He said: "Outside is a woman beating a drum, His Royal Highness ordered to take people to the side hall for interrogation, she claimed to be the wife of Li Zhen, the head of the Ministry of War, and the drum was beaten to complain for his husband Li Zhen, because Li Zhen was thrown into the prison of the Criminal Department, and did not know whether she was alive or dead. ”

"What crime did Li Zhen commit?" Zhang Zhaohua asked.

"It is said that Chen Ying, the imperial history of Zuodu, jointly signed the imperial history Yuan Gang and Qin Heng, impeached Li Zhen for accepting bribes from four people, including Soap Li, Ye Zhuan, etc., and Li Zhen and Soap Li, all of whom were imprisoned for interrogation. He also said: "His Royal Highness called the slave and maid to come over and asked the mother if there was such a thing." ”

Zhang Zhaohua thought for a while and remembered: "Yes, I remember that it was 14 or 5 years ago, and there was indeed such a letter, it was Chen Ying impeaching the head of the military department, etc., I sent the case to the criminal department, why is this Li Zhen's wife not convinced, and complained that Li Zhen did not accept bribes?"

Zhang Zhaohua reviewed many pieces on behalf of Gao Chi, and she has a good memory, but she really told her to remember clearly.

"So how did the Criminal Department deal with it," Zhang Zhaohua hurriedly rushed to the Wenhua Hall where Gao Chi was, and asked as he walked: "Just threw people into the prison without checking the evidence?"

There is no need to answer, Zhang Zhaohua also understands in his heart that it was probably the criminal department that passed by hastily, and only arrested the person, but there was no investigation at all, and Li Zhen's wife heard her husband's accusations and dared to beat the drum and shout injustice, eighty percent can show that Li Zhen did not accept bribes, and she was not afraid of searching. So this should be an unjust case, Chen Ying wanted to get Li Zhen and these soap subordinates to prison, he fabricated a charge of accepting bribes and arrested people in the criminal department.

The Criminal Department naturally knew that this was an unjust case, and they would not verify it at all, because they knew that this was the person Chen Ying was going to kill - as for why the Criminal Department would uphold Chen Ying's will, because the Dali Temple of this dynasty was responsible for the review of the case and was no longer in charge of the trial; the Criminal Department accepted local appeal cases, reviewed local serious cases and the cases of 100 central officials, and had the right to sentence cases below the sentence of exile, and the death penalty should be approved by the emperor. The Metropolitan Procuratorate supervises the trial and review of the Criminal Department and the Dali Temple, and its status is above these two, and it belongs to the public procuratorate and law, and it can try judicial activities, and can participate in the trial of major cases, that is, the so-called "three divisions will be tried".

Originally, according to the regulations of Emperor Taizu Gao, Jinyiwei arrested people, and he had to have a driver's post issued, and he had to be approved by the criminal department before he dared to act. In other words, Jinyiwei did not have the power to directly arrest people, and he had to be granted a driving post by the emperor before he could act. Moreover, it is not enough to have a driving sticker, and the reason for taking personnel must also be 'signed' by the criminal department during the matter, and a detailed approval document can be signed before taking the person.

But does the emperor still need to get approval from the Criminal Division to deal with the Jianwen Relics?

Therefore, the criminal department of this dynasty has become the same as Dali Temple, only has the power to review cases, but has no power to directly adjudicate. They are under the obscenity of Ji Gang, but there is still a person, when he is there, or rather, the case he handles, Jin Yiwei will take people according to the rules, or rather, for the sake of this person's face, the rules and regulations come to the criminal department to ask for a signature.

This person is Chen Ying.

Even if many people are not ashamed of Chen Ying's viciousness and meanness, they have to admit that the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Criminal Department, the Criminal Department and the Dali Temple are in his hands, and they still get a little dignity from Ji Gang. First, because Chen Ying was favored by the emperor, the emperor trusted him, because Chen Ying helped him get rid of many people, and Ji Gang was the emperor's right and left hand; second, it was also because Chen Ying was neither corrupt nor bribed, he was terrible and honest, and he couldn't find any fault in his personal style. Similarly, this person has clever methods, not only picketing outsiders, but also very strict control over the officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Criminal Department itself.

