Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 151: Behead slaves like a river, and beat the clerks of the nobles to death!

The speaker was Wu Tingju, the governor of Yingtian.

The full title of Wu Tingju's current official position is Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, Director of Grain Storage, and Governor-General of Yingtian and other places.

It stands to reason.

When Wu Tingju arrives, there will be fast riders with suona leading the way.

But because they were going to a busy city, in order to avoid disturbing the people, Wu Tingju did not have anyone playing the suona, and the cavalry was replaced by infantry.

Until now.

After Wu Tingju said this, he gave the order: "Raise the king's flag!"

At this time.

The suona just started to play.

Dozens of flags stood facing the wind.

The accompanying government troops began to drive away the nearby civilians with their spears, and only surrounded Zhou Shangwen and other generals of the Yongwei Camp, as well as Jin Kun and other students and slaves.

When Jin Kun saw that the flag was that of Wu Tingju, the governor of Yingtian, he knelt down quickly.

"Are you bullying General Zhou because he doesn't have the power to handle local criminal cases, or are you just ignoring the emperor's grace and the laws of the country?!"

“Take off their kerchiefs!”

"Put yourself in the cangues, and then ask other questions!"

"All the powerful slaves suspected of arresting the emperor's personal soldiers will be taken to various cities and beheaded, to warn the villagers. If any more powerful slaves dare to follow their master's orders and disregard the law and insult the emperor's personal soldiers, they will all be treated like this!"

The Governor of Yingtian was the "King of Nanzhi" who was truly recognized by the emperor. He had the royal flag that allowed him to execute people first and report later and directly deprive scholars of their honors.

So, as soon as Wu Tingju said this, dozens of armored soldiers from the battalion pressed Jin Kun and other students to the ground and took off the square scarves on their heads that symbolized their status as scholars.

Simultaneously.

Their servants were also taken away and taken to the busy streets, where they cried for mercy.

Jin Kun and others were terrified.

They did not expect that Wu Tingju, a civil servant, would not choose to stand on their side, but would first strictly investigate their violations of the rules, and be so severe, as if he was seriously intending to safeguard the majesty of the imperial power. He did not deliberately turn a blind eye in order to suppress the imperial power in order to allow the power of the scholars to do so, and ignore the details of the scholars' violation of the law.

The imperial examination in Nanzhi was the most competitive in the world.

The admission rate for the provincial examination is lower than that for the national examination.

The difficulty of the academy examination is higher than that of the provincial examinations in other regions.

There was even an unwritten rule that those who were deprived of their official titles would find it difficult to take the imperial examinations again because there were so many scholars.

Therefore, having their scarves taken away from them was equivalent to completely cutting off their political careers.

Therefore, in addition to being greatly shocked, Jin Kun and others also became extremely panicked.

"We were just angry for a moment and forgot the law. Please show some mercy, Minister!"

Jin Kun couldn't help but shout loudly at this moment, with tears streaming down his face.

The other students also begged for mercy.

They didn't know what to do for a moment.

The smug look he had just had was completely gone, and he only regretted having helped the local eunuchs behind him to frame the emperor's army.

Click!

Their slaves were also beheaded one after another at this time.

The fat heads were broken at the neck on the spot, and blood flowed out, gradually forming a river.

Although these slaves were household slaves, they relied on the power of their masters to become wealthy in the local area. Many of them were landlords with thousands of acres of land, and they directly oppressed the lower-class people in Nanzhi.

When he was beheaded at this time, many people could not help but secretly cheer for him.

Like these domestic slaves, the merchants who were vassals of the local nobles became frightened and began to feel uneasy because of the previous embarrassment they had caused to the emperor's personal army.

Many who were prepared to embarrass the emperor's personal troops according to their master's orders no longer dared to do so, but hurried back home to inform their master of the sudden situation.

Zhou Shangwen bowed to Wu Tingju and said, "Zhongcheng!"

Wu Tingju returned the greeting and said, "It is not easy for you to deal with the local scholars and civilians directly, so in order to avoid conflicts between the soldiers and the people, you chose to only wrong the Yongwei Battalion. This is really admirable!"

"However, there are treacherous people here who will not stop until they achieve their goal of provoking conflict between soldiers and civilians. If it weren't for the arrival of the Minister of Justice, I would have had no choice but to kill my own soldiers. Now my prestige has been preserved and the grievances of the soldiers have been resolved, all thanks to the timely help of the Minister of Justice."

Zhou Shangwen thanked Wu Tingju.

