It was extremely rare in the history of the Ming Dynasty for the governor to personally hear a civil case in court.
For example, the Qiantang County Court and the Hangzhou Prefecture Court should have been responsible for the trial of this murder case. However, these two Hangzhou officials were afraid of the background of the eunuch Sun Qing, the textile supervisor, and chose to hide in seclusion.
Logically, there were the Provincial Governor's Office and the Military Commissioner's Office above them. But Zhu Wan didn't intend to wait any longer. Although he had only been the Governor of Zhejiang for about a month, he had witnessed many of Sun Qing's domineering behavior with his own eyes.
For the sake of the overall situation, he would tolerate ordinary things. But this time, Sun Qing ordered his lackeys to take human lives. If he continued to turn a deaf ear and do nothing, how could he be worthy of the trust placed in him by the emperor, how could he be worthy of the official hat on his head, and how could he be worthy of the more than five million people in Zhejiang Province?
The long-standing corruption in the officialdom cannot be eradicated overnight, but someone has to do the work. If everyone hangs back, there will be no hope.
Moreover, this time the conflict was all directed at the eunuchs. Ming officials might not say it, but deep down they all despised the eunuchs.
Zhu Wan did not ask Zhejiang officials to join him in impeaching Sun Qing, as long as they did not hinder him.
Zhu Wan changed into his official uniform and sat down, then summoned the victim to the courtroom.
A moment later, the three victims who had come to complain were brought into the hall and bowed down to Zhu Wan.
They were just ordinary weavers, machine owners, and machine mechanics. The highest "official" they had ever seen was the supervisor of the weaving office. When they saw the governor, they were all trembling with fear.
"Everyone in the hall, please raise your heads."
At Zhu Wan's command, the three victims finally raised their heads. Their faces were covered in bloody marks from being whipped, a truly horrifying sight.
"Are you suing the eunuch Sun Qing, the textile supervisor?"
"Reporting to the master, we are suing that old eunuch."
An older weaver bravely said, "Early this morning, the four of us brothers, along with other weavers and weavers, came to the weaving office to petition for the release of Mr. Chen, who was wrongfully imprisoned."
"Mr. Chen is a kind man who never defaults on everyone's monthly wages. During festivals, he even distributes dried fish and meat jerky to everyone. How could such a kind-hearted person be corrupt?"
"The reason everyone can't pay their silk this year isn't because Mr. Chen embezzled the money allocated by the court, but because Zhejiang is plagued by Japanese pirates, and silk farmers have no interest in raising silkworms. Without silkworms, where will the silk come from? Without silk, how can silk be woven?"
"That old eunuch just didn't understand such a simple truth. We were just petitioning outside the government office and explaining this truth to him. But he didn't listen at all and even ordered his vicious servants to attack and injure people. My third brother was beaten to death. Please, sir, help me."
The other two also kowtowed and cried, "Please, Master, help us."
Zhu Wan was furious when she heard this.
Sun Qing first falsely accused Chen Yuanwai of corruption, and then ordered his servant to murder someone in broad daylight. His brazen and domineering behavior reminiscent of the Eight Tigers of the previous dynasty.
It’s a pity that we are no longer in the Zhengde Dynasty when eunuchs were in power and the upright were marginalized.
From the moment the emperor ascended the throne, he saw the evils of eunuchs' disorderly politics and dismissed a large number of eunuchs stationed in various places. Although positions such as the eunuch in charge of textile production in Hangzhou were retained, their power was greatly reduced.
Now Sun Qing fails to recognize the situation. Not only does he refuse to behave himself, but he also frames loyal officials and takes human lives. He is truly courting his own death.
"Where is the body of the deceased?"
"In reply to the Master, my third brother's body is wrapped in a straw mat outside the hall..."
Zhu Wan immediately ordered the coroner to go and check.
While waiting, he asked for some more details, and the clerk beside him wrote them down one by one.
By the time the coroner finished his examination and reported the results to him, Zhu Wan had already made up his mind.
"Don't worry. Heaven's net is vast and nothing can escape it. I will definitely take care of things for you."
After receiving Zhu Wan's guarantee, the three weavers bowed to thank Zhu Wan one after another.
"Thank you, my Lord, thank you, my Lord."
If the offender was an ordinary Zhejiang official, he could directly submit a memorial to impeach him. If the official was below the fifth rank, he could even order his men to arrest him.
But eunuchs like Sun Qing are a bit troublesome.
In the Ming Dynasty, the eunuch system and the civil service system existed completely independently. Although there might be some overlap in daily operations between the two, they essentially kept to themselves.
In other words, although Zhu Wan could impeach Sun Qing, he had no power to adjudicate. At most, he could only restrict Sun Qing's freedom. Before the emperor saw the memorial and issued an imperial decree, he had no right to punish Sun Qing.
Even though Sun Qing has a very bad reputation, even though Sun Qing has aroused public resentment.
It must be said that this is a somewhat sad thing. Moreover, before the emperor saw the memorial, it would definitely be drafted by the cabinet and approved by the Imperial Household Department.
If Sun Qing has connections in the inner court, it is also a question whether the Imperial Household Department will express its stance.
But he didn't want to have so many worries anymore.
As a newly appointed official, Zhu Wan had everyone watching him. As the saying goes, "what goes up comes down." If Zhu Wan were to act smooth and sophisticated, all officials would surely emulate him, and the Zhejiang bureaucracy would become a chaotic mess. Only if he remained unyielding and upheld the bottom line would his subordinates be able to get things done.
The situation in the southeast was dire, with Japanese pirates and Portuguese pirates wreaking havoc. If the Zhejiang officials were not united, how could they possibly crush the bandits?
Therefore, Zhu Wan had to be ruthless and eliminate the cancer like Sun Qing, not only for the people of Zhejiang to see, but also for the civil and military officials to see.
Black is black, white is white.
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Chen Mansion.
Not long after Xu Yan came back, his grandfather Chen Han was sent back by people from the prefectural government.
Xu Yan thought that it must be Zhu Wan who gave the order, otherwise the slick Magistrate Ma would not have let the person go so easily.
No matter what, it's a good thing that grandpa is back.
When Chen Zongzhi heard that his father had returned, he burst into tears with excitement.
Seeing that his father had lost a lot of weight, he felt even more guilty.
"It's all my fault for being a useless son. I watched my father suffer in prison. If it weren't for Qiu Ge'er going to find the governor, I'm afraid my father would still be behind bars."
Old Master Chen rolled his eyes at Chen Zongzhi and said, "Why are you crying? I'm not dead yet."
Chen Zongzhi rubbed his eyes quickly.
Chen Han then turned to look Xu Yan up and down, then nodded with satisfaction: "Brother Qiu has grown so tall... He's really grown up to the point where he can even talk to the Governor."
Xu Yan quickly said, "Grandpa, thank you for the compliment."
Xu Huaiyuan smiled and said, "Old Taishan is a lucky man. Good things will come after this incident."
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