At that time, the imperial study.

Li Qing walked into the main hall as promised, "Weichen Li Qing, see the emperor and His Royal Highness the prince." ”

Zhu Yuanzhang put down the music in his hand, "Let's ask you, the queen's condition is temporarily stable, right?" ”

"Hmm."

"Okay, you can take this." Zhu Yuanzhang took out a piece of letterhead, "Arrest the people above, interrogate them, and behead them before the afternoon Shen Shi!" ”

Li Qing was stunned, he never expected that Zhu Yuanzhang would ask him to arrest and kill people.

What is this?

Vote for a name?

Li Qing stepped forward to take it, and hesitated, "Your Majesty, Weichen is not familiar with the imperial city......

"We have already arranged it, and Liu Baihu will assist you in handling the case together." Zhu Yuanzhang lowered his head and continued to review the folds, "If there is anything you don't understand, you can ask him." ”

Zhu Biao frowned slightly, "Father ......"

"Huh?"

"Alas......" Zhu Biao sighed and said no more.

Li Qing came to the outside of the hall, and Liu Qiang, a hundred households in brocade clothes, immediately greeted him, "Lord Li, please come with me." ”

"I'm in trouble." Li Qing arched his hand, according to the other party's rank is bigger than him, and people give him a hand, he is not easy to support.

"Master Li is polite, you are a Qincha here."

Liu Qiang was even more polite than when he 'invited' Li Qing.

As the saying goes, Li Qingke is the emperor's personal guard and the doctor who treats the queen's mother, and he has a bright future.

Putting aside the identity of Qincha, he is not enough to see a hundred households in brocade clothes.

Outside the palace gate, the No. 10 brocade guard was already waiting.

Liu Qiang said majestically, "Li Qincha was ordered by the emperor to arrest the criminals, and you must do your best to do things." ”

After that, hand over Li Qing's list to his subordinates, "Go and arrest all the people in Zhao Prison." ”

"Yes."

The man glanced at the list and led a group of brocade guards to go murderously.

"Huh...... Lee-sama, please. Liu Qiang put on a smile again, "They will handle the arrest of people, let's go directly to Zhaojiao." ”

"Hmm."

Li Qing nodded lightly, and was also happy.

On the way, Li Qing couldn't help but be curious, "Lord Liu, what crimes did those people commit?" ”

"Conniving with the local magistrate's empty paper stamp!" Liu Qiang explained in a low voice, "This phenomenon was discovered two months ago, and the emperor has been pressing it down, and now our Jinyiwei can finally show his face, hehe......"

"Phenomenon?"

Li Qing was surprised, "Are there many people stamped on empty paper?" ”

"Not a lot, almost all."

"Huh?"

"Master Li, be quiet."

"Oh, good." Li Qing smiled awkwardly, lowered his voice and said, "Do you want to arrest and kill all the officials in Daming?" ”

"Not really." Liu Qiang shook his head slightly, "But the palm seal officer should not have run away." ”

"How many?"

"There are 13 provinces in the Ming Dynasty, more than 150 prefectures, and more than 1,100 counties." Liu Qiang said, "It's only about 1,300 people!" ”

That's 1,300...... Li Qing was speechless.

suddenly thought of Liu Qiang's statement yesterday that officials colluded with Hu Weiyong, Li Qing asked again: "How many people died in Hu Weiyong's case?" ”

He is subordinate to Jinyiwei, and he is the emperor's personal guard, Liu Qiang has no need to hide it, "I haven't calculated the specifics, it is estimated that it should be almost 20,000, this case is still being investigated, and no one knows how many people will be killed in the end." ”

Li Qing secretly exclaimed, he had a limited understanding of Ming history, he only knew that Zhu Yuanzhang had killed many people, and Hu Weiyong and Lan Yu had implicated many officials in the rebellion, but he didn't expect that there would be so many.

How many officials are there in the Ming Dynasty?

If you continue to kill like this, aren't you afraid that no one will deal with government affairs?

Hell.

The cells were dark and damp, with very poor lighting, and only a one-foot-square window opened at the top of each cell, and the sunlight shone in, and the dust in the beams of light undulated.

The air was mixed with the smell of feces and urine, and the stench was stinking, much more pungent and unpleasant than that of the eunuch's duty room.

Li Qing walked in the corridor that seemed to have no end in sight, listening to the screams, begging for mercy, shouting injustice, and cursing from the cells on both sides... Palpitations and numbness of the scalp.

It's so dark!

Liu Qiang's face did not change, as if he had long been used to it, and he talked and laughed and introduced Zhao Prison to him.

