Take control of Wei Zhongxian at the start and confiscate 100 million from him!

Chapter 55 A Tyrant Even More Lawless Than Wei Zhongxian
"Your Majesty, we, your humble servants, pay our respects!"

Wang Ji's mind went blank. Almost instinctively, he led his equally stunned colleagues behind him, without the slightest hesitation, to lift their official robes, kneel down, and perform a full prostration.

Their heads were bowed low, their foreheads pressed tightly against the cold gold bricks.

No one dared to look up at the emperor's expression.

The hall fell silent.

Only the emperor's unhurried footsteps echoed slowly in the empty hall.

"Da da da……"

Every step felt like stepping on their fragile hearts.

After an unknown amount of time, the footsteps stopped in front of them, and a faint scent of ambergris, which only royalty could use, lingered around their noses.

"Everyone, get up."

A voice, devoid of emotion, came from above.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Wang Ji and the others felt as if they had been granted a pardon. They stood up shakily, but still kept their heads bowed.

"I know you."

Zhu Youjian spoke.

He walked behind the large imperial desk, casually placed the thick book in his hand on the table, and then slowly sat down.

"Wang Ji, former Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, in the second year of the Tianqi reign, tried the case of Wei Liangqing, the Deputy Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, who forcibly took a woman and caused her death. Undeterred by power, he proposed a death sentence according to the law. Wei Zhongxian was furious and ordered the cabinet to draft an edict, rebuking you for being 'stubborn, fame-seeking, and unfit for important positions,' and dismissing you from office and sending you back to your hometown."

Wang Ji's body trembled violently, as if struck by an invisible electric current.

He hadn't expected that the emperor knew so much about even such a specific case.

The case that ruined his future was buried deep in his heart, and he thought the world had forgotten it, but unexpectedly, the emperor mentioned it so casually.

"Li Mo, former Left Vice Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, in the third year of the Tianqi reign, submitted a memorial entitled 'The Palace Should Be Cleaned Up,' impeaching Lady Ke, the Lady of the Imperial Household Department, for corrupting the palace and forming a faction to disrupt the government. Three days after the memorial was submitted, he was arrested by the Imperial Guards and taken to the Northern Garrison. He was flogged forty times and exiled to Liaodong. His crime was 'making irresponsible remarks about the inner palace and framing loyal officials.'"

Standing behind Wang Ji, Li Mo's face turned deathly pale in an instant, and his body began to sway uncontrollably. Those forty strokes of the cane, enough to kill a strong ox, were the nightmare of his life.

The emperor did not stop.

He read out the resume of an ordinary official as if he were reciting a regular official's resume, pointing out the most unbearable and painful past events of these people in the hall one by one.

His memory was terrifyingly good; he knew every person's official rank, the time, the reason, and the final charge without a single mistake.

Every time Zhu Youjian said a name or read out a charge, the officials whose names were mentioned would tremble uncontrollably.

Wait until the last name is spoken.

Apart from the emperor himself, everyone in the hall had their backs completely soaked with cold sweat.

They don't understand.

Why did the emperor so precisely expose their long-healed wounds?

Is it humiliation? Or a warning?

"I have summoned you all." Zhu Youjian finally got to the point.

He sat up straight, interlaced his fingers and gently placed them on the blue-covered book on the imperial desk, his gaze calmly sweeping over the fear-filled faces of each of them.

"I want to ask you a question."

"You were all former legal officials of my Great Ming Dynasty, well-versed in laws and regulations. You, tell me—"

He paused, a hint of inquiry in his voice.

"What is the law of the land?"

As soon as the question came out.

Everyone was stunned.

What is the law of the land?

This problem is too big and too sudden; it's like an invisible mountain crashing down on us.

They were all well-versed in the law, and this issue should have been the foundation of their character.

If they were in the lecture hall of the Imperial College or the main hall of the Ministry of Justice, they could quote extensively from classical texts, from the "Tang Code Commentary" to the "Collected Explanations and Supplementary Regulations of the Ming Code," and talk for three days and three nights without repeating themselves.

But here and now.

In the Wenhua Hall, a symbol of the empire's highest level of civil administration, they faced the young emperor who had just overturned half of the capital's officialdom using the most illegitimate means.

This makes the issue extremely acute and dangerous.

It was like a sharpened knife held against their necks.

No one dared to speak.

The hall was eerily quiet; you could almost hear the dust swirling in the air. The emperor didn't urge them on.

He simply watched them quietly, his eyes still calm as still water, but Wang Ji sensed an undercurrent beneath that calm surface that was powerful enough to devour everything.

Wang Ji knew that if he didn't answer this question well today, they would probably be completely forgotten by this era.

He gritted his teeth, used all his strength to suppress the fear and trembling in his heart, and stepped forward to kneel down on the ground once again.

