Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 526 Zhu Yunwen's Judgment! The Fundamental Principle!

Zhu Yunwen's brows furrowed tightly, and his expression became increasingly serious.

He originally thought it was just an ordinary dispute over betrothal gifts or a simple case caused by a romantic affair, but he never expected that it would involve so many officials.

The case is complex and full of doubts.

Xu Miaojin, standing to the side, looked puzzled. She asked softly, "Since the judicial department of the prefectural government initially determined that there were problems with this case, why did they later refuse to help your brother overturn the verdict? What is the hidden reason behind this?"

Xi Zhaoxue wept, her voice choked and hoarse: "They protect each other, they're in cahoots. How could I, a lowly commoner, possibly know the dirty secrets behind this?"

She paused, as if remembering something, and then continued, "However, the forensic official who initially thought the case was questionable and should be overturned was not the same forensic official who later insisted on finding my brother guilty."

"Several months ago, the officials in the legal department of the prefectural government were transferred, and a new official was brought in."

Xi Zhaoxue's tone was tinged with resentment: "It was only after this new official took office that he disregarded the facts and arbitrarily concluded that my brother was guilty of murder, pushing him into the abyss once again."

"I have also inquired in privately, and someone secretly told me that the head of the law department of the prefectural government is an old acquaintance of our county magistrate, and the two have a very close relationship."

"The case was initially heard and judged by the clerk of the county yamen's legal office, and was later reviewed by the county magistrate himself."

Xi Zhaoxue's voice was filled with sorrow as she accused, "If the original verdict is overturned now, both the clerks in the county yamen and the county magistrate will be held responsible for wrongful judgments, which will undoubtedly have a serious impact on their official careers and may even ruin their futures."

"Therefore, even though these officials knew it was an irrefutable miscarriage of justice, they still refused to overturn the verdict, preferring to kill an innocent commoner in order to preserve their own positions!"

As Xi Zhaoxue said this, tears welled up in her eyes: "How can the life of a mere commoner be more important than their own official career and future prospects?"

"In their eyes, my brother's life was nothing more than a bargaining chip for them to protect their official positions and careers!"

Xi Zhaoxue kowtowed heavily again, her forehead hitting the ground with a dull thud: "Your Majesty, this woman only has one younger brother!"

"If my brother is sentenced to death, causing my Xi family line to end and our ancestral worship to cease, how can I, a woman, face my father and mother in the afterlife even if I die?"

Then he continued:
Seeing no hope of redressing her grievances at the prefectural government office and having nowhere to turn for help, the woman gritted her teeth and sold all the valuables in her home. She also sought help from various people and borrowed money to personally go to the provincial capital to file a complaint with the provincial judicial commissioner.

"Unexpectedly, after I submitted my petition to the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner's office with high hopes, the officials there were initially very kind and spoke to me in a good manner, saying that there must be a miscarriage of justice in my brother's case, and that they would definitely uphold justice for me, clear his name, and restore his innocence."

Xi Zhaoxue's tone was filled with indescribable disappointment and bitterness.

"But after waiting for several days in the provincial capital, they suddenly turned on us and their attitude changed drastically."

“The Provincial Judicial Commissioner’s Office insisted that the evidence in my brother’s case was conclusive, the judgment was without error, and there was no injustice whatsoever.”

Xi Zhaoxue's tears welled up again: "They even confiscated all the evidence submitted by the woman and refused to return it."

"At this point, I have reached the end of my rope and have nowhere to turn." Her voice was filled with despair, yet it also revealed an indomitable tenacity: "Fortunately, Heaven does not forsake people. I happened to hear the good news that His Majesty is on a northern tour."

"Your Majesty is wise and mighty, a rare and virtuous ruler throughout history, and all the people of the world know of your saintly virtues."

Xi Zhaoxue kowtowed again, tears streaming down her face, "I have no choice but to risk my life to beg Your Majesty to uphold justice for my brother, clear his name, and restore his innocence!"

"As for my crime of offending His Majesty today, I am willing to die to atone for it, without any complaints!"

After listening to her tearful account, Zhu Yuntong's gaze sharpened slightly. After a moment of contemplation, he finally spoke: "In broad daylight, under the clear sky, how can such wicked and treacherous people be allowed to commit such heinous acts?"

"Since you have been wronged, I will certainly do justice for you and show no leniency."

