Optimus One Pillar of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 30 The Noble Law Enforcer

In the presence of Emperor Jiajing and a group of important officials of the imperial court, enough evidence was revealed that could have led to the confiscation of the family and the annihilation of the clan.And whether the evidence is true or false, and whether the horse is an ordinary horse or a military horse, who has the final say?

So now Xia Yan is frightened. He is no longer as arrogant as he used to be. He looks like Song Jiang kneeling to Song Huizong in the [-] version of "Water Margin", with his butt raised high, his head on the ground, tears and snot in his nose. begging for mercy.

Seeing Xia Yan's doggy look, the emperor and the ministers all had tense faces, pretending to be happy or unhappy.The eunuchs around and the guards at the door all had smiles on their lips.Ma De, God finally opened his eyes today. Old Man Xia was finally punished by God!
Not in the mood to care about the thoughts of the eunuchs and royal guards, Xia Yan was so distraught that he knelt on the ground and defended himself.

However, his sophistry did not bring him the trust and comfort of the emperor and his colleagues.Instead, the important ministers of the court, headed by Yan Song, knelt down one after another and accused Xia Yan of bullying his colleagues, acting arbitrarily in government affairs, criticizing all official documents of the court, and not consulting with other cabinet ministers...

The ministers knelt there and complained in tears about how arrogant Xia Yan was and how he bullied them.Emperor Jiajing's face became more and more ugly as he listened, but Emperor Jiajing was a mature politician, not a fool like Emperor Chongzhen.Otherwise, he would not have been in court for more than 20 years, spending most of his time practicing Taoism every day, and still firmly controlling the power of the country.

So after listening to the accusations of his important ministers and Xia Yan's self-defense, Emperor Jiajing spoke. He said: "I don't believe what the evil slave said that the horses that pull the carts of the chief minister's family are war horses in the army. I don't believe it." Your Excellency, you would be stupid enough to use a war horse to pull a cart. As for your moral integrity? I think the Chief Assistant is indeed at a disadvantage in this regard, and some of his titles are unworthy of you!"

"Let me see it this way. From now on, the imperial court will take away all the titles of the first assistant Xia Yan, demote him from the first assistant to the second assistant, and impose a fine of one year's salary and three months of shut-up thinking. As for today's matter, the evil slave was kidnapped and taken to the market to be exposed in public. He was punished with a hundred lashes and was exiled for three thousand miles. The second assistant, Xia Yan, failed to manage the family well and was jointly and severally responsible. He was ordered to bear all compensation for this incident and wrote a document and posted it in the market to publicly apologize to the people."

"Emperor Shengming"

"Thank you Lord Ron"

As soon as Emperor Jiajing's decree on this matter came out, the ministers called the emperor to be wise. Although Xia Yan was unwilling to do so, he could only accept the decree and thank him.

After dealing with Xia Yan's matter, Emperor Jiajing spoke again about Wang Daoqiu and Shen Lian. Emperor Jiajing praised Shen Lian's integrity, promoted Shen Lian from county magistrate to censor, and asked him to patrol Yansui.As for Wang Daoqiu, because he was just a candidate for the examination, Emperor Jiajing praised him and rewarded him with 30 taels of silver and sent him away.

With a great victory, Wang Daoqiu and Shen Lian walked out of Xiyuan with smiles. Behind them was Xia Yan, who was ordered to go home and think about his past behind closed doors.

After walking out of Xiyuan, facing the people at the door, Shen Lian announced the good news of victory on the spot, which attracted cheers from the people.

And amidst the welcome sound, Wang Daoqiu, who passed through the sycophant society, had another twisted mind.So against his will, he urged the common people to shout into the Xiyuan: "The emperor is wise" and "Thank you, the emperor, for making decisions for the people".

The entrance of Xiyuan is only 400 meters away from the Longevity Palace where Emperor Jiajing lived. Hundreds of men, women and children shouted in unison, and Emperor Jiajing could naturally hear it.And rulers!They do not take the interests of the people seriously, but they still like the praise of the people.Isn't fame and wealth the "name" that is praised by the people?

