There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 261 Arresting people
The King of Han was already furious, so the Ministry of Justice acted very quickly, taking less than three days from arresting people to finding out the mastermind behind the conspiracy.

Nie Yu carefully reviewed the case file presented by Dai Yi: "There are only five people behind the scenes, two of whom are just errand runners, and the rest are all innocent students?"

Dai Yi replied, "This case is actually not complicated. After the Ministry of Justice investigated it all night, and with the Censorate supervising it, it was found that only five of the fifty-six students who petitioned the emperor were indeed the masterminds. Three of them were students of the Imperial Academy, two of them did not have an Imperial Academy student status, and the remaining fifty-one students who participated in petitioning the emperor were all persuaded and misled to come, and they were unaware of the details of this matter."

Nie Yu said coldly, "Fools! Fifty-one fools, not a shred of independent thinking ability, unable to distinguish right from wrong, yet they dare to come here to plead their case. What kind of case are they pleading for? What kind of grievance are they seeking?"

Dai Yi dared not reply, but silently memorized the list of the fifty-one students in his mind.

Even if these students escape this calamity, they will likely find it difficult to secure a stable official position and promotion in this Han Dynasty in the future.

Nie Yu closed the case file and said, "Now that everything has been investigated, let's arrest them! The five people behind the scenes, along with their three clans, will have all their property and land confiscated. The men will be sent to government-run mines in various places as slaves, working in the mines for thirty years before being released. The women, regardless of whether they are married or not, will all be remarried to soldiers. The young children will be sent to orphanages to be raised!"

After saying that, he seemed to remember something and added, "His descendants shall not be allowed to take the imperial examinations within three generations, and those who enter academies shall not be allowed to graduate and become officials within three generations!"

Good heavens, that's ruthless!
Dai Yi was somewhat shocked. He hadn't expected his king to be so ruthless. First, he stripped the students of their academic titles and status, forbidding them from participating in the imperial examination. Then, he confiscated their property and exiled them. The men were made slaves, the women were forced to remarry, and the children were sent to charitable institutions.

Moreover, even their descendants were all caught in the crossfire; they could not take the imperial examinations within three generations, but they could study at academies, though they could not graduate and become officials.

Even if it's a powerful clan, it would be completely uprooted and never able to rise again!
Dai Yi remained silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Your Majesty, what should be done with the remaining fifty-one students?"

Nie Yu said, "Sentence them as they should be, there's no need for a major criminal purge. Although I dislike their petition to the emperor this time, I am not a short-sighted and foolish ruler, and I will not punish them for their words. Even if they insult me, as long as they can explain why they are insulting me, whether they are dissatisfied with me or feel that my governance is flawed, they can submit a memorial to correct me, and I will not hesitate to seek their advice!"

"Perfect timing! We can select one of these fifty-one students to participate in next month's debate on Confucian classics in the official gazette. They have objections to the Queen's new version of the 'Admonitions for Women,' so let's use the upright and righteous principles of Confucianism to refute this new version of the 'Admonitions for Women'!"

As he finished speaking, Nie Yu couldn't help but laugh.

After careful observation, Dai Yi confirmed that Nie Yu's laughter was not born of extreme anger, and then bowed and replied, "Your subject obeys!"

Dai Yi respectfully took his leave.

He only breathed a sigh of relief after leaving the main hall of the Prince's Palace, and at the same time felt a sincere admiration for the Prince of Han's vision.

The King of Han truly lived up to his reputation as a great ruler who founded a dynasty. Even though he was clearly angry, he was still able to think calmly and use both kindness and severity.

The severe sentences handed down to the five masterminds behind the scenes are a powerful move.

For the remaining fifty-one students, lift them up high and put them down gently; that is true kindness.

He not only used both kindness and severity, but also bluntly stated that it didn't matter if students cursed him, the King of Han, as long as they could give reasons, they could speak freely.

In the end, he took the initiative to select one person from the fifty-one students who had lobbied the emperor to participate in the debate on the classics in the official gazette the following month, giving the other party an opportunity to refute the new provisions of the "Admonitions for Women".

In this way, once the news is announced, the scholars and literati under the rule of the Han Dynasty will have no choice but to keep quiet and wait for the results of the debate in the official gazette.

Because they no longer have any reason to cause trouble, they have already publicly appealed to the emperor, and this is still wrong.

Even so, the king still gave them a chance. He did not severely punish everyone, but only arrested the mastermind, severely punished the mastermind, and gave each of them a chance to personally debate the scriptures.

If they continue to cause trouble, then it will truly be absurd.

The King of Han's tolerance also had its limits; things could be done once or twice, but not three times.

