Chapter 445: A Hundred Years Later, the Histories Will Record Only the Disaster of a Fallen Nation!

Jing Sheng Di no longer paid further attention to Xiong Cili, but instead turned to the nearby minister Li Guangdi and asked:

"Minister Li, what is your opinion?"

Li Guangdi, hearing the emperor's summons, set his expression solemn, stepped out of his seat to glance at Jia Jing, and with a clasped hand said:

"Your Majesty! I think what Zhang Ge Lao and the officials say both have merit, yet both are incomplete."

"Zhang Ge Lao says that in chaotic times one must employ harsh laws and use severe punishments to deter evil; the officials say that benevolent governance is fundamentally lenient and should win the people's hearts with kindness and righteousness."

"The two appear opposed, but in fact are two sides of the same coin, both aimed at the long‑term stability of the court. Whether harsh law or leniency, their weight and urgency are not for us ministers to debate, but rest on Your Majesty's singular wisdom."

"Therefore I believe that even the practice of skinning and cutting grass is permissible, as those involved are all guilty of capital crimes; likewise, extending mercy beyond the law is permissible, and Your Majesty may spread benevolence throughout the realm."

"How punishments are carried out lies within a single thought of Your Majesty; we, as ministers, merely obey orders and dare not arbitrarily weigh their severity."

This remark is rather evasive; it makes no decision, leaving reward and punishment to the sovereign.

He added a few more arguments for Jing Sheng Di.

If skinning and cutting grass is applied, it is because they all deserve death, not out of angry indiscriminate killing. If severe punishments are not imposed, that too reflects the Son of Heaven's benevolence!

The gist is, whatever Your Majesty decides, we ministers will support!

Jia Jing glanced at Li Guangdi and thought, Li Guangdi's words seem to be clever flattery, but in his heart he still supports strict governance of officials.

After all, Jing Sheng Di's intention had already been made clear: it was the emperor himself who proposed skinning and cutting grass, not Zhang Tingyu.

So this euphemistic wording is merely to avoid offending the officials too overtly.

Still, as the senior civil officials among the ministers, there is no room left to please both sides.

If one tries to be a fence‑sitter, avoiding offense to either side, one ends up offending both!

Jing Sheng Di clearly understood Li Guangdi's point; as Grand Secretary of the Inner Court and Minister of Justice, Li Guangdi's voice on this matter carries great weight. He nodded and said:

"Minister Chen, you are the chief advisor of the Inner Court; what do you say?"

Chen Tingjing stepped out of his seat and said:

"Your sagacity surpasses none but Your Majesty; I humbly await Your holy decree! If Your Majesty resolves to punish severely, I shall draft the edict; if Your Majesty wishes to extend mercy beyond the law, I shall draft a provisional decree. I have no objections."

Chen Tingjing has recently submitted a memorial requesting retirement, preparing to yield his position to Zhang Tingyu, so he naturally would not now stage a confrontational drama with Jing Sheng Di!

Moreover, the current court is turbulent and treacherous; the Son of Heaven clearly intends to strictly reform officialdom. At this moment, listening to the senior ministers' opinions is most likely just a formality, or a ploy to draw the snake out of its hole and scheme against them; one must be cautious!

At this moment, Xiong Cili, standing nearby, tightly furrowed his brow; these two high‑ranking court ministers always employ such slick rhetoric and flattering flattery, and are practically the same breed as Zhang Tingyu!

Not only Xiong Cili frowned, but Kong Ying and others also furrowed their brows in succession!

The chief advisor Chen Tingjing and the Grand Scholar of the Martial Hero Hall, Li Guangdi, both support the holy decree; together with the secondary advisor Zhang Tingyu, three of the four Inner Court officials follow the imperial command. Is this matter not still decided by the emperor's will?

Jing Sheng Di, his expression indifferent, nodded, and seeing no minister step forward to remonstrate, said in a deep voice:

"You some of you today urge me to extend mercy beyond the law. I ask you this: if a person develops rotting flesh, would you excise the rotting flesh for him, or apply a layer of fragrant ointment and pretend not to see it?"

"Excising the flesh hurts, but once removed, the wound will heal. Applying ointment causes no pain, yet the rotting flesh will decay deeper, eventually rotting into the bone. The governance of Da Han Empire follows the same principle!"

