According to the salary of officials of each dynasty, the Ming Dynasty was definitely the lowest. Since Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, until the current Chongzhen year, the salary of officials on the surface has not increased, only a few taels of silver that only needs to be fed to the family. But the lives of officials are not as good as ordinary people. They have to welcome and send off their families and hire some talented people for their own use, so this salary is too meager for them.

But because this salary was customized during the Taizu period, the descendants of later generations did not dare to change it without authorization. However, not making any public statements does not mean that these officials will be willing to suffer poverty. You should know that although many officials are thinking about experiencing their ambitions, they pay more attention to its actual interests. In this way, the secret gray income has become the foundation for the Ming officials to protect everything. Local officials can deduct the people through various means and can also make money from taxes, but officials in the capital cannot do this. The only way is to rely on their positions in their yamen to accept bribes.

The emperors and senior officials in power turned a blind eye to the behavior of the officials. They had to let them do things. Since the ancestral system could not be violated, they could only get some benefits in the dark. Except for founding kings like Zhu Yuanzhang, no emperor dared to make up his mind to truly eliminate the corruption among the court. After experiencing the eunuch party rebellion, the officials in the court were even more greedy. Many things that could be done as long as they said something could be done, but now they could not do it without giving satisfactory silver. Even Chongzhen was helpless in this regard. At least he would not really take action against these people until the power was completely in hand and the Jin people outside did not cause trouble, because these officials could not be missing in the world.

Because of this, all the officials in the capital were not clean, but because no one was holding on to this point, they were at peace. But this time, after Tang Feng found out the identity of those who were plotting against him behind his back, he decided to use this matter as a breakthrough. In some cases, when no one takes it seriously, it is not a problem, but when someone takes it seriously, it is a very useful weapon to attack others.

The Jinyiwei's ability is still so outstanding. In just five days, most of the people on the list had already been obtained by Tang Feng to have evidence of their embezzlement and bribery. But what surprised Tang Feng was that one of them showed no signs of accepting bribes. After seeing the reported situation, Tang Feng asked Lu An in disbelief: "Why, is this Lu Shaoshan really not corruption?"

Lu An smiled and said, "Sir, this is impossible. Let's not talk about his official position in the capital. The social engagements he needs are not supported by his little salary. It is his current position. It is probably no one dares to believe that he has never accepted bribes. The examination department of the Ministry of Personnel is the biggest fatal fellow among the six ministries. This year is the year of the Beijing Prefecture. How could he not take this opportunity to make a big profit?"

"Why are there no record of his bribes here?" Tang Feng pushed the records of those officials who had just read about the bribes they accepted to Lu An and asked. Lu An glanced at the figures recorded above, the number and time, and said with a smile: "Sir, just because these are the most superficial things, these people do not hide their money, so we can find out all of them in just a few days. But in fact, there are still many people who did not blatantly collect money. I think Lu Shaoshan is the person who is more hidden. But please rest assured that there are no secrets in this capital now that our Jinyiwei cannot find out. As long as we give us some time, the situation of this person accepting bribes will be checked clearly. And since he has done so secretly, he must have received a lot of things, and maybe there will be unexpected gains."

Tang Feng nodded with satisfaction: "I feel relieved. These people want to deal with me several times, and regard personal personal grudges as more serious than national affairs, I cannot let them stay in the officialdom of the capital. Since they have always claimed that they are honest officials, I will completely ruin them, so that these charitable scholars in the east will never make a comeback!"

Tang Feng is not the kind of person who can repay kindness and be noble of harmony. Although he has his own ideals and hopes to revitalize the Ming Dynasty, when someone dares to offend him and wants to be an enemy of him, he will inevitably use the most harsh means to fight back, no matter who these people represent. Seeing Li Miang flashing in his eyes as Tang Feng spoke, Lu An knew that these people were in trouble.

The Beijing inspectors examined officials in Beijing, and once every three years. This included the achievements made by Beijing officials in their respective positions in the past three years, as well as their personal ethics. However, if one fails to meet the standards, one will be demoted to the officials at the least, and the other will be dismissed. Therefore, every year, the Beijing officials will be walking on thin ice.

Of course, it does not mean that it must be based on what officials do and private morality to evaluate a person's achievements. After all, this is done by people, and of course there are personal likes and dislikes. Giving gifts to officials of the Ministry of Personnel who are qualified to evaluate themselves in the Beijing Chase year became an indispensable retention program. After the eunuch party controlled the government, the Beijing Chase and the external inspector became the most effective means for them to plunder money. In this way, by the early years of Chongzhen, this tradition was naturally preserved.

