I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 32 Hai Rui's First Strike

The Ministry of Justice was in charge of all the criminal justice affairs of the Ming Dynasty. It was divided into 13 Qinglisi, which was responsible for the audit of major cases in various places.

The Zhejiang Qingli Division was responsible for investigating major and serious cases in Zhejiang.

On this day, the small court of the Ministry of Justice, which had not been used for a long time, was crowded with people, and clerks from various departments were pointing and talking over there.

"What happened?"

"Zhejiang Qinglisi Director Hai Rui Hai Director, will you interrogate the prisoner today?"

"To interrogate the prisoner?"

The officials were shocked.

The Thirteenth Office of the Imperial Court investigated major and serious cases, usually focusing on file information, and rarely sent criminals from the crime scene to the capital for interrogation.

Too much trouble.

Not to mention the long journey, now that the criminal has been brought here, don’t the plaintiff or the victim want to be released?

Where are the witnesses?
Some cases involve a wide range of issues, with more than a dozen witnesses, all of whom have to be sent to the capital. This is not only costly, but also troublesome and inconvenient to the people.

Therefore, for decades, except for major cases in Shuntian Prefecture and the Tongtian Qin case, the Ministry of Justice rarely tried prisoners in court.

"I heard that the people on trial are relatives of Lord Xu."

"Relatives of Lord Xu?!"

The officials clicked their tongues.

Hai Zhushi, who had just taken office for a few months, was so bold that he directly tried Xu Gelao's relatives in the court of the Ministry of Justice. When this news spread, it was undoubtedly a thunderbolt in the ground of the capital.

"mighty!"

"quiet!"

The runners from the Ministry of Justice who were urgently called in to support the situation stood on both sides, knocking on the ground with water and fire sticks, making threatening noises.

Hai Rui, who was sitting behind the desk, was short and dark, with an angular face and sharp eyes, appearing extremely cold.

He wore a black gauze hat and a green official robe with a egret patch.

A slam of the gavel.

"Someone, bring the prisoner!"

"Bring people to capture Gu Maoyan and Gu Zongsi."

The orders were passed down one after another, echoing in the tall and spacious hall of the yamen, fully demonstrating the majesty of the highest criminal justice office in the Ming Dynasty.

Soon, a father and son were brought up.

The father was in his forties and the son was in his twenties. They both wore clean prison uniforms and their hair was tied up with a net scarf, not messy at all. Their faces were rosy and they looked energetic, and they seemed to be doing well in the Ministry of Justice Prison.

The two men were brought to the court by the bailiffs and knelt down.

"Who is kneeling?" Hai Rui asked according to the procedure.

"Qingpu former student Gu Maoyan/Qingpu former student Gu Zongsi, pays homage to the chief."

"Do you know why these two people were interrogated today?"

The Gu father and son lowered their heads, looked at each other secretly, and replied respectfully: "Student does not know."

"In the second month of the spring of the 40th year of the Jiajing reign, Gu Zongsi went out for an outing and happened to meet the daughter of Wang Xiucai, a fellow villager. He was attracted by her beauty and took the opportunity to flirt with her. After being scolded, he still chased her home.

After being scolded by Wang Xiucai, he became angry and drew his fists. He led two servants to beat and kick Wang Xiucai, injuring him. He stayed in bed for more than ten days and died of depression.

Gu Zongsi did not repent, and took the opportunity to bully Wang's widowed mother and daughter, forcibly abducted Wang's daughter into his house and raped her, forcing Wang Xiucai's wife to hang herself in anger, and Wang's daughter jumped into a well out of shame.

The Wang family was filled with righteous indignation, and they went to Qingpu County and Songjiang Prefecture to file a complaint. However, Gu Maoyan heard that his son Gu Zongsi had committed a heinous crime, and instead of trying to teach him and make amends, he went around scheming and bribed Qingpu County, Songjiang Prefecture, and Nanzhili. "

Hai Rui had a heavy accent, and the official language he spoke was a little confusing, but he spoke each word with great force and intimidation.

"Gu Maoyan, you are quite capable. You have colluded with people from all levels up to now, and you have made it so difficult to solve such a simple family tragedy in the first, second and third trials. Now I am bringing you to the Ministry of Justice to see how you disregard the laws of the Ming Dynasty and justice!"

Gu Maoyan gritted his teeth and hardened his heart. Now that things had come to this, there was no point in giving in. He might as well stand firm to the end.

"Master Hai allowed the students to plead their case. They are definitely members of the Wang family. They were unable to compete with my Gu family for the best paddy fields, so they took the opportunity to make false accusations. It was obvious that Wang Xiucai's family was killed by Japanese pirates, but they insisted on framing me. It is really unfair!" "Killed by Japanese pirates!" Hai Rui sneered and slammed the gavel. "In the 40th year of Jiajing, the Minister of War and Governor-General of Zhili and Zhejiang, Hu Butang, launched a series of military operations, and Japanese pirates disappeared in southern Zhili and northern Zhejiang. How could they be killed by Japanese pirates!"

