Do You Know?: I, the Little Cabinet Elder, Regent of the World

In order to quell public opinion and with the witness of the people, a second review was conducted.

The court, after deliberation, decided to sentence Yang Wu to immediate execution by beheading and Bi Xiugu to death by slow slicing.

This move is intended to eliminate the root of the problem and create an ironclad case.

However, it was this very move that led to Yang Wu and Bi recanting their testimonies for the second time.

Ultimately, Yang Wu and Bi confessed without hesitation just to save their lives, yet the magistrate sentenced them to death.

This marks the second time he has recanted his testimony in court!

The people of Hangzhou were in uproar, and Yang Wu's wife, Xu, wept uncontrollably.

Many ambitious scholars, as well as Yang Wu's friends, wrote petitions almost overnight and reported them to Chen Ji, the Pacification Commissioner of Liangzhe Circuit, and Liu Jun, the Transport Commissioner.

Unfortunately, the prefect was a former subordinate of the pacification commissioner Chen Ji. Considering the possibility of joint liability and the upcoming triennial performance evaluation, pacification commissioner Chen Ji did not want to cause trouble.

After all, in terms of testimony, witnesses, and evidence, there was absolutely nothing wrong with what the Hangzhou magistrate submitted.

This case could theoretically be suppressed.

In order to quell public opinion as soon as possible, Chen Ji, the Pacification Commissioner of Liangzhe Road, personally conducted the third trial.

The court, in its third instance, decided to reduce the sentence.

Yang Wu was stripped of his Juren degree, and Bi Shi was drowned in a pig cage!

Transport Commissioner Liu Jun remained silent and did not intervene throughout the process, nor did he express any opinion.

The reduced sentence after three trials is already a rather "mild" approach.

According to common sense, the matter should be settled peacefully.

Yang Wu was already a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial civil service examination) in his early twenties, and was a promising candidate for the imperial examinations.

Losing his degree to the imperial examination in one fell swoop would mean that half a lifetime of hard study would be in vain.

The wife, Xu, was naturally dissatisfied with this verdict.

Whether it was due to guidance from a wise person or not, Xu inexplicably received her husband's blood-written letter from prison. She simply filed a lawsuit and went to the capital to appeal to the emperor.

However, things didn't go as planned, and his attempt to appeal to the emperor in the capital was unsuccessful.

The Dali Temple tried the case, but the imperial petition was sent back to Liangzhe Circuit, whereby the Pacification Commissioner of Liangzhe Circuit was ordered to conduct a retrial.

The pacification commissioner Chen Ji retried the case, upheld the original verdict, and reported it to the Ministry of Justice for review.

The Ministry of Justice reviewed the case and determined it to be correct.

Because this case was tried by the Court of Judicial Review, and the Ministry of Justice reviewed it and found no errors, it was the final judgment!

It was proposed that Yang Wu be stripped of his Juren degree and that Bi be drowned in a pig cage!

Generally speaking, once things reach this point, even if the Xu family has a powerful backer, it's almost impossible to reverse the situation.

Fortunately, there is always a glimmer of hope.

This case, neither too big nor too small, went through trials at the county, prefecture, circuit, and capital levels, with appeals filed all the way up the chain of command, taking nearly a year to finally reach the triennial performance evaluation.

Most of the heads of the Ministry of Justice have been replaced.

Yang Wu's wife, Xu, was dissatisfied with the verdict and appealed twice, submitting a second petition to the emperor.

The newly appointed Minister of Justice, Chen Shengzhi, read the imperial petition and concluded that there was a major injustice involved. He then ordered the Ministry of Justice to conduct an investigation in Liangzhe Circuit.

The imperial investigation process must not involve the Liangzhe Circuit or the Dali Temple in the slightest.

Ultimately, after seven imperial envoys were burned to death, some of the truth was finally uncovered.

The case of Yang Wu was a miscarriage of justice, a case of forced confession and collusion among officials.

Seeing a glimmer of hope for overturning the verdict, Yang Wu and Bi Shi quickly recanted their confessions and denied any wrongdoing.

Thus, Chen Sheng, the Minister of Justice, submitted a memorial to the Emperor, hoping that the Ministry of Justice would be allowed to try the "Yang Wu case".

The Emperor has granted permission for a second trial in the capital!

The trial of the "Yang Wu case" was conducted twice in Beijing, with Chen Shengzhi, Minister of Justice, serving as the chief judge, and Wang Anshi, Vice Minister of Justice (Left), and Feng Jing, Vice Minister of Justice (Right), serving as the deputy chief judges.

Yang Wu and Bi Shi were initially found not guilty in the second instance.

However, Chen Shengzhi believed that there were many doubts in the "Yang Wu case" and that there might be errors or omissions. He also believed that too many officials were involved, and that even an imperial envoy dared to commit arson and murder, but he dared not make any rash judgments.

After going through six trials—county, prefecture, circuit, and capital—and three recantations of confessions, resulting in the deaths of seven imperial envoys, the "Yang Wu case" finally saw a turning point.

The Ministry of Justice's investigation results were submitted to the Imperial Study.

Zhao Ceying held the memorial in his hand, his eyes slightly closed, and slowly paced back and forth.

Burning the imperial envoy—that's pretty ruthless in Liangzhe Road!

There were six trials in total, and apart from the second trial in Beijing, the other five trials all had problems.

Even the first trial in Beijing had major problems.

The worst part is, they even dared to set fire to the imperial envoy!

The imperial envoy was the "embodiment" of the emperor, representing imperial power to tour the regions and handle important matters; his status inherently carried the "extension of monarchical power."

They dared to kill them?!

