Chapter 329 Severe and Strict
Zhu Yunhuan's anger was so loud that one could hear a pin drop in the Fengtian Hall. Many civil and military officials were now terrified, wondering how many people would lose their heads because of this incident.

Or maybe he was wondering if there was someone in his house who was so bold and presumptuous that if he was really involved in this matter, it would be a capital crime.

Some officials even thought about committing suicide after returning home from court, so as to avoid being arrested and imprisoned to suffer physical pain, or to avoid humiliation.

Apart from that, if he really died, maybe his family wouldn't be implicated, so it would be a worthy death.

Zhu Yunhuan didn't care about that. He glanced at the civil and military officials in the court and asked, "Why? Do you think I am wrongly accusing those who are loyal to the country and care about the people of the world?"

Countless officials shouted "I dare not". If there was no solid evidence, the Crown Prince would definitely not have said some of the previous words in the Fengtian Hall. What's more, the Crown Prince was not a person who liked to exaggerate.

Although there are sometimes some minor adjustments in policies and decisions, the emperor and the crown prince have a strong desire for control, and they plan many things before making a move.

Zhu Yunhuan was furious and shouted, "I want to ask you, what is the Ministry of Rites doing? What are the three judicial departments doing? Is the Ministry of Personnel going to promote these people?"

Once again, a group of officials shouted "guilty". It seemed that this was the only thing they could do at this time, and they had no better way.

The officials who might be involved in this are thinking about how to save their lives. At this time, they can only hope that the anger of the emperor and the crown prince will subside a little.

The officials who were not involved were not just standing by and watching the fire from the other side. They were afraid of being implicated. After all, some things were not just done by certain officials, and there was a considerable network of relationships behind them.

If you get involved in it accidentally, you will have no place to cry. You may ruin your career, or even lose your life and property.

Just as Zhu Yunhuan was about to continue questioning, he suddenly heard a shout, "His Majesty the Emperor has arrived!"

Zhu Yunhuan immediately turned around and knelt down towards the dragon throne, and all the officials were shaking even more violently at this time. The sudden arrival of the emperor meant that this matter would not be a small one.

Although the Crown Prince was extremely harsh in the eyes of some people, he was much better than the Hongwu Emperor. In front of the Emperor, the Crown Prince was simply extremely kind.

Zhu Wenyao was very happy. He was babbling all the way and looking at his plump and white little paws.

Old Zhu directly placed Zhu Wenyao on the dragon throne. If it had happened in the past, not to mention Zhu Yunhuan, even other officials might have given some advice on this matter.

But everyone was trembling with fear at the moment, except for the little fat baby who was happily playing on the large dragon throne, and even climbed up by grabbing the handrails, curiously looking at the "fans" held by the two maids.

Old Zhu asked directly, "Who is in charge of Hongcang's affairs?"

Zhu Yunhuan quickly replied, "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince's Consort is now in charge of the affairs of the Red Warehouse."

Old Zhu snorted coldly and said, "The Crown Princess continued the bloodline of our Ming Dynasty in the past two years, and you dare to humiliate her like this? Pass the order down, and the eunuch in charge of the internal affairs department will be beaten to death."

All the officials began to tremble even more, and many of them had pale faces. A major case came without any warning, and Emperor Hongwu was about to start a killing spree.

Old Zhu was not polite at all and continued, "All those who wash clothes, do hats and scarves, do needlework, and manage weaving and dyeing should be executed!"

The so-called twenty-four yamen included the Internal Affairs Bureau, while laundry, hats and scarves, needlework, and internal weaving and dyeing belonged to the eight bureaus.

The twelve prisons, four offices, and eight bureaus were all handled by Zhu Yuanzhang in one go. However, few people complained, because there were officials in the twelve offices, but most of them served the royal family.

Zhu Yunhuan didn't even have time to say anything before he had already started to make decisions. These decisions might have resulted in wrongful killings or unjust killings, but Zhu Yunhuan didn't care at the moment.

Because he suddenly heard these things in the court, he was naturally furious. Those people he sentenced were naturally implicated in the Hongcang incident.

Old Zhu continued, "I established a rule at the beginning of the founding of the country. The government will provide care for widows, widowers, orphans, the disabled and the sick who cannot support themselves. I ordered all counties and prefectures to establish homes for the elderly and orphans, and the lonely, disabled and sick people who cannot support themselves are allowed to enter the homes."

