prosperous age

How did you obtain this file?

Wei Guangde asked.

The case from the fourth year of the Wanli reign has now been submitted again, and Wei Guangde naturally wants to get to the bottom of it.

“Yesterday at noon, a blind girl was singing on the street. I, Wu Qian, the chief clerk of the Ministry of Justice, and several others happened to be passing by and heard about it. We felt that the situation was serious, so we immediately took her back to the yamen for questioning.”

That afternoon, men were dispatched to arrest Zhu Guoneng and his accomplices. After interrogation, they confessed to the crime of burglary and murder of Zhou Shichen, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, in the sixth year of the Longqing reign.

Zeng Shengwu sighed and said, "That blind girl was controlled by Zhu Guoneng and others and forced to sing for them to earn money. It was only after Zhu Guoneng and others said something inappropriate while drunk that we found out about this."

Unfortunately, Hehua and Lu Jinren had already died unjustly.

Wei Guangde glanced at Zeng Shengwu and could only say that he handled the incident fairly efficiently this time, without causing a great uproar in the city, which is why the imperial government was late in taking action.

At least, Wei Guangde didn't hear any news yesterday.

Indeed, cases involving ordinary people are considered trivial matters to the various official residences in the capital.

Wei Guangde continued to look through the previous files, and his expression changed slightly when he saw the records inside.

"When the late emperor's coffin was being placed in the mausoleum, martial law was in effect both inside and outside the palace. Commander Zhang Guowei was ordered by the military to lead troops to Youwei. However, a thief from a noble family in Xin County stole from our territory. Fearing punishment, he rushed to the scene to investigate but could not find the thief. He then went to Wang Kui's room and saw Hehua holding a golden tassel and weeping."

"Zhang Guowei deserves to die."

Wei Guangde understood that this was a case fabricated by Zhang Guowei of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, who was worried that such a heinous incident during the emperor's funeral would cause widespread panic.

Turning to the next page, one sees the record: "At the time, Weng Dali, the acting Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, said this, but he harbored deep resentment towards the treasonous act and, since he had spoken first, wanted to have him executed quickly. He then instigated other officials and clerks to fabricate a case."

"Weng Dali, Minister of War in Nanjing."

Wei Guangde already knew that the case was judged by Weng Dali, the then Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, and that Hehua and the other two were tortured into confessing and then executed by slow slicing.

Wei Guangde had never seen this memorial before and was unsure whether it was approved by Zhang Juzheng or Zhang Siwei, or whether it was a case decided by the Ministry of Justice and therefore directly had the Secretariat sign it on his behalf.

However, at this point, the matter could no longer be covered up. Zeng Shengwu's visit to the cabinet had already made the Ministry of Justice's stance clear.

"Lubu, quickly go and invite Grand Secretary Zhang and Grand Secretary Shen over."

After shouting to the door, Wei Guangde said to Zeng Shengwu, "This matter is appalling. The officials in charge of the case should be thoroughly investigated. Weng should be dismissed, and Zhang should be imprisoned and severely interrogated."

In a little while, when they arrive, inform them of this matter.

If we go into the palace and tell His Majesty about this, since it involves imperial relatives, we're bound to get scolded.

"It's nothing serious. This whole thing was caused by that scoundrel Weng Dali, and you've only been at the Ministry of Justice for a year, so you should be fine."

Wei Guangde said that, but he was also considering other things.

In those days, the idea of ​​"interaction between heaven and man" was very popular. Zhang Juzheng had just passed away when such a miscarriage of justice occurred. Wei Guangde felt that it was possible to make great use of it.

Think about it: whether it was Gao Gong or Zhang Juzheng, the first thing they did upon taking office was to reject some of their predecessors' actions.

Overturning the case, using it to deal with some old cases, seems like a suitable pretext.

Some of the policies that Zhang Juzheng insisted on promoting but which he did not support were overturned by this incident.

His opinion, which he supported but Zhang Juzheng rejected, seemed to be a good opportunity to bring it up again.

"A new broom sweeps clean, and this is the first fire to be lit."

Wei Guangde thought to himself.

Before long, Zhang and Shen arrived in a hurry.

When Lu Bu arrived, he mentioned that something big had happened. Minister Zeng of the Ministry of Justice was in the Grand Secretary's office, so neither of them dared to delay and rushed over after putting down their duties.

"Just take a look."

As soon as the two sat down, before Lu Bu could even serve tea or water, Wei Guangde had already handed the dossier in his hand to Zhang Siwei.

After Zhang Siwei had reviewed the latest case files, he handed them directly to Shen Shixing, who was sitting opposite him, and then looked through the old files himself.

After Shen Shixing had a general understanding of the case, Wei Guangde said to Zeng Shengwu, "Sansheng, tell me about the situation."

This is horrifying. The Ministry of Justice must promptly conclude this case and ensure it becomes an ironclad case.

The court will show no leniency towards any officials involved and will deal with them severely.

However, this incident also shows that although there have been investigations and rectifications in previous years, those who hold positions without performing their duties still run rampant in officialdom and have not been eradicated.

They even profited from this by quickly concluding wrongful convictions to meet performance targets, which is truly despicable.

