If Han Yu were to rank the most attractive officials in the court, he would definitely be in the top five, if not the top three.
If he were to go back more than ten years, he would probably be number one when he was in the prime of his youth.
Even though he was in his forties, he took good care of himself. Not only did his appearance not deteriorate, but it also became more and more mellow like a fine wine. Of course, being an official in the Jiang Dynasty was different from the past. In the past, Han Yu might have been able to climb to the position of one of the three chancellors and nine ministers with a smooth career. In today's world, he could only rely on his talent. As for his appearance, it was fine as long as his facial features were regular.
Fortunately, Han Yu was not only good-looking, but also talented and capable. His conduct was also top-notch.
Even so, Han Yu was the least popular among the officials. Most of the officials who were willing to make friends with him were his friends when they were young.
Why was that?
In terms of official position, Han Yu was also an important official in the Emperor's heart. He was in charge of the Ministry of Penalty, one of the six ministries. He was in charge of the justice and prisons of the country.
In the previous dynasty, the Ministry of Penalty didn't have much power. Only civilians or officials below the seventh rank had the power to punish them. The Supreme Court had the power to punish them. The middle and senior officials were also tortured by other departments, and the Ministry of Penalty couldn't be locked up. But in the Jiang Dynasty, the Ministry of Penalty was a proper department with real power. Almost all the officials except for the Imperial Censor didn't want to provoke it. It was one of the three departments in charge of the final trial and review of major cases.
In addition to being in charge of the Ministry of Penalty, Han Yu also had other titles. At the same time, he was also in charge of the Supreme Court.
In terms of real power, Han Yu was definitely the most powerful person in the early years of the Jiang Dynasty. He even dared to confront Qiguan Rang. Most importantly, the Emperor was on Han Yu's side. Such a person should be flattered and flattered by everyone. They should be eager to trample on the threshold of others.
Why was Han Yu so unpopular?
Because his main job was not only to try criminal cases, but also to lead the drafting of national laws.
Which official dared to say that he was clean?
It wasn't that the officials were bad, but their families, the servants in the mansions, the relatives of the servants in the mansions … the messy distant relatives and neighbors all liked to use chicken feathers as an arrow of authority. Even if these officials wanted to restrain them, they couldn't guarantee that there would be no problems.
Once something went wrong and they were caught by Han Yu, they would be punished and educated if they were lucky, or demoted to another place if they were unlucky. It was common for people to lose their lives. For example, there was once an official's brother-in-law who committed a crime. According to the old law, he should be able to escape punishment. Even if he didn't lose his limbs, at least he would be able to keep his life. In the end, Han Yu wrote a petition saying that the old law was problematic. If the old law was followed, the victims would die in vain and the common people would complain about the court. Therefore, he suggested that the case be reviewed … The old law was right in the past, but it was not perfect today.
Emmm …
Basically, those who were retried in Han Yu's hands were doomed.
The brother-in-law of an official was executed by a thousand cuts in public.
His wife's younger brother was the only male member of the Yue Clan. The official's wife cried, threw a tantrum, and even wanted to hang herself. Because of this, the official was implicated by the Imperial Censor and was even reprimanded and demoted.
Examples like this could be found everywhere. Han Yu had offended almost everyone in the imperial court.
Unfortunately, the other party had His Majesty as his backer. Even the Imperial Censor, who was usually disrespectful to the heavens and earth, did not dare to provoke him. The other officials could only avoid him.
They couldn't afford to provoke this fiend, but couldn't they just hide from it?
It turned out that Han Yu would set them up even if they tried to hide from him.
Just the marriage law alone, this fellow had petitioned His Majesty to amend it three times.
Men, after all, always had a bit of a bad habit.
For example, there were three big happy events in the folk jokes — — Promotion, Wealth, and Death of Wife _ (: з) ∠) _
Promotion and wealth were needless to say. Death of wife was a justifiable reason to get rid of his wife and replace her with a young, beautiful, well-educated woman who was worthy of him. Even if his old wife could not die, he still wanted to get three or four concubines and six or seven to warm his feet.
He wanted to experience the comfort and novelty of being a groom every night.
As a result …
Han Yu had collected thousands of marriage case files and obtained the marriage laws of the previous dynasties. He had revised the marriage laws three times according to the current situation of the Jiang Dynasty. He clearly marked the places that were more vague and could be exploited, and subdivided the various regulations. Just the rule that "those who are first lowly and then noble are not allowed to go" was enough to stop many Big Pig Trotters from thinking of changing to a younger wife. How many legal wives did he support?