Old Zhu looked at the people from the Three Judicial Departments with sharp eyes, "I ask you, if an official should provide food and clothing but reduces it, what crime should he be punished for?"

Bao Zhao replied tremblingly, "Your Majesty, his crime is theft by a supervisor."

This is a serious crime. When dealing with the Guo Huan case, Zhu Yuanzhang had made up his mind to execute anyone who was corrupt or committed illegal acts, regardless of the severity of the crime.

In the Great Edict, there are 128 items related to the crimes of corrupt officials. Among them, the punishment for embezzlement includes "regardless of the leader and the follower, both the culprits will be punished together".

In other words, if a person embezzles, regardless of the severity of the crime or whether he is the principal offender or an accomplice, all will be dealt with together. It does not matter how much the corrupt official gets after embezzling. The total amount of embezzlement will be used to calculate the amount, and everyone will be counted!

The principal offender received one thousand taels and the accomplice received one hundred taels, so when both were punished, they were both calculated as one thousand one hundred taels!
Old Zhu looked at Bao Zhao coldly and said, "After all this trouble, you still remember this! That's good. I originally wanted you to handle this matter, but I'm afraid you guys are in collusion!"

At this point all the officials really began to tremble in fear. When the emperor said this, he made no secret of his distrust of the officials and his intention to exaggerate the case.

It's just that everyone seemed not surprised by the emperor's attitude, as if everyone had guessed that the emperor would definitely handle it in this way. This is in line with some characteristics of Emperor Hongwu.

Zhu Yunhuan took the initiative to step forward and said, "Your Majesty, the matter of the Red Warehouse was discovered by the Crown Princess after checking the accounts. I, your Majesty, have ordered the Imperial Guard to investigate."

Old Zhu nodded slightly and said, "The Crown Prince's Consort is thoughtful and virtuous, and is a blessing to the Ming Dynasty. Posthumously award the King of Zhongshan and his wife Shaolao for sacrifice, and order Princess Ningguo and her husband to personally offer sacrifices."

But the next moment, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Mei Yin, "You are in charge of the Imperial College, right? How come you don't know about such a big case?"

Mei Yin quickly pleaded guilty and said, "I shall never be forgiven for my crime!"

"For the princess' sake, I'll spare you this time!" Old Zhu said unhappily, "You've always been famous for your talent, but it seems like you're just this good."

Zhu Yunhuan quickly stepped forward to save the situation and said, "Your Majesty, since the Ningguo Prince Consort took charge of the Imperial College, the students of the Imperial College have made great progress in their studies, many of them have passed the imperial examinations, and many of them have made outstanding achievements in government after entering the government."

Old Zhu said unhappily, "If you really have talent and moral character, how could you allow your family to interfere in the affairs of Hongcang? When you study, you should cultivate your morals! How many of you remember the principles of heaven, earth and human heart?"

Zhu was very unhappy, and many officials knelt down, feeling very ashamed. Not every official was only thinking about corruption and abuse of power, and many of them still had some moral integrity. Unfortunately, this kind of thing now made them lose face, and even the dignity of scholars was lost.

The Imperial Academy was the highest institution of learning in the Ming Dynasty. However, the scholars there obviously did not take the teachings of the sages to heart, and even did not let go of the petty gains.

Zhu Yunhuan didn't know what to say at this time. He could naturally understand Zhu's anger, and he was even more angry than Zhu.

Old Zhu looked at Zhu Yunhuan and asked, "Grandson, how do you think these things should be handled?"

Zhu Yunhuan replied without hesitation, "Your Majesty, this matter involves a wide range of people. I think it should be dealt with severely and severely. This will deter some corrupt officials and restore the clean governance of the Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Yunhuan was naturally quite satisfied with this answer. He hated corrupt officials and would not show any mercy when he took action.

If Zhu Yunhuan really intended to show leniency, Zhu would most likely have to accept it. After all, at such a critical juncture, Zhu Yunhuan would certainly not be embarrassed, nor would his prestige be undermined.

Fortunately, Zhu Yunhuan didn't seem to have any intention of settling the matter peacefully. Even at this time, he was very determined to get things done.

That's right. To be an emperor, one must have courage. If he cannot withstand some pressure, then the emperor will lose his real prestige.

Zhu Yunhuan continued, "I think this matter cannot be handled by the three judicial departments alone. I also think that they did a very bad job in this matter."

Bao Zhao and others were even more terrified, and even Bao Zhao was ready to be executed. Because according to past experience, for such a major case, the emperor would definitely punish the person in charge of the relevant department.

