Chapter 230

"Anyone who is unfilial to parents or abuses elders, regardless of whether they are corrupt or not, catch them all for me! Handle them heavily!"

"Also, turn this Gali's story told by the sky screen into a play, write it into a book, and let all the people of the Great Ming see what kind of beast a corrupt official will become in the end!"

"The minister obeys the decree!"

Mao Xiang hurriedly knelt to receive the order, his back soaked with cold sweat.

He knew that a bloody storm was about to be set off in the Hongwu Dynasty, targeting the official's morality and human ethics, especially filial piety.

Qing Dynasty, Kangxi period, Qianqing Palace.

In the court, the atmosphere was strange to the extreme.

All the ministers' eyes were nailed to Gali, the Viceroy of Liangjiang, who was kneeling in the hall, his face ashen and shaking like chaff.

Emperor Kangxi, Xuan Ye, sat on the dragon chair, his face so gloomy that water could drip out.

He held a copy of the complaint submitted by Gali's mother accusing her son of being rebellious and killing his mother (which had not happened in reality, but was revealed by the sky screen in advance).

His hands were white at the knuckles because of the force.

What the sky screen said, corruption and bribery, covering up examination fraud, communicating with sea pirates… although serious, it was still within Kangxi's cognitive range of corrupt officials.

He had even prepared to order Gali's arrest.

But… killing his mother?!

This completely exceeded his bottom line and impacted his most fundamental values as an emperor and a son!

"Gali."

Kangxi's voice was not high, but cold and bone-chilling, as if carrying a cold current from Siberia.

"Do you have anything to say about what the sky screen said?"

"Servant… servant…"

Gali lay on the ground, his soul flying out of the sky.

He was corrupt, he covered up, he admitted these, anyway, the officialdom was more or less like this.

But killing his mother?! That was his own mother! No matter how much of a bastard he was, he had never thought of killing his mother!

The sky screen said it with nose and eyes, even saying his mother complained and requested to burn the corpse and scatter the ashes!

This… this is simply forcing him to a dead end, and stepping on him with ten thousand feet!

"Emperor! Emperor, please see clearly!"

Gali suddenly knocked his head on the ground, making a thumping sound, and blood appeared on his forehead instantly.

"Servant is corrupt, servant deserves to die! But killing his mother… the matter of killing his mother is purely groundless. Someone wants to harm the servant, it is the sky screen… the sky screen is wronging the servant, Emperor!"

"The servant has always been filial to his mother, how dare he commit such a beastly act, please Emperor, make the decision for the servant!"

He cried with snot and tears all over his face, looking miserable.

Some Manchu nobles who were on good terms with Gali on weekdays, or who had received benefits from him, hesitated for a moment and wanted to step out to plead for mercy.

"Emperor, Gali may have corrupt behavior, but the crime of killing his mother concerns human ethics. If there is no solid evidence, just relying on the sky screen's one-sided words…"

"Yes, Emperor, Gali's mother is still alive, we can summon her to ask and know…"

Kangxi listened expressionlessly, and after they had said almost enough, he spoke slowly, his voice still cold:

"One-sided words? The sky screen is clear. When revealing Li Yifu, was there a word of falsehood?"

"His mother complained and requested to burn the corpse and scatter the ashes. If she hadn't been humiliated and hated him to the bone, which mother would treat her own son like this?"

"Hmm?"

He paused, looking at Gali, the last trace of warmth in his eyes disappearing.

"Besides, even without the matter of killing his mother, you embezzled hundreds of thousands of taels, covered up examination fraud, and communicated with sea pirates. Which one is not a capital crime?"

"I really misjudged you, letting jackals like you sit in the prosperous land of Liangjiang!"

"Emperor! Servant… servant…" Gali still wanted to argue.

"Enough!"

Kangxi slammed the imperial desk and stood up suddenly, "I don't want to hear your sophistry anymore! Come here!"

"Servant is here!" The guards in front of the hall responded loudly.

"Strip Gali of his hat and flower feather, strip him of his official uniform, throw him into the heavenly prison, and guard him strictly!"

Kangxi shouted sternly, "Order the Ministry of Justice, the Censorate, and the Dali Temple to jointly try him, and quickly investigate his crimes of corruption, fraud, and communicating with bandits! As for the suspicion of killing his mother…"

He looked at Gali, who was limp on the ground, his murderous intent exposed.