Not only could they not change their wives at will, but they also couldn't take concubines at will.
Taking concubines, no matter if they were cheap concubines, good concubines, noble concubines, or unnamed legal wives, either their ancestors or themselves had to be awesome. If they couldn't meet these two requirements, they could only take a concubine when they were over thirty years old and their legal wife had no children.
In the early years of the Jiang Dynasty, surgical skills had developed quite well. There were also certain treatments for diseases such as smallpox, and the neonatal mortality rate was the lowest in history every year. As for these marriage laws, the ministers had no solid reason to oppose them.
Of course, there were policies and countermeasures.
There were still some men who wanted to touch young and beautiful girls, and they could only turn a blind eye to them.
But if there were irrefutable evidence such as sons and daughters of concubines, things would be different.
To sum up, Han Yu was indeed the most unlikeable minister with enemies everywhere.
In sharp contrast to Han Yu's bad relationship with others, his wife, Madame Tao, was invincible in diplomacy.
She was the leader in the circle of noble ladies in the capital.
Han Yu was so busy that he couldn't go home for a few times a year, so it was inevitable that he neglected the family.
His wife, Madame Tao, had some conflicts with him, but she was good at taking care of the family, so Han Yu was naturally at ease.
After a few years, Han Yu's busy work came to an end. He was asked to stay in the hall by the Emperor for a private talk.
"Let's not talk about official affairs today. Let's talk about the private affairs of the family."
The Emperor looked serious. Han Yu was confused. After all, a private talk in the hall was usually a "benefit" for officials who made mistakes.
"Please go ahead, Your Majesty."
Jiang Pengji said, "Yan 'er is getting old. I'm going to find a study partner for her. Young friends can be her right-hand man in the future. I'm sure you're aware of this. I intend to let Wenbin's youngest son, Han Chi, study with Yan 'er. But … How do you teach your son? "
She said the first sentence with a kind face, but the last sentence was full of anger. Han Yu's heart skipped a beat.
"Today, I'm not talking to you as an emperor, but as a mother."
Han Yu had been with Jiang Pengji for many years. He knew her temperament very well.
As long as she didn't show any killing intent, it meant that the situation was serious, but it hadn't escalated to the level of political affairs.
Since she said it was a private affair, it should be a private affair.
Han Yu didn't know what happened, but he knew that he should apologize first.
Jiang Pengji felt helpless and angry.
She promoted Han Yu's youngest son, Han Chi, for Han Yu's sake. But this guy secretly humiliated Yan 'er, and Yan' er heard it from the other side of the wall. She had never seen such a stupid person. He didn't even know how to be careful with his words in the palace. Hadn't he heard that walls have ears?
When her daughter crossed out Han Chi's name, Jiang Pengji specifically asked.
After all, promoting Han Chi was to show respect to his father, Han Yu.
Jiang Yan sneered. "My background is not worthy of his nobility."
Jiang Pengji was furious when she heard that. She sent someone to investigate and found out that Han Chi was very serious when he entered the palace for the examination, but after the examination, he laughed privately with his peers and belittled Jiang Yan in a disdainful tone. Jiang Yan happened to come over to check on her future study partner. She heard the whole thing from the other side of the wall. Jiang Yan had excellent self-restraint. Although she was young, she didn't show her emotions. She removed Han Chi from the list without any nonsense.
Jiang Pengji would promote Han Chi for Han Yu's sake because the two of them had been rulers and ministers for many years. It was reasonable for her to take care of him.
However, Jiang Yan was the only heir to the throne. Why would she give Han Chi face?
Who was Han Chi anyway?!!!
Therefore, Jiang Pengji prepared for two days. She waited for Han Yu to finish his work before she asked him to stay in the hall for a private talk.
How did she teach her son?
Han Yu listened to Jiang Pengji and his face turned pale.
He directly knelt down and pretended to ask for forgiveness. He said that he would discipline his youngest son well when he returned and then bring him to Jiang Yan to ask for forgiveness.
If Han Chi really went too far, Han Yu would break his legs.
→_→
Not long ago, Bai Yuexia broke her son Shi Yu's legs with a rod and she divorced her husband.
Outsiders didn't know the reason, but Han Yu knew something.
Bai Yuexia dragged her son out of the Golden Scale Academy and broke his legs. It was His Majesty's order.
It was most likely that Shi Yu had done something wrong that made His Majesty furious.
