Hu Weiyong hurriedly entered the palace. Before he could salute, he heard Zhu Yuanzhang's majestic voice: "Don't salute. Come with me to the Ministry of Justice."
Ministry of Punishment?
Hu Weiyong was astonished and followed Zhu Yuanzhang's footsteps, tentatively asking: "Your Majesty, will the Ministry of Punishment issues be sent to the Minister of Punishment?"
Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand: "No need."
Hu Weiyong didn't know what was going on. When he saw Zhang Huan, Zheng Bo, and Mao Xiang were all dispatched, he knew that something was serious.
Zhu Yuanzhang favored and trusted Hu Weiyong and took Hu Weiyong on the dragon chariot with him.
Hu Weiyong was pushing and pushing, but Zhu Yuanzhang just smiled and said nothing. When he passed the Governor's Mansion, he called Mu Ying, Lu Zhongheng, and Zheng Yuchun to accompany him, and ordered someone to send a message to Liu Ji and Gu Zhengchen to go to the Criminal Department immediately.
Such a battle made Hu Weiyong even more confused.
There is nothing wrong with calling Liu Ji, Lu Zhongheng, etc. when it comes to court matters. Liu Ji is a wise man, Lu Zhongheng and others are military generals, so what does it mean to mix them with a seventh-grade county magistrate?
But the holy will was such that Hu Weiyong had to wait patiently.
The Ministry of Punishment is not located in Jinling City, but is located under Zhongshan, on the bank of Houhu (Xuanwu Lake), and outside Taipingmen. It is still a short distance away from the Imperial Palace, Zhongshu Province, the Governor's Mansion, etc.
Ministry of Punishment.
Sitting in the hall were Gao Wanjie, Sun Yao, Sun Keyi and Liu Weiqian, the ministers of the Ministry of Justice.
There is no way, there are really too many ministers of the Ministry of Justice at this time, there are eight in total, and there is nothing we can do if four ministers sit in the hall. We can't all go fishing in the back lake.
Liu Weiqian, Sun Yao and others did not receive any news. The emperor suddenly arrived and hurriedly saluted.
Zhu Yuanzhang sat in the lobby of the Ministry of Justice, motioned for everyone to level up, then picked up the tea bowl and made no movement.
Sun Yao winked at Hu Weiyong, who shook his head slightly.
Seeing that no one was speaking, Liu Weiqian took the courage to ask: "Your Majesty comes to the Ministry of Punishment, but you need to read the case files, review the cases, and inspect the prison cells?"
Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at Liu Weiqian and smiled: "No hurry, wait for someone."
Who are you waiting for?
Liu Weiqian and others did not dare to ask.
Yao Zhen kept a distance from Gu Zhengchen. If they were too close, they would be easily injured. Gu Zhengchen was also very depressed. He had just sent away Aunt Wei who was asking questions and robbed her of ten thousand coins. She still couldn't catch her breath. Zhu then sent someone to the Ministry of Punishment himself.
I originally thought that Lao Zhu knew that he had broken the rules and wanted to be punished, but when he thought about it carefully, the most he could get was a punishment for an encounter like this in Tianjie Temple, not to mention squatting in the Ministry of Punishment, so he guessed it was something else.
Sure enough, he met Liu Ji riding a donkey near the Taiping Gate. Liu Ji was also stunned when he saw Gu Zhengchen clearly, and asked: "Your Majesty has summoned me, what can I say?"
Gu Zhengchen saluted Liu Ji: "I don't even know your sincerity, and I don't even know. Why don't you tell me whether I will be beaten?"
"Have you offended His Majesty?"
"This should not be the case."
Liu Ji stared at Gu Zhengchen and said seriously: "The red luan in your palace and the happy star in the sky are moving, and you will get married soon. This is a sign of great joy. With such a sign, I think today will be even more joyful."
Gu Zhengchen narrowed his eyes and looked at Liu Ji: "Your ears can still hear far."
Liu Ji laughed and said: "This is not what I heard, but what I learned. If you want to practice this knowledge, you can become my teacher."
"forget it."
Gu Zhengchen refused directly.
