Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

第407章 圣誉（特鸣谢书友2024…6325/2021…8458 月票）

After reading the file, Chai Zongxun threw it at Wang Mian, the Minister of the Dali Temple, who was standing in the palace, and said angrily:

"Is this what you, as the Minister of Dali Temple, do?!"

The Dali Temple was an imperial institution in ancient China that was in charge of criminal justice.

Since the establishment of the criminal justice position in the Yao and Shun era, the name of the chief justice has been used interchangeably with the name of the judicial institution. It has undergone changes such as "Dashi", "Da Sikou" and "Tingwei".

It was not until the Northern Qi Dynasty that the Dali Temple was established as the country's highest judicial organ and the names of the office and the chief official were officially distinguished.

The Northern Qi Dynasty built the Dali Temple, with the Qing and Shaoqing as the chief and deputy chief officials, and added subordinate officials such as Mingfayuan, Zhuashidu, Yuchengyuan, and Sizhi Mingfayuan.

Wang Mian's forehead was covered with cold sweat. He had been extremely careful in this matter. He tried the cases of Zu Ji and Wang Huai as long as possible and tried to sentence Wang Huai at an inconspicuous time.

It had been nearly half a year since the incident occurred, but the emperor had not yet discovered it. Needless to say, it was Kou Zhun, who was standing in the hall at that moment, who had done it.

Wang Mian knew he could not explain himself, so he immediately knelt on the ground and shouted:
"I am temporarily confused by my family affection. I beg Your Majesty to show mercy!"

Chai Zongxun said angrily:

"You have relatives, so others don't?

If you enforce the law and try cases like this, you are constantly increasing the bad karma of our Great Zhou. Do you hope that our Great Zhou will be like the previous dynasties, where the bad karma accumulates to the end, and the people rise up in rebellion and kill all the imperial family, ministers and nobles? ! "

Wang Mian was horrified. The Emperor Chai Zongxun's words were so serious that he felt that his life was almost certain to be lost. He kowtowed like crazy and kept begging for mercy.

Chai Zongxun said:

“You haven’t made excuses, so you’re not stupid.

It's useless for you to ask me for help now. I can't abolish the laws of the world just for you.

I will hand you over to the cabinet for trial and sentence you according to the Great Zhou Criminal Code. Whether to spare you or not will depend on what is written in the Great Zhou Criminal Code."

Tang Qi waved his hand, and four imperial guards stepped forward, knocked off the official hat and uniform of the limp Wang Mian, and took him away.

Li Hang in the palace was startled, and he understood in his heart why he was summoned by the emperor.

After a long silence, Chai Zongxun looked at Li Hang and said:

"I am busy with many things every day and I don't have the time to carefully read every memorial, every judgment, and every official appointment.

My dear Li, you are the Minister of Personnel. Wang Huai committed a serious crime, but was demoted for only a few months and then reinstated. Don’t you notice anything unusual?
As the highest judicial official in a country, the Dali Temple Minister committed embezzlement. Currently, only the six ministries and the cabinet officials can supervise him.

Today, if it weren't for Lord Kou reporting this matter to me, such a dark and unfair thing that damaged the royal reputation would still be spreading throughout the world!"

Li Hang slowly stretched out his hands and took off the first-rank official hat on his head, bowed deeply and said:

"Your Majesty, as the Minister of Personnel, I am responsible for selecting and evaluating officials across the country for Your Majesty. The incident involving Wang Huai is a serious dereliction of duty on my part!

I ask to be dismissed from office, and Your Majesty please punish me according to the law!"

The official system of the Great Zhou Dynasty inherited that of the Tang Dynasty. The six ministers were originally of the third rank. After Chai Zongxun repeatedly rewarded court officials with promotions, the minister was promoted to the first rank and the vice minister to the second rank.

The current official system of the Great Zhou Dynasty consists of eighteen ranks.

First rank: (civil) Grand Tutor, Grand Preceptor, Grand Protector, and Cabinet Grand Secretary; (military) vacant.

From the first rank: (civil) Junior Tutor, Junior Preceptor, Junior Protector, Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, Grand Preceptor of the Crown Prince, Grand Protector of the Crown Prince, Shangshu of various ministries and agencies, Left Censor-in-Chief and Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate; (military) Commander-in-chief of the Longxiang Army, Longxiang Guard, and Wude Division.

