Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 283: Xie Qian’s two sons were strangled and Hanlin was beheaded!
Minister of Justice Zhao Huang knew that the emperor must have discussed everything with Xie Qian. Now was the time for him to execute Xie Qian's two sons, rather than showing sympathy for the Xie family as a civil servant.

"Return to your majesty!"

"The Great Ming Code states that anyone who secretly goes abroad or goes to sea in violation of the prohibition, and who takes horses and cattle, military supplies, iron goods, copper coins, cloth, fine silk, and silk cotton out of the country to sell or goes to sea, shall be punished with 100 strokes of the cane."

"Those who carry loads or go on backpacks will be demoted one level."

"The goods, ships and cars shall be incorporated into the government."

"Ten percent of the money will be used as a reward for the informant."

"Anyone who takes people and weapons out of the country or into the sea shall be hanged."

"Whoever leaks the truth will be beheaded."

"If the officer or guard who arrested the criminal is involved in the smuggling, or if he knew about it and deliberately let the criminal go, he shall be guilty of the same crime as the criminal."

"If someone fails to notice, his punishment will be reduced by three levels, and the punishment will be limited to 100 strokes of the cane. If he is a soldier, his punishment will be reduced by one level."

"According to the evidence handed over by the Jinyiwei to the Three Law Departments, it can be found that the second son of the Xie family took people and weapons out of the country and went to sea, and also leaked the court's policy on building warships and the price of goods."

"So he should be beheaded!"

Therefore, Zhao Huang determined the sentence according to the Ming Dynasty Law.

He specially recited the contents of the "Great Ming Code" that he had read and written down in advance in court, intending to further emphasize that it was not he who wanted to treat the Xie family in this way, but it was the "Great Ming Code" and ancestral laws that required the killing of the Xie family's son.

When Zhao Huang said this, the court officials were shocked. Many of them looked at Xie Qian and showed him various strange expressions.

Even though Xie Qian already knew the result, he still felt a little nervous and pursed his lips.

Zhu Houcong said: "Since you are the elder of the country, I will reduce your sentence by one level and execute you immediately! Leave your body intact!"

"Your Majesty is benevolent and kind, and we will obey your orders!"

The three judicial officials all bowed their heads.

The court officials also knelt down.

Xie Qian also kowtowed with tears in his eyes and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your grace in sparing our sons' bodies intact!"

"His Majesty!"

But at this moment, Hanlin scholar Liu Pu stood up resolutely and said:
"I think the Qingliu should not be punished!"

"Since ancient times, all virtuous kings have respected scholars and valued Confucianism, and have never punished noble Confucian officials!"

"Even if Lord Xie kidnaps his son and confesses, we cannot use the law to violate etiquette! This is because our dynasty governs the world with etiquette, not law! I ask Your Majesty to revoke the order just now and punish the Minister of Justice Zhao Huang!"

"presumptuous!"

"The Great Ming Code is a law established by Emperor Taizu Gao according to etiquette. If you do not follow it, it will be a violation of etiquette!"

"As for discussing favors, I already have them, but you want me to mess up the state order by doing so!"

Zhu Houcong suddenly slammed the table and stood up, reprimanding him, pointing at Liu Pu and saying, "What are you up to?"

Liu Pu knelt down hurriedly, looking extremely aggrieved, and argued again: "I am loyal to my country. Your Majesty is wise. If you don't respect the upright, how can you talk about respecting them?"

"From what you said, it's natural for Qingliu to kill the king and smuggle?"

"Are you protecting Qingliu or harming Qingliu?"

"If you do this, the country will be in chaos and the country will no longer exist!"

"Qingliu should be a model of self-discipline and courtesy for the world, and should obey the law even more!"

Zhu Houcong said, "As the Grand Minister of Justice just said, according to the Great Ming Law, those who knowingly let the criminal go shall be punished with the same crime as the criminal. Liu Pu knew the law but let the criminal go, which is the same crime as the criminal. He also had the intention of disrupting etiquette, so I will not show him mercy and will execute him immediately!"

Zhu Houcong did not expect that Xie Qiandu took the initiative to apologize and did not dare to rely on his status as the leader of the Qingliu to disrupt the national law. There were actually some Qingliu people who were ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth and insisted on maintaining the privileged status of the entire Qingliu group that was above the law.

He would not forgive easily again, and he also intended to use this attitude to show that people should not think that they can disrupt the country's laws just because they are a clean official.

After all, if a group can disrupt national laws, it means that this group can ignore the imperial power at will.

"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"

The Prime Minister Fei Hong, Grand Secretaries Wang Qiong, Wang Ao, Lin Jun, and Shangshu Zhao Huang all stood up and seconded the motion.

Seeing this, other court officials who had already regarded these people as their leaders also agreed.

Liu Pu opened his mouth wide at this time.

What he didn't expect was that the cabinet ministers all supported the emperor in doing so.

In the entire court, he was the only one striving for the privileges of the Qingliu!
Because the next day was Xie Qian’s birthday, and the day after that was the birthday of Empress Dowager Zhangsheng of the Qing Dynasty.

Therefore, on the third morning, the Ministry of Justice sent people to clean up the execution ground at the West Market Archway, set up two gallows, dispatched an executioner, and selected 500 soldiers to line up around the West Market Archway. Afterwards, the Ministry of Justice selected another 1,000 soldiers to control the road from the Ministry of Justice to the West Market Archway.

