At dawn, Li Yuanzheng, the censor of Youqiandu, was awakened by his subordinates.
After listening to his subordinate's report, he couldn't control his emotions.
"Damn it, the cell can catch fire, and the prisoner was burned to death."
When Li Yuanzheng heard the news, he was so angry that he kicked over his chair.
He recalled his experiences during this period and finally grasped important clues, but now they have broken them.
A month ago, he had dinner at Yuelai Restaurant.
I heard two businessmen from Huguang,
It was said that there was a heavy rain in Xixiang County and the water level of Han River surged.
The flood was so severe that it directly destroyed the embankment of Han River, and they almost lost their boat and died.
They saw that floods had destroyed a lot of farmland.
When others heard the news, they didn't feel anything, they just lamented that the water was too big.
Heavy rain washed away the river embankments. In this era, that is a very normal thing.
But Li Yuanzheng was different. He was the censor of Youqiandu, and his professional sensitivity allowed him to analyze more important news.
Hanshui embankment reinforcement.
This is the first place that the Ministry of Industry and Engineering ensures when constructing water conservancy projects.
Both the Han River reservoir and embankments need to be constructed with concrete.
The characteristics of concrete are that it can be poured directly on the river embankment and can solidify in the water.
There is no need to carry huge stones, so it is very convenient to transport.
The river embankment built of concrete is solid and durable.
It will definitely not be washed away by a heavy rain, there must be something fishy about it.
When Li Yuanzheng got the news, he took several supervisory censors and seconded patrol inspectors to Xixiang County to check the situation.
When they came to Xixiang County, they found that the Hanshui Reservoir and river embankments in Xixiang County were completely shoddy projects.
Use a little bit of cement and apply a thin layer on the embankment. It looks like a cement embankment.
If someone steps up and steps hard, the concrete embankment can be broken into pieces.
However, according to the Ministry of Industry's information, the Hanshui Reservoir and embankments along the river have been built here.
The construction standards are of the highest standard, and it only costs 20,000 taels of silver coins to hire people.
Li Yuanhaozheng also discovered that there was no one here to help the people whose farmland had been washed away.
He immediately brought Xixiang County Magistrate Yu Zhengming under control.
At the same time, in accordance with the procedures, emergency authorities were used to directly open warehouses in Xixiang County to release grain and rescue the people affected by the disaster.
Li Yuanzheng immediately rushed back to Hanzhong City and reported the matter to Commander Su.
He received strong support from Commander Su and made every effort to investigate this corruption case.
Li Yuanzheng conducted a surprise interrogation of Yu Zhengming, but did not yield any valuable clues.
Yu Zhengming just confessed that he did this entirely alone and had no accomplices.
Because Li Yuanzheng was so confident, his accomplices must have been very powerful.
Just because Zhengming, the magistrate of Xixiang County, without the cooperation of the Ministry of Works management, there is no way he could embezzle funds for water conservancy projects.
Li Yuanzheng continued to investigate along Yu Zhengming's line, and at the same time sent supervisory censors to all villages to find out the status of water conservancy projects.
He received a summary of the situation, and the level of corruption was shocking.
In Xixiang County and Xing'an Prefecture, water conservancy projects are basically shoddy projects.
The commander-in-chief invested 100,000 taels of silver coins in Xing'an Prefecture to build water conservancy projects.
Transport ships often travel along the Han River, so they built rubbish projects.
Remote places, especially canals in rural areas.
In these places, not even a one-meter cement ditch has been built.
Ninety-nine percent of the funds are directly corrupted by officials.
Li Yuanzheng did not pry open Yu Zhengming's mouth, but he also made a major breakthrough through his investigation of Zhengming.
Yu Zhengming became the magistrate of Xixiang County on the recommendation of Deng Haoman, the prefect of Xing'an Prefecture.
At that time, there was no recruiting office, nor was there a complete assessment system for the promotion of officials.
Many officials rely on recommendations from superior officials.
Li Yuanzheng has identified the problem as the Ministry of Industry.
Directly investigate from the economic aspect through the method he is good at.
Corrupt officials embezzle huge amounts of money, but few people dig holes and bury them.
They will definitely spend the silver coins. Which official incurs huge expenses that are not consistent with his income.
