There is indeed a process for the Ming Dynasty to elect officials.

And this process... in a sense, is closely related to the cabinet and the Ministry of Personnel.

It is indeed very easy for a person like Li Guo to install a large number of followers.

The reason is very simple, because he is a Grand Secretary of the Cabinet.

He can be good at dancing, as long as he is willing to give up his old face, and not talk about anything else, the Ministry of Personnel is eager to sell him this little favor.

This is actually understandable. If a cabinet minister wants to do something that is a simple task, most people’s first thought is not to do it or not, but to think that Mr. Li looks at me like this?

In this way... these small things are natural.

This made Zhang Jingyi more and more alert.

At this moment, he stared at Li Guodao: "Is this money to buy an official?"

Li Guo said truthfully: "It's probably all."

Zhang Jingyi continued to ask: "How many people are involved in what?"

"I can't remember it." Li Guodao: "I send some notes every year. There are all people in the notes, but they are all small officials, some Jinshi, and many Juren... I won't care."

This is a thing of the past.

After all, how can small officials like prefectures, prefectures, counties, or county magistrates, and dignified great ministers pay attention to it?

The highest level is just a governor.

"Where is the military officer?"

"There are many military officers, too."

"All of them are thousands of households in the local area?"

"Yes, they are all the garrisons in Jiangnan."

Zhang Jingyi said: "How many people have been placed for seven million taels of silver?"

"I've forgotten..." Li Guodao: "At least hundreds, or even more, these are some trivial things, and they're really not worth mentioning."

Zhang Jingyi obviously had a different view and sneered: "A few small matters, these small guard commanders, thousands of households, prefects, and county magistrates are not worth mentioning in your eyes, but in the local area, they are local parents who control the civil affairs and military affairs of the region. Fortunately, you, an old dog, still respect your nobleness!"

Li Guo said, "If I don't recommend it, I will definitely recommend it to others."

Zhang Jingyi looked at him sarcastically and said, "That's different. Why do you have to defend yourself now? There is a man who gave you such a large sum of silver and has installed so many local officials, and these people... are still scattered in the provinces in the south of the Yangtze River. Do you not understand what their thoughts are?"

"One person buys an official, but what harms the people in the country are, but what do they do when these people are so rampant? Don't you know in your heart?"

Li Guo lowered his head and said nothing about this question.

Zhang Jingyi continued to ask: "Apart from that, what are the characteristics of those people?"

"No characteristics." Li Guodao: "It's just a scholar who is responsible for this matter, but this scholar is just a pseudonym. I just need to see money. Even..."

"Even what?"

"Even doing this is beneficial." Li Guo smiled bitterly: "If you do this, at least I don't know their background, but I feel at ease. This kind of thing... as long as you see real money and silver, why bother who they are?"

"It is precisely because of this that the Jinyiwei has checked so many days and has no clue!" Zhang Jingyi said bluntly: "So that's it! Now at the beginning, you will think about everyone you can remember, what the person you touches you, what accent, and all the officials you remember who are placed in Jiangnan. If you can't figure it out, you will suck your tendons and peel your skin."

As he said this, Zhang Jingyi's face was filled with a hint of anger and coldness.

Immediately, Zhang Jing hurried out of the interrogation room.

Outside the interrogation room, Deng Jian was waiting here.

When he saw Zhang Jingyi, he smiled and said, "Why should the governor be so angry? Just interrogating the criminals? It's not worth it to ruin his body for such anger."

Zhang Jing's expression was slightly relaxed: "This may not be necessary. I don't know if I don't have to be tried. Only after the first trial did I know... something big might happen in Jiangnan."

Zhang Jingyi had worries in his eyes.

Deng Jian then asked: "Why is this?"

"I can't explain it clearly for a moment. The harm of Li State is far beyond my imagination." Zhang Jingyi said a little solemnly: "I need to go to the palace to meet you later, yes, second brother..."

When Deng Jian heard Zhang Jing calling him second brother, he felt a little cold.

No, no, this is something that goes through life and death!

He gritted his teeth and said, "What's wrong, just say, don't beat around the bush."

Zhang Jingyi finally showed a smile on his face and said, "I care about your marriage, and Your Majesty is also very concerned, but... it is not convenient to make decisions for you, so I want to ask what you mean."

When Deng Jian heard this, he immediately cheered up: "This...is hard to say, I need to go and inquire first."

"It's so good." Zhang Jing smiled and said, "I will report it again in a few days. Now the situation is a bit urgent, so I'll say goodbye first."

After saying that, Zhang Jing walked out and hurried into the palace.

At this time, Emperor Tianqi and Wei Zhongxian practiced guns in the Western Garden.

The sound of guns from afar was loud, and the birds in the forest garden were frightened and flapped their wings.

