"Brother Huang, this problem is too serious."

"We found a nest of moths."

Gu Yanwu couldn't help but sigh as he looked through the account books and lists: "Without exception, all the three states and seven counties under Yangzhou Prefecture have been bribed and corrupted by Zuixiang Tower. The owner of Zuixiang Tower has not yet been found out.

, his ability is all-powerful."

Huang Zongxi said while writing a note for the cabinet: "The owner of Zuixiang Tower cannot escape."

"The Zuixiang House is in Yangzhou. Huai'an and Huai'an have official protection. Even Fengyang has their brothel and boathouse. Can he hide for a while or for a lifetime?"

In fact, this story is no longer as simple as a local bad gentry teaming up with a brothel to kidnap women and bribe officials.

It is difficult to prohibit bribery of officials. Nowadays, when the New Deal is fully implemented in the north, it is inevitable that there will be cases of corruption by gentry and merchants, and by subordinate officials, let alone the south?

The South has a developed economy and a land rich in finance, taxation and food, so naturally this phenomenon is more common.

Originally, when the core of the imperial court was in southern Zhili, it was difficult to avoid corruption. With Chengzu moving the capital to Yanjing, the move of the core of the capital to the north meant that the imperial court's control over the south would be weak.

After all, the sky is high and the emperor is far away. As a county magistrate, the county magistrate is in control of the people's livelihood in the county. He is like an emperor in this county, not to mention the higher magistrate of a prefecture?

Sitting at the head of a county and a government, with control over life, death, and control, and having power, people will naturally come to flatter and flatter you, and corruption is inevitable. Even if there are those who are firm and confident and will not be moved by wealth and lust,

There will be people who will try to figure out your preferences and try to drag you down.

For example, if you like books and paintings, I will give you relics of famous people, such as authentic works of so-and-so from the Tang Dynasty, autographs of so-and-so from the Song Dynasty, etc.; if you like reading, I will give you a bunch of books you like to read; if you like eating, I will give you a cook.

, if you like any gadgets, I will get you something made by skilled craftsmen...

And they don’t have high requirements, they just want to make friends and it’s convenient. After you collect something, you don’t help once, and you don’t help twice, but they continue to give it away. How can you turn a blind eye to it the third time?

Therefore, corruption is always prohibited. The closer you are to the core of the imperial court, the clearer the official administration will be. The further away from the core of the imperial court, it is normal for problems to arise in the official administration.

Therefore, when the court knew about corruption, it mostly focused on punishment, with small punishments and large punishments. After all, the court still needs these people at the moment.

The robbery of women is more serious. After all, the imperial court has just issued a new policy order requiring all localities to encourage women to work, not to violate women's wishes, respect women, etc. This kind of thing happened in Yangzhou immediately. To put it lightly, it's you.

The Yangzhou government did not act in accordance with the spirit of the superiors' instructions. If it's serious, you are openly slapping the imperial court and Mr. Zhang in the face.

But whether it's corruption or ignorance of the court's new policies, they pale into insignificance compared to what's hidden in Zuixianglou.

What on earth did Zuixianglou do?

Zuixianglou has won over most of the officials in Yangzhou Prefecture, Huai'an Prefecture, and Fengyang Prefecture through wealth and wealth, and has managed its business in these three prefectures so airtight that the wind cannot blow away the rain and the rain cannot get in. Zuixianglou has

In the land of Sanfu, it is as stable as Mount Tai. Even Zuixianglou's words are more effective than those of the government. Zuixianglou can control the government.

So are the officials in these three palaces officials from the imperial court or officials from Zuixianglou?

There is even someone behind Zuixianglou. What does this mean?

This is a place of organized and premeditated control, so what exactly is that person going to do?

What is his plot to control the place during the heyday of the Spring and Autumn Period and the prosperous Ming Dynasty?

This matter cannot be thought about in detail, nor can it bear to be thought about in detail.

After Huang Zongxi wrote the fold, covered it with fire paint, blew on it to dry the fire paint, and then handed it to the Jin Yiwei beside him: "Send it to the capital quickly."