Li Qing listened to it in his ears, and it was cold in his heart, looking at the miserable prisoner, even his blood was cold.

Where is this Zhaohell, it is clearly purgatory!

"We... Take a break, shall we? Li Qing really couldn't stand it.

The two came to a relatively clean place, where the jailer poured tea diligently, and then left with great interest.

Li Qing was in such a place, where did he still have the heart to drink tea, he couldn't help but say, "Lord Liu, I just heard someone shouting injustice, does this situation have to be retried?" ”

"I don't need to." Liu Qiang said with a smile, "They have all pleaded guilty and drawn detainees, so there is no need for this." ”

"That's... If there is an unjust and wrongful case, wouldn't it be a good person killed in vain? ”

Liu Qiang looked up at Li Qing and said word by word, "Zhao Prison does not accept innocent people!" ”

Li Qing was stunned, and immediately understood the meaning of the words, Jinyiwei was just a knife, and as for where to cut, it was all up to the person holding the knife to decide.

Seeing that he was silent, Liu Qiang added, "Although Jinyiwei has great power, the emperor's relatives, nobles, civil and military can all be arrested, and Zhao Prison is not under the jurisdiction of the Criminal Department, but it is not an indiscriminate arrest, these will be understood by Lord Li in the future." ”

Li Qing nodded and didn't say anything more.

He can't protect himself, where is he in the mood to pity others?

Lunch of four dishes and one soup, not sumptuous, but much stronger than the prison meal that is no different from pig food, Li Qing has no appetite, and casually eats a few mouthfuls of hasty things, Liu Qiang eats very fragrantly.

After a while, a brocade guard came to report: "Lord Qincha, Lord Liu, the sinner has been arrested." ”

Liu Qiang wiped his mouth, got up and made a gesture of please, "Lord Li, please." ”

Li Qing sighed secretly and went to the place where the criminals were being detained with Liu Qiang.

"I'm wronged!"

"Wronged, wronged......"

The sound of shouting injustice was heard in the distance, followed by a whip pumping 'snap', and then the shouting turned into a scream.

When Li Qing arrived, more than a dozen people had already been smoked and flesh opened, and their summer clothes were thin, mixed with flesh and blood, which was shocking.

Liu Qiang smiled and said: "Lord Li, how about the emperor let you preside over the trial, and the lower officials will be a jury?" ”

"Hmm." Li Qing bowed his head, walked to the long case in front of the prison door and sat down, and took a breath, "Why do you shout injustice?" ”

Liu Qiang frowned slightly, he didn't expect Li Qing to say this.

Sure enough, after Li Qing finished speaking, the shouting of grievances sounded again.

Liu Qiang sighed secretly, and gave the Jinyi guards on the side a look, and a few big men went in to smoke, and after a while, these officials stopped.

This time, Li Qing didn't know how to interrogate, he gave these people a chance to plead, but Jin Yiwei didn't give him, and he had no choice.

Moreover, he faintly felt that this case was Zhu Yuanzhang's test for him.

After thinking about it, I could only condemn them in a convicting tone, "You connived at the local officials to seal the empty paper and deceive the saints, what kind of face do you have to cry out for injustice?" ”

Although Li Qing interrogated them in the form of conviction, he also gave them a chance to plead their defenses, and there were few straw bales who could be Beijing officials, so they immediately sensed the vitality in their words and hurriedly defended themselves.

"My lord, the mountains are high and the roads are far away, and it takes a long time for the magistrate to come to Beijing, and if you can't match an account, you have to go back and proofread it again, but the grain and silver are lost, how can it be exactly the same?"

"Yes, my lord, it will take at least a month and a half for the northern officials to come to Beijing, the account books must not be altered, and the official seal cannot be taken out of the yamen.

"My lord, the previous dynasty did the same, it wasn't for our courtiers to deceive the saint, this is... It's an unwritten rule! ”

Hearing these defenses, Li Qing couldn't help but be stunned, and then thought about the traffic in this era, and finally understood why they connived at the local officials' empty paper stamps.

This is a helpless move, otherwise, this year's accounts may not be good next year, not only will they not be able to pay the difference, but the magistrates will not have to deal with government affairs.

Liu Qiang on the side couldn't listen to it anymore, and if he continued to be tried like this, these people would become wronged, not only would Jinyiwei fall into passivity, but the emperor's Longwei would also be damaged.

The will is clearly stated that there shall be no delay in the trial and killing before the afternoon application.

But this Li Qincha can still kill him if he makes such a play?

What's the matter with this little brother?