It has been four days since the Empress Dowager's Thousand Autumn Feast, and the progress of the rebellion case explained by the Empress Dowager has become clearer and clearer.

In addition to Lou Jing, the secretary of the household department, who was dismissed from office and demoted to a concubine for the crime of dereliction of duty, other officials promoted by Lou Jing in the household department, as long as they were involved in this rebellion case, were all raided and imprisoned, waiting for the trial of the three halls to determine the final punishment.

The other six departments had secretly communicated with the governor of the prefecture town, and they were also found out one by one, because there was a preferential treatment in the law of the DPRK and the central government, and the person who was caught through a hole torn apart by rumors and rumors, in order to seek a commutation of the sentence, he continued to cite the people who conspired with him, and a large intelligence network that had been carefully operated by the governor of the prefecture and town in the capital for many years gradually surfaced.

In this big net, there is no shortage of high-ranking officials and magnates, but the empress dowager has spoken first, and the case is found to the governor of the state and town, and for the group of disloyal ministers who are investigated and punished, they will be dealt with for serious crimes and punished in a canonical manner.

The Empress Dowager's move was to allow the governors of the prefectures and towns to continue to obey the orders of the imperial court and contribute to the country, and secondly, to knock on the mountains and shock the tigers and reduce the arrogance of this group of governors.

The Empress Dowager's sentence of 'serious crimes and punishment for serious crimes' is to stop killing and punish this group of rebellious ministers and corrupt officials who dare to participate in the rebellion case, so as to set an example.

But so far in the investigation of the case, the number of people involved in the capital has reached 100 people, if it is really 'serious crime disposal, Ming Zhengzheng punishment', then it is not only the criminal official who wants to be killed, but even the blood relatives of the three clans will be included, and the sum of this up and down has already exceeded 1,000 people.

In this capital, everyone knows that a bloody storm is coming.

I looked at the list of convicts in front of me, if this list was presented to the Empress Dowager, with a big stroke, thousands of lives would be wiped out, and in an instant, there would be a river of blood on the execution ground in the capital, and everyone would be in danger.

A breeze blew, and my body trembled suddenly, and in a trance it reminded me of the terrible scene of killing people and beheading people on the execution ground in the capital for half a month when the prince was plotting rebellion.

The punishment of the imperial court code is terrifying, and I also had the deepest experience at that time.

The criminal law inherited from the Northern Wei Dynasty to the present day is heavy on punishment, and the legal provisions are cumbersome, among which the most ordered are the restraint provisions for the common people, while the laws and regulations for the gate lords and magnates are relatively relaxed.

Ordinary people will violate the laws of the country at every turn, and once they violate the law, they will be sentenced to criminal laws such as beheading, meat, imprisonment, streaming, rods, and flogging according to the severity of the circumstances.

And if the clan violates the law, if it is a meritorious person, as long as it is not a serious crime, it can be exempted from punishment, and it can be atoneted by hard labor. And the possession of the Danshu iron scroll is even more directly exonerating, and the criminal law of the code is useless.

The only criminal law that treats the common people or the nobles equally is the felony of rebellion, as long as they participate in the rebellion case, no matter who they are, they must raid their homes and destroy the three clans.

After his uncle Gao Qin came to power, he realized that these provisions were too complicated and lengthy, and there were many regulations that were very dangerous to the people, so he set the heinous crimes as the main framework of the law, and cut down the thousands of laws and regulations to only 500.

Such a policy of benefiting the people and benefiting the people has achieved some results in winning the hearts and minds of the people, but it is a pity that there are many interventions by the powerful people of the DPRK and the central government, and the political reform has not completely penetrated into the grassroots level in various places, and the results achieved in the end are really minimal.

If the Northern Wei Dynasty wants to reshape, this foundation must be laid, and the laws of this country are the stone of the foundation, and they must not be taken lightly.

If the law is too strict, the government will be harsh and violent, the officials will force the people to rebel, and chaos will break out everywhere; if the law is lax, the officials and the people will be slack, the people will be greedy and not cured, and the world will deteriorate day by day, and the country will be in great chaos.

Therefore, only by combining leniency and severity can we achieve the effect of harmony between government and government.

Obviously, the uncle's reform of the law was not complete, which also led to the fact that the effectiveness of the policies he implemented afterwards was greatly reduced, and even in the end, it had little effect.

Looking at this list, I think that I can at least do what I can now, that is, to let the law go to the trajectory it should take, not only the common people, but also the empty-eyed gate lords and scholars to know clearly what the law is!

It's just that this time, this 'serious crime punishment, Ming canonical punishment' is too bloody and cruel, and the massacre of that year caused a lot of complaints, and the people were silent and panicked. If we continue to follow this path, I am afraid that it will be extremely unfavorable to the current situation between the DPRK and China and the people's will.