……

Since returning from the teahouse that day, Liu Jin has locked himself in his study for the past few days.

Liu Jin's wife, Wu, thought her husband was studying hard for the exam. While she was overjoyed, she dared not disturb him at all, and would only come to the study to bring him meals during the three daily meals.

Under the puppet Qing regime, ordinary people basically ate only two meals a day, while only the wealthy and powerful had surplus grain and were able to eat three meals a day.

This brings us to Kangxi, the emperor of the pseudo-Qing dynasty, who claimed that the people were too lazy and should eat only two meals a day like him to avoid famine and starvation.

Haha, this pockmarked guy really only eats two meals a day, but after the meals, there are all kinds of after-meal snacks, late-night snacks, fruits, and pastries.

That means he has to eat less. If he eats three meals a day, he'll eat himself to death.

Under Nie Yu's rule, the people of Da Han, regardless of how wealthy they became, had their burdens greatly reduced after three years of continuous farming and development. Even the poorest people could now afford to eat three meals a day.

In the beginning, some officials did submit memorials arguing that the people were consuming too much grain for their three meals a day and that it should be reduced by one or two percent. However, without exception, Nie Yu refuted all of these memorials, his words showing no mercy whatsoever.

It is still the meat-eaters who are contemptible, the inherent flaws of the official and gentry class. There are many ambitious young officials, but there are always those with deeply ingrained class ideology.

They themselves are well-fed with three meals a day, so they think that the common people are wasting their time with three meals a day.

Moreover, Nie Yu also took into account the actual situation. The common people only ate two meals a day and had no strength to work and farm. Even if they trained the militia, they would be too weak and listless, which would not be conducive to the Han Dynasty's control over the grassroots.

"Boom boom boom!"

"Come in."

"My lord, it's time to eat."

Madam Wu, accompanied by her maid, carried food into the study.

As Liu Jin watched Wu enter, he slowly got up from the table, his face full of exhaustion and haggardness. This sight made Wu feel a pang of heartache.

Madam Wu gestured for the maid to put the food down, and said with concern, "Husband, even though the imperial examination is approaching, you can't study so hard. If you ruin your health, it won't be of any use even if you pass the exam!"

Hearing his wife's concern, Liu Jin felt a pang of bitterness in his heart, thinking that he wished he were really this haggard from studying.

He didn't even dare to tell his wife the truth: the case of the university students petitioning the emperor had already spread throughout Jingzhou City in just a few days.

People everywhere are talking about it, treating it as a topic of conversation during their leisure time.

No one knew, not even Liu Jin's classmates and friends, that he was one of the masterminds behind the "Knocking on the Palace Gate" case that the Ministry of Justice was currently investigating.

Liu Jin now deeply regrets his actions. He was initially only dissatisfied with the new regulations on "Admonitions for Women" published in the official gazette. He has no idea how he could have been so bewitched as to conspire with two complete strangers to stage this incident of students petitioning the emperor.

They naively thought they could use the students of the university to force the King of Han to make concessions and then achieve other goals.

Looking back now, there was no half-power involved.

The King of Han was a great ruler who founded a dynasty. He didn't exactly look down on the gentry and scholars, but he certainly didn't value them as much as they imagined.

It's worth noting that even the last time scholars gathered to petition for the reopening of the imperial examinations, it still took almost a year, and many new subjects were added to the first special imperial examination of the Han Dynasty.

Thinking of this, Liu Jin became agitated again and lost his appetite. He was about to ask his wife to take the food away.

"Oh!"

The gate of the Liu residence was suddenly kicked open, followed by a cacophony of shouts and curses, and then the sound of hurried footsteps.

Liu Jin looked terrified and was so frightened that he couldn't move. Wu Shi, not knowing what was going on, was about to go out to see what was happening.

Suddenly, several burly patrolmen rushed in, startling the young woman, Wu, who nearly lost her balance and fell.

The patrol captain ignored Wu Shi and the maid, staring at Liu Jin, the only man in the room, and asked, "Are you Liu Jin?"

"I...I am," Liu Jin stammered.

"Let's do it!" the captain shouted.

Four patrolmen rushed in like wolves and tigers, grabbed the limp Liu Jin, and dragged him out like a dead dog.

After capturing Liu Jin and sealing off his residence, the patrolmen went on to help at the next location.

The masterminds behind this, including Liu Jin, number five, and many of them have family connections.

According to the King of Han's order, their three clans must be wiped out, not even a dog can be spared, and dividing the family property will be useless.

The five masterminds behind the scenes all came from prominent clans; the three clans combined numbered at least several hundred people.

The Ministry of Justice spent two whole days just arresting people.

(End of this chapter)