"Your Majesty, Grand Secretary Jiang and Marquis Gu have been summoned to the palace." The Grand Eunuch Li Xian approached and announced.

"Ah."

Zhao Ceying breathed a sigh of relief and waved his hand.

About ten breaths later, Jiang Zhao and Gu Tingye entered one after the other.

A quick glance revealed that apart from Zhao Ceying and a few eunuchs and palace maids, there was no one else.

At this moment, Zhao Ceying held the memorial in his hand, his face cold and unpleasant.

Jiang Zhao secretly raised his eyebrows, making his own guesses.

Recently, besides deposing the empress, there is indeed something else that might anger Zhao Ceying.

The Yang Wu case!

This case did not go through the cabinet.

However, officials and ministers have disciples and former subordinates all over the country, so they are bound to have some spies and informants.

The Ministry of Justice made significant moves, including the "heroic" act of burning the imperial envoy; it would be difficult for Jiang Zhao not to know about it.

"Your Majesty, this humble subject pays his respects!" The two bowed in unison.

"No need for such formalities," Zhao Ceying waved his hand.

As he spoke, the memorial was passed on by a eunuch and ended up in Jiang Zhao's hands.

really!

With just one glance, Jiang Zhao understood.

On the surface, Yang Wu's case is a case of injustice suffered by a scholar, but its actual implications go far beyond that.

On a smaller scale, this is a case of officials protecting each other.

On a grander scale, this reflects a lack of imperial authority.

In the case of Yang Wu, his wife fought repeatedly despite her repeated defeats, even going so far as to petition the emperor and appeal to the Dali Temple, yet she was still able to continue to suffer injustice!

It should be noted that this case was not particularly complicated, the magistrate of Chun'an County did not have a powerful background, and it was not a difficult or unusual case.

However, relying on the protection of officials, he actually filed a petition with the emperor twice, which was truly appalling.

For an imperial envoy to investigate a case and for the imperial envoy to be burned alive would be an even more fundamental taboo.

After about half an incense stick's time, Jiang Zhao lowered his hand and passed the memorial to Gu Tingye.

"A century of national rule, yet filth abounds!"

Zhao Ceying said in a deep voice, "The people of Liangzhe Road are filled with resentment and public opinion is overwhelming. This case must be an ironclad one."

"The Liangzhe region must also be deterred!"

"Does His Majesty command his subjects to investigate the case in Liangzhe Circuit and purge the traitors?" Jiang Zhao raised an eyebrow and asked.

The burning of the imperial envoy foreshadowed a major upheaval in the Liangzhe region.

Shake an egg so hard the yolk will break, and you'll have to split an earthworm in half!

"No, I want you to investigate the two capitals and fourteen circuits!"

Zhao Ceying slammed his hand on the wooden table and roared, "I want you to go on a hunting expedition for me!"

Who would have thought that some people would even dare to kill an imperial envoy?

This is utterly disrespectful to imperial authority and unforgivable!

"To patrol and inspect on behalf of Heaven?"

Jiang Zhao understood and nodded.

In fact, given his official position, if it were just a routine imperial inspection tour, it would definitely be considered a "waste of talent".

Throughout history, the officials who routinely acted as imperial inspectors varied considerably.

However, apart from the emperor's personal tours, almost all of them were limited to the Imperial Censorate's inspection tours.

During the Zhou Dynasty, the power of inspection was divided.

The Censorate, the Pacification Commissioner, and the Transport Commissioner were all qualified to conduct inspections, which meant that both local and central authorities could conduct routine inspections.

In other words, routine inspections generally stop at the second rank.

Of course, this time is different.

The phrases "burning the imperial envoy" and "inspecting the two capitals and fourteen circuits" certainly do not belong to routine inspections.

In comparison, it's more like a special case handled specially.

In the event of border unrest or rebellion in a certain area, a high-ranking official of the Grand Secretary level would be appointed to pacify and inspect the area.

In a split second, Jiang Zhao had a few ideas and pondered, "In my opinion, it would be better to freeze the promotion of all officials, big and small, in Liangzhe Circuit."

"If an official has already been promoted or has taken up a post elsewhere, he or she must return to Liangzhe Circuit within thirty days. Otherwise, he or she will be guilty of the same crime as 'burning the imperial envoy'."

Zhao Ceying's body stiffened, and he nodded emphatically:

"allow!"

This move alone was enough to intimidate at least 70% of the population in the two capitals and fourteen circuits.

After all, this involves promotion.

Freezing all personnel and affairs—just hearing about it sends chills down your spine.

"call."

Zhao Ceying let out a long breath.

It has to be Jiang Qing who puts my mind at ease!

"Your Majesty, Teng Fu, the Left Censor-in-Chief; Wang Gui, the Acting Prefect of Kaifeng; Chen Jian, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel; Wang Anshi, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice; Wang Shao, the Earl of Zhennan; and Yao Si, the Loyal and Martial General, have all requested an audience," Li Xian reported.

Excuse!

There were other people too?

Jiang Zhao raised an eyebrow. He had thought it was just him and Gu Tingye, one a scholar and the other a warrior!

But this configuration?

The ranks are: Grand Secretary of the Cabinet (rank 1), Left Censor-in-Chief (rank 2), Acting Prefect of Kaifeng (rank 2), Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel (rank 3), and Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice (rank 3).

Marquis of Ningyuan Gu Tingye, Earl of Zhennan Wang Shao, and Earl of Haifeng Yao Si.

Is this all the equipment you need to suppress the border regions?

After a few breaths, the six people entered one after another.

"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you!"

"No need for formalities," Zhao Ceying waved his hand.

The memorial in Gu Tingye's hand was delivered in a timely manner.