Fang Fengnian, who was recuperating at home, was arrested by Dongchang and was imprisoned. This matter is not bad. Many officials are paying attention to the follow-up of this matter.

Although Fang Fengnian or not, it doesn’t matter much to them. But at this moment, the timing is a bit special.

The eunuch Wang Zhixin, the chief eunuch, and the chief assistant Liu Yuliang, were all cut off their heads and hung them there to warn people later. It was vaguely felt that a storm was coming, and no matter what official it was, as long as it committed a crime and was arrested by the East Factory, it would be basically doomed.

As for such a situation, many officials also had to remember that during the Tianqi Dynasty, Wei Zhongxian, who was in charge of the East Factory, took advantage of the specialty of the East Factory, and I don’t know how many people they arrested and killed!

Therefore, the civil and military officials in the court were in danger. Some people were already thinking about holding Cao Huachun's thighs, while others began to connect and try to fight with Cao Huachun in Fang Fengnian. For a moment, the capital was also in an alternative storm.

However, what they could never imagine was that before they took action, the East Factory quickly released Fang Fengnian. In addition to searching for dirty silver, he was demoted to seven levels in a row, from the second rank to the fifth rank of Dezhou Prefecture, and went to the ruins that were captured by the Qing army to become an official.

In addition to being surprised, they also quickly found some details, such as the emperor personally visited the East Factory Prison, so Fang Fengnian received this punishment, rather than the crime of beheading as they imagined.

If there were no senior officials from the inner and outer courts who had killed the senior officials before, these officials would probably think that the other party's punishment was too heavy every year. After all, it was only more than 1,000 taels of dirty silver, but it was reduced to so many levels and was even punished to be a parent official in the ruins.

But at this moment, they all breathed a sigh of relief, believing that the emperor would be kind to the emperor if he punished this year!

The same thing has different expectations, and the results are so different. This is also one of the purposes for Emperor Chongzhen to treat it differently.

Many officials went to visit Fang Fengnian, after all, he came out of the East Factory Prison. In the eyes of civil officials, this also comes from honor.

In front of Fang Fengnian, they were filled with righteous indignation, denounced Dongchang and Cao Huachun. They originally thought that this would resonate with Fang Fengnian, but unexpectedly, Fang Fengnian's attitude was very cold, and they just said to them: "Why do you complain if you have been to be a sage? After being an official for a long time, you have forgotten your duty to be an official. You must take it as a lesson for the past, do your duty well, and don't let your favor down!"

In this world, how many people are willing to listen to such unpleasant words, but they feel that their hot faces are pressed against their cold butts, and they can't help but part in a bad mood!

As a result, Liu Yuliang, the assistant minister of the cabinet, was killed and Fang Fengnian was demoted. Only Xue Guoguan and Yang Sichang were left in the cabinet. With such a huge territory in the Ming Empire, I don’t know how many memorials there are every day, and there are only two assistant ministers, which is really a bit short.

Of course, in the history of the Ming Dynasty, the two auxiliary ministers were not the least. At the end of the Wanli period, there was only one auxiliary minister, Ye Xianggao, which lasted for seven years and was known as the "only prime minister".

At this time, Emperor Chongzhen knew that the news of the fall of Jinan would soon come to the capital, and the focus of the court would definitely be this matter. Therefore, before the news arrived at the capital, he wanted to add some auxiliary ministers to deal with the government affairs.

But what he didn't expect was that after the order was issued, the Minister of Personnel finally said with a bitter face that there was no candidate for the court to recommend it.

For a moment, Emperor Chongzhen thought that it was the ministers who were worried about being killed after entering the cabinet. After all, the chief minister was cut off and his head was hung on Zhengyang Gate. However, after coming to his senses, he felt that this was not the reason. After all, Fang Fengnian, he let him go.

Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen was surprised and asked Tian Weijia, the Minister of Personnel, and said, "Why don't you even have a list now? This has been several days since the day has been calculated?"

Tian Weijia's expression was a little awkward, and he replied helplessly: "The basic conditions of the auxiliary ministers mentioned by Your Majesty may be slightly vague. All officials are afraid that they will not meet the conditions and dare not report them, so they cannot give the court list!"

In fact, there are still people who want to be officials. But the Minister of Personnel and the Chief Seal Officer of the Department of Personnel are afraid. If the Dongchang found out that it did not meet the conditions and was listed on the court list, they would be jointly and severally responsible.

If it were in the past, as long as you discuss it with the factory manager Cao Huachun, you might be able to make a lot of extra money with it. But now, Cao Huachun has changed his character and the Dongchang is extremely active. Several major cases have been found by the Dongchang. Fang Fengnian, who had the best ending, was demoted to seven levels in a row. With such a severe situation, they cannot afford possible consequences.

Emperor Chongzhen was a little speechless when he heard his answer. Because he remembered clearly that the basic conditions for officials from the court were: to be honest, to have local government experience, and to have good political achievements or above.

Logically speaking, this condition should be the most basic condition, and the requirements are clear at a glance, so it will not be vague, right?

Thinking of this, Emperor Chongzhen frowned and asked, "Tian Qing explains it clearly, what is the vague thing?"

"This..." Tian Weijia was a little hesitant, but then came to his senses. The hesitant answer was a rude emperor, and he quickly added, "I wonder how specific the integrity that His Majesty demands is?"

As soon as he said this, he recalled what Wang Chengen had confessed before, and Emperor Chongzhen immediately understood.

It seems that the Ming Dynasty was basically full of officials! This is true!

Thinking of this, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but shake his head. From another perspective, it was also a blessing to rectify the factory guards. This was the only way for all officials to be afraid and dare not do whatever they wanted. If they did not rectify, they would be like the original Emperor Chongzhen, who was colluded with the factory guards and deceived by foreign officials. It is estimated that only when they were hanged, they would wake up and make a desperate accusation of "the ministers misled me."

The government is so corrupt that the law does not blame the masses, so we can only consider imitating the practice of Hong Kong's crackdown on the black police in later generations. But it is not now, but waiting for the post-war period.

Thinking of this, Emperor Chongzhen lost his interest in continuing to talk and waved his hand to let Tian Weijia retreat.

The matter of laying off personnel in the palace is still continuing. After all, this is a big deal and cannot be solved in one go. Emperor Chongzhen has also been worried about the banking and land affairs these days.

He found that in this era, the prototype of banks had already existed, but not only money houses, bill numbers, but also pawn shops, and the interest rates were very high. According to later algorithms, they were all loan sharks. Once banks at the national level were established, the profits would be absolutely considerable, but they would have conflicts of interests with existing practitioners.

But don’t worry about these things. Before the news in Jinan comes, at least you should hang a sign first to avoid being affected by the subsequent events.

Thinking of this, Emperor Chongzhen chose a confiscated shop and hung up a sign: Royal Bank of Ming Dynasty!

Well, Royal Bank of Ming Dynasty opened quietly, but in fact there was nothing inside, it was just a signboard.

However, this name is too big, "The Royal Family of Ming Dynasty". I knew it was in the palace as soon as I heard it. Some people naturally paid attention to it. However, before they could figure out what was going on, Lu Xiangsheng's urgent delivery arrived at the capital.
Chapter completed!