In the public rental housing area in the southeast of the capital, among the houses assigned by Jiang Botao, the censor of Youqiandu.
The censor of Youqiandu is an official of the fourth rank, and the third-rank official who is two levels higher can have his own official residence. Therefore, among the officials living in public rental housing, the fourth-rank official is already considered a high-ranking official, so Jiang Botao's
The courtyard we were assigned was naturally quite large.
But at this time, this not-so-small courtyard seemed a bit messy.
Because Jiang Botao was instructing his family to pack things, many things that were originally placed in the house were placed in the yard, so the yard seemed a bit messy.
His wife saw him acting like this and couldn't help but ask: "Why is he acting like this? Is the master planning to abandon his official position and return to his hometown?"
Jiang Botao said: "That's not true. I just suddenly felt homesick and wanted to go home to see my parents and my father-in-law and mother-in-law."
"As for these things, take them home by the way and don't keep them in the capital."
With great difficulty, Jiang Botao finally packed up all these things, packed away all the things he wanted to take home, and put all the things he would not take back home back into the house, and was about to set off.
At this moment, there was a sudden "dong dong dong" knock on the door.
Jiang Botao was stunned and asked, "Who is knocking on the door?" If he was an acquaintance, he would probably tell his origin when knocking on the door.
A voice came from outside the door: "Mr. Jiang, I am Xiao Su, the clerk in the courtyard. It is Master Zuodu Yushi who has asked you to come over."
Jiang Botao heard that the voice outside the door was indeed Xiao Su, so he breathed a sigh of relief and muttered: "Have I not already told Zuodu Yushishi Kui that I will go back to my hometown today, why did you come to ask me to go to the courtyard?
." while opening the door of his house.
But after he opened the door, he realized something was wrong. There was no Xiao Su outside the door at all, but a few big men he had never met before standing outside. When he saw him opening the door, he immediately held the door with his hands.
Jiang Botao already had a bad premonition, but he still forced himself to calm down and said, "Who are you?"
At this time, a person outside the door took out a square object from his pocket, waved it in front of him, and then said: "We are from the Zhensi. Next week, Junchen, I have been ordered to ask Mr. Jiang to come with us."
Jiang Botao said: "Even the mayor is not qualified to do anything to my dignified fourth-grade official!"
Zhou Junchen took out another thing and said: "Master Jiang has misunderstood. It is the Ministry of Punishment that wants to summon you. This is an order from the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Ministry of Punishment. However, the Ministry of Punishment is short of manpower, so we have come to summon Mr. Jiang."
Jiang Botao took what they handed over and looked at it carefully. It was indeed an order from the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Ministry of Criminal Justice.
His body was already a little limp at this time, but he still grasped the last straw and said: "I am an upright fourth-grade civil servant. Without His Majesty's will, even the Ministry of Punishment has no right to arrest me."
Zhou Junchen said softly again: "Your Majesty has issued an order yesterday. Anyone who the Ministry of Punishment believes is related to the case of Fu Ni can be detained in the Ministry of Punishment first and then report to His Majesty."
Then the man said before Jiang Botao spoke again: "Master Jiang, we plain people don't tell secrets, so what's the use of your sophistry?"
After hearing what he said, Jiang Botao completely lost his energy and energy. His body was unsteady and he was about to collapse to the ground.
But Zhou Junchen grabbed him from the opposite side and said to the stunned people in the courtyard: "You can still go home, but your master can't go back with you."
After saying this, the man turned around and left with Jiang Botao, who could no longer walk.
…
The same situation also happened in the homes of Pan Ren, the doctor of the Selenium Division of Hubu Mountain, and Deng Fu, the judge of Yingtianfu, and others. Without exception, these people were taken away by the people of the Town Division who had orders from the Ministry of Punishment.
After they were taken away, their relatives and servants hurriedly dispersed to inform their master's friends and fellow villagers.
…
Pan Ren was slightly relieved when he was taken to his destination, because he found that he was indeed taken to the Ministry of Punishment, not some cold and remote prison belonging to the Zhensi or Jinyiwei.
‘Since we are in the Ministry of Punishment, even if the punishment is used, it will not be too harsh and we will definitely be able to survive. We must not say a word.’ Pan Ren thought this way.
Although the person who came to interrogate him later was not an official from the Ministry of Justice that he had met, he didn't pay attention and didn't say a word when asked.
But what happened next made him very strange. When the person in front of him who asked Pan Ren saw that he was completely silent, he said something to the person standing behind him, and then said to him: "Master Pan, since you don't speak, we can only
I used torture to force you to speak."
Then the man suddenly took out a piece of cloth from his pocket and stuffed it into his mouth before he could react.
Pan Ren made a "woo woo" sound and stared at this person. The person explained very seriously: "Master Pan, I did not mean to insult you, but I was afraid that you would not be able to bear the punishment and commit suicide. Just now, Ying Tianfu's Tong
Lord Deng has bitten his tongue and committed suicide, and we are afraid that Lord Deng will follow in his footsteps."
