Zhu Yuanzhang Returns from Modern Times

Chapter 93 Tyrant! This is a complete tyrant!
Facing the joyful gazes of countless people, Minister of Justice Liu Weiqian had a cold face without a trace of smile.

"You have committed crimes, deceived the emperor, and used empty seals to embezzle money.

The amount of money and grain involved is huge and the duration is extremely long.

This kind of behavior of embezzlement and personal gain is simply outrageous!
According to the law, you will be punished with one hundred strokes of the cane and exiled three thousand miles away!"

Liu Weiqian had a stern face and a voice full of majesty. When he spoke, it seemed to carry the solemnity of a prison.

As soon as he opened his mouth, the local officials who were filled with joy and excitement were stunned.

Each one of them seemed to be cast under a spell of immobilization and turned into a puppet.

What happened? What did you and the others hear?

Surprisingly...surprisingly, one hundred strokes of the cane and three thousand miles of exile?!

Why such a severe punishment?

That’s nearly 1,400 officials!

But they are not the local peasants or ordinary people.

How could the imperial court dare to be so cruel, sentning so many officials to exile three thousand miles away with one stroke of the cane?
What happened to the promise that the law does not punish everyone?

What is the Dog Emperor doing?
Is it time to live?
Want chaos in the world?
Isn’t it just a matter of using blank stamped account books to fool people a little?

Is it necessary to use such a heavy hand?

"Where are Minister Liu and the others? How can this case be judged like this?"

After a moment of silence, someone couldn't help but shout out loud.

They are obviously unwilling to accept such an outcome and want to find someone to back them up.

As soon as these words were spoken, many local tax officials were awakened and looked at Liu Weiqian.

I want Liu Weiqian to give an explanation.

Liu Weiqian's expression remained stern: "The prisoners Liu Xin, Qian Zhong, and Li Fang, as high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Revenue, should have been monitoring local taxation and calculating money and grain.

However, he neglected his duties, colluded with local authorities, accepted bribes and perverted the law, which was extremely bad.

According to the law, he should be sentenced to death by being torn apart by five horses, and the execution has already begun!"

what? !

It was like a bolt of thunder out of the blue. As soon as Liu Weiqian said this, all the local officials were shocked.

Everyone was stunned.

Isn’t it... so exciting?

That’s the Minister of Revenue and the Vice Minister of Revenue!
He was a serious court official and a god-like figure.

Their boss’s boss’s boss!

As a result, they were all executed by the court?
Or is it the cruel punishment of being torn apart by five horses?
This...how can such a thing be so unbelievable?
What a big deal!
Everyone has done this in previous years, and everything has always been peaceful!
Why do you have to take such harsh measures now?

"Local seal officials, who are responsible for supervising local taxation and have a heavy responsibility, have used their seals to stamp blank account books, allowing people to fill in as they please.

The impact was extremely severe and the loss of money and grain was extremely heavy.

According to the law, he should be beheaded!

Arrest them and bring them to the capital, where they will all be executed! If you flee and hide, or resist the imperial arresters, your entire family will be implicated!"

Liu Weiqian continued to speak with a serious expression about the court's decision on how to handle this case.

So that these people will give up.

What? ! ! !

Those who were already immersed in the intense shock brought by the Minister of Revenue and the Vice Minister being torn into pieces by five horses, and who had not yet reacted, were shocked again.

Some people's eyes suddenly widened, and some people's legs went limp and they collapsed to the ground.

Some people feel as if their heart is being tightly grasped, and their heartbeat is about to stop!
Some people's heads were buzzing.

What did they hear?

They actually... actually captured all the local seal officials and beheaded them in the capital?

Isn't this... too exaggerated?
That's nearly 1,400 officials! Just beheading them?!
The emperor is crazy!
The impact and shock this news caused to these people far exceeded the fact that the Minister of Revenue and others were torn into pieces by five horses.

After all, the positions of Minister of Revenue and Vice Minister are too far away for them.

A character that the vast majority of them have come into contact with.

But the situation is different for local seal officials.

The local seal-printing officials were all people they knew.

Many of them even have close personal relationships.

But now, he was directly sentenced to death by the court?

Anyone who dares to escape will have their entire family killed?

This... is too brutal!

It’s too unbelievable!
"Where is Lord Han Guo? Where is Lord Han Guo? What did he say?!"

Amidst the suffocating fear and panic, someone suddenly shouted in a trembling voice.

This awakened many people.

They all looked up and looked towards Liu Weiqian, with countless pleas and hopes in their eyes.