Many officials of the Ministry of Personnel received a lot of money from all officials in the capital in just a few months, and all of this fell into the eyes of the Jinyiwei. But what is puzzled was that Lu Shaoshan, the doctor in charge of the major affairs of Beijing Prefecture, did not find any signs of him due to corruption. Although there were many officials who came to his door every day, no one sent silver to the door. The officials who came to the door all came empty-handed and left empty-handed, which made the Jinyiwei who had observed his door a few days ago confused: "Is this person really a honest man?"

But this confusion did not last long. After the secret spies of the Jinyiwei were instructed to keep an eye on everyone entering and leaving the Lu Mansion, not only those Beijing officials, the truth was revealed by them.

After Lu Shaoshan sent another colleague in the capital who came to pay homage to him, he looked up at the sky and ordered: "Lu Fu, go to Hanmozhai and get the things for the master."

"Yes!" An old man who looked very honest agreed. This was the most loyal and reliable servant around Lu Shaoshan. He had been following him for twenty years. When Lu Shaoshan was still a scholar in the scientific research, the servant followed him. Therefore, he would not hide anything from this servant. Some things that could not be followed by him were also done by Lu Fu. For example, he went to Hanmozhai every three days.

In the eyes of those who are unaware of it, this is just that Lu Shaoshan likes some rare antiques and calligraphy and paintings, and sends his servants to see what is eye-catching, and then reports to his master to find out that he will come to appreciate it when he is free. In fact, it is a big mistake. This is a way for Lu Shaoshan to hide his eyes and accept bribes.

As early as when the Donglin Party was still in power, Lu Shaoshan, an official in Beijing, used this clever means to accept bribes in order to hide the eyes of the imperial envoy. Although it is much more relaxed than before, Lu Shaoshan has not abandoned the habit he has developed for many years. When others are straightforward, he still uses this method to collect money.

In fact, this method is not too secret. It is just because everyone is not too particular now, so it highlights its cleverness. Every time someone asks to come to Lord Lu, the first thing they think of is to give money, but at this time Lu Shaoshan will sternly refuse the other party’s gift. Just when the other party is confused and confused, Lu Shaoshan will intentionally or unintentionally mention some antiques and treasures, and will tell Hanmozhai, a calligraphy and painting shop not far from his mansion. As long as the person is not too stupid, he can understand Lord Lu’s “good intentions” and then go to Hanmozhai.

When they got there, the man would really see the antiques or calligraphy and paintings mentioned by Lord Lu in the store. Of course, these are all fakes, but at this time, these officials who asked Lord Lu would not be able to test the authenticity of these treasures. They would buy the fakes with the silver they bought.

Every three days, Lord Lu would ask his confidant Lu Fu to Hanmozhai to ask the boss there for the name of the person who had bought the fakes, so as to know who had given him gifts and could take care of him. After a while, Lu Shaoshan would come to Hanmozhai in person and take away the money in the name of buying calligraphy and paintings. Although he had to give Hanmozhai some commissions and benefits, it was much more insured than ordinary officials. He did not deliberately seek him, nor would anyone notice that he had accepted the bribe.

This year is the early years of Chongzhen and the year of Beijing Inspection. Of course, the officials in the capital did not dare to slack off. So in the past few days, there were many more officials who went to Hanmozhai than usual. After they had been there, they would come to Lu's mansion to meet this doctor in the Imperial College who was holding on to the future of others. Since they had already given gifts outside, when visiting, there were naturally no other items on these people that could be used for bribery. This was because the Jinyiwei stared at Lu's mansion a few days ago but had nothing to gain.

But how could this little trick really be hidden from the Jinyiwei? After expanding the scope of catching up, they noticed the special antique shop in Hanmozhai. Some Jinyiwei even pretended to be ordinary guests and went inside to see it. They concluded that the antiques, calligraphy and paintings and many other antiques, calligraphy and paintings were all fake, which even more certain is the trick.

Today, when Lu Fu walked out of the Lu family gate again and headed towards Hanmozhai, several Jinyiwei pretended to be pedestrians on the same road and followed. As soon as he arrived near Hanmozhai and was relatively quiet, several people suddenly stepped forward and attacked the old man.

Lu Fu was just an ordinary old family member, and he was not wary of anyone attacking him, so when several people came forward to knock him out, he couldn't even call for help. When he woke up again, he found that he was in a dark house, and there was no light except the light on the table in front of him.

"Are you awake? Do you know why we brought you?" A voice without any emotion sounded in the darkness not far away, causing Lu Fu's heart to tremble. Then he found that he was tied tightly to a chair, unable to move all over. He could only say, "A hero has tied the wrong person? I am just a servant, but I have no money."

