not less.

"Uh, different." Fan Yuanshan looked at one and was full of clouds. "In the documents copied to the Six Offices, the Censorate, and the Six Ministries, the other contents are the same, except that there is no record of killing."

The memorials were there, but the contents in the memorials were completely different.

The memorials of the ministers were all copied by the Cabinet to the Six Offices, the Six Ministries, and the Censorate. Obviously, the archives of the court and the archives of the Emperor's inner palace had produced some subtle differences. Ling Yunyi's killing sins had disappeared.

Zhu Yijun picked up the pen on the table, drew a few strokes, looked at the sun, determined that he could not see what was written in the blackened part, and was still somewhat worried. He looked at Zhang Hong, and Zhang Hong immediately understood. After the court ministers left, he went to the Six Ministries to copy the memorials.

These old ones, which recorded the killing sins, could be turned into flying ashes.

After finishing this matter, Ling Yunyi's killing sins only existed in folk legends.

Xu Chengchu and Fan Yuanshan were not stupid people. They immediately understood that someone had used the "Spring and Autumn brush" when copying Ling Yunyi's memorials, deleting parts of the content. This act could be described as daring to heaven.

But this matter was not overstepping, because His Majesty knew the truth and details.

"Below is just talking nonsense with eyes open. The Censorate officials are good at it, and I am also good at it!" Zhu Yijun put down the pen in his hand and breathed a sigh of relief. He had originally prepared to use Imperial power to endorse Ling Yunyi's posthumous reputation. He had originally intended to debate with the Censorate officials every case, whether it should be or not.

Now there was no need to debate.

Since Xu Chengchu and Fan Yuanshan entered the palace, they could not just talk about this one thing. They reported in detail the major anti-corruption cases of the Anti-Corruption Division last year, which were divided into seven major cases and seventeen minor cases. Every case was published in the "Di Bao" (Court Gazette). This yamen of the Anti-Corruption Division, if not careful, would become a tool for court party struggle, so the Anti-Corruption Division belonged to the Northern Town Faction and was directly responsible to the Emperor.

"The Grand General asked the Anti-Corruption Division to investigate military corruption early last year. Because of the Grand General's support, everything went smoothly. Among the seven major cases, the second, sixth, and seventh cases were all military corruption." Xu Chengchu emphasized the Grand General's contribution.

The highest level of the Anti-Corruption Division was the Grand General of the Five Military Governor's Offices, Qi Jiguang. Appointing him this way back then was to borrow Qi Jiguang's prestige to deter small-minded lawless people, but Qi Jiguang actively promoted the investigation of military corruption but did not interfere with the specific operation of the Anti-Corruption Division.

Among the seven major cases, three were military affairs. After the Anti-Corruption Division sat down with evidence, they transferred them to the Beijing Camp's Northern Town Faction for questioning and trial.

The Anti-Corruption Division only had the power of investigation, could not accuse, and could not try. Even so, the Anti-Corruption Division was also the yamen with real power in the Ming court second only to the Six Ministries.

Fan Yuanshan added: "Without the Grand General's support, even the anti-corruption of the Tax Audit Institute would be very difficult. The sixth and seventh cases were both corruption of the Tax Audit Institute."

The Tax Audit Institute belonged to the Northern Town Faction and possessed independent armed forces, belonging to the military yamen.

Not politely speaking, the Tax Audit Institute was evil and heinous. The Emperor knew, the court knew, and the Anti-Corruption Division knew, but no one said they wanted to ban this yamen. They could only choose the lesser of two evils; otherwise, the court really could not collect taxes.

The monarch and ministers always achieved each other. His Majesty's Tax Audit Institute plus Wang Guoguang's merging of world taxes into the court made the Ming's financial system gradually clear, bright, and healthy.

The Ming's ability to achieve substantive management of powerful families and local gentry also started from taxes; otherwise, these local snakes would be local emperors.

Tax Audit Institute anti-corruption was indeed a very important matter, but it was very difficult to push in the past.