I wish to take this matter as a warning and urge Your Majesty to order the Six Ministries to thoroughly investigate all past records and correct any errors.

As soon as Wei Guangde finished speaking, Zhang Siwei and Zeng Shengwu's expressions changed slightly.

They had already discerned from Wei Guangde's words that this was an opportunity to reorganize the court.

To be honest, without this incident, Wei Guangde would have had a hard time adjusting some official positions.

Now that there's a reason, it's natural to promote some people behind him to key positions.

Even if the Minister is not up to par, he should at least be in a second-in-command position like the Left Vice Minister.

In the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, especially in the Six Ministries, the second and third-ranking officials actually had almost the same power as the top-ranking Minister, only lacking the title.

It was common for vice ministers and ministers to argue over differing political views. Some of these disputes genuinely involved their own interests, while others were motivated by a desire to project an image of superiority and "speak out" against injustice.

Zhang Siwei quickly calculated the gains and losses in his mind. If he followed Wei Guangde's plan and made some adjustments to the officialdom, it seemed that it would actually be beneficial to him.

As the second-in-command, he took this opportunity to negotiate with the prime minister, exchanging favors and promoting a group of his associates to higher positions.

Unbeknownst to anyone, everyone assumed that Wei Guangde was simply making a show of force upon taking office.

Well, Zhang Siwei felt that he could copy the model that Zhang Juzheng had discussed with Wei Guangde and cooperate with Wei Guangde in the same way.

As for replacing him, one must be cautious, for a small act of impatience could ruin a great plan.

First, attach yourself to him, and secretly accumulate power.

Once Wei Guangde makes a mistake, a swift and decisive blow will be dealt to completely expel him from the court.

Thinking about the end of the year, if the government troops successfully occupied Japan's gold and silver mountains as planned, then the massive amount of gold and silver would be transported back to the court, which would naturally be a great achievement for Wei Guangde.

But if the war drags on and goes on for a long time, then that would be a mistake on the part of his chief minister.

He could take this opportunity to impeach him and his associates in the Ministry of War, seize power, and completely control the Ministry of War.

Zhang Siwei had no ambition for the Ministry of Works.

That government office is indeed very lucrative, but does the Zhang family lack money?
No shortage.

The Ministry of Works was not only highly lucrative, but also carried significant risks.

Although things have been better in recent years, he has not forgotten the years when the Yellow River and the Yangtze River repeatedly issued warnings, and urgent reports were sent to the capital from 600 li away, requesting the dispatch of more manpower to control the floods and provide disaster relief.

Once the floodwaters breach the dikes, the officials of the Ministry of Works would become the primary targets of the venting of anger among the officials.

"The Grand Secretary's words are reasonable. This case has indeed exposed many shortcomings. The court should adjust its policies in a timely manner to prevent such tragedies from happening again."

For events that have already occurred, the Censorate should be involved in a reinvestigation.

Zhang Siwei spoke up.

Such major cases are not usually decided by the Ministry of Justice alone. Whenever a death sentence is involved, the case is usually adjudicated by the Court of Judicial Review and supervised by the Censorate.

However, the primary responsibility naturally falls on the Ministry of Justice. After all, they are in charge of all criminal justice in the country; if something goes wrong, who else would they turn to?

Zeng Shengwu had already realized that Wei Guangde wanted to use this incident to make adjustments to the court.

However, he only opened his mouth slightly, without saying anything.

He knew in his heart that this was the case with every cabinet reshuffle; it was just a matter of time.

Even without this incident, at most the major reshuffle of the imperial court would be postponed until next year.

But what's meant to happen will happen eventually.

As for Shen Shixing, he naturally wouldn't say anything more.

Although he had his own agenda, he mostly followed Wei Guangde's advice.

At the very least, he did not dislike some of Wei Guangde's judgments and decisions, although he sometimes hesitated and had different opinions.

"Since everyone agrees, let's take this file to the palace to meet the Emperor."

This matter is of utmost importance. If we go together, His Majesty can rest assured that he will entrust the affairs of the previous dynasty to us.

Wei Guangde spoke again.

So the group got up and followed Wei Guangde out of the duty room, heading towards the Qianqing Palace.

Inside the Qianqing Palace, the Wanli Emperor was already processing the memorials sent by the Directorate of Ceremonial. Upon seeing the arrival of the three cabinet members, he naturally did not delay and immediately summoned them.

After reading Zeng Shengwu's report to the Ministry of Justice on the major case he had uncovered, he was even more furious.

Although his grandfather, the Jiajing Emperor, belonged to a different clan, they were still one family back to the time of the Xianzong Emperor.

The brothers of Emperor Xianzong's birth mother were genuine imperial relatives, so he had to acknowledge them.

If they weren't imperial relatives, they could only be maternal relatives of Emperors Hongzhi and Zhengde, as they were not strictly related by blood.

"Master Wei, what is the Cabinet's decision?"

Emperor Wanli asked.

"Your Majesty, the Ministry of Justice believes this case should be thoroughly investigated, and the Cabinet believes it is more appropriate. Moreover, given its importance, it should be dealt with severely and swiftly to avoid causing controversy in the capital."

