Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 81: We Still Need a Real Detective (Part )
Huo Tao, the governor of Shuntian Prefecture, has been very busy recently.

He was busy writing memorials to impeach Xia Yan, the Imperial Secretary, who had no bottom line in trying to please the emperor.

After three books were written, they were like mud flowing into the sea.

Huo Tao had already realized that something was wrong, but he gritted his teeth and still prepared to submit an impeachment petition.

It has to be said that the Daliyi circle is not entirely political speculation and still maintains a certain purity.

At that time, most of the court officials, led by Prime Minister Yang Tinghe and Minister of Rites Mao Cheng, insisted that "when a small clan enters a large clan, the paternal line must be changed". They cited the stories of Emperor Aizong of Han and Emperor Yingzong of Song, and forced Jiajing to regard Emperor Xiaozong as the emperor's father, and to change his biological parents to his uncles and parents. They meant that this was how the ancients came to be, and it should be followed now.

But they inadvertently overlooked, or deliberately overlooked, that the "Huang Ming Zu Xun" of the Ming Dynasty stipulated that the younger brother should inherit the throne, and did not require the recognition of the paternal line. Moreover, Emperor Ai of Han and Emperor Yingzong of Song had already been adopted before they ascended the throne.

For example, Song Yingzong. Song Renzong had no grown-up children, so he adopted Yingzong and raised him in the palace. But every time he gave birth to a son, he sent him away. Then, when the son died young, he would take Yingzong back.

This process was extremely torturous. Regardless of whether the family affection was exhausted in the ordeal, the adoption and raising relationship between the two was very clear. Even so, after Yingzong ascended the throne, he was unwilling to give up his biological parents, and fought with the court officials, causing the Puyi Dispute.

Jiajing was never raised by Emperor Xiaozong. He was chosen from among the vassal kings to succeed the throne because Emperor Wuzong had no descendants and no brothers. There was actually no precedent for this situation. The precedents of Emperor Ai of Han and Emperor Ying of Song were not appropriate.

On the contrary, Zhang Cong based his argument on the "Book of Filial Piety" which states that "one should serve one's father in order to serve one's ruler", and stressed that the emperor also had the natural right to be filial to his biological father. This was consistent with the Confucian principle of kinship. In ancient times, the country was governed by filial piety, and both the people and the royal family had a moral basis of identity.

Therefore, Yang Tinghe's faction suffered a crushing defeat. His former students and officials accused Zhang Cong and his party of flattering the emperor, while the new nobles of the Grand Ceremony Debate believed that they were the right side.

But what Xia Yan is doing now is purely the behavior of a mean-spirited person who caters to the king without any bottom line.

Since ancient times, heaven and earth have been worshipped together. What's the point of suddenly worshipping them separately now? This is completely nonsense...

If such people were to rise to prominence and the trend spread, wouldn't the administration be corrupted?

Even though he knew that the emperor was unwilling, Huo Tao still had to severely criticize Xia Yan and was determined to suppress this evil trend.

Compared with such a major matter of rectifying the monarch's ways and enforcing the order among his ministers, the case in the Imperial College was nothing.

Until he heard the identities of both the deceased and the murderer.

"what!"

"Is the deceased the brother-in-law of Marquis Wu Ding? Is the murderer the youngest son of Gui Gelao?"

Huo Tao's eyes went dark.

Not all the new nobles in the Great Ceremony Debate were united, especially Gui E, who had the most stubborn temper. When he got angry, he even confronted Zhang Cong and Fang Xianfu, and Huo Tao did not dare to confront him directly.

Guo Xun is a unique person in the noble system. To be honest, he is arrogant and domineering, and he takes bribes and abuses his power. Huo Tao cannot stand him very much. Gui E even submitted a memorial to criticize Guo Xun not long ago.

If these two powerful officials were to fight over their children and relatives, how could the land measurement and surveying system and the single whip system, which were already subject to various constraints from both within and outside the court, be implemented?

