Ming Dynasty: Is a mere unruly commoner rebelling against heaven?

Chapter 99: The Hongwu Emperor, personally wrote "Imperial Edicts"!

After Zhao Yun searched the cloth bag and confirmed that there were no imperial gifts, he returned the cloth bag to Yicui.

"Little Master, follow this servant."

Zhao Yun led Zhang Wan'er to the West Side Hall of Xianfu Palace, pointed to a small room, and said, "Little Master, this is the Idle Cloud Pavilion."

"Little Master, please go in."

Zhang Wan'er walked into the Idle Cloud Pavilion and was greeted by desolation. There was only a bed, a couch, a table, and a few benches.

It was bare, without any decorations.

There wasn't even a lantern in the room, only a few candlesticks with bare candles on them.

The difference between here and the Crimson Cloud Hall was like heaven and earth.

"Bang!"

Zhao Yun closed the door of the Idle Cloud Pavilion and ordered the little eunuchs behind him: "You few, keep a close watch on the door!"

"Without His Majesty's order, no one is allowed to see Consort Zhang."

"Yes."

"And you."

Zhao Yun looked at Weihong and Yicui beside him: "From now on, you two can only enter to deliver food and clean up the room during mealtimes."

"At other times, you are not allowed to enter the Idle Cloud Pavilion either."

Weihong and Yicui felt aggrieved. When Zhang Wan'er was favored, Zhao Yun had to bow deeply when he saw them in Xianfu Palace.

But now that their mistress had fallen out of favor, their status in the palace had also plummeted.

The two had no choice but to answer: "Yes."

Zhao Yun glanced at them disdainfully and left with a sneer.

...

Ciqing Palace.

When Empress Dowager Wang learned that Zhu Youcheng had stripped Zhang Wan'er of her title and demoted her to Consort.

Empress Dowager Wang, who was lying on the bed, widened her eyes, and a breath caught in her throat, almost causing her to faint again.

She stared wide-eyed, tears streaming down her face, and muttered to herself: "My younger brother, his life is not long for this world..."

Empress Dowager Wang had done everything she could, but she still couldn't save her younger brother's life.

While Empress Dowager Wang was concerned about the lives of her two younger brothers, her two younger brothers were also calling out her name.

"Ahhh!!! Stop it! Stop it!"

"My sister is the current Empress Dowager, you can't do this to me! You can't do this to me!"

"Stop it!!!"

"..."

Inside the West Factory Prison, Wang Qing foamed at the mouth, rolled on the ground in pain, and cried out his sister's name loudly.

The West Factory's Warden didn't care what you shouted; if you didn't confess what they wanted, you would be subjected to torture.

"Speak! Besides encroaching on civilian land, what else have you done?"

"I don't know! I really don't know!"

Wang Qing's hands were tied behind his back, and his body was covered with a thin layer of honey, with countless tiny ants crawling all over him.

At the same time, his body was covered with tiny wounds, none of which were deep enough to draw even a few drops of blood.

But this kind of torture made Wang Qing wish he were dead, and he tried to smash his head against the wall several times, but was stopped by the West Factory agents.

"Still not confessing?"

A West Factory agent took a brush, dipped it in honey again, and smeared it on Wang Qing's body.

"Stop it! Stop it!"

"I am the current Empress Dowager's younger brother, you can't do this to me!"

"You can't do this to me!"

"..."

Wang Qing had been tortured to the point of incoherence, repeating only these two sentences over and over again.

On the other side, Wang Yuan's condition was slightly better.

Because he had already confessed.

Wang Yuan's robe was now covered in dirty water stains, and his body exuded a foul stench.

He was also covered in blood, but there were no visible wounds on the surface.

At this moment, he was kneeling on the ground, trembling as he held a pen, writing down his crimes on paper.

Wang Yuan's face was ashen, his eyes were dull, and his expression was numb.

He knew that once he wrote this confession, he would surely die.

But if he didn't write it, he would suffer a fate worse than death, even more painful.

The wails of Wang Qing came from the neighboring prison cell, frightening Wang Yuan into trembling all over.

This time, the West Factory had really wronged Wang Qing.

Wang Qing was stupid and was granted the title of Earl by the late Emperor because of his relationship with Empress Dowager Wang.

In reality, all the private affairs of the Wang family were handled by Wang Yuan and Wang Jun.

Wang Qing only knew a rough idea and didn't know much.

So no matter how much Wang Qing was tortured, he couldn't confess anything.

As for Wang Jun, who knew all the inside information, he had already committed suicide by poisoning himself before the incident was exposed.

In this way, he was spared the suffering of flesh and blood, which was a pity.

...

Hongde Hall.

The four Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet had already left, and Zhu Youcheng frowned slightly as he flipped through the thin booklet in front of him.

This booklet was a draft of a transitional bill submitted by the Cabinet, called "Regulations on Interrogation and Punishment."

Earlier, the four Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet came to Hongde Hall with two copies of the "Regulations on Interrogation and Punishment" to discuss with Zhu Youcheng the revision of the temporary transitional bill.

This "Regulations on Interrogation and Punishment" was based on the "Great Ming Code," modifying some of the articles that were clearly out of touch with reality.

At the same time, it supplemented the "Great Ming Code" and added many anti-corruption clauses.

Because it was still in the draft stage, there weren't many changes, but the two reforms that Zhu Youcheng valued most had been included.

One was currency reform, strictly linking one tael of silver and one string of Hongzhi Treasure Notes, giving them the same legal status.

The other was to survey all the land in the country and gradually carry out tax reform.

It could be said that this "Regulations on Interrogation and Punishment" put forward by the Cabinet was full of sincerity.