This official's suspicion will be very high.
Li Yuanzheng discovered that Xu Le'an, a fifth-rank official in the Water Conservancy Department, suddenly spent money lavishly during this period.
He was originally a small official in Hanzhong City, and his family was not very wealthy.
Xu Le'an recently purchased a luxury house in Hanzhong City, and even bought three buildings in a row.
The price of wine was so expensive that he kept entertaining friends at home and drank wine at every meal.
Li Yuanzheng felt that Xu Le'an was very suspicious. After asking Commander Su for instructions, he led a team to arrest Xu Le'an and bring him to justice.
Xu Lean was imprisoned in the prison of the Ministry of Punishment. His rank was somewhat high, and he was preparing for a joint trial by the three judicial departments.
Unexpectedly, a huge fire burned Xu Lean to death.
His investigation, which lasted more than a month, once again hit a bottleneck.
Li Yuanzheng looked panic-stricken on his face and was covered in sweat, and came to inform his subordinates.
"Don't worry, I'll ask Commander Su for instructions. These people can't change the world.
I have obtained decisive evidence. We can solve this case without Xu Le'an.
You, the Criminal Department, and Dali Temple will protect the scene together, and I will come back as soon as possible."
…
There was a knock on the door.
Su He walked out of the room and saw Jiang Zhiyu, the secretary on duty.
He is in his thirties, 1.5 meters tall and weighs more than 200 kilograms.
He has a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks, but he is very capable.
He is a member of the White Lotus Sect in Shandong. After the uprising failed, he fled to Hanzhong.
"Jiang Zhiyu, what happened?"
"Commander Su and Li Yuanzheng, censor of the right capital, captured Xu Le'an, a fifth-grade prisoner, and he was burned to death in the prison of the Ministry of Punishment.
Li Yuanzheng, the censor of Youqiandu, is waiting outside Lingyun Hall."
When Su He heard the news, the smile on his face disappeared.
His uprising has only been around for a long time, less than a year.
Not long after the city settled down, such a big and bad case happened in Hanzhong City.
In Li Yuanzheng's last report, he broke up the relationship between the company and the Ministry of Industry to attract the attention of the Ministry of Industry.
Unexpectedly, Li Yuanzheng made breakthrough progress in such a short period of time.
The murderers are also very powerful, and they have even infiltrated the Criminal Department.
Some people thought that he, Su He, was weak with the knife in his hand and could not go on a killing spree.
Su He and Li Yuanzheng rushed to the prison of the Ministry of Punishment.
"Li Yushi, how is the status of your investigation?
Is this the only clue?"
Li Yuanzheng reported in a clear and coherent manner: "There is more than just this clue.
It has been previously determined that Deng Haoman, the prefect of Xing'an Prefecture, and Du Lin, the inspector general of Xing'an Prefecture, are both serious suspects.
They are the local chiefs and most of the water conservancy projects are built by hiring local people through work-for-relief methods.
I visited a large number of township heads, and they all issued official documents reflecting the shortcomings of local relief-for-work projects.
Xu Youlin, the magistrate of Hanyin County, and Yang Zhengfeng, the magistrate of Baihe County.
They all reported the poor quality of the Hanshui embankment to the Governor's office through official documents, and they also sent official documents to the Ministry of Industry.
Ask the local villages why no water conservancy projects have been built.
I checked the official documents of the Commander's Office, and found that the Commander's Office did not receive these official documents at all.
Official documents are reported step by step.
There must be a problem with the Xing'an Prefecture magistrate's office.
In addition to the official document system, the township chief can also report this matter through the local inspection system.
Inspection inspections are the yamen that have the most contact with villagers, so they will definitely understand the local situation.
We in Hanzhong City don’t know anything about this matter, and there must be a big problem with the inspection system.
County-level inspections do not have the power to control everything, at least at the prefectural level.
In addition to Xu Letian, I also found that Lu Wenjie, director of the Water Conservancy Department of the Ministry of Industry, has some problems.
Whether the project is accepted by the Water Resources Department of the Ministry of Industry as qualified or not must be stamped by Lu Wenjie.
Many parts of Xing'an Prefecture's water conservancy projects are not even shoddy projects, and there is no change at all.
