I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 822: Thunderous Punishment is Necessary!

Hu Yinglin and three others sat in a private room with four upper and lower bunks facing each other.

The result of the discussion was that Wang Jiaping and Jin Xuezeng were older, so they slept on the two lower bunks, while Hu Yinglin and Wang Shisong were younger, so they slept on the upper bunk.

It takes more than five hours to get from Beijing South Railway Station to Dagu Station. You don’t have to stay overnight, just lie down and rest.

Hearing Zhu Lian's loud and clear voice announcing the big news, Hu Yinglin and Wang Shisong hurriedly got up, went down the stairs, sat on the lower bunk, and surrounded Zhu Lian with Wang Jiaping and Jin Xuezeng.

"Wenqing, tell me quickly, what happened?"

"Haven't you read the latest issue of Ta Kung Pao?"

Ta Kung Pao was a new newspaper founded by Hai Rui after he became Chief Censor and took charge of the Censorate. As the mouthpiece of the Censorate, the newspaper was named after "When great virtue is practiced, the world is shared by all."

From the moment it was established, it attracted the attention of officials all over the world.

This newspaper would often publish cases of severe punishment for corrupt officials, as well as lists of officials at all levels punished by the Censorate.

It is called the List of the Gods.

This means that once an official’s name is on the list, he will most likely be promoted to a high position.

"What major case did the Ta Kung Pao report?"

Zhu Lian was so frightened, it must be no small case.

"A major black jail case broke out in the Henan Provincial Government's Criminal Department, involving the Criminal Department, the Police Department, the Prison Bureau, and the Procuratorate. The Ta Kung Pao said that the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Ministry of Justice formed a joint task force, led by Hai Gong, Wang Shangshu of the Ministry of Justice, and Sun Shuxiao (Sun Piyang), the Left Vice-Chief Censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and went straight to Henan."

Zhu Lian’s words shocked the four of them.

"Duke Hai and Minister Wang of the Ministry of Justice went to Henan together?"

The Chief Censor, Lord Gangfeng, was praised by the Emperor as the Tai'a Sword of the Ming Dynasty.

When corrupt officials heard that they were being targeted by him, their legs would go weak and their hearts would tremble. They would recall all the mistakes they made in their childhood so that they could confess to Hai Qingtian.

The Minister of Justice, Wang Yi'e, was known as the Osprey Governor. He was scheming and resourceful, and was ruthless when it came to killing people.

The combination that all Ming Dynasty officials were most worried about actually formed like a nightmare.

In front of this pair, even Ananda and Kasyapa in front of the Buddha had to honestly explain all their mistakes in asking for personnel changes and strive for lenient treatment!

What on earth did the Criminal Department of Henan Provincial Government do to anger this couple and expel them from the capital?

After hearing the questions raised by Hu Yinglin on behalf of the four people, Zhu Lian replied: "The case is not earth-shattering, but it involves a wide range of aspects. First of all, it involves a long period of time, from the 30th year of Jiajing to the 5th year of Wanli.

Secondly, it involves a wide range of areas, involving more than 20 counties in five counties including Luoyang, Kaifeng, Nanyang, Huaiqing and Guide.

Then there are a lot of people involved. According to preliminary statistics, there are 3,460 victims and 775 officials and personnel involved in the case.”

Wang Jiaping and the other three couldn't help but gasp.

Hu Yinglin blurted out, "How many people will be killed!"

Wang Jiaping, Jin Xueceng, Wang Shisong and Zhu Lian all turned to look at him.

Hu Yuanrui, why is there a hint of eagerness on your face?
But on second thought, they are right. Hai Rui, the Grand Secretary, Chief Censor and Chief Justice of the Dali Temple, and Wang Yi'e, the Grand Secretary and Minister of Justice, are equivalent to the big and small kings of the Ming Dynasty's supervisory and judicial departments.

With their status, they personally led the joint task force out of Beijing and to Henan to supervise the investigation. How many people do you think they have to kill to be worthy of such a move?

Hai Gong led the people from the Censorate to investigate in the front, Wang Yi'e led the people from the Ministry of Justice to arrest people and try the case, then Hai Gong led the people from the Dali Temple to be responsible for interrogation and judgment, and finally Wang Yi'e led the people to be responsible for execution.

The two work together to provide one-stop service.

No matter how many officials are involved in the case, whether it is one thousand or three thousand, we can arrange it clearly for you.

The four of them turned to look at Zhu Lian again, "Wen Qing, tell me quickly, what is this case?"

"Okay." Zhu Lian began to narrate, "The Ta Kung Pao said that this case was jointly exposed by the correspondents of the Xinming News Agency and the reporters of the Ta Kung Pao.
After getting the clues, these correspondents and reporters traveled to more than 20 counties over four months and finally found out the truth. They first compiled a report and submitted it directly to the Ministry of Public Security.

