Late Ming Dynasty: So what if Emperor Chongzhen was inactive?!

Chapter 210 Your Majesty, Zheng Zhilong is not human!

"Your Majesty, Zheng Zhilong is not human! Your Majesty, I almost, almost died for the country! Your Majesty, you must do justice for me!" Qian Qianyi cried, tears streaming down his face.

Zhu Youjian initially tried to comfort him with a few polite words, but the man kept crying and showed no regard for decorum. Zhu Youjian could only cough and look at Wei Zhongxian. The head of the Eastern Depot immediately understood. He stepped forward and said in a sinister tone, "Qian Qianyi, someone has reported that you accepted a bribe of one hundred taels of gold from Zheng Zhilong."

"This?!" A hint of panic flashed in Qian Qianyi's eyes, but he still forced a smile and argued, "No, no such thing! Who, who falsely accused me? Your Majesty, I am innocent! If I had really taken a bribe from Zheng Zhilong, why would I have criticized him in court? Your Majesty, I am irreconcilably opposed to Zheng Zhilong!"

Qian Qianyi's reasons seemed plausible, but his trembling voice betrayed his guilty conscience. The ministers watching from the sidelines couldn't help but frown, and Zhu Youjian, looking at Qian Qianyi's ugly face, felt even more disgusted, thinking, "What a despicable character!"
Other corrupt officials at least take money and do things, but you, you take someone's bribe and then try to kill them! You want the bribe, you want the reputation, but have you ever considered the Ming Dynasty, or the lives of its soldiers?!

Good people are liked by everyone; bad people are also somewhat acceptable. It would be better if everyone just stood up and faced off openly. Hypocrites are the most disgusting. They make a big show of themselves every day, sending others to their deaths while they hide in the back, indulging in pleasure and womanizing!

Zhu Youjian then said sternly, "Wei Zhongxian, how dare you! Without any evidence, how can you so easily slander a loyal official? Qian Xingren has traveled thousands of miles to serve the court; even if he has no merit, he has still worked hard. I will not allow him to be wronged! Where is the Vice Commander of the Northern Garrison?!"

"Your subject is here!" Tang Yu stepped out to the left.

"The Northern Garrison Command is in charge of criminal matters. You will personally lead the investigation into this matter! I do not believe that Minister Qian is a lawbreaker, corrupt, or bribe-taker. You must investigate thoroughly to find out whether he accepted money from Zheng Zhilong! If he is innocent, I will punish Eunuch Wei for false accusation!" Zhu Youjian said solemnly.

"Your subject obeys!" Tang Yu responded with a resounding roar.

However, his shout shattered Qian Qianyi's last hope, and the man's legs went weak, causing him to collapse to the ground.

"Qian Aiqing, what is the meaning of this?! Could it be that you really embezzled Zheng Zhilong's money? You're so foolish!" Zhu Youjian said, seven parts shocked and three parts heartbroken.

"Your Majesty, spare me! Your Majesty, spare me! I only made a mistake in one thought. This money was... it was a gift from Zheng Zhilong to me for travel expenses! I didn't agree to anything from Zheng Zhilong, I didn't accept any bribes from him!" Qian Qianyi struggled to say with red eyes.

"Travel expenses?! Along your journey, with the official documents issued by the court, were the post stations not open to you? Your colleagues in Fujian were so rude as to not even entertain you?! Minister Lai, this is your fault! Your Ministry of Rites has a department called the Bureau of Ceremonies, and when you went out on official business, you didn't even allocate travel expenses?!" Zhu Youjian continued to feign ignorance.

But his poor acting skills couldn't fool the others. At first, they thought the emperor was genuinely angry, but something felt off. It wasn't until they saw the emperor squinting, his smile almost overflowing, that they realized the emperor was just toying with Qian Qianyi. Now he was completely finished!
It's true that the emperor is usually quite comical, but he wouldn't even tease the golden-gourd guards standing at the entrance of the Hall of Supreme Harmony in this way. You can imagine how much the emperor dislikes these guys!

