Qi Ning's voice was not loud, but it was enough to make all the officials feel a chill.
Wei Yujiang suddenly took a step forward, knelt on the ground, and said loudly: "I will live up to the high expectations of the ministers in my humble position. I will do my job with all my heart and abide by the law like heaven!"
Qi Ning nodded with a smile, but at this moment, he heard a burst of excitement from outside, and someone shouted loudly: "Everyone, give in, give in!"
Wei Yujiang stood up and turned around to look over. He saw that the crowd gathered outside the hall had dispersed and made way for them. Then he saw four men in Tsing Yi carrying a stretcher in. There was one person lying on the stretcher. It was Da Xichong, the left minister of the Ministry of Punishment.
Qi Ning only glanced at it, then returned to his seat and sat down. The stretcher was carried into the lobby. The officials on the left and right saluted Da Xichong one after another, and they all looked in awe. Qin Ning saw this and then Knowing that Da Xichong is very different from Cao Sen, Da Xichong's prestige and power in the Ministry of Justice cannot be compared to that of Cao Sen, a judge.
After the stretcher was carried into the lobby, Da Xichong raised his hand, and four men in Tsing Yi carefully put the stretcher down. Two men helped Da Xichong sit up, followed by another person who stuffed a pillow behind Da Xichong's waist. .
Da Xi Chong looked at Qi Ning who had already sat down in the distance, cupped his hands and said: "Master Marquis, I am... not feeling well and cannot salute, so please don't blame me." His voice was unusually cold. Everyone present knew that the former Da Xi Chong led the people When he went to Huainan Prince's Mansion, he was beaten up by Qin Ning in public. After that day, today was the first time he entered the Penal Department Yamen.
Naturally, Da Xichong and Jin Yihou had a deep hatred.
"What? Master Da Xi's injury hasn't healed yet?" Qining said with a smile: "Find a good doctor to take a look, don't just find some foot doctor to prescribe dog skin plaster for you."
A look of anger flashed across Da Xi's face, and he held back his anger and said, "Thank you, Mr. Marquis, for your concern."
"Lord Da Xi, today I am almost two hours late. Do you have anything to say?" Qi Ning said calmly, "Is it because you don't want to see me?"
"I was injured, so I never entered the Yamen." Da Xi rushed, "This stretcher was made temporarily, so it arrived a little late. If the Marquis is punished, I will accept the punishment myself."
"It's excusable." Qi Ning nodded and said, "Wait a moment, I still have matters to deal with." His voice was cold and he said, "Those who were late earlier, all stepped forward."
Those officials who were late were originally standing outside the hall and did not dare to enter. At this time, they heard Qi Ning's cold shout and hesitated. On the contrary, those officials standing beside them were afraid of harming Chi Yu, so they moved to the side and pushed the more than ten people to the side. The officials who were late were separated. These more than ten officials knew that they could not avoid it. They had no choice but to stand up one after another, entered the lobby, and knelt down one after another.
Qi Ning glanced at it and then asked: "When the former Minister Qian Raoshun was in office, did you also fail to enter the Yamen on time to handle errands?"
All the officials lowered their heads and did not dare to speak.
"I will not act arbitrarily." Qi Ning said slowly: "If anyone among you is really in an emergency and has submitted a note asking for leave to the Yamen of the Ministry of Justice, I can investigate first according to the actual situation, and then For disposal." He looked at Chu Mingwei and said: "Master Chu, Da Xichong is recuperating at home these days. You will naturally be in charge of all the affairs in the yamen. If someone can't get to the yamen due to other matters, do you want to hand over a leave note to you? "
Chu Mingwei said respectfully: "Reporting to Lord Butang, according to the regulations of the Yamen of the Ministry of Justice, if someone cannot arrive at the Yamen for errands, they really need to inform the Yamen in advance. The lower official is indeed in charge of this stall and needs the approval of the lower official. It will work.”
"That's easy to explain." Qi Ning smiled and said: "You are familiar with these dozen people. If any of them have given you a note of leave, you can hand it over to me now."
"Returning to your lord, your lord, your lord, you have given instructions three days ago that there will be a routine today. No officials, big or small, in the yamen will be absent." Chu Mingwei said: "There are only two people in the yamen who ask for instructions from the lower officials, because at home, I have something to do, and I asked if I could ask for leave today, but because of the previous order from the minister, I did not approve it." He glanced at the dozen or so officials kneeling on the ground and said, "But those two people are not among them."
"So, these people didn't ask for leave first, but left their jobs without permission?" Qi Ning asked seriously.
Chu Mingwei said: "If you are not in your position when you are on an errand, it is indeed a case of leaving without authorization. The time for sending orders to the Yamen of the Ministry of Justice is at three quarters of Mao hour. Once this time is exceeded, it is considered as leaving without authorization."
"According to the laws of the imperial court, what is the crime for leaving one's job without authorization?" Qining asked.
Chu Mingwei said: "Let me tell you, sir, if you leave your job without authorization, you will be fined at least, or dismissed from office at the most serious case. It depends on the situation."
Qi Ning said with a smile: "So, if I remove them from their posts today, they won't be able to find fault?"
"If there are serious consequences due to leaving the job without permission, you must be dismissed from the official position." Chu Mingwei said: "It is up to the minister to decide how to deal with the situation."
All the officials kneeling on the ground changed their colors.
