Qi Zhenming was very angry, not because a doorman died, nor because the signboard of the Ministry of Justice was smashed. These were all trivial matters. What made him angry was that Liu Ziguang openly challenged the unspoken rules of officialdom that everyone had accepted.
There were many judicial organs in the Ming Dynasty, but the largest ones were the Ministry of Punishment and the Jinyiwei. The three groups of officials in all prefectures and counties across the country were all under the professional leadership of the Ministry of Punishment. The Jinyiwei were even more numerous and spread all over the country. They had both spies and armed forces.
Both the Dali Temple and the Metropolitan Procuratorate had only civilian officials without armed personnel. Under the suppression of the Donglin Party, the Nachang and the East Factory had limited personnel and were far less powerful than Qi Zhenming.
Moreover, Qi Zhenming is also an important member of the Donglin Party with extremely wide connections. Even compared with Qian Qianyi, he is not much different. He considers himself to be the mainstay of the current court and represents the majority of vested interests, although his exposure is not as high as that of Liu Ziguang.
Although he is tall, it does not mean that he is inferior to the other person.
It is a taboo for the people to sue the officials, and it is a tradition for officials to protect each other. It is not that Qi Zhenming is unaware of the recent frequent incidents in Huguang. All kinds of internal materials have been placed on his desk for a long time. It is not that he does not want to do it, but he really cannot do it. This matter
Once the whole body is mobilized, once it has started, it will be impossible to stop it later. The river embankment project is a political achievement project and it cannot make money in the first place. However, Jack Ma has invested a lot of money to win this project, so he will definitely see profits.
, Ma Yun himself has nothing, what is scary is the power behind him, the invisible huge and complicated network of relationships, involving countless yamen and officials. Although these people are not the most powerful people, they still hold the power in their hands.
The powerful faction with authority, their power is extremely huge. No, as soon as something happened in Huguang, there were more guests walking around Master Qi's house. They collected tens of thousands of taels in gift money alone. They were soft-spoken and weak-handed.
, anyway, it is just the life and death of a few ordinary people, and it cannot make a big splash, so Qi Zhenming took care of the people below that they would not accept petitions from Huguang people who came to petition.
No one from the Yamen will accept it. This is a tacit agreement and an unspoken rule.
Unexpectedly, his subordinates, who were incompetent in handling affairs, actually forced the petitioners to death, and provoked several Hedong lions from Liu Ziguang's family. In the end, people were killed, more than 20 people were injured, and the Ministry of Punishment's sign was smashed.
This was a huge loss of face. After Qi Zhenming heard about it, he went directly to the Zhenwu Marquis Mansion to investigate the crime. Liu Ziguang was really unambiguous and an absolute protector. When he heard that his family members had gone out to cause trouble, he first asked if any of his family members were hurt.
After learning that his family was unscathed and that the Ministry of Punishment was decimated, he didn't even have a nice word to say. He just served tea to the guests and asked him to file a lawsuit wherever he liked.
Hey, Liu Ziguang, why don’t you bite your nose and get into your face? I came to tell you to give you face. If you don’t give me an explanation for this matter, then I will give you an explanation tomorrow. Who is afraid of a lawsuit in the Fengtian Palace?
The relationship between the Ministry of Punishment and the Metropolitan Procuratorate is good. Let’s talk about it today and jointly submit a letter tomorrow to see how you explain it in front of Mr. Long Live. The current Mr. Long Live is no longer the young boy he used to be. He was hired by the Donglin Party to help him.
Under the guidance of an imperial master, he has become enlightened and understands the checks and balances of the emperor's ways. He will give Qi Zhenming face no matter what.
The next morning, Qi Zhenming, the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, visited the town of Wu, and Liu Ziguang, the Marquis of Wu, was not strict in his internal affairs. He allowed his wife to kill people and trampled on the Ministry of Punishment. He asked Long Live Lord to give him justice. The censors had been notified by Qi Zhenming and had prepared the manuscript the night before.
, at this time, one after another stood up to denounce the arrogant behavior of Zhen Wuhou. Liu Ziguang was still on vacation and did not have to go to court. There was only one Song Yingxing in his team, who was also a good man who was not good at words. Moreover, Liu Ziguang had told him not to get involved easily.
In any party dispute, it is best to protect one's own safety. Although this matter sounds very bad in nature, the consequences are not serious, so Song Yingxing hugged the wat board and said nothing at all.
Zhu Youxiao had already been blown away by the Queen last night, and he was very clear about the ins and outs of this matter. However, he could not say that he knew everything at this time. He could only decide the case impartially, so he asked Wei Zhongxian to send Liu Ziguang to the palace for confrontation. The order was quickly conveyed.
In a short time, Liu Ziguang came to the palace wearing a python robe and jade belt. It seemed that he was well prepared and was outside the Meridian Gate as early as possible.
Before Zhu Youxiao could ask questions, Liu Ziguang lifted his robe and knelt down to play: "I have a plan to play."
Zhu Youxiao asked curiously: "Ai Qing, what do you want to say?"
"I have fifty-four petitions here, involving 336 lives, 374 people being maimed, and the ownership of 18,982 acres of fertile land. They are all filed against the river embankment contract.
In the name of building a river embankment, Ma Yun used his power to bully others, occupy fertile land along the river, plunder and embezzle public funds. The river embankment he built was a shoddy project, and more than a hundred migrant workers collapsed and died just because of the use of rotten wood.
The emperor was benevolent and allocated tens of thousands of silver taels to build river embankments. This was a long-term achievement and benefited one party, but it was used by these profiteers to enrich their own pockets, forced good people to death, and seized their fields. It is really a crime that is outraged by both humans and gods, and is an unforgivable crime!"