So Emperor Jiajing was there listening to the praises of the people, with a proud look on his face.In his excitement, Emperor Jiajing said to Lu Fang who was beside him: "Lu Fang, these people have more conscience than the officials in the court. I, the officials of the Ming Dynasty, have many backbones, but not many have conscience, and they are not as good as these people!" Lu Fang, tell the people in Dongchang to keep an eye on the streets more in the future to prevent these people from being bullied again."

"Master has a kind heart."

"Okay, you flatter me again! By the way, Lu Fang, you are in charge of the Supervisor of Ceremonies and supervise the East Factory. Tell me, does Xia Yan have any problems?"

"Yes, Master. Let me tell you back to Master, according to the news reported by the gang of brats in Dongchang, this Xia Yan has been a different person since he was recalled by Master in September last year."

"Well, it seems like he has changed. How has Xia Yan changed? Isn't he still so domineering and arrogant?"

"It's the master. Xia Yan still has that temper. His temper is like a fire. When he gets along with his colleagues and subordinates, if they don't like him, he will criticize them in person. He doesn't care about other people's face at all. Now the courtiers are in front of him. He was silent in front of him, and the cabinet became his only room of speech, while other cabinet ministers became decorations."

To put it bluntly, this word is a bit sensitive, especially for an emperor as evil-minded as Emperor Jiajing.Knowing that Xia Yan was now keeping his word in the cabinet, Emperor Jiajing had some bad thoughts.So he asked Lu Fang again: "Is Xia Yan forming a clique below?"

"I didn't realize that, and I wouldn't even think about it. After all, Xia Yan has such a bad temper, and if you, Long Live Lord, can tolerate him, who else can tolerate him, and who would form a party with him?" "Hahahahaha. Xia Yan is my favorite because of this, without this, Xia Yan should go home and farm. Hahahaha."

Xia Yan is talented, courageous and decisive, and has strong ability to handle government affairs. He can help Emperor Jiajing do all his work.At the same time, Xia Yan has a bad temper and is annoying to others and annoying to dogs. He is destined to be a lonely minister.He was capable and not clique-y, and would not threaten the imperial power. This allowed Jiajing to leave the government affairs to him with peace of mind and practice Taoism with peace of mind.This was also the reason why Xia Yan always contradicted Emperor Jiajing and annoyed Emperor Jiajing, but he could still be the chief assistant.

But a year later, when the private letters between Xia Yan and Zeng Xian, the governor of the three sides, were found by Jin Yiwei, and the relationship between the dignified chief minister of the cabinet and the border generals was proved to be both public and private, then Xia Yan According to Emperor Jiajing, it was a crime worthy of death.After all, as a minister, you have the administrative power of the country and the support of the army, so the emperor is still a fool!

Not to mention Emperor Jiajing's imperial intentions, Wang Daoqiu and Shen Lian finished handling the matters on the people's side, allowing the people to happily go back to their own work.Xia Yan didn't know when he had stood behind them. Xia Yan said, "Master Shen, Mr. Jie Yuanlang, you have done a good job!"

Hearing Xia Yan's voice, Shen Lian and Wang Daoqiu hurriedly turned around. When Shen Lian saw Xia Yan, he said with some regret: "Shen was a Jinshi in the 17th year of Jiajing. Lord Xia at that time was so upright! I remember from afar that I My classmates and I met for a drink in a restaurant after passing the imperial examination. We drank so much that we vowed together that after becoming officials, we must be upright and good officials like Mr. Xia, and serve the people. Clean up the traitors for the imperial court. Eight years later, Shen still remembers the oath made back then, but you, Mr. Xia..."

Having said this, Shen Lian couldn't continue, her eyes were filled with tears.Facing the tears of his fans Shen Lian and his shattered faith, Xia Yan was still strong at this time and scolded sternly: "Ignorant and low-minded people, what do you know? I am devoted to the public, and my character can be revealed by the sun and the moon. This old man is worthy of the conscience of heaven and earth."

Up to now, Xia Yan is still so self-righteous, putting himself on the highest point of morality.This made Wang Daoqiu very unconvinced, so Wang Daoqiu didn't give the old man any face, and directly said: "Shameless old thief, do you still want face?"

"What, what did you call me? Do you dare to scold me?"

"I scold you, Lao Zhi wants to beat you!"

After finishing speaking, Wang Daoqiu went up and grabbed Old Bandit Xia by the collar, and "slapped" two big slaps in the face, which made Old Bandit Xia stare at his eyes.

