Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

Although Zhao Haichuan was injured, he confessed directly without any nonsense.

"I was the one who killed Wujin County Magistrate Yao Gongzhi. When I was cleaning up the scene after the killing, I found this in his inner pocket."

After saying that, Zhao Haichuan reached into the lining of his clothes. There was an oilcloth waterproof bag specially used by Jinyiwei to store documents. As a professional spy organization, special water supplies are naturally very waterproof and the paper was not soaked at all. .He took out a diary that he kept close to his body, or a booklet for accounting of bribes, and presented it.

This booklet is only the size of a palm, and the handwriting inside is neatly written in small regular script, and the writing format is also very regular. Therefore, although the paper is not large, it can be read clearly, and it even has a pleasant and strange feeling. If you can Ignore the specific contents of this pamphlet.

The booklet clearly records that on a certain day of a certain year and month, Yao Gongzhi gave what to whom and received what from whom.

The people who have the most interactions here are undoubtedly Yao Gongzhi and his immediate boss Ding Meixia.

It's a pity that Yao Gongzhi was very filial to Ding Meixia. When he died, Ding Meixia didn't shed a single tear.

Wang Bin took this pamphlet in his hand and showed it to the officials of Changzhou Prefecture one by one. The reason for doing this was to prevent someone from suddenly attacking and tearing up the evidence.

"This is Yao Gongzhi's handwriting. I will never admit it wrong." Wang Shijie, a colleague, said with certainty.

Several higher-level civil servants in Changzhou Prefecture also confirmed this after circulating it.

There are too many traces of Yao Gongzhi's handwriting, which can be found everywhere in the documents of Wujin County Government. A little comparison can confirm the authenticity.

If there were only a few pages, it might be possible to forge the handwriting, but these records, which lasted for several years and spanned dozens of pages, were obviously almost impossible to forge.

Such evidence is placed in front of you, and no one can refute it.

With all the personal and material evidence available, it is clear that Ding Meixia committed corruption, accepted bribes, stole military rations, and ordered arson to cover up the evidence.

But at this moment, the promotion officer Zhang Yulin gritted his teeth and suddenly stood up.

"I am sent to Changzhou Prefecture to inform Zhang Yulin, the official of the Prefecture, that Meixia has taken bribes and misused legal services, and I would like to ask the Master of the State to give a clear warning!"

Hearing this, other Changzhou Prefecture officials were stunned for a moment, and then spoke one after another.

"Master National Preceptor, your subordinates are also willing to cooperate."

"Same as the lower official!"

In an instant, everyone changed their tune and expressed their willingness to cooperate, and maybe they could get away with it.

This made Zhang Yulin stunned. He really couldn't understand that Ding Meixia regarded the "Da Ming Law" as nothing, and he had always had legal disagreements with Ding Meixia.

Zhang Yulin took out a few pieces of paper from his sleeve pocket, which recorded that Ding Meixia intervened in the Changzhou Prefecture's judgment and collected benefits from those involved in the case, which involved many powerful gentry families.

Seeing this scene, some people's expressions changed slightly.

Regardless of what the officials were thinking, Jiang Xinghuo lowered his head and looked at Ding Meixia, knowing that there were soldiers on his left and right to capture the old thief.

At this time, Ding Meixia's hands were cut behind her back, her official hat was taken off, her hairpin fell to the ground, and her white hair was scattered and hanging down. How could she still have the slightest prestige of a prefect?

"I am an official of the imperial court and a fourth-grade magistrate. Who gave you the courage to act so arrogantly..."

Ding Meixia roared fiercely and wanted to struggle, but she couldn't move.

Over the years, as the local emperor of Changzhou Prefecture, Ding Meixia has really become accustomed to being aloof. How could she have ever thought that she would be in such a state of abjection today?

Ding Meixia felt angry and annoyed in her heart, but more than that, she was more afraid of this resolute and resolute national master.

In the past, he had heard that his good friend in Beijing, who was also a certain senior civil servant with considerable weight, talked about the fortune-making experience of this Imperial Master.

Jiang Xinghuo was just a scholar who failed the rankings and didn't even win the title of scholar. Because Fang Xiaoru was punished by the Ten Clan and was implicated in the imperial edict.

Somehow, he was discovered by Emperor Yongle, and relied on "the sleeping dragon", which was actually a move to pay attention to the imperial edict.

Friends commented that people like Jiang Xinghuo are just talking big words and boasting. They have never had any experience in local or central government. They don't know how intricate the local government is, and they don't know how treacherous the temples are. They all rely on their passion. And some crooked ways, which he calls "science".

