The video takes us to ancient times; Li Er transforms into the Tongtian Emperor of Shu Han.

"Indeed, not only are the laws strict and severe, but there is also an organization called the Embroidered Uniform Guard targeting them."

"It's clear that Old Zhu loathed corrupt officials."

"After all, when he was young, his whole family starved to death because of corrupt officials."

"But didn't he ever think that if the water is too clear, there will be no fish, and there can never be only honest officials in the officialdom?"

"If only honest officials are visible to him, then it can only mean that in places he cannot see, there are countless corrupt officials who deceive their superiors and protect each other!"

Li Er believed he was quite knowledgeable about the affairs between officials.

He even knew how many corrupt officials and how many honest officials were in his court.

As long as the bottom line isn't crossed, he won't try to turn the entire court into a stagnant pool.

That's not realistic.

But Old Zhu clearly didn't see it that way, because his childhood experiences made him intolerant of even the slightest injustice!

"Perhaps you are right, but my father really cannot tolerate corrupt officials."

"In his eyes, all the corrupt officials in the world are his enemies who killed his parents. You can't expect him to let go of such hatred, can you?"

Although Zhu Di also felt that doing so would be futile, he could understand his father's situation.

"But didn't he consider that the Embroidered Uniform Guard could monitor all the officials in the capital, but knew nothing about those below? What could he do if the officials below joined forces to cover for each other?"

It is common knowledge that those who prey on the people are often not the officials at the top.

It's easier to see the King of Hell than to deal with his underlings.

The deeper you go, the more likely you are to breed the kind of people that Old Zhu hates the most.

However, Old Zhu had anticipated this.

Before Zhu Di could answer, the answer was already given on the sky.

To prevent local officials from exploiting the people, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the compilation of a grand edict.

The document compiles all the major corruption cases and the punishments for corrupt officials throughout the year into a grand edict, serving as a warning to officials not to repeat the same mistakes.

To ensure that the Great Proclamation was widely known and that everyone had a copy, Zhu Yuanzhang even incorporated it into the imperial examinations.

He genuinely wanted the people to know what was illegal and when they could resist.

For this reason, the Great Proclamation also had another function: if the people felt they had been wronged, or if local officials were oppressing or bullying them, the people could directly bind the officials and send them to the capital.

During this process, as long as the imperial edict is displayed above one's head, no official along the way may obstruct the route; those who obstruct it will be punished as treason!

"What the hell?"

"Putting everything else aside, the status of officials in the Ming Dynasty is truly unparalleled."

"Once this great edict is issued, ordinary people will even have the right to monitor officials. Although there are still some loopholes, such as ordinary people may not dare to kidnap officials, and may not have the opportunity to go to the capital to appeal to the emperor."

"But in any case, once this great edict is issued, it is indeed tantamount to raising a guillotine over the head of every official!"

Zhao Kuangyin was astonished.

Most emperors in this world, though they did not say it aloud, knew it in their hearts.

The emperor shares the world with the scholar-officials, not with the common people.

Even if Li Er (Emperor Taizong of Tang) constantly compared a boat to a ruler and water to the common people, saying that water can carry a boat but also capsize it, he might not have truly cared about the people.

At the very least, he could not possibly place the common people above the scholar-officials!

Whether it was due to the power and influence of aristocratic families or any other reason.

"Were all emperors of later generations this ruthless?"

Liu Bang was dumbfounded.

He really didn't expect that Lao Zhu would dare to do such a thing!

"No, don't include me. I'm not as reckless as him."

Li Er waved his hand repeatedly.

From the moment the immortal revealed that Zhu Yuanzhang hated corrupt officials, he wondered what methods Zhu Yuanzhang would use to punish them.

But he never imagined it would be this kind of method!

A copy of the Great Proclamation for everyone!

This is just too brutal!

"As far as I know, the only one who would dare to openly turn the butcher's knife against the scholar-officials for the sake of the people is probably Old Zhu."

No wonder when the list of wise rulers was first compiled, Zhu De said several times that he was definitely not destined to be on the list.

By doing this, he was standing by the people on his own, opposing all the officials in the court!

It would be strange if he had any good reputation!

Even Zhao Kuangyin could imagine what kind of titles would be bestowed upon him after Zhu Yuanzhang's death.

Extremely brutal, bloodthirsty, and willful, etc.

"I'm really curious about one thing right now: even if Zhu Yuanzhang issues a great edict, will any common people really dare to kidnap officials and bring them to the capital?"

Liu Bang was very curious about this.

In the eyes of the people, officials hold an extraordinary position.

The emperor's decrees might not even reach the ears of the common people.

In the minds of most people, the county magistrate held a higher position than the emperor.

After all, the emperor is unlikely to target ordinary people, but the county magistrate can truly decide their life or death with a single word!

For Zhu Yuanzhang, kidnapping an official and filing a complaint might be just a matter of a few words, but for the common people, it meant going through countless struggles.

"Although not many, there were indeed some, and in the second year after the Great Proclamation was promulgated, some commoners escorted officials to the capital."

Zhu Di had heard of this.

"The patrol officers along the way seemed to want to persuade them to turn back, but when my father found out, he executed the criminals and their entire families. He even cut off the legs of the patrol officer who tried to persuade them to turn back as a warning to others."

"Since then, the officials below have indeed become much more obedient."

There may still be some underhanded tricks, but at least there are fewer and fewer people who dare to bully the people openly.

No one wants to wake up one day to find themselves bound and escorted to the capital by the common people.

After all, everyone knows that once someone goes to the capital, the consequences range from the execution of nine generations of their family to the extermination of three generations.

"Old Zhu really has guts!"

Liu Bang gave a thumbs up.

Although he felt that doing so might not be a good thing, he had to admit that Old Zhu, who dared to do it, had guts!

"In this way, the number of minor cases may decrease significantly, but once they are uncovered, they will become major cases!"

"If I'm not mistaken, Old Zhu must have handled quite a few major cases, right? Some of them were even so far-reaching that they were impossible to decide?"

Li Er asked.

With his perspective, it's not hard to see the pros and cons of what Lao Zhu did.

This has reduced the frequency of ordinary petty corruption, but it has also increased the probability of major, shocking cases.

"There are indeed many major cases, but it's not to the point that we can't make a decision."

Zhu Di thought for a moment and said.

Of the four major cases during the Hongwu reign, it seems that Zhu Yuanzhang never hesitated in any of them.

"Huh? If it involves too many people, does that mean we have to kill them all?"

"How many people could that kill?"

Li Er was stunned.

In his view, cases that could result in the complete killing of the victims would at most involve thousands of people, which wouldn't be considered any earth-shattering cases.

"Let me think, each case probably involved tens of thousands of people killed, and all in all, the total number of people killed should be in the hundreds of thousands."

Li Er: "..."

So, you, Old Zhu, aren't you a reincarnated serial killer?