The Ming Dynasty: The most ruthless imperial grandson, Old Zhu begged me not to kill him.

Chapter 166 Punishment in Court
Tie Xuan shouted loudly.

"Your subject Tie Xuan has something to report!"

The official who was interrupted was extremely dissatisfied. He hadn't even finished speaking when Tie Xuan interrupted him, which made him lose face.

"Tie Xuan, how dare you make such a loud noise in the imperial court?"

An imperial censor from the Censorate shouted at Tie Xuan.

"How dare you, Tie Xuan, a mere censor! How dare you be so disrespectful! Get out of here immediately! The court is a place of humility and order. If everyone acted like you, wouldn't it be chaos!"

The crowd also looked at Tie Xuan with unfriendly expressions. They, the ministers of the court, had not yet finished speaking when this insignificant official was about to speak.

Their faces darkened at the fact that the other person dared to get ahead of them.

Just as these people were about to say something, Zhu Xiong Ying waved his hand.

"Please don't mind, everyone. Since Lord Tie has something to say, let's hear what he has to say."

Tie Xuan said loudly.

"Your subject Tie Xuan reports that Marquis Lu Zhongheng of Ji'an, Marquis Tang Shengzong of Yan'an, Marquis Fei Ju of Pingliang, Marquis Lu Ju of Henan, and Marquis Zhu Liangzu of Yongjia, among others, have condoned their family members' corruption and abuse of power, accepting bribes, illegally occupying farmland, reselling grain, and overcharging taxes, causing the people of Fengyang Prefecture to suffer greatly and resulting in countless deaths and injuries. I implore Your Highness to take this matter seriously!"

Upon hearing this, the crowd began to murmur amongst themselves. This matter was no longer a secret to them; many people already knew about it, but they dared not speak of it, nor was there any need to.

In their view, these were just minor matters.

Unless it's something as serious as a rebellion, these things don't bother them much.

Moreover, occupying farmland is something that has always been a habit of these people.

Not to mention these nobles and officials of Huaixi, even scholars from prominent families would want to take more land from the common people once they had some money.

Since ancient times, scholars have passed down the tradition of combining farming and reading. Since they needed both farming and reading, in addition to books, they still needed a lot of land.

However, if this matter were brought up in the open, and as Tie Xuan said, the actions of these marquises and elders were not considered a major offense.

Marquis Yongjia, Zhu Liangzu, jumped out and pointed at Tie Xuan's nose, cursing him.

"Nonsense! We are all nobles in the court, how could we possibly do such a thing to harm the people? Besides, Fengyang Prefecture is my hometown, would I possibly harm my own family?"

Everyone nodded in agreement, as if it were indeed the case.

Zhu Xiong Ying turned her gaze to Tie Xuan beside her.

"Tie Xuan, since you have filed a lawsuit against several marquises and earls, this matter is of great importance."

"Don't make baseless accusations without evidence. They are pillars of the court, having rendered outstanding service to our Great Ming Dynasty. They cannot be easily framed!"

Tie Xuan nodded and looked at Zhu Xiong Ying.

"Please rest assured, Your Highness, I would not speak carelessly without evidence!"

"Your Majesty's orders led me to Fengyang Prefecture. With the help of Your Majesty and the Crown Prince, I gathered evidence and brought the perpetrators to justice. Most of these people are sons of noble families in the court. Some of these lands were bought at low prices, but most were sold through coercion. If anyone disagreed, they would be beaten, and many were even killed or injured!"

"And of these lands, only a small portion belonged to them; the majority ended up in the hands of powerful nobles in the imperial court!"

"After interrogation, these people admitted that it was their respective family heads who secretly instructed them!"

Tie Xuan pulled a thick roll of paper from his pocket.

"These are their testimonies; Your Highness, please review them!"

"In addition, there is a box of petitions, all of which are accusations from the people of Fengyang Prefecture. Their crimes are numerous and too many to list. We beg Your Highness to do justice for the people of our Great Ming!" The crowd was in an uproar.

Zhu Xiong Ying waved his hand, instructing his men to read the petition and confession aloud.

"Li Erhe, a commoner from Wuhe County, Fengyang Prefecture, originally owned thirty mu of land. Later, a man claiming to be from the Marquis of Yan'an wanted to buy the thirty mu of land for two taels of silver. Li Erhe refused and was beaten into a cripple, eventually dying from his injuries!"

"Li Erhe's son, Li Da, went to the county government to demand an explanation, but was directly arrested and thrown into the county jail. Soon after, he was exiled to the frontier on trumped-up charges!"

"Lu Youdao, the nephew of Lu Zhongheng, the Marquis of Ji'an in Huaiyuan County, forcibly abducted thirteen women and tortured them to death. When Zhao Tiezhu's family sought justice, they were all exterminated by Lu Youdao. Soon after, Zhao Tiezhu's family's household registration in the county government was cleared!"

……

One voice after another rang out.

The atmosphere in the court became extremely oppressive, and many young officials had anger in their eyes.

I originally thought these people had just taken over some land, but I never imagined they had become this bad.

The things just read out already involve nearly a hundred lives, not to mention there's another large box like this one inside.

Lu Zhongheng and the others felt sweating profusely. They had been arrogant, thinking that their power would prevent any problems.

I never imagined that someone in my own family would be even more arrogant than me, doing so many things behind my back. It's truly hateful.

At this moment, he thought of Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao in Fengyang Prefecture, and he couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart.

That's it, we're really done for.

Before the eunuch had finished reading, an official from the Censorate stepped forward.

"Your Highness, the people of Fengyang Prefecture have suffered such a calamity because of the collusion between local nobles and officials. We beg Your Majesty to investigate thoroughly!"

"Your Highness, if such traitors are not eliminated, the world will not be at peace!"

……

Many officials in the court stood up, glaring angrily at Zhu Liangzu and the others.

Even the nobles who were usually fearless were now somewhat timid.

In the imperial court, whether civil or military officials, anyone who had no connection to the matter launched a barrage of criticism against them, creating a scene reminiscent of the saying "when a wall falls, everyone pushes it down."

Zhu Xiong Ying looked at these people angrily and said.

"Now that the evidence is irrefutable, what else do you have to say?"

Marquis Fei Ju of Pingliang took a deep breath.

"Your Highness, it's all our fault for not managing our subordinates strictly, which allowed them to commit such a grave mistake!"

"These people have committed such heinous acts behind their master's back; they deserve to die. However, we truly had no idea. We beg Your Highness to investigate thoroughly!"

"Your Highness, we are willing to return the excess land to the people, and we will also provide additional compensation. We bought those excess fields with our own money, but we really don't know why they belong to these people!"

Several nobles cried out that they were innocent, and despite the evidence presented to them, none of them admitted to it.

These things can only be attributed to their subordinates.

However, they denied all the accusations made against them by their subordinates.

(End of this chapter)