Chapter 441: He's deceiving Heaven!

As Jing Sheng Di's heart-piercing words exploded in the hall, the echoes bounced back and forth between the beams and pillars, the whole hall fell silent, as if an invisible hand had clamped their throats.

After three breaths, the sound of robes rubbing against the gold bricks began to hiss……

One, two, three, like wheat blown down by the wind, they fell in rows.

In the blink of an eye, the hall's civil and military officials knelt in a dark mass, stretching from the steps below the dais to outside the gate, like a wheat field flattened by a storm.

The few cabinet ministers kneeling in the front row had stiff backs, their foreheads almost touching the gold bricks, the fingers in their sleeves clenched until they turned white.

The officials in the rear dared not even breathe; some had dark sweat stains seeping through the backs of their robes.

Your Majesty, please calm your anger; as the Grand Secretary, I am foolish in handling affairs, inadequate in response, failed to detect treachery and distinguish flatterers, thus bringing this disaster upon myself; I beg Your Majesty to punish me!

Chen Tingjing spoke in a hoarse voice, being the first to plead guilty.

As his words fell, the officials in the rear hurriedly echoed:

We are guilty!

After Jing Sheng Di sat upright at the imperial desk, he glanced at Chen Tingjing, who knelt at the head of the civil officials, stooped and somewhat aged; his gaze was deep and obscure.

After a long while he said:

All officials, rise! Zi Jie, continue speaking!

As the officials returned to their places, Jia Jing's face was as dark as deep water; he stepped forward and continued:

After searching the Fang mansion, several account books and letters were found on Liu Bajie and in the Fang study.

Among them were dozens of letters exchanged between Fang Congzhe and the Tang family, explicitly stating that they had received bribes of 170,000 taels from Tang Bo'an in three installments to help him enter the cabinet and to let him speak for Jiangnan in court.

The account books from Fang Congzhe's household and those of the Tang family's connections in the capital involve the Six Ministries, the Censorate, the Ministry of Justice, the Office of Communications, etc., totaling bribery silver exceeding three million taels.

This case also implicates the collusion of Shenjing's military nobility with Jiangnan forces, including the Ministry of Works Duke's mansion and the Prince of Pingyuan's mansion secretly hoarding weapons, seizing military farms, smuggling supplies to the enemy, communicating with foreign officials, and evidence of trampling on common lives.

Last night I ordered the Imperial City Surveillance to arrest people according to the account books; a total of 137 implicated officials were detained, and the confiscated illicit silver and property, converted to silver, amounted to about 12 million taels, of which the Fang family alone had over one million taels seized.

Furthermore, I have ordered the Imperial City Surveillance to send urgent pigeon messages to the Jiangnan Office to apprehend the Tang, Zeng, and other implicated individuals and escort them to the capital.

Among the civil officials' ranks, Xiong Cilü and Kong Ying, etc., all had grim faces; these 12 million taels of illicit silver alone constitute an unpardonable corruption crime!

Among the military officials' ranks, the Prince of Nan'an and others also had faces as dark as iron; to openly speak in court of the military nobility seizing farmlands, smuggling, and communicating with foreign officials—isn't that just tearing open the fig leaf covering the military nobility's heads? What are they preparing to do?

Jia Jing continued:

I have already transcribed the account books, letters, and statements of the implicated officials into case files, three copies—one kept in the Cabinet, one sent to the Ministry of Punishments, and one presented for Your Majesty's perusal.

For every person involved, who received what bribe from which family at what time, through whose hands, and what matters they handled— the account books record it, the testimonies back it up, the letters provide evidence; every item can be examined, every case investigated, with no detail left unchallengeable.

The evidence is now solid; I request that the Imperial City Surveillance bring the case files into the hall for Your Majesty's inspection!

As Jing Sheng Di nodded, two Imperial City Surveillance officers carried a black-lacquered wooden box across the threshold; the box was not large, about two feet square.

But the moment the box hit the floor, it emitted a solid thud that made the ground tremble slightly and caused the officials' faces to change.

Jia Jing stepped forward, lifted the lid, and inside lay stacks upon stacks of case files, letters, and account books, the pages yellowed, the ink fresh or old; yet each volume was numbered, its seal stamped with tape, bearing the seals of the Imperial City Surveillance and Jia Jing.

The hall fell silent for a moment; only the edges of the pages fluttered lightly in the breeze, making a faint rustling.

That sound was not loud, yet in this hall at this moment it was more heart‑pounding than any words.

Jia Jing then took another memorial from his sleeve, held it aloft with both hands, and said in a deep voice:

I have compiled this case from beginning to end into a volume, attaching a summary of accounts, an index of letters, and excerpts of testimonies, entitled 'Memorial on the Jing Sheng Ten‑Year Shenjing Assassination Case'.

This case began with Jiangnan gentry obstructing the New Policies, arose from officials forcing the palace, culminated in the assassination of cabinet ministers and myself, and ended with the execution of Fang Congzhe, Jiangnan gentry, and the military nobility.