The Cabinet believes that a joint trial should be convened this afternoon by the Court of Judicial Review, the Censorate, and the three judicial departments to thoroughly investigate the details of the case and restore justice to the nation.

If the maid Hehua, the commoner Lu Jin, and others were wrongfully convicted, then their names should be cleared, and the officials involved should be severely punished.

Wei Guangde began, "Once the joint trial by the three judicial departments has concluded, the six ministries of the court will conduct their own investigations and re-examine all matters from previous years."

Wei Guangde roughly repeated what he had just said in the cabinet, only mentioning that it was the consensus of the four of them, before returning to his seat.

Emperor Wanli nodded slightly and said, "This matter involves imperial relatives, and the inner court will send someone to attend the trial."

Master Wei, you shall report the outcome of the court's handling of this matter directly to me.

As for the rest, just do as you said before.

The emperor's message was to make a statement. There were plenty of imperial relatives, but this kind of thing was truly rare.

Upon leaving the Qianqing Palace and returning to the Grand Secretariat, Wei Guangde immediately wrote a note summoning the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review and the Censorate, instructing them to immediately go to the Ministry of Justice to retrieve the case files, hold a court hearing that afternoon, and review the case once again.

This is also to nip problems in the bud and avoid giving others ammunition to criticize us.

At the same time, Wei Guangde sent word that all the six ministries and five courts in Beijing should send people to listen in, and that the noble families and the Embroidered Uniform Guard should also send people to participate.

At this time, news of the old case from back then had already spread from the Ministry of Justice, which startled everyone.

Those three people were subjected to slow slicing, the cruelest form of torture, but it turned out they were three innocent lives lost; it was a miscarriage of justice.

When the trial began in the main hall of the Ministry of Justice in the afternoon, a large crowd of people stood outside to listen to the proceedings.

As for Zhang Guowei, who was already a commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he was sent to the Southern Garrison Prison in the morning and then taken out in the afternoon to be interrogated together in the main hall of the Ministry of Justice.

After all, he was the highest-ranking official present at the time, so he naturally had to bear the responsibility for dereliction of duty.

In fact, the Ministry of Justice has already held a hearing and investigated the matter thoroughly. There are already witnesses and physical evidence, including the murder weapon, which has been found in the perpetrator's home.

After comparison by the coroner, it was confirmed to be the murder weapon used to kill Zhou Shichen.

In ancient times, injuries were examined and recorded, including the shape, length, width, and depth of the wound, which served as the basis for determining the weapon used.

Therefore, by finding out the murder weapon and comparing it with the original case file, we can determine whether the facts are correct or not.

Before the afternoon session ended, the results of the joint trial by the three judicial departments had already been released, but for some reason, they were not immediately sent to the cabinet.

Wei Guangde didn't inquire about it. The inner court sent Zhang Jing to listen to the trial. He had already vividly described the entire trial process to Emperor Wanli. Now they were just waiting for the Ministry of Justice to send over the new case files so that the case could be closed.

That evening, Wei Guangde hosted a banquet at his residence for everyone, including his own people, Shen Shixing and Yu Youding, and even Xu Guo.

After the banquet, Wei Shiliang, who had already entered the Ministry of Revenue, stayed behind alone and whispered the matter to Wei Guangde.

"Does Weng Dali have anything of yours?"

Wei Guangde asked.

"Absolutely not. It's just that he was very helpful when I was transferred from Nanjing to the capital."

Someone came to me today asking for a favor, hoping I could show leniency.

Wei Shiliang said.

"Who? He probably doesn't know about this yet; it was done by a friend in the capital."

Wei Guangde shook his head, then said seriously, "Let's drop this matter. Just say you've already left the Ministry of Justice and don't know the specifics."

Weng Dali's actions not only angered the public.

As you should know, during the afternoon court hearing at the Ministry of Justice, the crowd outside the courtroom was in an uproar.

This Weng Dali will definitely be investigated and punished.

Such requests are mostly made in order to find a lighter punishment, such as an imperial edict or a demerit.

However, Weng Dali's transfer to Nanjing was actually a sign that he had already lost power; it was merely a way to allow him to retire with dignity.

In two years, it'll be time for him to get out of here.

However, once this case is overturned, it certainly won't wait another two years.

In Wei Guangde's view, being directly dismissed was already a lenient gesture from the court, showing them some respect.

According to Zhang Guowei's confession and the statements of the prison officials involved in the trial, the torture and forced confession were all instigated by Vice Minister Weng.

The fact that a senior official from the Ministry of Justice and a skilled interrogator opposed the plan, and was even reprimanded by him, shows that he was also blinded by greed at the time.

"In the afternoon, Chen Zi sent people to Nanjing."

Wei Guangde provided Wei Shiliang with a piece of information, which was actually a precursor to the investigation of Weng Dali.

The Censorate went to Nanjing to inquire about Weng Dali's situation in person, and then reported back truthfully.

If the person confesses directly, the punishment might be lighter; but if they continue to resist, they will definitely be severely punished.

"Then, I'll take my leave first."

Knowing the matter was settled, Wei Shiliang decisively took his leave and left. (End of Chapter)