Hongwu Daming: Why hasn't my son rebelled?

Chapter 181 The power of Liao King is so terrifying

Jinyiwei, Zhao prison.

In the dark room, only the flickering torches illuminated a little light.

Wu Shang was tied to an iron frame, the iron frame was stained with blood, and the sanitation was worrying.

I don't know which high-ranking official was tortured here before.

Zhu Qi was not a saint, nor was he an idealist. His attitude towards the officials of Ming Dynasty was similar to that of Zhu Yuanzhang.

If you are caught for committing a crime, as long as you can't beat him to death, you can beat him to death.

What?You mean human rights?Say humanitarianism?

When they took bribes and entrapped the people, why did no one come out to talk about human rights and humanitarianism?

There is an old saying that goes, if you repay a grievance with virtue, how can you repay a virtue?Repay grievances with straightness, repay virtue with virtue!

Because of this, Gao Jin and his gang of Jinyiwei would not hold back the officials who were arrested.

Even under Zhu Qi's guidance, interrogation was no longer limited to the old traditions of whipping and branding.

There are also other weird interrogation methods used, such as the interrogation method that does not allow prisoners to sleep, which has become very popular in Jinyiwei recently.

Zhu Qi had tried it on martial arts masters before, and the effect was very good.

As long as you encounter a hard bone, nine out of ten will not be able to bear it with this method. After all, this is a physiological reason.

No matter how determined a person is, he can open his mouth when he is trapped in a blur of consciousness.

But for Wu Shang, these methods are useless, not because his bones are particularly hard.

Twenty ordinary whipping irons are enough, even Gao Jin hasn't been executed yet.

This Wu Shangguang saw the flames floating beside him, the cold iron pillar on his back, the bloody smell from his nose, and the wailing and groaning prisoners in the dark cage.

Wu Shang's courage was so frightened that his whole body couldn't help shaking.

The guards in Jinyi just took the whips in their hands, when Wu Shang shouted loudly:
"I say! I say! I say everything!"

The guards in Jin Yi were also a little confused, it was the first time they saw such a timid official.

Although those officials in the past were not beaten, most of them were able to beat them for a while before begging for mercy.

At least on the surface, I would rather die than submit, I still have to do it.

As a result, Master Wu didn't even bother to do superficial work.

But the guards in Jinyi have all the whips in their hands, do you think they should be whipped or not?
Jin Yiwei looked at Gao Jin who was next to him in a bit of embarrassment, Gao Jin didn't say anything, and nodded to Jin Yiwei.

Jin Yiwei immediately reacted, and then said to Wu Shang:

"Okay you old boy, when I was the first day as a Jinyiwei, you are going to recruit so soon?
Most of them won't tell the truth, so I'll beat you up first. "

This is Jin Yiwei's explanation, it's better not to say it, then Wu Shang was dumbfounded when he heard this sentence.

I was about to cry at that time, but before the tears came out, the whip had already hit me.

Later, Wu Shang still cried, but it was not because of scaring, but because of pain. This whip is unbearable.

This Wu Shang was crying sadly, and howled in his mouth, saying that everything will be recruited immediately, stop beating.

Jin Yiwei didn't fight for too long over there, and stopped after hitting a few whips casually for show.

Gao Jin walked up with his hands behind his back, before he could say anything, Wu Shang immediately begged and said:

"My lord, don't fight, I said everything."

Gao Jin smiled and said:

"Oh? You recruited everything, so tell me, what do you want to recruit?"

"me……"

Then Wu Shang faltered, and for a while he really didn't come up with any reason.

Seeing this, Jin Yiwei at the side wanted to raise his whip to start beating again, but Wu Shang was startled, and hurriedly shouted:

"Don't fight! Don't fight! A few years ago, I accepted a drink from a small official in the household department.

The official stuffed me with 50 taels of silver, which I confiscated, and later gave me some cloth, which I thought was not expensive, so I took it..."

After Wu Shang said that weakly, Gao Jin took out a small notebook from the side, casually flipped to a page, and asked:

"That man's name is Li Zhong?"

"Ah, yes, yes! It's him!"

Hearing what Wu Shang said, Gao Jin sneered, threw the notebook on the table next to him, and said:

"Good guy, you don't know that this person lost his head because of the empty printing case some time ago.

You are talking about him now, this is going to be a deadly case, how do I know that you confiscated the 50 taels of silver? "

When Gao Jin said this, Wu Shang was completely dumbfounded. He didn't know that this guy lost his life because of the empty printing case.