Yu Xin, Ru Hong and others have similar thoughts to Bao Zhao. Their jobs are slightly related to these things, and they may be implicated.

The Ming Dynasty finally managed to fill the six ministries, and the configuration seems to be good. Their abilities and conduct are quite satisfactory and reassuring.

But who could have imagined that such an incident would happen? There is a high possibility that there will be another major purge of the officialdom. If there are many vacancies in the six ministers or the left and right vice ministers, no one should be surprised.

This was the case before, and the emperor was probably accustomed to keeping the court functioning even when positions of officials such as the six ministers were vacant.

Zhu Yunhuan continued, "Sun Chen requests that the royal family prince be in charge of this case, and the three judicial departments, Jinyiwei, and Beizhenfusi assist in this case."

Old Zhu became serious and said, "It should be so. If there is no royal family involved in such a serious case, I will not be able to rest assured. But you will ascend the throne next month. No matter what the reason is, the royal family kings are not allowed to return to the capital."

This loophole must not be opened. This is also Lao Zhu's bottom line, because he thinks about things in the long term. He knows that once some loopholes are opened, there will be room for "flexible operation" in the future.

When a new emperor ascends the throne, other royal family princes are not allowed to return to the capital, and they are not even allowed to return for the first three years. This is naturally to allow the new emperor to have relatively ample time to control the court.

It seems reasonable to let the prince return to Beijing because of a major case. But if another case suddenly appears in the future, the prince will have a reason to return, and a case can be solved even if there is no case.

Therefore, there is no need to even think about the prince returning to Beijing. At such a sensitive moment, the prince is destined to not come back.

Zhu Yunhuan immediately said, "Replying to the Emperor, Grandfather, I think the Emperor's uncle is still in the capital, and his age is just right."

Old Zhu said bluntly, "My sons are too young, and their abilities and character are not enough to handle this case. This case is too special. If you don't want to, I will handle it myself."

Zhu Yunhuan was speechless for a moment. He actually hoped to recall the princes to handle the matter. If that didn't work, he would ask several princes in Beijing to come forward, but he failed every time.

It is impossible for the princes to return to Beijing. The princes who have not yet been enfeoffed are not capable or old enough. It seems that Zhu Yuanzhang has good reasons not to allow the royal family to participate.

So this is the situation now. Either Zhu Yunhuan will handle it personally, or Zhu the Great will handle it personally. No one else will have such an opportunity.

Zhu Yunhuan could only say, "Please trust your majesty, I am willing to take charge of this case."

Zhu Wenyao, who was sitting on the dragon throne, spoke up, pointing at Zhu Yunxun and saying in a baby voice, "Dad."

Zhu Yunhuan was about to cry. He had been teaching Zhu Wenyao for a long time and he didn't know how many times he had said "call daddy" in front of Zhu Wenyao, but the child just didn't want to open his mouth and just kept laughing.

But now the little fat kid was sitting on the dragon throne, and Zhu Yunhuan was originally kneeling and responding to Old Zhu. Now things are different.

Those who don't know the truth might think that he was kneeling down to his son. This was such an incredible advantage that it was speechless.

Zhu Wenyao didn't care about that. He started to twist and crawl, and carefully climbed down from the dragon throne, "Grandfather, Dad."

"Your father is doing something, something big." Old Zhu picked up Zhu Wenyao and said with a smile, "There are many termites in this world, and your father is helping to clean them up. After they are cleaned up, our Wenyao will sit on the throne of the prosperous country, okay?"

How could Zhu Wenyao understand so much? He basically speaks in single words now, and most of the time he answers questions by following the last word or the first word of the adults.

But now, Zhu Wenyao was not polite, "Okay."

Old Zhu laughed heartily and said to Zhu Yunhuan, "This country originally belongs to you and your son. I don't care how you handle this case. If you handle it well, it's your duty. If you don't, I will take responsibility for it!"

What else could Zhu Yunhuan say at this time? He just obeyed the order obediently. It seemed that these things should indeed be handled by him.

In fact, if Zhu Yuanzhang had not come, Zhu Yunhuan would have his own ideas, and these things would have needed to be handled carefully and seriously.

It's nothing more than that Old Zhu has given some opinions and requests, urging this matter to make Zhu Yunhuan express his attitude.

Strict and severe treatment, this is Lao Zhu’s attitude towards this matter!

(End of this chapter)