All officials know that this kind of thing is not a big deal at all, but if you really want to pursue it theoretically, it is definitely not a small thing at all. In fact, almost every day in the Penal Department Yamen, there are officials who are more or less late for a moment, but this matter No one in the yamen has ever really pursued the case. Since the establishment of Dachu, no official in each yamen has been dismissed from office because of being late.
But everyone knows that if someone is really serious, then not being at his/her position during the duty period is indeed an unauthorized leave, and there is indeed a legal basis for leaving without authorization, but no one has ever taken it seriously.
But today, the young prince seems to really want to make a fuss about this matter.
The belated arrival of these officials was nothing more than an attempt to intimidate Qi Ning and let Qi Ning know that the Ministry of Punishment was not so easy to control. Officials in the Ministry of Punishment also had their own systems. In the final analysis, they also wanted Qi Ning to be more cautious in doing things in the Yamen of the Ministry of Punishment. No one felt that they would be held seriously responsible for this matter.
Qi Ning smiled and said: "I said before that the Yamen of the Ministry of Punishment is the place where the laws of punishment are in charge. If you can't strictly abide by the law yourself, who have the right to punish others?" Pointing to the officials, he said: "Since it is unauthorized. If you resign, that means you really don't want to work here anymore." He said to Shen Lian in the hall: "Shen Lian, record the names of these people immediately, and I will write a note and submit it to the palace now...! "Waving towards the group of people: "You can go. Since you don't want to come, you don't have to come from today. I don't know whether the court will give you pension expenses, but you have done it at the Ministry of Punishments. After these years, I will try my best to fight for you from the imperial court."
At this time, not only the officials kneeling on the ground, but also the officials on both sides changed their expressions.
Qi Ning wanted to remove more than a dozen officials from the Ministry of Justice in just a few words, and many of them were senior officials from the Ministry of Justice. It was unprecedented to dismiss these people so easily.
However, Qining wanted to remove these people from their official positions, which was in line with the laws of the imperial court. Although various yamen had never dismissed officials just because they were late for a moment, and more than a dozen people were dismissed at one time, but it did not happen, but it does not mean that it cannot happen. , the imperial laws are recorded in black and white, and the legal texts can be brought up at any time.
Da Xichong also stood aside and suddenly said: "Wait a minute!"
Qining glanced at him and asked, "What? Master Da Xi wants to intercede for them?"
"It's not a plea." Da Xi said in a deep voice: "Master Hou, nothing like this has ever happened since the founding of the Chu Kingdom. These officials are all important officials of the Ministry of Punishment, and have been in the Ministry of Punishment for at least five or six years. He is a master of criminal justice, and has handled countless cases, and has made great contributions to the court." He sat upright and said loudly: "The Marquis has to dismiss so many people with just one sentence today. Is it... too childish?"
He was quite energetic, but he didn't look like someone who couldn't get up.
Qi Ning leaned forward, leaned on the case, and asked: "Child's play? Sir Da Xi thinks that this officer is playing child's play in the lobby of the Ministry of Punishment? You can't understand what I said? Then I will repeat it again, the Ministry of Punishment will be in charge of the criminal name , first of all, you must abide by the law. In the Ministry of Punishment, no matter who breaks the law, he will be severely punished. Can I make it clear now? "
Da Xichong said: "Having said that, but... Now is an extraordinary time. Once all these officials are dismissed, who will be entrusted with so many errands in the Ministry of Punishment? They are all experienced criminal masters. In a short time, There is no one who can replace him.”
"Extraordinary times?" Qi Ning smiled lightly: "What do you mean by extraordinary times?"
"The Marquis knows it himself." Da Xi said loudly: "The King of Huainan rebelled, and now the Ministry of Justice is investigating the remaining members of the Huainan King. This is a major case that the emperor and the Zhenguo Public Security Bureau are waiting for. The case of the Huainan King's rebellion has not yet been fully investigated. This Of course it’s an extraordinary time.”
"Huainan Wang Yudang?"
"That's right." Da Xichong said: "After the King of Huainan rebelled in the imperial mausoleum, the Duke of Zhenguo issued an official document, ordering the Penal Department Yamen to thoroughly investigate the case. The Qian Department... Qian Raoshun was dismissed from office, and he was temporarily in charge during the next few days. After receiving the official letter from the imperial court, the Ministry of Punishment immediately dispatched people to investigate the case thoroughly." Looking into Qi Ning's eyes, there was no fear: "The people transferred from the Ministry of Punishment are all smart and capable people...!" He pointed back. The officials from the Ministry of Justice kneeling behind him said: "They are the main people assigned by the lower official to investigate the rebellion case of King Huainan. The Marquis wants to remove them today. Do you want to reconsider?"
Qi Ning said "Oh" and said with a smile: "So, the Ministry of Punishment clearly knows that someone has violated the criminal law, but still has to consider other details, and then does not follow the criminal law?"
"The purpose of the criminal law is to ensure the stability of the Chu government and the public, and to prevent trouble." Da Xichong snorted coldly: "Now these officials are thoroughly investigating the Huainan King's rebellion case, just to ensure the stability of the country. The Marquis dismissed them without any reason. If someone can take over from them, wouldn't it mess up the situation of the government?" He looked into Qining's eyes and said, "If the Marquis really wants to punish them, I can't disobey them, but I still ask the Marquis to go and talk to the Duke of Zhenguo. Discuss it, weigh the priorities, and then make a decision!"