Lifting up the pen, I wrote down the above document with great enthusiasm, in which I prayed for leniency from the Empress Dowager, and the 25 felons in this case, including Hai Mao, were beheaded according to the law and sentenced to peace. Explain a few more feelings, analyze the pros and cons, and pray that the Empress Dowager can allow this performance and bow her head.

This plea is far from enough for me to sign alone, this case is the Empress Dowager's appointment of the three divisions for trial, only me, Wei Wang Xiao Zhao and the criminal department servant Liu Yu jointly signed, can it be regarded as a formal closing of the case.

After looking at it twice, when the ink was dry, he asked the clerk of the Criminal Department to help me hand over the official document to King Wei and Liu Yu respectively, and told the clerk to convey the petition to the two adults on their behalf, and to reply to me as soon as possible no matter what the result was.

The clerk bowed, took the official document, and then went to find King Wei and Liu Yu respectively.

Putting away the list in front of me, I sighed faintly, that's all I can do in this rebellion.

As for King Wei and Liu Yu, I don't think they will object to this intercession document, whether it is from the perspective of cohesion of the people's hearts or the overall situation of stabilizing the court, this move is only beneficial and harmless, as long as the three presiding judges jointly petition, I believe that the Empress Dowager can also be extrajudicial and minimize the implication of this rebellion case, then I can be regarded as living up to the little emperor's benevolent heart.

The only thing that worries me now is that there is no response to the matter of asking Chen Xiaoyu to help investigate, and during this time, I took the opportunity to investigate the case and took the opportunity to inspect the case file of the prince's rebellion.

In order to investigate the ins and outs of the case, I read almost all the files on the shelf, which really took me a lot of time and energy.

What is recorded in the dossier is not necessarily the truth of the case, but I believe that the truth is hidden in it.

And it turns out that the investigation of the file is indeed the right move, and many things that were not known before have found clues in the file.

A person named Cao Shen, who was about the fourth rank and the right guard of the mansion, jumped into my sight.

The left and right rate mansions are the military offices directly under the prince of the East Palace, and the left and right guards are in charge of the staff and guards of the prince's East Palace. When the prince led his troops into the imperial city, its main force should be the East Palace Guards, and this Cao Shen was one of the important witnesses who proved the prince's rebellion at that time.

Just because Cao Shen was in the confrontation between the two armies, he said in front of the battle that His Royal Highness the prince wanted to force the palace to seize the throne, Cao Shen was a subordinate official of the prince's East Palace, and his words made the emperor cry blood, angry, and did not listen to the prince's explanation, the emperor ordered the palace royal forest army to annihilate the East Palace guards in one fell swoop, leaving no one.

And His Royal Highness the Prince, who was speechless, was finally cornered, watching the East Palace guards who desperately guarded him fall one after another, the prince was full of depression and grief, and finally drew his sword and killed himself.

Of course, this passage is not recorded in the dossier, which records that the prince was defeated and captured, and finally died by the emperor in prison.

I originally thought that the suspected culprit who caused this case was not outside the Northern Wei Dynasty, but I didn't expect that things were far from being as simple as I imagined.

The identity of this Cao Shen, if my speculation is not wrong, then he should be like Hai Mao, an enemy spying, and the file says that this person also died in that battle, but no matter how I look through the file, it is difficult to find the slightest trace of this person.

After that, I deliberately investigated Cao Shen's background, but found that it was full of loopholes, how could such an unknown person be an important subordinate official of the Prince's East Palace?

And the reason why I suspect that Cao is involved in Na Hai Mao is a spy in general is because the two of them have too many similarities, and my intuition tells me that the two of them must also have some kind of special connection.

If it is really as I guessed, then Cao Shen is really an enemy country spy, then since the prince's rebellion seven years ago, in the whirlpool of power within the Northern Wei Dynasty, there are gradually enemy figures hidden in the meantime, and this time Hai Mao's murder with a knife proves even more that this enemy country is so scheming, it knows how to use other people's internal contradictions to achieve its own desired goals, Hai Mao is so, and Cao Shen back then, it seems to be the same!

This opponent is so weird and terrifying!

As for Hai Mao, he has not said a word since he was sent to the Criminal Department to await trial, I originally thought that he was trying to defend other spies hidden in the Northern Wei Dynasty and carried it to the death, but no matter how many details were caught, I have never seen any special reaction from Hai Mao, which is enough to prove that he is not afraid of his accomplices being caught.

But in this case, what is he insisting on being stubborn for?

Suddenly, I felt that the fog in front of me was getting more and more muddy, but I firmly believed in my heart that as long as I removed this layer of fog, the truth would be revealed in front of me.

And my main direction of investigation now is to first investigate which country Hai Mao belongs to.

Pressed the weight of his whole body on the chair behind him, closed his eyes and gently squeezed the Qingming point between his eyebrows, and breathed a sigh of relief, the files and documents handled today are almost piled up into a small mountain, and the review of the case will also enter the final stage, but I can't relax yet, I must find out his true identity before Hai Mao is officially executed!

