Flourishing of the Ming Dynasty Novel - Chapter 156

Chapter 156 Make An Example (1)
It was late at night.

However, lights were still on in the county magistrate’s house of Daxing County Government’s Second Hall. Lu Zhen sat behind the table and looked at the things in his hand. He frowned and occasionally used his hand to gently knead the space between his eyebrows.

In the end, he had underestimated the courage of these dignitaries in Beijing. Two days after his decree was promulgated, many people had already violated it. Although it was only a small mistake, if he really wanted to pursue it, he would have to offend many people.

Lu Zhen wasn’t afraid of offending others. When he agreed to let Hu Ying take this seat, he was already prepared for this. However, if someone kept breaking his rules, it would be very troublesome. He didn’t just have this little thing to do. Ordinary duties in the county government were much more important than renovating the environment below.

In two days, he had already taken down five offenders, but today, he had received no less than ten names to plead for mercy for them. Although he didn’t know any of these people, let alone any friendship, he still felt a headache. It would be difficult to offend so many people at once.

China has always been a humane society, and officials have made full use of this point. Many things are impossible to do without the help of others. But now, once Lu Zhen offended these people, he would be considered a lot of enemies under the tree.

Making enemies was nothing, but one had to obtain something. Even if they were all convicted under pressure, the impact on the enforcement of the law would not be too great. This was the key to Lu Zhen’s headache. At this moment, he was considering the pleading notes and invitation cards, thinking about who should be pulled out to be the most advantageous opponent.

Suddenly, a burst of footsteps came from outside, interrupting his thoughts. Lin Lie then appeared in front of the door and said, “Sir, we’ve caught another night jailer.”

“Is that so? Then put him in prison together. We’ll deal with him after we ask him the truth tomorrow!” Lu Zhen put down the item in his hand and said as he moved his body. I don’t have a clue for the time being, so I can only leave the matter to tomorrow.

However, Lin Lie did not accept the order to retreat as before. Instead, he hesitated for a moment before continuing, “However, my lord, the identity of the person who took down this time is somewhat special. He declared himself to be the young master of the Doctor-in-Chief Clan of the Ministry of Justice.”

“Punishment Department doctor?” Hearing this, Lu Zhen was stunned for a moment. Since his eyes flashed, “Do you think his words are credible?”

“It shouldn’t be fake. The lanterns in his mansion are still hanging in the car. Also, we stopped him along with a few nephews from the officials’ families. However, they all have the waist tokens of the Shun Tian Mansion on them, so they only brought him back.”

“There’s such a thing?” Lu Zhen said with a puzzled expression, and then a playful smile appeared on his face. “Looks like someone is deliberately targeting me or these young masters.”

“The little one also thinks so, so if it really is business, I’m afraid it will bring a lot of trouble to the county government.”

“No, I think this is a good opportunity.” Lu Zhen waved his hand and looked somewhat excited, “Originally, I was still having a headache about how to show off my might, but now that such a person with a high status has arrived, I happen to be singing!”

“Ah?” Lin Lie looked at his master in puzzlement. Seeing his confident expression, he didn’t say anything else. He cupped his fists and said yes, then went to arrange for someone to be sent to prison. He had never been a talkative person, and since Lu Zhen had already made up his mind, he would only do as he pleased.

“Punishment Department physician, although you are not a high-ranking official, your status in the capital is not low. Taking your young master’s bright saber is a good choice.” As Lu Zhen walked out of the public house, he couldn’t help but murmur this sentence in a soft voice.

@ @ @ @

The next morning, before the county government could open, a servant wearing a small green hat rushed over with an eager expression. As soon as he saw a few servants open the door, he hurriedly came over and asked anxiously, “You guys, did our Young Master Li Huan really get taken in by the county government?” His tone was filled with arrogance. He really had the right to be arrogant here, because his master was a doctor in the Ministry of Justice. He was a rank four official with real power, much higher than the county magistrate of Daxing County.

The servants were about to get angry, but they soon understood the identity of the other party and said with a stern face, “Last night, there was indeed such a person who claimed to be a young master of the Li family of the Ministry of Justice who was brought into the county government.”

“Then why don’t you release my Young Master? If something happens to my Young Master in your Daxing County Government, can you bear it?” The servant immediately said anxiously, as if he was giving orders.

When the servants saw him like this, their hearts grew even angrier. All of them looked at him with cold smiles, not a single one of them moving. Only then did he understand what was going on. He quickly put his hand into his sleeve, took out a money bag, and stuffed it into the hands of the oldest man, saying, “I’ll treat you to tea with this little money. I’ll invite you in for a bit of convenience.”