Half of the entire officialdom has suffered because of this, and Wu Shang really doesn't know about this.

Seeing that the brocade guards were about to fight again, Wu Shang immediately began to confess again.

Of course, what I said at the beginning was innocuous, such as sending some food, sending some vegetables and so on.

And seeing those who gave him things, one by one had already been tracked down by Jin Yiwei.

As for these people, either they were arrested and interrogated in advance, or the officials were cleared out in the empty seal case, or they were cleared out for other reasons.

You said how many of these gift givers can survive in Hongwu's officialdom?

Zhu Yuanzhang killed batch after batch of these corrupt officials, just like leeks, he cut a lot of them every year.

It is really difficult for these corrupt officials to survive for a long time.

Even now, many officials have handed in their resignations and are going back to the countryside to farm. Think about how difficult this officialdom is.

And the reason why Wu Shang is fine until now is naturally because the amount of food and drink with him is not very large, there is a certain reason.

However, the sum of these sevens and eights is not small.

Wu Shang confessed part of the confession himself, and Jin Yiwei naturally had to investigate the rest.

Seeing that he had nothing to do, Gao Jin took out his notebook and counted his crimes one by one.

In the end, after doing the math, Wu Shang has been an official for more than ten years, and all the messy things are added together, and he has collected more than a thousand taels of silver.

Although it is not too much to spread evenly every year, if the total is counted, it is enough to kill the head.

How did Wu Shang know that he had embezzled so much money after accumulating for so many years, so he hurriedly begged for mercy:

"Master Jin Yiwei, there must be some misunderstanding, how could I have embezzled so much money?

Besides, I only received some clothes that are not thin or vegetables and meat from others, but I have never received too much money from others.

This is called a friendship between gentlemen, a gift from each other. "

This Wu Shang still wanted to explain for himself, but after hearing his explanation, some people around him raised their whips and lashed again.

Good guy, the total amount of the collection is already thousands of taels, and you still say such a thing?
This gift is too expensive!

Gao Jin also waved unhurriedly, and then a disheveled man was pulled out from inside.

That person also looked like he had been beaten a lot, at least he walked out shaky.

Wu Shang didn't recognize the identity of the man at the first time, but the criminal recognized Wu Shang at the first time, and rushed over immediately, shouting:

"Wu, Wu Shilang! Help me!"

After Wu Shang heard the voice of the criminal shouting, he reacted immediately, and his face turned pale.

He hesitated for a long time and couldn't speak. Gao Jin sneered twice, and was dragged down by someone who robbed him. Then he said with a smile:

"Master Wu, what's the matter? Do you want to confess now?"

Wu Shang's lips trembled twice, and then he said softly like a deflated ball:

"I said, I said everything..."

The captured prisoner was none other than the representatives of those businessmen who had been in contact with Wu Shang some time ago.

These businessmen are like flies. When they see rotten meat, they will fly over immediately.

Naturally, Wu Shang is not a clean and honest official, he usually likes some small favors, so now that businessmen come to contact him, he will naturally not refuse them out.

Of course, I still have to say some things on the bright side, to show my high-spirited appearance.

But these businessmen are old and cunning, they don't have any means, as long as they are not directly kicked out, or shouted loudly, it means that there is a chance.

Almost all of Wu Shang's relatives and friends were bribed by these businessmen, and Wu Shang himself naturally gained a lot of benefits.

As for the purpose of these businessmen bribing Wu Shang, of course, they also hope to obtain some administrative convenience from the local government.

After all, Wu Shang is the Minister of the Ministry of Officials, with real power, he can speak for many things, and most of the local officials will flatter him.

It's just that these merchants have not started to operate to collect benefits, and they have been cut off halfway by the Jinyiwei.

However, what Gao Jin most wanted Wu Shang to explain was not just the content of corruption and bribery, but the fact that he was instructed by Hu Weiyong to arbitrarily replace Liaodong officials.

But Hu Weiyong is indeed politically tricky, at least he didn't do such an outrageous thing in person.

Just a little hint, Wu Shang went to replace the officials in Liaodong himself.

In other words, there is no evidence that Hu Weiyong asked Wu Shang to do this.

Not only that, but Hu Weiyong himself seemed to be very clean-spirited, and he didn't have any interests with other officials, at least not with Wu Shang.

If Zhu Qi hadn't known that Hu Weiyong in history was not as clean as he seemed, he would have almost thought that Hu Weiyong was a rare honest and loyal minister.