"The student was wrong. It was bandits and pirates who killed him." Gu Maoyan quickly changed his words.

"You still dare to quibble after all this. Do you really think that the Ministry of Justice of our Ming Dynasty is a place where you can run a shabby business? Come here quickly. If you still dare to quibble and struggle, I will definitely let you see the power of the king's law!"

Gu Maoyan lowered his head, calculating the interests at stake in his mind.

Gu Zongsi, who was kneeling beside him, raised his head and said loudly: "My cousin is Lord Xu!"

Hai Rui's eyes lit up, he was waiting for you to say this.

"Oh, your uncle is Lord Xu? Can you explain in detail?"

"My father calls Xu Ge Lao's mother, the Xu family's madam, aunt, dear aunt. My father is Xu Ge Lao's cousin, so Xu Ge Lao is of course my cousin uncle."

Gu Zongsi was afraid that Hai Rui didn't understand, so he explained it very clearly. Gu Maoyan, who was standing next to him, couldn't stop him even though he was blinded by blinking, so he had to speak in the end.

"Asshole, the lobby of the Ministry of Justice is not the place for you to talk nonsense!"

Gu Zongsi straightened his neck and said, "Dad, am I wrong? Lord Xu is your cousin, and my uncle, that's right. I dare to say this wherever I go."

Gu Maoyan was so angry that his face turned blue. Why did he give birth to such an ignorant thing?

Everyone knows that my family is relatives of Lord Xu, so why do we have to say it out loud?
Some things don't need to be said, because saying them out may cause big trouble.

Hai Rui sneered, "No wonder you two are so bold, it turns out you have someone to rely on! A prince who breaks the law is guilty of the same crime as a commoner! Not to mention that he is a relative of Lord Xu, even if Lord Xu himself breaks the law, I will report him!
Since you are ignorant of your guilt, come and torture me!"

How can you use torture just like that?
Gu Maoyan groaned inwardly, he was doomed, he met a stubborn person who would not listen to anyone and might even be his cousin’s political enemy!

You evil boy, I told you to stop shouting, but now you have broken the window paper, and now they have nothing to worry about!
The bailiffs looked at each other and didn't dare to take any action.

Hai Rui slammed the gavel and shouted, "Why don't you do it now?"

It is better for the county magistrate to take charge now!

Lord Xu is too far away and is not as useful as Lord Hai who is right in front of us.

If I don't fight these two today, I will be in trouble.

The bailiffs had no choice but to take action. They pinned the Gu father and son to the ground and beat them with sticks.

It looks fierce, but in fact it is just thunder and light rain, and it doesn't hurt when the board hits the flesh.

But Gu Zongsi had never suffered such pain. He cried for his parents when he was only beaten with four or five boards and suffered some injuries.

At the distant gate, an official in a scarlet robe watched all this silently. He saw that after being beaten with thirty sticks, the Gu father and son finally realized the reality and confessed their guilt with tears and snot.

He turned around, rolled up his sleeves and left.

He is Huang Guangsheng, who was recommended by Xu Jie and came to Beijing last month from the position of Minister of the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing to fill the vacancy of Minister of the Ministry of Justice.

In the afternoon, Zhu Yijun received detailed information at the coordination office near Xi'an Gate.

When Xu Wei was serving as Hu Zongxian's aide in Zhejiang, he had conversations with Hai Rui and knew his temperament.

"Hai Rui was a man who loved the poor people the most and hated corrupt officials the most. Whenever there was a dispute between the gentry and the people, he would always stand on the side of the people. He was kind and courteous to the people, but harsh and strict to the gentry, and could not tell right from wrong. This was something that was criticized a lot."

He has an overflowing sense of justice and a strong sympathy for the weak.

Zhu Yijun would not comment on Hai Rui for the time being. He could only assess the consequences of this incident.

"Hai Rui made Gu and his son plead guilty and sign a pledge in the lobby of the Ministry of Justice. It depends on how the newly appointed Minister of Justice Huang Guangsheng and Lord Xu handle this matter."

Zhao Zhenji spoke up: "Xu Shaohu is very careful about his reputation and has always been very proud. If Gu Zongsi reveals his relationship with the Gu family in public in court, Xu Shaohu will definitely distance himself from it."

Take care of your feathers?

Good face?
How did Lord Xu, who was so careful about his reputation and face, manage to enable the Xu family to own 240,000 acres (Note 1) of fertile land in just 20 to 30 years?

Although the Xu family was a family of poetry and literature, Xu Jie's father was only a county magistrate, and his grandfather had never been an official.

The Xu family suddenly became wealthy under Xu Jie.

Two hundred and forty thousand acres of fertile land, what a proud Lord Xu!
Note 1: Some historical books say that the Xu family owned 450,000 acres, while others say 240,000 acres. We will use the lower number here, but it is still a lot.

(End of this chapter)