If it were an ordinary prefect, he would probably have avoided it at this time. Instead, Huo Tao quickened his pace and walked towards the scene of the crime.

In any case, it is better to have this case handed over to him than to have other ministers who are hostile to the Great Ceremony Debate take the opportunity to stir up trouble.

Along the way, he also asked questions to the yamen runners who arrived first and quickly understood the case.

In Huo Tao's view, the whole case is clear and straightforward.

This morning, Gui Zai, Zhao Chen and another companion, along with a group of servants, came to the Imperial College to participate in the supplementary examination. During this time, another companion went to the next room to take the test, so Gui Zai and Zhao Chen dismissed the servants and talked to them.

There were only two people left in the room, and then a shrill scream was heard. When the servants rushed in, they found Zhao Chen lying dead on the ground. Gui Zai was dead on the spot, and the dagger he was carrying was the murder weapon, which fell at the feet of the corpse.

The witnesses and physical evidence are all there.

Although the process is clear, it does not mean that the case is easy to judge.

When the sons of nobles in the Ming Dynasty killed civilians, it was not much more serious than killing a chicken, because the case was not tried by local government according to the law, but was negotiated by the nobles at the meeting.

As a result, the judicial procedures and sentencing standards are naturally much more lenient than those for ordinary people. Even if there is a commotion, their salaries will basically be cut and their treatment will remain the same.

To put it bluntly, it is symbolic accountability, focusing on maintaining the imperial power's control over the noble group. As for judicial justice, what is that?
But now the relatives of a nobleman were killed, and the murderer was the son of the second prime minister. The privileged class was killing each other, and the result of how to deal with it was a headache.

For example, in the case of Xu Qi killing royal family members during the Zhengde period, a nobleman named Xu Qi killed two royal family members. Since the fault lay with the deceased, the nobleman was only sentenced to "beheading with a pending death sentence" and the sentence was not executed. In fact, he was still alive.

But such examples are rare after all, and they cannot be applied to the current situation.

"Alas! These are troubled times!"

Sighing inwardly, Huo Tao walked to the front of the courtyard. His gaze had become firm, and he said in a deep voice, "Collect Zhao Qilang's body and prepare his appearance properly."

The judge asked in a low voice, "Do you want an autopsy?"

Huo Tao warned: "Determine the cause of death and conduct a preliminary investigation. Do not desecrate the body."

"Yes!"

The prosecutor understood that this was to avoid angering the Wuding Marquis. The person was dead, and if the autopsy was repeated over and over again, the deceased's relatives would probably find it even more difficult to accept it.

Besides arranging the body, Huo Tao also instructed: "Keep Gui Zai under guard and don't let him talk nonsense!"

This is also to avoid irritating the family of the deceased. There is obviously no possibility of injustice, but they still cry out for injustice and use some clumsy means to escape punishment. When Marquis Wu Ding arrives and sees this scene, won't he be even more angry?
"Wait! This case is an injustice!" Almost as soon as Huo Tao finished speaking, a righteous shout came from the other side. The Shuntian prefect's face darkened. He looked over and asked, "Who is this person?"

No one knew, but they guessed, "It must be another companion of Master Gui."

"Don't let him make noise! ​​Take him down!"

Huo Tao waved his hand.

"Hey, hey, hey!"

Yan Shifan, full of righteousness, had just breathed a few breaths of coolness when he saw two burly yamen runners rushing towards him viciously. He hurriedly called out, "Deyu! Deyu!"

Haiyue helped Gui Zai, whose legs were weak and limp, to his feet. Gui Zai stepped forward, took a deep breath and said, "Wait a minute..."

Huo Tao looked at Gui Zai and saw that he was not hysterical and his expression was relatively calm. He nodded slightly and sighed, "Gui Sanlang! You are really confused. Don't say anything else. Just wait for the punishment!"

