Ming Jiajing: Starting from Immortality

Chapter 34: Jiajing's major case, a river of blood!
Lu Bing is diligent.

Within a day, Luo Longwen, the Minister of Public Administration, was convicted of "plotting treason".

Including Luo Longwen, the Jinyiwei had previously arrested a total of 236 Beijing officials.

One hundred and forty-four people were executed according to their crimes, and ninety-two people's clans were exterminated.

The Jinyiwei had reviewed the household registration records of these criminal officials from the Ministry of Revenue in advance.

The Beizhenfusi Yamen was closed.

On the two long locust wood tables on the left and right were placed two sandalwood abacuses, each ten feet long!
Of the twenty-four Jinyi Guards, half were quickly ticking off names of people to be killed, while the other half were quickly counting the number of people to be killed by moving beads with their left hands and wielding pens with their right hands.

The night watch had ended, but the clacking sound of the beads on the huge abacus could still be heard.

Until the morning light rose from the east, the sound of abacus gradually became sparse, and almost at the same time, the twelve Jinyiwei in front of two long tables finished counting the names of all the people to be executed.

The twelve Jinyiwei simultaneously picked up the last page of names and numbers that they had written down, held them to their mouths and blew them dry.

Zhu Qi first took the twelve books of life and death, and then took the twelve rosters: "Withdraw."

The twelve Jinyiwei on the left who were sent to execute the criminals picked up the writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone on the left table and walked out.

The twelve Jinyiwei who were doing the accounting on the right lifted up the huge abacus on the right table and walked out.

"How many people were executed?" Lu Bing asked.

Zhu Qi replied: "Your Excellency, the total number of people is 12,345."

"A little less." Lu Bing stood up from his chair.

The most famous major cases in this dynasty are the three major cases of Hongwu.

The Empty Seal Case resulted in the killing of hundreds of officials and tens of thousands of people who were implicated.

In the Guo Huan case, Emperor Taizu Gao executed all those below the rank of Vice Minister of the six ministries, and more than tens of thousands of officials from various provinces died in prison.

In the case of Hu Weiyong, Emperor Taizu Gao executed dozens of dukes, marquises, earls and viscounts, and finally killed Hu Weiyong and his followers, a total of more than 30,000 people.

Among the three major cases in the Hongwu period, only the Guo Huan case was handled by the Jinyiwei. Among the Jinyiwei, it was hailed as the number one case in the Ming Dynasty.

Lu Bing originally wanted to compete with his predecessors. Even if it could not compare to the Guo Huan case and the Hu Weiyong case, he could at least have a case on the scale of the Empty Seal Case to announce the re-emergence of the Jinyiwei.

From this perspective, it is indeed wishful thinking to want to create a sensational case just by relying on the capital.

Zhu Qi was stunned for a moment before continuing, "It's almost done."

The emperor is not Emperor Taizu Gao.

The Jiajing Dynasty is not the Hongwu Dynasty.

The court of today is no longer the same as the court of the past. Although the corrupt officials have the same greedy intentions, the corrupt officials of this dynasty are more cautious and have more means.

The methods used by corrupt officials during the Hongwu Dynasty would seem crude and straightforward if applied to today's society, without a trace of elegance.

At first, antiques, calligraphy and paintings by famous people, and even national treasures from the Tang Dynasty were often presented to superiors as gifts.

During the Hongwu Dynasty, the capital was still in Nanjing, and an antique street along the Qinhuai River became a place for bribery and corruption.

It is different today. Most high-ranking officials run antique shops at home, and then sell their "own antiques" in the shops. People who want to give gifts will buy them for a large sum of money.

But those antiques are worthless and not worth bribery at all. Even if high-ranking officials accept them in public, it cannot be considered as bribery.

The senior officials never handled money, and never mentioned the word money, but large amounts of gold and silver were continuously delivered into their pockets through this "antique shop".

Even if there is a leak and the antique shop is discovered, the briber can use his poor eyesight as an excuse, and the official who accepted the bribe can use his complete ignorance as an excuse.

