Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 160: Beat the high-ranking local officials to death, and slaughter the clerks like slaughtering dogs!
When the Inspector Ma Lu said this, all the Nanzhi nobles and officials present were dumbfounded.

They didn't expect Ma Lu to suddenly come to such a conclusion.

Jin Wei, the former Nanjing Imperial Household Department Minister, stood up and scolded Ma Lu: "Ma Xinyang, do you want to be a traitor too?!"

"If a local official, Jin Wei, disrespects his superiors while in the village, his hat and belt will be taken away, and he will be beaten with a hundred sticks in the court, and he will not be allowed to redeem himself!"

Ma Lu then gave the order in a deep voice.

Jin Wei was shocked when he heard this.

He is over fifty years old. If he is beaten with a hundred sticks, he will definitely die.

But he didn't expect Ma Lu to do this.

Because he and Ma Lu had a good relationship.

Ma Lu's father was of the same age as him, and it was thanks to his support that Ma Lu was recommended to the Censorate to be the inspector of Jiangnan.

As for why he was so excited at this time.

That's because the students Jin Kun and Jin Wei who slandered the emperor's personal army are from the same clan.

It was under Jin Wei's instructions that Jin Kun dared to frame the Yongwei Camp.

Therefore, if Jin Wei was really convicted of slandering the emperor's personal army, he would be worried that he would also be implicated and exiled to Donglai to mine like the Gu, Tao and other nobles.

And because Jin Wei was worried about this, he had already written a letter to ask Ma Lu about his attitude towards this matter.

Although he did not ask directly, he knew that Ma Lu was a proponent of etiquette by asking him about his views on etiquette and law, and he also knew that Ma Lu would definitely stand on the side of his own Nanzhi gentry.

But the result was that Ma Lu chose to expose the truth.

Therefore, Jin Wei lost his composure at this moment and directly questioned Ma Lu.

What Jin Wei didn't expect was that Ma Lu actually wanted to beat him to death for this. It was obvious that he wanted to put on an act to impress his superiors and he would use any means necessary.

but.

The Nanzhi nobles such as Xu Lin could not stand it any more.

Xu Lin even bowed his hands and pleaded for Jin Wei, saying, "Please calm down, Jin Taifu is a famous local official. If you punish him so severely, it will damage your reputation."

"Tolerating him would undermine the moral principles of the imperial court."

"How can I, the emperor, destroy the moral principles of the court for my own personal reputation?"

"Xu Guancha is too confused about public and private matters."

Ma Lu replied directly.

After hearing this, Xu Lin couldn't help but get angry.

Because he felt that Ma Lu's behavior was really disrespectful to his own Nanzhi gentry!
After all, these people have started to beg for mercy.

Therefore, Xu Lin followed suit and said, "The public opinion of the villagers in this village is that the Yongwei Camp is illegal, but you want to confuse right and wrong here. You are simply afraid of power and want to curry favor with treacherous officials, and you don't hesitate to do cruel things to the gentry and wise men! By doing this, aren't you afraid that in the future, there will be people in your village who will treat scholars like this?!"

"The local scholars have always been loyal and filial. If they break the law, they will accept the punishment from the king and will not complain!"

Ma Lu replied bluntly.

He has already written a letter to his host, Wu Yipeng.

in the letter.

He stated that he would not stand on the side of the Southern Zhili gentry in this incident in which the Yongwei Camp killed merchants and robbed people's property, in order to prevent the Protector of Rites faction from being completely abandoned by the emperor and to avoid the complete loss of power.

Therefore, regardless of whether it is true that the Yongwei Battalion killed merchants and robbed people's property this time, he will say that the Yongwei Battalion was wrongly accused.

For an official like him, right and wrong are not important, the pros and cons are the most important!
Fortunately, the fact this time was that the Yongwei Camp was indeed wronged, so it was easy for him to make the matter fair and square.

Wu Yipeng also wrote back to him, expressing his approval of his behavior, allowing him to crack down severely on some overly radical members of his hometown party, and promised to speak for him in the future. To this end, he decided to marry his granddaughter to his second son to fulfill this promise.

