Kaifeng, Henan, Governor Yamen.

In the second hall of the Yamen, the plaque on the hall is hung with the words "clear and prudent".

Governor Yang Yikui, Zuobu political envoy Gong Daqi, and Kaifeng Governor Gu Ming were already sitting on a high-backed chair and drinking tea with a teacup.

Kaifeng prefect Gu Mingji put the tea bowl on the side of a few cases, seeing Yang Yikui's solemn face, in order to ease the atmosphere, he said: "A few days ago, a new Tan family class came from Suzhou, and the class sang the old man's true tone. ”

The prefect of Kaifeng Prefecture is the capital of Henan, and the so-called capital is headed by him among all the prefects of the province.

Gu Ming's first key to becoming an official is to walk around the yamen of his boss frequently, and he was unhappy when he saw the governor today, so he took the opportunity to be courteous.

Hearing this, Yang Yikui put down the celadon tea bowl and said: "How can Benfu have such leisure." Qin Cha is in Kaifeng, not long ago he caught a four-grade prefect, and I don't know who to take next. Ben Fu is now sitting like a needle felt. ”

Gu Ming has said: "Today's officialdom is erosive, and it really has a negative heart, but this is not overnight, it is the accumulation of disadvantages since the Yongle New Year. The officials below all said, this has been the case since ancient times, and the officialdom of Sanyang may not be much better than today, but it was still called a prosperous era at that time. ”

Yang Yikui said: "This sentence of heart, Meng Yuan died in the corruption of the officials, right in front of him, how can he not learn from history." ”

Zuo Bu's political envoy Gong Daqi said loudly: "What Zhongcheng said is extremely true, and today's officials are all officials who abandon the people, and everything in the world is abandoned by the people." If this continues, this dynasty may repeat the mistakes of Mengyuan. ”

"It's just what Qin Cha did, in addition to killing a few corrupt officials and corrupt officials, how could he really purge the officialdom. Severely punishing the law and purging the officialdom is not the way to cure the root cause. ”

Gu Mingji said: "Speaking of strict punishment and strict law, the lower officials have a matter to enlighten Zhongcheng, Uncle Fang. Yesterday, Zhou Wangshi impeached Lin Yanchao, the Tongzhi of the Defu Prefecture, and killed his government officials without asking for orders. ”

At that time, the prince of Zhou personally went to the palace to plead with Lin Tongzhi, but Lin Tongzhi ignored the respect of the prince and forcibly killed people in front of the prince. After the execution, the blood flowed down the steps, and the prince almost fainted, Lin Yanchao actually asked the prince to collect the body and bring it back to the palace. After the prince returned home, he told the king of Zhou, and the king of Zhou was furious and sent a letter to the official to ask the official to deal with him, otherwise he would cross the gate and play the son of heaven. ”

From Gu Ming's words, it can be seen how angry the Zhou Wangfu is, and he wants to Kaifeng Mansion, and Henan Province will ask for an explanation for Lin Yanchao's killing of his three government officials, otherwise it will be directly to the imperial court and hold you accountable for the governor of Henan, the political secretary, and Kaifeng Mansion.

As for why Gu Ming has been running for this matter, because he has received the benefit of five hundred taels from the prince of Zhou. If you can bring down Lin Yanchao, add another five hundred taels.

Yang Yikui heard the words and said: "Good kill!" What a joy to kill! ”

Gong Daqi and Gu Ming were already surprised.

Yang Yikui said: "These vassal kings have been disturbing the place for a long time, and even killed innocents indiscriminately. At that time, if Benfu had been governor of Henan earlier, he would have relied on the Holy Heaven's blame, and he would have to redo these people. ”

"The vassal kings are among the eight discussions, and the local officials can't avoid them, and now Lin Sanyuan is coming out to rectify these vassal kings. Isn't that a big deal? ”

Gu Ming had hesitated: "But the death penalty needs to be reported to the imperial court for review, not to mention the state and county officials, even the prefect of a prefecture, and even the feudal department has no right to act." Even if Zhongcheng is a provincial constitution, he must ask for the king's order flag before he can be cut first and then played. ”

