In an alley not far from General Jianwei's mansion, a group of Jinyiwei also visited the residence of Zhao Qiu, the former Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, and handed an official document to Zhao Qiu.
"Zhao Qiu, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of War, was a minister. Instead of blaming his sons and nephews for taking credit, he tried to cover up the matter and deceived the emperor. He was unworthy of a minister. He was arrested by the Jinyiwei, demoted to a commoner, and beaten with a stick outside the Meridian Gate as a warning to others."
Zhao Qiu took the document and glanced at it. His head buzzed. After reading it once, veins popped up on his face. He stared at the document angrily and read it again carefully.
"Haha, very good..."
A few seconds later, Zhao Qiu laughed in anger, his voice seemed to come from the underworld, and he threw the document onto the table.
"Sir Zhao, I am only following orders. I'm sorry for the offense." The captain of the Jinyiwei walked up to Zhao Qiu and bowed.
soon
Zhao Qiu, the former left vice minister of the Ministry of War, was tied up by the Embroidered Uniform Guards and taken to the outside of the Meridian Gate.
Such a scene has already happened in the homes of Zhang Xiche, Langzhong of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Treasury, and Zhao Guangming, the chief clerk, and Wang Dalu.
"After investigation, it was found that Zhang Xiche, a doctor in the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Personnel, and Zhao Guangming and Wang Dalu, the chiefs, abused their power, neglected their duties, and treated the law as a joke. Effective immediately, they will be demoted to civilians and caned outside the Meridian Gate as a warning to others."
The Jinyiwei also read the official document in front of them, and then tied them up and took them to the Meridian Gate to be beaten with a stick in the court according to the order.
"Unfair, unfair, it was Minister Zhao who forced me to do this. I am a lowly official, so I had no choice."
"I regret it now, I regret it now!"
"Zhao the thief misled me!"
For a while, there was widespread grief in these people's homes. Zhang Xiche, Zhao Guangming, Wang Dalu and others either cried out for injustice, or felt remorse, or cursed. Of course, no matter what they did, it was too late. They were all tied up by the Jinyiwei and taken to the outside of the Meridian Gate.
Forbidden City, outside the Meridian Gate.
The eunuchs who were to supervise the execution were already in place, with a white-faced, beardless middle-aged eunuch from the Imperial Household Department of the Ming Dynasty at the head. He sat behind a desk under the steps on the west side of the Meridian Gate, with the toes of his boots pointed outwards. Dozens of young eunuchs stood behind the middle-aged eunuch.
Thirty Jinyiwei in brightly colored armor stood on the left and right, holding wooden sticks.
The wooden sticks in their hands were not ordinary sticks. They were made of century-old chestnut wood, one end of which was cut into a mallet shape and wrapped in iron sheets. The iron sheets were also wrapped with iron hoops with barbed hooks and mottled bloodstains on them, making them look very hideous.
There were nearly a hundred officers outside the Meridian Gate, all of whom were shouting orders. The executioners were the Imperial Guards, who were responsible for shouting out orders from the eunuchs in the Imperial Household Department and shouting loudly while the Imperial Guards were executing the prisoners to enhance their morale.
At this time, there was another official document being sent by the imperial cavalry at full speed to Yunmeng County, a hundred miles away, bringing an unexpected "surprise" to the Yunmeng County Magistrate a hundred miles away: Yunmeng County Magistrate Ding Wei, as a local patriarch, did not think about standing up for the people, but instead framed his old friends, causing the people who sought justice to be unjustly imprisoned, and even caused the fifty-nine people of Lijia Village under his jurisdiction to die with their eyes open. His crime was unforgivable, and he would be demoted to a commoner from today on, and exiled to the smoke-filled south, and all his property would be used to compensate the people of Lijia Village who had been wronged.
Zhao Qiu and others were tied to a designated location outside the Meridian Gate, made to lie face down on the ground, with their shirts lifted up and their pants taken off.