Lu Wenjie was always very honest as an official and had a great reputation in the officialdom.
He has basically no financial dealings with other officials.
But his nephew often gets married, and every time he gets married, he makes a fuss.
Many officials from the Ministry of Industry did not go with the gift, but there were some officials from the Water Resources Department who always paid large amounts of money as gifts.
I think Lu Wenjie accepted bribes in this way.
I also discovered that Su Wuniu, the Minister of Industry, had some irregularities in his income and expenditure.
I would like to ask Commander Su, have you given Shilang Su any large rewards during this period?"
Su He heard Li Yuanzheng say that there was a big problem in Xing'an Prefecture, which was completely expected by him.
Corruption of water conservancy project funds, if such a case occurs, it must be a false case.
Only when a group of corrupt officials form an interest group and officials protect each other can such a result be achieved.
He thought of Deng Haoman, the magistrate of Xing'an Prefecture, who had taken refuge with him since the uprising in Baoji County.
He was previously the magistrate of Lueyang County and his political achievements were extremely outstanding.
After the army captured Xing'an Prefecture, he was appointed governor of Xing'an Prefecture.
Su He valued him more and planned to focus on training him.
Now that I think about it, his political achievements are extremely unusual.
For a place as poor as Lueyang to achieve outstanding political achievements, there must be powerful help behind it.
Lu Wenjie was an old official of the Ming Dynasty and a minor official in charge of water conservancy in Hanzhong Prefecture.
He used to be an honest official in the Ming Dynasty, but now it seems that he had no chance of corruption at that time.
Lu Wenjie is proficient in water conservancy work and his plans are flawless.
Only then did Su He put him in charge of the Water Conservancy Department.
What surprised Su He most was that Uncle Wuniu was also involved in this corruption case.
Zhuge Liang had no choice but to kill Ma Su with tears in his eyes.
After losing the street pavilion, Ma Su had to kill it.
Only with clear rewards and punishments can everyone be motivated and work hard towards a big goal.
If corrupt officials are not dealt with, all bureaucrats will follow their example.
It is difficult for officials to be honest, but it is easy to break the bottom line.
It all depends on the system and strict punishments to allow bureaucrats to weigh the pros and cons.
Su He thought of something and asked: "You speculate that Su Wuniu, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, has a problem with his income and expenditure.
Not counting his patent licensing fees."
"Commander Su, I obtained the information from the tax bureau.
Officials' salaries and other income are subject to tax.
If there is no taxable income, there will definitely be problems.”
Li Yuanzheng answered confidently.
He has investigated many people through this method.
Officials hide their income and do not pay taxes, so this income must be illegal.
"Then you didn't understand that Su Wuniu, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, has the patent for the animal-powered harvester.
For patents that have a significant impact on people's livelihood, he publicly authorizes patents and enjoys tax exemptions for three to five years.
Su Wuniu's patent has been authorized to the machinery factory.
The monthly income is more than two thousand silver coins.
This income is entitled to a five-year tax holiday.
If you investigate Su Wuniu, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, and his income difference is within this range, then there will be no problem."
Li Yuanzheng said awkwardly: "Commander Su, it is indeed this amount.
I thought everyone was tax-free, but I didn’t expect there was tax-free income.”
“The tax-free privilege cannot be given to anyone, but for things that need support, tax exemptions must be used to support them.
For example, grain and salt transactions are tax-free, and important patent licensing is tax-free.
These all have tax-free periods and can be adjusted at any time.”
Su He attaches great importance to several of his uncles.
Especially his cousins, who are the backbone of the rebel team.
Let uncles and uncles use some legal means to earn a lot of money.
Then someone will do illegal things such as taking bribes.
Su Hexia dealt with it with a heavy hand, and no one gossiped.
When they arrived at the prison of the Ministry of Punishment, he saw that Su Yan, the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, and Wu Donglin, the Minister of Dali Temple, had already arrived.
His uncle Su Wuniu also came here.
Su He looked at Uncle Wuniu and thought: "Could it be that Su Wuniu heard the news and came here to inquire about the situation.
He really has something to do with this case."
Su He asked Li Yuanzheng to get out of the car, and the three law divisions investigated the case together.
