The Ming Dynasty's Five Hundred Years

Chapter 11 Why did he take office?

Half a month after Princess Lin'an gave birth, Li Qi finished his leave and officially took office as the Ambassador for Inspecting Customs.

As usual, all the ministries in the capital reported for duty, except for the Ministry of Justice, where a group of uninvited guests arrived.

It was Li Qi, who had come to investigate local customs on imperial orders, who led a large number of scholars borrowed from the Imperial Academy, the Court of Judicial Review, the Censorate, and the Hanlin Academy, into the Ministry of Justice.

Many people in the capital were watching him closely, and when he entered the Ministry of Justice, many thought, "Just as I expected."

The investigation into the customs of the previous dynasty originated with Yang Jing, the Minister of Justice, and it was expected that the Ministry of Justice would be the first to be investigated.

Inside the Ministry of Justice compound, all the students in the delegation bowed their heads before Li Qi, awaiting his orders.

Many people may wonder why Li Qi's personal prestige is only 51, which is below the passing level, and the Li family's is even lower at -50, meaning they have no power, no influence, and a bad reputation.

Associating with the Li family is unlikely to bring any benefits and may even cause trouble, so almost everyone wants to stay far away from them.

Why were these students so obedient to Li Qi's orders?

Because they obeyed not Li Qi, but the emperor behind Li Qi.

This is why Li Qi wanted to cooperate with the imperial power—to leverage its influence and influence.

Every dynasty has a large number of royalists. Is it really because they are absolutely loyal to the emperor?
No!

It is because for those weak, newly established political groups and officials, only by using the banner of "pro-monarchy" can they tear flesh and blood from those established political groups to fill their stomachs!
For example, the officials who surrounded Emperor Wen of Han when he first entered Chang'an, the officials who stood by Emperor Xuan of Han when he purged Huo Guang, and the scholars who launched an attack on Yang Tinghe during the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty.

The same is true today!

Li Qi was seen by most people as an extension of the emperor's will, and therefore they would submit to him.

In addition, there are Li Qi's own methods.

When selecting members for the investigation team, he did not choose them based on their talents; personal ability was only second in importance. The most important factors were their place of origin and family background.

Of these 117 people, not one was from Jiangnan, nor was one from a wealthy family; they were all from impoverished northern backgrounds.

After these people met, they naturally understood without Li Qi having to say anything that this newly favored son-in-law of the emperor was going to target those southerners and powerful families!
Once the idea entered their minds, they worked with unprecedented enthusiasm, without needing any special instructions from Li Qi.

The conflict between the North and the South was the main theme throughout the Hongwu reign, reaching its peak with the North-South examination scandal, and the problem was never resolved during the entire Ming Dynasty.

Li Qi isn't a typical overpowered protagonist, so naturally he can't solve this kind of problem.

But this did not prevent him from exploiting the North-South conflict.

This is precisely the first goal Li Qi wants to achieve, and it has always been his objective, whether it's the Wang Wu and Yang Ye wife dispute or now using the investigation of Mongolian customs to stir up political turmoil.

Although there were plans to avenge the Korean government, the main purpose was to unite scholars, mainly from the north, who were ostracized by the mainstream literati.

This will disrupt the current social order in Shilin.

He scanned the people in front of him one by one, a smile involuntarily appearing in his eyes. Most of these young people, fresh out of school, were from the lower ranks of the Imperial Academy.

In ancient times, when class distinctions were clear, the tendency to favor the rich and despise the poor was far more pronounced than in modern times.

Their impoverished family backgrounds made them marginalized figures in the scholarly community. These were the people who most desired to change the current situation and were most likely to become Li Qi's disciples.

Once they discover that Li Qi can become the new leader, and once they discover that Li Qi's future son can take over the mantle, they will definitely become Li's supporters without hesitation!

In the Ministry of Justice courtyard, Li Qi finished reading the imperial edict.

He looked around and addressed the assembled officials of the Ministry of Justice in a loud voice: "I am acting on His Majesty's orders to investigate those who are hiding within our Great Ming Dynasty and have been corrupted by the customs of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty. I ask for your cooperation so that I can fulfill the imperial order as soon as possible!"

Chen Ying, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, stepped forward and said, "Since the Imperial Son-in-Law is acting on the Emperor's orders, we, his subjects, will naturally cooperate. May I ask how the Imperial Son-in-Law intends to investigate?"

