Get the first level verification
This was not good news. Zhao Daying felt uneasy. No one knew the truth better than him, whether those heads were Tatars or the elderly, children, women and children of Liujia Village. After all, he personally led the troops to "borrow" those heads from Liujia Village.
At that time, the coroner was bribed to shave the heads to make them look like Tatars, but the men, women, old and young could still be distinguished. It was impossible for Tatars to have women and children when they were fighting.
In addition, although the heads were somewhat dehydrated, people who knew them could still recognize them. Not to mention, Liu Dadao and the others were from Liujia Village.
The more Zhao Daying thought about it, the more uneasy he felt.
"Sir Zhang, you are the Minister of War. I request that the head of Zhao Daying, who was reported as a meritorious official last year, be brought here to verify his identity." Zhu Ping'an bowed to the Right Minister of War Zhang Gu, who was presiding over the trial in the court, and said, "This is the key to this case. Please give the order, Sir."
"Well, the heads Zhao Daying presented at that time were indeed sealed in the warehouse of the Ministry of War..." Zhang Gu paused in the middle of his words in the court, and then continued, "However, these heads are not under the jurisdiction of this official."
Zhang Gu neither agreed nor refused, but left Zhu Ping'an hanging there. This is a common tactic used in official circles: you push me, I push him, and after pushing three, two, and five times, the matter will fall through. Zhang Gu is obviously well aware of this.
"I request the court to verify the head. This is the duty of the court."
Zhu Ping'an bowed again and insisted, I don't care whether it is within your jurisdiction or not. The Ming Dynasty Law makes it very clear that if the parties apply to the court to obtain evidence, the court should obtain it according to its authority.
"This..." Zhang Gu was a little embarrassed.
When Zhang Gu was in trouble in the court, Yan Shifan, who was in the audience, smiled slightly, lowered his head and whispered a few words to Zhao Qiu beside him. Then Zhao Qiu nodded repeatedly, glanced at Zhu Ping'an with the corner of his eyes, and a sinister smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"The Ministry of Justice's Treasury is under my jurisdiction. Since Zhu Ping'an wants to verify the head, I will satisfy you. With this seal, you can go to the Ministry of War's Treasury, look through the thin book, and take the head to verify the identity."
Zhao Qiu stood up, took out a seal from his waist, and handed it to the officer standing beside him, who then passed it to the presiding judge in the court.
Uncle
Upon hearing this, Zhao Daying turned to Zhao Qiu anxiously, but Zhao Qiu gave him a look that told him to be patient.
In an instant, Zhao Daying suddenly understood as if he had been enlightened.
Yes, what do I have to worry about? The treasury where the heads are kept is managed by my uncle. It would be easy to replace the prince with a cat or to mix pearls with fakes. Not to mention 59 heads, even 599 heads would only take a word.
After figuring it out, Zhao Daying became fearless. He looked at Zhu Ping'an unscrupulously and said sarcastically, "If you want to verify the head, then go ahead. But, Lord Zhu, you have to be mentally prepared. That head is not the Four Books and Five Classics. When the time comes, our top scholar must not be frightened by the head."
Well
Zhu Ping'an looked up at Zhao Daying and was slightly surprised.
"In that case, I'll have to trouble Captain Zhang to bring the head here." After receiving the seal, Zhang Gu nodded, took out a signature and the seal and handed them to Captain Zhang from the Ministry of Justice, ordering him to go to the Ministry of War to get the head.
"Captain Zhang and his men are going to get the head. My Lords, let's take this opportunity to have some simple food. As the saying goes, food is the most important thing for the people. I cannot bear the responsibility of starving you all. The food in my Ministry of Justice may not be as good as the delicacies served on jade plates and beautiful things outside, but it is better in terms of quantity and filling. Please, my Lords."
The Minister of Justice He Ao waved his hand and ordered a runner to go to the main judge's seat and whisper a few words to Wang Xueyi. Then Wang Xueyi stood up and spoke to everyone with a smile.
"Master Wang is joking."
"After hearing what Lord Wang said, I am really hungry. We will obey your command."
"Haha, let's take this opportunity to try the food of the Ministry of Justice. The chef of the Ministry of Justice is famous among our six ministries."
All the officials present in the court stood up to respond.
Well
Zhu Pingan...
So, everyone reached a consensus. Captain Zhang from the Ministry of Justice led the officers to the Ministry of War to get the head. Everyone took this time to have lunch and then continue the court session after lunch.
The chef of the Ministry of Justice had already prepared the ingredients and was just waiting for the order to serve the meal in the court. As soon as an agreement was reached here, the meals from the Ministry of Justice's kitchen were brought up in plates, a combination of meat and vegetables, four dishes and one soup, all served piping hot.
My words don't count.
Zhu Ping'an stood there, shook his head and smiled bitterly.
Just now, Zhu Ping'an noticed that Zhao Qiu, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, called in the accompanying official and gave him a few instructions, and then the official dared to hurried out in front of Captain Zhang.
Needless to say, the head must have been tampered with.
There was no way. Even if I noticed this, I could do nothing about it. I could only watch Zhao Qiu and the others turn the tables.
Even if I followed Captain Zhang to the Ministry of War to get the head, I couldn't stop Zhao Qiu and his men from doing anything. They had plenty of ways to do something, and if I went to the Ministry of War with Captain Zhang, there would definitely be some formalities, and this time was enough for them to do something.
However, I have considered this before, and I hope that the historical records are correct.
"What's wrong, Master Zhu? Why don't you eat?"
While Zhu Ping'an was in a daze, Zhao Daying, who was sitting at the audience table, came over with a chicken leg in his hand. He took a big bite of the chicken leg in front of Zhu Ping'an, and smiled sarcastically while chewing.
You are laughing so happily and eating so heartily... But it is too early for you to be happy.
Zhu Pingan raised his head, glanced at him, and replied indifferently, "Master Zhao, are you riding the horse backwards?"
Grass!
Here we go again! You wait for Zhu Ping'an, you will cry after dinner!
Zhao Daying's face suddenly darkened, the smile on his face froze, and the chicken in his mouth suddenly became tasteless! He glared at Zhu Ping'an with a look of resentment in his eyes.
Come with excitement and leave with disappointment.
This was probably what Zhao Daying was thinking at the moment. Zhao Daying wanted to ridicule Zhu Ping'an, but he was turned down and returned to his table in dismay.
For lunch, each table had four dishes and one soup. Four or five officials shared a table. Those from the Yan party, the Li party, and those who were neutral could always share a table. Zhu Ping'an was an exception. For various considerations and concerns, other officials did not come to share a table with Zhu Ping'an.
So, Zhu Ping'an was alone, occupying a table by himself, enjoying four dishes and a soup by himself.
"No one's here. That's great, Dadao, you guys are in for a treat, come and eat with us. The table is a little small, but we can still fit in if we squeeze in."
Zhu Ping'an looked at the table where he was alone and smiled slightly. Then he waved to Liu Mu, Liu Dadao and others, and asked them to sit at the table and have a meal together.
Liu Mu and Liu Dadao were not officials, so the Ministry of Justice's kitchen only gave them two steamed buns each. Now they no longer had to eat steamed buns.