jdhmnovel Chapter 125: Impeachment must be carried out to the death!
Chapter 125: Impeachment must be carried out to the death!
Upon returning to Kunning Palace, Emperor Zhu Chongba sighed and said to Empress Ma, "Sister, when will people's hearts be truly satisfied? When will there be no more scheming and plotting?"
Empress Ma was slightly taken aback and asked, "What's going on today?"
After Emperor Zhu recounted his discussions with Li Shanchang and the others that day, Empress Ma frowned slightly and said, "With the Central Secretariat in charge, Yang Xian has become Magistrate Yang's superior. They say they're going to let him do whatever he wants, but with Yang Xian around, how can Magistrate Yang really let his guard down?"
"Belonging to the Crown Prince... If Magistrate Yang doesn't make any mistakes, that's fine. But if he does make any mistakes, the people of the world will blame Biao'er for those mistakes as well."
"This Li Shanchang is truly cunning."
Emperor Zhu sighed again and said, "I can understand that Liu Bowen wants to protect Yang Xian, but Brother Shanchang, he has followed us all the way, thinking about it... sigh."
Empress Ma sighed softly and said, "Who in this world can escape the allure of fame and fortune?"
"If everyone could escape it, how could Confucius and Mencius be the only ones to be called sages throughout history?"
"You can't expect everyone to be a selfless and loyal subject."
At this point, Empress Ma smiled again and said, "I bet you have something on your mind, don't you?"
Emperor Zhu immediately laughed: "Let me tell you, my sister understands me best."
“That old bastard Li Shanchang is trying to set a trap for us and that Yang… Yang Shaofeng. We might as well just go along with it and jump right into the trap.”
"Didn't he say it was either to return to the Central Secretariat or to the Crown Prince? Let's just take control of Ningyang County and keep an eye on Yang... Yang Shaofeng."
Emperor Zhu Chongba now has a strong urge to change Yang Shaofeng's name.
You can change his name to Yang Dianfeng, or Yang Wenhe or Yang Zhongde, that's fine too.
After silently complaining to himself, Emperor Zhu Chongba continued, "However, the suggestion made by that old man Li Shanchang is indeed good. In the future, whatever our Great Ming Dynasty wants to do, we should first find a prefecture or county to try it out, and then decide whether to roll it out nationwide after the results are in. This is the best for the people and also for the court."
Empress Ma smiled and said, "It is a blessing for the people of the world and for our Great Ming Dynasty that you think this way. Wait here, I'll go and cook you a couple of dishes, and we'll have a drink together."
……
Yang Shaofeng, the magistrate of Ningyang County, never dreamed that he would be promoted two ranks inexplicably just for submitting a memorial requesting the abolition of barbarian customs. He went from being a seventh-rank magistrate of Ningyang County to a sixth-rank magistrate.
His official position remained the same, but his rank was promoted two levels, and his salary increased from seven and a half shi to ten shi, which was roughly equivalent to receiving more than 1,400 jin of hulled rice each month.
This gave Magistrate Yang a real headache.
In the past, although he would submit his own affairs directly to the emperor, he still had the Prefect of Yanzhou, Wu Zude, and the Vice Minister of the Shandong Provincial Secretariat, Wang Guangyang, above him. As the saying goes, if the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up, so Magistrate Yang dared to cause as much trouble as he wanted.
But things are different now. His immediate superior has suddenly changed from Wang Guangyang to Zhu Yuanzhang, the notoriously workaholic who treated the emperor like a beast of burden.
Although it's not certain that this old guy will do anything to me, and he might even want to see me cause trouble, this workaholic likes to get to the bottom of everything and loves to do things unconventionally. If I'm just coasting along under his wing, how can the Emperor Zhu not cause me trouble?
What if that old man is a doting father to his daughter, and you happen to be the one who marries his goddaughter...
Magistrate Yang even had this image in his mind: no sooner had one messenger left than another came galloping in to read out Zhu's imperial edict.
The imperial edict would either say something like, "Explain to us what the situation is, why we should do it this way, what the benefits are, and what the consequences and harms will be if we don't do it this way."
Otherwise, it'll be something like, "We've got some trouble, you better figure out how to handle it."
The thought of a bleak and hopeless life like that of cattle and horses in the future filled Magistrate Yang with worry.
I might as well stay a seventh-rank county magistrate. At least I can do whatever I want. The prefect of Yanzhou, Wu Zude, and the vice-minister of Shandong Province, Wang Guangyang, never interfere in my affairs. What great leaders they are!
As for the extra 300 catties of rice every month due to his promotion, Magistrate Yang said that no matter how much of that rubbish he had, what good would it do? Ningyang County didn't even have brothels, restaurants, or teahouses. He didn't know where to spend his money!
After pondering for a while in a huff, Yang Shaofeng, the magistrate of Ningyang County, simply went to inspect the brick kiln west of Ningyang County.
However, no matter how much Yang Shaofeng, the magistrate, thought about it, he never expected that Chen Er, who had been whipped twenty times and then thrown out of Ningyang County, was actually a ruthless character.
After being whipped twenty times by Magistrate Yang, Chen Er became increasingly angry. Although the dynasty had changed, the practice of levirate marriage had been going on for over a hundred years. His elder brother had died before the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, which meant that he, Chen Er, was also marrying his sister-in-law before the establishment of the Ming Dynasty.
