Huangming

Chapter 53 Outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant, who controls the fate of the nation?

The chaos in the six departments' offices immediately drew the attention of the cabinet.

Upon seeing the chaotic state of the six departments' duty offices, Grand Secretary Fang Congzhe immediately rebuked them angrily.

"This is a highly sensitive area! What are you doing here? Stop right now!"

The development of factional strife far exceeded Fang Congzhe's expectations.

Fang Congzhe now feels like a small boat adrift on a stormy sea, where a slight misstep could lead to the boat's destruction and his own death.

"Stop right now! Aren't you ashamed enough already?"

Liu Yiju was so angry that he was fuming.

His heart was bleeding.

Many people were dismissed from their posts because of these impeachment memorials.

Adding to today's brawl, wouldn't all the officials in the six departments be scattered, leaving only a few people without party affiliation?
And
What would Your Majesty think upon seeing this?
They all called themselves loyal ministers and said they were devoted to serving the country.

This is what happened.

Will His Majesty believe them?
The leaders of both sides angrily rebuked each other, and the chaos in the Sixth Section's duty room finally came to an end.

Zhou Chaorui, looking miserable, pointed at Qi Shijiao and said, "Qi Shijiao insulted me, I was just defending myself!"

Qi Shijiao was so angry at their shamelessness that he laughed.

"Who made the move first?"

Qi Shijiao pointed to the comical ink stain on his forehead, which extended down, turning him into a clown.

"Does Chief Censor Zhou dare to do it but not dare to take responsibility?"

The "Assaulting a Commander-in-Chief and His Superior" article in the Criminal Law section of the Great Ming Code:

Any official who assaults a superior or colleague shall be punished with eighty to one hundred strokes of the cane; if the assault results in injury, the official shall be sentenced to three years of penal servitude; if the assault results in death, the official shall be beheaded.

Fighting in the workplace (such as the duty room of the Sixth Section) is considered "assaulting the superior officer" and will be punished more severely.

During the Chenghua reign, Li Jun, a supervising secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, and Wang Hong, a supervising secretary of the Ministry of War, got into a fight in the Six Ministries Corridor over the distribution of military pay in Liaodong, smashing official documents in the process.

The final punishment was that Li Junting was flogged eighty times, dismissed from his post, and exiled to Yunnan; Wang Hongting was flogged sixty times and demoted to a minor official in a county in Fujian.

During the Jiajing reign, Gao Yao, a supervising secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and Chen Zhu, a supervising secretary of the Ministry of Works, had a dispute over sacrificial rites. They struck each other with inkstones in their duty room, resulting in Gao Yao fracturing his right arm.

The final punishment was that Gao Yao was dismissed from his post and fined three years' salary; Chen Zhu was flogged one hundred times and exiled to Tieling Guard in Liaodong.

If it's a mutual fight, it's a crime.

However, there are special circumstances and exceptions.

If one party acted purely in self-defense (such as merely blocking without retaliating), their sentence may be reduced or they may be exempted from punishment.

When Imperial Censor Zhan Yangbi was threatened with a knife by a colleague during the Longqing reign, he fought back but was only fined three months' salary.

Zhou Chaorui was trying to say that he acted in self-defense.

However, under the watchful eyes of everyone, how could he possibly turn black into white?

"Enough already, isn't that embarrassing enough?"

Liu Yiju shouted angrily.

Fang Congzhe's face darkened as he said, "This matter will be investigated by the Censorate, the Ministry of Justice will draft the charges, the Court of Judicial Review will review them, and finally His Majesty will approve the punishment with his imperial edict."

"Each of the six departments has its own responsibilities. If this happens again, it will be considered dereliction of duty!"

Upon hearing this, no one dared to utter a word in reply.

The cabinet's draft proposal was copied and distributed by the Six Ministries that very night.

These impeachment memorials were then put into action and processed.

Since these thirty-three memorials all involved serious crimes, they were almost all subject to joint trial by the three judicial departments.

The presiding judge from the Ministry of Justice is responsible for summoning witnesses and collecting evidence.
Dali Temple review: to ensure sentencing is compliant;

The Censorate's supervisory role is to oversee the trial process and prevent fraud.

The Ministry of Justice was the first to become lively.

September 17th, the first year of the Taichang reign.

The rain has stopped today, but the air in Beijing is still quite stuffy.

The main hall of the Ministry of Justice.

Minister of Justice Huang Kezuan was overwhelmed by the sheer number of impeachment memorials he received.