Minister of Rites Lai Zongdao's old face twitched slightly, especially when the other ministers looked at him with amused smiles, which made him almost explode with anger: What does Qian Qianyi have to do with this! It's not like he trained these soldiers, or that the emperor just randomly selected envoys and forced them into the Ministry of Rites, right? How come it's now the Ministry of Rites' fault?
"Your Majesty, according to the regulations of the court, the allocation of travel expenses is determined according to the official rank. The officials of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices are eighth-rank officials, and their daily stipend is half a tael of silver. Their transportation expenses are calculated based on two horses, with two qian of silver per horse per day, totaling four qian of silver. The total daily allocation is nine qian of silver."

Qian Qianyi's round trip took sixty-three days and required fifty-six taels and seven mace of silver. Before leaving the capital, he had already withdrawn one hundred and twenty taels of silver from the Ministry of Rites. Lai Zongdao paused, then turned to Tang Yu and said, "I trouble Admiral Tang to return this extra silver to the Ministry of Rites after the confiscation of my property." "Qian Qianyi, your explanation of the travel expenses doesn't seem convincing. Do you have anything else to say?" Zhu Youjian said leisurely.

"Your Majesty, I was wrong! Your Majesty, spare my life! Please spare my life! I will never dare to do it again! Your Majesty, spare my life!" Qian Qianyi already had some unspeakable secrets, and now, with this provocation, the bystander's sphincter broke down, and his official robe was soaked with urine. It was simply too embarrassing to look at.

These officials, usually so dignified, how come they become so undignified once they're arrested?! Zhu Youjian frowned and shouted, "Censor-in-Chief?!"

"Your Majesty, I am here!" Before the emperor could issue an edict, Gao Hongtu, the Left Censor-in-Chief, said, "Anyone who misbehaves in court shall be punished with caning. Qian Qianyi's urination in court is a grave disrespect and should be sentenced to death!"

"Oh dear, you're dead!" Zhu Youjian thought, looking at the pile of Qian Qianyi on the ground.

He waved his hand dismissively and said indifferently, "Take it down!"

Qian Qianyi's face turned ashen, and he stopped wailing. He came from the lineage of Qian Liu, the King of Wuyue, a distinguished family with a thousand-year history, so he was not actually short of money. When Zheng Zhilong offered gold bars as an apology, he didn't even glance at them; he only accepted the money reluctantly.

In his view, he didn't need the money at all, and he was filled with regret! He had already anticipated that his family would remove his name from the family register. This was a case personally overseen by the emperor, and he had no chance of escaping punishment. His family couldn't save him either!

He was dragged out of the main hall by the imperial guards, leaving a long water stain on the dark gold bricks. The court officials who hadn't spoken up for him, or even gloated over his misfortune, suddenly realized something was amiss: this was utterly humiliating! Although Qian Qianyi had only himself to blame, it was a disgrace to all the civil officials!

They've often fabricated scandalous stories about the emperors of the Ming Dynasty to damage his reputation. Will the emperor retaliate in kind this time?
The officials of the three judicial departments exchanged glances. Feng Jiahui, the Minister of Justice, stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, “Your Majesty, Qian Qianyi’s crime of embezzlement should, in principle, be tried by the three judicial departments of the court. The practice of torture and forced confessions is rampant in the imperial prison, and its notoriety is known even to ordinary people. If he is imprisoned in the imperial prison, it may be difficult to convince the public. I hope Your Majesty will reconsider.”

Zhu Youjian smiled faintly and said, "What are you saying? Tang Yu, do you know how to use torture to extract confessions?!"

"Your Majesty, the Northern Garrison Command is in charge of the imperial prisons. We will not show mercy to those who stubbornly resist!" Tang Yu replied frankly.

"Alright then, the usual procedure. The evidence found by the Northern Garrison Command and the confessions obtained during the trial will be transferred to your three judicial departments along with the criminals, and then you can determine the guilt. But let me make this clear: I will review these files, so don't bend the law for personal gain!" Zhu Youjian snorted.

"We, your subjects, will certainly uphold the law impartially in accordance with the laws of the Great Ming Dynasty and live up to Your Majesty's expectations!" Feng Jiahui, Gao Hongtu, and Xue Zhen, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, said in unison.

Actually, they weren't trying to save Qian Qianyi; "Water Too Cold" didn't have that kind of nerve. They just wanted to salvage the reputation of their group. Even if it's the same execution, the charges and the details in the case file are very different! They also needed to prevent him from going so far as to make baseless accusations and create a mess!
(End of this chapter)