The Stories of Mine in the Ming Dynasty of China in 1368

It was the period from 9 to 11 a.m., in the Imperial Study.

Li Qing entered the hall as promised. "Your humble servant, Li Qing, pays respects to Your Majesty and His Highness the Crown Prince."

Zhu Yuanzhang put down the memorial in his hand. "Tell me, the Empress's condition is stable for the time being, right?"

"Indeed."

"Very well. Take this." Zhu Yuanzhang took out a letter. "Arrest, interrogate the people on it, and behead them before 3 to 5 p.m. this afternoon!"

Li Qing was stunned. He never expected that Zhu Yuanzhang would ask him to arrest and kill people.

What was this?

A token of loyalty?

Li Qing forced himself to step forward and take it. He hesitated and said, "Your Majesty, I'm not familiar with the imperial city yet..."

"I've already made arrangements. Captain Liu will assist you in handling the case." Zhu Yuanzhang lowered his head and continued to review the memorials. "If you have any questions, you can ask him."

Zhu Biao slightly frowned. "Father Emperor..."

"Hmm?"

"Alas..." Zhu Biao sighed and said no more.

Li Qing walked out of the hall. Liu Qiang, the captain of the Jinyiwei, immediately came up to greet him. "Lord Li, please come with me."

"Thank you for your trouble." Li Qing cupped his hands. According to the system, the other party had a higher rank than him. Since the other party was helping him, he couldn't act arrogantly.

"Lord Li, you're being too polite. You're an imperial envoy at this moment."

Liu Qiang was even more polite than when he "invited" Li Qing before.

As the saying goes, a seventh - rank official by the prime minister's door is still influential. Li Qing was the emperor's personal bodyguard and also the doctor treating the Empress. His future was promising.

Leaving aside his status as an imperial envoy, a Jinyiwei captain like Liu Qiang was nothing in comparison.

Outside the palace gate, over a hundred Jinyiwei were already waiting for orders.

Liu Qiang said in a solemn voice, "Imperial Envoy Li is arresting criminals by imperial order. You all must do your best."

After saying that, he handed Li Qing's list to his subordinate. "Go and arrest all these people and throw them into the Imperial Prison."

"Yes."

The man glanced at the list and led a group of Jinyiwei away with a fierce look.

"Hehe... Lord Li, please." Liu Qiang put on a smile again. "Let them handle the arrest. We can go directly to the Imperial Prison."

"Alright."

Li Qing nodded slightly, glad to be at ease.

On the way, Li Qing couldn't help but be curious. "Lord Liu, what crimes have those people committed?"

"Allowing local officials to stamp blank papers!" Liu Qiang explained in a low voice. "This phenomenon was discovered two months ago. The Emperor has been suppressing it without taking action. Now, our Jinyiwei can finally show our worth. Hehe..."

"Phenomenon?"

Li Qing was surprised. "Are there many people stamping blank papers?"

"Not many. Almost all of them."

"What?"

"Lord Li, keep your voice down."

"Oh, okay." Li Qing smiled awkwardly and lowered his voice. "Are you going to arrest and kill all the officials in every part of the Ming Dynasty?"

"That's not necessary." Liu Qiang shook his head slightly. "But the officials in charge of the seals surely can't escape."

"How many are there?"

"There are thirteen provinces, over 150 prefectures, and more than 1,100 counties in the Ming Dynasty." Liu Qiang said. "There are about 1,300 people, more or less."

Only about 1,300... Li Qing was speechless.

Suddenly remembering what Liu Qiang had said yesterday about officials colluding with Hu Weiyong, Li Qing asked again, "How many people died in the Hu Weiyong case?"

Since Li Qing was a member of the Jinyiwei and also the emperor's personal bodyguard, Liu Qiang had no need to hide it. "I haven't calculated it specifically. I estimate it should be almost 20,000. This case is still under investigation. No one knows exactly how many people will be killed in the end."

Li Qing was secretly astonished. His knowledge of the history of the Ming Dynasty was limited. He only knew that Zhu Yuanzhang had killed a lot of people, and many officials were implicated in the rebellions of Hu Weiyong and Lan Yu, but he didn't expect there to be so many.

How many officials were there in the Ming Dynasty?

If they were killed like this, weren't they afraid that there would be no one left to handle government affairs?

The Imperial Prison.

The prison was dark, damp, and had extremely poor lighting. In each cell, there was only a square window about one foot in size opened at the top. When sunlight shone in, dust danced in the beam.

The air was mixed with the smell of excrement and urine, stinking to high heaven, much more pungent and unpleasant than the eunuchs' duty room.

Li Qing walked in the seemingly endless corridor, listening to the screams, pleas for mercy, cries of injustice, and curses coming from the cells on both sides... His heart was pounding and his scalp was tingling.

It was so dark!

