prosperous age

With Emperor Wanli's approval, Wei Guangde's next task was simple.

After explaining the situation to Zhang Siwei and Shen Shixing and showing them the emperor's calligraphy, neither of them objected.

Meanwhile, the cabinet's messenger arrived at the Ministry of Justice to invite Zeng Shengwu and the officials involved in the case to come, and then exaggerated the emperor's intentions.

After reading the emperor's handwritten comments, Zeng Shengwu could only sigh helplessly in his heart.

He knew the influence of the cabinet ministers on the emperor, but he didn't expect Wei Guangde to actually succeed in provoking the emperor's anger through this cruel torture.

In particular, the imperial edict also placed restrictions on the application of the torture of slow slicing. Just like Wei Guangde's proposal, it could not be used on those who committed heinous crimes unless there was an ironclad case with complete witness testimony and physical evidence.

As for the other three, their expressions varied, but by this point, they had come to understand.

"Zhang Guowei was sentenced to border service, and although he was pardoned, he was not, Minister Weng."

On the spot, the Dali Temple officials mentioned the punishment for the two men. However, when it came to Weng Dali, they still had some reservations. After all, he was a second-rank official of the imperial court, and they really couldn't bring themselves to say how he should be punished for dereliction of duty.

This is a matter of shared prosperity and shared ruin. This time, the derelict officials have been severely punished, but what about the future? What if it happens to you or your relatives and friends?

A double-edged sword, absolutely a double-edged sword.

"His Majesty's imperial decree is strict, but I wonder how the Great Ming Code defines such dereliction of duty by officials?"

Wei Guangde wouldn't say it, everyone was just playing it safe, but he could keep pressing him step by step.

"Those who commit minor offenses will be flogged, while those who commit serious offenses will be beheaded with reprieve."

This is actually easy to understand; serious crimes can even lead to the death penalty.

Zeng Shengwu couldn't stand it any longer and sighed, saying, "Alright, I suggest that Weng Dali be dismissed from his post, stripped of his salary, and removed from his official position."

This is considered a moderate to severe punishment under the regulations for dealing with corrupt officials; the next level would be imprisonment or even exile to the frontier.

In fact, Zeng Shengwu initially thought of dismissal, but seeing the severe punishment imposed by Emperor Wanli, he added the removal of Weng Dali's salary and official title, which was to say that Weng Dali not only lost his official position, but also lost his status as a candidate in the imperial examination.

Hearing Zeng Shengwu's opinion, which was even slightly more radical than his own, Wei Guangde narrowed his eyes, but did not immediately express his opinion. Instead, he looked at Zhang Siwei and Shen Shixing, pondering Zeng Shengwu's plan.

At this point, Zeng Shengwu wasn't really planning anything. He was simply disgusted by the matter. The Ministry of Justice should have been the key department for investigating cases, but instead of trying to find out the truth, it was aiding and abetting the perpetrators and forcing confessions, which he simply couldn't tolerate.

Severely punishing Weng Dali serves as a benchmark for others, letting them know the cost of breaking the law, which is beneficial for rectifying official corruption.

What I fear most is that the standards will be continuously lowered, eventually turning criminal cases into disciplinary issues and dealing with them internally, such as the half-hearted punishments like imperial edicts that are common in the imperial court. In that case, the officialdom will only become more and more corrupt.

Without strict laws and severe punishments to restrain them, officials really dare to do anything.

"Won't it be too heavy?"

The speaker was Shen Shixing, who knew that Wei Guangde had only mentioned dismissal from office, which was a bit too much.

"His Majesty decreed a severe punishment, not exile, which is not even considered severe."

Zeng Shengwu immediately explained, and finally sighed, "In the end, it was Lord Weng who caused the innocent people to die unjustly. Human life is of paramount importance, and the Great Ming Code has long had provisions on this matter."

In fact, if it were a low-ranking official, he could be imprisoned, exiled, or even beheaded. However, Weng Dali was a second-rank official in the imperial court, and under the influence of the view that "the law does not apply to officials," he was ultimately not prosecuted as a criminal.