Just as the so-called King of Hell was happy to see that little ghost was difficult to deal with, this person remembered this rule and just stuffed money into people’s pockets. However, the result was beyond his expectations. Seeing this, the officer hurriedly flashed backwards and avoided the money bag in his hand. He said, “It’s easy to say what to say, but I’m afraid it won’t do. He broke the night ban. Those are the most serious of the 30 decrees that our county government has just promulgated, and they must be severely punished.”

“What?” The servant panicked when he heard this, and then his face darkened, “Since you know my family’s young master’s identity, how dare you be so rude in Daxing County? I want to see your county magistrate to speak!” Since good words were not enough, he could only suppress them with his momentum.

“Sorry, my county magistrate is busy with his official business. I’m afraid he won’t have time to meet you.” The servant replied decisively before returning to the door.

“You” That servant was so angry that his lungs exploded. In the past, he had also dealt with the yamen below. Even the workers in front of the Shuntian Prefecture did not look like this when they reported it to him. How dare a Great Xing County dare to do this? Angry, he immediately swung his steps and walked in. Since they were unwilling to report, he could just barge in.

But just as he moved, the servants had already blocked his path, “How dare you, how can you just barge into the important land of the county government? If you dare not listen to me again, I will also bring you in to punish you!” “How dare you!” “How dare you barge into the important land of the county government?”

“You dare!” This person was also speechless. At the same time, he angrily scolded and continued to rush in without stopping. The servants couldn’t help but make their move. They stretched out their arms and used all their strength to capture this man on the spot. Then, they directly escorted him into the yamen.

The commotion here had already alerted the pedestrians on the streets. Seeing that someone dared to barge into the county government, many people unconsciously praised him. “This person is quite courageous. He actually dares to barge into the county government at this time. Don’t you know that the Daxing County Yamen is in the limelight recently? I’m afraid he will suffer a lot if he is taken in this time.”

“I heard that he seems to have wanted the county government to let him go. It seems that some young master of his family was taken away by the county government.”

“There’s still this matter? It seems that this family has an extraordinary status, but I wonder if County Magistrate Lu can withstand the pressure.”

The people immediately began to discuss. The county government had indeed taken a lot of people who had made mistakes recently, which also gave them some confidence in Lu Zhen. However, there were too many people with high status and great power in the capital. It would be very difficult for a county government to set up the rules.

Although everyone was curious about what the county government would do next, because this was not a public trial, they could only watch from afar, making some speculations, but could not enter the county government to see what was going on. Meanwhile, the county government had long since regained its calm, as if nothing had happened.

It was so quiet for a long time that it made people think that county magistrate Lu might secretly release him. Suddenly, a few figures flashed out from the side of the wall. After seeing the situation clearly, many people were stunned on the spot, because the ones who were transferred out were a few servants, and they even dragged the two of them out.

One of them was the servant dressed for the incident at the yamen entrance, and the other was a young young master dressed in luxurious clothes. After bringing them to the front of the wall and pressing down on the county government, the leading officer announced loudly to the people who were looking outside, “One of these two was captured by my county government after breaking the night ban last night, and the other was taken down after trespassing into the county government.” According to the decree just issued by my county government, all of them will be severely punished. The former is responsible for thirty big boards while the latter is responsible for twenty big boards, and all of them wear cangue to make an example of them for three days! ”

After saying all this, under everyone’s astonished gaze, he immediately waved his hand and decisively ordered, “Execution!”

“County Magistrate Lu, Lu Zhen! You actually dare to torture my Young Master! My Master will definitely not give up!” The servant struggled and shouted loudly. Li Huan, on the other hand, remained silent and his face was pale. It was clear that the arrogance on his body had been cleaned up by the encounter that night.

Faced with such threats, the county government servants did not take it seriously. Hearing the order, they walked to the sides of the two of them. After suppressing them, they waved their arm-thick sticks and struck them at the back of their buttocks.

Very quickly, the screams and muffled snorts were replaced by miserable screams. Even though they were separated by a distance, the people could still clearly hear the cracking sound of the board hitting their bodies, causing their scalps to go numb.

After twenty to thirty strikes, the servant was still moaning, but Li Huan had already fainted. Seeing this, these servants did not hesitate or slow down their movements. They still swiftly took out the wooden flails that looked rather heavy, directly handcuffed the two of them, and then locked them outside the county government to show them to the public.

Only after all this was done did the servants return to the county government. When the surrounding people saw this, their faces were filled with disbelief. Only then did they believe in County Magistrate Lu’s determination. It turned out that these 30 laws of his really didn’t matter. No matter how powerful a person dared to violate them, he would still be punished severely!