Wu Tingju smiled and said, "We are all working for the court. This is our duty, not a personal obligation. Why should we thank you?"

then.

Wu Tingju added: "Your army can rest assured. If anyone makes things difficult for you again, I will step in and they won't blame you. However, your soldier is suspected of stealing people's property, so I will keep him in my custody for the time being."

Zhou Shangwen nodded and had the soldier temporarily guarded by Wu Tingju's men.

The soldier was very cooperative and he himself realized that Wu Tingju was not someone who wanted to kill him.

Wu Tingju instructed his people, "Send a letter to the county magistrate here, saying that we want to see him and set up an inspection office in his county office. We will also ask him to condone the evil gentry and the people to stir up trouble! Let him report immediately!"

"Yes!"

Not long after.

Kunshan County Magistrate Bai Tai hurried to Wu Tingju.

Bai Tai knelt down with sweat all over his forehead as soon as he arrived: "I didn't receive the ticket from the Minister earlier, so I came late to greet you. Please forgive me, Minister!"

Wu Tingju leaned over and looked at Bai Tai who was kneeling on the ground: "It's okay, I didn't issue a ticket in advance and just came here unexpectedly in order not to disturb your work."

then.

Wu Tingju glanced at the chicken shit on Bai Tai's feet and said, "What did you do?"

"Reporting to the Minister, a major case has just occurred in this county. According to reports, a peddler named Tong Shan was killed by soldiers from the Yongwei Battalion when they tried to seize his chickens. After receiving the report, I went to the scene to investigate."

Bai Tai replied.

Wu Tingju said: "This matter involves the emperor's personal army, so it should be treated with caution. It is understandable that you go and check it yourself!"

then.

Wu Tingju asked Bai Tai again: "What did you find out?"

"I just went there not long ago, and I only confirmed that Tong Shan was stabbed and died from excessive blood loss."

"Also, yesterday, soldiers from the Yongwei Battalion did go to him to buy chickens and had an argument with him. There are local residents who can serve as witnesses."

Bai Tai replied.

Wu Tingju nodded after hearing this: "Although that is the case, we must be cautious when it comes to the emperor's personal army. You must know that wrongly accusing the emperor's personal army is no small matter, but as a parent official, we must also make decisions for the people!" "I understand, everything will be handled seriously and will never be dealt with perfunctorily."

Bai Tai replied.

Wu Tingju nodded: "Just investigate everything carefully. As long as you find out the truth, no matter who has any opinions, this court will make the decision for you!"

"Thank you, Zhong Cheng!"

"Also, why do so many evil people in Kunshan County make things difficult for the emperor's troops? They even refuse to buy food and vegetables for the troops, and even attack them?"

"You, the old parent, are the ones behind all this?"

Wu Tingju then asked again.

Bai Tai hurriedly said, "Please allow me to report this to you, Zhongcheng. How dare I offend the imperial guards? Although I am the county magistrate, I cannot make the decision!"

"It's not that you can't make the decision, you would rather watch them offend their own army than dare to offend them, right?"

Wu Dinh Ju asked.

Bai Tai did not answer.

Snapped!
Wu Tingju suddenly slammed the gavel.

Bai Tai was so frightened that he kowtowed and said, "Mr. Zhongcheng, please spare my life! I am a coward and I really don't deserve the emperor's grace!"

"We are all colleagues, and this court will not be harsh to you, so we will give you a chance to save yourself."

"Next, you must crack down severely on those who intend to provoke conflict between soldiers and civilians."

"Anyone who attempts to provoke conflict between the military and civilians must be severely punished. Those who should be arrested should be arrested, and those who should be killed should be killed! The task of avoiding conflict between the military and civilians cannot be left to General Zhou alone. You, as the local parent official, must also shoulder the responsibility!"

Wu Tingju said.

Bai Tai quickly agreed, "Please rest assured, Prime Minister. I will not neglect you!"

then.

Bai Tai then called all his officials to the front of the yamen and instructed them, "From now on, all patrols and strong squads should strengthen their patrols. Anyone who provokes malicious intentions and conflicts between soldiers and civilians should be arrested immediately!"

But at this time, none of the inspectors and clerks from the Inspection Office responded.

Seeing this, Bai Tai said coldly: "Do you want to disobey orders?"

Tao Gui, the military officer, relied on the fact that he was of the same clan as the former deputy censor Tao Xiang, and stepped out first and said, "Please think twice, sir. We cannot obstruct this matter right now. If we do, we will ruin the plans of several local officials."