It is said that the emperor was furious after reading it and immediately handed the case over to Lord Hai and Minister Wang for personal supervision.
Duke Hai and Minister Wang first sent people to verify secretly, and then quietly set up a dragnet.

Today's Ta Kung Pao published a public report, indicating that the overall outcome of this case has been decided. All those who were exposed and should be arrested have been brought to justice, waiting for the special investigation team led by Lord Hai and Minister Wang to conduct an in-depth investigation.

Everyone listened to Zhu Lian's story attentively.

"According to reports, a part of the case started in Changge County under Kaifeng County.

A local scholar named Guo, a local gentry, took the lead in establishing the "Bureau of Repentance and Good Deeds". Under the pretext of helping the court share its worries and solving problems for the government, they arrested some "old scoundrels, street scoundrels, and lawless people" who were not worthy of being punished by the law, imprisoned them in one place, hired young and strong men to guard and patrol them day and night, and invited respected people in the village to persuade them to do good deeds.

They even call it a "class for cleansing the mind and changing for the better", saying that imprisoning and improving oneself is to imprison one's body so that his rebellious spirit will be eliminated, and to arouse his conscience so that he will feel remorse.

As time goes by, their rebelliousness will naturally fade away, and they will develop a conscience. Then they can ask their clansmen and families to bail them out and bring them back. From then on, society will be stable and the people will live happily. "

A bureau for cleansing one’s mind and changing one’s ways to be a good person, or a study class?

It also restrains the body and promotes conscience.

This Mr. Guo is truly a genius!
They actually justify their evil deeds of bullying the weak and exploiting their fellow villagers in such a high-sounding way!

They also attended the study classes that were popular during the Wanli New Deal reforms and learned from them in a very serious manner, making them look so fresh and unconventional!
Could it be that Mr. Guo felt deeply regretful that he could not become an official and attend the court's official training classes, so he started to organize training classes for others?
Zhu Lian nodded, "Yes, after in-depth investigation, the correspondents and reporters found that the 'Cleaning Up Hearts and Rehabilitating Good Deeds Bureau' headed by Mr. Guo was actually a private black prison.

They colluded with people from the county government's Finance Bureau and Taxation Bureau, and had the "Cleaning and Reform Bureau" detain and imprison farmers who failed to pay their taxes or failed to pay them on time, on the pretext of other crimes, such as wandering around the village or being unfriendly to their neighbors.

During the day, they were supposedly studying, but in fact they were escorted to the fields and forced to farm for free for the gentry of the Xishan Bureau.

I was locked in a small dark room at night and was only given clear water and porridge every day. I wasn't full but I wasn't starving to death.

The Cleansing Bureau invested money and hired thugs from rural towns to be thugs, who were responsible for guarding and patrolling, and would beat anyone who disobeyed.

As time went on, many of the imprisoned villagers were tortured, and their families lost a strong laborer, making their lives difficult, so they had no choice but to pay taxes.

If one owed three shi of grain, they would release him.

One stone is put into the warehouse, and the remaining two stones are called tuition fees.

One dan was divided among the officials, and another dan was used as the cost of the charity bureau, but in reality most of it was divided among the gentry. The villagers really did not have that much grain, so they borrowed from the gentry at high interest rates.

Many villagers fell ill during this period, but the charity office did not invite doctors or physicians to come and see if they were truly ill or not. If they were truly ill, they would just send them back home.

But after a few days of delay, most of the villagers became sicker and sicker, and finally passed away. A few of them were lucky enough to be cured, but they still owed a lot of money for the medicine. Even if they recovered, they were still worried that they would be arrested by the people from the charity bureau and taken to study again?

The Ta Kung Pao reported that Changge County actually had three reformatory offices. From the first year of the Wanli reign to the fifth year of the Wanli reign, a total of 679 villagers were arrested and sent to study there. Of these, 23 died of illness for no apparent reason, 274 lost their families, and the illegal proceeds were worth 26,750 silver coins.

Hearing this, everyone was speechless. The only sound in the private room was the clanging of iron wheels, which hit everyone's heart like a hammer.

Wang Jiaping's face turned pale, and he asked in a hoarse voice, "Anything else?"

"The Ta Kung Pao said that when these correspondents and reporters were investigating the shady dealings of the Changge County Cleansing Bureau, they also heard that the police department in Ye County, Nanyang Prefecture, had directly taken action and set up a black prison.

The black jail was not located in the county prison, but in Shahe Town, 25 miles north of the county seat.

Those who owed taxes were directly arrested by them. Of course, they would fabricate cases at random, arrest people in the name of investigating cases, and abuse torture instruments just to force the villagers to pay taxes.

It was still the old rule. If one stone of grain was owed, three stones had to be paid. One stone would go into the national treasury, and two stones would be divided among them.

Sometimes, when the excuse of investigating a case was not enough to arrest someone, they would ask thugs to pretend to report the crime and directly point out the debtor as the culprit. Then they would arrest the person with great fanfare. Instead of sending him to the county jail, they would detain him in a dark cell and use lynching to extort money and food from him through torture.