Zhu Yijun listened to Xu Chengchu's report, expressed high affirmation and praise for their work, and gave rewards, telling them to continue anti-corruption, to maintain high-pressure anti-corruption; otherwise, political affairs and official governance would inevitably be corrupted, and Zhang Juzheng's full enthusiasm would all be paid in vain.

"Censor Xu, who do you think did this?" Fan Yuanshan asked with hesitation.

Xu Chengchu hesitated and said: "I know, but I won't say."

"Master Zhang? Master is the Chief Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, obviously he can do it." Fan Yuanshan said a possibility.

"No, Master never plays these tricks." Xu Chengchu shook his head: "Master might know, but it wasn't Master who did it."

"Oh?" Fan Yuanshan thought for a long time, but still did not think of who did it.

Who had such great courage to copy the memorials of court ministers? Daring to play so big, the court archives would regularly compare with the court's inner treasury to prevent forgery, checking at the end of every year, and checking once every three years.

This required someone with eyes reaching the sky to handle it. If it was not Zhang Juzheng, then it was Feng Bao.

The Emperor and Fan Yuanshan thought of the same thing. He sent someone to look for Feng Bao. Feng Bao was not in the palace; he went to the front gate tower to listen to storytelling. Feng Bao also planned to sing a piece of storytelling for His Majesty during the New Year next year, which was quite leisurely.

After Feng Bao returned to the palace, he soon had an audience with His Majesty. Hearing His Majesty's inquiry, he hesitantly said: "Actually, it was Ye Xianggao who did it."

"I discovered that he deliberately missed copying it for the first time, so I asked. He said that because of the Japanese pirates, his mother had to flee, and he was born in a dry toilet. Ling Vice Minister killed Japanese pirates, so he was his benefactor."

Feng Bao honestly confessed. He did not give Ye Xianggao this convenience. If this year-end comparison did not match, he would have been exposed.

Ye Xianggao's grudge with the Japanese pirates started before he was born. The killing sins committed by Ling Yunyi in Guangzhou Prefecture were mostly to punish the Ming powerful families for colluding with Japanese pirates. Since they colluded with Japanese pirates, they were not Ming people, so there was no need to record them.

"It's okay. It's not just him who did it; I also did it." Zhu Yijun waved his hand and did not choose to punish.

He had actually done it too. The Nagasaki Viceroy's Office reported the number of Japanese slaves every year, and every year it was artificially crossed out by the Emperor. Not recording equals not having. It was typical of not recognizing the account. Even if there was evidence, the Ming court did not need to recognize the account.

Zhu Yijun never believed in the wisdom of later generations, nor did he leave such sins to later generations. Asking how those nine million Japanese slaves became the current six hundred thousand or so, or even fewer in the future, all blame it on him, this Emperor. It was all killed by him, and others were just following orders.

"I thank His Majesty for his great grace." Feng Bao bowed again. He knew His Majesty very well and knew that His Majesty would not be furious. Ye Xianggao repaid the favor, and Feng Bao went with the flow. In fact, it was mainly because Feng Bao agreed; otherwise, Ye Xianggao could not have done it alone.

To put it uglier, isn't their group of eunuchs doing this kind of work? Some things that are not convenient for the Emperor to explain, they eunuchs must exert subjective initiative to do and bear the infamy.

Zhu Yijun knew this, and soon the Censorate officials also understood the whole picture of the matter. Feng Bao and Ye Xianggao were immediately on the list of impeachment. Feng Bao had already retired, and he could not be impeached, so they could only impeach Ye Xianggao.

But Ye Xianggao could not be impeached either. Ye Xianggao was the Prefect of Jilin. Saying he was a prefect, he was actually the Viceroy of Jilin. If Ye Xianggao was impeached, who would go to Jilin to do this work? Jilin Prefecture was a place of bitter cold.

"Admonition. The Censorate officials also have their own flexibility." Zhu Yijun looked at the memorials of the Censorate officials. Most of the Censorate officials only gave the punishment of two words: admonition.

The punishment of only admonition—how is it different from shouting at Ye Xianggao, "You are going to have a smooth career"?

"Still, fine them one month's salary. This copying of books can be copied wrong." Zhu Yijun gave a higher level of punishment: fine one month's salary. ===== CHAPTER 1080 =====