Chapter 498 Everyone Has Dignity
A group of officials came up to beg for mercy for the bald man. Some of the leaders even thought that women who sold their bodies were low-class bitches and deserved death. If it were Lin'an Prefecture, they would not allow these bitches to go out on the streets and cause trouble. The chief envoy of the Inspection Department should be dismissed and Chengdu Prefecture should be held accountable for letting things go and failing to do their job.
When Mr. Ding saw these people entering Taijian Hall, he was very happy because he had set up a research room under his public housing and had things to do. However, such a dirty thing happened just a few days after he went to Qingcheng Mountain.
The old man was so angry that he was about to vomit blood.
He pointed at the surveys and cursed: What nonsense, what nonsense.
What is here?
This is my Taijian Hall, not a pig market, vegetable market, or cattle and horse market.
When will it be the turn of cats and dogs to have fun as they please?
These people were immediately stunned and stood there stupidly, not knowing what to do.
He asked: What did you learn in Caotang Academy? You forgot that in the New Song Dynasty, "everyone is equal before the law." Women are also human beings. They earn money to live without stealing or robbing. How can we allow our parents to trample on us?
The old man asked the director of the office to write down the names of those who were watching and begging for mercy, and fined them one month's salary .
Then he shouted to Shi's son: This matter will be handled by Mr. Shi.
He turned around and took Lord Qiao and Lord Li towards the backyard.
Shi's son was completely speechless when he saw his disciples acting so shamelessly and yet still speaking so arrogantly.
He yelled, telling everyone to shut up. Taijian Hall is the most respected place in the New Song Dynasty, and how could we allow ignorant people to run wild here?
I really was wrong in my judgment. How could I bring a bunch of trash like you to Chengdu? Alas.
This group of research officials were petrified when they heard Shi's son's harsh curse.
In their minds, the Prime Minister had never been angry. He always had a look on his face as calm as a Buddha, sitting calmly on the Diaoyutai. Why did he suddenly become a different person today?
At the Zhao Mansion, after Zhao Feiyan returned home, she immediately understood the whole story of why the gate of the Chengdu government office was blocked. She angrily asked Yangjin what to do?
Yang Jin said with a smile, "But he is the ruler of our new Song Dynasty. He can't sit still for such a trivial matter." If you ignore it, naturally someone will be anxious.
Feiyan said that these officials from Liangzhe were too much. They actually dared to rape a woman in Chengdu. They simply did not take the emperor's capital, the capital, seriously. It really opened her eyes.
Shunzhidi told them: That's why Brother Yulin wants to show his authority as a king and ask people to obey the capital. Women in brothels are also human beings. The New Song Dynasty advocates equality for all. It is really against the will of heaven for an official to bully weak women. If it were me, my brother would have had his legs broken long ago.
She gnashed her teeth and said that it was unexpected that an official could do such a vile thing, causing a weak woman to hang herself, and he should be cut into pieces.
Yangjin, however, said calmly that Feiyan only needed to ask Meng Gong to supervise the court meeting tomorrow. Who would dare to be partial and corrupt and condone crime in a case that the Ministry of Justice personally handled?
Zhao Feiyan said that this incident happened in the Chengdu government office, and the civilians made such a fuss that they blocked the street. It was also the fault of the Chengdu patrol officers who were timid and slow in action, and they should be punished.
Yang Jin nodded, believing that officials at all levels in Chengdu should be held accountable for being afraid of power and not daring to take action. The Ministry of Personnel should also improve the punishment of such inaction officials, with minor cases of admonition and warning, and serious warnings to these officials to fulfill their duties.
Shunzhidi believes that officials should not drink alcohol. Drinking and acting crazy is embarrassing and damages the reputation of the New Song Dynasty court.
Zhao Feiyan laughed and asked her if the Ministry of Personnel banned alcohol, how would our brother Yulin be punished if he drank it? Would he be punished by not being allowed to enter Sister Zhidi's room?
The three women immediately burst into laughter.
Yangjin said that the boy was very well-behaved and that alcohol could be banned. She thought it was worth discussing that officials were not allowed to drink alcohol during their work hours, but they could drink alcohol during their breaks but they were not allowed to get drunk. If someone got drunk and went crazy, the Ministry of Personnel would deal with it according to the rules for minor offenses, and the Ministry of Justice would punish those who violated the criminal law with severe punishment.
Feiyan put on her airs as a queen and said: That's very good. Then please come up with some specific strategies for us to discuss.
Yangjin and Shunzhidi saw that she was pretending, so they immediately went over to hold her down and tickle her...
The next day, the Central Council held a meeting. Hua Yue angrily recounted the civilian petition and demonstration yesterday, and how the officials in Liangzhe were lawless.
Fan Zhong believed that since this incident happened in the city, the Chengdu Inspection Bureau should be held accountable for its ineffective handling of the case and its slow action. If the inspection bureau had handled the case boldly and acted in a timely manner, who would have dared to show their faces and redress the grievances of those women in the brothels?
Zhao Feiyan went on to say that this matter had greatly damaged the reputation of the New Song Dynasty court and that it must be tried and concluded quickly and dealt with severely, so she asked Lord Meng to personally investigate the matter, find out the truth in a timely manner, and punish the criminals to give an explanation to the people.
Meng Gong immediately agreed and requested permission for the Inspectorate to handle the case together, demonstrating the court's attention to the case.
Zhao Feiyan nodded and asked to move on to the next topic.
Yang Jin then talked about the issue of officials being prohibited from drinking. She said that the Ministry of Personnel had received many reports of officials making mistakes and committing crimes after drinking. Our country's financial resources are constantly growing, and ordinary craftsmen and merchants can drink good wine like Chen Yi Shao. It has become common for officials to drink in their spare time.
