Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 185 The evidence is irrefutable, all are guilty

After returning to the Commandery, Luo Sigong immediately called his son to the secret room and dispersed the nearby Jinyiwei.

"Take this." Luo Sigong handed the scroll he had obtained from the Southern Study to Luo Yangxing. "Draft promotion orders based on the above information and compile a list. Once the Donglin Party case is concluded, distribute the promotion orders to everyone."

"Promotions. Why am I included?" Luo Yangxing took the scroll and opened it. "Four consecutive promotions!" The moment he saw the contents, a look of surprise crossed his face, but the surprise was short-lived, replaced by confusion. "But why?" Luo Yangxing was well aware that his role in the Donglin case was more than just a sideshow.

"The emperor gave me an errand, and this is one of the rewards," Luo Sigong replied.

"What kind of job can lead to four consecutive promotions?" Luo Yangxing asked.

"Abolish redundant officials and abolish hereditary succession." Luo Sigong said again.

"How much?" Luo Yangxing frowned even more tightly.

"Lay off as many as possible. One person for each position." Luo Sigong's words made Luo Yangxing gasp.

"The families are connected, the relationships are intertwined, and it's hard to untangle them." Luo Yangxing shrank back. "How many people will this offend?"

"It's better than offending the Emperor." Luo Sigong's eyes flashed with a cold knife. "From my observation, the current Emperor is completely different from the previous one. He is both a hero and a tyrant. If we go against his will, I'm afraid we won't even get the fate of the Zheng family. Don't forget how Zou Kaiyun died."

"Can it be changed?" Luo Yangxing's biggest worry was not offending people, but offending people and then getting into trouble.

"I don't know. It should be right to follow the emperor first. The emperor asked the East Office to do something before, and when blood was stained in the end, didn't he remove the East Office to save the day?" Luo Sigong said: "I think. Even if it doesn't work out in the end, the emperor will give us a chance to retreat bravely and won't let us follow in Chao Cuo's footsteps."

"Father, you are wise." Luo Yangxing nodded. Then he asked, "You just mentioned 'one of the rewards'. Besides this four-level promotion, what other favors did the emperor grant you?"

"This involves another matter." Luo Sigong asked without answering. "How much silver is there in the family now?"

"Originally, there were over 100,000, but after the reshuffle of the Imperial Household Department, we gave each eunuch around 10,000 taels of silver. So, at least 70,000 taels should still be there." Even though the Luo family employed an accountant, Luo Yangxing would occasionally inquire about the amount. "Father, why are you asking this? Where else do you need to spend the money?"

"The 70,000 taels of silver were all laundered." Luo Sigong replied.

"I don't understand what you mean." Luo Yangxing asked.

"The emperor not only wants to cut redundancies, but also wants to clear out the unused salaries." Luo Sigong summarized the emperor's intentions.

"This is going to turn the entire Jinyiwei upside down," Luo Yangxing exclaimed. "But the emperor's reforms are really quite pragmatic. He didn't increase salaries, and he even gave raises to every officer who remained. If it were just to clean up the empty payroll, then even if the reform succeeded, it would have been a failure."

Luo Yangxing didn't know what the situation was like in other garrisons, but he was well aware of the income and expenditure of officers at all levels in the five garrisons in Beijing. With the meager salaries the court provided, officers would have to endure hardships if they didn't take up empty pay. The vast majority of people didn't become officials for the sake of hardship.

"But there is actually another problem." Luo Sigong is old but immortal, and his mind is very active.

"what is the problem?"

"In the palace." Luo Sigong said.

"In the palace?" Luo Yangxing seemed to be thinking about something, but he couldn't figure it out for a moment.

"If we exclude the income from the idle salary, how much less money will our family earn every year?" Luo Sigong asked.

"There will always be seven or eight thousand." Luo Yangxing replied.

"If the five thousand-household garrisons in Beijing and the dozens of hundred-household garrisons in the north stopped collecting the empty salaries, our Luo family would lose 7,000 to 8,000 taels of income every year. But just like each garrison cannot collect all the empty salaries within its jurisdiction and has to pay tribute to us, the money we collect cannot be eaten clean either. We have to pay tribute to the eunuchs above us." Luo Sigong said: "So, cutting off the empty salaries of the garrisons will eventually be equivalent to cutting off a source of income for the eunuchs. The salary system reform in the palace may have already started, at least the Silijian should have started it."

"No wonder we have to plan to build the West Factory and make the East Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guard break off ties!" Luo Yangxing suddenly realized.

"Something big is about to happen in the palace," Luo Sigong judged. "Once this is done, we probably won't have to pay tributes to the palace anymore."

"Father, what should we do?" Luo Yangxing asked again.

"Well, let's immediately send letters to the chief officers of the various 100-household offices, asking them to come to the capital to report on their work. Those of us who can take the lead will report to the emperor and gather a group of young men so we can begin clearing out the warehouses."