The ethical concept of "human life is of utmost importance" is fully reflected in legal codes such as the Tang Code and the Ming Code.

The traditional Chinese concept of "human life is of paramount importance," based on the ideas of "harmony between heaven and humanity" and "interaction between heaven and humanity," has certain feudal and superstitious elements.

The ancient systems of death penalty review, prisoner registration, and autumn/winter execution, which upheld the concept of "human life is of paramount importance," were also subject to the monarchical autocracy.

Although the death sentence was initially approved by the Wanli Emperor, he was ultimately misled by Weng Dali.

This is where the Wanli Emperor's initial anger stemmed from, that his subordinates dared to be so audacious, even daring to deceive the emperor.

In the education Emperor Wanli received, deceiving the emperor was a heinous crime, akin to manipulating the emperor at will, which was absolutely unacceptable to him, who had just assumed power.

It was Zhang Juzheng's education on being a "benevolent ruler" that prevented him from having the intention to kill them; otherwise, the emperor would probably have directly sentenced the two to death.

However, from then on, the Wanli Emperor became more rigorous in applying the death penalty and rarely approved it.

"Let's do it this way. Let's announce it to the world sooner rather than later, so that we don't have to wait until the people are in a state of public resentment before taking action."

Wei Guangde finally spoke. If he hadn't spoken, no one else would have either. Everyone just stood there dumbfounded like clay statues, which was really pointless.

“It is feasible. Since yesterday, I have heard that the news has spread throughout the city, and the people who are dissatisfied with the court are widely aware of it.”

Even as the jailer said, Lord Weng was truly guilty beyond redemption, deserving of a hundred deaths.

Zhang Siwei also spoke the truth, saying that this was not a simple dereliction of duty, but in fact a fabrication of a wrongful case, while he claimed to be eliminating harm for the people and using the wrongful deaths as a stepping stone for his own advancement.

They say that Weng Dali was derelict in his duties, but that's actually an attempt to exonerate him.

Such people are actually more despicable than murderers.

Upon seeing this, Shen Shixing said no more, but simply nodded slightly in agreement.

Seeing this, the officials from the Court of Judicial Review and the Censorate could only agree, saying that such a handling was "appropriate."

"Go back and submit the formal memorial as soon as possible. The cabinet will draft a proposal and then send it to the Qianqing Palace. His Majesty is waiting for it."

Wei Guangde spoke up.

As Wei Guangde saw Zeng Shengwu off, he said to him, "Sansheng, keep an eye on things now, and make sure it's handed over today."

"Yes."

Zeng Shengwu agreed and led the other three out of the cabinet.

“Once the memorial is submitted, our cabinet should also submit a memorial to apologize.”

Wei Guangde turned to Zhang Siwei and Shen Shixing and said that the documents from the Ministry of Justice at the time were definitely approved by the cabinet, and the cases were not rigorously reviewed, so he also bore some responsibility.

This is what is known as leadership responsibility.

Those who cherish their reputation, or rather, if Weng Dali were stronger, could simply deny everything and keep it from the person on the throne. In fact, they could really turn black into white, the living into the dead, and call a deer a horse.

At that time, everyone will be happy, and no one will be wrong; everyone will be right.

Unfortunately, Weng Dali didn't have that much face.

Zhang Siwei gave Wei Guangde a meaningful look, said nothing, and simply nodded slightly. Shen Shixing hesitated, but ultimately said nothing, which was taken as tacit agreement.

They weren't stupid; they could guess what kind of personal information would be included in this memorial of apology.

In fact, none of the preceding details mattered. What Wei Guangde valued most was this memorial of apology, which prompted him to initiate a self-examination within the Six Ministries and subsequently begin adjusting the officials accordingly.

"The Oda clan has settled down now?"

Wei Guangde was on duty and was reviewing the new intelligence about Japan that Liu Shouyou had sent him.

After defeating Akechi Sekihide in the Battle of Yamazaki, Hideyoshi Hashiba quelled the rebellion.