At that time, Han Yu felt that Bai Yuexia did not teach her son well. Now it was his turn. _ (: з) ∠) _
What kind of sin did he commit?
Jiang Pengji said, "Han Chi's matter is still a small matter."
Han Yu's face showed bitterness.
That bastard disrespected the Crown Prince and humiliated the Crown Prince and the Emperor. That was still a small matter?
Han Yu was anxious. He didn't know what was a big matter.
Jiang Pengji said, "Go back and inform your Yue family. Let them know that I know what they did in private!"
It should be said that Jiang Pengji had known it for a long time.
Han Yu and Madam Tao of the Yue family had resumed their old business of selling illegal salt.
Madam Tao quickly amassed wealth through the illegal salt business and occupied the people's land.
After Jiang Pengji recruited Han Yu, she beat Madam Tao up. She cut off Madam Tao's illegal salt business and took away the people's land that they illegally occupied. Everything had been peaceful for many years. At first, Madam Tao was trembling with fear. She was afraid of Jiang Pengji's force and didn't dare to do anything. However, as Han Yu gained more power in the court, he could still be favored by the emperor by dissing the officials. Madam Tao began to get restless and began to resume her old business.
Han Yu's face was so pale that ink could drip from it.
"Do you know when it started, Your Majesty?"
Jiang Pengji said, "It has been a while, but I kept it a secret. Madam Tao is a clown, but I can't implicate you. "
Han Yu was hated by hundreds of officials, but he was still alive and kicking because Jiang Pengji had been helping him behind his back. She even cleaned up other officials' dirty tricks when necessary. But Madam Tao was Han Yu's mother, so Jiang Pengji didn't have to be so polite.
She took the initiative to reveal it to Han Yu.
If Madam Tao made too much trouble, Jiang Pengji had to get rid of the tumor, even if it would slightly implicate Han Yu.
Han Yu was her baby. Who was Madam Tao?
"I am ashamed!"
Jiang Pengji said, "Let's not talk about it. You can leave now."
It was destined to be a chaotic day.
When Han Yu got home, he immediately punished Han Chi. Han Chi, who was usually spoiled, was beaten until he screamed in pain.
Madam Tao didn't care about her manners as a noble lady. She almost ran to stop Han Yu.
"Han Wenbin, why did you beat my son?"
Han Yu said, "He slandered the Crown Prince's background as a bandit and said he was a lowly person. Did he say that?"
Han Chi's face changed. A guilty look flashed across his chubby and cute face.
Han Run, the eldest son, said, "Isn't it known to the whole world?"
As soon as he said that, his father, who had always been kind to him, slapped him for the first time. His face was tilted to one side.
"Is it because of you?" Han Yu asked someone to catch Madam Tao. "What a coincidence. Both of you are punished by the family discipline. It's time to teach them a lesson!"
Han Run retorted angrily, "Teach what? I haven't been home for years. What can you teach me? "
Han Yu felt like he was struck by lightning.
"You … You … You are two unfilial sons!"
When did he not teach them?
When Han Yu was at home, the two sons were the ones he cared about the most.
Han Run was forced to kneel down, but he still didn't give in. He said angrily and resentfully, "Unfilial sons? That's a good scolding! Do you know how much my brother and I have been implicated by you in the academy all these years? You have a good reputation outside. You have offended countless officials and we have been bullied again and again in the academy. You don't even know this. Now you are disciplining me and my brother for not knowing our duty! "
Of course, Han Run was resentful.
How much had he and his brother suffered in the Golden Scale Academy?
His father was fearless in dissing the officials, but they were ridiculed by the children of the officials.
Han Run was resentful. He also hated Jiang Pengji for entrusting his father with such an important task, but she had attracted so much hatred, which had implicated his brother. He was even angrier when he heard that his brother was going to be chosen as the study companion of the Crown Prince. Wasn't it enough that he and his brother were being hated by others?
Now he was punishing his brother for the sake of the Crown Prince. Who did he think he was?
Did he think he was the Emperor?
Han Yu looked at his son, who looked familiar but had a strange temperament. He was so angry that he almost fainted.
"Who taught you these words?"
At this time, Mrs. Tao waved away the people who were trying to stop her. She protected her baby son who was crying with snot and tears all over his face.
"I taught them personally. What? Are you going to punish me in front of the servants?"
Han Yu was so angry that he almost fainted. He couldn't even stand steadily.
He was too tired from work and experienced such an exciting scene when he came home. He was already an iron man who didn't collapse.
"I will deal with you later."