He called his uncle Su Wuniu to the carriage and asked him about his purpose.
"Uncle Wuniu, why did you come to the Penal Department Prison?"
Su Wuniu sighed and said helplessly: "That boy of mine, Su Lin, is only twelve years old and has become a playboy.
Yesterday, I had an argument with someone on the street and broke their leg.
He was taken directly to the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, and I didn't even know the news.
I didn't know about this until the person from the family who was beaten came to my house to apologize in the morning.
Commander Su arranged Su Lin to join the army and let the army hone his character.
Otherwise, he would really become a dandy.
Life and death in the military are a matter of life.
It’s better than getting into serious trouble and being beaten to death by me.”
Su He remembered Su Lin, who was a tough kid when he was a child, and now he has become a little bully.
Such children must be strictly managed, otherwise they will easily grow crooked.
"No, breaking the law must be dealt with seriously.
He cannot be given special privileges, and he will be sentenced to as many years as he deserves.
At most, let him stay in prison to hone his character and teach him some skills."
Su He refused directly. This kind of talk should not be made.
Today his cousin will be released if he commits a crime, but tomorrow the officials will not deal with it if he commits a crime.
This means that the punishment cannot be used to punish the scholar-bureaucrats.
When Su Wuniu heard Su He's stern refusal, he knew there was no room for maneuver in this matter.
We can only let Su Lin live a better life in prison.
Jade is not cut, not a device.
It’s also a good thing to practice more.
Otherwise, Su He will never show mercy if he causes big trouble later.
"What happened to this current situation?"
Su Wuniu looked at the large group of people outside the car and asked curiously.
Just now he asked Su Yan and Wu Donglin, but these two people kept avoiding it and did not answer the question.
He has no idea what's going on here.
From yesterday to now, he has been thinking about how to educate his son in the future.
Su Xiong and Su Hu from the eldest brother's family, Su Ying, Su Yan and Su Que from the second brother's family, needless to say, the third brother's family.
The fourth brother was injured when he was a child, had physical problems, and could not give birth to a child.
Now there is a naughty man in his family. This is really embarrassing.
He was ready to take in a concubine and have another child.
Su He briefly talked about the case with Su Wuniu.
Su Wuniu didn't expect that such a big case would happen in the Ministry of Industry, and he hadn't noticed it yet.
He is responsible for managing water conservancy, which is a serious dereliction of duty.
"Commander Su, my skills are too low and I am not suitable to manage the Ministry of Industry. I should be replaced by someone with higher skills."
When Su He saw Uncle Wuniu, he was ready to give up his career.
He quickly comforted him: "It's not your fault, it's an error in the system."
Su He got out of the car and saw Li Yuanzheng and others discussing the case.
"How is it going?"
Li Yuanzheng came over immediately to report.
"Commander Su, Zuo Zuo has finished his corpse examination.
No ash was found in the mouth and nasal cavities of the corpse.
He did not die in a fire, but was burned after his death. This was a murder."
"These people are too bold and must be investigated strictly."
Su He asked Li Yuanzheng to continue investigating the case.
He also asked Su Yan to go to Xing'an Prefecture to arrest Zheng Haoman, the prefect of Xing'an Prefecture, and Du Lin, the inspector general.
These two people must be important figures in the corruption team, so arrest them first.
Even if they were not involved, they would not be aware of such a big thing happening under their rule, and their abilities would be incompetent.
He told Wu Donglin about Su Lin's case.
There is no need to show any mercy, just decide how you want to be judged.
He asked "Hanzhong Weekly" to publish all the details of Su Lin's case.
…
Su He was in Lingyun Hall, listening to Li Yuanzheng's report.
"Commander Su, we have fully investigated the corruption case in the Water Resources Department of the Ministry of Industry.
I took Yu Zhengming to the scene of Xu Lean's death.
After he returned, he confessed everything.
Lu Wenjie, director of the Water Conservancy Department of the Ministry of Industry, is the main messenger in this case.
He is from a wealthy local family in Lueyang.
When Deng Haoman was the magistrate of Lueyang County, he married Lu Wenjie's cousin.
Du Lin married Lu Wenjie's niece through a blind date.
They are connected through marriage.