At this moment, a middle-aged strong man walked in with a whip.
==
In the public rental housing area for sixth- and seventh-grade civil servants, a young official walked to a big tree seemingly casually, and then returned to his house.
Suddenly, a small paper ball appeared in his hand. He frowned and opened it and looked at it. Then he picked up a pen and wrote a paragraph on the paper. He walked out of the house and passed by another big tree, and then left.
this place.
…
An hour later, at the residence of the Minister of Industry, Yan Zhenzhi opened the crumpled paper and read it for a while, then ordered: "Since the matter has reached this point, Your Majesty openly detained Pan Ren and others and forced them to death.
Deng Fu, let’s not be too forbearing and seek justice from His Majesty!”
"But for other things, don't do anything. Your Majesty is probably still trying to alert others, and you will definitely not be able to leave any evidence for Your Majesty."
…
Listening to the loud knocking on the door outside, the housekeeper said to his master: "Master, are you really not going to open the door?"
Ru Yu said helplessly: "How can I open the door? Do I agree to their request or do I get sprayed in the face by their spitting stars?"
"Your Majesty and the people from the five provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang are using the Ministry of Punishment to fight with each other. I am caught in the middle and suffer from the anger. I will not leave the mansion these days. I will stay in the mansion."
The old housekeeper bravely said: "Sir, your Majesty has arrested several officials this time without any charges. It is indeed unreasonable."
Ru Yu sneered and said, "Even you think so? You have all forgotten how the late emperor handled the Guo Huan case. At that time, His Majesty ordered the Jin Yiwei to arrest 60% to 70% of the officials of the Six Ministries overnight. Don't you think it's appropriate?
reason?"
"The rules of the Ming Dynasty were set by the late emperor. It is said that the emperor ordered his ministers to die and they had to die. Your Majesty just arrested them now. What does it matter? Not to mention that Deng Fu committed suicide by himself, or that he was really tortured to death. Your Majesty
Do we still need to give them an explanation?"
"Since the last years of Hongwu, Your Majesty has been too lenient with them, making them think that they run the court."
"I think His Majesty is not only going to punish people from the five provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang this time, but also punish these officials who have forgotten their last names."
"However, there is one thing I still don't understand. Now that Your Majesty has evidence that can arrest Yan Zhenzhi, why not arrest him?"
…
At the same time, Guo Hongtao was also asking Yunxi this question: "Your Majesty, although there is no evidence that Yan Zhenzhi is involved in rebellion, we have obtained confessions of his illegal activities from Pan Ren, Jiang Botao and others. Why not
Arrest him?"
Not only him, Qin Song and others also looked at Yun Xi.
Yunxi said: "No, now it's just some oral confessions. There is no conclusive evidence. If you take down a high-ranking official of the imperial court, I'm afraid all the officials will not accept it. I'm also afraid of breaking the rules."
The most important thing is that Yun He is afraid of breaking the rules. It would be fine if there is a confession from Yan Zhen. There is no exaggeration in cases of suspected treason, but in ordinary cases, only the confession can win the second rank of the court.
Sir, Yunxi feels that such rules are not good.
Yunxi was not worried that while he was still there, he was worried that if the emperor was deceived and used by treacherous ministers in party disputes in the future, it would cause serious consequences. Although he used Jin Yiwei and Zhensi to examine the case, everything was still done in the same way.
The reason for doing it in the name of the Ministry of Punishment is also based on similar considerations: to maintain an appropriate rule.
"And I'm still not sure whether Yan Zhenzhi is the real leader among them. It would be bad if the real mastermind was let go because of this."
Guo Hongtao and Qin Song didn't know whether they understood what Yun Xi meant, but after hearing what he said, they didn't say anything more and left the Qianqing Palace.
Yunxi frowned, not knowing what he was thinking, but he looked back at the place where he usually reviewed memorials.
…
Qin Song asked Guo Hongtao: "What should we do next?"
Guo Hongtao said: "Of course we are 'looking for' evidence. Didn't His Majesty say that it is not appropriate to rely solely on oral confessions? Then we can just find the evidence."
"I'm afraid my town secretary won't be able to do it. We must have someone from the Imperial Guard to do it."
Then Guo Hongtao whispered a few words to Qin Song. After listening to his whisper, Qin Song said with some surprise: 'This is not good.'
Guo Hongtao said: "What are we doing? It is a knife used by His Majesty in the darkness. The purpose is to do everything possible to fulfill His Majesty's orders. There is nothing good or bad. What I just said does not violate His Majesty's orders.
Rules, aren’t they?”
Qin Song had no way to argue, and thought of the kindness he had received from Yun He, he gritted his teeth and said, "Then let's do it."
Guo Hongtao said: "And in fact, this is not difficult to do. His Majesty alerted the snake and shocked not only those officials who have not been arrested, but also those who would not usually receive much attention."