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From Chaoyang Gate in the capital to Donghua Gate in the palace city, there was a long queue of carriages and horses transporting earth and rocks. There were noises of people, neighs of cattle and horses, and it was very busy.
Most of the prisoners captured in the war were used to open mines in Ma'anshan, and only 7,000 people were used to build the palace, responsible for those high-intensity jobs.
The Ministry of Works recruited another 70,000 refugees as the main force to build the palace.
Zhu Yuanzhang originally filled Yanque Lake to build the imperial palace, so there was some sinking. However, after nearly three hundred years, everything that should have sunk has sunk, and theoretically it is impossible for it to sink again.
But just in case, Huang Zhenlin used huge stones as piles for the bases of all the palaces. The piles were four meters deep and laid out layer by layer. After Qin Mu saw it, he was completely relieved. These piles were even stronger than the piles used to build buildings in later generations.
The areas outside the palace base were rammed layer by layer with lime cement to raise the foundation of the entire palace.
Qin Mu stood outside the Meridian Gate and looked at the busy construction site. He turned around and asked, "Yuanwailang, has the total budget come out?"
Huang Zhenlin replied: "Reply to the King of Qin, the calculation has been completed and submitted to Minister Song yesterday. The preliminary budget is 4 million taels, including the renovation of the six government offices."
When Qin Mu was in Huguang, he established a budget mechanism. For a large project like this, a relatively accurate budget must be available. With a budget, supervision can be done. Otherwise, if the project is started in the dark, a large amount of money will inevitably fall into the pockets of officials who purchase stone and wood.
"Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Yuanwailang." Qin Mu said with a smile.
"I don't dare."
After getting to know Qin Mu more, Huang Zhenlin found that Qin Mu was usually quite approachable. He didn't look like the ruthless killer he was rumored to be, so he was no longer so reserved in front of him.
Qin Mu chatted with him for a while, and Huang Lianshan hurried over to report: "King Qin, Zheng Zhilong has withdrawn his troops back to Fujian."
"Is the news confirmed?"
"Di Zhongxing sent ships to follow and monitor. Zheng Zhilong's fleet retreated southward along the coast. Our ships followed them across Hangzhou Bay and returned to report."
"Okay, tell Di Zhongxing to split the troops and send them north to reinforce Huai'an as planned, and the other half of the navy will be stationed on Chongming Island to defend."
"Yes, King Qin."
On the way back to the palace, Qin Mu was in a good mood. Sitting in the sedan chair, he admired the scenery on both sides of the street. Walking along West Chang'an Street from Chengtian Gate, there were government offices such as the Tongzhengsi and Xingrensi on both sides. These offices were still very deserted, and even formal officials were not set up.
The Xiangxingren Division was mainly responsible for conveying imperial edicts and conferring titles on the emperor. Whenever imperial edicts were issued, imperial clan members were conferred titles, instructions were given to the four directions, talents were recruited, rewards were given, condolences were given, relief was provided, military affairs were handled, and sacrifices were offered, the envoys were sent out.
There are many institutions similar to the Xingren Division. The Qin State did not establish any of them. Others thought that this was because the Qin State had just been established and they made do with what they had and did not have time to establish them. In fact, Qin Mu did not want to establish these institutions at all. The functions of these departments could actually be divided into six ministries or various temples. There was no need to set up another institution, which made the central organization bloated.
When they walked to Tongjimen Street, they happened to meet Qiao'er who was returning from watching the "public trial" outside Taipingmen. Qin Mu came to see the progress of the palace construction, and this girl followed him out. Halfway through, she saw a large number of people watching the "public trial", so she also took Ye Han and others to join in the fun.
As October approached, the weather turned cold. Qiao'er wore an ivory bodice embroidered with colorful chrysanthemums over her brocade green rose tight-fitting jacket. She had a pair of buns on her hair and a white jade hairpin with a bell, which gave her a youthful aura.
"Girl, does it look good?" Qin Mu asked with a smile on his face.
The little girl sniffed and shook her head, "There were too many people. I didn't dare to squeeze in, so I couldn't see."
"Just seeing people is enough. You just want to join in the fun anyway."
Qiao'er's bright eyes flickered twice as she argued, "That's not true, Brother Qin. I just can't understand why we need to put Hong Chengchou on trial when he is clearly a traitor and the leader of the Tartars. He must be guilty."
"hehe... ... .."
"Brother Qin, please tell me why we are trying Hong Chengchou?"
It's no wonder Qiao'er has such doubts. Capturing the enemy commander and holding a trial before three judges seems like taking off pants to fart. It is estimated that this has never happened since the Paleolithic Age.
Qin Mu replied cheerfully: "Brother Qin is a good man and doesn't want to wrongly accuse anyone, so whether the person is guilty or not will be judged by the three judges first."
"Brother Qin is lying, that's not the case."
"Haha, Xiang Zhuang dances with a sword, aiming at Pei Gong. You must have heard this story."
Qiao Er was even more confused. She looked at him sideways, as if thinking hard. "I've heard that when Brother Qin danced with a sword, who was he aiming at?"
"you guess?"
"The Emperor of Tartar, that's not right..."