"I have read the histories and see that illustrious rulers of past dynasties dealt with corruption either leniently or strictly, according to the times. During the reigns of the Founding Emperor and Emperor Cheng, heavy laws were employed because the realm was newly unified; after Emperor Cheng, leniency was practiced as the people's hearts returned and they could recuperate."

"But now the time has come when we must, by severe punishments and strict laws, purge the tide of corruption and excess! It is not that I wish to be harsh; the world forces me to be harsh."

"If I am not strict, then a hundred years later the histories will record my disaster of a fallen nation!"

Jing Sheng Di paused at this point, then abruptly said in a cold voice:

"Regarding the handling of Fang Congzhe and others, my decision is made! I will draft the edict according to the original intent: those who deserve beheading shall be beheaded, those who deserve skinning and cutting grass shall be so punished! Henceforth, any who dare to embezzle shall be treated as this precedent, with severe and heavy penalties, never to be shown leniency!"

The ministers below, hearing the emperor's icy verdict, felt a chill down their spines; so many are to be subjected to skinning and cutting grass, and this is to become the norm—how can this be allowed?

"Your Majesty! It cannot be!"

"Your Majesty! Heaven possesses the virtue of preserving life!"

"Your Majesty! The sage said…"

"Your Majesty! It must not be that anger leads to indiscriminate killing…"

…

Kong Ying, Li Ruyue, Peng Peng and a dozen others flushed red, and once again stepped out of their seats to shout in protest.

It seemed that unless Jing Sheng Di withdrew his decree, they would never cease!

Jing Sheng Di looked at Kong Ying and the others kneeling below, his patience completely exhausted, a flash of cold light flickering in his eyes, and he said coldly:

"Grand Companion!"

"I am here!" shouted Xia Shouzhong, who had been standing nearby with his head bowed, upon hearing the command.

"Read aloud the portions you have circled with my imperial handwriting in these booklets for everyone to hear," Jing Sheng Di said, his expression grim as he handed several booklets from the imperial desk.

The matters recorded by the officials were originally not intended by Jing Sheng Di to be announced at this court session.

Because, firstly, the chain of evidence is incomplete; the officials' records are largely the single‑sided accounts of the Ren family—though detailed and corroborated, they are not ironclad proof.

Secondly, it would easily alert the culprits; Jing Sheng Di seeks an effect where inaction leaves them untouched, but action captures them all in one net.

However, Kong Ying and the others repeatedly committed offenses, pretending to be loyal and upright ministers, which truly disgusted him!

Xia Shouzhong understood, stepped forward, took the booklets from Jing Sheng Di's hand, opened to the folded sections, and cleared his throat.

The hall fell silent, and everyone's gaze fell upon those thin booklets, uncertain of the emperor's purpose in having Xia Shouzhong read them now.

Xia Shouzhong's voice was not loud, but sharp and clear; each word pierced the listeners' ears like a needle.

"The Deputy Minister of War, Kong Ying. In the fourth year of Jing Sheng, Kong Ying, originally from Qufu, Shandong, under the pretext of sacrificial fields, seized more than 4,300 mu of civilian land. Local farmers, dissatisfied, went to the county office to lodge a complaint; Kong Ying ordered the arrest of the complainant Zhao Dazhu and subjected him to flogging, resulting in fatal injuries."

"In May of the same year, Kong Ying tolerated his servants' collusion with bandits around Yanzhou Prefecture, appropriating so‑called 'ownerless wasteland' as his own; when tenant farmers resisted rent, he reported them as 'bandit collaborators' to the authorities, resulting in seven deaths in prison."

"In the sixth year of Jing Sheng, Kong Ying was promoted to Deputy Minister of War; before traveling to the capital, he registered twelve thousand mu of the seized lands under his wife's brother's name to conceal his actions…"

At this moment, Kong Ying, who had been kneeling in the hall's center with a smug air, felt as if struck by lightning upon hearing Xia Shouzhong's recitation; his eyes widened, the fire in his heart instantly cooled by half, and he grew increasingly alarmed.

This is what is happening?

This…

How could the old, decades‑old dirt of my past be dug up now?

Could it be that the emperor had the Imperial City Guard secretly investigate me?

But wasn't it said that the Imperial City Guard has been going downhill ever since the time of the Retired Emperor, after the commandant was beaten to death by officials in the main hall?

What on earth is going on?

In an instant, regret and fear flooded his heart!