These police officers from the Police Bureau not only helped the county government complete its tax collection tasks, but also enriched themselves. They also fabricated reports of solving a number of major cases and reported them to the province and county in order to seek credit and reward.

According to preliminary statistics, the Ye County Police Bureau began to run a private black jail soon after it was restructured and established in the second year of the Longqing reign. Over the seven years and two magistrates, 517 villagers were detained privately and an estimated 50,000 yuan in money and grain were extorted from them, 21 of whom were killed, 23 were injured or disabled, and 124 were destituted.

The flesh on Jin Xuezeng's face was shaking violently, and his teeth were chattering. "It's shocking, so cruel!"

Wang Jiaping's face turned from ashen to black, and the words he spoke seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth, bringing with them the sound of a cool breeze.

"Are the Henan Provincial Government Secretary, Provincial Procuratorate, and Provincial Governor just sitting there doing nothing?
Several years later, thousands of people were involved, and more than 20 counties were affected, and they knew nothing about it?"

"The Ta Kung Pao said that its correspondents and reporters had found that the governor's office had received reports in the first, second and third years of the Wanli reign.

The Inspection Bureau sent out inspectors to investigate the counties that had been reported.

Among them, fifteen counties including Ye County, Changge, Weishi, Yiyang, and Neixiang were involved in a conspiracy between the prefectures and counties to cover up the case. They simply threw in a few scapegoats and closed the case.

Xinxiang, Tangyin and Tuocheng were investigated, but due to influence from various parties, even the Provincial Secretary and the Provincial Surveillance Department were involved, and the matter was reduced to a small one.

The originally earth-shattering case turned into an ordinary case of dereliction of duty, with only two chief clerks, three police chiefs and more than twenty minions arrested.

The case was also reported to the Cabinet and the Censorate by the Henan Provincial Governor's Office as one of the achievements of the Henan Provincial Governor's Administration in the third year of Wanli's reign.

After hearing what Zhu Lian said, Hu Yinglin couldn't help but shook his head: "Dongquan Gong is so stupid! He has been smart all his life, how could he be deceived by someone at that time!
Now that it has happened, he can’t escape responsibility!”

That’s right, now that the case has come to this point, Shi Xing, as the governor of Henan, cannot escape responsibility.

Wang Jiaping stroked his beard and sighed, "Dongquan Lord, what a pity.

Previously, Henan had seven feudal lords: Zhou, Hui, Tang, Yi, Zheng, Ru, and Chong. There were clans everywhere. There was a saying that "half of the land in Central China belonged to the feudal lords."

There were tens of thousands of clerks, ruffians and gentry in various counties who were attached to the feudal government. They bullied the weak and oppressed the good, and committed all kinds of evil. The people of Henan suffered greatly from them.

During the Longqing period, the emperor, as the crown prince, governed the country, rectified the royal family, reduced the power of the feudal lords, returned millions of acres of land to the people of Henan, and reduced taxes and labor service.

The common people were able to breathe a sigh of relief, but the clerks, ruffians and gentry who had once been accomplices of the evil had their financial resources cut off.

It seems that these people quickly colluded with each other, came up with new tricks, and did evil and act recklessly!
It is indeed time to sweep away all the holes and plow the fields, and punish them with thunder and lightning.

The situation in Henan was complicated, and Lord Dongquan should have known this. He was a well-known capable minister in the court, and the emperor sent him to pacify Henan with high hopes, but he never expected that such a big mess would happen.

Pity! "

The five people sat opposite each other and discussed the major case in Henan, and couldn't help but feel deeply moved.

"Dong dong!"

There was a knock on the door, and Hu Yinglin, who was sitting outside, opened the door.

Shen Mingchen stood at the door.

"Brother Shen, what's the matter?"

"It's almost noon. Lord Mingquan invites everyone to the dining car. First, he wants to invite everyone to have lunch, and second, he has something to tell everyone."

"it is good."

"You five go first. I still need to invite other colleagues."

The five of them walked to the dining car. The three big men Liang Menglong, Gu Yangqian, and Xiao Lin and several colleagues had already taken their seats and were talking in twos and threes.

Seeing them come in, Liang Menglong asked with a smile: "Are you guys gathered together to chat?"

"Yes, Lord Mingquan, we were just talking about a big case."

"Oh, what big case are you talking about?"

"The latest issue of Ta Kung Pao published a major case in Henan."

Everyone immediately quieted down and turned to look at Zhu Lian.

Liang Menglong's eyes flashed, and he stroked his beard and said, "So it's this case. I didn't expect that after several years of the New Deal reform, there would still be such a serious case breaking out."

"Mr. Mingquan also knows about this case?"

"I have read the newspaper."

"Mr. Mingquan, what do you think of this case?"

Everyone turned to look at Liang Menglong again, waiting for him to speak.

(End of this chapter)