After Jin Yiwei left, Huang Zongxi packed up the files and account books and said, "Brother Gu, Governor Wang is in trouble this time."

"Such things happened under his rule, and he must bear the blame."

Gu Yanwu said: "Last time, a student stormed the county government office and brought the guilty officer to the capital to file a complaint. He had already made a mistake. Last time, he was punished with a small punishment and a big punishment. This time, he can't be saved."

Huang Zongxi didn't say much. The last time a student went to Beijing to file an imperial edict, the imperial edict triggered by the imperial edict re-energized the country, opening up the second time since the early Ming Dynasty that the people could supervise the officials. This forced the officials to be incorruptible, so that the officials all over the world had to stay incorruptible to avoid being criticized by the people.

picket.

Although there is no guarantee that all officials in the world will be afraid of this power, at least it has formed a sharp knife hanging over the officials' heads, so that when these officials take bribes, bend the law or do evil, they can't help but think about what if the common people

After filing a complaint, what will be their fate?

The imperial edict cannot bring great order to the world, but it can ensure that officials in most areas will maintain a relatively clean and efficient operation, so that the court will not have any major problems.

It can be said that the students who went to Beijing to complain were a tacit cooperation between Wang Wenyan and the court, but those people who were arrested were a typical example.

As for what happened in Yangzhou this time, it was really not caused by the imperial court asking Wang Wenyan to do it. Even Wang Wenyan himself did not know that the situation in Yangzhou was so serious. After all, the development of Yangzhou was still okay. Without in-depth investigation, it would be difficult to find out what was hidden.

The problem.

Now that the lid of Yangzhou has been lifted by Huang Zongxi and Gu Yanwu, Wang Wenyan, as the governor of Jiangnan, must take responsibility. Next, it depends on whether Yuan Fu is willing to protect him.

Soon, the capital also sent the latest order from the cabinet.

"Brother Huang, what did Yuan Fu say?" Gu Yanwu asked.

"Yuan Fu still wants to protect Governor Wang, brother Gu, look." Huang Zongxi handed the cabinet documents to Gu Yanwu.

Gu Yanwu muttered softly: "You two will make full decisions on matters in Yangzhou and handle them on your own; Huai'an and Fengyang will be handed over to the Jiangnan Governor's Mansion."

Huang Zongxi looked at Gu Yanwu who was still thinking and patted his arm: "Brother Gu, get ready. Tomorrow will be my first interrogation."

This is indeed the first time for Huang Zongxi and Gu Yanwu to review the case. They were just cabinet counselors before, and all they did was sort out memorials, serve tea, make some personal suggestions to the cabinet ministers and act as secretaries. Now they are really

When it came time to judge and judge in person, it was really the first time.

One night, Huang Zongxi and Gu Yanwu were sorting out files and discussing how to deal with this incident.

The verdict of Yangzhou Magistrate Wu Renxing and others was fine. However, many of the women rescued from Zuixiang Towers in various places in Yangzhou Prefecture were sold to Zuixiang Towers by their husbands or natal families for money and goods.

So how should the husband's and natal families of these women be judged?

At this point, Huang Zongxi insisted on dealing with it in accordance with the laws of the Ming Dynasty: "Brother Gu, the law is greater than the law. The imperial court has repeatedly issued orders not to sell people. Now these people are selling their daughters and wives to brothels and houseboats. Is it true that these people are not justified by reason?"

Shouldn’t it be severely punished?”

Gu Yanwu said: "Brother Huang, there is more to humanity than legal principles. Although these people sold their daughters and made wives, they are indeed despicable, but in their judgment, we must also take into account the thoughts of those poor people, right?"

"If you and I decide to impose sentences on those poor people's family records today, it will be easy. We will punish them if they deserve it and beat them if they deserve it. But what happens next?"

"Should they still go home? How will they be treated when they return home? And how will their neighbors treat them? Will they think that they are unfilial and disregard the upbringing of their parents?"

"What's more, are they willing to let us punish their parents and relatives?"

Huang Zongxi sighed: "Brother Gu, I have also considered what you said, but if we start from human feelings in everything, then where is the king's law?"