When Zhang Jing came, Emperor Tianqi smiled: "This newly sent short gun is slightly better than before, but it is very limited, so it still needs to be polished and polished... I will write you some areas that need improvement later."

Zhang Jing nodded and said, "Thank you for your hard work."

"Thank you for the hard work is those skilled craftsmen." Emperor Tianqi said sincerely: "It is very rare to be able to change to this level."

Wei Zhongxian smiled and said, "If the craftsmen knew about this, they would be so grateful!"

Emperor Tianqi automatically filtered these words and then looked at Zhang Jingyi: "Zhang Qing, why don't you speak?"

Zhang Jingyi reported the results of the preliminary interrogation.

Wei Zhongxian was furious and said, "That Zhou Yingqiu...is really worthy of death, and he made peace with Li Guo."

This is what he said...it seems like Li Guo is not Wei Zhongxian's person.

This Zhou Yingqiu is indeed a hard-core Wei Party. If it weren't for Wei Zhongxian, he would not have been able to be the Heavenly Officer of the Ministry of Personnel.

Emperor Tianqi immediately said, "What do you mean...all prefectures and counties in the south of the Yangtze River... are all controlled by people who colluded with Li State?"

"That's right." Zhang Jingyi said: "It is precisely because of this that I feel terrible. I have controlled so many black hats, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. Who knows whether they have bribed others and controlled other positions."

"Your Majesty... In fact, it is not terrible for someone to form a party in the court. But if these people are in the local prefectures, they will shake the foundation of the country. What's more, those who have spent so much effort to buy them black hats... have any plans? Then the Donglin Party did not have much harm when it was controlling the court. This is because only with His Majesty's edict, they can be killed. But what about these hundreds or thousands of local civil and military officers? If they are in the hands of some people, is this world still from the Ming Dynasty?"

Why didn’t Emperor Tianqi know this?

Therefore, he also frowned and looked furious: "So who is the person behind it?"

"Then Li Guo didn't say that, maybe he knew, but he refused to say that. It might be... he really didn't know. He just said that someone would look for him regularly... In addition to giving him gold and silver, he would give him a roster, and he knew exactly who should do what position he should do."

Emperor Aoki took a breath and said, "Can you really fit whoever you want?"

"Li Guo claimed that he could do it." Zhang Jingyi said: "The current problem is how to deal with it?"

"Replace all the civil and military officials in Jiangnan?" Emperor Tianqi finished speaking and felt that this was unrealistic.

Zhang Jing said, "I think... what they want is the result of this law not chasing the public. If Your Majesty wants to take action, then... no one knows whether Jiangnan will be in chaos. But if Your Majesty doesn't take action... they can continue to be in the flies camp. What's scary is who is behind these people, what exactly does he want to do? Why can he easily take out so much money and not frown on his brows?"

Emperor Tianqi's face also became serious: "What you said is reasonable. If you don't find out clearly, I will be unable to sleep or eat. Jiangnan is the plump land of my Ming Dynasty, so you cannot lose it... In your opinion, what should I do?"

"Now the case of Li Guo has been revealed to the world. So those who are bribing bribes should also take action. As for Jiangnan, it is afraid that people will be panic. At this moment, they should investigate thoroughly and test their reactions."

"Test reaction?"

"Send an imperial envoy to thoroughly investigate Li Guo's case."

"Who can be the imperial envoy?"

Zhang Jing thought for a while and said, "What does Your Majesty think about Zhou Yingqiu, the Minister of Personnel?"

"He?" Emperor Aoki said disgustedly: "This person is not..."

"It is precisely because he is suspicious that Zhou Yingqiu tried his best to investigate in order to prove his innocence. Moreover, he has been in charge of the Ministry of Personnel for many years and has known all the officials in the world..."

Emperor Aoki walked back and forth with his hands behind his back.

Wei Zhongxian looked at Zhang Jingyi with gratitude.

In fact, Wei Zhongxian was also embarrassed when Li Guo was captured. He had said a lot of good things about Li Guo at the beginning. Although Li Guo was not a eunuch party, he was a fellow villager with Wei Zhongxian after all.

Now this case involves the Minister of Personnel, so the matter is even more terrifying. Doesn’t this mean that the eunuch party officials are also involved in this case?

This kind of thing is big or small. To say it is big or small, it is called collusion with traitors. In the past, it is just a crime of misunderstanding, which makes Li Guo take advantage of the loophole.

Zhang Jingyi asked Your Majesty to let Zhou Yingqiu go, which was essentially a meritorious service. On the other hand, he also used the power of Wei Zhongxian to try the depth of Jiangnan.

For Wei Zhongxian, this is an excellent opportunity to wash away whitewashing.

So Wei Zhongxian said: "I also think that Zhou Yingqiu is the most suitable for him to go. He has made a big mistake and should make meritorious contributions."

…………
Chapter completed!