Gui Zai was unwilling to give in: "Uncle Huo, my nephew really didn't harm anyone. This is Yan Shifan, my best friend. He has already investigated and is willing to prove my nephew's innocence!"

Huo Tao then realized who the young man who had come forward rashly was: "Is your father Minister Yan?"

Yan Shifan quickly bowed and saluted: "It's my nephew, nice to meet you, Uncle Huo..."

"Just call me by my title! What proof do you have that Katsura Saburo is not the murderer?"

Huo Tao's tone was cold.

He had a good impression of Yan Song. After all, he was upright and honest, not afraid of power, and he did a good job when he was the chief academic officer of the Imperial College.

But he was obviously not as polite to the ministers and their children outside the Grand Ceremony Conference as he was to his own people.

This circle is extremely exclusive and also subtly looks down on those who go to great lengths to curry favor with them.

Yan Shifan, having now stepped forward, was resolute and unyielding. He declared in a resounding voice, "Your Excellency, the Grand Secretary, I believe it is absolutely impossible for Gui Deyu to murder Zhao Qilang. Let me ask you, could a murderer be so spotless?"

Following his guidance, everyone's gaze fell on Gui Zai, which was quite surprising.

Yes!

It is indeed unreasonable that there is no blood on this person.

Huo Tao looked at everyone: "He didn't change his clothes? Didn't he wash off the bloodstains?"

Gui Zai shook his head repeatedly: "No, I've been sitting here the whole time, everyone can see it!"

Yan Shifan added: "Everyone in the Imperial College can attest to it, they haven't changed their clothes!"

Servants may have lied in order to protect their masters, but no one in the Imperial College would bear such a heavy responsibility as they were all witnesses.

"Oh?"

Huo Tao's slightly sparse eyebrows raised, and he finally felt a glimmer of hope: "Then according to you, Zhao Qilang was not killed by Gui Erlang, who is the real murderer?"

Gui Zai's eyes flashed with fear again, and Yan Shifan quickly answered: "The identity of the real murderer is currently unknown..."

Huo Tao asked, "What was the murderer's method?"

Yan Shifan hesitated: "It has not been found out yet..."

Huo Tao's brows drooped, and his tone turned cold: "Then what do you know?"

Yan Shifan was also a little exhausted by the questions, so he quickly turned sideways and began to introduce, "This is Qiongshan Haiyue, a close friend of mine. He was the one who solved the strange case of the Annan delegation. He is considered a young detective of our time. With him here, we will definitely be able to uncover the truth and clear the innocent people's name!"

Everyone in the Shuntian government office was speechless.

Gui Zai said that you are his best friend and asked you to seek justice for him. You also said that Hai Yue is your best friend and asked him to find out the truth. Do you need to recommend her repeatedly to investigate the case?
Gui Zai was stunned.

He originally saw that Haiyue had no intention of standing out, and thought that she was Yan Shifan's follower, but he didn't expect that this person was the real boss?
No wonder he asked questions directly and looked so calm just now!
Yan Shifan gritted his teeth secretly.

He originally wanted to take all the credit for himself and rely on Haiyue when investigating the case, but he didn't expect Huo Tao to be so aggressive. He had no choice but to ask a real detective to take action.

But he was unsure in his heart. Could the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture recognize who the young man from Qionghai was?
As it turned out, Yan Shifan was overly worried.

As soon as he heard the name, Huo Tao's gaze immediately turned towards him, his eyes sparkling. "Were you involved in the Guangzhou case?"

Haiyue bowed: "Yes!"

The death of Fang Xianfu's nephew Fang Wei seemed to have already alarmed the capital, at least in the circle of the Grand Ceremony Forum, it was of great concern.

"it is good!"

Huo Tao pursed his lips, took another deep look at the young man from Qionghai, and finally changed his attitude: "Let's go! Go to the scene!"

(End of this chapter)