Moreover, your Great Ming Dynasty has no laws prohibiting levirate marriage. You, surnamed Yang, are just a minor official of the seventh rank. What right do you have to interfere in my affairs?
It must be admitted that some old perverts really do lose their rationality when they are infatuated with certain insects, especially someone like Chen Er, who perfectly exemplifies what it means to be "blinded by lust".
After being informed of the incident, Chen Er became increasingly angry and felt increasingly cheated. He gritted his teeth, stamped his foot, and went to the Yanzhou Prefectural Government Office to beat the grievance drum.
Wu Zude, the prefect of Yanzhou, was unwilling to offend Magistrate Yang. Later, he even added his name to the official document submitted by Magistrate Yang requesting the abolition of the Hu custom, which was equivalent to agreeing to ban the custom of levirate marriage.
Therefore, when Chen Er rang the grievance drum in Yanzhou Prefecture, he was beaten again. Moreover, Magistrate Yang's authority was only to whip the child, but Prefect Wu Zude had the additional authority to give him a caning.
Then, after being beaten with twenty strokes of the cane, Chen Er was once again thrown out of the prefectural government office.
If it were someone with a normal brain, they would probably have behaved themselves after being beaten twenty times, since they were in the wrong and would likely get beaten again if they went to court.
The problem is that Chen Er's mind is somewhat abnormal. After receiving twenty lashes at the Yanzhou Prefectural Government Office, Chen Er did not realize that he was in the wrong. Instead, he felt that Wu Zude, the Yanzhou Prefect, and Yang Shaofeng, the Ningyang County Magistrate, were protecting each other.
Then, in a fit of anger, Chen Er stole a horse and secretly rode all the way to the capital. After finding the Ministry of Justice, he did not file a complaint, but instead hung it at the gate of the Ministry of Justice on a dark and windy night!
Well, the prefect and the county magistrate protected each other, leaving the common people with nowhere to turn for help. They were forced to go to the Ministry of Justice in the capital to plead for justice by taking their own lives!
The moment this case came to light, the censors of the Ming Dynasty were all in an uproar—they were just worried about how difficult this year's performance evaluation would be, and now this case had come knocking on their door.
What the hell was the prefect of Yanzhou? What the hell was the magistrate of Ningyang? These two corrupt officials cruelly harmed the people, and finally, they forced the people to their deaths!
Impeach! Impeach! Impeach him to the death!
And Chang Yuchun, who was leading troops in the field, you promoted that guy surnamed Yang to county magistrate, and now it has finally led to a major case of officials forcing people to die. Are you, surnamed Chang, so clean?
Impeach! Impeach! Impeach him to the death!
And Wang Guangyang, the Vice Minister of the Shandong Provincial Government, how do you manage your subordinates?
Impeach! Impeach! Impeach him to the death!
Anyway, it was a rule set by Emperor Zhu that people wouldn't be punished for their words, and even if someone impeached someone wrongly, they wouldn't be punished.
Then, memorials impeaching Yang Shaofeng, the magistrate of Ningyang, for cruelty and harm to the people; Wu Zude, the prefect of Yanzhou, for protecting officials against each other; Chang Yuchun, the chief minister, for poor judgment of people; and Wang Guangyang, the vice minister of the Shandong Provincial Secretariat, for holding a position without performing his duties, flew to the Office of Transmission and to the palace like snowflakes.
The entire officialdom of the Ming Dynasty was greatly shaken by the death of Chen Er, and the officials were divided into three factions due to differing opinions.
Some officials thought that Chen Er was just a nobody, so what if he died? Besides, he died because of something as immoral as levirate marriage, so it was a good thing he died!
Some officials also felt that levirate marriage was a custom that had been passed down for over a hundred years, and even if it were to be banned, it would not be possible to completely prohibit it in a day. Moreover, the court did not have any clear laws before, and the so-called punishment without instruction is cruelty. Yang Shaofeng and Wu Zude, who forced Chen Er to his death, were cruel officials who harmed the people and must be severely punished.
Another group of officials were simply enjoying the spectacle, especially when they thought about how Yang Shaofeng, without taking bribes or being greedy, had turned a dilapidated Ningyang County into a thriving place, earning praise from Emperor Zhu Chongba on several occasions. These officials couldn't wait for things to get even more exciting.
This greatly angered Emperor Zhu Chongba.
Did the officials in the latter two categories truly hate Yang Shaofeng and Wu Zude for forcing the people to their deaths?
No.
To put it bluntly, these people didn't care whether Chen Er lived or died, and they didn't care whether Yang Shaofeng and Wu Zude forced Chen Er to his death.
What they care about, or rather what they are doing, is simply using the censors to impeach Yang Shaofeng and Wu Zude, and using the censors to impeach Chang Yuchun.
Their ultimate target was not Yang Shaofeng and Wu Zude, nor even Chang Yuchun, but themselves, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty!
However, Emperor Zhu Chongba could not punish the censors because of this case, because it was a rule he himself had set: regardless of whether the censors had evidence or whether their impeachment was correct or not, the court would not punish people for their words.
This point is most vividly illustrated in the various wildly unofficial histories of the Ming Dynasty.