Chapter 151: By Law, Execution Is the Sentence

Zhu Youxiao watched all of this with an expressionless face.

He had long anticipated this scene. Rather than saying the civil officials were targeting Wei Zhongxian, it was more accurate to say they were using this matter to target him — this was their counterattack against him as Emperor.

When he had done those things, he had already known this day would come, so he was not particularly concerned.

"Grand Secretary Han, what do you think?" Zhu Youxiao looked at Han Kuang and asked with a blank expression.

Han Kuang's heart was bitter.

He knew that if his answer at this moment failed to satisfy Your Majesty, he probably would not last long in his position. But there was also this: if he said Wei Zhongxian should not be punished, he probably could not stand in officialdom either.

As a Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat, having people supporting you was important. If no one supported you, then you could not continue in your post.

Letting out a gentle breath, Han Kuang spoke: "I report to Your Majesty, your minister believes that Wei Zhongxian is indeed at fault in this matter. Merits must be rewarded, faults must be punished, so your minister believes Wei Zhongxian should be severely punished."

Zhu Youxiao nodded, then turned to look at Liu Yijing and asked, "What does Grand Secretary Liu think?"

"I report to Your Majesty, your minister also believes Wei Zhongxian should be severely punished." Liu Yijing also spoke.

At this point, this position had to be held firm. No one dared to step one inch beyond the line, so everyone's attitude was very consistent.

Zhu Youxiao nodded and spoke: "All my ministers speak with reason; this matter should indeed be handled this way. Transmit my decree: Wei Zhongxian, for dereliction of duty, shall receive forty strokes of the court cane and forfeit half a year's salary."

At this very moment, Wei Zhongxian was kneeling outside.

The decree was quickly transmitted out, and people pulled Wei Zhongxian away to receive the caning.

Wei Zhongxian naturally recognized the men carrying out the caning, and the one supervising the punishment was Chen Hong.

Arriving at the place of execution, Wei Zhongxian, expressionless, lay face down directly on it and said, "Come on."

Chen Hong stood in place, hands tucked into his sleeves, one foot turned outward.

The men carrying out the punishment naturally understood, and their hearts were settled. Soon the crackling sounds rang out.

As the rod struck his body, Wei Zhongxian flinched, but he gritted his teeth and did not cry out.

His body arched, his face flushed red from holding back, veins bulging out.

Although the blows were light, after forty strokes Wei Zhongxian could no longer walk.

The young eunuchs beside him hurriedly went up to support him.

Chen Hong also walked over at this time, reached out to help Wei Zhongxian up, and said, "Eunuch Wei, everyone in the great hall was calling for you to be severely punished. His Majesty did not consult anyone and gave you this punishment. In the end, those people still wish for us to die. Eunuch Wei, be more careful in the future."

Raising his head to look at Chen Hong, Wei Zhongxian nodded and slowly said, "This favor today, I have noted it."

After speaking, Wei Zhongxian did not look back, letting people support him away to apply medicine, but the hatred in his eyes could not be hidden.

Wei Zhongxian understood Chen Hong's words — they were telling him that although they competed with each other, on matters of major principle, he was not a man without a sense of right and wrong. He would not kick a man when he was down. Wei Zhongxian should be more careful in the future. If anything truly happened, he would not stand by idly.

Wei Zhongxian saying he had noted this favor was his way of telling Chen Hong: I understand your words, and I will be careful from now on.

The two men reached an understanding with great tacit agreement — that counted as a gain.

Watching Wei Zhongxian leave, Chen Hong also turned and walked back into the great hall.

He knew the matter was not over; Wei Zhongxian's beating would not be in vain.

At this moment, no one in the great hall mentioned Wei Zhongxian again — clearly they accepted Zhu Youxiao's handling. After all, the charge Zhu Youxiao had given Wei Zhongxian was dereliction of duty, not murdering a minister.

For the charge of dereliction of duty, forty strokes of the court cane was already a heavy punishment. As for pursuing other charges — that was impossible. His Majesty would not agree, and the civil officials understood this very well.

But they understood even better that their acceptance of this punishment was in itself a declaration of their stance.

They did this only for show to those outside, not because they truly wanted to punish Wei Zhongxian. Perhaps in their hearts they truly wanted to eliminate Wei Zhongxian, but at this moment they could only take this position, because it was His Majesty's intention.

Zhu Youxiao was very satisfied with these people's performance. It proved that what he had been doing during this period was working — these people no longer dared to openly oppose him.

But although Wei Zhongxian had taken the beating, the matter still had to be handled.

Sweeping his gaze across everyone's faces, Zhu Youxiao said, "Although Zou Yuanbiao is dead, the case still must be handled. Grand Secretary Han has already completed the investigation. All my ministers may take a look, then discuss how to handle it."

After speaking, Zhu Youxiao nodded to Chen Hong, who had just entered.

Chen Hong hurriedly delivered the case files before everyone, letting them flip through and read.

The first to read was naturally Liu Yijing.

After a brief look, Liu Yijing roughly understood — all the charges had been fully substantiated: forming cliques for private gain, colluding with frontier generals, accepting bribes, slandering court ministers — all of it was there.

Subconsciously glancing at Han Kuang, Liu Yijing had not expected Han Kuang to have gone this far.