Second rank: (civil) Prince's Junior Tutor, Prince's Junior Tutor, Prince's Junior Protector, Left and Right Vice Ministers of various ministries and agencies; (military) Grand Commander of various military corps, and Pacification Commissioner.

Second rank: (civil) provincial governors, cabinet scholars, Hanlin Academy presidents, provincial governors; (military) army commanders. Third rank: (civil) left vice-censor and right vice-censor of the Censorate, Tongzhengshi of the Tongzhengsi, Dali Temple, Zhanshi of the Zhanshifu, Taichang Temple, heads of various departments, prefect of Bianjing; (military) Wanhu.

All the way up to the ninth rank - (civil) Hanlin Academy attendant, criminal justice department, state clerk, inspector; (military) additional commissioned official.

The last one to enter the mainstream - (Civil) the clerks in the capital and other counties, the post station chief, the officials in the river and lake offices; (Military) there is no last one to enter the mainstream.

Chai Zongxun sighed and said:
"Lord Li, are you also too busy with official duties that you just read the memorials submitted by the various departments in charge of the Ministry of Personnel and approved them without examining them in detail?"

After all, now including the newly conquered entire territory of the Ghaznavid Empire and nearly half of the territory of the Samanid Empire, the Great Zhou now has more than 1,600 prefectures and more than 50 departments under the six ministries.

As the highest official in the Ministry of Personnel, Li Hang could not investigate every matter in detail. For most memorials, he would approve them as if there were no problems.

Li Hang said:
"I failed to investigate the matter clearly, which led to the incident involving Wang Huai. I cannot escape the blame. Please punish me, Your Majesty."

Seeing Li Hang like this, Chai Zongxun's anger subsided a lot and he said:
"Lord Li, don't blame me this much!
This was due to negligence at work, not intentional evil on the part of Li Aiqing.

I order you to get to the bottom of this matter and find out which official is corrupt and undermining discipline, and bring them to justice!"

Li Hang heaved a sigh of relief, confirming that the emperor had no intention of using this incident to punish him, so he quickly thanked the emperor and agreed.

Chai Zongxun said:

"Lord Li, you and Prime Minister Zhang and other cabinet officials must investigate this matter thoroughly and not let any criminals escape.

When I go on my tour, I want to see the results of the investigation into this case."

After Li Hang left the hall, Chai Zongxun said:

"Kou Aiqing did a great job!

If any official criticizes or attacks you, please report to me!

I will do you justice."

Kou Zhun said:
"With Your Majesty presiding over the affairs of the court, who in the court would dare to cause trouble for me? Wouldn't that be blind?"

The king and his minister laughed together.

On June 26, the 31st year of Kaixi, Chai Zongxun, accompanied by more than 1,600 members of the imperial family, went on a tour to Luoyang and the northwest area under the protection of 90,000 imperial guards and the Wude Division.

Bian Jing was guarded by the 4th and 8th Corps of the Longxiang Army.

Thousands of royal carriages were traveling on the national highway, creating a spectacular sight.

The people along the way all stood by the road to welcome the emperor, and there was a huge crowd of people.

After three days of traveling, the imperial carriage arrived at Luoyang, and King Guo Jizhou of Song led all the civil and military officials of Song State to welcome him thirty miles outside the city.

After the meeting, Chai Zongxun saw that Guo Jizhou was smiling and in great spirits, and he felt relieved.

Chai Zongxun smiled and said:
"Zhou'er, why did you come to welcome your father but not bring your eldest grandson Tai'er with you?

Do you know that your mother didn't mention Tai'er a hundred times in front of your father, at least ninety times!"

Fu Zhenzhen looked around Prince Song and only saw Prince Song, Princess Song and others. She did not see the eldest grandson of the Emperor, Guo Meitai, and she could not help but feel disappointed.

Guo Jizhou laughed, and Song Chun hurriedly said:
"Your Majesty, Mother, Tai'er is only a few months old, and it is the hottest time of the year, so I was the one who decided not to bring him here."

(End of this chapter)