Dream of the Red Chamber: Start by gaining Zhao Yun's martial prowess, and be ennobled in a sin

Inside the main hall, as Emperor Jingsheng roared his final words, most of the officials fell silent, heads bowed, not daring to look their emperor in the eye.

When the funds were initially donated, the Grand Secretary and cabinet ministers donated 500 taels, the six ministries and nine ministers donated 300 taels, and so on down to the next rank: 100 taels, 50 taels, 20 taels, 10 taels, 5 taels...

The reason for donating so little is, on the one hand, to demonstrate integrity. Unlike military officials, civil officials have family businesses passed down from their ancestors, so they cannot simply donate thousands or tens of thousands of taels at once.

More importantly, the Han Dynasty was already on the verge of collapse.

Many officials in the capital were busy accumulating wealth, waiting to flee south to avoid disaster or to offer their services to the new dynasty. They were all building up their fortunes and naturally wouldn't spend their money on the sinking ship that was the Han Dynasty.

Even Wu Xun, though wealthy, didn't donate much at the time; otherwise, thousands of officials wouldn't have only managed to raise less than 200,000 taels.

After a long silence, Emperor Jingsheng took a deep breath and said decisively in a cold voice:

"Grand Secretary Fang Congzhe and his associates have received countless favors from the Emperor, yet they show no gratitude. Instead, they embezzle public funds, pervert the law, deceive the Emperor, and even plot treason. They are truly heartless, disloyal, and wicked, committing heinous crimes!"

"Issue the imperial decree! Liu Ba Nu and the other ringleaders plotted to assassinate important court officials, wreak havoc in the capital, and endanger the nation. Their crimes are the most heinous of the ten crimes, and they are to be executed by slow slicing immediately without delay."

"The Duke of Shanguo's mansion, the Marquis of Pingyuan's mansion, the Fang family, and the four families of Jiangnan, including grandfathers, fathers, sons, grandsons, brothers, and those living together, regardless of surname, uncles, brothers' sons, or whether they are of the same or different registered residence, all aged sixteen and above, regardless of whether they are seriously ill or disabled, shall be beheaded."

"Those under the age of fifteen, as well as their mothers, daughters, wives, concubines, sisters, and the wives and concubines of their sons, shall be given to the families of meritorious officials as slaves, and their property shall be confiscated by the government."

"Fang Congzhe and the officials involved in the case embezzled more than one thousand taels..."

Emperor Jingsheng paused for a moment, his cold and hard face devoid of any smile lines, his gaze sharp as a knife.

He was truly furious about the series of incidents that occurred in Shenjing, including coups, factionalism, assassinations, corruption, and misconduct by officials.

He originally intended to rectify official corruption, but his methods should not be hasty or too harsh; he believed in taking things slowly and gradually.

But what he didn't expect was that his leniency would not be met with understanding and repentance, but rather with a raging public outcry and even more intense and unscrupulous attempts to murder him.

After all that had happened over the past few days, he had come to understand that the Han Dynasty's officialdom had become utterly corrupt.

To truly purify the bureaucracy, words alone are not enough; a large-scale purge is necessary, and a firm resolve is required to rebuild order with iron fist!

No wonder the founding emperor appeared in his dream that the Manchus would eventually conquer the Central Plains and the Han people would perish!

With these parasites around, how could the Han Dynasty not perish?

If it weren't for Zijie, the wise minister who appeared in my dream and won many battles against foreign powers, I'm afraid I would not be far from hanging myself from a crooked tree by now!

Since they intend to harm their own virtuous minister and overthrow their own empire, then they shouldn't blame me for not showing any loyalty to my country in the future!

Thinking of this, Emperor Jingsheng's eyes sharpened, and his voice, as cold as the wind in the dead of winter, slowly said:

"...Fang Congzhe and other officials involved in the case, who embezzled more than one thousand taels, shall, according to the old ancestral system, be skinned alive, stuffed with straw, and hung in the West Market as a warning to all future officials!"

Emperor Jingsheng's words were like a hurricane, leaving all the officials present stunned and almost speechless, their eyes filled with fear as they looked at the cold-faced emperor behind the imperial desk.

Lingchi (death by a thousand cuts)?

Implicate the entire family?

Confiscation of family property?

More importantly, anyone who embezzled more than one thousand taels of silver was skinned alive and displayed in the West Market.

If the first three items were barely acceptable, then the item of skinning corrupt officials alive was something that officials simply could not accept!

Leaving aside the fact that almost none of the officials involved in this case embezzled less than one thousand taels, are they really going to subject more than a hundred people to such cruel torture?

Take this dregs from our ancestral system, for example. It was only with great difficulty that it was abolished. If it were to be reinstated now, wouldn't everyone be hanging over their heads with a sword of Damocles?

On a deeper level, the emperor is following the old path of the founding emperor, who used severe punishments to combat corruption. This is a step backward in history, a conservatism, an inability to adapt to the past, and a reactionary move!

So shocked was the hall that a deathly silence fell, so quiet you could hear a pin drop, and no one spoke for a long time.

Jia Jing stood to the side, his expression unchanged.

The so-called "skinning and stuffing with straw," also known as "skinning and stuffing with straw" or "skinning and stuffing with straw," is an extremely bloody execution process.

Skinning is the act of the executioner using a sharp blade to peel off the entire skin of the prisoner, starting from the back or buttocks.

The real grass method involves stuffing the peeled human skin with straw and lime and sewing it into a human shape.

After being made into human skin dolls, some were hung up for public display, but the more common practice was to place them next to the seats of the succeeding officials in the courtroom to achieve the most direct deterrent effect.