"You, you, you dare to beat up the important officials of the imperial court, aren't you afraid of the king's law?"

"Wang Fa, old thief, do you still have Wang Fa in your heart?"

"I have been abiding by the law all my life, risking my life and death for the sake of the court's laws and disciplines. How come I don't have the king's law in my heart?"

Xia Yan was annoyed by Wang Daoqiu directly calling him an "old thief", but he was still righteous and felt that he was a moral gentleman.Faced with such an unrepentant man, Wang Daoqiu did not lie to him, but directly stated the facts: "Censor Chen Qixue impeached Cui Yuan and Jinyiwei Commander Lu Bing with the salt law, and the emperor referred the matter to the cabinet for discussion. The two of them In fear, I first offered you Xia Shoufu with three thousand gold, but Xia Shoufu, you paid the emissary and drove those two people out. Later, the two people had no choice but to kneel at the door of your Xia Mansion, lamenting bitterly. Huh, in the end you, Xia Shoufu, let those two go."

"Yan Shifan, the son of Yan Song, the former chief assistant, used his authority in the Ministry of Industry to open up bribery channels and transfer money on behalf of losers. When he passed the money, he allowed himself to be exploited and pocketed. This matter was also reported to upright officials. We collected evidence and brought the case to you, Xia Shoufu. But how did you, Xia Shoufu, handle it at that time? Yan Song and his son knelt in front of you, burst into tears, and you dismissed the matter. Let me ask you, old thief, I am Ming Dynasty Which law stipulates that a corrupt person can be exonerated if he kneels in front of the chief minister of the cabinet and sheds a few tears?"

Wang Daoqiu said two things that everyone in the officialdom knew, and Xia Yan couldn't deny it.Moreover, Xia Yan has been an official for 30 years, and half of the time he has been serving as an official censor. He is very clear about the laws of the Ming Dynasty.

Take the above two things as an example. Although he, Xia Yan, confiscated three thousand gold from Lu Bing and Cui Yuan, and confiscated the money from Yan Song and his son.But he did handle the case illegally, and turned those two serious cases into thin air out of favoritism. No matter how you say it, this is a violation of the law for favoritism.So now that these two cases were brought out by Wang Daoqiu, Xia Yan was speechless and could only turn his head away from Wang Daoqiu.

Xia Yan gave up, but Wang Daoqiu was not ready to let him go, and continued: "It is the law of my dynasty that anyone who embezzles more than 60 taels of ink will be sentenced to death. And the amount of embezzlement of ink by Lu Bing and Yan Shifan is more than 6 taels, right? But for such a big case that could be punished by death a thousand times, the criminal was acquitted by kneeling down and crying in front of the law enforcers. Sir Chief Assistant, you are so law-abiding, and you are so willing to risk your life for the sake of the court's laws."

"And Sir, you are so lenient to criminals, have you ever thought about those honest officials who are willing to take risks in order to collect criminal evidence? After you are lenient to criminals, they and their families will What kind of revenge did you suffer from the criminals? Lord Chief Assistant, do you still have the nerve to say that you have been law-abiding throughout your life and are worthy of the conscience of heaven and earth?"

Indeed, regarding the two matters mentioned above, Xia said that he had bent the law for personal gain in terms of the law; in terms of personal interests, he felt sorry for the officials who bravely reported the matter.Thinking of this, Xia Yan no longer had the shame to stand in front of Wang Daoqiu, and left quickly with his head lowered.

Looking at the back of Xia Yan leaving, Wang Daoqiu shook his head and sighed: What a "noble" law enforcement officer!What's even more sad is that in later generations, there are many bricks and mortar people with the same ancestor as Zhu, who preach that Xia Yan is a good person. Xia Yan once spared Lu Bing and Yan Shifan, but Lu Bing and Yan Shifan later teamed up to kill them. Xia Yan.

Come on, Xia Yan, he is handling the case illegally and bending the law for personal gain, okay?Xia Yan said that if he is right, the corrupt criminal will be exonerated if he kneels and cries in front of the law enforcement officers.So aren’t the officials who have been sentenced for corruption from ancient times to the present very unjustly?Or to put it more profoundly, if Xia Yan is right, then why do humans still make laws?
(End of this chapter)