Liu Qiang's expression remained unchanged, as if he was already used to it. He introduced the Imperial Prison to Li Qing with a smile and in a chatty manner.

Li Qing listened, feeling cold in his heart. Looking at the miserable prisoners, even his blood seemed to turn cold.

This was not the Imperial Prison; it was clearly a purgatory!

"Let's... take a break?" Li Qing really couldn't stand it anymore.

The two came to a relatively clean place. The prison guard served tea attentively and then left tactfully.

In such a place, how could Li Qing be in the mood to drink tea? He couldn't help but say, "Lord Liu, I heard someone crying out for injustice just now. Should such cases be retried?"

"There's no need." Liu Qiang chuckled. "They've all confessed their crimes and signed. There's no point in that."

"But... what if there are unjust cases and innocent people are wrongly killed?"

Liu Qiang looked up at Li Qing and said word by word, "The Imperial Prison doesn't hold innocent people!"

Li Qing was stunned. He immediately understood the meaning. The Jinyiwei was just a blade, and as for where it was swung, it was entirely up to the person holding the knife.

Seeing him silent, Liu Qiang added, "Although the Jinyiwei has great power and can arrest imperial relatives, noble officials, civil and military officials, and the Imperial Prison is not under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice, we don't arrest people randomly. Lord Li will understand this in the future."

Li Qing nodded and said nothing more.

He himself was in danger; how could he have the mood to pity others?

The lunch consisted of four dishes and one soup. It wasn't sumptuous, but it was much better than the prison food that was almost like pig feed. Li Qing didn't have much appetite and just took a few bites to finish hastily. Liu Qiang, however, ate with great relish.

Moments later, a member of the Jinyiwei came to report, "Your Excellency the Imperial Envoy, Lord Liu, the criminals have been captured."

Liu Qiang wiped his mouth, stood up, and made a gesture of invitation. "Lord Li, please."

With a silent sigh, Li Qing went with Liu Qiang to the place where the criminals were detained.

"I'm wronged!"

"Wronged, wronged..."

The cries of injustice could be heard from afar, followed by the 'crack' sound of a whip lashing, and then the cries of injustice turned into screams.

When Li Qing arrived, over a dozen people had already been whipped until their skin was broken and flesh was exposed. Their clothes were thin in summer and were now mixed with blood and flesh, a shocking sight.

Liu Qiang smiled and said, "Lord Li, His Majesty has ordered you to be the main interrogator. How about I be the co - interrogator?"

"Alright." Li Qing nodded, walked to the long table in front of the prison cell, sat down, took a breath, and asked, "Why do you cry out for injustice?"

Liu Qiang's brows slightly furrowed. He didn't expect Li Qing to ask such a question.

Sure enough, as soon as Li Qing finished speaking, the cries of injustice rang out again.

With a silent sigh, Liu Qiang winked at a Jinyiwei beside him. Several burly men went in and started whipping. Soon, these officials quieted down.

This made it difficult for Li Qing to know how to continue the interrogation. He had given them a chance to defend themselves, but the Jinyiwei didn't allow it, and he could do nothing about it.

Moreover, he vaguely felt that handling this case was a test of him by Zhu Yuanzhang.

After much thought, he could only convict them in a conclusive tone. "You allowed local officials to stamp blank papers, deceiving the Emperor. What right do you have to cry out for injustice?"

Although Li Qing asked in a way of convicting, he still gave them a chance to defend themselves. Those who could be officials in the capital were no fools. They immediately sensed the glimmer of hope in his words and quickly started to defend themselves.

"Your Honor, the journey is long and difficult. It takes a long time for local officials to come to the capital. If there is a discrepancy in the accounts, they have to go back and re - check. But grains and silver have losses. How could they be exactly the same?"

"Yes, Your Honor. It takes at least a month and a half for officials from the north to come to the capital. Account books cannot be altered, and official seals cannot be taken out of the yamen. If not for this, local officials would run themselves ragged and still not be able to reconcile the accounts."

"Your Honor, this was also the practice in the previous dynasty. It's not that we, your subjects, are deceiving the Emperor. This is... this is an unwritten rule!"

Hearing these defenses, Li Qing was stunned. Thinking about the transportation in this era, he finally understood why they allowed local officials to stamp blank papers.

This was a last resort. Otherwise, the accounts of this year might not be reconciled until next year. Not only would they fail to fulfill their duties, but local officials wouldn't be able to handle government affairs either.

Liu Qiang, who was beside him, couldn't stand it anymore. If the interrogation continued like this, these people would seem to be the wronged ones. Not only would the Jinyiwei be put in a passive position, but the Emperor's prestige would also be damaged.

The imperial decree clearly stated that the interrogation and execution should be completed before 3 - 5 p.m. without delay.

But with this Imperial Envoy Li doing this, could these people still be executed?

What was this young fellow up to?