Cut them?
As soon as these words came out, it was like countless thunders exploding in the ears of all the officials, blasting three of their souls out of their bodies and seven of them ascending to heaven.
The people's faces were full of disbelief. These were more than a hundred fucking officials. If they were cut off, would Suzhou City still be able to function?
Liang Yu and Hu Yingtai were also stunned and couldn't believe what Zhou Tingru said.
Apart from anything else, there is a governor of Yingtian who is "the most important commander of Xinjiang, the prime minister and assistant of Jixi, who is very careful in selecting his talents and has no plans for the ministry", and a high-level official of the second rank of Xinjiang.
Officials of this level could not even be convicted by the Ministry of Justice, the Minister of Personnel, and the cabinet. Even if the emperor wanted to make a ruling, he had to make a careful decision after a review by the three departments.
Now that they heard that a fourth-grade prefect wanted to kill a second-grade official, it was simply a big joke.
"Prefect Zhou, it's true that you have the right to take advantage, but you have to have a reason to kill someone!"
"reason?"
Zhou Tingru sneered and waved downwards: "We've come this far, so don't hide behind the crowd. Come up!"
The expressions of the wealthy businessmen from Suzhou who were mixed in the crowd changed. Finally, they gritted their teeth and pushed their way towards the front of the crowd.
At the same time, three or four small boxes were also carried onto the high platform.
Seeing the wealthy businessmen walking up to the high platform one by one, the onlookers were full of doubts, while the tied officials began to tremble all over.
Zhou Tingru pointed at the small box and looked at the two ministers: "My lords, please open any box and take a look!"
In the midst of surprise and uneasiness, the two of them opened a box respectively, picked up the paper inside and slowly put it back in front of their eyes. After just a glance, their expressions suddenly changed, and then they quickly read through it.
"Fan Mao'an, the magistrate of Changzhou County, Suzhou Prefecture, in the sixth year of the Apocalypse, due to a lawsuit from foreign merchants, in order to settle the dispute, he gave a thousand taels of silver as a gift;
In the seventh year of the Apocalypse, three fine mutton-fat white jade articles, three gold hairpins, and three gold bracelets were given as gifts, worth four hundred and twelve taels of silver..."
After reading one copy, he took out another copy from the box and flipped through it quickly. The expressions on his face also changed rapidly, including surprise, anxiety, shock, gloom, and horror...
"Two adults, is this reason enough?"
"I also told you that not only Suzhou City, but also the states and counties under Suzhou Prefecture should handle it in the same way at this time!"
Facing Zhou Tingru's inquiry, the two of them fell silent, and their hands holding the paper were shaking.
The piles of paper contain records of officials' bribery, followed by the whistleblower's signature, fingerprints, etc.
According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, false accusations range from a hundred sticks to a severe punishment of confiscation of homes and exile. What's more, false accusations against so many officials would give wealthy businessmen a hundred courages, and they would not dare to do so.
From this point of view, these records are definitely true.
Witnesses and physical evidence are all there, so how can we stop it?
But they had to stop it, because once the execution was carried out, there would be no officials in Suzhou City. Without officials to preside over the work, there would really be chaos.
The most frightening thing is that the officials of Suzhou City are dead. As the officials in charge of Southern Zhili, they will never escape.
As soon as he thought of this, Hu Yingtai said in a deep voice: "Prefect Zhou, the Ming Dynasty law stipulates that the death penalty must be reported to each level, reviewed by the Ministry of Punishment, reviewed by the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and then sent to Dali Temple for review, and then to the court for review, and finally the three law divisions reported to Your Majesty,
Your Majesty can only be executed after your majesty draws red. This is the case for ordinary prisoners, let alone these court officials? "
"Yes, even if His Majesty cuts them off in person, out of compassion for the king, he will not cut them all off. If you cut them all off at once, this will harm your Majesty's sanctity. Do you know how the history books will record them?"
"How to record it?"
A sudden voice sounded in the quiet scene. Everyone looked around, but no one could find the person who made the sound.
Just when everyone thought they heard it wrong, another voice came. This time they found the place where the voice came from, but it was on the city wall.
"Liang Yu, tell me, if I kill them all today, how will the history books record me?"
How dare you call the minister by his first name? How brave are you? Don't you dare to see someone as strong as Zhou Tingru? Who is so brave?
But the next moment everyone was confused. Was it me who they heard just now?
I? Isn't this the title of the emperor?
"Zhou Tingru, the magistrate of Suzhou, is here to see your majesty!"
Amid the people's surprise, Zhou Tingru, who was on the high platform, immediately knelt down towards the city gate tower.
"See Your Majesty!"
The shouts of thousands of Yanshan Guard soldiers on the city wall formed a majestic sound that resounded through Suzhou City, soaring into the sky, waking up the people who were still a little dazed.
Plop...
Plop...
The common people also knelt down in a hurry, shouting "Long live your Majesty!"
"Everyone get up!"
The people's faces are full of smiles, the emperor is here in person, the corrupt officials on this stage are dead, and with this shock, Suzhou will be very stable for a long time in the future;
The wealthy businessmen and gentry were pale, their foreheads were covered with cold sweat, and their eyes were full of fear, fear, and worry.
To their horror, the emperor arrived in person, as they had been defying the imperial court.
What they were afraid of was that they followed Zhou Tingru's suggestion and came forward to report the officials. What they were worried about was whether the emperor would settle the scores later.
The faces of the officials who were tied up on the stage were filled with a look of death. The emperor was present in person, and the evidence was conclusive, and there was absolutely no reason to survive.
Liang Yu, the Minister of the Ministry of War in Nanjing, and Hu Yingtai, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, were shaking all over, and their hearts had completely sunk. The worst had happened.
"Liang Yu, tell me, how will the history books record me?"
Facing the emperor's words, Liang Yu could only kneel and remain silent.
"Are you trying to say that history books will record me as a murderous, ruthless tyrant?"
"I, I don't dare, I don't have this intention!"
"Zhou Tingru, please read as many copies as you like!"
"I obey the decree!"
Zhou Tingru stepped forward, took out a stack of paper from the box, and held it up to the people: "Are you neighbors and folks just curious about what this is? Why are the two ministers so panicked?
I would like to tell you that these are the evidence of bribing officials and violating the laws of the Ming Dynasty personally provided by the wealthy merchants and gentry of Suzhou City. I will read out a few of them at will. Please listen to them! "
"This share is from Pei Wenlong, the general judge of Suzhou. In the fifth year of the Apocalypse, he gave 300 taels of firewood and silver at the end of the year. In the sixth month of the 6th year of the Apocalypse, he gave 666 taels of silver to his fortieth birthday party.
In August of the same year, one of the children in the family violated the laws of the Ming Dynasty. In order to mitigate the crime, he was given a thousand taels of silver...a total of 4,855 taels. "
"This is from the Suzhou magistrate's office. At the end of the fifth year of Tianqi, in order to let my grandnephew go home for the New Year's Eve dinner, I gave him a hundred taels of silver.
In March of the sixth year of the Apocalypse, he sent fifty taels of silver and asked the jailer to take special care of the merchants who had offended him... The total amount of silver was one thousand three hundred and fifty taels! "
"One or two thousand taels, this is nothing in Suzhou, the most prosperous capital of the Ming Dynasty, but what if I want to tell you that this is just a gift from the Huang family in Suzhou City?
Think about how many wealthy businessmen and gentry there are in Suzhou City? "