Cause and effect are laid out in detail; human and material evidence correspond point by point; I implore Your Majesty to review and decide!

With this speech, covering the case's occurrence, investigation, implicated persons, evidence chain, and disposition—these five investigative elements— the case has been fully narrated and turned into an ironclad case!

As Jia Jing's words fell, the hall's civil and military officials erupted in an uproar.

That very night, a major case that shook Shenjing had already been completely investigated and concluded, awaiting only the Son of Heaven's final judgment!

Who would have thought that, besides being able to wage war, the Duke of Jing would handle cases with such swift and decisive efficiency!

Zhang Tingyu's gray‑white eyebrows twitched as he glanced at the calm‑faced Jia Jing in the hall, and he couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Compared to Jia Jing's handling, the faction case he dealt with last month now seems rather procrastinating and indecisive!

But one cannot simply compare them like that, after all, only this one person in the current court dares to mobilize troops to raid a grand secretary's mansion, seize people and evidence!

At this moment Jia Zheng stood near the hall door, already somewhat unable to see Jia Jing's figure ahead, yet hearing those resounding, clear memorials, his feelings also became stirred and unsettled!

Such a youth, outstanding like orchid and jade tree, is a qilin son that appears only once in a century for our family!

Thanks to that foolish lady of the Wang household in the inner quarters, who still wants to compete with him; if she were to see Jing'er's demeanor and authority in court, she would finally know what utter foolishness means!

At this time, too, civil officials such as Xiong Cilü wore solemn faces; their thoughts could not be summed up by mere words like 'solid evidence, ironclad case'.

Faced with Jia Jing's use of military means to suppress civil officials, arresting over a hundred officials overnight, and forcibly raiding a grand secretary's mansion, their hearts filled more with dread, alarm, unease, even hatred.

For military officers to investigate civil officials in such a harsh, unsparing manner is something they cannot tolerate.

In their view, right and wrong in court should be deliberated and decided internally by civil officials, resolved through the proper channels of memorials, censors, court discussions, and triple‑tribunal joint hearings.

But Jia Jing employs the Imperial City Surveillance, the Five City Military Command, and the palace guards, using hard‑handed tactics like midnight break‑ins, raids, arrests, and severe interrogation in the Prison of the Imperial Edict.

If such methods can be used today against Fang Congzhe and company, tomorrow they could be turned against us!

Since ancient times, punishment has never been inflicted upon scholar‑officials!

This ruins the court's regulations!

Moreover, how many of them have never taken others' silver, how many are truly clean; if such a thing were to happen to them in the future, how could they defend themselves?

While the officials' thoughts diverged, Jing Sheng Di, with a face as still as water, turned over the memorial Jia Jing had submitted and the various material evidence.

Actually, the general situation had already been reported to him by Xia Shouzhong, but seeing the detailed account in the memorial now still made Jing Sheng Di feel shocked and incredulous.

Just as the officials anxiously awaited Jing Sheng Di's words, and even some censorial officials could no longer restrain themselves from wanting to speak out in impeachment.

Jing Sheng Di's hand pressed on the memorial, his knuckles whitening, and a few repressed coughs escaped, only to be cut short by himself.

Then Jing Sheng Di gave a laugh—not loud, yet chilling to the heart more than an angry shout— and he spoke slowly, devoid of joy or anger:

"Good! Good! Last year when Liaodong was in dire straits, I set aside dignity in the palace, summoned officials to raise funds; the whole of Shenjing, imperial relatives, and civil and military officials—thousands of people together donated less than 200,000 taels."

"The highest single donation was twenty thousand taels, and it was actually made by Xia Shouzhong—those eunuchs you usually look down on donated more than those seemingly upright officials you see every day."

Jing Sheng Di paused, a cold light flashing in his eyes:

"... I recall that Fang Congzhe donated three hundred taels back then; it was August, and he deliberately wore a patched, semi-old everyday robe under his court attire, saying, 'My family's finances are not affluent; I can only donate three hundred taels.'"

"He was a senior ministry official, yet he donated only three hundred taels; I felt at the time that although his donation was small, at least he was honest, and I even specially comforted him with a few words telling him not to blame himself."

"Looking back now, those few comforting words of mine were truly laughable! He must have been mocking me in his heart at the time, right?"

"What does he have to feel guilty about? His family owns over a million taels—how could he feel guilty?"

"He's just pitying me! Pitying that my treasury can't even come up with a million taels of silver! Pitying that I, as emperor, am worse off than his so-called 'honest poverty' minister!"

Jing Sheng Di suddenly laughed, that laugh echoing in the hall like a dull blade scraping bone:

"When it comes to donating, each one claims to be poorer than the next; when it comes to raiding homes, each one is richer than the next. They greedily take my silver, yet I still have to comfort and thank them!"

"Deceiving Heaven!"