It's like a drowning person grabbing the last straw.

Han Guogong is their last hope.

At the same time, they were all very puzzled. With the Korean Duke around, how could the situation get so bad?

"These penalties were proposed by Han Guogong."

The Minister of Justice Liu Weiqian's expression and tone remained unchanged, but the words he spoke were more painful than the sharpest knife.

Biting colder than the coldest wind!

Not only did they take away the last straw of life for these drowning people, but they also pressed their heads into the water!

These people who were holding on to the last glimmer of hope were all completely stunned.

Many people feel dizzy.

Many people wondered if they had heard it wrong.

This... these extremely cruel and inhumane punishments were actually proposed by the Korean public?

In the past, when he took them to do things, many of them were convinced and willing to obey his orders?

They had the greatest hopes, believing that they would never be abandoned and that they would make every effort to maneuver outside and rescue their Korean prince?
Not only did the Korean prince not do so, but he immediately distanced himself from the matter after the incident and stabbed them in the back???
Is this something a Korean citizen could do?
This...how did things turn out like this?

More people collapsed to the ground, their eyes blank, completely giving up hope and falling into despair.

But there are also many people who, after experiencing shock and despair, suddenly feel relieved.

Originally, they felt that they were very miserable and that the punishment imposed on them by the court was too severe.

But now, after knowing the fate of the Minister of Revenue, the Vice Minister, and many other officials in charge of seals, his mentality changed drastically.

Compared with these people, being beaten with a stick 100 times and exiled 3,000 miles away didn't seem so unacceptable to them.

At least there is a chance of survival...

Sure enough, happiness comes from comparison.

After Liu Weiqian announced the crimes of these people in public, he ignored their reactions.

The Ministry of Justice was soon arranged to carry out the execution.

Because there were too many people involved in the case, and the matter was extremely serious, Zhu Yuanzhang intended to establish his authority and severely intimidate corrupt officials.

Therefore, the Jinyiwei did not completely abandon their responsibility.

Instead, he asked the Embroidered Uniform Guard to assist the Ministry of Justice.

Of course, although it was called assistance, in reality the Jinyiwei monitored the Ministry of Justice's work throughout the process.

To prevent the Ministry of Justice from giving lenient sentences and some people from secretly abusing their power for personal gain and perverting the law, and from doing things like replacing one thing with another and covering up the truth.

This practice made people like Liu Weiqian, the Minister of Justice, very unhappy. They felt uncomfortable doing their work under surveillance.

But at this critical moment, I dare not say anything more.

The execution can only be carried out meticulously without any leniency.

That is why, after being beaten with the cane 100 times, 637 people could not withstand it and died on the spot.

More than one hundred people died in the three days after the execution.

The rest were just recuperated for a while, and after their injuries were alleviated, they were escorted to remote and wild areas.

There will be even fewer people who can successfully reach the destination and survive...

……

"Tyrant! This is a tyrant! Even Jie and Zhou are not as cruel as him!"

"What a shame! What a shame!
A high-ranking official of the imperial court was sentenced to death without going through a trial by the officials!

Then he tortured her by being torn apart by five horses in the street!
Being surrounded and cheered by countless untouchables, completely undignified, is truly a great shame and humiliation!"

"Haven't you heard that punishments are not imposed on scholars and officials?

These important officials of the imperial court have devoted their whole lives and energy to the country, but now they have committed only a small mistake and are being killed directly, using such extreme punishment.

What kind of system is this?
Don’t you know that these senior officials represent the face of the imperial court?
What's the difference between this and slapping yourself in the face?
How dignified! "

"Heaven is so blind that it allowed such a tyrant to ascend the throne! This is truly a disaster for China and a catastrophe for all mankind!"

In the capital, scholars gathered in some houses to talk about what had happened in recent days. They could not help but feel indignant and burst into tears.

I just feel that the sky is blind and the world is unfair.

It's really not okay for a beggar to become an emperor, he will just kill, kill, kill.

These scholars of noble status did not receive the respect they deserved.

The dog emperor doesn’t treat people as human beings at all!

Even though he became a high-ranking official, the dog emperor still showed no mercy and would start a war over the slightest mistake.

Killing officials is like killing pigs and dogs!

How could such a tyrant become the emperor?

And this is a Han Chinese emperor!

When the Yuan Lord was alive, he was not so cruel and looked down on scholars!

How great would it be if the Yuan Lord were still here?

Given our status and position, we must be living a very carefree life and have everything we want.

You can do whatever you want.