Therefore, Ma Lu did something that was beyond the expectations of Jin Wei and other Nanzhi nobles, and chose to treat Jin Wei harshly.

Not only to Jin Wei, but also to Xu Lin.

Ma Lu thought that his kinsman only had Xu Jie, who had just passed the imperial examination and might not go far in the future. In order to convince the emperor that he was more loyal than Wu Tingju, a civil servant who came from a military background, he did not intend to be polite, so he said with a sullen face:

"Xu Guancha, you framed the Yongwei Camp without even knowing the facts. If it was a commoner, it would be fine. You could educate them first because they are ignorant and do not know the etiquette of loyalty and filial piety. But you are an official who has received great favors from the country, yet you are like this. You are a traitor who is disobedient and disloyal!"

"Take away his crown and belt as well, and put him in prison!"

"Wait for the court to deal with it!"

It was at this time that Ma Lu pointed at Xu Lin and spoke loudly.

Xu Lin clenched his fists and glared at Ma Lu.

but.

At this time, no clerks or yamen runners were dispatched to arrest these local eunuchs and execute them.

in contrast.

At this time, these clerks and bailiffs knelt in front of Ma Lu.

"Master Fengxian, please think twice!"

"They are all local gentry and wise men. If we treat them as such, it might provoke a popular uprising!"

At this time, all the clerks and bailiffs kowtowed and begged for mercy.

Jin Wei, Xu Lin and other high-ranking officials from Southern Zhili could not help but smile slightly and looked at Ma Lu provocatively.

Seeing this, Gu Qing, a retired eunuch with the title of Nanjing Minister of Rites, also stood up and said, "Although you are following the king's orders, please don't ignore the hypocrisy. You can't force me to go to the capital in person to plead with His Majesty, right?"

"Zongbo Nan doesn't need to go to the capital to beg for mercy!"

General Zhou Shangwen, who was listening to the trial, said in a cold voice at this time.

Gu Qing couldn't help but frown, thinking to himself that this general was too rude to dare to interrupt me.

But this time.

Zhou Shangwen looked at the clerks and runners and said, "I don't think you are afraid that they will stir up a civil uprising, but because you are from the same hometown, clan, or even the same clan, or even close relatives, that's why you are not listening to the imperial order and pleading for mercy at this time, right?"

then.

Zhou Shangwen took out the secret decree and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty has ordered that I can do whatever is convenient for the local area to maintain the court's discipline and the king's law, and execute first and report later!"

"If you don't obey the emperor's orders, I will have to follow the king's orders!" Zhou Shangwen said, and then shouted loudly: "Li Bing!"

At this time, Li Bing rushed in from outside with hundreds of firearms soldiers: "I'm here!"

"kill!"

Zhou Shangwen waved his hand.

Suddenly.

"Yes!"

A large number of firearms soldiers from the Yongwei Camp raised their muskets with lit fuses and aimed them at the clerks and runners.

boom!
boom!
These clerks and servants fell to the ground dead one after another before they could react.

The clerks who were quick to react begged Ma Lu for mercy: "Master, please spare us! We dare not threaten you anymore, and we dare not plead for our master! Please spare us! Master!"

But Ma Lu himself was so shocked at this time that he sat at the desk in a daze and paid no attention to these clerks and runners.

then.

All these clerks and yamen runners were executed and their bodies were left on the spot.

If the common people of Kunshan were here, they would surely applaud.

But unfortunately.

At this time, only the nobles and officials from Nanzhi gathered here.

Naturally, they would not applaud but would be shocked, angry, sad and frightened.

What shocked and angered them was that Zhou Shangwen actually dared to do this on the emperor's order, killing their people like butchering dogs!
They couldn't help but wonder, could it be that the tolerance that General Zhou had shown before was all for the purpose of taking revenge today with a legitimate reason?

So vindictive?

Is the desire for revenge so strong?

What made them sad was that many of these clerks and yamen runners were their trusted relatives, otherwise, they would not have been arranged to do official work in the yamen and serve as their eyes, ears and minions.

