Zhan Hui knelt on the ground and said: "Your Majesty, I will kill you according to the law."
This is not Zhan Hui's nonsense. Whether it is the "Da Ming Law" or the "Da Gao", when encountering Zhao Mian who has taken so many corruption and bribes, the best result is to end it with a single blow.
In case His Majesty does not want this, there are many other tricks.
For example, cut into pieces with a thousand cuts, peel off the skin and make grass, the three tribes of Yi are implicated...
Therefore, what Zhan Hui said was to be beheaded was the lightest punishment, but if the situation escalated, it would be abnormal.
How Zhao Mian should die depends entirely on how His Majesty wants him to die. It would be best if the situation does not escalate. If it does, more than one person will die.
In the history books, there is really little information about Zhao Mian, which is basically a two-sentence introduction to his life.
Later, regarding Zhao Mian's death, there was only one sentence in the "History of the Ming Dynasty": Zhao Mian, the Minister of Household Affairs, was the son-in-law of my third son, and died of taking bribes.
Zhao Mian's death was ordinary and seemed to be just the usual treatment of official corruption and bribery during the Hongwu period.
Among the six stolen goods in the Ming Dynasty (prisoner's theft, ordinary person's theft, theft, receiving money in violation of the law, receiving money in violation of the law, and receiving money in violation of the law), the situation is the lightest, which is far worse than receiving money in violation of the law and receiving money without violating the law.
As for the sentencing for taking bribes, from the lowest one, which is less than 100 ounces, and twenty lashings, to the highest, which is more than 500 knives, one hundred knives and three years' probation, Zhao Mian can just take the stolen goods and die. It can be imagined how much he was greedy.
What's interesting is that regarding the handling of Zhao Mian's bribery, Emperor Hongwu did not involve as many people as in the past and executed many people.
Even Zhao Mian's father-in-law Liu Sanwu only resigned from his post on the grounds of avoiding suspicion.
Emperor Hongwu, who had killed many people in three major cases, behaved too lightly when faced with Zhao Mian's corruption and bribery. Not only did he not involve himself in any serious way, he did not even conduct regular questioning.
Especially at this time point, Prince Yiwen Zhu Biao passed away, and Emperor Hongwu completely lost control. Logically speaking, it should be the most ruthless butcher's knife.
But now, the butcher's knife did not wave, but remained silent, as if waiting for something.
Coincidentally, a few months after Zhao Mian was executed for taking stolen goods, the last of the four major cases in the early Ming Dynasty, the "Sapphire Case", broke out. Zhu Yuanzhang raised the butcher knife again, proving to the world that this butcher knife, which symbolized the supremacy of imperial power, was still sharp.
Therefore, it is not that Zhu Yuanzhang's butcher's knife is not sharp enough, but some kind of plan he made himself, or a kind of coaxing and forbearance in order for Zhu Yunwen to successfully secure his position as prince.
Zhao Mian was just an insignificant pawn among civil servants, and his background was not strong. However, he was lucky enough to marry Liu Sanwu's daughter and become Liu Sanwu's son-in-law.
Coupled with the fact that Zhu Yunwen was unable to check and balance the arrogant Huaixi nobles, Zhu Yuanzhang had no choice but to carry out another massacre in order to avoid the change of imperial power in a hundred years.
After the Lan Yu case, almost all the nobles in Huaixi were wiped out, and most of the heroes in the court were also slaughtered. This means that Zhu Yunwen can sit on the throne of the prince absolutely securely.
Soon, Liu Sanwu was summoned back to the court, and his official position was restored until the North and South Ranking Case in the 30th year of Hongwu.
Whether Zhao Mian died because of stolen goods, Liu Sanwu was treated lightly, or the Lan Yu case broke out, the essence behind it was all about the struggle for power.
The arrogance of the Huaixi nobles aroused Zhu Yuanzhang's concerns about imperial power. In addition, Zhu Yunwen was completely unable to control the Huaixi nobles. Out of the need to stabilize the imperial power, Zhu Yuanzhang massacred more than 15,000 people.
Compared with the nobles of Huaixi who like to dance on graves, the civil servants' methods are more gentle, just a slight probing, intended to test Zhu Yuanzhang's bottom line.
However, Zhu Yuanzhang always liked to speak with a butcher's knife. Although he temporarily made concessions out of the need to safeguard Zhu Yunwen's status, when no one in the court could threaten Zhu Yunwen's status, he also let the civil servants know what it means to be an old man. The knife never grows old.