Bai Tai thought that if he did not use his power as a county magistrate on behalf of the court, he would only be charged by the governor with the crime of framing the emperor's personal army, so he decisively ordered: "Catch this man! Beat him with a hundred and twenty sticks on the spot!"

Tao Gui was shocked and quickly knelt on the ground begging for mercy.

However, the person who was eager to replace Tao Gui had already pinned Tao Gui to the ground and started beating him with a stick.

Although the magistrate could not directly execute someone by beheading, he could directly impose caning punishment, and caning more than 100 times could often result in death.

Therefore, Tao Gui was beaten to death not long after.

And Bai Tai said: "This is what happens when you disobey orders!"

The officials of Kunshan County Government had no choice but to implement it seriously.

"Who told you not to sell it? And you called the emperor's personal soldiers traitors? Arrest them!"

When the officers and soldiers of the Yongwei Camp tried to sell the goods in the shops again, some merchants were arrested by the people from the county government for refusing to sell.

This scared other merchants so much that they no longer dared to do this.

Let’s talk.

Tao Xiang and other Nanzhi aristocratic officials soon learned from their servants that Governor Wu Tingju had arrested students from their side, and that the county government had cracked down on provocative acts against the emperor's personal army, and they were also quite shocked and angry.

"This Wu Cangwu actually dared to ruin our plans. Does he think he has lived too long?"

Tao Xiang even gnashed his teeth and spoke out about it.

Jin Wei said with a sullen face: "I understand. This man is a military household of Wuzhou Guarding Thousand Households. The current emperor has raised the status of military officials! He knows that he can make faster progress, so he doesn't care about his own life!"

After hearing this, Tao Xiang sneered and said, "Then let him go to the King of Hell to make progress!"

"We will also have to find our relatives and friends from other places to impeach him!"

"Although we can only let him die in an accident, we must also let the new governor know that his accident was not an accident without any reason!"

Jin Wei said.

Tao Xiang nodded.

In the first year of Jiajing, early July, the capital.

On this day, Zhu Houcong came to Zuoshunmen for a court meeting again.

Imperial Censor Liu Qi stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I accuse Governor Wu Tingju of flattering his superiors and bullying his subordinates. Because he feared that the Yongwei Battalion was the emperor's personal army, he opposed the Yongwei Battalion's stealing of people's poultry and ignored it, and instead stripped the students of their honors. As a result, the Yongwei Battalion's military discipline was not exposed, and the people, although oppressed by the Yongwei Battalion, did not dare to seek justice, and only dared to submit a petition to the Censorate!"

"Your Majesty, according to the complaint from the people of Suzhou who came to Beijing, the Yongwei Battalion killed the merchant Tong Shan. Because Wu Tingju deliberately protected the Yongwei Battalion, the county magistrate Bai Tai not only failed to uphold justice, but also killed the official Tao Gui who spoke up for the people. I request that an imperial envoy be sent to Nanzhi to investigate this case."

Zhu Houcong frowned slightly after hearing this.

Because these censors openly impeached Wu Tingju, but they were actually implying that the military discipline of the Yongwei Camp was corrupt and seriously disturbed the people. This was to express their dissatisfaction with their intention of sending their own troops to the inland.

However, Zhu Houcong did not show his anger impatiently, but just said: "General!"

At this time, the Chief Censor Wang Zun stepped out.

"You are the Chief Censor. According to the rules, the impeachment case of the Censor should be referred to the Metropolitan Procuratorate for discussion. You can speak your mind here."

Zhu Houcong said.

Wang Zun said, "In my humble opinion, sending an imperial envoy on an official mission will disturb the people. It is better to let the local inspector review the case first."

"allow!"

Liu Qi and others just laughed secretly. They were just speaking for the Nanzhi gentry and did not really want to do anything to Wu Tingju. What they laughed at was that the emperor might not know that the Nanzhi gentry had already sentenced Wu Tingju to death.

Before Liu Qi and others met Wu Tingju, a fire suddenly broke out in the inn where Wu Tingju was staying one night.

The fire was so fierce that it soon spread to the residence where Wu Tingju lived.

Simultaneously.

There was even a postmaster, Zuo Zi, who personally led the post guards to pour kerosene here, and ordered: "Pour it quickly, by the time the people around him come, it will be too late!"

"I knew that the postmasters and postmen of your post stations must have been filled by the families of the local wealthy families."

"It's true!"

Wu Tingju appeared outside the door in his pajamas, yawning.

(End of this chapter)