Why are you so nervous?
What is the purpose of studying? Isn't it just for fame, fortune and status?

As a result, after studying hard and finally becoming an official, he still has to live such a miserable life.

It is really annoying that you will be punished like this just for taking some money that you deserve!
Even though you are an official, you still have to be careful in everything and can't do anything. You receive such a low salary and do more work than a donkey. Isn't it a waste of time to read this book?

Wouldn’t it be a waste of time to be an official?

"Everyone, stop cursing. What's the point of cursing or crying so much?

Could it be that you can really scold and cry the tyrant to death?"

Someone raised his voice, drowning out the rest of the voices.

"Brother Zhongde, do you have any good ideas? Is there any way to get rid of this tyrant?"

Someone wiped away his tears and looked at this person and asked.

Hearing this, the man shook his head and said, “I would like to, but the current tyrant controls a large army, acts cruelly, kills people at will, and is extremely brutal.

We have no soldiers or horses, so how can we get rid of them?
If we use force, isn't that using our own weaknesses to attack the enemy's strengths?"

After saying this, he suddenly lowered his voice and said mysteriously to everyone: "To deal with such a tyrant, we must naturally play to our strengths and avoid our weaknesses.

Do it the way we do best.”

After hearing this person's words, some people frowned and thought, while others already had the answer.

"Brother Zhongde, do you mean... using a pen?"

“Yes, with a pen!”

The person who spoke nodded vigorously with a sneer on his face.

"When it comes to violence, we can't compete with the Dog Emperor.

But when it comes to starting to write, it’s a different story.

We don't need to do anything else, just record what happened this time truthfully and find an opportunity to spread it in the future.

It will surely make people realize the cruelty of tyrants.

Let countless people call him a tyrant, a cruel tyrant.

It would be best to let many common people know about the brutal things done by tyrants.

Doesn’t the dog tyrant always say that he wants to be nice to the peasants?
Don’t you want to praise those peasants to the sky recently?

Then let’s find a way to let these untouchables see the emperor’s true face.

Let these untouchables come and fiercely curse the dog tyrant! "

After hearing what this person said, the others thought about it for a while, then nodded one after another, with smug and sinister smiles on their faces.

Just think about it, how wonderful it would be for the dog tyrant to be scolded, hated, and resented by the peasants he wanted to support! Especially if the peasants' scolding of the emperor and their attitude towards the tyrant could reach the tyrant's ears and let him know.

That would be even more interesting.

There will definitely be a lot of bloody cuts on the dog tyrant's heart!
The more I think about it, the prouder I feel and the happier I feel.

The next few people are ready to do so.

A moment later, someone came.

This man's name is Liu Sanwu.

When they saw him coming, several people present greeted him one after another.

There is no way, because among these people, Liu Sanwu has the highest official position.

After greeting each other, these people told Liu Sanwu the solution they had just discussed.

With some confidence and expectation.

Especially Zhang Zhongde, who came up with this idea, was full of expectations.

He felt that his proposal would definitely be approved by Liu Sanwu.

After all, this is their best way to fight back at the moment.

"I'm afraid this isn't going to work."

Liu Sanwu shook his head.

"Why not?"

Zhang Zhongde immediately asked back, with nine points of surprise and one point of dissatisfaction.

This was a good idea he had thought about for a long time and thought it was a good idea.

Moreover, it was recently recognized by everyone present.

He thought that if he told this to Liu Sanwu, who was of higher status, he would definitely get Liu Sanwu's praise.

Who would have thought that after hearing this, Liu Sanwu didn't even think twice and directly rejected his proposal!

"check it out."

Liu Sanwu naturally heard the dissatisfaction in Zhang Zhongde's tone, but he was not in the mood to argue with him at this time.

He took something out of his sleeve and stuffed it into Zhang Zhongde's hand.

Zhang Zhongde subconsciously looked down and found that it was the latest issue of the Daming Daily.

"Don't they only release a new issue every seven days? It's only been three days since the last issue, how come there's already a new one?"

He asked doubtfully.

As soon as he opened his mouth, I knew that he had become a loyal reader of the Daming Daily.

In fact, not only Zhang Zhongde, but also several other people in the room were loyal readers of the Daming Daily.

I will never miss any issue of the Daming Daily.

It is true that this daily newspaper, which is similar to a court gazette but is quite different from it, published an extremely wonderful novel written by a man named Shi Naian.

The characters are vivid and the plot is gripping.

The key is that what is written is about rebellion!