Even if the officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Criminal Department, and the Dali Temple did not scold him, they had to admit that they still had to rely on Chen Ying to live. Without Chen Ying, they might just be dogs crawling at Ji Gang's feet, and they don't have the ability to fight against Jinyiwei at all.

Therefore, the Criminal Department generally does not disobey Chen Ying's intentions, since Chen Ying impeached these five people guiltily, and the performance was also approved, the Criminal Department arrested the people and threw them into prison. But they also knew that this was Chen Ying's private revenge - it is estimated that Chen Ying should have done a lot of such behavior, so they did not search for any evidence of so-called bribery.

Zhang Zhaohua walked into the hall and saw Gao Chi deeply trapped in the chair, holding the music in his hand, and looking at it word by word. She said, "Then Li Zhen's wife, Wang, where is she now?"

Gao Chi rolled his eyes and said, "I found a place to live and arranged for her to live temporarily." ”

"Then did you interrogate her?" Zhang Zhaohua said: "This Wang family can beat the Dengwen drum, there must be someone behind her to help her, why don't you ask?"

Gao Chi didn't speak, Zhang Zhaohua sat next to him, and said: "A few days ago, you just issued an edict, saying that you want to settle the wrongs, and someone will come to sue today, the timing is unusual." What's more, this case involves Chen Ying, so you have to be cautious. ”

Gao Chi let out an "oh" and said meaningfully: "Why is Chen Ying involved, you have to be cautious?"

"What are you pretending to be foolish here, it depends on the owner to beat the dog," Zhang Zhaohua said: "Chen Ying is a person who is trusted by his father, and this matter is obviously someone who provoked our East Palace and Chen Ying to oppose each other." ”

"So this is your characterization of this incident," Gao Chi said: "Have you ever thought that this is indeed an unjust case, and Chen Ying is indeed falsely accused?"

"The unjust case is good, the Wang family dares to beat the drum, it is almost an unjust case," Zhang Zhaohua said: "But there are no dead people in this unjust case." Wang could have sued the local Ying Tian Yamen, and Ying Tianfu could accept the case and urge the Criminal Department to review the case, but instead of doing so, she beat the drum, and the interesting thing is that this drum, which is usually heavily protected, was really beaten by her——"

As soon as the drum sounded, the prince was going to accept the case in person, because he had just issued an edict to adjudicate the wrongful imprisonment, so he would definitely attach great importance to it, and the case would be successfully bigger. Zhang Zhaohua is not interested in the case itself, she cares about the mastermind behind the scenes, because this person seems to have touched Gao Chi's pulse and knows that Gao Chi hates Chen Ying.

Chen Ying is essentially a cool official, he tries his best to pursue Jianwen's relics, and supervises and exposes all those who violate the emperor's wishes, this is the emperor's need, I don't know how many unjust cases there are, whenever the emperor wants a person to die, then Chen Ying will inflict a crime on him - this makes Gao Chi feel disappointed and lamented, he dare not and can't hate the emperor, but he hates Chen Ying to the core.

When Zhang Zhaohua came all the way, she had a bad premonition, and she felt that Gao Chi might use this as an opportunity to punish Chen Ying - but this was a ridiculous and simple idea.

Sure enough, Gao Chi said: "If there is really a mastermind behind this case, I have to thank him." I have already decided that the court will try this case in three days, and all the six ministries and nine secretaries will be present. ”

"Then this is what the mastermind behind the scenes wants to see!" Zhang Zhaohua said loudly: "You and Chen Ying are opposed, Chen Ying does not oppose you! But you want to force him to another camp, do you know your situation, we are already like a river of ice and struggling! You still have to add an enemy to yourself! Even if you win, you have lost your sacred heart, and you are not a complete defeat!"

Gao Chi stood up and said in a tone that Zhang Zhaohua had never seen before: "Although the prince should be based on cultivating virtue, there are some things that you must know that you can't do. In those days, he played the banner of Jingnan, said that the traitorous party was rampant, and said that it was a faint king, so good, everyone risked their lives together and overthrew Jianwen, and now the Yongle Dynasty, there are no eunuchs who are chaotic in government, and the father and emperor are eloquent and strategic, wise and martial, and now it should be said that they are united in their hearts and minds and plan for a great cause, right?