He had thought that Hideyoshi Hashiba would seize the opportunity to vie for the position of head of the clan and change the Oda clan's surname to Hashiba. However, to his disappointment, after Akechi Sekihide's death, the Oda clan's leaders quickly sat down and held a meeting in Seishu Castle to discuss the issue of Oda's succession.

The meeting resulted in Hideyoshi Hashiba suppressing Katsuie Shibata and becoming the de facto ruler of the Oda clan, with the support of Nagahide Niwa and Tsuneoki Ikeda.

At the Kiyosu Conference, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, with the support of most Oda clan members and retainers, enthroned Oda Nobutada's eldest son, Sanboshi, who was still an infant and later came of age, as the head of the Oda clan. Wei Guangde's question left Liu Shouyou quite embarrassed.

Wei Guangde had given the Embroidered Uniform Guard a mission: to find ways to sow discord and incite infighting within the Oda clan.

Unfortunately, according to intelligence from Japan, the attempt to sow discord was unsuccessful.

Now that a new leader has been chosen and the head of the clan has been determined, internal strife is unlikely to occur in the short term. Even though everyone knows that the Third Master is still an infant, he is essentially a mascot in the eyes of Hideyoshi Hashiba.

On the Ming side, however, there was no time to wait for the Oda clan to potentially split apart.

It's a foregone conclusion that government troops will enter Japan within the next two years.

"Select elite troops to secretly infiltrate Japan and assassinate Toyotomi Hideyoshi."

Wei Guangde suddenly spoke up and ordered Liu Shouyou, "If we can frame Oda Nobuo or Shibata Katsuie, that would be best. But for now, we can only capture the leader first and hope to cause internal strife within the Oda family again."

"Yes, I will arrange it immediately."

Sending assassins to secretly kill Hideyoshi Hashiba is the only way to disrupt the stability of the Oda clan.

If he dies, Shibata Katsuie will inevitably seize power again, and those who originally supported Hashiba Hideyoshi will inevitably retaliate.

August was fast approaching, and the time for the Ming Dynasty to send troops was not far off.

After Liu Shouyou left, Wei Guangde immediately sent someone to invite Zhang Ke to inquire about the Ministry of War's arrangements during this period.

Before long, Zhang Ke entered the chief minister's office, and Lu Bu stood guard at the door.

"This time, the northern army was mainly composed of infantry and cavalry units from Jizhou and Weihaiwei, with Dezhouwei and other garrisons as auxiliary units."

The southern army was mainly composed of Jinshanwei, Zhenhaiwei, and the South China Sea Navy and Land Forces, supplemented by garrisons from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, totaling 63,000 men.

All departments have now arrived at the coast and are familiarizing themselves with the ships.

Zhang Ke began to recount the preparations made by the Ministry of War over the past six months. In fact, it was only in early July that the last garrison was transferred to the coast under the guise of exercises to go out into the ocean with the naval fleet to familiarize themselves with the water and eliminate those officers and soldiers who were seasick.

After all, this voyage would last for several days at sea, which would undoubtedly be deadly for those who are sensitive to sea travel.

The Ministry of War went to great lengths for this eastern expedition.

Of the four major military commands of the Ming Dynasty, three were dispatched, which the Ministry of War considered to be the deployment of their most elite troops.

The Four Great Guards of the Ming Dynasty were military institutions established in the early Ming Dynasty under the strategic background of strengthening the defense of the coastal areas. They consisted of Tianjin Guard, Weihai Guard, Jinshan Guard, and Zhenhai Guard.

In the early Ming Dynasty, in order to deal with the Mongol forces, guard posts were set up on the northern border. At the same time, in order to defend against the invasion of Japanese pirates, four guard posts were set up in the coastal areas with a strength of 5,600 men each, which were under the jurisdiction of the military command.

Tianjin Wei was built in the second year of the Yongle reign. Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty bestowed the name upon it and established the Tianjin Three Guards. Weihai Wei was built in the same year and was supervised by Xu Huizu.