Although Liu Ji is extremely resourceful and has unparalleled strategies, he represents the East Zhejiang faction after all, which is determined by his origin. Being tied to Liu Ji means joining the group in eastern Zhejiang. Even if he declares that he has not joined, Hu Weiyong in Huaixi will never believe it.
It would be unwise to offend Prime Minister Hu at this time. Besides, the science of fortune telling is sometimes unreliable, because Lao Zhu controls everyone's fate. It is better to look at Lao Zhu's face than to give fate to God.
The two of them chatted and laughed outside the Criminal Department.
Zhang Huan looked at the slow-moving two people with bitterness, and hurriedly stepped forward: "Uncle Sincerity, Mr. Gu, His Majesty has been waiting in the Criminal Department for a long time. You guys should hurry in."
Liu Ji and Gu Zhengchen stopped smiling and became serious. They walked to the lobby of the Ministry of Justice and saw Zhu Yuanzhang saluting.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Liu Ji and Gu Zhengchen, raised his hand and said: "Uncle Chengyi is old, please sit down aside. As for Mr. Gu, stand aside."
Gu Xiaozi?
Hu Weiyong's pupils condensed, and Liu Ji's heart moved.
This is not the emperor's address to officials, it is clearly the emperor's affection for his nephew! Zhu Yuanzhang's importance and kindness to Gu Zhengchen was extraordinary!
Muchun was indifferent to what he heard and was used to it.
On the other hand, Lu Zhongheng, Sun Yao and others couldn't help but look at Gu Zhengchen with admiration. They all lowered their heads and thought about something.
Zhu Yuanzhang clapped his hands and opened his mouth: "Mao Xiang, take Imperial Physician Chen and the prisoner."
Soon, Dr. Chen and twenty prisoners all arrived.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at this group of prisoners. Everyone had wounds on their bodies and the wounds were bandaged. His eyes fell on Dr. Chen: "You have been taking care of this group of prisoners for half a month. I need to see with my own eyes whether you have reported as you reported. look."
Doctor Chen breathed a sigh of relief: "Your Majesty, the examination is safe. It's just that the lobby is cold. They have several injuries on their bodies. It's easy to catch the cold if they take off their clothes."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly, arranged for someone to bring the stove, ordered the prisoner to take off his shirt, and then completely untied the cloth strips binding the wounds, exposing the scars.
Gu Zhengchen took one look and understood immediately.
There has been no movement for half a month since the alcohol was delivered. Zhu Yuanzhang used his feelings for human experiments. Whether this thing is effective or not, ultimately it still needs to be tried on people.
It was impossible for Lao Zhu to follow the example of Shennong who tasted hundreds of herbs and cut himself three times to see the effect, so he chose to cut the prisoner. Judging from the wounds on these prisoners, it is certain that they were stab wounds. It was really painful to be slashed and pulled so many times.
Using a knife outside the law is Lao Zhu's usual method...
Hu Weiyong couldn't understand, Lu Zhongheng and Liu Ji couldn't understand, and even several ministers of the Ministry of Justice couldn't understand. What on earth did the emperor want us to see? A shirtless man with wounds as terrifying as earthworms?
Zhu Yuanzhang stood up and walked towards the prisoner.
Zheng Bo and Mao Xiang moved, with guards on their left and right.
Zhu Yuanzhang walked up to a prisoner and looked at his three wounds. These wounds could not be faked. As the imperial doctor said, these wounds did not ooze pus, and were not even red or swollen. The wounds had begun to scab, but the scabs were not yet strong. With time, Cultivation will definitely be intact.
The prisoners were looked at next to each other, and their wounds were examined one by one.
"Gu boy, come here."
Zhu Yuanzhang waved.
Gu Zhengchen was admiring Zhu Yuanzhang's hands-on spirit when he suddenly heard a voice and hurriedly walked over.
Zhu Yuanzhang pointed to the scar on the prisoner's arm: "Look, his wound is red, swollen, and has pus. Why is that?"
Gu Zhengchen came closer and took a closer look. He did not question the imperial doctor's operation, but asked the prisoner in front of him: "Have you opened the linen cloth privately?"
The prisoner's expression changed slightly, and he quickly said: "One time, the wound was really itchy, and I couldn't help but open it and scratch it..."
Gu Zhengchen looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and saluted: "Your Majesty, this is the reason."