Although the trick is simple, it is extremely practical, which is called elegant bribery.

Therefore, it was impossible for the Jinyiwei to follow the clues and capture the "gourd" on the entire vine.

For officials who were executed or whose entire families were exterminated, the crime was usually limited to whoever was found guilty, so of course fewer people were implicated.

But no matter how few there are, there are still over 10,000 people!

"Yeah, it's almost done." Lu Bing regretted not being the commander of the Jinyiwei in the Hongwu Dynasty, "It's time to close the net!"

The cock crows.

The residence of Luo, the Minister of Public Administration, welcomed guests. The loud banging on the door woke up everyone in the residence.

The master did not come home all night last night. The old lady in the mansion ordered people to look for him until very late, and he did not go to bed until dawn. He just fell asleep now and was woken up.

Hearing the rude knock on the door, the doorman immediately became angry and opened the door, cursing, "Why are you knocking so urgently? Is it to announce a death?"

Knock on the door slowly.

People only knock on the door urgently when announcing a death, because there is no time to care about other things.

Especially those who have elderly people at home are particularly concerned about this. The doorman is worried that the person knocking on the door will wake up the old lady, which would cause trouble.

The seventh-rank official in front of the prime minister is slightly lower than the Nine Ministers, but he is still incomparable to other servants. The doorman is very dedicated.

"Jinyiwei is handling the case!"

A scimitar was placed on the doorman's neck, and his hostility disappeared.

Zhu Qi, who was standing at the front, kicked the trembling Luo Mansion doorman over with one foot, saying to both the doorman and the Jinyiwei behind him: "If there is resistance, I will execute you on the spot!"

"Yes!"

Nearly a hundred Ti cavalrymen dressed in brocade clothes and holding embroidered spring swords obeyed the order, rushed into Luo's mansion, and captured anyone they saw.

There were some arrogant servants in the Luo Mansion who were used to being domineering and had not yet changed their perception of the Jinyiwei, so they subconsciously wanted to resist.

"Puff" the knife was struck, dull, steady, accurate and ruthless, like a ghost demanding life, every strike of the knife took the life of anyone who tried to resist.

The Jinyiwei dyed the road they walked red with blood.

The blood-stained official boots gradually turned dark red, and made a clattering sound when they walked, which made people feel creepy just by listening to it.

The noise outside the house still woke up Luo Longwen's old wife. Before her temper could flare up, the door suddenly opened with a "bang".

Luo's wife grabbed the quilt and was about to shout for help, but Zhu Qi's voice came first.

"Take him away and escort him to the West Market Archway before noon!"

The time of killing is determined by heaven.

At three quarters past noon, when the sunlight is still scorching and the extreme yang turns to cloudy, people's lives will be punished by heaven and they will be sentenced to death in prison.

Therefore, the timing cannot be wrong at all.

Otherwise, the prisoner will be beheaded tomorrow and live one more day.

If it was the family of an ordinary prisoner, Zhu Qi would not be so anxious, but these were the family of a prisoner appointed by the emperor, so they had to be in the first scene with the prisoner.

The execution grounds in the capital were divided into two parts: the West Market Archway where the Ministry of Justice publicly executed criminals, and the courtyard where the Imperial Prison secretly executed criminals.

There were too many people and the Imperial Prison could not accommodate them all. Since they were killing corrupt officials, they borrowed the execution ground of the Ministry of Justice.

After the arrested person was identified and verified, Zhu Qi assigned people to escort him and issued another order, "Leave 20 people to copy the items, and the rest follow me."

Time is tight and the task is heavy. After copying one house, we have to move on to the next one without any delay.

Ok Hee Palace.

The sundial and the Jialiang were placed on the open space in front of the main hall. From sunrise to sunset, the sunlight could illuminate the pointer on the sundial.

At this time, the pointer has covered the mark of noon.

"Lv Fang, have the Cabinet, the six ministries, and officials in Beijing been notified to go to the West Market Archway to watch the ceremony?"

"Your Majesty, I believe everyone is here now."

(End of this chapter)