Now that these people have been killed, it is inevitable that we feel sad.

Their fear was because it made them more certain that the presence of a powerful army of the emperor in Nanzhi would indeed bring about a great change in the balance of power in this land.

Normally, these clerks and yamen runners relied on their power to kill common people like killing ants, but now, because the emperor's personal troops were here, these clerks and yamen runners had also become ants in the face of national law.

He even looked at the many dead bodies lying on the ground and the bloody porridge spreading out.

Gu Qing and other high-ranking officials in Nanzhi all turned pale and trembled all over.

Because many of them have never seen the use of weapons in their lives.

They had never even seen a scene of killing a chicken, let alone killing someone, so the scene at this moment brought a great visual impact to them.

So, they all kept silent and began to face up to the power of the soldiers again.

The great local official Gu Qing even knelt down on his weak legs:
"My emperor's majesty, this old minister admires you so much!"

After coming to his senses, Ma Lu had to admit that the presence of the emperor's troops from the Yongwei Camp had indeed disrupted the original balance of power.

because……

He had originally planned to wait for these clerks and yamen runners to petition, and then after a threat from a high-ranking local official like Gu Qing, he would pretend to be angry and express compromise, but would not really beat Jin Wei and others to death.

These clerks and servants dared to plead for mercy because they knew that Ma Lu was acting.

but now.

Zhou Shangwen directly ordered the killing and cooperated with Ma Lu, which forced Ma Lu to continue acting and portray himself as a minister who was truly unafraid of the power of the Nanzhi gentry and was upright and cruel.

then.

Ma Lu slammed the gavel.

Snapped!
"Why are you still standing there? Do you have to be killed like them?!"

Ma Lu looked at the clerks and servants who had not yet come out to plead for mercy.

These clerks and runners hurried over to Jin Wei and Xu Lin.

"How can a scholar-official endure such a great humiliation!"

Jin Wei knew he was going to die, so he decided to pretend to be cool. He shouted loudly and ran into the beam in the hall.

But halfway through, he suddenly stopped, sat down on the ground exhausted, and started crying: "It's too difficult, please spare my life, sir!"

Ma Lu only said in a deep voice: "Take off his crown and belt!"

The bailiff came over, took off Jin Wei's crown and belt, and dragged him to the spring stool like a dead pig.

Xu Lin was also devastated and stripped of his official hat and robes, and thrown into prison. It was only when his fellow clerks came to see him that he said:
"Write a letter to my cousin Xu Jie, asking him to be a good official and to avenge me in the future!"

As Xu Lin spoke, tears streamed down his face and he clenched his teeth.

"what!"

Jin Wei died before he even reached 100.

The senior officials present did not dare to speak any more.

Even a minister like Gu Qing who retired with the title of Shangshu only whispered to his children at this time: "Go ask General Zhou later if he has a marriage."

"The reason why we say that it was the Yongwei Battalion that wrongly accused the student Jin Kun is because according to the testimony of the common people nearby, Jin Kun did not buy the ducks or raise them, but borrowed them from him. He has the loan receipt as proof!"

"Jin Kun has always been stingy. In order to frame the Yongwei Camp, he even chose to borrow ducks instead of buying them. This also happens to clarify the whole story!"

"In addition, regarding the murder of the merchant Dong Shan, someone also framed the Yongwei Camp. The reason was that the coroner of your county and the coroner brought by this county judged that the knife wound was different from all military knives, and the man's throat bone was black, which clearly showed that he had been poisoned before being stabbed."

Ma Lu was then continuing to hear the case of the Yongwei Battalion being accused of plundering people's property and killing civilians. After he finished speaking, he asked the local officials, "My fellow local officials, is this judge's verdict fair?"

"Naturally fair!"

"Feng Xian is truly a master of criminal justice. He not only safeguarded the reputation of the Imperial Guards, but also resolved the misunderstandings of the villagers!"

"The country and the people all rely on your integrity and are able to live in harmony with each other."

Gu Qing started talking with a smile at this time.

(End of this chapter)