"But no!" Gao Chi said: "No, nothing has changed! On the contrary, it is even worse! The treacherous evil has not been relieved, and the people are even poorer, because it has cost a huge amount of money to camp in Beijing and go to the West, and these expenses have all been added to the people! The people are hungry and starving, and the people are hungry and starving, and the levy is even more urgent, and even around Yingtian, there are bones and no one to bury them!"

"Of the 270 copies of the notes received in one day, only three were about the flood and drought and the people's feelings," Gao Chi said: "The others are all praising the Northern Expedition and the grand event of going to the West! In the midst of the eulogy, where can you see a little truth and truth! Even if you tell the truth, I am afraid that you will be perceived by others as ignorant of current affairs!"

"There is no one," Gao Chi said, "including Xia Yuanji, those household officials who are carefully coping with the increasingly poor predicament, criticize this series of great achievements - why can't they truthfully reflect the country's finances and people's feelings to the emperor, why don't they dissuade the emperor's disregard for the country's financial resources, why don't they dare to go to the top, why do they want to meet the king's evil?"

This series of questions made Zhang Zhaohua stunned, but he listened to him: "Because they are fighting, trapping, and internal friction, they are doing everything they can! The country is already in crisis, and the ministers in the court are not blind to it, not that they don't want to act, but the general environment is that you fight with me, and whoever dares to do things without distraction must be left to pay attention to avoid being stabbed in the back! How did all this originate, let me tell you, it is because of the atmosphere, the atmosphere is broken, calling these science and Taoist officials, calling these inspectors of the imperial history, and bringing it bad! ”

"Originally, Emperor Taizu Gao, in view of the disaster of the party struggle in the previous dynasty, specially endowed the officials and imperial historians with the power to hear about things, dare to tell the truth, and not be afraid of the powerful," Gao Chi said: "I hope that they will correct the corpses and people who violate the law among the hundreds of officials, so that they can maintain the stability of the court and political clarity, but over the years, these officials, these officials who are known as the officials of the imperial court, have long been boneless, and between the sciences and the road, they are all despicable and capricious; The reason why they have degenerated into this way is because of the difficulty of Renwu, they have already killed the true backbone of the Ming Dynasty, and the broken backbone can no longer stand up! Now the ones who are still alive are just the vicious dogs raised by the emperor, and they can bite whoever they are told to bite!"

"The only purpose of their lives, the only purpose of standing in the court and wearing official uniforms, is to speculate on the emperor's meaning all the time, find out the emperor's likes and dislikes, as long as they are sure of the emperor's intentions, they will scramble to be the pawn, the emperor sees who is not pleasing to the eye, there are sharp bullets like raindrops, vowing to smash all the vicious words, all the great rebellious charges on this person, like a group of vicious dogs, the target set by the master is torn and bruised all over the body!"

Gao Chi said: "How can they care about how your country is, how the people's livelihood is, and how the imperial court is!" This country is already in full crisis and chaos, and these speech officials who turn right and wrong upside down and are in danger are the main culprits who stir up a pool of clear water and make it dirty.

"Before this serious disease that harms the country and the people has not yet become a chronic disease," Gao Chi said: "It can be eliminated, it can be solved, as long as you endure the pain! The disadvantages of science and technology can save morale and refresh your spirit! What I want to do this time is to grab the most conspicuous and most hateful one, pick out the puss of science and road, and let him bear the due charge, death for his crime, and correct his law." Drive out all those who are incompetent and opportunistic among the officials, and drive them out of the temple! Give them to those upright people and strong ministers, and make room for the real Ming Dynasty!"

After Gao Chi left, Zhang Zhaohua's whole body trembled, and she fell down from the chair with a loud bang. The palace people waiting outside the door gathered her together, and saw the desperate panic and fear on her face.

"Impossible...... There is also a discipline outline...... You're hurting them like this!"