"Now that the imperial court is implementing the new policy, it is necessary to impose severe punishments and laws to promote the new policy and let the people of the world know that the new policy cannot be violated. If the husband's family of these people has violated the law, the court must sentence them according to the law, and they must be sentenced to serious crimes in order to shock the world.

The people of the world will not dare to sell their daughters or make wives easily; then the world will be stable."

"Otherwise, if we only talk about reason and these people excuse their parents, then where is the majesty of the court and the majesty of the king's law?"

"If this method only requires humane relations to absolve people from sin, wouldn't the world be in chaos?"

Gu Yanwu looked at Huang Zongxi's insistent look and sighed: "Brother Huang, if we decide like this, public opinion will scold you and me to pieces."

Huang Zongxi smiled and said: "Huang tried this case completely in accordance with the law. He never had any selfish motives. He was all doing it for the country and the people. If the people want to criticize him, let them go."

"Brother Gu, if you are worried, you might as well let me judge this case alone."

Gu Yanwu also laughed: "You will take all the credit together, and you will bear the infamy. How can there be such a truth in this world? If you, Brother Huang, are not afraid, why should I, the Gu Ning people, be afraid?"

The next day, in the Yangzhou government office, Huang Zongxi said to the government officials: "Post the notice. In two days, I will publicly hear this case."

The government officials posted notices one after another, and the people in Yangzhou City also knew that the censor from the imperial court was going to judge the corrupt officials in Yangzhou, including the merchants who had been bullied by these corrupt officials and asked for bribes, and the women who had been rescued from various hells.

No matter what, people from Yangzhou City came to watch.

This trial was a public trial. If the trial was held in a government office, it would naturally not be able to meet the needs of a public trial. Therefore, the government officials specially set up a public trial platform at Caishikou in Yangzhou Prefecture. Both the trial and judgment and the punishment were all in public.

, supervised by the people of Yangzhou Prefecture.

On the day of the public trial, early in the morning, common people and merchants surrounded the place where the public trial was held. As the time came, Huang Zongxi and Gu Yanwu boarded the public trial platform. Huang Zongxi held the Shangfang Sword and hung it behind him. In this public trial,

There is also a plaque hanging high above the stage, which means that this trial was handled completely and impartially.

"Sir, it's time." The officer on the side said.

Huang Zongxi nodded, picked up the gavel and slapped it: "Bring someone to commit the crime!"

Soon, Yangzhou magistrate Wu Renxing and other prisoners were brought up.

Seeing these officials who used to be aloof and complicit become prisoners, the common people and businessmen couldn't help but widen their eyes and prick up their ears, for fear of missing something.

Huang Zongxi looked at Wu Renxing who was kneeling in front of him and said loudly: "Wu Renxing, the prefect of Yangzhou!"

Wu Renxing shuddered: "The guilty officer is here, the guilty officer is here."

Gu Yanwu picked up the verdict and said loudly: "Wu Renxing, a native of Changning, Hunan, passed the imperial examination in the 40th year of Wanli. The next year, he was admitted to the Hanlin Academy as a Hanlin bachelor. He later served in a local position and accumulated merit to be the prefect of Yangzhou."

"During his tenure as the governor of Yangzhou, he took bribes, violated the law, wasted on the court's grace, and regarded the new government laws as if they were nothing, causing harm to the local area, resulting in the decline of business and the hardship of people's livelihood..."

"Not only does he not want to repent, he still tries to deceive the court, collude with the evil gentry, accept beautiful money, and allow banditry to flourish..."

"Several crimes will be punished simultaneously. According to the new law, he will be executed immediately, his family property will be confiscated, and he will not be allowed to serve as an official for three generations!"

Wu Renxing was beheaded immediately after hearing this, and his whole body immediately collapsed, like a puddle of mud, as if he had been frightened.

Huang Zongxi took out a lottery ticket and cast it: "Behead!"

The two government officials immediately took the once-high-ranking magistrate to behead him.

The people around him heard the trial and shouted: "Behead! Behead! Behead!"
To be continued...