In the struggle between the imperial power, the nobility, and the civil servants in the early Ming Dynasty, the xungui group was the first to be eliminated. Since then, its power in the court has been greatly reduced, with only a very small part left to survive, and it has since lost the power to confront the civil servants.
If the situation continues to develop like this, coupled with Zhu Yunwen's trust in civil servants, the court will soon become the world of civil servants.
However, Jianwen united with the civil servants and took power for less than four years when the Jingnan Campaign came...
Since then, new Jingnan nobles have appeared, and the civil and military forces have once again maintained a delicate balance.
Until the God of War came to the world, personally conquered Mobei, and completely eliminated the Xungui Group...
But things are different now. Zhu Yuanzhang has been penetrated by the soul of Daxiu, and Zhu Di has been established as the prince. The future is completely different from the original trajectory. How the situation will develop is still unknown.
Zhu Yuanzhang was not in a hurry at this moment of changing history, and he did not even have too many emotional fluctuations.
After all, he is not the original Zhu Yuanzhang. Although he himself hates this kind of behavior, compared with his experience, this mortal greed seems a bit clear-eyed and stupid.
Zhan Hui said that he should be executed according to the law, which is really the cheapest way. Before Zhu Yuanzhang could speak, Zhu Di angrily suggested: "Father, I think that people like Zhao Mian, who are so greedy and evil, should be severely punished. Be a warning! What’s more, this matter cannot be done by Zhao Mian alone. There must be a much larger chain of interests behind it. From the capital to the local area, the officials involved are all the same raccoons and should be killed to correct official conduct."
Zhan Hui did not dare to speak for fear of irritating Zhu Yuanzhang. If he really did what Zhu Di said, it would be nothing more than another major case.
By then, far more people will die than what we think now. Turmoil between the government and the public is definitely not a good thing, but Zhan Hui dare not persuade him for fear of getting into trouble.
"Di'er, I'll leave this matter to you. You will handle it together with the Inspectorate, Dali Temple, Jinyiwei, and the Sixth Section. Don't let anyone go, and don't accidentally injure anyone."
"My son, I accept the decree!"
Zhu Di was a little excited and knelt down to receive the order to thank him. Zhan Hui only glanced at it and felt that another new butcher knife was shining.
However, he couldn't escape his involvement in this matter. As the censor of Zuodu of the Inspectorate, and because he was the one who reported the matter, he couldn't escape no matter what.
It's just that he didn't know how many people were involved in this matter, and how many chains of interests were cooperating behind the scenes. Zhan Hui felt a little scared, and felt that a storm was about to come.
The development of the situation has exceeded Zhan Hui's expectations, but fortunately it is the Crown Prince Zhu Di who is in charge of the matter. In addition, His Majesty has no intention of being deeply involved, so there is still room for maneuver.
At least those marginal characters should not be implicated to death. This is already the best news.
As for Zhao Mian...
Zhan Hui could only say that he wished for more blessings, and he estimated that he would not be able to escape, and Liu Sanwu and Liu Sanwu might not be able to get away with it either.
Now there are no protectors such as Empress Ma and Prince Zhu Biao. With the butcher's knife raised, how can there be any hope for corrupt officials to survive?
Zhao Mian, the instigator, is still fishing in the Wenhua Palace, making some innocuous suggestions from time to time, without realizing that a catastrophe is about to happen.
Mao Xiang, who was responsible for finding where the stolen money went, seemed much more calm. As the commander of the Jinyi Guards, he had the most eyes and ears in the world and could spy on all officials.
Although Zhao Mian lived in a shabby alley and a shabby house, there were only Mrs. Liu and Mrs. Chen in the house and no other servants, so Jin Yiwei could not penetrate.
However, Jin Yiwei has been working full-time for many years and has a unique way of doing things. Since it cannot be penetrated from the inside, it is monitored from the outside.
Since Zhao Mian was not a key surveillance personnel appointed by His Majesty, there was only one monitor posted nearby by Jin Yiwei, who was near Zhao Mian's home and monitored the activities in Zhao Mian's home.
Looking at the thick stack of impermanence books on the desk, Mao Xiang raised his eyebrows. These were the records of the six years since Zhao Mian came to Yingtian.
For six years, the activities of Zhao Mian's family were recorded in these impermanent books, and Mao Xiang was not idle either. He immediately sent Jin Yiwei to collect information by category.
And he picked up the Book of Impermanence that he had started at the beginning of this year and began to look through it carefully.
When doubts arise, actions that seemed ordinary in the past now seem abnormal.
Mao Xiang looked at the records in the Impermanence Book with a sneer on his lips. When he looked at it again with suspicion, Zhao Mian's behavior was full of unknown deep meanings.
…