“Your Majesty,” his voice grew hoarse with nervousness, “the laws of the land are the standard by which the nation is judged. They govern the people above and ensure that those below fulfill their duties, distinguishing right from wrong, punishing the wicked and protecting the good. They ensure that all people in the land know what to abide by and dare not violate the law. This is the fundamental meaning of the laws of the land.”

He was giving the most standard, correct, and impeccable answers from the books.

However, he hadn't finished speaking.

Zhu Youjian laughed.

With a smile that was not at all concealed, mocking.

"Disregard black and white? Determine right and wrong?"

Zhu Youjian repeated it, then picked up the blue-covered book on his desk and gently tapped the thick cover with his finger.

"Boom, boom, boom."

Each strike hit Wang Ji's heart.

"Then I ask you, Wang Ji. Zhou Yanru, as an official of the court, was corrupt, abused his power, formed cliques, and sold official positions. Shouldn't he be executed?"

Wang Ji's heart skipped a beat. This was an easy question, but he was willing to sacrifice a friend rather than himself. Besides, he didn't get along with the Donglin Party. Considering the emperor's ruthless actions after taking the throne, he answered without hesitation: "Your Majesty, according to the Great Ming Code, the ringleader should be executed by slow slicing, his property confiscated, and his family exiled three thousand li away!"

"Very well." The emperor nodded. "Should those officials and generals who colluded with Shanxi merchants, sold weapons illegally, opened border markets privately, and aided the enemy and the country be executed?"

“Your Majesty, this is a crime of treason and collusion with the enemy. According to the law, this crime is unforgivable and should result in the extermination of nine generations of one’s family!” Wang Ji answered decisively, his voice even carrying a hint of pleasure that he himself did not realize.

"Very good." The emperor's smile vanished, replaced by a cold scrutiny.

"Then let me ask you again. I used the Western Depot, bypassing the Grand Secretariat and the Three Judicial Offices, to directly arrest high-ranking officials, confiscate the mansions of wealthy merchants, torture them to extract confessions, and convict them of murder. Does this comply with the national law you speak of?"

This question struck Wang Ji like a hammer blow to the chest.

He opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Is it in accordance with international law?

Of course they don't get along!

The Ming Dynasty had been established for nearly three hundred years and had long since developed a complete and rigorous judicial system.

Any major case must be investigated by the Ministry of Justice, reviewed by the Censorate, and retried by the Court of Judicial Review. This is called the "Joint Trial by the Three Judicial Offices," which involves multiple layers of review and repeated arguments before a conviction can be made!
The emperor bypassed all procedures and mobilized the notorious secret police, the "Employment Guard," to directly arrest and kill people.

This is a typical illegal act!
This is the thing that judges who have spent their whole lives studying Confucian classics and believing in laws hate the most and cannot tolerate!
But can he say that?
Would he dare say that?

If he dares to say "no," he has no doubt that he will follow in Zhou Yanru's footsteps the next moment, or even suffer a worse fate.

Large beads of sweat trickled down Wang Ji's forehead and down his gaunt cheeks. He had tried countless cases in his life, faced the most ruthless bandits and the most cunning corrupt officials, but he had never faced such a difficult situation as today.

Just when he was caught in a dilemma, feeling that he was about to be crushed by the enormous pressure and suffocate to death.

The emperor spoke again.

You don't need to answer.

His voice returned to its usual calm.

"I will answer for you."

Zhu Youjian paused for a moment, then clearly uttered two words in a statement of facts.

"Incompatible".

Zhu Youjian admitted it.

He stood up, slowly walked down the imperial steps, and stood in front of Wang Ji, looking down at the old minister kneeling on the ground.

"I know that in your eyes, and in the eyes of all scholars in the world, I am breaking the law, I am acting recklessly, and I am a tyrant even more lawless than Wei Zhongxian!"

"but……"

Zhu Youjian's voice suddenly turned cold.

"When the law becomes a tool for treacherous officials to seek personal gain, when legal provisions become armor for parasites to protect themselves, when all the civil and military officials in the court, from the Grand Secretariat to the Six Ministries, from the capital to the local areas, protect each other, forming an impenetrable net, when the entire court is rotten to the core—"

He suddenly raised his voice, each word sounding as if squeezed out from between his teeth.

"Tell me! What other method do I have besides this illegal one?!"

"If I were to follow your national laws and send Zhou Yanru's case to the three judicial departments for joint trial, what would the result be? I'll tell you! The result would be that Zhou Yanru's protégés and associates would use all their power to protect him, and the Shanxi merchants' vast fortunes of tens of millions of taels of silver would be used to bribe everyone involved! In the end, after three to five years of investigation, the main culprit would die in prison, the accomplices would be fined three months' salary, and the case would be dropped!"

"And the border troops of my Great Ming are still starving! The people of my Great Ming are still rebelling! This country is still heading step by step into an abyss of no return!"

"By then, the country will cease to exist! What use will the law be?! To be used as a sacrifice?!"

(End of this chapter)