If you want to dominate the world based on this, you are simply a man with high vision and low hand. He is worse than Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng.

This high-ranking official friend has always been very accurate in judging people. Combined with Jiang Xinghuo's "weak" handling methods on Taiping Street, Ding Meixia concluded in her heart that the so-called Yongle New Deal was bound to fail.

Therefore, Ding Meixia, an old official in the officialdom, has always looked down on Jiang Xinghuo, a young boy. He is just a lucky minister who suddenly gained power through reforms. The building rises from the ground, and the foundation is empty and tight. There is not much in the court. How can it succeed if it has no support from the public, has no local roots at all, and is at an absolute disadvantage in terms of public opinion?

But at this moment, Ding Meixia wanted to slap herself in the face.

Now it seems that this national master is not at all boastful and unable to do his job?

Since entering the territory of Changzhou Prefecture, this person has been very thoughtful and careful every step of the way. He also has all kinds of clues about the enemy's first moves.

Facing such an enemy, Ding Meixia felt endless despair.

With all the witnesses and material evidence in front of us, denial is impossible. The only hope is that the other party is a "gentleman who can deceive others" role. He can use words to force the other party to abide by the court's laws and hand him over to the Tribunal for trial. In this way, maybe You can still survive for a while.

But who is Jiang Xinghuo?

Others only think of him as a weak scholar who is good at theory, but they don't know that in his previous seven reincarnations, he led slaves in rebellion, defended Suiyang City with swords, and lived through bombing of factories. In other words, he climbed out of the dead. Nothing too much.

Jiang Xinghuo wiped the knife and made it clean.

Seeing this, Ding Meixia became more and more desperate and kowtowed repeatedly.

"Master Imperial Master, I am guilty! I admit it! I admit it!"

He shouted hoarsely: "Please spare my life, I know I was wrong."

Ding Meixia knelt on the ground, her shoulders being held by soldiers. She could only pick up the last thing from the ground with her hands, and then raised it low and presented it, which was her official hat.

——That represents his official rank of fourth rank.

Jiang Xinghuo looked down at him, as if admiring the death struggle of a moth.

At this time, no one in the Changzhou Prefecture dared to speak, but Wang Shijie, a colleague who had been ignored by Ding Meixia, came to persuade him.

"Master Imperial Master, the imperial court has laws. Even if Magistrate Ding is indeed guilty, you should not kill him with your own hands."

After a moment of hesitation, Wang Shijie said again: "Moreover, Changzhou Prefecture is only the first stop, and all the prefectures in the south of the Yangtze River are watching. It is better to hand it over to the imperial court's three legal divisions for trial to prove it to the world."

This was Wang Shijie's tactful advice to him. Killing local officials without permission was not conducive to the subsequent quelling of chaos, disaster relief, flood control, and reform. After all, the killings here in Changzhou Prefecture would only cause officials in Songjiang Prefecture and other places to destroy evidence of crimes in advance. Cover up the crime and firmly resist Jiang Xinghuo's actions.

Without the cooperation of local officials, Jiang Xinghuo's next series of orders would be violated, and nothing could be done.

"Master Imperial Master, the overall situation is the most important thing." Zhang Yulin, the official of Changzhou Prefecture, also advised in this way.

"You are all right."

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Xinghuo nodded seriously, but then he picked up the knife and looked around, asking sincerely.

"Of course, if we don't kill Ding Meixia, how can we rectify people's hearts?"

Seeing this, Ding Meixia became more and more desperate and tried to crawl back, but was firmly held down by the soldiers on both sides.

Before Ding Meixia could say anything else, Jiang Xinghuo grabbed the old man's head and chopped off his head.

The sword flashed and blood splattered.

The splash onto Jiang Xinghuo's face and body made his eyes look even more ferocious.

Ding Meixia's eyes widened, her pupils gradually lost focus, her body stiffened in place, and she fell down with a "thud".

"grown ups."

All the officials in Changzhou Prefecture were frightened to death, and even the timid ones seemed to have seen their future fate and couldn't help but exclaimed.

The first offender has been found guilty.

Jiang Xinghuo held up his head, which was still dripping with blood, and spoke calmly.

"Your Majesty gave me this Shangfang sword. Officials of the fourth rank and below can be killed first and then reported. Magistrate Ding has not worked hard enough to climb the official career and has climbed half a level less, so I have to wrong him to talk to Yama first."