Jinshanwei was built in the nineteenth year of the Hongwu reign. The garrison city had a circumference of twelve li and three hundred steps and was responsible for coastal defense from Baoshan to Zhapu.

Zhenhaiwei was built in the 20th year of the Hongwu reign. The existing ruins have a circumference of 873 zhang, with four gates and a water gate. It retains 1660 parapets, making it the best-preserved of the four garrisons.

The northernmost of the four garrisons was Tianjin Garrison, while the southernmost was Zhenhai Garrison in Fujian. Because they faced the East China Sea directly, they were most vulnerable to attacks by Japanese pirates.

"What about the allocation and training of firearms?"

Wei Guangde continued, "You should know about the intelligence from Japan. The Japanese army has a large number of iron cannons, which are our arquebuses."

A large-scale landing by the army will inevitably lead to a major battle, and it is necessary to quickly disperse the enemy forces with firearms.

However, most of the garrisons and guard posts of our Great Ming Dynasty have no combat record in recent years, and their actual combat capabilities are worrying.

In contrast, Japan seems to have never stopped fighting, and its soldiers are all veterans with rich combat experience.

This necessitates that the soldiers diligently practice firearms techniques in order to defeat the enemy on the battlefield.

"The Ministry of War has already transferred a large amount of gunpowder and firearms from the northern and southern arsenals to Dengzhou and Songjiang for the army to practice with, and they should be able to be deployed for combat as planned."

Zhang Ke quickly added.

Qi Jiguang had already made the point clear: training was only the first step; the most important thing was to use a large amount of gunpowder to train the soldiers.

Okay, so it was basically about spending money to train troops; gunpowder was really expensive.

"Shan Dai, should we have the Embroidered Uniform Guards in Japan secretly purchase the already scarce saltpeter and hide it?"

Zhang Ke suddenly came up with an idea and said it to Wei Guangde.

"Stealing Japanese saltpeter"

This strategy is somewhat flawed, but it's not really a case of undermining the enemy's resources, as Japan has very little saltpeter, making it extremely expensive.

In recent years, Japan has relied on purchasing saltpeter at high prices from foreigners to fight wars, and has also been able to buy small quantities of finished gunpowder.

However, war consumes resources very quickly.

According to previous intelligence from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the major daimyo of Japan actually had very little stock, enough to sustain them for only two or three major battles.

They would often spend lavishly before a battle to purchase the materials needed for gunpowder, mainly saltpeter, which was prepared on the spot.

In fact, gunpowder can indeed be affected by moisture if not stored properly, especially in Japan.

"The gunpowder carried by the government troops should also be stored in a dry place."

Upon realizing this, Wei Guangde immediately reminded Zhang Kedao.

"The Ministry of War has already thought of this."

Don't forget, navies are at sea all year round, and their methods for preserving gunpowder are very effective.

Zhang Ke laughed.

In those days, bullets were not sealed, so the use of firearms was greatly restricted. If the Jiajing Emperor was not very familiar with firearms, by the Wanli Emperor's reign, the Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty was very familiar with them.

Firearms without gunpowder are not even as good as fire sticks.

"Has the map of Japan been completed?"

Wei Guangde asked again.

The Imperial Guards roughly sketched a map of Japan and also sent people to conduct meticulous surveys of places like Iwami.

"The Department of Civil Affairs has completed the survey and mapping and has also made plans for key areas."

Once the government troops establish a foothold, they will force the Japanese to build a city for us; this strategy has already been decided long ago.

Since the Ming Dynasty needed to station troops in Ishimi for an extended period, it naturally had no choice but to build a city to solidify its defenses.

Satoshima Island is easier to defend; the East China Sea Fleet can be stationed there, making it safer than the Iwami area.

"Report on the training of troops monthly, and have Liaodong send generals to Shandong to supervise the military training."

Wei Guangde issued only this one order in the end. At present, the only army in the Ming Dynasty with rich combat experience was the Liaodong Army led by Qi Jiguang.

Only Songjiang Prefecture doesn't need this; with the South China Sea Fleet there, Yu Dayou knows what to do. (End of Chapter)