Flourishing of the Ming Dynasty Novel - Chapter 183

Chapter 183 After Closure (1)
Two court officials and a hereditary count pleaded guilty to a case. Although dozens of innocent lives had been lost, the people were still quite happy about it. In this era, it was not easy to convict an official, let alone the life of an earl.

This result alone was enough for the people to praise Emperor for his wisdom. They believed that Great Ming was truly worthy of the name of a prosperous era, and that justice alone was no worse than any other dynasty. For this reason, many people praised Daxing County Magistrate Lu Zhen for exposing this case, and almost praised him as a character like Duke Bao and Duke Di in the previous dynasty.

However, these people did not know that the person they were celebrating was now feeling extremely depressed, because he clearly saw that something was wrong, but because he was in the official circles, he was helpless. This sentiment was evident even when he visited Hu Ying again.

Because of his previous relationship, Lu Zhen had long since become familiar in the Hu Manor. Soon after, he was led to the door by a servant. Then, an old butler brought him directly to the Hu Ying study in the middle courtyard to meet him.

This treatment was not simple. At this time, people in the officialdom interacted with each other from several aspects to see the relationship between the two sides. One is to address each other. Generally speaking, they call each other officials or direct adults. Only when their relationship is close can they address each other with words; The second was the place where they would meet visitors when they visited each other. If their relationship was ordinary, they would usually only meet in the living room. Only those who were close friends would be invited to the study room to meet and talk.

Of course, the relationship can also be a step closer, at that time, you can go to visit their wives or parents. However, this kind of relationship was too rare in the dynasty. Normally, only true kinship would be used.

Now that Lu Zhen had been introduced into the study to talk, it was clear that Hu Ying valued him as a disciple.

Lu Zhen, who knew this rule, was also flattered, so when he entered, he unconsciously became a little reserved, “Greetings, boss.”

“Shansi is here? I was expecting you to come find me in the next two days. You really rushed here in such a hurry.” Hu Ying chuckled and ordered someone to bring Lu Zhen some tea before waving his hand, causing the servants to retreat.

Lu Zhen was stunned again when he saw Hu address him kindly by the words on his watch. Then he lowered his head and said, “Xiaguan indeed has some questions in his heart. I can only ask the boss for your advice.”

“You don’t have to do this in private. In the future, you can call me sir. I’ll call you Shansi. What do you think?” Hu Ying, on the other hand, was not in a hurry to say anything. Instead, he made such a suggestion.

Lu Zhen naturally wouldn’t disobey. Although this gentleman couldn’t compare to his teacher, he was still considered a subordinate of Hu Butang. This was a relationship that even the officials of the Central Government couldn’t fawn on. Who would have thought that he would actually take the initiative to accept this young county magistrate, Lu Zhen, today? It was enough to show how much importance he attached to this young county magistrate.

Without much hesitation, Lu Zhen stood up and bowed respectfully, saying, “Greetings, Mr. Hu.”

“No need for courtesy. We are both people who do real things. Let’s just forget about some empty-headed things.” Hu Xu helped him up and smiled, “I can still accept you into my sect when I get old. It can be said that I have gained a lot.”

“Sir, you praised me absurdly. Lu Zhen is ashamed.”

‘”This is not a lie. Your temperament and abilities are considered to be excellent. Apart from a slight lack of background, everything else is impeccable. Especially in this matter, your performance has caused me to be even more impressed. That’s why I wanted to recruit you into my sect.” “But you don’t have to worry,” said Hu Ying solemnly. “I think I made this decision to calm your anger. In fact, I made my decision long after the palace came out that day.”

After a pause, he smiled bitterly again, “But I did disappoint you. This time, I broke my promise and failed to investigate this case to the end. I believe that you came to see me today for this matter, right?”

Lu Zhen sorted out his thoughts before he looked at the other party and nodded, “Sir, what you said is that I have not understood why you stopped me in the hall these past two days.”

“You saw that there was something wrong behind this case, so you wanted to bring it up on the spot?” After getting Lu Zhen’s affirmation, Hu lightly sighed, “Actually, it’s not just you. I’m afraid many people present have seen through some clues, but none of them have stood up because of this. Why do you think this is? Could it really be that officials are protecting the real prisoner as some people say?”

“Isn’t that so?” Lu Zhen couldn’t help but ask.

“Yes, no,” Hu said with a strange expression. “They did settle the case because they wanted to save some people, but that’s not the real purpose.”

“Then what’s their goal?”