That day, the Han's mansion was in a mess. The imperial censor who heard the news did not go there.
Why?
The Emperor was watching.
Hmph. (́ ^ ́) ノ
Han Yu interrupted Mrs. Tao's illicit salt business as soon as she tasted the sweetness.
He had thought that this matter would end like this, but a year and a half later, something unexpected happened.
Mrs. Tao colluded with the gentry to rebel. After investigation, it was found that Han Yu's wife, Mrs. Tao, was involved and played a very important role. She made great contributions to the rebellion. Not only that, Han Yu's eldest son, Han Run, and his second son, Han Chi, were also involved. Their crimes were unforgivable!
Because of this, Han Yu's house was confiscated.
The leader of the confiscation was Fu Wang. He used to be Han Yu's enemy and they still didn't get along.
If Han Yu was the leader of the civil officials, then Fu Wang was the leader of the generals, and he was the absolute leader.
The two had been enemies for many years, and now it was finally over.
"The Emperor has protected you for so many years, but you still made such a mistake. I really don't know what to say."
Fu Wang led the team in person. Of course, he was ordered by Jiang Pengji not to be rude to the people of Han's mansion, especially Han Yu.
Of course, Fu Wang couldn't be presumptuous with this order.
But it was still okay to say a few words to get back at Han Yu.
Han Yu, who was dressed in plain clothes, sneered indifferently.
"Han Yu has been loyal to the Emperor all his life. How can he be compared to your good reputation as a minister of several families? You and I know very well whether there is a rebellion or not. "
Fu Wang was so angry that his face turned black.
Damn it, Han Yu is such a bastard!
That night, Jiang Pengji met Han Yu in person.
"Han Run and Han Chi will be sent to the frontier and will never be able to return home. The Tao family will be executed."
Han Yu asked, "What about me?"
"I never break my promise," Jiang Pengji said, "I will never change my promise to you."
Han Yu shook his head. "Your Majesty, this is favoritism. If you are like this, what is the purpose of justice?"
Jiang Pengji said, "But you are not involved in the rebellion. You don't deserve to die!"
Han Yu smiled and bowed to her.
"The most fortunate thing in my life is to meet Your Majesty and gain Your Majesty's trust."
Jiang Pengji stood still and looked at Han Yu for a long time.
"Wenbin …"
Han Yu said, "It is my fault that I failed to teach my children and restrain my relatives. I can't defend myself."
He knew that Jiang Pengji wanted to protect him.
But he also knew that she couldn't.
Someone was trying to overthrow the country. Madame Tao and Han Yu's three closest people were involved. It was impossible for him to be innocent in the eyes of the outside world. If Han Yu was innocent, not only would the laws of the Jiang Dynasty be ridiculed, but the Emperor would also be criticized by the later generations.
Apart from that, there were many people in the court who wanted him dead.
The Emperor could suppress those voices, but it was not good for the court in the long run.
It was not a wise emperor's choice to lose the overall situation for one person.
He wanted justice, but the person who should be the most impartial was favoritism. If the Emperor really did that, he would be trampling on the "path" that Han Yu had been pursuing for half his life.
Han Yu said, "It's getting late. Your Majesty has a court meeting tomorrow. Go back to the palace first. I have nothing to do here."
Jiang Pengji looked at his face deeply.
"… Wenbin …"
Han Yu smiled. "I know what I am doing. Your Majesty, don't worry."
Jiang Pengji went back to the palace. Han Yu looked at the empty mansion. He washed his face, combed his hair, and put on the grandest clothes.
Looking at the old man in the mirror, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.
His life … was full of ups and downs.
When he was young, he had a good life. Who would have thought that he would be involved in a disaster? His family was confiscated, and Han Yu fell from heaven to hell overnight.
It was like a reincarnation that couldn't be broken. Decades later, the family that he had painstakingly maintained also ended up being confiscated and exterminated.
It was like a joke.
He couldn't tell if he should hate himself or others.
He ground the ink for himself and wrote a long letter of confession with a brush.
Han Yu knew very well that his reputation would be ruined if the confession was made public. He would be nailed to the pillar of shame and be reviled by the later generations.
But it didn't matter.
"When I am dead, I don't care about the flood behind me …"
Han Yu laughed at himself. He took out a hidden gold ingot from his sleeve and swallowed it.
When the sky was bright, his body was already cold when the servants found him.
Another ten years later, the new emperor ascended to the throne. He followed his mother's last wish and overturned the case for Han Yu.
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