Lu Wenjie's family has many literate servants who have served the Lu family for generations and are all born into the family.
Through their gang connections, these families gave birth to children, entered the household department and conducted inspections.
Lu Wenjie had a son who worked in the prison of the Ministry of Punishment.
He wanted Xu Le'an to pretend to be afraid of crime and hang himself. The man was so nervous that he knocked over the candlestick, causing a fire.
Lu Wenjie's gang embezzled a total of 96,000 taels of silver coins.
The river embankments were not built, causing part of the river embankments to collapse, resulting in indirect losses of fifty thousand taels of silver coins."
"These few people can embezzle nearly one hundred thousand taels of silver.
Their crimes are simply unforgivable."
When Su He heard this report, he was both happy and angry.
Su He is thankful that no senior officials were involved in the corruption case.
It made him angry that so much money could be embezzled just by colluding with a few officials.
There must be huge loopholes in the system of the commanding government.
Uploading and issuing government orders is not smooth yet.
"Li Yushi, you have worked hard during this time."
Li Yuanzheng was flattered and said: "Commander Su, we don't have to work hard. This is what we should do."
"Write this case into an article and send it to Hanzhong Weekly."
Su He wants to turn this case into a typical case to scare other officials.
Su He called Wu Donglin again, and they discussed the punishment of these officials.
…
The Dali Temple Yamen publicly tried Lu Wenjie and other corrupt officials.
Publicity was spread through newspapers, and many people came to Dali Temple to watch the judgment process.
“These corrupt officials are so abominable, they even embezzle money for water conservancy projects.
If there is any money left, they don’t dare to embezzle it.”
"Commander Su can handle his cousin. These corrupt officials should be severely punished."
The three main corrupt officials and other officials in their gang were led over with their hands tied.
Wu Donglin, the minister of Dali Temple, tried them in public.
Li Yuanzheng, the censor of Youqiandu, appeared in court and provided detailed evidence.
Yu Zhengming acted as a tainted witness and testified in court, describing in detail how the three of them embezzled water conservancy project funds.
The interrogation ended quickly with sufficient evidence.
Wu Donglin asked the three principal criminals: "Lu Wenjie, Deng Haoman, and Du Lin, do you plead guilty?"
Lu Wenjie said calmly: "I am not guilty, you are retaliating."
Deng Haoman said with a tearful voice: "I am guilty and I plead guilty.
I just went astray for a while, please give me a chance.
I am a literate official, and it is not easy to train an official."
Lu Wenjie glanced at him and said calmly: "Trash."
Du Lin remained silent and did not speak.
Wu Donglin, the minister of Dali Temple, directly pronounced the verdict.
"Lu Wenjie, director of the Water Conservancy Department of the Ministry of Industry and a fourth-grade official.
Embezzling 98,000 taels of public funds and committing murder.
Sentenced to death and executed immediately.
Deng Haoman, a fourth-rank official of Xing'an Prefecture.
Embezzled 98,000 taels of public funds.
Sentenced to death and executed immediately.
Xing'an Prefecture inspection starts from Du Lin, the fourth-level inspection chief.
Embezzled 98,000 taels of public funds.
The death penalty shall be executed immediately.”
After Wu Donglin announced the sentences of these people, he also announced the sentences of the accomplices.
Accessories, except for the inspector who killed Xu Lean, were sentenced to death.
None of the other accomplices were sentenced to death. The starting sentence was ten years, and most were sentenced to more than thirty years.
The person sentenced to ten years was Yu Zhengming, who served as a tainted witness.
After Wu Donglin sentenced him, he announced: "Lu Wenjie, Deng Haoman, Du Lin.
They were each fined 50,000 taels of silver coins.
If the family has insufficient silver coins, the family bears joint liability.
Lu Wenjie, Deng Haoman, Du Lin.
All family members and their clan members within three generations are all listed on the black list.
If you serve as an official, you should be dismissed immediately.
People who are on the black list are not allowed to participate in the imperial examination and recruitment at the Talent Recruitment Hall.
Participation in officially established companies is not allowed.
Banks are prohibited from lending, and the Ministry of Accounts is prohibited from providing bailouts."
Lu Wenjie shouted heartbreakingly: "You can't do this.