Liu Yijing passed the case file down without changing his expression, then stood there quietly, no longer speaking.

In fact, this matter had little to do with Liu Yijing. The current outcome was actually one he was pleased to see, though he still felt some wariness — and that wariness was toward Han Kuang.

Everyone quickly finished reading the case file, their expressions varying, but in their hearts they already knew the result. These charges had been fully substantiated, with both witnesses and evidence present. What remained was determining the sentence.

This was also what His Majesty was asking everyone to discuss. Clearly His Majesty wanted to nail this matter down in front of everyone today, then tell the outside world that this was everyone's decision.

"Do all my ministers have any opinions?" Zhu Youxiao said slowly and unhurriedly.

I made you punish Wei Zhongxian — the rest of you aren't getting away either.

"Your Majesty, your minister believes this case was investigated by Grand Secretary Han. As for how to determine the sentence, we should hear his opinion." Minister of Rites Sun Shenxing was the first to step forward, directly pointing the spear at Han Kuang — clearly forcing Han Kuang to take a position.

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Sun Shenxing, nodded, and said, "Do the other ministers have any opinions?"

What opinions could the others have? No one wanted to stick their head out on this matter. Having someone out front taking the lead was naturally the best thing.

But everyone also realized that Sun Shenxing was digging a pit — no matter how Han Kuang chose, he would be wrong.

Everyone's gaze converged on Han Kuang, wanting to see what he would do.

"Since these ministers have no opinions, then Grand Secretary Han, you go ahead and speak!" Zhu Youxiao nodded, his gaze also falling on Han Kuang, wanting to hear what he had to say.

In fact, Zhu Youxiao could already guess seventy or eighty percent of it in his heart.

Han Kuang's expression showed no change at all; his heart had long been prepared.

He stepped forward one pace and said, "The case is clear, the facts are all present. Your minister believes we only need to handle it according to the laws of the Great Ming. Your minister is not very familiar with the laws of the Great Ming, but the Minister of Justice is here — for determining the sentence, we can ask him."

The Minister of Justice was Huang Kezuan.

Huang Kezuan sighed in his heart and stepped forward one pace. It had finally dragged him in after all.

This matter had been so big, and the Ministry of Justice had not been implicated at all throughout. Even the Court of Judicial Review had fared worse than the Ministry of Justice. But now it was finally his turn to speak.

Huang Kezuan had no way out either — the other party hadn't asked him to take a stance, only to answer on penal law. As Minister of Justice, if he didn't even know that much, then what was he even doing in the post?

Zhu Youxiao looked at Huang Kezuan, a smile on his face.

If anyone in court could be called a neutral, then Huang Kezuan was a very interesting case.

Historically, Huang Kezuan had been at odds with the Donglin Faction and was seen by Wei Zhongxian as one of his own allies, but later he fell out with Wei as well.

Huang Kezuan belonged to no faction and had no party — he had no desire to form cliques or factions either.

In the disputes over the "Red Pill Case" that killed Emperor Taichang and the "Palace Removal Case" that followed his death, the two factions attacked each other at every turn for their own interests.

Huang Kezuan, however, insisted on staying neutral and impartial, attaching himself to neither side, and often ended up getting cursed at by both. The principle he upheld was that one's office carries its fixed duties, and a name of integrity endures through the ages.

If you take this office, then you must inevitably bear everything that comes with it. As for your own reputation, a thousand years from now there will naturally be a verdict. If you do well, your name and integrity will not be erased for centuries.

This was a very upright man who also had his own views on politics. Huang Kezuan had served as Minister of War and held unique insights into military affairs.

He had once submitted a routine memorial in which he argued that the Great Ming had reached a moment of crisis — soldiers guarding the frontiers went into battle on empty stomachs, with months of pay owed amounting to millions. He also reported that due to years of successive famines, some places had reached the tragic state where fathers ate their sons and wives ate their husbands.

This was a man with ideas. If among the officials of the capital there was anyone who could set aside factional bias and devote himself wholly to the state, Huang Kezuan should count as one.

Huang Kezuan opposed grand construction projects within the palace, and was especially dissatisfied with the expenditure on rebuilding the Three Great Halls.

He believed that with the state having reached its current state, as Emperor you were still thinking about building great halls — you didn't have to build them; look around the palace, it wasn't as if there was no place to live.

Historically, after the Three Great Halls were completed, Huang Kezuan, who had resigned and was living at home, was posthumously honored with the title of Grand Preceptor of the Heir Apparent. Kezuan did not accept it.

This was a man Zhu Youxiao intended to put to important use, so this time, Zhu Youxiao had never dragged the Ministry of Justice into the matter at all.

Now Huang Kezuan had come in, but the involvement wasn't great either, so the problem wasn't serious.

Huang Kezuan did not know what Zhu Youxiao thought of him. From the very start of the affair to now, he had shown no intention of getting involved.

In Huang Kezuan's view, this was just dogs biting dogs. Though he very much wanted to quell such strife, he had no way to do so.

"Reporting to Your Majesty: accepting bribes, framing court officials, colluding with frontier generals — by law, the punishment is beheading and confiscation of family property; forming cliques for private gain — by the laws of the Great Ming, the punishment is beheading and confiscation of family property." Huang Kezuan stepped forward one pace, and after saying this, he stepped back again, looking as if it had nothing to do with him.