Countless people in the capital were curious about how Li Qi would investigate, whether he had been influenced by Mongol customs, and who could say for sure?
If Li Qi tries to frame them, they will have to file a joint petition against him and make sure he suffers the consequences.

Li Qi could feel everyone's gaze fixed on him, not just in the Ministry of Justice compound, but across the entire capital city, countless officials were watching him. Even now, no one knew Li Qi's purpose!
Li Qi turned to the group of people who had come with him, as well as everyone in the Ministry of Justice, and said, "I'm sure you all already know about Yang Jing's matter."

Wang Wu and Yang Ye were fighting over a wife. Yang Jing judged the case according to Hu customs, which was extremely heinous and he has been executed.

However, the lingering effects he caused have not been completely eradicated. How many wrongful convictions and miscarriages of justice remain in the Ministry of Justice?

How many more Ming Dynasty citizens were harmed by the backward and immoral customs of the Mongols?

Since the superiors have entrusted this matter to us, we must set an example for the world. Having come to the Ministry of Justice, we are naturally here to hear cases. There are some old cases in the Ministry of Justice, which I will judge impartially.

When I adjudicate a case, you all record it. If there are similar or identical cases in the future, you can modify them according to my precedent.

I will report the final result directly to my superiors.

These words immediately caused an uproar, and even the group of people who came with Li Qi stared at him in shock.

Almost everyone was dumbfounded and couldn't believe it.

The judicial system of the Ming Dynasty was very comprehensive, with three judicial departments: the Ministry of Justice was responsible for trials, the Censorate was responsible for supervision, and the Court of Judicial Review was responsible for review. Important cases were jointly tried by the three judicial departments, and above the joint trial by the Nine Ministers, the cases were then reported to the emperor.

Now, Li Qi wants to skip all the previous steps, make decisions on his own, and ultimately directly connect with the emperor!

Apart from the emperor, no one was watching him!
This power is terrifyingly vast; almost everyone is secretly wondering what His Majesty intends to do.
Yes.

No one thought it was Li Qi who was going to do anything; instead, they were wondering what the emperor was going to do!
Li Qi didn't explain much about the misunderstanding. He wasn't some arrogant genius who could subdue everyone with a mere thud.

Prejudice in people's hearts is a mountain; it cannot be changed by publishing a few articles or saying a few words.

As he grows stronger, those who question him will naturally become his supporters and disciples, regarding him as a god!
They are terrified now because of their privileges, but when they realize where their swords are aimed, they will probably cry out that the sky is falling and the earth is collapsing!

I'm really looking forward to that day!

"I request that you all compile the cases of widows suing their husbands' clans in the Yingtian Prefecture's archives since the first year of the Hongwu reign, so that I may examine them one by one."

Furthermore, notices were widely distributed throughout Yingtian Prefecture stating, "This official will sit in the hall, and if any commoner has such a wrongful case, they may bring it to court, and this official will accept it."

Upon hearing Li Qi's words, the officials of the Ministry of Justice were stunned. What was he going to do?
They all thought Li Qi would be looking into those major murder cases and those long-standing mysterious cases, but they never expected it to be such a minor case.

Although marriage is a major human affair, it is really not a matter that attracts much attention. Besides, what does it have to do with investigating the customs of the Mongol Yuan dynasty?
They drew parallels to the levirate marriage system that led to Yang Jing's death.

However, levirate marriage disregarded the human relationships of the Han people, and after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, levirate marriage was basically no longer seen.

If Li Qi wants to make a breakthrough in this area, he is likely to suffer a setback.

Li Qi did not explain to them.

Marriage cases may seem minor, less attention-grabbing than major life-or-death cases, but in reality, all marriages are essentially about the distribution of property and the construction of a family.

The economic base determines the superstructure.

The structure of the family determines the form of the basic unit of the empire.

To put it more bluntly, even a seemingly trivial marriage can be related to the formation of a dynasty or a nation!

It has been common throughout history for minor cases to implicate important figures.

Yang Jing, a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Justice, died in a trivial case involving Wang Wu and Yang Ye fighting over a wife. How ridiculous!
Now Li Qi is going to use the same trick again, to set up a huge trap on a small case that no one would pay attention to!

This time, it's not just the Minister of Justice who's going to be killed!

Former Minister of Rites Li Yuanming and current Minister of Personnel Zhan Hui are his targets!

(End of this chapter)