After hearing King Jin's conclusive words, Zhu Yuanzhang's tense expression finally became vivid, and he said in a deep voice:
"Although what Prince Jin said is a bit extreme, there is one point he said very well - for the government, the law prohibits it without authorization! We never said you can do it, you can't do it!"
"Yes..." The emperor's words severely restricted the power of the government, but Hu Weiyong could only bite the bullet and said: "But this time, I don't know..."
"You can be given a lighter sentence this time, and it won't be the same next time." Zhu Yuanzhang said slowly.
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your magnanimity." Hu Weiyong kowtowed hurriedly, Li Tai and Wu Bingzhong also kowtowed quickly, and the civil servants followed suit.
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled teasingly and announced slowly but firmly:
"Publishing my decree, sealing a major case in vain, deceiving the emperor and ignoring the superiors, is a heinous crime. All the chief seal officials and those with names in the signatures will be arrested and sent to the capital. The chief seal official will be executed, and the deputy will be sent to the army with a hundred sticks. I admire this!"
"Ah..." The officials who were kneeling to listen to the order raised their heads after hearing the words. They were all stunned and said: "This, this can be called a lighter sentence?"
"Your Majesty, talents are not like leeks. If you cut off one stalk, another one will grow again. The imperial court seeks wise men and appoints officials. It is difficult to get an outstanding talent. It is very difficult to train him into a responsible official.
It will take decades to achieve." Hu Weiyong admonished with tears in his eyes:
"Most of these more than 300 official seal officials are reasonable, honest and good officials. Your Majesty cannot execute them all indiscriminately on charges that are not enough to convict! That would be an irreparable loss for the Ming Dynasty.
It will also cause chaos in the place!"
"Fart!" Zhu Yuanzhang said unmoved: "If he were a good official who was reasonable, honest and observant, he would not print his seal on white paper and hand it over to the people below! Anyone who does this will be punished.
This is a person who deceives the emperor and ignores his superiors. He is a bold and reckless person. At the end of the day, he is only lucky and has a lawless mind. Why bother to kill him?"
"They are guilty, but their crime does not lead to death, Your Majesty..." Hu Weiyong said sadly.
"Prime Minister Hu, don't say any more. We have personally experienced the rule of corrupt officials in the late Yuan Dynasty, and we know how cunning and cunning they are to manipulate government and harm the people. So what is going on with this blank paper? Has it been used?
I came here to commit an adultery and committed a crime. You know it and I know it, and everyone present knows it." Zhu Yuanzhang said extremely resolutely:
"Everyone of them is arguing with us, confusing right and wrong, and they don't feel that they are wrong at all. This is the real bad habit - you have brought the corrupt officialdom of the Yuan Dynasty to our Ming Dynasty intact!"
"..." All officials were blushing and speechless after being scolded by Zhu Yuanzhang.
"Precisely because the officialdom is still the custom of the Yuan Dynasty, and the officials are all the style of the Yuan Dynasty, my Ming Dynasty is no different from the Yuan Dynasty. They are both a nest of snakes and rats, and they are full of chaos!
"If you don't correct these shortcomings, you will never achieve good governance if you want to achieve it. Yuan lost it by being lenient, so I will help them by being fierce! We must severely punish corrupt officials and set strict standards!"
Boss Zhu's powerful aura caused all the oppressive officials to lower their heads, and now no one dared to speak again.
"Oh, by the way, we forgot about you." After Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, he glanced at Li Tai, Wu Bingzhong, and the other minister Pang Qiyou who had never dared to say a word, naively hoping to be ignored, and said slowly:
"The official of Hubu Hall knew clearly about the bad habit of empty seals, but instead of reporting it, he indulged it blindly, and forced sophistry after the incident. He is the real culprit and must be severely punished. Where is the person with the knife?"
"I'm here!" Tang Ding, who was on duty, immediately responded loudly.
"Push Li Tai, Wu Bingzhong, and Pang Qiyou to Chang'an Street and cut off the city!" Zhu Yuanzhang said solemnly.
"Your Majesty, please spare my life..." The three of them collapsed on the spot, struggling and kneeling down and crying.
"Your Majesty..." Hu Weiyong quickly knelt down.
"If anyone talks nonsense again, go with them and cut them off." Zhu Yuanzhang said a murderous sentence from between his teeth.
Hu Weiyong and others immediately felt like geese being strangled by the neck, and did not dare to say a word. They watched helplessly as Li Tai and three other Hubu officials were dragged down.
When the cry disappeared at the entrance of the Golden Palace, Zhu Yuanzhang's cold eyes swept across the trembling officials, and finally said in a deep voice:
"We have nine commandments for you, and I also remind you of three points -
"First, stop trying to be clever with us. We have seen everything and will never think the best of you!
"Second, don't think that the law does not punish everyone. We are never merciless in killing people. Even if we kill all the people in the court, it doesn't matter. In the worst case, we can start over from the beginning! We are not afraid at all.
"Third, don't think that we are scaring you. If there are people who don't believe in evil, but just want to try it, whether their neck is harder or our Lao Zhu's knife edge is harder, then just come over and I guarantee that you will be satisfied! Also!
Let your whole family accompany you on the road, and the whole family will be together and never be separated.
"Do you understand?" At the last sentence, the energy in Dantian burst out, making all officials' ears buzz.
"Yes, I will bear in mind the emperor's teachings." The officials replied with fear.
"Quit the court!" Zhu Yuanzhang waved his sleeves, saying he didn't want to see these disgusting ministers again today.
"Retreat from the imperial court..." Eunuch Wu quickly sang loudly.
"I will respectfully see off your Majesty." All the officials knelt down and respectfully saw off the emperor and the prince.
When Zhu Yuanzhang stood up, he waved to his third son to come with him.
King Jin quickly stood up, accompanied the prince and left the Fengtian Palace.
~~
After the emperor withdrew from the court, Cao Guogong and several other princes got up and walked out of the palace with their generals.
Hu Weiyong also stood up with the help of Zhongshu Provincial officials.
When passing in front of Hu Weiyong, the princes all looked respectful and bowed.
Although it cannot be said that Prime Minister Hu's hard work in the Golden Palace today was completely successful, he has already won the respect of the nobles in Huaixi.
This is true for military commanders, let alone civil servants.
Even those officials who usually relied on Li Shanchang and never took him seriously were standing next to Hu Weiyong with low eyebrows and submissive eyes.
Obviously, everyone believed that Hu Weiyong's hard words today allowed many of them to escape with their lives.
If it weren't for the wrong situation, they would have to give Hu Xiang a kiss.
"Everyone, have you memorized all the holy teachings?" Hu Weiyong exhaled a breath and asked slowly.
"Return the favor, remember it."
"We must also remember that times have changed. Let's throw away the old ways of Wen Tian and Wu Xi." Hu Weiyong said seriously:
"In the future, we must change our minds, abide by orders and fear the law, clean ourselves and love the people. Only in this way can we clarify the administration of officials and make the emperor look at us with admiration."
"Yes, we would like to follow Enxiang's teachings." All the civil servants bowed respectfully and responded.
From this moment on, Hu Weiyong's status in the hearts of civil servants finally caught up with or even surpassed that of Li Shanchang.
"Let's go, colleagues, let's see the three of them off." After Hu Weiyong said that, he left Fengtian Hall surrounded by a group of civil servants.
ps. Post first, then revise, and then write an update.