The crime I committed has nothing to do with my family."
Three generations of the family have been added to the black list. Not only his grandson who has just turned 5 years old, but also his grandson's grandsons cannot take the imperial examination.
Their family will definitely slowly die out.
Wu Donglin signaled to the officials to stop and blocked Lu Wenjie's mouth while he continued to read out the penalty.
All accomplices except Yu Zhengming will be fined one thousand taels of silver coins each, and they and the next generation will be added to the black list and will never be employed.
Wu Donglin announced all the sentences.
The Minister of Taichang Temple and the Taizhu Song Kangnian of the ancestral temple announced that all corrupt officials and their descendants would be expelled from the ancestral temple.
These people will join the local ancestral temple and the Pavilion of Sinners.
The ancestral temple assumed important social functions, so he was expelled from the ancestral temple and joined the Sinners Pavilion.
Their family's reputation is so bad that no normal person who considers their reputation would come into contact with these people's families.
Their family members have died socially.
Officials from Dali Temple pressed Lu Wenjie, Deng Haoman, and Du Lin to the execution ground.
Just hang the three of them to death.
The people looked at the corpse of the corrupt official and kept cheering.
"Master Qingtian, we should kill all these corrupt officials."
"These corrupt officials are so abominable that they even dared to embezzle money for water conservancy projects. They also caused river embankments to burst and flooded a lot of fertile farmland."
"It's great that Commander Su really killed corrupt officials.
We, the people, have something to rely on."
Gu Pingan was trembling with fear as he watched his immediate superior being hanged.
"In the future, we must work seriously and avoid corruption. This is too scary."
Many officials came to watch the trial and saw that Commander Su was merciless to corrupt officials. They were frightened and decided to control themselves.
Su He was watching the trial in the teahouse facing the street.
Wang Zhongce sat next to him and watched the people cheering.
He said with some worry: "Commander Su, the punishment for corrupt officials is so severe, many officials are panicking.
It's enough to punish them themselves. Three generations of the family were not allowed to take the imperial examination. This punishment is too harsh."
Su He had a serious expression and murderous intent in his eyes.
"This is a measure to punish corrupt officials. If they are not corrupt, why are they afraid?
I also left a way out. As long as I voluntarily surrender, or even act as a tainted witness like Yu Zhengming and reveal his accomplices, the clan members will not be implicated.
Anyone in the family who reports him for corruption and violation of the law will not be implicated.
The families are happy when enjoying the benefits obtained by corrupt officials.
You can't just enjoy without paying.
Those who enjoy the benefits brought by corrupt officials will inevitably be punished along with them."
Su He wants corrupt officials to fall into prisoner's dilemma.
For the sake of your family, you must tell the truth when you are caught.
After this trial.
The leader will definitely fight to the end, but most of the accomplices will answer honestly for the sake of their family.
Suhe also learned from this experience and strengthened institutional construction.
Not only corrupt officials who accept bribes are sentenced to serious crimes, but those who give bribes are also severely sentenced.
Officials who accept bribes from others only need to report them.
After the bribe money is taxed normally, it belongs to the official himself.
There were too few censors, so the people were mobilized to report corrupt officials.
The Metropolitan Procuratorate has established a petition department, and people can go to the Metropolitan Procuratorate in person to report corrupt officials.
There will be no punishment except for maliciously creating false evidence and false accusations.
In the Ming Dynasty, when people sued officials, the people had to be punished first. Officials were very resistant to people suing officials.
Su He knew that the best way to curb corrupt officials was to let people sue officials and mobilize the people who had suffered losses.
The Secretariat of the General Office also accepts reports from officials about their colleagues.
Through the post system, you can mail reporting letters to report corruption and violations of the law by officials around you.
Once verified, the whistleblower will be promoted and reused.
"Hanzhong Weekly" will launch a column describing officialdom.
Send more reporters to investigate corrupt officials in depth.
At the same time, we accept reports from the people and send reporters to make secret visits based on the content of the reports.
Su He knew that corrupt officials could not be eradicated, but as long as the system was improved and a corrupt official caught, he would be sentenced severely.
It can greatly curb corrupt officials and change the atmosphere of officialdom.
