klisemfg Chapter 229: All Executed
Chapter 229: All Executed
Upon hearing this, Emperor Gai Zhang snorted angrily.
Mo Li continued, "Also, the disaster reports from Gansu over the years were all fabricated. Beforehand, the heads of all prefectures, counties, and districts would gather at the Provincial Administration Office, and Wang Danwang would have already distributed the disaster situation across the country. In other words, at the beginning of each year, he would have determined the disaster situation in each region, and then allocated the grain inspection quota to each region, without ever sending anyone to conduct inspections or oversight."
He swallowed and continued, "Moreover, this silver was never used to purchase grain for relief. Twenty-six prefectures and counties applied to build granaries to store grain, and the national treasury allocated 200,000 taels of silver for this purpose, but they swallowed it all. They were supposed to build granaries to store grain, but not a single brick or tile was seen."
Upon hearing this, Emperor Gai Zhang flew into a rage. "This is extremely abominable! Bring me the yellow books of the four criminals."
The eunuch was sweating profusely and immediately went to get the yellow book and handed it to the emperor to seal it.
The Emperor unfolded the booklet and began writing on it with a red brush dipped in red ink, saying, "This is a case of such magnitude, unprecedented and unheard of. Although I am in the imperial court, I will still follow the precedent of the Maoqin Palace for sentencing, wearing plain clothes and lighting candles. Murder is a serious matter and must be treated with solemnity. Former Governor-General Le Erjin was negligent in his supervision and is ordered to commit suicide."
He opened the next yellow book, made a mark with a red pen, and continued, "Wang Danwang, the former governor of Gansu, shall be executed immediately."
He opened the next yellow book, crossed out a line with a red pen, and continued, "Lanzhou Prefect Jiang Quandi, behead him immediately."
He opened the next yellow book, made a mark with his red pen, and continued, "As for Wang Tingzan, I will spare his life, but his report was incomplete and untrue, and he arbitrarily added miscellaneous fees. He has brought this upon himself and shall be executed immediately."
Then he ordered, "Bring one down." The eunuch immediately went to get it with swift movements.
Mo Li said, "Your Majesty, the following are twenty-two people who embezzled more than twenty thousand taels of silver, and used the stolen silver less than twenty thousand to embezzle silver for building warehouses."
"Execute immediately." The Emperor threw the marked yellow books one after another on the ground.
An official crawled over and picked up the yellow book.
He Shen knelt down upon seeing this and said, "Your Majesty, please reconsider and spare one or two of them."
Chen Huizu also knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, please show some mercy."
Mo Li stood still.
Emperor Gai Zhang said, "Mo Li, what do you mean?"
Mo Li stammered, "What I mean is... Your Majesty, human feelings are understandable, but justice cannot tolerate it."
Emperor Gai Zhang said solemnly, "As you say, these twenty-two people will be executed immediately. Come here."
"Wait a minute." Mo Li extended his right hand and gestured, "Your Majesty, the criminals have not yet been dealt with. There are still 37 people who have embezzled 10,000 taels of silver."
The Emperor felt a little unbelievable and said with emotion: "There are so many."
Mo Li said, "Below these thirty-seven people, there are also those who embezzled more than five thousand taels, totaling eighty-two people."
The Stamp Emperor opened his mouth wide.
Mo Li said, "Your Majesty, the people of Gansu are suffering from hunger and cold because of these corrupt officials who exploit the people. If we don't punish them, it will be difficult to appease the public anger."
He Shen disagreed and said, "Your Majesty, what Mo Li said is absurd. These officials have worked hard every day, but they were just confused for a moment. It is really unfair to kill them for a mere 5,000 taels."
Upon hearing this, Mo Li opened his arms and said to He Shen, "Master He, you are so arrogant. Just five thousand taels, do you know what you can do in Gansu? It can provide enough food and clothing for the people of an entire village. It can buy hundreds of virgin girls, Master He."