"Alright then, I will immediately issue an imperial edict ordering the Shandong Provincial Surveillance Commission to retry your brother's murder case and to find out the truth within a specified time!"

Upon hearing this, Xi Zhaoxue was slightly taken aback, then her face showed anxiety as she hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, they are officials protecting each other and colluding with each other!"

"This repeated trial will never clear my brother's name!"

"I hope your Majesty will learn from this!"

Her tone was already full of deep-seated distrust of the local government.

"Rest assured, now that I have issued the imperial edict, I do not expect them to dare to be perfunctory or try to fool us."

Zhu Yunwen spoke calmly and reassured him, "Go ahead and file a complaint. With me backing you up, who would dare to make a wrongful judgment again?"

"If your brother has truly suffered an injustice, I will surely clear his name and exonerate him."

With that, Zhu Yunwen waved his hand slightly, signaling the guards beside him to take Xi Zhaoxue away.

Xi Zhaoxue's face clearly showed some disappointment, obviously Zhu Yunwen's decision did not fully meet her expectations.

However, she bit her lip and ultimately said nothing more. She simply kowtowed respectfully a few times and then, guided by the guards, silently withdrew.

Xu Miaojin turned her head, her clear, autumn-water-like eyes filled with confusion and bewilderment as she stared at Zhu Yunwen.

Seeing her expression, Zhu Yunwen chuckled and asked, "Are you trying to say that I was too muddle-headed in handling the case, knowing full well that the Shandong Provincial Surveillance Commissioner's Office did not handle the case impartially, yet still insisted that they retry it?"

"In that case, they will most likely just try to cover up their previous mistakes and continue to make this case airtight, so that the Xi siblings will never have a chance to overturn it, right?"

Xu Miaojin shook her head gently, a hint of playfulness in her smile: "Brother Tong is such a shrewd and meticulous person, how could he not see this?"

"I think Brother Tong's actions must have a deeper meaning."

"However, I am not as clever and insightful as Brother Tong, so I can only wait for Brother Tong to personally tell me the secret."

Most of the time, Xu Miaojin would respectfully address Zhu Yunwen as "Your Majesty," and only when she was being affectionate would she call him "Brother Yunwen" in a tender tone.

Zhu Yunwen also liked this title very much.

Being addressed as "Your Majesty" always feels a bit too formal and makes me seem overly reserved and dignified.

Occasionally, someone will call out "Brother Tong," which adds a unique charm and warmth.

"With your intelligence, you must have already guessed the reason, but you just didn't want to point it out."

Zhu Yunwen smiled, then summoned a guard and ordered in a deep voice, "Send someone to secretly follow Xi Zhaoxue and make sure she is safe. There must be no mishaps."

"At the same time, we also sent people to the place where her younger brother Xi Yunlang was being held to secretly watch over him and ensure that nothing unexpected happened to him in prison."

"This operation should be carried out covertly as much as possible, without alerting the enemy." "But if a truly critical situation arises, we can reveal our identities to deter the villains."

"Remember, you must ensure the safety of the brother and sister, without any mishap!"

The guard immediately obeyed the order, bowed, and left.

After the guards had gone far away, Xu Miaojin gently parted her lips and said, "His Majesty did not directly send an imperial envoy to investigate the case, but instead allowed her to continue to file a complaint at the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner's Office, and specially dispatched imperial guards to secretly protect her."

"Is this a ploy to use her brother's wrongful conviction as bait to lure out the 'big fish' hidden behind this case?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yunwen shook his head, a helpless sigh on his face: "I'm afraid there's no big fish behind her brother's case."

Zhu Yunwen's words caused the usually lively Xu Miaojin to fall silent.

If everything Xi Zhaoxue said is true, then why has such a simple and clear miscarriage of justice been delayed in being overturned?
The underlying reasons for this are thought-provoking.

If there really is a "big fish" behind this case, the case would actually be much simpler.

It's nothing more than a high-ranking official abusing his power and disregarding the law for personal gain.

In this situation, the imperial court only needs to follow the established procedures and handle the matter accordingly.

According to Xi Zhaoxue's accusations, the man who died in this case was just an ordinary scholar.

For ordinary people, he could certainly be considered a local tycoon with a certain amount of power.

However, for the Shandong Provincial Surveillance Commissioner's Office, which was high and mighty, its status and position were really not worth mentioning.

Moreover, the case even alarmed the Censorate, attracting attention from higher levels.