Although it was written in the Song Dynasty, reading this kind of book at a time when the Ming Dynasty had only been established for eight years and the Yuan Dynasty had only been driven out for five years, is bound to make people think a lot.

Feeling exciting.

This novel is of extremely high quality and is so addictive.

Although this guy is not a human being, he always stops writing at the most exciting part, which causes countless people to scold him.

But it is undeniable that these methods commonly used by storytellers are indeed effective.

Make people want to stop.

Many people who criticize Shi Naian are counting the days, waiting for the publication of the Daming Daily, which is clearly called a daily newspaper but only publishes one edition every seven days.

After buying the latest daily newspaper, I would first turn to the last page to read the novels published there.

After finishing reading it, he recalled the plot of the novel, cursed Shi Nai'an for being a bad son, and turned back to read the rest of the content in the newspaper.

Luo Guanzhong was well aware of this situation.

His favorite thing to do now is to go to a busy teahouse on the day when a new newspaper is published, find an empty corner, order a pot of the cheapest tea, and drink it slowly.

Listen carefully to the reactions of those waiting to hear the latest novel in the daily newspaper.

The happiest thing was hearing those people cursing Shi Nai'an for being a bad son after listening to the latest chapter.

It always keeps people in suspense.

Every time this happened, he would happily drink two cups of tea.

This cheapest tea, accompanied by the cursing of these people, is so delicious that it leaves a lasting impression when you drink it.

After all, the one being scolded was Shi Nai'an, his teacher, not himself, Luo Guanzhong.

Of course, Luo Guanzhong was a man who respected his teachers.

The most fundamental reason why the more these people scolded him, the happier he felt was naturally not because he liked to hear the old man being scolded.

Rather, it means that what the old man wrote is good and can attract people...

The new thing, the Daming Daily, was so popular, especially among officials, many scholars, and even students studying at the Imperial Academy. In addition to the appeal of the novel, there was another reason.

It is here that some current affairs and other related things will be printed.

And many people know that this thing was done by a propaganda office specially set up by the emperor.

You can see a lot of useful things from this.

Many people who want to make progress will naturally not miss it.

Zhang Zhongde took the Daming Daily, opened it, and subconsciously turned to the last page.

He stopped halfway and turned back to the front to read the content about current affairs.

He knew that Liu Sanwu handed him the newspaper at this moment not for him to read the novel.

There must be some shocking news in the current affairs section.

"Shocking! Senior officials from the Ministry of Revenue colluded with local tax officials to falsify accounts!"

Just a glance at the enlarged and bold title made Zhang Zhongde's heart shrink.

I didn't even bother to think about the new novel and started reading it quickly.

The rest of the people also gathered around to watch.

After a while, several people finished reading it one after another. It was obvious that they all had a lot to say and were holding back a lot of emotions.

But no one spoke, and for a moment, the atmosphere seemed a little weird.

"Luo Guanzhong deserves to be killed!"

After this strange silence lasted for a while, Zhang Zhongde uttered these murderous words through gritted teeth.

"He really deserves to be killed!"

"He is a subordinate of Zhang Shicheng, and he has come to serve the emperor as a dog!"

"What a good dog!"

After Zhang Zhongde started cursing, the others also started cursing.

With gnashing of teeth and resentment.

The reason is simple. This article introduces the whole story in detail.

In particular, it exposed how local people used empty stamped account books to commit fraud, how they colluded with the Ministry of Revenue to collect more and record less, and how they embezzled and accepted bribes.

It even wrote about the debate between the Minister of Revenue Liu Xin in the court and the emperor's angry rebuke.

Although it uses plain language, it is detailed and concise at the right time, and is written very skillfully, which makes people want to read it.

To sum up the whole article, it can be said in one sentence that these officials, as well as the high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Revenue, should all be killed, and they deserved it.

It was natural for the emperor to deal with them as he was eliminating harm to the people.

If they were not firm in their stance, after reading this article, they would have wanted to stand firmly on the emperor's side, criticize Liu Xin and others, and applaud the fate of Liu Xin and others!

These people have higher status and know more information. They understand that in the Propaganda Department, Luo Guanzhong is the most capable propaganda officer.

All the key matters were handled by Luo Guanzhong himself.

This matter is so serious, and the article is written so skillfully, it must have been written by Luo Guanzhong.

That's why they would curse Luo Guanzhong by name at this time.

Zhang Zhongde also understood why Liu Sanwu rejected his proposal without even thinking about it.

With this straightforward, yet inflammatory and easy-to-spread article, coupled with the terrifying sales volume of more than 30,000 copies per issue of the Daming Daily.