Many people say that when Zhu Yuanzhang killed Hu Weiyong, he used unwarranted charges to cover his head, and deliberately took the opportunity of killing Hu Weiyong to abolish the prime minister system.
But this is actually a scapegoat for Zhu Yuanzhang.

If Zhu Yuanzhang really wanted to abolish the prime minister, he didn't need to take the opportunity of killing Hu Weiyong to do so.

Wasn't Li Shanchang the former prime minister?Zhu Yuanzhang came down with a few random tricks, and Li Shanchang abdicated himself, and even married a 20-year-old girl, from a pure and innocent background.

If he really wants to abolish the prime minister system, he can talk to Hu Weiyong directly. Hu Weiyong is the one who values ​​power the most.

It is impossible to resist Zhu Yuanzhang at this juncture, and he will definitely follow the trend and cater to Zhu Yuanzhang's meaning.

What's more, it is not without evidence that Zhu Yuanzhang killed Hu Weiyong.

Since Hu Weiyong gained Zhu Yuanzhang's trust and favor, he has done many arbitrary things.

For example, reviewing the death penalty in various places, calling officials, etc., Hu Weiyong often made decisions on his own without reporting to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Although he has his own reasons, this matter has already made Zhu Yuanzhang unhappy.

It's just that Zhu Yuanzhang thought of Hu Weiyong, and he followed him to conquer the world a long time ago, and he has been doing a good job all the time.

The entire imperial court was well-organized under his maintenance, so he didn't criticize him too much.

But this also gave Hu Weiyong an illusion that Zhu Yuanzhang could not do without him as a prime minister, and he was also an important prime minister that the Ming Dynasty could not do without.

So Zhu Qi knew that Hu Weiyong's future behavior would only become more and more rampant.

Historically, he even directly withheld those impeachment memorials.

There are also many people who are greedy for vanity, or warriors who have been neglected and lost their posts.

For example, didn't Wu Shang rely on Hu Weiyong's help to get to the top?

Zhu Qi got all of Wu Shang's statements the next day, read it from beginning to end, and then shook his head.

These evidences are not enough to bring Hu Weiyong down, after all, there is no direct interest dispute between him and Wu Shang.

Even Jin Yiwei did some investigation and found nothing, although it was indeed Wu Shang recommended by Hu Weiyong.

But it is impossible to kill the recommender just because the person you recommend is a corrupt official!
If this is the case, even if not all the people in the officialdom of Ming Dynasty will be killed, even Liu Bowen is no exception.

What's more, Hu Weiyong has been working in the officialdom for so many years, and his performance is also very good. It is impossible to be pulled down because of Wu Shang alone.

Zhu Qi knew that even if he went to Zhu Yuanzhang with these evidences, it would have some influence on Hu Weiyong, but doing so would not cause any substantial harm to him.

Since there is no way to cause decisive damage, then Zhu Qi will not do unnecessary actions, and let the Jin Yiwei directly report the matter to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Let's treat it as normal Jin Yiwei handles the case, in fact it is indeed a normal handling, but Zhu Qi reminded him and paid special attention to it.

Zhu Qi's side was also considered a success, and he overthrew Wu Shang, who was nailed to the position of Minister of the Ministry of Officials.

It was undoubtedly a huge blow to Hu Weiyong.

After all, the position of Minister of the Ministry of Officials is not available to everyone, Hu Weiyong recommended Wu Shang to do it, and now Wu Shang is being investigated by the Jinyi Guards because of corruption and accepting bribes to contact businessmen, and what awaits him is his head.

Correspondingly, Zhu Yuanzhang's trust in him will definitely be greatly reduced.

Hu Weiyong has 1 regrets in his heart. If he had known that Wu Shang was so unbearable, he would not have reused him. Before, he thought he was a useful talent.

But these losses are still the most important thing, what really made Hu Weiyong afraid, he saw the power of Jin Yiwei in the hands of His Highness Liao Wang, this is really a point of death!

If the Imperial Guards wanted to kill an official, even listing some trumped-up charges would probably be enough.

Originally, Hu Weiyong wanted the King of Liao to retreat in spite of difficulties and not to fight against himself, but looking at it now, it is clear that the power of the King of Liao should not be underestimated.

It's no wonder that Liu Bowen hugged King Liao's thigh immediately. Now it seems that this young man who is nearly 20 years old really has some skills.

Hu Weiyong thought so in his heart.

(End of this chapter)