"Investigate it carefully for me! If it is true… no need to wait for autumn, three days later, at the vegetable market, behead him immediately!"

"Confiscate all his family property! Exile his wife and children to Ningguta to be slaves to the armored men!"

"Understood!"

The guards stepped forward and dragged Gali, who was completely limp, out like a dead dog.

Kangxi's anger had not yet subsided, scanning the ministers.

"You all listen to me! As an official, you must be loyal to the emperor and love the country, love the people like children, and be filial to your parents!"

"If anyone dares to imitate Gali, be corrupt and break the law, and corrupt human ethics, I will never forgive! Dismiss the court!"

"Ministers obey the decree! Long live the Emperor, long live, long live!"

The ministers knelt down, shouting long live, each one terrified.

Everyone knew that after this incident, the crackdown on corruption and the emphasis on human ethics and filial piety in the Kangxi Dynasty would inevitably rise to a new height.

And Zhang Boxing, the "number one clean official in the world" far away in Liangjiang, would probably be reused soon.

Han Dynasty, on the square outside Weiyang Palace.

Liu Bang wiped the cold sweat on his head and muttered: "Good guy, corrupt officials are corrupt to the end, even their mothers don't want them… is this still human?"

He suddenly remembered that he had kicked his own son off the carriage to escape for his life, his old face flushed, and he hurriedly changed the subject.

"That… Immortal Master, Brother Zheng, this list makes people feel terrified."

"Should we… eat something to suppress the shock first?"

"The instant noodles that the Immortal Master brought… they smell quite fragrant, right?"

Ying Zheng looked at him with contempt: "Look at your lack of courage."

"However, such beastly behavior is indeed disgusting."

Just then, the punishment session of the sky screen arrived.

The cold sentencing sound rang out again:

【Given Gali's monstrous crimes of embezzling huge amounts, corrupting the imperial examination, and extinguishing human ethics, conventional punishment is difficult to punish his evil!】

【Now descending the punishment of the Heavenly Dao: In his remaining three days of life, every day for twelve hours (equal to 24 hours now), endure the pain of lingchi (slow slicing)! No moment of rest! Until the soul flies away and scatters!】

"Hiss—!"

All the viewers in the myriad worlds gasped.

Enduring the pain of lingchi all day? This is thousands of times more painful than being executed by lingchi directly!

This is to let him go to extinction in endless pain and despair!

Qing Dynasty Heavenly Prison.

Gali, who had just been stripped of his official uniform and beaten half to death and thrown into the prison cell, was groaning in the grass pile.

Suddenly, an indescribable, terrifying severe pain, as if every inch of skin, every muscle, and every bone were being cut, scraped, and stirred by countless small knives at the same time, instantly swept through his whole body!

"Ah—!!!!"

The shrill scream that didn't sound like a human pierced the silence of the heavenly prison.

Gali, like a shrimp thrown into a frying pan, twisted, rolled, hit the wall with his head, and scratched his own skin and flesh with his hands, instantly scratching himself into a bloody mess.

But the severe pain came from the depths of his soul, and scratching was useless.

"Kill me! Emperor, kill me!"

"Ah—!!"

The screams continued, one more miserable than the other.

The prisoners in the same cell shrank into the corner, defecating and urinating.

The jailer looked at the bloody, constantly hitting the stone wall with his head, and mad-like figure through the fence, and also felt creepy.

This pain was too intense, far exceeding the limit of ordinary people.

Only less than half an hour passed.

"Bang!" A muffled sound.

Gali used his last strength to fiercely hit his head against the hard and cold stone wall, dying on the spot.

He really couldn't stand the endless, as if falling into hell forever, "thousand-knife-cut" pain, and chose to end himself.

However, the Heavenly Dao punishment did not seem to stop immediately because of his death.

His broken corpse continued to twitch slightly in the grass pile for the next three days, as if it were still enduring the endless pain.

Until three days later, Kangxi's imperial edict was issued, dragging his corpse out, burning it, and scattering the ashes.

The news spread, and the scholars of Jiangnan clapped and cheered, and the people also felt relieved.

Zhang Boxing was restored to his original position and was ordered to thoroughly investigate the Jiangnan examination field, giving justice to the scholars of the world.

Above the sky screen, the golden light began to flow again, slowly condensing the next name.

The ninth corrupt official on the list was so cruel.

Then, what kind of vicious mega-corrupt officials are the first eight?