Lin Tongzhi made a rash move, and King Zhou said that he was careless about people's lives. If we protect it and the court investigates it, I'm afraid we won't be able to eat and walk around. ”

Yang Yikui sighed: "Ben Fu went to school when he was young, and set up the ambition of saving the world and saving the people, but it is easier said than done for the official knowledge. ”

"The king's law is as big as the sky, and Benfu is in charge of the military and political affairs of a province, and he can't favor his own likes and dislikes. If Lin Tongzhi really kills people without permission, I should participate in this matter. Does Lin Zonghai have a document to submit to the department in this matter? ”

Gong Daqi said: "Back to Zhongcheng, there are." ”

"How so?"

Gong Daqi said: "The document said that the three Zhou Wangfu officials exploited the township, and the strong (Xie*** people's daughters, after he asked the truth, they each had sixty rods, but they didn't expect that they couldn't stand the beating and were killed. ”

As soon as these words came out, Gu Mingji's face was very exciting.

Yang Yikui showed an unsurprising expression and asked, "Is it, a cane punishment?" And not to kill? ”

"yes. Although the imperial court did not allow the state and county officials to impose the death penalty, they allowed the state and county officials to punish the prisoners with 60 to 100 rods without notification, and they were to be killed by the rod. ”

"In addition, according to the judge's review, Lin Tongzhi played the three government servants who abused and harmed the people, and the strong (Xie*** is true, there is the head of the Chen family, and the old man is jointly guaranteed by more than 1,000 people, and the procedure is clear."

After listening to Gong Daqi, Gu Mingji showed a stunned expression.

Yang Yikui said to Gu Ming: "Gu Governor's Mansion, since the prince of Zhou is the prince, then this matter must not be taken lightly, you go to Zhou Wangfu for Ben Fu." ”

"Let's just say that if Lin Zonghai does not ask for a decree and arbitrarily imposes various death sentences on the prisoners, such as beheading, hanging, etc., Benfu will definitely play the Son of Heaven and remove him from his official position. But if it is a cane punishment, there is no way, how many ministers died in the court rod in the previous dynasty, and it is not necessarily that the Son of Heaven really wants their lives, Gu Governor's Mansion, do you say? ”

Gu Ming can only hate himself at the moment, why didn't Wang Shizi tell him about this matter this week. If Lin Yanchao killed these three people, he would indeed be unaccountable.

Because this is the unspoken rule of officialdom, killing people with a rod is not a death penalty.

There is an example of this during the Qing Dynasty.

There is a reporter Shen Xin, because of the disclosure of the secret treaty between China and Russia, which angered the current government, and decided to kill him. However, on the occasion of the longevity celebration, it was not appropriate to kill people in public, so the court sentenced him to death immediately. After the longevity has passed, the corpse is hanged.

So what Yang Yikui said just now is right, if Lin Yanchao is beheaded, hanged and killed by other criminal laws, he can take away his official position, but he can't be punished with a cane.

Cane punishment has been the power of state and county officials since ancient times, this is a place where it is easy to cheat, some people have received a hundred canes, as soon as they wear pants, they can run and jump.

Some people hung up before they had eaten a dozen sticks.

The measure of proportion in this is not to look at the physique of the prisoner, but the conscience of the official.

Therefore, it is said that the official breaks ten ways.

The right to reasonable harm to an official is very terrible, and if you really want to play with a dead person, you should not be charged with a crime.

Especially Lin Yanchao, a pro-life official who is close to the people, a good thought can save people, and an evil thought can harm people.

After Gu Ming had left, Yang Yikui's face sank, and he said to Gong Daqi: "The prefect of Gu and the vassal king are too close. ”

Gong Daqi said: "As the capital of the Gu Governor's Mansion, it is inevitable that he will have to deal with each other. ”

Yang Yikui nodded, looked up at the three words 'clear and cautious and diligent' above his head and said: "The three words of clear, cautious and diligent are indispensable for officials, and there are really too few people among local officials who can do these three words." ”