Coupled with the sensational impact caused by the emperor's major case this time.

The dog tyrant will certainly use various means to add fuel to the fire, so that the newspaper can spread further and let more people know about it.

This article will definitely go viral!
Integrity-minded people like Liu Xin who work for the country will inevitably be labeled as treacherous and will be unable to turn things around.

Faced with the overwhelming momentum and overwhelming force of the Daming Daily, they were completely powerless to fight back against what they had originally planned to do secretly!
Like a joke.

In this situation, what else can they do except to curse Luo Guanzhong with gritted teeth and wish they could tear him to pieces?
Nothing can be done!
"You dog tyrant, no wonder you suddenly wanted to start this damned Ming Daily. So this is what you're up to!"

After scolding Luo Guanzhong, Zhang Zhongde suddenly started scolding the emperor.

Moreover, he was even more angry than when he scolded Luo Guanzhong.

Originally, he and many others just felt that the emergence of the Daming Daily was just a novelty.

I soon realized that this was a very good thing.

Not only is the novel interesting to read, but the current affairs and other things in it are also very good, allowing people to grasp the country's developments on many issues in a timely manner.

But it was not until now that he fully realized the emperor's sinister intention in establishing the Ming Daily!
This thing that they pursued so much was actually aimed at competing for the right to speak among their many scholars!

In the past, the emperor’s words did not count as to what many things were like or what the truth of the matter was.

What these scholars say counts.

Even though the dog emperor didn't follow martial ethics last year and found an excuse to kill Qingqiuzi (Gao Qi's nickname), it only made the surface look a little better, and it was still useless inside.

They also feel that the right to speak should naturally be in their hands.

Now that he had really encountered something that concerned him, he wanted to repeat his old tricks and distort the facts, and then he suddenly woke up.

The Daming Daily, which used to be very popular among them, actually harbored such evil intentions from the dog emperor!
The news of the Ming Dynasty newspaper left them at a loss as to what to do and unable to resist!
Just like that, without them even noticing, it was snatched away from them by a convenient means!

In the past, when they had the right to speak and could say whatever they wanted about a matter, they did not feel how good it felt to have the right to speak.

But when they really needed it and this power was taken away by someone else, they finally realized how much they had lost.

How important is this thing that they used to take for granted and think should be in their hands!
The dog emperor really has ulterior motives and is scheming everywhere!

The others also reacted one after another. Some people cursed the emperor for being insidious, some remained silent, and some said that they must find a way to make the emperor stop the Daming Daily, which was harming the country and the people!

Things like this don't deserve to exist.

Liu Sanwu waited here for a while, and seeing that everyone was still talking, he turned around and left without saying anything.

This action immediately quieted everyone down.

Zhang Zhongde was quick-witted and, since he was most familiar with Liu Sanwu, he reached out and grabbed Liu Sanwu.

"Brother Sanwu, where are you going?"

Liu Sanwu shook his head and said, "There's no point in staying here any longer. Isn't this what the Emperor wanted by developing the Daming Daily to this extent?

But you say that you want the emperor to abolish daily newspapers. Is this possible?

Instead of listening to nonsense here, it is better to go back and do something practical."

Liu Sanwu's words made the atmosphere in the room even quieter.

Some people are secretly upset, while others are alert.

"Then... Brother Sanwu, what do you think we should do?"

Zhang Zhongde hesitated for a moment and asked sincerely.

The others also turned their eyes to Liu Sanwu.

"Of course, we will try every possible means to get the emperor to restore the imperial examination system!"

Liu Sanwu's answer was firm and decisive.

"The imperial examination is the foundation for us scholars.

Nowadays, why do scholars like us have no loud voice in the court and why do we not have a high status?
It was not just because the country had just been founded and the dukes and marquises had many military achievements, but also because the emperor was rude and barbaric and did not respect scholars.

The most important thing was that the emperor stopped the imperial examination, which resulted in a large number of talented scholars being unable to pass the examination and enter the court normally.

There are too few scholars in the court.

The only way to change this situation is to restore the imperial examination system.

In this way, in as little as ten years or as long as twenty years, the huge gap between civil and military officials will be greatly narrowed, eliminated, and even surpass the military generals!

By then, we may be able to control the Daming Daily!"

Hearing what Liu Sanwu said, everyone was shocked.

……

"Ascend to the throne, our Ming Dynasty is about to face disaster!"

In the Wuying Hall, Liu Bowen, who had not entered the palace for a long time, looked at Zhu Yuanzhang with a serious face and said.

(End of this chapter)