“For the face of the court! The case might seem too big, but it would be different if it were to be dug down. A Shuntian Prefecture pusher and a Punishment Department doctor really had the guts to do such a thing? Without the nod of the people behind them, they would not have dared to give them the courage to do so. You know, this is Beijing. How many eyes are staring at them?

Hearing his analysis, Lu Zhen finally understood. Obviously, if this case were to be investigated further, it would definitely implicate countless officials. At that time, the Imperial Court would probably have another bloody storm like the Hong Wu Dynasty. This was definitely not the result that people like Hu Ying hoped to see.

Seeing that he was deep in thought, Hu said, “There’s also Liu Xun, so it’s so easy to put everything on him. Do you think it’s just because the evidence is conclusive? No, it’s because someone needs him to take all the blame, or else it will implicate others.”

“Have a count bear the blame?” Lu Zhen was completely stunned. No matter how many thoughts he had, he still couldn’t believe that the water in this case would be so deep. If he abandoned an Earl to protect him, his status would probably be much higher than Liu Xun’s, then who would it be? Duke, or the princes above?

Lu Zhen felt a chill run down his spine when he thought of this. Only then did he know that Hu Ying was not only protecting the dignity of the Imperial Court, but also protecting himself. If the case really continued to be investigated and those fellows were brought out, the county magistrate would be in a very dangerous situation.

Seeing his thoughts, Hu smiled again, “You don’t have to worry too much. This is Beijing City after all. Under the Emperor’s carriage, they don’t dare to be too wild. And this time, they have already been taught a lesson. I believe they will restrain themselves a lot in the next few days.”

It was said that the official circles were dark, but Lu Zhen hadn’t noticed it before. But now, even though Hu Ying had only made a few obscure remarks, he was still shocked. However, after he was shocked, he was a little angry, “Could it be that these people can go unpunished just because the court needs stability? Those innocent people who were slaughtered …”

“Of course not. Otherwise, what face would I have left here?” Hu Ying interrupted Lu Zhen without hesitation and said seriously.

“Boss, what do you mean?” Lu Zhen was a little puzzled. The case was already over. The trial was over, and the exile was over. Could it be that he could retry it?

“It’s already impossible to convict some people with this case, so we can only use some other methods. After the New Year, it will be Jingcha. As Minister of the Ministry of Officials, I still have some right to speak.” Hu Ying explained casually.

Lu Zhen immediately understood. It turned out that Hu Ying had already made preparations. Those who were related to this case would definitely pay the price for it.

Jingcha, this can be considered a great calamity that Beijing officials of the Great Ming Dynasty will encounter once every three years.

Every year, after the Spring Festival, the officials of Beijing had to write down the gains and losses of their work over the past few years and submit them to the Ministry of Officials for verification. But if you make a serious mistake, I’m sorry, but I can only ask you to go home early.

The most unfortunate thing about this place was that the officials had voluntarily reported their own problems. In other words, it is you who expose your weaknesses to the Ministry of Officials, and then give the final decision to the other party, giving the real authority to the other party.

Perhaps someone wants to say it, then can I not write about my shortcomings? The answer is no. This will also leave a mark on others, saying that you are arrogant and arrogant. Just this alone is enough to depose you.

Therefore, every three years of the capital’s capital investigation was a trial and error for the capital’s officials. To the Ministry of Officials, this was the guarantee for them to suppress the officials. Only when they held the power of Jingcha could the Minister of Officials be called a Heavenly Official, and could they be the existence that could be on equal footing with the officials of the internal pavilion.

From the looks of it, Hu was indeed an old fox. He was able to do his duty well without affecting the overall situation. No wonder he was able to survive four dynasties, and now he was even ranked at the top of the ministers.

“Good plan, sir, but … other than the officials, what about the people who made Liu Xun take the blame?” Lu Zhen couldn’t help but ask.

A bitter smile appeared on Hu Ying’s cheeks. “The difference between civil and martial arts is not something I can handle, so there is nothing I can do about it. At least for now, the people in the court will not clash with the nobles because of this case.”

Lu Zhen was silent. Although Hu Ying’s words were only a few simple sentences, they had already allowed him to see that there was a conflict between the civil and martial arts in the dynasty. This was no wonder. In the past, military officials had always been able to suppress civil servants. However, they had only recently been suppressed because they did not start a war. However, they would definitely not give up. Therefore, it was not without reason that the Great Ming Civil Service Group suppressed the generals so miserably.

In addition, there was another point that Hu Ying did not mention, and that was that he was worried that if he really forced those nobles to become anxious, the other party would suddenly surrender to Wang Zhen, who had intended to make contributions to the foreign army. At that time, the situation would be really bad.