No one dared to answer the National Preceptor's cold jokes. At this moment, Ding Meixia's bloody headless corpse was lying in front of them. Who dared to question this Imperial Preceptor, who had always been regarded as a "scholar's empty talk" by local officials?

"Ding Meixia's crime is not worthy of death. If the person does not die, it will not be enough for the people to be angry. It is a bug in people's hearts, but there is nothing to mention."

Jiang Xinghuo threw his head on the ground casually, threw the knife with a bang, picked up a new pair of chopsticks, and randomly picked up some dishes to fill his stomach.

All the officials of the Changzhou Prefecture prostrated themselves on the ground and just watched helplessly as the Imperial Master ate the leftovers they had left. They did not dare to say a word at all, as if they were waiting for some kind of final judgment. .

The hungry Jiang Xinghuo took a few mouthfuls and then put down his chopsticks. He didn't point his chopsticks at anyone politely, but looked at them calmly and continued.

"My master knows what you are worried about. The crime Ding Meixia committed should not be committed by him alone. He is a bad old man, and he is not so capable. You, you, and you, everyone in the room, except Those few people probably can’t run away.”

Jiang Xinghuo pointed at a few officials at random, including general judges, experienced officials, governors and other officials.

The officials who were called were all trembling and burying their heads like quails.

Probably seeing Ding Meixia's old head as an eyesore, Jiang Xinghuo swept aside his feet, rested his chin on his knees with one hand, and drooped his other hand before speaking again.

"Everyone has probably heard that I like to reason with people the most."

"To put it harshly, he is just a poor scholar who is harming the country with his empty talk."

"But there is a truth today, but I have to tell you about it."

Ding Meixia's head rolled past the crowd of officials, soaking the floor with blood, then rolled down the slope to the stairs, where it rolled down with a clanking sound.

No one dared to say anything anymore.

"On the way from the capital, Lord Song said that I had changed."

Jiang Xinghuo pointed at Song Li, who had not spoken since he appeared on the stage. At this time, Song Li's face was already flushed with drunkenness.

"Lord Song asked me, Imperial Master, why don't you reason with the people? Don't you like to reason the most? His Majesty the Emperor, His Royal Highness the Prince, the Duke of the State, the scholar-bureaucrats, and the students all like your principles very much... ...If I don’t talk about it one day, I’m afraid it will change.”

Jiang Xinghuo smiled and said, "I said I haven't changed, but Master Song doesn't believe me."

"Until that day in Qingpingbo, when we saw that the people could not survive, were forced to drink porridge with their heads cut off, and revolted, only to fall under the swords of powerful bullies and scoundrels one after another, I asked Mr. Song a question: Reason with them , will it work?”

Jiang Xinghuo paused and repeated what Song Li said during the trial of Fan Wenlong.

“If you want to change the laws, you must first rectify people’s hearts.”

This sentence was actually said by Jiang Xinghuo to Song Li.

Looking at the silent officials, Jiang Xinghuo asked loudly: "What is the people's heart? In your eyes, is the people's heart the people's heart?"

"I'm afraid not."

Before anyone could answer, Jiang Xinghuo replied to himself: "If so, you wouldn't have done anything to corrupt Chang Pingcang to provide food for disaster relief, or even prepare food for the Japanese army. So I'm afraid that in your eyes, the common people have nothing to do with it." It’s not someone you need to take care of. What you need to take care of is just local powerful people like the Fan family or someone who has the ambition to be a scholar or a scholar."

"This is what Shangguan did, and you also did it. Over time, you didn't treat the people as human beings. So now that there are floods and the people are displaced, you don't go to resettle them. You don't care. Instead, you are greedy for food and extort money. Food prices and people’s hearts in the world are so rotten.”

Seeing that all the officials were silent, Jiang Xinghuo sneered and said.

"You don't even dare to admit it, you are cowardly and greedy, so you really deserve to die."

The officials' hearts and minds were trembling. Jiang Xinghuo's words struck their darkened consciences like a bell, if that could still be called conscience.

Jiang Xinghuo stood up and looked around.

"I, Jiang Xinghuo, want to change the laws, make the country strong and the people rich, and make China forever at the top of the world. Is it okay if I don't clean up the hearts of people who have been rotten by your squandering?"

PS: [Important reminder (there is no charge for this content)] Chapters 316 to 356 are about the rectification of officialdom and the suppression of rebellions in Jiangnan. They do not contain any theoretical knowledge. They are all practical content. If you are not interested, you can jump directly to Chapter 366. "Class" will contain theoretical knowledge content from now on.