But Zhu Youcheng was very dissatisfied with the part about the punishment of officials.

Although the "Regulations on Interrogation and Punishment" added many detailed anti-corruption clauses, the punishment for officials was significantly reduced.

The death penalty alone was abolished in thirty-two articles, and other penalties were also greatly reduced.

The most important one, execution by strangulation for embezzling eighty strings of cash, was changed to eight hundred taels of silver.

And the reason given by the Cabinet was that silver was not as valuable now as it was during the Hongwu era.

Inflation had even inflated to the point of corruption and bribery?

And it also added a clause that returning the embezzled money could reduce the penalty.

The reason given by the Cabinet this time was that it would be easier to recover the embezzled silver.

Because some officials didn't keep the embezzled silver at home, but secretly hid it.

If the corrupt officials were executed directly, this part of the silver could not be recovered.

Zhu Youcheng immediately slammed the table: "It doesn't matter if it can't be recovered! I will definitely kill the people!"

At that time, the four Grand Secretaries were so frightened that they didn't dare to say another word and could only nod their heads in agreement.

After Zhu Youcheng finished reading the part about the changes in the punishment of officials in the "Regulations on Interrogation and Punishment," he immediately rebuked the Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet.

Then he asked these Grand Secretaries to go back and revise the part about the punishment of officials.

The four Grand Secretaries didn't dare to refute, and immediately took one copy of the draft of the "Regulations on Interrogation and Punishment" back to the Cabinet.

The remaining copy of the "Regulations on Interrogation and Punishment" was still left in Zhu Youcheng's hands.

Zhu Youcheng looked at the "Regulations on Interrogation and Punishment" in his hand and felt that the Cabinet would definitely be insincere in this part.

But he didn't quite understand the scale of law-making and how to grasp it.

Because if he were to write the law, he would simply kill them all.

"It's easy to kill people, but it's difficult to employ them."

Zhu Youcheng tapped the dragon desk, suddenly got up and walked outside: "Prepare the carriage, the Imperial Study."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Zhu Youcheng sat in the dragon carriage and came to the Imperial Study, which he had not entered for a long time.

Because the study was full of books and it was not easy to heat the fire dragon for warmth, Zhu Youcheng ran to Hongde Hall as soon as the temperature dropped.

Zhu Youcheng looked at the imperial books all over the wall and said to himself: "Let me see if the previous emperors have any good legal provisions that can be used for me."

Yes, the books in the Imperial Study were basically written, handwritten, or annotated by the previous emperors.

They were priceless and very precious!

Zhu Youcheng searched among the bookshelves all over the wall, from the manuscripts of the previous emperors to the notes of Emperor Yingzong.

From the annotated copy of Emperor Xuanzong to the handwritten copy of Emperor Renzong.

Finally, there were the books personally written by Emperor Taizong Wen.

There were very few books by Emperor Taizong Wen, only a few bookshelves, the most conspicuous of which was the first volume of the "Yongle Encyclopedia."

The preface inside was personally written by Emperor Taizong Wen.

As for the complete volume, it followed Emperor Taizong Wen and entered Yongling.

The appearance of this "Yongle Encyclopedia" was very simple and unadorned. After all, it had been almost a hundred years. If it weren't for the diligent maintenance of the eunuchs in the Imperial Study, it would have been worm-eaten and weathered long ago.

Zhu Youcheng took out the book and was about to flip through it when he suddenly saw a more ancient booklet next to the book.

Zhu Youcheng took it out and saw four large characters written on it: "Imperial Edicts," and at the end, there were five characters.

Emperor by Heaven's Mandate.

Who would dare to sign as Emperor by Heaven's Mandate?

Only the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang!

Zhu Youcheng's heart skipped a beat, and he carefully flipped through it and watched it carefully.

The content inside made Zhu Youcheng overjoyed.

This book was really the right one to find!

"Imperial Edicts" was a severe criminal law book written in the eighteenth year of Hongwu, personally compiled by Zhu Yuanzhang to severely punish crimes committed by officials and civilians and to make up for the shortcomings of the law.

At that time, three of the four major cases of Hongwu had already occurred.

In the thirteenth year of Hongwu, the Hu Weiyong case occurred, and Zhu Yuanzhang executed more than 30,000 people in the Hu faction!

In the fifteenth year of Hongwu, the Blank Seal Case occurred, and Zhu Yuanzhang killed more than 10,000 local officials.

In the eighteenth year of Hongwu, the Guo Huan case occurred, and Zhu Yuanzhang executed all the left and right vice ministers and below of the six ministries.

At the same time, in order to recover the stolen goods, landlords from all over the country were also implicated.

The landlords and officials who were raided and beheaded totaled more than 70,000 people.

These three major cases lasted for several years, and more than 100,000 officials were executed.

Zhu Yuanzhang deeply felt that the nature of the officials of the Ming Dynasty was vile, and that corruption, bribery, and abuse of power were repeatedly prohibited.

And the "Great Ming Code," which had already been written and put into general use, was far from enough to punish officials for corruption, bribery, and abuse of power.

So Zhu Yuanzhang personally presided over the compilation of a new law again.

The criminal cases of the Hongwu years, especially the cases from the thirteenth to the nineteenth year of Hongwu, in which Zhu Yuanzhang used extra-legal punishments on officials and civilians, were recorded and compiled into a book.

The specific sentencing cases and punishment clauses of the cases in the three major cases of Hongwu were all included in it.

After compiling it, Zhu Yuanzhang personally named it "Imperial Edicts."

To announce it to the world and punish officials and civilians!

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