I make a popular science video and all the emperors learn from it!

【Start popularizing science about Hongwu, the third of the four major cases】

【Guo Huan case!】

【Cause of incident:】

【In the early Ming Dynasty, after the uprising war at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, people's livelihood was in decline and everything was in need of improvement.】

【The main problem Zhu Yuanzhang faced was how to quickly restore the economy, how to enhance the country's economic and military strength, and achieve a truly prosperous country and a strong people.】

【For this reason, Zhu Yuanzhang issued an edict to all the officials:"The world has been settled for the first time, and the people are all financially strapped. For example, a bird that has just taken flight must not pluck its feathers, and a newly planted tree must not shake its roots."】

【After more than ten years of recuperation, the national economy has improved, and the people have basically solved their food and clothing problems.】

【However, other problems followed, which troubled Zhu Yuanzhang.】

【First, the meritorious nobles are increasingly disrupting the normal social and economic order of the country.】

【After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang rewarded hundreds of officials based on their merits. The fiefdoms of meritorious nobles were spread all over the world, especially in the rich areas of the country. 】

23【However, many meritorious nobles have violated laws and regulations., bullying the neighbors, so much so that Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the Ministry of Industry to cast an iron plaque to admonish the princes, listing the illegal and criminal behaviors of these meritorious nobles who usurped the mountains, lakes, tea gardens, relatives and slaves who took advantage of their power to bully the people, misappropriate other people's property, and how to deal with it Regulation】

【Second, the local landlords and gentry have become more powerful and gradually colluded with meritorious nobles and officials at all levels.】

【Take the prosperous Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces as an example. In order to avoid paying taxes, local large landowners registered most of their land in the names of meritorious nobles.】

【At the same time, local gentry colluded with officials at all levels】

【Some defrauded the state of disaster relief food funds by forging books and falsely reporting famines, some concealed land properties to evade taxes, and some passed taxes that should have been borne by landlords onto the people. In short, there were many tricks, forming a network of Interest groups composed of meritorious nobles, court and local officials at all levels, and local gentry】

【Since ancient times,"the world's tax revenue is half of the Jiangnan area""】

【Most of the tax revenue in all dynasties came from the Jiangnan area. Therefore, Emperor Sui Yang built the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal not only to facilitate travel to the south of the Yangtze River, but mainly to facilitate the transportation of tax revenue from the Jiangnan area back to the north.】

【Now that the interest groups of meritorious officials, officials and wealthy gentry have been formed, most of the country's tax revenue has been pocketed by these people, creating a big hole in the finances of the Ming Dynasty government.】

【......】

【In the eighteenth year of Hongwu, a corruption case that shocked the whole country broke out in the Ming Dynasty.】

【Yu Min, the censor, and others suddenly reported to Zhu Yuanzhang that Guo Huan, the Minister of Household Affairs, colluded with Li Yu from the Chengxuan Envoy Department in Beiping, and Zhao Dequan from the Punishment and Prosecution Department to engage in malpractice for personal gain.】

【Zhu Yuanzhang was born in a poor family and experienced the corrupt rule in the late Yuan Dynasty. His parents starved to death because of this.】

【Therefore, he hates these corrupt officials very much】

【After receiving the report, he immediately ordered Dali Temple to conduct a strict investigation to get to the bottom of my case.】

【Unexpectedly, Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned by the subsequent investigation results, and then became furious!】

【Because the largest corruption case in the history of the Ming Dynasty was discovered, the number of corruption was shocking, unprecedented, and rare!】

【Guo Huan was appointed as the Minister of Household Affairs at that time.】

【The Ministry of Household Affairs is an important department of the imperial court, responsible for tax allocation, household registration, etc.】

【The head of the household department is called Shangshu, which is equivalent to the minister. His deputy is the minister, which is equivalent to the deputy minister. Guo Huan is the deputy minister of the household department and has great power.】

【After the corruption case was exposed, Guo Huan and others were arrested】

【The interrogation process was very simple. Guo Huan and others were not tough guys. They were all arrested when they were arrested.】

【The investigation report stated that Guo Huan took advantage of his position, colluded with Li Yu, Zhao Dequan and others to deceive superiors and conceal their subordinates, and colluded with each other to embezzle national food and wages.】

【Specific crimes include:】

【1. Embezzling taxes from Taiping Zhenjiang and other places】

【According to regulations, the taxes from these places should go into the national treasury, but the national treasury did not receive it. All these taxes were pocketed and divided by Guo Huan and others.】

【2. Embezzling the grain handed over by Zhejiang】

【Zhejiang is a major grain-producing province. It has to hand over more than 4 million shi of grain to the country every year. Considering that this is a tax in kind, withholding all of it would arouse suspicion, so Guo Huanzhi swallowed half of it and handed over the other half.】

【3. Clever naming】

【In the name of the country and Zhu Yuanzhang, various exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes were set up, such as water, foot, food, and so on. Of course, these money would not be handed over to Zhu Yuanzhang, but would all go into the pockets of Guo Huan and others.】

【Taken together, Guo Huan and others embezzled nearly 24 million shi of grain.】

【Equivalent to half of the Ming Dynasty's annual fiscal revenue!】

【And the facts prove that Guo Huan did this not just in the past two years, but has been going on for several years.】

【But Zhu Yuanzhang didn't notice at all】

【Zhu Yuanzhang was angry. This Guo Huan really didn't take him seriously and dared to be so corrupt. Isn't this equivalent to blatantly moving money directly from the treasury?】

【Moreover, Zhu Yuanzhang believed that such a big corruption case could never be carried out by Guo Huan and others.】

【These few people are definitely not that bold to embezzle so much money and food. If no one else is involved, let alone saying so much, even if they embezzle a grain of food, they will be reported immediately.】

【He ordered Jin Yiwei to investigate and ordered an official named Wu Yong to investigate me.】

【Look at this corruption case. Who else is behind it?】

【Wu Yong really named him, this person is really not mediocre.】

【After his efforts and the help of Jin Yiwei, as Zhu Yuanzhang expected, this corruption was really not limited to Guo Huan and the other three!】

【I really don’t know how Guo Huan did it?】

【He turned almost all the officials in the Ming Dynasty officialdom into his accomplices, and almost all the officials in the officialdom were implicated!】

【This made Zhu Yuanzhang very angry】

【Good guy, if Guo Huancheng continues like this, he will step aside!】

【These officials really ignored their favor and dared to treat themselves like this!】

【So he decided to carry out a major purge of officials while eradicating corruption!】

【Zhu Yuanzhang strikes again】

【...】