I originally thought that Liu Ziguang would be rude and unreasonable when he went to the palace, but he turned defensive and turned offensive. He found so many tricks from nowhere, which immediately attracted the emperor's attention.
"What a bold Ma Yun. He is just a small businessman. Who gave him the power to oppress good people and take plunder?" Zhu Youxiao said angrily.
"Long live, there is something fishy about this matter. Why are all these petitions concentrated in the hands of Marquis Zhenwu? Are there no local officials in Huguang? Marquis Zhenwu has just returned from Nanyang not long ago, and the affairs along the river are not under the control of the Nanchang Yamen..." A
The censor came out and said, and other censors also agreed.
"Humph, if the common people can complain through normal channels, how can the complaint get into the hands of this prince? Then what is Ma Yun relying on? It's not corrupt officials. As the saying goes, the yamen gate opens to the south. If you have a reason, don't come in if you don't have money.
The officialdom has been like this since ancient times. People are not willing to disturb the government unless it is absolutely necessary. However, Jack Ma actually forced good people to go to the extent of complaining thousands of miles away. If nothing else, let’s talk about the incident at the entrance of the criminal department yesterday. A small doorman
, actually used nail boards to force the people who complained to death. Can anyone tell me what this means? What power does he have to deprive a person of his life? Why is it so difficult for people to complain? His wife who had been together for many years and his unborn grandson died.
In the sea of fire, I traveled thousands of miles to beg for money all the way to the capital, thinking that I could get justice. Unexpectedly, I died at the feet of the emperor, at the gate of the Ministry of Punishment, the highest judicial authority in the country! Is this still the world of the Ming Dynasty? Is this still the apocalypse of the harmonious and prosperous age?
Year?"
Liu Ziguang's righteous accusation shocked the civil and military officials of the entire court. The harsh fact that it was difficult for people to complain and the illegal events taking place in Huguang deeply weighed everyone's conscience. Even the censors, who were like mad dogs, stopped barking.
I don’t know what I’m thinking of writing with a straight face. How can I have the nerve to mention the shitty thing about the Ministry of Punishment’s sign being smashed? Those clerks in the Ministry of Punishment whose consciences were eaten by dogs deserve to die ten thousand times.
"Well, you, the Marquis of Zhenwu, have learned so cleverly that you can beat him up. If you don't do this well, you will get burned." Qi Zhenming thought as he left the office and said: "Your Majesty, it is the practice of the Ministry of Punishment for people to sue officials and roll them on the nail board. To deal with Diao
The people have to do this, and as for the matter of forcing the people to death, Wei Chen will investigate in detail, but Wei Chen also wants to ask Zhen Wuhou, no matter how bad the punishment department is, it is one of the six departments of the imperial court, how can it be the turn of his family members to discipline him. "
"That's enough. In my opinion, the Ministry of Punishment is about to become the Palace of Hell. It's no longer just a reason not to come in if you don't have money, but you have to risk your life to enter. How did you become the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment? I don't want to ask now, the Sixth Section and the Metropolitan Procuratorate
I don’t want to ask how the supervision was carried out. What I want to know is how this perfectly good river embankment project turned into this! Who can explain it to me! Who can!"
Zhu Youxiao roared as he spoke, and the veins on his neck could be seen. As a young emperor who has been officially on the throne for more than a year, it is his ideal to make great achievements. The Northern Expedition and the Western Expedition are martial arts, and Jiangdi is considered
Wenzhi, for this river embankment project, Zhu Youxiao put a lot of thought into it. He listened to the opinions of all parties and carefully selected the officials in charge. He thought that Lin Ruhai, an upright official, could take care of this business, but he didn't expect that he would cause such a big mess.
Come on, the fifty-four complaints that Liu Ziguang took out may be just the tip of the iceberg. There are still many people who don’t have the guts to complain. This is simply trying to dismantle Zhu Youxiao. This matter must be investigated strictly and thoroughly!
The officials were silent and didn't speak for a while. Qian Qianyi stood at the head of the class and remained speechless. Qi Zhenming didn't say hello to him, which made him a little unhappy. The Donglin Party turned out to be a hidden and strict opposition party, but it seized power.
Later, Qi Zhenming became increasingly loose, and Qi Zhenming had too much power and had a tendency to become self-reliant, so Qian Qianyi decided to suppress him appropriately.
"Your Majesty, this matter must be investigated to get to the bottom of the matter. I suggest sending an imperial investigation team to Huguang to bring justice to the people and clear the name of the court. We must not let those villains ruin this thousand-year project." Qian Qianyi's words were immediately heard.
Zhu Youxiao agreed: "What Mr. Qian Ge said is absolutely true. In your opinion, who is the right person to send as the imperial envoy?"
Qian Qianyi thought for a while and said: "The minister recommended Xu Jiujing, the chief minister of Dali Temple. Mr. Xu is capable, honest and experienced, and is worthy of this important position."
This candidate is very suitable. Xu Jiujing has worked his way up from county magistrate to Dali Temple chief minister. His best thing is investigating cases. Moreover, he does not belong to any camp and has no connections with Huguang officials. He should be able to be fair and honest.
Since it was the person recommended by Mr. Qian Ge, of course everyone agreed unanimously. Liu Ziguang was also very happy to have Xu Jiujing as the imperial envoy. Just now he was afraid that the emperor would send him to investigate the case on impulse. Zeng Cheng was about to give birth. At this juncture, he
I don’t want to go on a business trip.”
Zhu Youxiao immediately issued a decree, ordering Xu Jiujing, the chief minister of Dali Temple, to go to Huguang to investigate the cases accused by Liu Ziguang's complaints. He must find out the truth as soon as possible and provide justice to the people.