Drinking tea and alcohol is a personal matter, but if officials eat and drink while on duty, it will obviously delay their work, or even fail to do their job well. Such dirty scandals as the one that happened in Chengdu are typical examples of officials drinking and causing tragedies.
Our Ministry of Personnel needs to formulate a strategy to stop civil servants from drinking while on duty and not allow them to get drunk or act crazy.
Fan Zhong agreed immediately, thinking that it was harmless for civil servants to have a drink to relax after finishing their work in the afternoon and going home, but that excessive drinking was not only harmful to the body, but could easily lead to disasters if not restrained, and must be stopped.
Everyone started discussing it heatedly.
All the officials present were older and had all had experience of being drunk. They all nodded in support of Yangjin's ban on alcohol.
As a result, the first imperial decree of the New Song Dynasty prohibiting alcohol during official hours was issued, which explicitly prohibited all officials from drinking alcohol during their official duties.
In Hengqu Town, Zhao Yulin and Cao Youwen were still in refresher training in the military camp. After three consecutive days of high-intensity training, the two sat down to rest and have some tea.
Lao Cao flicked the newspaper in his hand and said with a laugh: My brothers' wives are capable. They should take care of the officials' drinking.
He took the newspaper and read it. Oh, the Ministry of Personnel issued a document prohibiting officials from drinking while on duty.
Lao Cao said happily that his alcohol consumption has decreased significantly this year, so it would be better to ban alcohol so that he won't be scared when he sees a wine glass.
Zhao Yulin laughed and asked him: You are the king and the general, you are afraid of drinking.
Lao Cao said with deep understanding that drinking is harmful to the body, but not drinking hurts feelings. He is really a little afraid of drinking too much at large gatherings.
Then he laughed and said that his family's wine business was going to be difficult.
Once the ban on alcohol was issued, officials would never dare to drink while on duty. They should also be careful not to eat and drink too much, as this would weaken the sales of Wu Gu Feng.
He found it very funny to see Lao Cao gloating over other people's misfortunes, after all, he was a former leader.
Zhao Yulin said that the bumper harvests were the bumper harvests of the New Song Dynasty. Has the king forgotten?
His family only owns 2 percent of the shares.
In recent years, the country's wealth has been growing rapidly, and the people have money in their pockets. They don't have to worry about not having enough money to buy their crops. It's no problem.
He shared the same opinion as Lao Cao, that it was time to prohibit officials from drinking while on duty, which would help them do their jobs better.
In the evening, when Ke Zhenxie served him tea, he reported: The captain of Cao Guozhu's guard said that the prince felt sore in his waist and back after practicing for a few days and was unable to continue.
Zhao Yulin smiled, knowing that Lao Cao found this place boring and was in a hurry to leave for the northwest.
He said to Zhenxie: Then practice for another day and then go back.
The next afternoon, Lao Cao invited him to have tea again, took out a new newspaper from Chengdu and told him that Mr. Shi had been humiliated, that the worthless guy from Liangzhe had raped a woman in a brothel, bringing shame to Taijiantang, and almost pissed off Mr. Ding. Hehe.
Haha, Lao Cao could really laugh and really stayed out of the matter.
Zhao Yulin said: Now Mr. Shi’s eyebrows will be burned off by the fire, and he will not be able to hold his head up when doing things in the future.
Lao Cao told him to watch carefully, as the criminal had not been punished yet. This time, the people were dissatisfied with the Inspection Office because of its slow action. Meng Gong must be furious. He might ask the Dali Temple to sentence him to death immediately, so that he could vent his anger like his brother did when he dealt with those evil people.
Zhao Yulin said that it was not that he was heartless or ungrateful, but that severe punishments should be used in times of chaos. If he did not take ruthless action, there would be more people willing to fall into depravity and commit crimes, and that would be irresponsible and harmful to others.
He suggested to Lao Cao: after returning, call a few more meetings with the research officials of Taijiantang to sound the alarm and sort out the situation. This is also responsible to them.
These people have been used to being arrogant in the past, and I feel a little uneasy about letting them go out from Taijiantang to do their work.
Lao Cao told him not to worry, there were only a few of them, and once they were spread all over the country, they would disappear without a trace. He wanted to inform Shunfeng Company to strengthen supervision over this group of people , and if anyone committed a crime, they would be arrested and prosecuted immediately.
Zhao Yulin was speechless. He told Lao Cao that he had almost finished practicing and they should go back.
Lao Cao was overjoyed and said with a smile that we should have a drink tonight and go back early tomorrow morning. As he spoke, he pulled him towards the cafeteria.
In Chengdu, the Dali Temple was trying a case. The justices expressed their opinions but could not reach a consensus because Meng Gong, deputy director of the Central Court in charge of the Ministry of Justice, demanded that the bald man be sentenced to death by beheading, and the other two investigating officials be exiled for at least ten years.
Genocide is no longer a practice in the New Song Dynasty. If there is a rule of genocide, Old Meng is afraid that it will be punished severely.
At this time, the Ministry of Justice was implicated, which made Meng Gong feel embarrassed. He first gave Jiang Ligang, the director of the Inspection Department, a lecture, which was considered a warning talk. He asked Youshi to keep an eye on it and investigate and deal with it strictly.
However, the death penalty does not seem to be enough for raping a woman and causing her to hang herself.
Even Song Ci from the Dali Temple thought that the sentence was too heavy. According to the law, the prisoner did not kill anyone, so he was not guilty of the death penalty.
The other two investigating officials were accomplices. They did not participate in harming the deceased Xiaohong, so they were not worthy of being exiled for ten years.