"Put the stick."
The eunuch from the Imperial Household Department held the official document in his hand. After reading it out, he stood in place, pointed his toes outward, and gave a light order.
Nearly a hundred captains followed suit and shouted, "Put down the sticks!"
The Jinyiwei who was in charge of the execution took a subtle glance at the eunuch from the Imperial Household Department's outward-facing standing posture, understood what he meant, and walked out of the queue holding the court stick, came in front of Zhao Qiu and others, and placed the stick on their thighs.
"Beat him." The eunuch from the Imperial Household Department ordered again.
“Fight!!!” Nearly a hundred captains followed suit and shouted with such authority that for a moment the sound outside the Meridian Gate seemed to be thundering, making people tremble with fear.
Upon hearing the sound, the Jinyiwei who were carrying out the execution raised the court stick in their hands high into the sky, and then brought it down heavily. In an instant, a blood-red flower appeared on the buttocks and legs.
"ah!!!"
A scream was heard outside the Meridian Gate, reaching the sky.
"ah... "
When Zhao Qiu and others were tied up and taken to the Meridian Gate for beating, a voice was heard from Tingyuxuan in Linhuai Marquis's Mansion. The cicadas outside the courtyard were startled into silence by the voice.
Zhu Ping'an, who had just finished bathing, changing clothes, washing his hands and burning incense, was now looking at the official documents with gritted teeth. It seemed that the shout just now was from him.
"Why, why..."
Zhu Ping'an held the document in his hand, pointed at a line of words in the document, and muttered with gritted teeth. The line of the document under Zhu Ping'an's hand was as follows: Reward for merit and punishment for fault, Zhu Ping'an, the attendant reader of the Hanlin Academy, shall be fined one year's salary... ...
"As for that, I'm so surprised."
Li Shu rolled her eyes cutely, her eyes were as clear as crystals immersed in water, her rosy lips were slightly pouted, and she let out a coquettish sound.
"So what? Uh, wait, have you read this document?"
After Zhu Ping'an said half a sentence, he paused. He heard the hidden meaning in Li Shu's voice and couldn't help but look up at Li Shu.
As for the content of the document, the subtext of these three words clearly means that Li Shu knows the content of the document, otherwise why would she use these three words to comment on it. Only after reading the content of the memorial, would she say these three words.
"Yeah, while you're bathing."
Li Shu blinked her watery eyes, nodded calmly, smiled sweetly, and raised her cherry lips in a charming arc.
"Why don't you take a bath, change your clothes, wash your hands and burn incense?" A black line appeared on Zhu Ping'an's face.
"I took a bath this morning, and changed clothes, washed my hands and burned incense very quickly. I have nothing else to do, so I'll take a look for you first." Li Shu looked virtuous and smiled at Zhu Ping'an. Two dimples were faintly visible on her pretty face, making her look delicate, charming and enchanting.
This goblin.
Zhu Ping'an was speechless.
"It's just a one-year salary deduction." Li Shu curled her lips indifferently.
It's just... ... You said it so easily, Zhu Ping'an shook his head speechlessly, a year's salary deduction, a whole year of working for the court for free, really working from dawn to dusk for a year, and not having a penny at the end of the year. A melody inexplicably emerged in his mind: What hatred do I have with you, you don't even give me a hundred dollars, my necklace is more than two thousand... ...
As an official in the court, you don't have to give gifts to your leaders, but how can you avoid personal relationships and gifts
It seems that making money has to be put on the agenda. I don't want to be a gigolo.
"Besides, I want to congratulate my husband for joining the cabinet." Li Shu approached Zhu Ping'an coquettishly again, blinked her watery eyes, and cupped her slender white hands like a man, and said coquettishly.
"He's just a Cabinet Sizhilang. He's not in the cabinet. He's just serving tea and running errands for the ministers." Zhu Ping'an shook his head speechlessly and smiled bitterly.