------

The next morning, at 3:30 AM, just as the sky was getting light, the officials from the Three Judicial Departments and the runners from the Ministry of Justice gathered at Zhao's house near the Berlin Temple in Beijuxianfang.

"Huang Butang, Zhang Zuodu, He Siqing." Wei Zhongxian took the initiative to greet them, a kind smile on his face. "Good morning."

Perhaps Cui Wensheng had left a very bad impression on the judicial officials, so when they saw Wei Zhongxian, the governor of the Western Depot, who had arrived earlier, they felt an inexplicable sense of relief. "Sorry for the long wait, Governor Wei."

"Not long, not long. I've only been here a little while." Wei Zhongxian seemed kind and honest, completely devoid of the aggressiveness he had displayed during his confrontation with Liu Yirong. "I can't bear to think about big things. I didn't sleep well last night, so when I heard the call, I immediately got dressed and came here."

"Has the factory supervisor been in?" He Zongyan asked.

"Look at what you said. Of course not." Wei Zhongxian shook his head and smiled. "The emperor ordered me to act together with the three adults. How dare I disobey?" As he spoke, Wei Zhongxian stretched out his hand and pointed to the Western Factory execution at the door. "But these guys arrived yesterday."

Wei Zhongxian looked at the foreman and, imitating He Zongyan's behavior, asked, "Have you entered?"

"The factory director's order was to surround the area but not enter. So we didn't go in!" Mr. Bai's answer was sonorous and powerful.

"You see, that's it." Wei Zhongxian bowed slightly to He Zongyan.

"Thank you." He Zongyan nodded.

"Knock on the door." Wei Zhongxian ordered the captain.

"Yes!"

Bang, bang, bang. A moment after the door rang, a middle-aged man with sunken eyes and a tired expression walked over and opened the door. "What do you want to do?" the middle-aged man asked. "Who are you?" Wei Zhongxian asked in return.

"Oh! Sir, you captured my father and surrounded my house, but you still don't know who I am?" The middle-aged man laughed bitterly as if mocking himself.

Zhao Qingheng was far less composed than his father. Ever since the Donglin Party case broke, he'd been on edge. After Zhao Nanxing was captured by the Imperial Guard, he'd been in a state of utter panic. Last night, the Imperial Guard agents, who were lurking nearby and carrying out surveillance and special missions, withdrew, and the Western Depot's officers openly surrounded the Zhao residence. Zhao Qingheng spent the entire night in suspense, unable to sleep.

"I only knew that Zhao Nanxing had a son named Zhao Qingheng. Now it seems you're the one." Wei Zhongxian glanced at Zhao Qingheng twice before losing interest in him. "Just to inform you, the traitor Zhao Nanxing committed suicide in the imperial prison out of fear of punishment. We are now searching for evidence at his home."

"What what what!" Zhao Qingheng felt as if he was struck by lightning, and his eyes went dark.

Wei Zhongxian stretched out his hand and waved it forward, giving a cold order: "Charge in. Control everyone. If anyone dares to resist the law violently, regardless of gender, age or status, they will be executed on the spot." Wei Zhongxian did not intend to say it a second time, nor did he need to politely ask Zhao Qingheng for cooperation.

"Yes!" The captain agreed, and then the entire general flag's soldiers immediately rushed into this not-so-big courtyard.

"My Lords, it's safe inside. Please come in." When Wei Zhongxian turned around, his face was filled with that gentle expression again.

"Wait!" Zhao Qingheng held onto the half-open door with both hands, trying hard to support his body that was overwhelmed by fear and sadness.

Although Wei Zhongxian had already crossed the threshold and entered the house, he turned back and said, "Don't force me to kill you."

The three judicial officials had no relationship with Zhao Nanxing and even had some grudges against him, but out of compassion, they still stepped forward to support Zhao Qingheng.

"My lords, did my father really commit suicide?" Zhao Qingheng looked withered, and looked even more vicissitudes of life than the three old men in front of him, whose combined ages were over two hundred years old.

Huang Kezan sighed slightly and said, "We saw it with our own eyes. It was indeed hanging." Although the case would not change anymore, Huang Kezan instinctively refused to use the word "suicide".

Zhang Wenda and He Zongyan did not reply, but nodded regretfully.

"Ah!" Zhao Qingheng collapsed and began to cry out. "Dad!"

Wei Zhongxian was annoyed by what he heard, but because the three adults were sympathetic, he couldn't bring himself to have the noisy guy dragged away. In the end, he just walked towards the depths of the house as if to avoid trouble.

In the courtyard, Zhao Nanxing's wife and concubines, the housekeeper and servants, and Zhao Qingheng's wives and concubines were all under the control of the Western Factory's enforcers. Wei Zhongxian glanced around and saw the only person who piqued his interest was a child who looked only two or three years old. The child was frightened, but because he was being held, he felt safe and didn't cry.

"Could this child be Zhao Nanxing's son?" Wei Zhongxian walked up to the young woman holding the child and asked.

"." The young woman's face was full of fear, she was trembling and dared not speak.