The main problem is a severe shortage of manpower.

The Ministry of Justice had thirteen subordinate offices of officials, but those impeached were mostly officials of the Censorate and the Imperial Censorate, that is, officials in the capital. The cases of officials in the capital were presided over by the Zhili Office of Officials.

But with only one Zhili Provincial Administration Office, how could it possibly handle so many cases? There was an imperial edict ordering him to review and propose punishments before the late emperor's funeral.

Huang Kezuan is now in a real bind.

There are less than six days left until the late emperor's funeral, including today.

Time is too tight.

"Minister, those impeached this time are all important officials. How can we hastily convict them? If this becomes a false case, neither of us can escape the consequences!"

Wang Ji, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, had a gloomy expression. He was from Xinzhou, Shanxi. Although he came from the north, he shared the same ideals as the Donglin Party.

Knowing that so many cases would be handled over the next six days, I knew that most of them would be hastily concluded.

If that's the case, there must be wrongful convictions!

The Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice then said from the side, "How can we disobey the imperial edict?"

The Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice was from Neixiang, Henan. He appeared neutral, but secretly leaned towards the Qi faction.

This case must be investigated quickly. If it is delayed, the evidence they have presented for impeachment may be eliminated by the Donglin Party.

They will be innocent in the end.

The censors who impeached them were guilty of making false accusations.

Your Majesty is putting me on the fire to roast!

Huang Kezuan felt that being stubborn was a dead end.

"We must try and convict as quickly as possible, but we cannot be careless. If we cannot complete the trial within the deadline, I will take full responsibility, no matter how serious the consequences!"

He never forgot his duties as Minister of Justice.

Faced with the pressure of angering the emperor, Huang Kezuan also chose to go against the tide.

Factional strife, factional strife.

This is truly going to ruin my Great Ming Dynasty!

Huang Kezuan assigned more than thirty cases to the thirteen Qingli Divisions, and officials of the third rank and above were directly supervised by the Minister and Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice.

The process includes: escorting the prisoner, examining and collecting evidence, conducting three trials and five hearings, and proposing charges and sentencing.
If the trial proceeds at the normal, full-speed pace, six days should be sufficient.

After all, those who were impeached were all in the capital, and the most time-consuming task of transferring prisoners was actually not time-consuming.

However.
Some of the officials impeached were members of the Donglin Party, while others were members of the Qi-Chu-Zhe Party.

Although the officials under his command did not outwardly comply but inwardly slow down the progress, the Ministry of Justice's efficiency was so low that it could only be described as outrageous.

What alarmed Huang Kezuan the most was that all the cases were handled according to the trial process, but when they were actually convicted, they were basically demoted and put on standby, and there were no cases of confiscating property or being exiled to the army.

The censor's impeachment memorial contained irrefutable evidence, yet the Ministry of Justice could not convict him.

It's simply a horror of slipping the world!

Huang Kezuan absolutely refused to believe that there wasn't some mysterious force at play.

The Donglin Party members believed that the law should not punish the masses, and they wanted to show His Majesty their influence within the Six Ministries, hoping to make the emperor back down.

Those from the Qi, Chu, and Zhe factions, believing they had His Majesty's support, dared to openly and brazenly take action.

He, the Minister of Justice, was unable to effectively command even his subordinates.

If he fails to do well the task His Majesty has entrusted to him, what future will he have?

Huang Kezuan had no interest in factional strife, so faced with this situation, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and find Wang Tiqian, the eunuch who sat in the Ministry of Justice and represented the emperor in handling cases.

"Eunuch Wang, you are probably already aware of the situation at the Ministry of Justice."

Huang Kezuan wore a wry smile.

The factional strife spread directly from the Censorate, the Office of Transmission, the Cabinet, and the Six Ministries to the Six Departments.

He was terrified and trembled with fear.

"Kezuan is incompetent; this matter will be difficult to handle."

Wang Tiqian looked at Huang Kezuan, a slight smile on his old face.

of course
To outsiders, this appears to be a sinister smile.

Why doesn't the Minister follow the example of the Commissioner of the Court of Judicial Review?

Upon hearing this, Huang Kezuan was first taken aback, then his eyes lit up.

Was this a hint from His Majesty?
At this moment, Huang Kezuan's hope was rekindled, and at the same time, he gradually prepared to move closer to the emperor.

The Donglin Party, the Qi-Chu-Zhe Party?

Could it be that His Majesty's faction is more powerful?

(End of this chapter)