Then, the Ministry of Justice selected 500 soldiers to wait in front of the prison gate.

At the same time, the Criminal Department also submitted three requests for leniency as per the usual practice, to show its caution towards the matter of murder.

After Zhu Houcong refused to grant further leniency, the Criminal Department signed the execution document and sent it to the Ministry of Justice.

After receiving the imperial edict, Zhao Huang, the Minister of Justice, sentenced Liu Pu, Xie Zheng and Xie Pi to death by beheading or hanging on their prison cards, and the clerks of the Ministry of Justice covered the prisoner cards with a piece of reed mat.

Inside the dark and damp prison of the Censorate.

Liu Pu, Xie Zheng and Xie Pi were also dressed up. Their hair was glued hard and stuck to their heads, and then tied into a pear-shaped bun.

and……

The two were also each given a bowl of long rest meal and farewell wine.

Although the long rest meal was very rich with meat and vegetables, the farewell wine was also the famous yellow wine in the capital, with a charming aroma.

But the three of them had no appetite and did not drink a single sip of wine.

Because they never thought that they would end up like this, and be executed!

After all, they all came from the Hanlin Academy and regarded themselves as prime ministers, and Xie Zheng and Xie Pi were even descendants of grand secretaries.

In their perception, they should never be punished by any criminal law in their lifetime, and they even have the awareness that everyone in the world should treat them with courtesy.

But at this moment, reality forced them to admit that in the face of imperial power, the Qingliu Prime Minister was nothing.

When the time came, the three men, at the urging of the jailer, bowed in front of the altar, put on shackles, and were pushed out by the jailer.

At that time, the sky outside was clear and the temperature was gradually rising.

After squinting their eyes, the three of them all sighed, and sometimes they couldn't help but shake their heads slightly, and pursed their lips and cried dryly.

After the three men came out, many officials in the Ministry of Justice pointed and talked, and secretly sighed that the laws of the Ming Dynasty were strictly enforced on the Hanlin Qingliu. These Qingliu Confucian officials would not be sentenced to death only when they were suspected of treason.

By the time the three men were escorted to the West Market Archway, people who had heard the news and had come to watch the execution nearby were already weighing them down with quilts.

Firstly, the entertainment in this era was monotonous, but people loved to watch the excitement. Naturally, when a large number of soldiers came to clear the streets, they would know that someone had murdered.

Secondly, the person being dealt with this time was the son of a veteran and a Confucian official, which naturally aroused the interest of many people.

At this time, everyone saw Liu Pu kneeling on the execution ground, while Xie Pi and Xie Zheng were placed on the gallows.

The tall gallows was like the bloody mouth of a giant beast, holding Xie Zheng and Xie Pi in its mouth before it could swallow them.

As the sons of the ruling class and the prime ministers, the two who used to be arrogant and condescending, and never feared the law of the king, seemed particularly vulnerable and insignificant at this moment.

And Liu Pu also seemed particularly helpless.

"There is a criminal from Yuyao, Xie Zheng, formerly a Hanlin scholar and Zhongshu Sheren, whose father is Xie Qian and whose mother is Xu... He smuggled weapons and gunpowder to pirates, and leaked the country's major policies and coastal defense information to pirates. He was sentenced to death according to the law, but was pardoned and the sentence was changed to hanging."

"A prisoner from Yuyao, Xie Pi, was a former Imperial Academy lecturer and Zuo Zanshan. His father was Xie Qian and his mother was Xu... He smuggled weapons and gunpowder to pirates and leaked the country's major policies and coastal defense information to pirates. He was sentenced to death by law, but was pardoned and sentenced to hanging."

"A prisoner from Tai'an, Liu Pu, formerly an editor of the Imperial Academy... a smuggler, shall be executed according to law!"

At this time, the people watching the execution also looked at the prison cards of the three people and read them out.

for a while.

As a result, there were more discussions and everyone was more surprised. Many people were even very happy and laughed heartily under the bright sunshine.

In order to reflect the extraordinary nature of this execution, the Minister of Justice Zhao Huang personally served as the executioner and issued the execution order at three quarters after noon.

Liu Pu's head was chopped off with a snap, and blood splattered in the sunlight, flashing a dazzling luster.

Xie Pi and Xie Zheng's heads gradually rose up with the creaking sound of the ropes being pulled, and then they died. The hands that were grabbing their necks drooped down, like fish strips that had just been hung up.

"it is good!"

"Okay!"

There was soon a burst of cheers from the crowd.

But Xie Qian, who was nearby, felt as if his heart was being torn apart.

He had to admit that his Xie family suffered a terrible defeat during the Jiajing reign. Not only did they lose almost all of their family wealth, but they also lost their two most promising sons!
What made him even more angry was that the ordinary scholars and common people who were watching the execution below did not share his sadness. Instead, they were as happy as if it were New Year!
Only those bureaucrats who were also from the clean stream looked more sad than him.

He asked himself, his Xie family was just engaged in smuggling, how could they have done anything wrong to these ordinary people, but these people were so happy that his two sons were strangled!

Xie Qian naturally felt bad!

(End of this chapter)