To say that the Shandong Provincial Surveillance Commissioner's Office was unwilling to overturn the case simply because the man was a successful candidate in the imperial examinations and feared the power of his family would be utterly absurd, and even a three-year-old would not believe it.

However, without the involvement of a "big fish," the case would have been even more serious.

Officials protecting each other!

These four simple words, however, weighed down like a heavy mountain, making it hard for the people to breathe.

For them, this was an insurmountable barrier.

It means endless oppression and injustice with no way to appeal!
For the imperial court, this was undoubtedly a dangerous sign of utter corruption in the bureaucracy!

In order to cover up the initial mistakes, these officials will go to any lengths to "cover up" the truth, setting up layers of obstacles from bottom to top, one layer on top of another, to completely conceal the truth.

If that's the case, then it's no longer just a personal miscarriage of justice for Xi Zhaoxue's brother, but rather the entire Shandong officialdom is rotten to the core and utterly corrupt!

Xu Miaojin was incredibly intelligent and quick-witted; she grasped the key points and deeper meanings of the matter instantly.

Seeing that she understood, Zhu Yunwen slowly said, "There are two reasons why I will not personally send an imperial envoy to investigate this case."

"Firstly, I want to take this opportunity to see just how corrupt the officialdom in Shandong has become."

"After receiving my imperial edict, will they suddenly realize their mistakes, immediately and seriously investigate the case, uphold justice for the wronged people, and clear their names? Or will they continue to conceal their wrongdoings, cover them up layer by layer, and continue to fabricate false cases to cover up their previous mistakes, remaining unrepentant to the end?"

"Secondly, although this case may appear to be just an ordinary murder case on the surface, it actually involves quite a few officials, and the situation is far more complicated than imagined."

“In officialdom, interpersonal relationships are deeply intertwined,” Zhu Yunwen explained in a deep voice. “Many officials can always find some high-ranking officials who are related to them through a series of roundabout connections.”

"This relationship might be that they passed the imperial examination in the same year, or they are from the same hometown, or they are teachers and students, or even distant relatives, or various other entanglements."

“Sending an imperial envoy there might mean that the envoy has some kind of connection with an official in Shandong.”

Zhu Yunwen's tone carried a hint of helplessness regarding the ills of officialdom: "If that is indeed the case, even if an imperial envoy is dispatched, this case may still not be thoroughly investigated, and may even be covered up again."

Similar things happen all the time in real history.

A case was presented to the emperor, and an imperial envoy was dispatched to investigate. However, due to various relationships with local officials, the envoy failed to uncover the truth and instead committed crimes himself, almost deceiving even the emperor.

"Instead of doing that, it would be better to hold back and observe the situation for the time being."

Zhu Yunwen proposed his strategy: "On the one hand, continue to send Xi Zhaoxue to the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner's Office to file a complaint, so as to observe the reactions of those officials."

"On the other hand, we secretly sent people to investigate the interpersonal relationships and backgrounds of the relevant officials in detail, and to find out their true colors."

"It will not be too late to send people to conduct an in-depth investigation once the facts are clear and the truth is understood."

At this point, Zhu Yunwen smiled and said, "My main purpose in making this northern tour is to address the disaster caused by the breach of the Yellow River dike."

"The breach in the dike, although located within the territory of Guide Prefecture in Henan, happened to be right next to Yanzhou in Shandong."

"Since I am here, it is only natural for me to take a detour to Shandong."

"Perhaps, I will be able to personally try this case and personally resolve the injustice, so there will be no need to send any additional imperial envoys."

Upon hearing that Zhu Yunwen was going to personally handle the case, Xu Miaojin was overjoyed and cheered.

Immediately afterwards, Zhu Yunwen gave detailed instructions to the officials of the Investigation Department and the spies of the Censorate who accompanied him, ordering them to thoroughly investigate the identities, backgrounds, and interpersonal relationships of the officials involved in the case, including the Shandong Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, the Prefect of Yanzhou, and the Magistrate of Shanxian County, and to report back to him as soon as possible.

After doing all this,
Zhu Yunwen sighed softly.

But I wasn't in a good mood.

If Xi Yunlang is indeed wronged as Xi Zhaoxue said, it would be easy for Zhu Yunwen, as the emperor, to clear his name.

But as an emperor, what he had to do was not simply uphold justice for a particular person.

The key question is how to establish a complete system to prevent such wrongful convictions from happening.

This is the fundamental solution.

……

(End of this chapter)