"What's wrong?"
"Of course it's not right. If he was targeting the Tartar emperor, there would be no need for a further trial."
There were many people who had the same question as Qiao'er. The open space in front of the Jing tribe lobby outside the Taiping Gate was crowded with people. Hundreds of Qin soldiers formed a human wall inside to prevent the people from rushing in.
On the high steps in front of the hall, the Minister of Justice Bai Tie, the Left Censor-in-Chief Shao Hua, and the Junior Secretary of the Dali Temple Chen Kaiji sat high up. Hong Chengchou, dressed in a white prisoner's uniform, was forced to kneel at the bottom of the steps by the yamen runners.
People outside kept shouting, "Kill him!" "Kill him!" In short, everyone didn't understand why a man like Hong Chengchou was not killed directly but was tried by the three courts.
Bang! The presiding judge slammed the gavel hard, and the people outside finally quieted down.
Bai Tie shouted: "My king is appointed by heaven, ruling the world, benefiting all people, and softening people with virtue. Mencius also said: Those who conquer others by force are not convinced by their hearts, because their strength is not enough. Those who conquer others by virtue are sincerely convinced by their hearts.
Hong Chengchou, you have betrayed your ancestors, assisted the evil, and killed people wantonly. Your crime is unforgivable. However, my king, mindful of the mercy of God, will not kill people without trial.
Therefore, I have ordered the three judges to hold a joint trial and give you the opportunity to defend yourself. I hope you can confess your crimes truthfully. If you have other hidden reasons for surrendering to the enemy, perhaps your family can be spared from being implicated."
Hong Chengchou knew that he could not escape the death penalty, so he did not bother to answer.
But Bai Tie's last sentence reminded him of what Gan Nan said when he was on a diplomatic mission to Nanjing. At that time, Gan Nan also mentioned his mother and sighed, "The love of parents in the world is pitiful."
Gan Nan was on this mission on behalf of Qin Mu, so his words naturally represented Qin Mu's opinions.
This gave Hong Chengchou a glimmer of hope. Although he was doomed to die, it would be valuable if he could buy a glimmer of hope for his family.
Bai Tie slammed the gavel again and shouted, "Hong Chengchou, I want to ask you, in March of the fifteenth year of Chongzhen, you were trapped in Songshan, with no reinforcements from outside and no food and grass from inside. Finally, Songshan City was broken. After being captured, you went on a hunger strike for several days and refused to surrender. Is this true?"
The people outside were shocked when they heard this. Why did Bai Tie sound like he was speaking well of the great traitor Hong Chengchou? Did the King of Qin really intend to pardon Hong Chengchou's crime
Hong Chengchou was also somewhat stunned, but with his intelligence, he naturally knew that the matter was not that simple, so he answered carefully: "It is true."
Bai Tie continued to ask: "Hong Chengchou, since you went on a hunger strike to commit suicide to commemorate your decision, why did you surrender to the Qing Dynasty later?"
Hong Chengchou remained silent.
Bai Tie shouted, "You don't dare to answer, right? Then I will answer for you. The enemy chieftain, Huang Taiji, saw that you have some talent and wanted to recruit you. He asked the concubine Zhuang of Yongfu Palace, who is now the so-called Holy Mother Empress Dowager Borjigit of the Tartars, to serve meals and offer her bed.
You are weak-willed and could not resist Borjigit's seduction, so you surrendered to the enemy and betrayed your country, right
"Hong Chengchou, you are the governor of Ji and Liao in the Ming Dynasty, and you have been blessed by the emperor for generations. However, you betrayed your country and became an accomplice to a shameless Hu woman who could be married to a tiger. You are really living in vain..."
What Bai Tie said later and how Hong Chengchou answered were drowned out by the noise outside.
There was actually such a secret about Hong Chengchou's treason. Thousands of people heard about it and could not suppress their excitement.
Some cursed Hong Chengchou for disregarding the country's grace for the sake of a woman, some ridiculed the Tartars for their complete loss of ethics and even using concubines to seduce captives. What's more, this concubine is now the mother of the Tartar emperor and is revered as the Holy Mother Empress Dowager. Tartars are Tartars, they have no etiquette or shame, their moral principles are corrupt, and they are worse than beasts!
Bai Tie let the people make noise for a long time before he slammed the gavel and continued the interrogation: "Hong Chengchou, let's not talk about the dirty things between you and the mother of the Tartar chieftain. You accepted the Tartar's order and took the fake position of 'General Military Affairs Grand Secretary of Recruiting and Appeasing the Provinces in Jiangnan' to command the Tartar's troops invading Jiangnan and enforce the hair-shaving order. Tens of thousands of people in Nanjing were beheaded for not shaving their heads, and tens of thousands of people in Jiading were massacred. Wherever the Tartars went, they raped, looted, killed, and burned. You committed all kinds of evil. Since you were the commander-in-chief, you were guilty of heinous crimes. Do you plead guilty?"
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ps: Thanks to my two friends ac950329 and Xiangmawang for their generous rewards. Thank you both.
Brothers, in the last four hours of the month, please support me with monthly tickets! I was brutally beaten at the very end!
.(To be continued..)
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