Little Zhu didn't need to say much; he directly dealt with the matter: "Zhao Yi, sentenced to immediate execution. The Henan Military Commander is incompetent; he is demoted to Guard Commander and sent to the Martial Academy for further study immediately!"
The Commander-in-Chief of Henan Province was devastated, having been demoted from a second-rank official to a third-rank official. However, he didn't need to be too sad, as the other deputy commanders and assistant commanders had generally received the least demotion.
This is quite a lot of people, because above the Thousand Household Office, there are also the Commander-in-Chief's Office and the Guard Commander-in-Chief's Office.
From the capital to the counties, the Ming Dynasty established guards and garrisons, which were externally under the jurisdiction of the Regional Military Commission and internally under the Five Military Commissions. The guards and garrisons were subordinate to the Regional Military Commissions of each province, which in turn were divided and governed by the Five Military Commissions of the central government. Each Regional Military Commission had several guards under its jurisdiction, and each guard had a certain number of thousand-household garrisons and hundred-household garrisons.
In other words, the Yunnan Regional Military Commission was subordinate to the Right Military Governor's Office of the central government. This wasn't just because the Mu family was based in Yunnan. The main reason was that Yunnan was too special, and the emperor had to control this force.
Little Zhu's handling of the matter was swift and decisive, showing no sign of leniency, because this was the imperial successor trained by Old Zhu and Little Zhu. For some groups, Little Zhu showed little mercy.
Zhao Yi panicked, his former arrogance vanished, replaced by pleading for mercy. "Your Highness, spare my life! Your Highness, my late father was once a personal guard of the Emperor Emeritus! Your Highness, I am also from Taiping Township!"
This guy is really scared now, he brought out his father's background. This isn't just one of Zhu Yuanzhang's personal guards, but also one of Zhu Yuanzhang's fellow townsmen.
Seeing that Xiao Zhu remained unmoved, Zhao Yi continued to shout as he was about to be dragged away, "Your Highness, this humble servant serves under the Duke of Zhongshan! Your Highness, this humble servant is under the Duke of Zhongshan's command!"
Little Zhu jumped off the stool, turned around, and left. Fu Zhong, his face cold, drew his sword and smashed the hilt into Zhao Yi's mouth. Teeth flew everywhere, blood splattered; Fu Zhong couldn't let this criminal continue his incoherent ramblings.
Little Zhu ran to the back hall looking aggrieved and pitifully said, "Great-grandfather, this man was once a brave and fierce general. The court gave him official positions and rewards, but he was ungrateful and did not think of serving the country. Instead, he bullied the villagers and oppressed the soldiers."
With great effort, Old Zhu picked up little Zhu and placed him on his lap. He said, “In our younger days, we killed quite a few people. It pained us, too. Many of those we killed were brave and incomparable warriors who made great contributions on the battlefield. But these people were corrupt and lawless. If we don’t bring them to justice, we won’t be able to command the world.”
“We know, we know that,” Little Zhu said, still feeling depressed. “We would have preferred him to die on the battlefield; that would have made him a hero. Now that things are like this, it’s not worth it.”
Even if it's not worth it, these things have already happened, and everyone needs to be responsible for their own actions, which is beyond doubt.
Especially when they encountered some iron-fisted and harsh monarchs, these corrupt officials would almost certainly not have a good ending once their crimes were exposed.
In fact, according to Old Zhu's opinion, he still felt that Little Zhu was being too soft-hearted. If it were up to Old Zhu's temper and style, it would obviously not only be Zhao Yi who would be punished, but Zhao Yi's relatives would also not get away with it.
This wasn't about eliminating the root of the problem, because Zhu knew that even if Zhao Yi's relatives harbored resentment, they couldn't actually cause any real trouble. Disciplining the relatives of these disgraced officials was naturally meant to deter other officials and make them think twice before acting.
Moreover, Old Zhu was well aware that those corrupt officials had embezzled public funds, and their families had all received substantial benefits, so it was impossible for them to escape unscathed.
However, Old Zhu didn't intend to say much, because it was his beloved great-grandson who had handled the matter. Although it was somewhat crude and the methods were a bit immature, it was still the young Crown Prince Zhu's decision, and his authority had to be upheld.
As for the fact that a second-rank official like the Commander-in-Chief was punished, that's all. Even if we disregard the presence of the retired Emperor Zhu, or even if it were a minor emperor like Zhu, he could have dealt with such a 'dishonored official' before submitting a memorial to the emperor.
Now that the matter in Runing Prefecture has been resolved, it naturally means that the retired emperor and the crown prince, who were inspecting the area, should return to Yingtian Prefecture.
However, they didn't need to rush; they could take their time returning to Yingtian Prefecture, since there was nothing urgent. Besides, with the elderly and the young, it was better to avoid the arduous journey.
Zhu Yunying, who was thousands of miles away, was naturally unaware of what was happening in Runing Prefecture, and even if he had known, he wouldn't have cared much. He already knew that every dynasty had its share of corrupt officials, and these were impossible to eradicate completely—that was human nature.
For Zhu Yunying, the task he needed to do was to grasp the right direction and further rectify official corruption, which is what an emperor should do.
It was no secret that Emperor Ying Shi intended to reform the bureaucracy; many had already heard rumors. However, many were now either curious or had some concerns.
They would wonder where the emperor would begin the first cut, or whether they themselves would be the first unlucky victim.
Some people are speculating, wondering if Emperor Ying Shi will follow the example of Emperor Hongwu and launch a major crackdown involving implicated relatives. Others are wondering if this attempt to reform the bureaucracy will be all bark and no bite, merely a show that ends there.
It's perfectly normal to have all sorts of thoughts and intentions. After all, everyone understands that rectifying official corruption is a task that has been a constant throughout every dynasty.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
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