"Your name is Lu Fu, who is the person you trust most in front of Lu Shaoshan, the doctor of the Ministry of Personnel's Examination and the Ministry of Personnel. We have already found out about your situation clearly and will not recognize the wrong person."

"Ah?" Lu Fu shouted in surprise: "Who are you? But do you want to be unfavorable to my master? I, Lu Fu, have been favored by the master for decades and will not do anything to be sorry for him."

"Okay, loyal enough!" The voice did not feel any anger because of Lu Fu's flat rejection, and still said without any emotion: "But in the hands of our Jinyiwei, no one dared to say what secrets they can keep!"

"Are you Jinyiwei? What do you... want to do?" Lu Fu was obviously a little panicked because of the Jinyiwei's name. I think so, there were countless people who had killed in the hands of Jinyiwei. Even a three-year-old boy was afraid of them, let alone an old man who had a certain understanding of the officialdom.

"Lu Shaoshan's incident was wrong. We want to take him. Of course, we need someone who is most familiar with him to testify."

"I... I won't betray my master to save my life. If you want to kill me, kill me!" Although I was amazed, Lu Fu still refused to submit when he thought of the master's kindness over the years.

"Kill you? No, we won't. We just want to ask you to help prove a corrupt official who violated the national law. By the way, I heard that your master is really good to you. He thinks that the enslaved descendants will always be inferior and are very unfavorable to your son. I asked him to go out a few years ago. Now he is a big businessman in Beijing. What is his name? By the way, he is called Lu Zheng, right? Is it worth it? It's worth it for him to die for him."

Lu Fu immediately heard the meaning of this person's words. He was threatening himself with his son, which made Lu Fu's expression change drastically. He only had such a son, so of course he didn't want him to have any disaster, but the person who was talking to him now was the Jinyiwei. Isn't it easy for them to harm someone?

Seeing that Lu Fu was quiet, the man knew that he was a little moved, so he said, "I'll give you half an hour to consider now. If you want to be loyal to your master, be prepared for a grandson." As he said that, he disappeared.

Being locked in a dark room like this, thinking of his son in his heart, Lu Fu couldn't hold on in less than two quarters of an hour. He finally shouted: "I am willing to say everything, just ask all the masters to spare my child's life and allow him to live his life safely!"

"Very good, then you can bring out all the mistakes you know about Lu Shaoshan's actions. Remember, our people have been staring at him for a long time, don't think about cheating us, otherwise..."

How could Lu Fu, who had completely collapsed, dared to deceive them? In his trembling voice, he told them one by one about what he knew about Lu Shaoshan's evil deeds over the years as an official, as well as the methods and time of accepting bribes.

Tang Feng soon saw this confession, and after reading it, he felt surprised. "It's really hard to know the person. I just thought that Lu Shaoshan was just a greedy person, but I didn't expect that he had done so many evil things. When he was an official outside, he actually killed a woman who was in love with him for his future. It really made people feel cold." Tang Feng sighed and said, "It can be seen that the so-called gentlemen in the court secretly were mostly sinister villains who were thieves and prostitutes. Compared to them, some of the things we Jinyiwei did were more open and upright!"

"Who said no? Sir, now that we have mastered the evidence of these people, what should we do next?" Lu An said after glanced at the evidence of those evidences in contempt.

"We won't have to take action next."

"Ah?" Lu Anwei was stunned, not understanding Tang Feng's meaning.

"Although these people are enemies of me, they are cleverly hiding, but they may not be able to escape the eyes of His Majesty. If the Jinyiwei people come forward to expose them at this time, what do you think of the emperor? He should be able to think that all this is my back. Although you may not blame you for this, it will not be a good thing for the Jinyiwei's future development."

"What are you going to do, sir? Wouldn't you attack these people?"

"Of course not. In fact, there are some people who are more suitable than the Jinyiwei who can help us deal with them, that is, the censors and envoys of the Censorate. Their duty is to fix the mistakes of those officials. As long as we do it cleverly, these people will naturally impeach the hypocrites!" Tang Feng smiled faintly.

One night two days later, when several slogans on duty in the Censorate came out to exercise their bodies, they found a large package appeared in the outer hall. When they opened it, they found that there were very detailed evidence, pointing to the various crimes committed by more than a dozen officials with certain identities in the court.

The censors who had been idle these days suddenly became interested. They looked through the evidence of the crime overnight and finally determined that what was written on it was the truth, otherwise it would not have been so detailed that they even wrote the time and place. Immediately, the censors made a decision, wrote down the chapters overnight, and sent it to the Tongzheng Department early tomorrow morning.

Since the elimination of the eunuch party before the New Year, the slightly calming Ming officialdom has once again caused some turmoil...
Chapter completed!