The captain leading the team had already received all the information from the Jinyiwei, so he came over and whispered in Wei Zhongxian's ear, "This is Zhao Nanxing's eldest grandson."

"I see." Wei Zhongxian reached out and rubbed the child's head a few times. "That's what I was saying. How could this old man, who's already seventy, still have a two or three-year-old son? It's almost like seeing a ghost."

The child thought he had seen a ghost. When Wei Zhongxian pinched him like that, he couldn't hold back and started crying loudly.

Wei Zhongxian hated all heartfelt sobbing, except for his own waggle of tail and pleading for mercy. He felt bored and turned away. "Forget stopping children from crying at night. It seems my face can scare children to tears during the day."

Wei Zhongxian first glanced at He Zongyan, who was guarding the courtyard, then at Zhang Wenda and Huang Kezan, who were still ordering Zhao Qingheng to be carried into the house. After making sure no one was looking in his direction, he asked the general, "Is everything in there?" Wei Zhongxian nodded at the growing pile of books and letters.

"Yes. The secret agents of the Imperial Guard have been working quietly for several days and have already stuffed the necessary evidence in. We can find all the evidence by simply clearing out the letters in the study." Bai Zong replied.

"Very good." Wei Zhongxian smiled and nodded at He Zongyan who was looking back at him, without any trace of guilt on his face.

"Are we going to arrest the criminal's family?" Mr. Bai asked again.

"The prisons in the Western Depot don't admit outsiders," Wei Zhongxian said, first scornfully and then enthusiastically. "But the rule of 'father's debts, sons pay; father's guilt, sons shoulder' cannot be broken. After the evidence collection is complete, arrest Zhao Qingheng and bring him to Luo Sigong."

"Yes." Bai Zong replied.

------

It was said that the four yamen were jointly conducting the search, with the three judicial departments supervising the Western Depot. However, in reality, this joint operation was more like the Western Depot carrying out the operation and the Ministry of Justice yamen officers conducting the search and confiscation of property.

Moreover, the items found in the end were not taken away by the Western Factory, but were sent directly to the Ministry of Justice. Then, after the Western Factory withdrew, the Jinyiwei Commandery sent a large number of civil and military officers to the Ministry of Justice with imperial edicts to examine the evidence together with the three judicial departments.

That day, Liu Yirong and Han Yu, unable to withstand the criticism, claimed to be exhausted and submitted a petition for resignation. The emperor's attitude remained unchanged. As a result, Liu and Han, as per custom, temporarily left the cabinet and returned home to await further orders. Ye Xianggao was left alone, and the cabinet completely fell under Shen's control.

Afterwards, Shen, along with Qi Shijiao, Guan Yingzhen and others, mobilized their respective local factions and launched a "remaining brave men pursue the enemy"-style general offensive against the Donglin Party members in the court and in prison, attempting to use this momentum to completely sweep the Donglin Party into the dustbin of history.

The letters and articles copied from the Zhao residence filled several large boxes. The Jinyiwei and the three judicial departments independently investigated and reached their own conclusions. Therefore, even with overtime work, the review of the evidence still lasted for three full days. During this time, the palace remained silent.

It was not until the morning of the fourth day after Zhao's house was raided and Zhao Qingheng was arrested that the joint memorial of the three judicial officials and the memorial signed individually by the Jinyiwei Commandery were presented to the Forbidden City by the Ministry of Public Administration.

The contents of the two memorials were largely identical, both chronicling Zhao Nanxing's interactions with officials imprisoned in the imperial prison, completely avoiding mention of officials currently serving. The only difference was their conclusions.

The three judicial officials still advocated severe punishment of the principal offenders and leniency to the accomplices, as they had done in the previous discussion at the Tea Bureau, in order to demonstrate the emperor's virtue.

As for the Jinyiwei, they still advocated a one-stop service of sentencing, execution and property confiscation as always.

There was no quarrel between the two sides or even between the various factions, because the emperor's judgment came down on the same day.

First, the case was determined to be a case of "villainous gangs," and all those involved were found guilty.

Next came sentencing. Zhao Nanxing, the main culprit and leader of the Donglin Party, committed suicide out of fear of punishment. His body remained unpunished despite his death, and his body was left exposed for a month before burial. His son, Zhao Qingheng, was beheaded, and his entire clan was exiled. Zou Yuanbiao, the main culprit who committed suicide out of fear of punishment, also remained unpunished despite his death, but considering the evidence of his torture, only his son, Zou Deqi, was exiled. Sun Ruyou, the main culprit, should have received the death penalty, but due to his honest confession, he was given a lenient sentence, with only dismissal and exile.

As for the very low-ranking officials who were still imprisoned in the imperial prison, the lightest punishment was to be beaten with a stick in the court and then dismissed from their posts, but their official titles were retained, while the most active ones were sentenced to beating with a stick in the court and then exiled. Compared with Sun Ruyou, they had to receive several more beatings.

(End of this chapter)