After closing my eyes for a moment, the clerk took the official document and came back to his life, and the result was just as I expected, both adults signed the document.

Seeing their approval, I sighed with some emotion, and suddenly I didn't understand what my mood was at this time.

......

After finishing the work that should be handled today, I dragged my somewhat tired body out of the gate of the Criminal Department, but saw Wei Wang Xiao Zhao with his back to the gate, standing with his hands nearby, as if waiting for someone.

Out of courtesy, I took the initiative to step forward and greet King Wei, and said:

"Your Royal Highness, who are you waiting for here?"

King Wei turned around, and also returned a salute to me, and said:

"The one who this king is waiting for is the tall man. I wonder if Master Gao can take a step to speak?"

After saying that, he made a gesture of invitation to me.

I thought about the last time I disagreed with King Wei because of "rumors", so that in the end we broke up. After that, although Wei Wang continued to come back to review the case, his attitude towards me was lukewarm, and he looked like he was doing business.

I think I was probably hated by this loyal and upright King Wei.

He has his principles, and I have my own position, so it's hard to tell who's right and who's wrong.

It is not uncommon for people with different political views and different opinions to be in the court, and if both sides are broad-minded and open-minded people, they will naturally not turn against each other for this temporary dispute.

However, if it is too calculating, and gradually becomes fire and water, then it will stand separately, attack each other, and cannot be of one heart and one mind, and eventually it will lead to a large number of parties in the court and fight each other, and then the party will fight one after another, and the government will be dark.

Therefore, an official should not only be honest and self-disciplined and open-minded, but also be able to listen to contrary words.

For King Wei, I have great respect, although I am not a broad-minded person, but there is still a lot of room for people.

"King Wei is polite, please!"

I also returned the salute, and then the two walked side by side, blunt.

"To put it mildly, this king originally thought that you would take this opportunity to fight for power and profit, and in order to climb a high position, you would not hesitate to kill people and kill people, and do everything you can, but today when I saw that prayer document, I had to sigh a little, you are really a strange person. ”

Wen Tao and Wu strategy are combined, murderous intent and benevolence coexist, such a complementary and contradictory character, such a person, he Xiao Zhao is the first time to meet.

I smiled faintly, and then said with some shame:

"What His Royal Highness King Wei said is not entirely false, I did think about it. ”

King Wei glanced at it in a daze, then sighed as if he was happy, and said in a loud voice:

"You can be so outspoken, it can be seen that you are also an open-minded person. ”

"King Wei has an overreputation, in fact, Gao Chen also admires King Wei very much, he can uphold justice and enforce the law strictly, just this point, Gao Chen can't do it!"

When King Wei heard this, he was silent for a while.

"It's not that you can't do it, it's just that you worry too much. You are the head of the family, and now you are Wan'er's husband, the big horse of the court, and the burden on your shoulders can be imagined, so your worries and worries, this king is not unclear. ”

King Wei patted me on the shoulder and gave me a certain amount of understanding and encouragement, which made me feel very grateful.

"Although some things can be understood, the king cannot accept some things that violate the law. So, listen to the Gao family boy, if you dare to be a traitor in the future, use power for personal gain, disregard human life, and harm the court, even if you are Wan'er's husband, this king will never show mercy, do you understand?"

Wei Wang's change was somewhat unexpected, and I nodded a little stunned.

Then King Wei suddenly burst out laughing, and instead of the sternness of Fang Cai, he showed the kindness of the elder, and said:

"Okay, after the business, let's talk about family affairs. Boy, have you bullied our family?"

King Wei suddenly asked, is it related to the fact that night of the Qianqiu feast I and Wan'er used music to fight for energy?

I was so frightened that I quickly waved my hand and shook my head, explaining:

"There is no such thing, how dare I bully the princess! Even if I have that thief's heart, I don't have that thief's courage!"

"Haha, even if you have a thief's heart, it's useless, aren't you also submissive to Wan'er's girl?"

King Wei pinched his beard, and the proud look on his face couldn't be concealed.

I couldn't help but blush, in every sense, I was indeed submissive to the princess.

"After the dust settles on this case, find a time to take Wan'er to Weiwang's Mansion and tell Sù Wan'er that her aunt thinks about her very much, and she has often talked about her in recent days. ”

I heard Wan'er say that she was fostered in King Wei's Mansion for a period of time when she was a child, so she was closest to King Wei and Princess Wei since she was a child, and the prince and the princess treated her like a daughter, which shows the meaning of love and pity.

"Ah, definitely, definitely. ”

I smirked, nodded my head and agreed, and suddenly felt a little empty in my heart, how did it look a bit like my father-in-law and mother-in-law looking at my son-in-law?

"With Wan'er by your side, I can feel a little more at ease!"

King Wei said this as he walked.